No comments about The Queen's Travels (Transaction Large Print Books).

5 comments about The Facts of Life (and Other Dirty Jokes) (Random House Large Print (Hardcover)).

1. Willie Nelson Should stick with singing and thats that. I Did not find this book enjoable at all I do not recomend it at all.
   
   
   If you liked this book check out all of Willie Nelson's, Books, Music & Movies.



2. This is an easy summer read that offers some unique insights into the mind of the legendary Willie Nelson. It has a lot of song lyrics, a few jokes and lots of personal anecdotes from his life on the road. It's not great literature, but it's fun and, what the heck, Willie needs the money!



3. My son asked for this for Christmas. He really knows country music and is no fan of pop. He only wants the true country and the real soul of country music and stories. If this were not the real thing he would not have asked for it. If he recommends it, you can take it to the bank.



4. Got this for my dad who is a huge Willie fan and I thought he had everything of Willie's - but this one he didn't and was very impressed to see we had found something he hadn't seen before. He enjoyed reading it and found it funny.



5. Willie is able to give the reader insight into his personality in a funny and entertaining way making the reader want to keep reading! The book is full of information about the singer/songwriter and has some truly great lines and jokes!

5 comments about Cary Grant: The Biography.

1. I agree with many reviewers that tend to believe that there are certain so called "facts" in this book that seem to be just gossip.
   But I will say this, the book is very entertaining.It talks about his childhood and the lies that were told to him about his mother (really after that don't you think you'd have commitment problems?). It delves into his early life in New York and how he made his money, the author speculates about his even being a male escort. But really just because he lived with a guy that was gay, does that automatically mean they were lovers?
   And his relationship with Randolph Scott is seen as a homosexual relationship because they lived together and they were always seen out and about. Could they have been lovers? Yes, but I believe that for a biographer you should get some quotes from someone stating that fact. Not just because the gossip columns of the time were insinuating this, does it make it fact.
   But other then that discrepency I find that the book does give you some insite on the man, especially to see him stand up to the big studios when he decided to go at alone, and still succeed.



2. I am a huge Cary Grant fan. Or I guess I should say I was a huge fan of the onscreen persona that is suave and the epitome of class for me. This book will blow away the image you had of Cary in films, and not in the best-written way. Reading this, I felt like it was a 50/50 mix of hearsay and fact. Whichever half you choose to believe, good luck watching his movies with the same fantasy as before.



3. I feel this author did not back his biography up with qoutes or sources to assume the things he says about Grant, such as Grant being a male prostitute! I feel it was like sitting in a beauty parlor listening to all the gossip about Cary Grant and no one really having hard evidence. I feel so bad for his family and fans who love him reading this. I just wanted to know more about Cary Grant being in my 20s. Why ruin a good thing!



4. I'm so pleased about one thing - I didn't buy this book I got it at my local library.
   While this book was well researched into Cary's early childhood and adulthood and his movies -the book seems compelled to make certain the reader agrees that Cary was either gay or bisexual.
   While neither really matter, the author is so insistent it becomes irritating. Ok - he's gay - move on.
   Then I noticed that many of Marc Eliot's other books follow the same pattern of delving into Hollywood's leading men and finding their skeletons of gayhood.
   I wonder if Marc Eliot is gay and that is his reason behind it. I went onto his website but it was pretty paltry.
   Please do yourself a favor and pass on this bio.



5. Cary Grant: A Biography
   
   I am almost through with this book (2/3).
   
   There are far too many footnotes, references to other books, and research.
   
   I do not have any "REAL" idea about Cary, as much as I have of his career.
   
   If you are looking to find out about him, I suggest a book he was an actual part of.
   
   Not this posthumous glance back at the persona, that WAS him.
   
   In other words, don't waste your money!!

5 comments about Love, Lucy.

1. I quite enjoyed this one. It is Lucy's "lost" autobiography--that is, it was only discovered and published after her death in 1989. It was found tucked away in the files of her former attorney, discovered when her children were processing her estate. Apparently, Lucy had begun an "as told to" book by dictating for two years to a talented secretary who transcribed her tapes and even traveled to her hometown to interview her childhood friends for their memories. The resulting product is the history of Lucy from her birth in 1911 to Christmas of 1962. It is written in the present tense, and many of the readers who knew her commented that it was in her "own voice." When Lucie got to listen to the tapes, she even discovered that her mother had been accurately quoted for once! A warm picture emerges of an ambitious but essentially normal comedienne who was very family-oriented and hard-working. Her father died before she had a chance to know him, but she was raised lovingly by her mother and maternal grandparents. She goes through stints of modeling and starring in movies, about which time she meets Desi Arnaz. He played the Cuban firecracker to her more low-key character, and the sparks flew. They went on together to produce the most beloved television show of all time and to rule over the empire of Desilu Productions. But they found themselves not too compatible in the end--he was working too hard and given to explosive rages, and his drinking and many infidelities didn't help matters any. He humiliated her publically on many occasions, and that was why she eventually wanted a divorce. But she remained fond of him, and put this book away because she was afraid that its revelations would hurt him. She went on to meet and marry Gary Morton and found happiness with him for many years until her death. But Gary is only a small part of this book--you walk away struck by what Lucy and Desi achieved together that neither could have achieved alone.



2. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a Lucy fan. Knowing that it is an autobiography makes it more interesting. You can almost hear her voice as you read through the lines. Her life wasn't all roses. Lots of pictures for us to enjoy. Get the book. You won't put it down.



3. Love, Lucy by Lucille Ball was an autobiography she wrote but never published. Her daughter Lucie found the manuscript and decided to publish it almost a decade after her mother's death. Lucille Ball was a comic gem, she did everything so perfectly. This book is good but some of the parts seem empty so I can't give this book 5 stars. Ball talks about her modeling days, how she met and fell in love with Desi Arnaz, her hit t.v. show and becoming a businesswoman when she was highly criticized for being too tough. Check this good summer read out sometime, enjoy!



4. I picked this book up on a recommendation from someone who used to work on the I Love Lucy Show (Dann Cahn). It was fantastic! Written by Lucy herself, it really focused on her feelings and thoughts early on. Once I started I couldn't put it down.



5. I found this book to be very well written and interesting I discovered things about Lucille Ball that I did not know. It held my interest from beginning to end. If you are a fan of I Love Lucy you will enjoy this book I highly recommend it to everyone.

No comments about One Speck of Humanity (Charnwood Large Print Library Series).

5 comments about Look Me in the Eye: My Life With Asperger's (Thorndike Press Large Print Biography Series).

1. "Look Me in the Eye" by John Elder Robison is a compelling look at Asperger's Syndrome through the life of one who never let his condition slow him down. Robison, the brother of memoirist Augusten Burroughs, is a compelling storyteller and perhaps more interesting than his struggles and discoveries as a person living with Asperger's are his insights into his messed-up childhood, his hjinks as a young man living on his own, his sound engineering work with KISS, and his years in the corporate world. An enjoyable read. Grade: B.



2. Look Me In The Eye: My Life With Aspergers by John Robison ***1/2
   
   Look Me In The Eye can at times be hard to swallow. While it is interesting to see how the disease effected Robison's life that is as far as the book goes with merit. Being the brother of well known and highly regarded author Augusten Burroughs he had big shoes to fill, and for his first outing he does fine. Also being his brother it is very interesting to see how the two both came out of their childhoods some what normal.
   
   As they are brothers a lot of the stories told here have been told by Burroughs in his work before this. So the reader would hope to get a new perspective on the events and see it from someone else view. Well they are told the same way making the book seem boring at times.
   
   Robison's stories often become very technical (due in part to his disorder), making some of the stories boring. The parts and things he used to build something are not nearly as interesting as what he did with those parts and he doesn't get that. This is also in part to his disorder.
   
   But to see his struggle with his parents on top of his personal demons is fascinating and entertaining as a memoir. To see a man overcome his demons is always uplifting and wonderful to witness. For that Look Me In The Eye is not a total loss.
   
   If you have the patience this is a nice read as well as an eye opening one...no pun intended.



3. John Elder Robison has Asperger's Syndrome, but it wasn't diagnosed until he was in this thirties. Asperger's Syndrome wasn't even understood until the early 1980's. Aspergers is a form of autism. Most with Aspergers are usually highly intelligent BUT have a difficult time communicating with other people and tend to be loners. When they do express themselves it normally all comes out wrong which offends other people.
   
   John Elders mother was mental problems and the father was an alcoholic.
   
   This is a memoir not a fictional story so it doesn't flow like other books. The writing is a bit choppy at times and at other times goes into too much details. So what. John Elders mind doesn't work like ours and shouldn't be criticised for not having a brilliant writing form.
   
   I really enjoyed the audio and would recommend it to anyone. John Elder proves different is not always wrong.



4. We have an amazing and gifted son with Aspergers.
   
   I first heard about this book listening to NPR on my way to work one day. When I arrived at work, two of my colleagues had heard John as well and made sure to tell me about John and his book. That weekend, my in-laws visited from New York and my mother-in-law already was halfway through the book. That Sunday evening I got my own copy before a business trip and read it on a flight from Boston to San Jose. I could not put it down.
   
   I recommend this book for parents, teachers, grand parents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, girlfriends, boyfriends, school bus drivers, neighbors, colleagues, managers and anyone else who interacts with a person in the Autism spectrum.
   
   This book gave me tremendous insights to my son and how my son views his world, which is very differnt than how I view mine. I was given the lense or decoder ring that helped me see (or at least begin to understand)what my son sees and feels, does not see and does not feel. I was so entertained and moved by John's book that I sent him an email of thanks immediately upon arrival at the San Jose airport.
   
   When John was a preteen and teen, he wanted to make friends but did not know how, which is the opposite of most perceptions of children with Asperger's. In John's adult years, he now wishes that his parents and other mentors in his life pushed him more to engage socially. I took this to heart. This has proven true with my son who just recently said that he wants to make friends but is afraid to fail and that he may be viewed as goofy. All kids feel this way, I know, but it is so profound and acute with my son and John. This and many other passages in the book helped me tremendously.
   
   This is an entertaining and at times dark and funny book you should read.



5. Ever since I learned about Asperger's syndrome, I have been wanting to know more. When I read the first review of the book in People magazine I knew I had to read it. I sensed that someone I loved very much just might have Aspergian traits and I hoped this book would answer some questions I had. I expected more of a textbook nonfiction book and was quite surprised to find that it was a tale of growing up, outside the definition of "normal." I sat down with a highlighter expecting to mark the most relevant parts and just read with serious attention rather than studying the facts. To always wonder why you aren't accepted would challenge anyone, but John Elder Robison learned how to survive and grow to accept his differences and overcome criticism of teachers, family and friends. He found his own happiness and was able to accept who he was and become successful in his own world and share his intellect and thought processes with all of us. Can I actually say that my loved one has Aspergian traits now that I've read the book? No, but I have learned some ways to deal with a highly intellectual, very analytical and logical human being. Thank you, John Elder.

No comments about The Tears of War.

5 comments about A Reporters Life (Random House Large Print (Paper)).

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 Truth & Beauty: A Friendship.

1. The reason I even looked at reviews for this book is so that I could gage how trustworthy other book reviews on here are and how seriously I should take them. Now that I look at the negative, totally ridiculous critiques of Truth and Beauty, I'm never trusting another sour review on here again! When somebody asks me, "What's your favorite book?" I used to say something by T. Capote or M. Angelo, but now I reply, without hesitation, "TRUTH & BEAUTY by Ann Patchett!" Seriously. This book is awesome and I'm annoyed even reading other bad reviews on here about it. Patchett writes in a way that makes me stop, re-read the page, and then say to myself, "Damn, this is great stuff! Why didn't I think of something like that?" I think if you are an aspiring writer, or just somebody who appreciates intelligent, well-written prose, then you should read this one. Do not trust the other reviewers on this page - they're probably the kind of people who'd give a Harlequin novel 5 stars.



2. Readers will likely recognize the author's name from her previous novels, including Bel Canto, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award, and The Patron Saint of Liars, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Readers also may recognize Ann Patchett from her articles that appear in such publications as Gourmet, the New York Times Magazine, and the Paris Review. No doubt, some readers will recognize Patchett's friend, Lucy Grealy, as the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, Autobiography of a Face.
   
   Truth & Beauty is the story of the friendship shared by Lucy Grealy and Ann Patchett. It is at once tender, heartwarming, heartbreaking and complex. Truth & Beauty is neither the story of Lucy nor the story of Ann, but of the parts of each life that were shared. What one lacked, the other offered for the relationship. What one shared, the other reached out to receive.
   
   Ann and Lucy met in the early 1980s while attending college. At the Iowa Writers' Workshop, they began a friendship that would become a lifelong process. This is no ordinary friendship. It is one riddled with emotional upheaval, creative successes and disappointments, health crises, and ultimately the lecherous hold of drug abuse.
   
   This is a phenomenal look at the way in which two exceptionally creative people lived, loved, wrote, and grappled with the realities of life. It is also an extremely sensitive description of the way a woman wrought with illness, despair and depression can one minute create beauty and the next minute search for ways to destroy herself.
   
   Truth & Beauty is the story of two friends who loved one another through the best and worst of times. It is a portrayal of loyalty and devotion over more than twenty years of friendship, and a haunting, heartbreaking portrait of the belief in the invincibility of one who lives so largely despite their diminuitive size. Only to find that no one is invincible...no one.
   
   by Lee Ambrose
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



3. I'm giving this book 3 stars because I like Ann Patchett's writing very much, but the story isn't as interesting to me as a woman in my mid-40s as it would have been had I read this in my 20s. In my 20s, this would have been a grand sweeping tragedy - a life changing book, a standard by which to judge loyalty and friendship. In my 40s, I went "eh." I read this as the story of two highly dysfunctional people in a suffocating relationship. It feels like Patchett wrote it as a way to exorcise her grief; and also perhaps examine her own less than healthy behavior. It did make me want to read more of Patchett's fiction. I picked up a copy of Patron Saint of Liars and am going to give that a try next. Part of me wants to say, Ann just forgive yourself already. We've all been there and done that. Maybe not in such an extreme way or for so many years... but we've all been sucked in by a charming selfish user. Learn a lesson and move on.



4. I don't like memoirs, but I read this one in one day. The two writers Anne Patchett and Lucy Grealy meet at Sarah Lawrence and later are roommates while pursuing Master's Degrees at the Iowa Writer's Workshop. Fate deals them both great success as writers, yet their personal paths take completely divergent courses. The bond of friendship spans two decades and countless heartbreaks. Anne Patchett does portray herself to be the 'saint' in this friendship but you would almost have to be to endure the suffering that being friend to Lucy Grealy demanded. The themes of friendship, art, loneliness and love are rendered with realism and depth. Patchett's obvious love for writing and her poet friend is shared in this gift of a book.



5. wonderfully written. if you put a gun to my head and ask who was a better writer, patchett or her friend lucy grealy, the friend that makes completes this companionship, i'd say grealy. much more forceful, passionate and wild writer, hence grealy is not alive now, but patchett is. good book however. check out grealy's writings too.

5 comments about Ann-Margret: My Story.

1. I had the audiotape version, read by the author, and was surprised at how hokey it sounded, given that she is an actress. I mean, I expected a better reading. Not sure how well it represents her, but the book makes her come across as a bit shallow. I've enjoyed her movies, but found this book a bore.



2. This review is based on hardcover 1994 publication...

   Accomplished actress, entertainer, wife, daughter, mother -- Ann-Margret writes an informative, entertaining autobiographical picture of her life, loves, losses, heartaches, and continued triumphs. Candidly, this performer tells of her successes but is also honest about her bouts with alcohol - and her triumph over the illness - more than once. It is interesting to note pride in her heritage from Valsjobyn, Sweden, her birthplace... with a close and loving relationship with her parents and their immigration to the US.

   To read Ann-Margret's autobiography is to cry, laugh, & cheer... reading of her downs but mostly ups, with her loving husband and manager Roger Smith, who battled his own nerve disease to remission, and remained at Ann-Margret's side to support her personally and professionally, through hard times and more good times. The loss of her father to cancer; the death of Elvis Presley; her accidental fall from a platform at a performance in Lake Tahoe and finding the astounding strength and determination to come back to the entertainment world so quickly from so many injuries suffered in that fall... tells of the inner strength, stability, astuteness, professional, unselfish and loving human being that is Ann-Margret, who always keeps her positive focus within reach.

   Ann-Margret's career began at an early age; even though a "natural talent", her success came with a lot of very hard work, high standards, and fortitude based on a mannerly upbringing and strong support by her parents, friends and husband Roger Smith. Ann-Margret describes in her bio a close and soulmate relationship within the scope of personal as well as professional essence with legendary Elvis Presley. Her upbeat description and tales of her co-stars, including "Duke" John Wayne; Claudette Colbert; Bette Davis; George Burns; directors, producers, along with many supportive individuals.

   Her range of talent is wide -- in song, dance... acting on stage, movie screen and television, along with her comedy performances among which are Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Lucille Ball, and the great George Burns. Acting roles she assumed were highly challenging and to her credit she glowed with each performance, in differing genre delving into in-depth characterizations -- her repertoire includes but not limited to "Bye Bye Birdie", "Tommy", "Streetcar Named Desire", "Carnal Knowledge", "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles".

   This reader has always been a fan of both Ann-Margret and husband Roger Smith, ignoring the tabloid garbage... cheering and admiring the fortitude of both of these talented persons and their lasting relationship...

   And to Ann-Margret I say... thank you for writing your biography, even though it took me some years to get to reading it among my large collection of books. And, I am so glad I did... I am proud to be a "forever fan" of yours. God bless you.




3. This is a really good book well written, flows nicely and great story.



4. She has always been one of my most favorite entertainers. She is a truly remarkable woman and reading this book reinforced that fact. I enjoyed every page. Well done, Ann-Margret!



5. Ann-Margret gives us a wonderful and candid portrait of one of the most fascinating actresses in the business, her strengths and weaknesses, her wins and losses in both her professional and personal life. I have a great deal of respect for her as an actress, a lady and a woman. A good read.