5 comments about Backstage at the Dean Martin Show.

1. Lee Hale, who staged most of the musical portions of Dean Martin's TV variety shows, takes pains to explain that the show's relaxed, effortless charm was really the result of shrewd pre-planning by the production team, so the star seldom had to worry about anything. Hale takes us through these intricate logistics and the miraculous results, telling us which celebrity guests were solid professionals, and which were less so. There are a few surprises here -- one seemingly sweet and humble comedian appears to have been a Class-A jerk offstage. Hale also touches on the Dean Martin summer-replacement shows (not enough information about these, unfortunately, but the author is principally concerned with the "regular-season" show) and the Dean Martin celebrity roasts (which ultimately eclipsed the variety series).
   
   The text is at its best when the author describes "The Dean Martin Show" at its height; Hale's enthusiasm soars and anecdotes flow when the show is going like gangbusters. The later chapters are more distant, reflecting the author's disappointment when Martin went into decline personally and professionally, and the author's memory is hazy at least once (second-banana Lou Jacobi is misidentified as Abe Vigoda).
   
   Readers expecting a no-holds-barred expose will be disappointed that Hale seldom shoots from the hip; his overall tone is affectionate and restrained. Fans who recall "The Dean Martin Show" will like this book most, but there are enough show-biz tidbits and photos to intrigue the casual reader. All in all, a very enjoyable book.



2. I buzzed through this book and was completely fascinated by the backstage comedy/dramas of putting on "The Dean Martin Show." I'm still floored by a Jimmy Stewart quote on page 131 of the hardback edition: wow. Thank you, Lee Hale, for naming names.

   If you were around to see Dino's shows or the roasts, this book will open your eyes to a lot of what happened behind the scenes and give you some insights into many celebrities who showed up on these stages.
   And at the center is the enigmatic King of Cool himself, the star who breezed in and out only for the show's taping, kept a photo of himself with Cardinal Spellman over his dressing room bar, kept even the closest people guessing whether that was apple juice or liquor in his glass.
   The more you learn about Dino, the less you knew him--and the cooler he seems for it.




3. This book is very detailed and it goes behind the scenes to tell you really what happened on this great old Thursday night program. Dean worked very hard....LY!
   
   Nevertheless, it's a magical ride thru great television lore.
   Dean Martin was one of the greatest entertainers ever placed in Hollywood. He will long be remembered for these shows as well as the Roasts ( that gets reviewed as well in the book).
   
   PERFECT BOOK FOR THE MARTIN FAN!



4. Enjoyed the book very much. Had alot of pictures of guest,and a year by year acount of when they were on.



5. I read the other reviews and was really looking forward to reading this book. I was very disappointed. After you have read one chapter, you have read the whole thing. Let me summarize for you: Dean is super talented and didn't like to, or need to rehearse. Greg Garrison is a genius. All of the guest stars were wonderful and were amazed that Dean did not rehearse. All the women loved Dean. The end. I just saved you several hours.

5 comments about Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir.

1. Ms. Goodwin knows how to tell a good story. In addition to telling us about her childhood in a New York City suburb in the 1950s, she also talks about the changes America was going through in this time period: economic development and the impact on the family, the beginnings of the civil rights movement, the "end" of baseball as the American pasttime. The book is well-written and very enjoyable.



2. Most interesting for me since I am a "wait till next year" Red Sox fan. She's an excellent writer and commentator and this lives up to her standard.



3. Wait Till Next Year is about baseball and life. It is the title of Doris Kearns Goodwin's memoir of childhood. Set in suburban New York in the `50s, and lived before the backdrop of baseball, the account follows Goodwin through her childhood ending when she is fifteen at the death of her mother Helen, and the move from the family home. The opening line: "When I was six, my father gave me a bright-red scorebook that opened my heart to the game of baseball."
   
   When Thomas Kearns teaches his daughter to keep a scorecard on each Brooklyn Dodger game he initiates her love for baseball, as well as for telling a compelling narrative. Baseball bonds their relationship. With careful records Doris relives each game with her father after he comes home from work. Baseball permeates other relationships. Doris listens to games on the radio after school with her mother. Her first boyfriend shares her love for baseball; her best girlfriend Elaine does too, although she was a rabid Giant's fan. The repetitive disappointment about the team's poor results demanded optimistic philosophy. Ever hopeful of winning a pennant, "wait till next year" became the family theme at the close of a season of defeat.
   
   Defeat overwhelms the Kearns' family when Helen dies. For a time Thomas' grief was inconsolable. Doris threw herself into activity and study. One of the final scenes in the book takes place in the attic. Doris and her father are looking at a box of old scorebooks. Thomas admits he cannot live in the house anymore without his wife. It is time to move on. Baseball continues, as does their family. Cycles repeat. In the final pages of the memoir Doris initiates her own sons into the culture of baseball teaching them, like her father had taught her, how to keep a scorebook. Like her father she opens her sons' hearts to the game of baseball. "Wait till next year" prevails.



4. Doris Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize winning author. She is a democrat and mostly she writes about politics. However several years back she took part in Ken Burns documentary film on baseball and portrayed her memories and love of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1950s and later as an adult in Massachusetts, the Boston Red Sox.
   
   This stimulated her to reflect on her childhood days as a Dodger fan and she decided to write a book about it. But as she carefully researched her memory and her past she found that it was all intertwined with her life groing up as an impresionable girl on Long Island in the 1950s. Her parents her friends and her future wriing career were all tied togehter. So this delightful book is a memoir of her childhood growing up and living and dying for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
   I am 55 years old, slightly younger than Goodwin but I too grew up in the 1950s on Long Island and can relate to many of her experiences. She discusses how she started learning about baseball and the Dodgers when her father taught her how to fill out a scorecard. In the evenings during their quiet time together she would use the scorecard like a cue to narrate the game she listened to on the radio that day. This brought the game to life for her father and created an interest in her in narration that carried on into a career of writing.
   
   The book flows marvelously and you see the world from the eyes of an impressionable grammar school girl. Goodwin is somehow able to go back and put herself back in the mind of that little naive child. We see her devotion to the Catholic church, the fear of polio in the ealry 1950s before the vaccines. I know this so well as I contracted polio in the summer of 1953 though I never got it so bad as to need an iron lung. We here of her confessions as she admitted to her priest that she wished harm on the Dodger opponents. We learn about the kids in the neighborhood, all Dodger, Giant or Yankee fans. I was a Yankee fan but my brother and all my friend that I played ball with as a kid were Dodger fans. The Dodgers were the most popular team in New York. They were the underdogs and the team for the common working man.
   
   Goodwin's first boyfriend was a boy she got to know because he was a Dodger fan and they could talk so comfortably about the Dodgers. This is a story about the Dodger players she admired; Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Don Newcombe and Carl Furillo and the Yankees and Giants that she dispised, Mays, Mantle, Martin, Berra and others. It is a story about devotion and heartbreak; Bobby Thomson's home run, the story of Mickey Owens' dropped third strike. Billy Martin's heroics is 52 and 53. But it is also the thrill of 1955 when Dodger fans finally didn't have to say wait till next year.
   
   As all this goes on we also hear about her mother's health problems and her childhood girlfriends, the beginning years of television, the Army - McCarthy hearings, the cold war, the civil defense drills and the fallout shelters, memorable events for those growing up in the 1950s.
   
   



5. As a college drop out I am not what many people might consider well read. While school was never my strong suit, and studying was an event that rarely ever happened, I did manage to read a few great books along the way. My first and best semester of college I read Wait 'til Next Year. While I am not a fan of sports and am not competitive at all, this book was beautifully written and takes the reader on a tour through the author's life, all in the language of baseball. Using the sport as a way to framework the personal story was a wise choice as it gives great metaphors and context to the tale. I suppose I also have good memories tied into the novel as well, considering that I did really well grade-wise that semester and I remember really enjoying this book when I read it at that time.

5 comments about Me and My Shadows: A Family Memoir.

1. I read Luft's version of her own mothers story. A very good book, told from someone close enough to feel the total pain and agony that the rest of the world felt- only amplified as her daughter.
   Luft's book does paint a little fairy tale into the mix, but is a shocking story of watching your mother slip down a long dark slope.
   Luft tells about Judy's start in Hollywood which is equally as interesting as the photo's in the book. Luft paints that love story between her mother and father and leaves you feeling his loss for her.
   She also explains the relationship between her and sister Liza Minelli.
   It's a great boigraphy.



2. This is a great book and being a Judy Garland admirer, nothing about her life would make me not be a fan but it's more refreshing to hear what happened from someone who was there instead of a biographer who "makes up" stories of what he/she has heard.
   
   This is a great book - it's truthful, compassionate and real.



3. Its difficult to believe that anyone anywhere would get anything out of this auto biography. her whole point seemed to be that Sid Luft was the greatest man and has gotten a bad rap . Her book vindicates him, and she has a way of portraying her mom as a nightmare without actually coming across as being a rotten daughter. Very clever of her but unfortunately her book isnt as clever or well written to make up for the denial and genuine lack of insight or honesty in the book.
   Talking about your drug problems is NOT honest. its just common knowledge and quite acceptable in todays society.
   Lorna seems to reduce everything in her life to addiction, her mothers, her own and her sisters.
   As for Liza, well, i agree with another review, Lorna manages to talk alot about Liza's addiction while glossing over her own.
   And as for the quote on the back of her book
   " Lorna is the most talented of us all"
   Judy Garland
   well, i dont want to state the obvious but
   We know who we're talking about when we say
   JUDY or
   LIZA
   how many trys would someone have to come up with when they heard
   Lorna
   before they said Luft?



4. What is incredible about this book is Lorna Luft's first becoming acquainted, in her mid-thirties, with the theory of alcoholism as a family disease.
   
   It brings to mind Liza Minnelli's appearance on "Inside the Actors Studio" a year or two ago. She told the audience to look up alcoholism, because it actually is a disease!
   
   It makes one wonder whether these two were living under glittery, spangled rocks, or something.
   
   The book is an interesting read, but the many, many pages devoted to Ms. Luft's late-in-life revelations about her mother's and her sister's addictions are like patiently watching a child play with color crayons: You know you're doing the polite thing, but Gawd, it's boring.
   
   Finally, I wonder who edited this book. "Me and Joey," and "Me and Mama," and "Me and Liza," and so on. After the first few dozen, it's like reading a letter from camp.
   
   Is it to remind the reader of the title of the book he already has in his hand, or is it just plain bad grammar?



5. I recently read this book. Although it is not the best autobiography I have ever read it is not the worst either. It is a good interesting read. Ms. Luft is honest and straight forward with how she saw things. I have read other posts blasting her for false statements. And I have to ask those blasting her: Where you there? Did you live it?
   
   One reviewer is under the mistaken idea that Judy was forced to live in London at the end of her life. Not so. She went there quite often to do concerts and I believe was there to do a concert when she passed away. No one forced her out of the country if you read the book no one forced her to do anything no one dared!
   
   Frankly if you want to know the real Judy read this book from someone who loves and cares about her and was there with her constantly. As for cashing in on her mother I don't find that is the case here. I think she just wants to tell her side of the story. After all most books about Ms. Garland are full of false stories and written by people who really did want to cash in on her name. One that comes to mind is her last husband Mickey Deans, who only knew her for a few months not years. Talk about a garbage book.
   
   I didn't find that she was trashing her mother at all on the contrary she was trying to set the record straight. I had no doubt while reading this that she loved her mother very much. It had to be very painful to write this book. On many occasions in the book she says her mother was a great mother. These people blasting Ms. Luft are obviously people who have never lived with someone this dependant on drugs and this mentally affected by those drugs. As one reviewer says "sure she could be difficult, what addict isn't?" Difficult? She threw knifes at people on at least two occasions! This is a reviewer who has never had to deal with this type of problem. Thirty years of the volume of drugs Ms. Garland ingested is going to generate someone that is more than just difficult.
   
   To get on Ms. Luft's case for moving in with her father 10 months before the death of her mother is ridiculous. To say, as one reviewer did, at least the "sleazy hanger-on" were there at the end is ludicrous. Ms. Luft was a teenager. She should not have had to continue to live in that environment. It was not her responsibility to take care of her mother at that age. She did for many years, but it took its toll on her. It showed great strength to walk away.
   
   Reading some of these scathing reviews leads me to believe the people didn't really read the book. They are just Judy fanatics that cannot stand that there icon was not a saint. She was human with human frailties.
   
   Another reviewer blasts Sid Luft and his treatment of Judy and how he pushed her too hard. The book clearly says that Sid Luft did not want to be her manager that Judy wanted him to manage her, so he did. The book also states he watched out for her and monitored her pill intake so she would not take more than perscribed. From what is decribed in the book he had nothing but her best intrest at heart and would not do anything to hurt her.
   
   Everyone has a point of view. Growing up my memories are not the same as my sisters or brothers, but that does not make mine or their memories false just a different point of view. This is true of all families, whether you are famous or not, so the same holds true for Ms. Luft's memories of her family. She was there. This is her point of view on actual events that occured in her life; the reviewers here were not there, so if you want to learn about the real Judy Garland as seen through the eyes of someone very close to her read this book.

5 comments about The Life and Crimes of Agatha Christie (Charnwood Large Print Library Series).

1. I have enjoyed reading and re-reading Agatha Christie's novels for many years. In my opinion, she truly had an original mind and a keen understanding of human nature that made her characters seem to come alive, no matter what "carelessness" may have existed in the plotting out of later novels. It is in this regard that Mr. Osbornes highly analytical mind goes a bit too far in summarizing her stories (they are, after all, just stories). It is also why I did not like his "novelizations" of her plays at all; they still read like scripts, the characters moving stiffly from one side of the set to another.
   But beyond delving too deep into the meaning of mystery novels, my biggest issue is that his over-analysing seems to have created plot inconsistencies where there were none. For example, when outlining "Murder on the Links" (1923) Mr. Osborne writes about how the face of the murdered man is described in detail, then Poirot tells Hastings that a piece of lead pipe discovered near the body was intended to disfigure the murdered man's face. "Poirot's theory of the crime, fortunately, does not hinge upon this point!" Mr. Osborne writes. In fact, his theory DOES hinge on that point. The man who was killed was not the intended victim. The victim had brought the lead pipe himself in order to disfigure another man's face to fake his own death. Then, ironically, he was murdered himself. This is made absolutely clear, and it was baffling to me that Mr. Osborne could make this and other such a misinformed statement about the book. It was almost as though he had been skimming through the novels for the sole purpose of discovering flaws to "catch" her at. "Look! Nobody else noticed this mistake she made but me!"
   So while it is interesting to read about what was going on in her life while she was writing each work, it just feels like Mr. Osborne is trying too hard to be more clever than Agatha Christie. Sorry Mr. Osborne, but there is a reason why more people have heard of her than you!



2. Charles Osborne's book offers a fast-paced chronicle of Dame Christie's life and unbiased critique of her works. The book highlighted many interesting tidbits of Christie's private life (engrossing account of Ms. Christie's famous disappearance in 1926; her work as an archaeologist's assistant; her love for dogs; idiosyncrasies like forever munching on apples while she wrote) to her characters (from her intolerance over sleuth Poirot to her favorite character, Caroline Sheppard, not least her alter-ego, Adraidne Oliver).
   
   While in general affectionately and reverently written, Osbourne remained impartial and did not skim over Agatha Christie's limitations as a writer of sorts:
   
   (1) As a Poet - "...talent for poetry was genuine, but modest and of no startling originality..."
   
   (2) Grasp of French language - "...despite her Paris finishing school, Ms. Christie's French was to remain obstinately unidiomatic..." in reference to Poirot's characterization.
   
   (3) Heavy-handedness - "...construction of English sentences a trifle more exotic than needs be".
   
   (4) Subjectivity - "...you won't turn people into angels by appealing to their better nature yet awhile - but by judicious force...."
   
   (5) Occasional propensity to not play fair by non-disclosure - "I have a certain amount of rules. No false words must be uttered by me....but it's not unfair to leave things out".
   
   (6) Carelessness - "Mrs. Christie's carelessness again? Or simply a misprint in certain editions? Or has Poirot moved without telling even his creator?" and "She tells us that Ackroyd is nearly 50 years of age,...later it becomes clear that he could not have been older than 43" and "now in the 80s, Dame Agatha is more careless than ever. Improbabilities are not explained, certain things do not quite add up....".
   
   (7) Recycling of plots - "Variations of one of the plot of one of the stories....will be presented in...Murder in the Mews and in the novel, Evil Under the Sun....the plot of another story...will be made use of again in the novel...an element in the plot of ....will re-occur in ....".
   
   (8) Limited literary range - "....examine various aspects of human behavior that is impressive, rather than the actual quality of her writing, though her prose is never less than adequate to convey mood and meaning..." and "...Death by Drowning which is also one of the few occasions when Agatha Christie strayed into working class territory".
   
   (9) Monotony & Repetition - "...for they are (Miss Marple's tales) all very sedentary stories whose action is recounted in retrospect..." and "...the reader is plunged again into Christiean nursery rhyme syndrome: a series of murders committed concurrently with the progress of the images in a nursery rhyme".
   
   (10) Anti-Semitism - "The mandatory racial slurs...have been edited out of more recent American editions....".
   
   I disagree with reviewers who criticized Osbourne's book for being biased for he has ostensibly studied and researched the subject matter to the point that he could thoroughly cross-reference both the good and the bad in Agatha Christie's works (read: inconsistencies/flaws/negligence/carelessness, or that of her editors*). Having personally read the entire oeuvre of Christie's crime novels, I believe Osbourne's conclusion that "the plotting of some of Poirot and Miss Marple novels which Agatha Christie wrote in the last 15 years of her life is a more than a trifle lax" is more than justified.
   
   *Not only did Osbourne not give away the plots, he also painstakingly forewarned would-be readers of Christie's crime novels to be wary of untimely revelation of plots/true identities of murderers - "...Cards on the Table quite gratuitously reveals the solution to Murder on the Orient Express. Readers of "Cards" who have not already read "Murder" should get a friend to block out the sentence..." and "In Chapter 18 (of "Dumb Witness"), the author allows Poirot to mention the names of four delightful personalities, all of whom were murderers....the danger could be avoided by deleting 5 or 6 lines...".
   
   It has been 20 years since I last read Agatha Christie's books. With a keen mind and depth of knowledge, Osbourne fairly documented ideas and goings-on pertaining to the Queen of Detective Stories, not least enunciated many of the thoughts and views I (and probably representative as one voice of those of her fans) concluded in passing while reading Christie's books.
   
   In fact, Osbourne's excellent biographical companion has since reawakened my desire to re-read Dame Christie's selective works, her creme de la creme - "Murder of Roger Ackroyd", "Murder on the Orient Express", "And Then There Were None", to name just a few - written during her most prolific years in the 1930s and 40s.



3. This book is pretty well summed up in its subtitle: "A Biographical Companion to the Works of Agatha Christie."
   
   It is also one of those useful and occasionally indispensable volumes compiled by a natural-born plodder. Osborne is the chosen scribbler given the task of producing novelized versions of some of Christie's plays. He clearly is held in high favor by the Christie Trust. As a biographer, it very quickly becomes clear that he is concerned with presenting the Establishment picture of Dame Agatha May Clarissa Miller Christie Mallowan. There will be no surprises and no probing beneath the respectable (save for nearly two weeks in December 1926) life of the public figure.
   
   The one lurid episode in the lady's life, her mysterious disappearance, is wrapped up on pages 51 to 57 of the hardbound edition with no more factual material than that contained in Christie's famously uncommunicative autobiography. Of speculation, there is even less. So little, in fact that the existence of "Agatha," a popular mystery novel by Kathleen Tynan that offers amusing conjectures about Christie's actions and motives, is willfully ignored. This is even more true of the movie based upon the book that featured Vanessa Redgrave as Agatha and Timothy Dalton as Archie. The index of Osborne's book does, indeed, have an entry for Ms. Redgrave, but it refers to a small part she had in the movie of "Murder on the Orient Express," not to her portrayal of Agatha Christie herself.
   
   This ultra orthodox approach to biography does no particular harm. The essentials of Christie's public life are laid out well enough. In all probability, the inner Christie was as respectable as the outer one--but we don't know and with biographers like Charles Osborne, we never shall.
   
   Osborne's treatment of the "Works of Agatha Christie" is that of a mystery fan, not a critic. He provides a sketch of how a work came to be written, identifies the main characters, establishes the premise of novel, story or play, but he never outlines the complete plot and he never, never identifies a culprit.
   
   There are, of course, some critical trappings. Poirot's French, we are informed, is sometimes less than idiomatic. Christie occasionally gave voice to the casual and unthinking anti-Semitism of the class and time into which she had been born. (That deplorable fault faded away with time, particularly after a pre-World War II encounter with a Nazi official stationed in the Middle East. He was perfectly charming to her and her second husband until he shocked her by going all Dalek while talking about the Jews then in Germany: "Exterminate them!") Christie had a thrifty, want-not-waste-not bent for recycling useful plots and details of action, such as three or four occasions in which one character looking over another's shoulder suddenly observes something that will lead to grim results. As Agatha became elderly, her books became less tightly plotted and her dialogue more diffuse. All this is widely known and perfectly acceptable to the Christie Establishment. On the other hand, there is no insight offered as to why, in particular, Christie's prose continues to sell books at a quite remarkable rate while her great contemporaries, Marsh, Allingham and even Sayers have largely fallen by the wayside.
   
   This is not a great book but, for all its plodding ways, it is a useful guide and reference. I assign four stars to it in the sure and certain expectation that I'll give it a toss when something better comes along. I don't think that will be soon.



4. Agatha Christie (1890-1972)is generally considered the single most widely published and read novelist in the history of publishing. Best known for mystery novels featuring such characters as Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple, she was also a noted dramatist and memorable short story writer, and under the name Mary Westmacott generated several well-regarded works as well. But for all her fame, her private life--as Lady Mallowan--was indeed private: although she made the occasional public appearance for the sake of her latest venture, she resisted public intrusion; even her autobiography, although entertaining, is somewhat uninformative.
   
   Published in 1982, Charles Osborne's THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF AGATHA CHRISTIE is typical of the numerous "Life and Works" books re Christie: it tells you nothing you will not find in a dozen sources or more. But it does so in meticulous detail, covering what is known of Christie's life and tying it to her various works. From her earliest book to her last, the book offers dates, publishing information, plot outlines, character notes, and all the rest--and ties each work to what Christie herself happened to be doing at the time. It's a handy sort of reference.
   
   Unfortunately, I have some issues with Osborne's skill as a critic. Or more specifically, his lack thereof. Osborne is fond of shrugging off Christie's distinctly superior works in favor of her less successful efforts. He also "toes the line" in terms of what Christie fans want to hear (and in some cases prefer not to hear) about their favorite author. So while the book is interesting, useful, and even entertaining in a factual sense, it is considerably less so in an interpretive one. Recommended, but only just.
   
   GFT, Amazon Reviewer



5. Charles Osborne was chosen by the Christie estate to convert some of her plays into novel form. Last week we saw the first production of "Chimneys" a long lost play adapted from the novel, THE SECRET OF CHIMNEYS. Some times this works, but not always.
   THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF AGATHA CHRISTIE is a great reference work for checking publication dates and some story lines when so many titles are being reissued under a new title. It is plodding in its descriptions of the personal life of a very shy private woman. Some of the less than exemplary titles are given the same status of the great ones and any author has a flop, the one that just doesn't cut the mustard.
   A writer of Dame Christie's status is to be congratulated for having so few bloopers.
   Writing as a Small BusinessSins of the Fathers: A Brewster County NovelQualifying Laps: A Brewster County NovelNatchez Above The River: A Family's Survival In The Civil War

5 comments about Hallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories with Recipes (Random House Large Print (Paper)).

1. My daughter reproduced the same Caramel Cake that Maya made as a guest on Martha Stewart's show, for my birthday last fall...oh my gosh, it was so good!
   
   So good that I gave her Hallelujah! The Welcome Table, for Christmas.
   
   It is a warm and wonderful book, chock full of memories and yummy recipes...including the Caramel Cake.



2. I love this cookbook. I have already tried some recipes from it. Almost three weeks passed, however, before I received it. I am very satisfied with it.



3. A wonderful mix of story and recipe.
   As I try these wonderful southern dishes I recall her stories and I can sense the history of the dish.
   the caramel cake is worth 10x the price of the book alone.



4. None comes better. The recipes are honest and measure up to the quality of the author! Props to Sister Angelou !



5. I was so disappointed in this book. Not because it was a horrible book but because it ended. I was reading the memories she had of each recipe and throughly enjoying myself when I realized that the next page that I turned was the index. I didn't want it to be over so soon. I really felt a sense of deep disappointment. I was surprised at my reaction because it was after all only a recipe book. This book pulls you in and takes you on a journey both of her life and her culinary expertise. You will get wrapped up in it as you laugh and imagine the flavors of the dishes. I think that she should write another recipe book. I'm sure that these are not the only recipes she knows. I admire Dr. Angelou both as a poet, writer, woman, and cook.

5 comments about The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House (Thorndike Press Large Print Nonfiction Series).

1. This book is a must read for people who want to learn about ultimate influence



2. Given the enormous financial and investigative resources available to Time magazine reporters Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, it shouldn't be too much to expect historical accuracy in this biography. Then again, Time has been an uncritical cheerleader for Graham's ministry since the day in 1950 when publisher Henry Luce visited the young minister, then a houseguest at South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond's mansion, and decided to join William Randolph Hearst's efforts to "puff Graham." Time has a substantial investment in Graham's ministry, having run more than 600 stories about his career. Unfortunately, historical accuracy isn't one of the strong points of a book that is otherwise a pleasant enough read. People make mistakes, of course, but when they tend to fall in the same direction, one begins to suspect a hidden agenda. On the other hand, simple sloppiness can't be ruled out, as when they place Graham at Bob Jones College in Greenville, S.C., for his first year of higher education. When Graham dropped out during his freshman year that school was located in Cleveland, Tenn. The subtitle tells you all you need to know about the story between the covers. The book begins with Graham's rocky relationship with Harry S. Truman and ends with his fatherly embrace of George W. Bush. Those attracted to the preacher will find nothing to dislike, but also little that is new. This is the same generous tale told by Graham's publicity team in countless books, articles, movies, advertisements, TV appearances and, of course, crusades. According to this account, from Eisenhower forward, all of the presidents have sought Graham's counsel in varying degrees, and discovered a deep well of comfort and spiritual wisdom. The authors make mild forays into Graham's political mistakes and spend a long while on his purported close friendship with and later betrayal by Nixon, but the poking is gentle and Graham emerges as an older but wiser hero. The mistakes and omissions are telling, however. Careful to paint Nixon as the agent of darkness, they write: "The beloved Ike, Nixon charged, was `a far more complex and devious man than most people realized.'" Thus they imply that Nixon was even nasty to sweet old Dwight Eisenhower. But this can only be a deliberate misquote. In his book SIX CRISES Nixon actually concluded the sentence "and in the best sense of those words." His intention was to PRAISE Eisenhower. It is important for Nixon to be the sinner because the preacher the authors have chosen to present was supposedly suckered into long-term support for Tricky Dick, and was devastated when he learned that Nixon had deceived him. Much to Graham's enduring dismay, his back-room politicking had been tape-recorded and would come back to embarrass him over and over again through ensuing years. Nor have all of Nixon's notorious tapes yet been released. Graham's support for civil rights is painted as enthusiastic and heartfelt, but his actual record is far from clear. The authors repeat Graham's assertion that Martin Luther King, Jr., endorsed his arms-length approach to integration, without corroborating evidence, and neglect Graham's reaction to "I Have a Dream" in 1963. Graham conducted a press conference the next morning and said, "Only when Christ comes again will the little white children of Alabama walk hand in hand with little black children." Concerning King the authors also claim that he delivered volumes by Gandhi disguised in Billy Graham book jackets to imprisoned Freedom Riders in Mississippi. This is another example of either the authors' incautious research or eagerness to hitch Graham's wagon to King's star. According to Taylor Branch, writing in PILLAR OF FIRE (which the authors cite as their reference), the transporter of disguised books was Rev. Edwin King, a white preacher of no known relation to MLK. Lest it be overlooked elsewhere as it is in THE PREACHER AND THE PRESIDENTS, Graham's nonprofit enterprises have profited nicely from the high profile that presidential palavering has, in no small part, afforded him. While his annual personal income from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association only totalled a bit over $500,000 in recent years, he enjoyed a well-appointed "log cabin" estate in Montreat, N.C., with high tech communications gear and an indoor swimming pool, a vacation home in the posh country club community of Pauma Valley, California, and controlled tax-exempt properties worth hundreds of millions of dollars in North Carolina alone. Nor do these figures include income from books, recordings and television appearances, and may not include the receipts of the individual LLCs created for each of his crusades. To top it off, he bragged that he "never paid for a suit or a hotel room," though he seems to have preferred lodging in various mansions, both public and private, to the common discomforts of life in commercial rooms. THE PREACHER AND THE PRESIDENTS offers comforting fiction disguised as history. It is, without doubt, a book written for believers.



3. This biographical piece is considerably different from other works written about Billy Graham's life. Just As I Am (autobiography) and other histories of the Billy Graham Crusades evolve into hagiographies where Graham has faults but these are downplayed. This book tries to be as balanced as possible portraying some glaring weaknesses such as Graham's heavily favoring various presidents and presidential candidates, even in public, while not legalistically endorsing them.
   
   The insights into various presidencies is also very informative and shows them in ways that are probably consistent with what can be publically known but with nuances that may have been previously unknown. Certainly other Graham biographies have not entered into this level of detail.
   
   On balance, this is a genuine attempt to present Graham as he really is, particularly in relation to the presidents of the past 60 years. Those who are looking for a spiritually uplifting journey may be disappointed. That does not appear to be the point of this book.
   
   But for those who are not fans of Graham, and would like to know him better, this limited biography is very valuable



4. A fascinating read and deservedly praised, I found this book hard to put down until Chapter 31 on Billy's acquaintance with the Clintons. That chapter had a false ring - a different tone from the rest, that smacked me in the face. With so few comments there in Billy's words, as were heavily used in the chapters about other presidents, the writers droned on and on in their attempt to paint the Clintons as good as the rest. After their fairly even-handed (and exhaustive) work on both the humanity and duplicity of Nixon earlier in the book, I was unpleasantly amazed. Of course, most of the others are dead and gone, while Mrs. Clinton is running for a third term as co-president, and this makes it worse. The chapter sticks out as an effort to rub some of Billy's good character onto the Clintons by association. It didn't work.
   
   Several times during that chapter, I did put it down in disgust, wondering what happened here? I know spin when I see it. For what purpose did the writers, after relating so much that sounded genuine about all the presidents up to that point, think they needed to con readers into accepting that; while we were subjected to an amoral sex offender and his socialist wife for eight years, they were really just as normal, good Christians as all the others. Pandering to them in such a book included the writers' insinuations that Billy Graham supported the Clintons and approved, for example, of abortion and homosexuality along with them, which he emphatically did not. The way the writers gloss over the criminal conduct of the Clintons, a pass they certainly didn't give Nixon, defending and excusing them on and on ad nauseum, speaks volumes. The comparatively few words of Billy himself on that period, when it was he being interviewed for the book, is noticeable, too, in a look at the chapter. Note that Hillary bragged on several occasions what a personal help Billy had been to her, with no corroboration from him other than a meeting in 2005 in which he mentioned "private time". Yet by this point, we know his own self-imposed rules about that. Hillary's stories of "huddling with" Billy are as blatant lies as so many of her other stories, judging by what Billy himself says. But her stories are presented as accurate with no input from him, in contrast to the rest of the book.
   
   In giving the writers license, Billy was too trusting - as he often was because of his basic love for and trust in people. But I was so put off by this whitewash, I had to put the book down for a few days. Later I glanced back through the chapters, because I had also been struck by the short space given to President Reagan's term in the White House after he and Billy had been friends for 30 years. Yes, I was right - amazing how little space was given to those more recent years, compared to presidents before him.
   
   I learned a lot that was new; Carter's dislike for Billy despite professing the same religious beliefs, LBJ's real fondness for him. I was entranced by the new look at Eisenhower, saddened at the way Nixon took advantage of a genuine friendship, pleased to learn things I hadn't known about Bush 41 and the whole family. For the writers to push their personal bias in my face near the end came close to spoiling a great read for me. It is a wonderful book except for Chapter 31.



5. Although I've always known that Billy Graham was a charismatic evangelist, I didn't realize just how spiritual, humble, forgiving, and influential he was until reading this book. Not only was he allowed into the "inner sanctums" of powerful United States politicians and other movers and shakers, but he was also admitted entry into places in the world where others would not have been allowed. At the same time, he cared about "the least of these" and always felt his #1 mission in life was to spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
   
   Although he could easily hobnob with the presidents and their wives, he never lost his humility and the sure knowledge that God is in control of our lives. Whether golfing with a Bush, swimming with Johnson, or praying with Nixon, he did so in a spiritual role, not a political one. As the authors bring out, Graham didn't need fortune or fame. He saw himself as their pastor, their advocate with the Father. Presidents aren't as free as the rest of us to go to the Baptist church around the corner or the Catholic one downtown, so Billy Graham felt it was his responsibility to go to them...and go he did. Plus, I learned that no matter who the president was, Graham believed that he was God's divine choice and was thus supportive, even after Clinton's misdeeds and Nixon's Watergate situation.
   
   The most recurrent theme that I picked up is that regardless of what he was exposed to, Dr. Graham remained the evangelist sure of his purpose. Interestingly, however, the pundits and press and other religious leaders all had their criticisms...even when he was clearly doing what the scriptures admonish us to do. They even criticized him for being too forgiving, too conciliatory, not judgmental enough. HUH???
   
   Sure of his mission, I've got a feeling that Dr. Graham doesn't worry about such criticisms. His message is that everyone wants to be loved and that God loves us each and everyone, even the ones who disappoint, hurt, or criticize us.

No comments about Candleford Green (Isis Nonfiction).

5 comments about Marie Antoinette: The Journey.

1. Over halfway through in a just a few days. I love this book! I'm definitely looking into purchasing others by the author.



2. I really liked this book and finished it in record time--even though I knew how MA's story would end, it was fascinating to see that she was not entirely the arrogant and unapproachable Queen of lore. Yes, she made some mistakes and was extravagant at times, but certainly no more extravagant than previous Queens of France. Minimally any reader will say after reading this book that it is sad she was a Queen who did not pay more attention outside the walls of Versailles so that she might be less oblivious--but even then, I'm not sure she could have escaped her doomed fate.
   
   The treatment of the family during their captivity and particularly the treatment of their children is startling (not to mention the legendary treatment of the Princesse de Lamballe). In the end, I'm not sure what was worse--the royal family or the revolutionaries.



3. Hard to get into. The movie is better except the movie leaves out one of the children and I am sure alot more. Maybe onday I will be able to get into it.



4. I have read many books on the Dauphine over the years and this is one of the best.
   It covers in detail all of the daily life of a queen and the sacrifice she made by becoming a queen.
   It seems that the paparazzi today are angels compared to what the people of France and all of Europe did to their monarchs.
   The book is well researched, and well done and like all good books on her, this one doesnt speculate but clarifies the life of this often misunderstood young woman.
   I recommend it highly.
   But be warned - it is very detailed and there are tons of people to keep track of,
   Even so, it reads well and you never get bored with it.



5. Wonderful book about the Queen of France. From her early days as the Arch Duchess of Austria, to Dauphine of France to finally the Queen of France. It follows her life (journey)to her death. It also gives insight into the last surviving member of King Louis Auguste and Queen Marie Antoinette, Marie Therese.

5 comments about Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters: The Definitive Biography of the First American Billionaire.

1. This book gives good insite on the life of Howard Hughes. If you are interested in specific information on business or aviation this may not be the book for you. But Howard Hughes was much more than business and aviation. He was a psychoanalyst dream. A very interesting case study in Obsessive Compulsive disorder also another overlooked aspect of his psyche was the relationship he had with women. He would sometimes keep women all over town on payroll to be on call at all times; these women would be on payroll for years sometimes perhaps outliving their best years (hollywood being youth orientated). Women he pursued who never showed interest were seen as conquest. Such as Ava Gardner who by her own definition could never love him because he smelled. However they remained lifelong friends. Yet interestingly when the women he was interested in were married he made it his personal problem to see that they got divorced to the extent of hiring private investigators and such. Howard could have also been considered a voyuer. He would hire investigators for the women he was interested in (some may not have been mutually interested) and spy on them to the point that bugs were planted in their bedrooms. Those who turned him down like Elizabeth Taylor (who was still a teenager were offered money. What is the saddest is his last years. You work your whole life so that you can enjoy your wealth in your golden years but for Howard his golden years consisted of self imposed imprisonment. This was a detriment because the people who were his true friends such as Dietrich (who was loyal and saved him from economic ruin many times)and his aunt Annette (who was there for him in his early years after his parents death)he kept away. So he was neglected at the end. Surrounded by people who never really cared about him just his money.



2. What a life Hughes Led! The author did a wonderful job of writng so that I couldn't put the book down. Hughes was the ultimate wheeler dealer. I felt sorry for him as a child with his parnoid mother who raised him to fear all illness. But when he grew up he had no excuse for his behavior in treatment of women. He was fortunate in business, always thinking in larger terms. This book was overall as interesting as Tutankhamun by Hoving; it was as thrilling as riding on a roller coaster driven by Hughes.



3. I've read several books on Howard Hughes, but this one by far is the best.
   
   Richard Hack really looks beneath the surface and into the very soul of Hughes, painting a disturbing yet realistic human portrait of him along the way.
   
   Highly recommended!



4. "Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters", by Richard Hack, New Millennium Press, CA 2001. ISBN 1-893224-35-X, HC 444/391 pages includes Prologue 18 pgs., Source Notes etc., 35 pgs., Index 19 pgs., 35 B & W photos, 9 1/4" x 6 1/4".
   
   Hack, an established biographical writer is also a columnist. His profligate "Hughes" is an obvious work of love, having woven an intricately enmeshed & alive chronicled narrative composed of myriads of infinitesimal minutiae which unfold to reveal profound intimate particulars of a legendary uncommunicative man known for privacy, secrecy and excesses.
   
   The book's organization is superb, in some respects resembling that of "Citizen Kane" and beginning with a Prologue entitled "Death by Neglect" and followed by 20 chapters narrating Hughes' life, with a final chapter "And the Winner Is..." detailing his Will, the myriads of ludicrous & bizarre circumstances which ensued thereof, some obviously fraudulent. All in all, many rumors about Hughes are herein shown to have been on target, i.e. his need for absolute control, obsession with Hollywood's stars/starlets underaged or otherwise, secrecies & phobias; -- but the book's inestimable value is its exposition on his early childhood development, erratic education, circumstances behind his wealth & revealing unpropitious events shaping his bizarre lifestyle, including a misguided smothering maternal overprotectionism.
   
   We learn of his STD (Lues), OCD, microphobia, codeine & Valium addiction, recluse behavior and eventual demise. Surprising to everyone, the bulk of his estate per Will, as early as 1925 and again in 1938, provided for the charitable, Howard R. Hughes Medical Research Laboratories. While attending Harvard Medical School, I witnessed on two occasions Hughes' late night limo arrivals to PBBH for medical evaluation, learning only of a kidney ailment (medicinal) and appointment with Dr. G. Thorn then studying "electrocortin" (later renamed cortisone) and who also treated some Hollywood's stars with newly discovered 'cortisone'. This book is a treasure trove of intimacies once privy only to the FBI, CIA and sealed court testimony files. A very good, intimate and stimulating read, but lacking much detailed information on aerodynamics. Even an encounter with Amelia Earhart is noted for one of his speed trial events.



5. Very interesting, depressing book. Can't help think about all the women that guy used. To say he got what he deserved is an understatement! Such a sick, manipulative man...Everyone he used, to get ahead, also deserved what they got! Such devotion to this man...and just for money!
   His eccentricities were amazing & made me want to wash my hands every time I put the book down. BUT....Do I have the only copy of this book where pages 325 to 348 were repeated? Then starting again, on page 373?
   Pretty dissapointing, with the Author the Publisher or BOTH! Would like to fine pages 349 to page 372!!!!!!!!!! Can anyone help?

3 comments about Past Is Myself (Transaction Large Print Books).

1. This is one of the best books I have ever read. I am surprised that nobody has reviewed it and I am also dissapointed to find out that it is not available to buy at the moment. I read it a few years ago and when I get the time, I will definitely read it again. Once you start you can not stop and it is a book you will remember for the rest of your life. Read it!



2. I am so sorry this book is not available. It is a fasinating story of a woman's ability to survive and keep her family in tact in WW II Germany. I met Mrs. Bielenberg a few years ago and she is still as interesting as she was in her book.



3. I read this book a few years ago, when living in the United Kingdom, and wanted to recommend this book to my Book Club in the USA for our next discussion. What a disappointment to find it is out of print, as this is one of the most readable and insightful autobiographies I have read! Dear Amazon team, please campaign for it to be reissued!