5 comments about Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years In The White House.

1. Did my opinion of the president change after reading this book? Not really. I read the book with a somewhat-open mind, in that the book is written from the personal perspective of someone who was there. Fleischer wrote from his perspective; gave his testimoy; in that respect, the books is very well written. We're also talking about someone who trusts the President implicitly, so he's going to defend him. So I can't consider this a totally "objective" account of what was going on in the White House during the time the war was being debated.
   
   I don't particuarly appreciate President Bush's policies and his way of thinking, but I do appeciate the fact that he doesn't change his mind once he makes a decision. (Most might say he won't admit he's made a mistake - that's a risk that's run with standing your ground.)
   
   What I did appreciate about the book was the insight into President Bush's character. It explains to me why he thinks the way he does, and helps me understand why he says what he does. Doesn't mean I appreciate what he says, but understanding a person goes a long way in formulating an opinion.
   
   I also appreciated the behind-the-scenes view into what was going on in the White House during the tense fall of '01.
   
   I loved the insight into the media. Do I think they're biased? Absolutely! The book explains the media as much as it does the White House. Being interested in journalism, I was wrapped up in that part of the book. Doesn't excuse their recent behaviors....but the atmosphere of pressure to get the news out as it happens makes people take corners. I can understand that too.
   
   Bottom line: if you're a Bush supporter, you'll love the book. If you a Bush loather, I don't see this book changing your mind. I wish, however, that you might be able to read it to understand why he is how he is...



2. Absolutely rip-roaring hilarious!! It appears that he is actually not trying to be comedic but when one reads "I will always admire the President's calm and self control" (pg. 140, referring to Bush listening to "My Pet Goat" after being informed that his contry is under attack), it should be obvious that we are in the presence of a comedic master or an idiot who manages to be very funny. Either way, one of the funniest books I have read! Minus one star for some tedious passages trying to show himself in a good light without being funny.
   The dialogues of george bush that are presented are totally unrealistic and seemed to be calculated to put him in a good light. For eg., he says Bush was a superb military commander as he left all the major decisions to the generals but then conveniently ignores Shinseki. In fact, most of the Iraq war dialogue is very funny now that we know more about what actually happened.



3. When I found this book (on CD) in the sale rack I thought maybe I'd found a rare jewel. Figuring the early Bush years were old news and this book was sent to the sale rack been because of that.
   
   First off Ari should have never read his own book. He came off as a real complainer. A man who had written a book to continue to make excuses for his decisions. Notice I didn't say mistakes. He rarely stated a move of his without showing us how he was forced to do so. It was very sad. Even at one point the old Clinton administration pushes him around.
   
   The few moments he gives us of true inside action where wonderful. There may have only been three in the whole book. The Colin Powell condom story was one of them. Ari that's what the reader wanted in the book.
   
   What scared me was that Ari came off as extremely angry at the press. There is one woman reporter who he mocks endlessly in his vocal impersonation of her. I hope she doesn't hear the CD version or she is going to be super mad. Ari spends a very long chapter expaining how the press is unfair and bias. He uses graduation numbers instead of true stories. We all saw the press eat Bill Clinton alive...so it was hard to believe they were nicer to Bill then they were to George. That chapter should have met the shreader.
   
   Ari did show some spots of careless reporting but his use of "you should have believed the White House" was a weak response. After past White House administrations trying to "out sly" the press Ari should have known the press would not simply take him at his word. He came off sounding like a naive high school student.
   
   Several of the world stituations that happened while Ari was in office where handled with amazing skill in real life but Ari made it sound like he was rolled over. The moment where Bush took the megaphone in NYC was the most powerful moment in his presidency. Luckily I saw it because Ari barely mentioned it.
   
   Ari ducked and dodged the press for years. He's mad that he did it. He's still mad at them. The amazing strategies the Bush administration used to keep the American people informed are not mentioned in this book. I wanted to learn something. Instead I see Ari scolding a press member for a inaccurate story that hurt the White House then giving the same guy a hot breaking story in the next breath by accident AND letting the guy run it. What was his reasoning? It sounded weak and also like bad management.
   
   Was Ari out of his league? The book makes it appear so. Luckily I watch all this on television as an American citizen. I know the book paints the wrong picture. To the public Ari did a stand up job and he worked well to keep the American people informed. So next time you write a book Ari stick to your guns and be proud of what you did. It would make for a much better read.



4. Ari provides an interesting book in his autobiography as President Bush's White House Press Secretary. I always hate to review books like this because they are so politically charged and ideologues on either side tend to get in a huff over what you say. I will endeavor to keep this as neutral as possible. This book sets out to accomplish many objectives but only hits half of them. First and foremost it is one of the best looks at the role of the press secretary and the sheer stress the job has on a person. Whether you like or hate President Bush there is no one who can deny that the role of press secretary is a hard job especially under a tight lipped and secretive white House. Andy Card's goal as chief of staff was to keep leaks to a minimum which frustrates the press leaving their only source of information the press secretary. When the press secretary is instructed not to discuss military matters it becomes even more adversarial. One of the interesting things learned from the book is what viewpoint the Press Secretary is supposed to have. I found it fascinating that he is only there to represent the views of the president and that does not necessarily have to be the wishes of the branches of government that report to the president.
   
   One of the other objectives was to provide a critical narrative of the press and give insight into the White House Press Crops. I found his look at the White House Press fascinating and he really does put you inside the room of the toughest reporters in the United States. He illustrates well his points about the adversarial nature of the press and the desire of the press to create conflict which leads to stories. Many times the same questions are asked over and over hoping for a slip that the Press Secretary cannot afford to give. One of the angles that I think he does handle poorly is the bias of the press. While there are voluminous studies to show that the press is slanted right Ari seems to not acknowledge that all media is biased in one direction or another. The White House press does not give passes to any president. People today do not trust the news they get from the press and rightly so due to the biases that are present be they Fox News or MSNBC. While he highlights the point of on the liberal media it is done far better by Benard Goldberg in his book Bias.
   
   Finally Ari tries to make a defense of President Bush and his policies/leadership style. Some of his book seems to be aimed at knocking down the arguments in the Price of Loyalty. While this is another viewpoint again the truth probably lies in the middle. Some of his defenses of trying to shift blame to the press for starting up the Iraq war are fairly ludicrous. Ari does not sit in on any of the national security briefings and the president preferred himself to comment on those matters leaving Ari in a hard position to comment on them after the fact. One of the things he does refute well that many agree with is the loyalty that Bush shows to those who are loyal to him. There is a clear look that Bush's leadership style does work within his White House and he is respected by the staff. Ari also seems to take it upon himself to set the record straight and show the country that Bush did not think of the war in Iraq in a vacuum that many other people including the press also had the same idea along the way. He is largely successful in this although he glosses over one of the critical mistakes. The landing on the USS Lincoln with the banner Mission Accomplished was one of the great errors in the press of fighting the war and it is skipped over here. I think Ari is right in saying that the press views any war that is long as a quagmire and Vietnam and any war where we win quickly is Desert Storm and must be over in a week. There is a lack of reality by the press which filters to the country.
   
   Overall an excellent book and very well done. Ari provides unique insight into the Bush White House and while it is biased it does not make it useless. He raises critical questions that require issues to be reexamined and while he is loathe to critize his former boss for the things he did wrong we still see a good look at Bush the man and the President.



5. The value of this book to me, quite frankly, was no more than a dollar. Most of it is complaining about how stressful his job was. There is no insight into how the Bush administration works, no apology for Fleischer's years of deliberately hazy answers to important questions during the Iraq invasion, and almost no memorable content.
   
   The one chapter which made this book worth a dollar was a long transcription of his favorite repartees with Helen Thomas. Even Fleischer had to admit she was the toughest character in the press room. I give him credit for having that deep respect for news reporting, and I give her credit for making his book interesting. Helen, I'd pay much more than a dollar for a book by you. Keep it up!

3 comments about George Burns and the Hundred-Year Dash (G K Hall Large Print Book Series).

1. In this world, it is rare that a man show as much love, kindeness, and humility as did George Burns. However, this book chooses rather to focus on the sordid details of his life. The sexual immorality, the dirty jokes off stage, the things that George himself varnished over. George had a right to varnish over the negatives. It is the soul of the man. It is how he made it to 100 years of age. This book instead punches him below the belt posthumously. I was and am a big George Burns fan, and I was sorely disapointed that someone could be so cheap and callous as to sully his image.



2. To the earlier reviewer : If you can't stand the unvarnished truth, why are you reading this book. If you want rose-colored platitudes, read People magazine. This book tells it like it was, warts and all. Isn't that what a proper biography should do?



3. WHEN I WAS A BOY, I THOUGHT THE FUNNIEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WERE BURNS AND ALLEN, LAUREL AND HARDY AND JACK BENNY AND RODCHESTER. AS I GOT OLDER I ADDED GROUCHO AND W.C. FIELDS. BUT GEORGE BURNS AND GRACIE ALLEN WERE SPECIAL. THEY WERE LIKE SOME OF MY FAMILY, LIKE NEIGHBORS, LIKE, WELL, REAL PEOPLE. ADDED TO THAT WAS THE FACT GEORGE AND JACK BENNY WERE THE BEST OF FRIENDS ALL THEIR LIVES. THIS IS JUST A MARVELOUS BOOK AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE REVIEWER WHO SAW IT AS MAKING GEORGE LOOK SORDID. IT MADE HIM LOOK EVEN MORE HUMAN AND KINDER. HE WAS DEVOTED TO GRACIE, TO HIS FAMILY AND TO JACK. HE WAS A BRILLIANT AND KIND MAN ALL HIS LIFE AND ONE OF OUR NATIONAL TREASURES. READING THE BOOK WAS LIKE SITTING DOWN AND REMINISCING WITH OLD FRIENDS AND MARTIN GOTTFRIED SHOULD BE COMMENDED FOR HIS WORK.
   
   I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR EVERYONE WHO IS A FAN OF BURNS AND ALLEN AND JACK BENNY, ANOTHER KIND MAN SADDLED WITH A REALLY MISERABLE WIFE, NOTED FOR SUCH THINGS AS THROWING A DECORATED MARINE WAR HERO OUT OF ONE OF THIER PARTIES BECAUSE HE WASN'T "HOLLYWOOD". BUT I DIGRESS, PLEASE READ THE BOOK, IT'S ONE YOU WILL KEEP AND READ AGAIN, ESPECIALLY IF YOU FEEL DOWN OR DISCOURAGED. GEORGE AND GRACIE, I LOVE YOU AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THE JOY YOU BROUGHT TO US THROUGH THE YEARS.

5 comments about Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation.

1. If I had to recommend one book to read in a year, I would recommend The Founding Brothers.
   
   Joseph Ellis recounts the early stages of American history with six historically-based tales about the Founding Fathers or, as he thinks of them, the Founding Brothers. The stories of Jefferson, John Adams, Madison, Washington, Hamilton, and Franklin (more of a Founding Grandfather, Ellis asserts) highlight how the period after the Revolutionary War was the most politically treacherous in our nation's history. It was the Founding Brother's talents and foresight that allowed them build a country out of a revolution which, in most cases, falls short of ideals because of personal ambitions.
   
   The stories of the Founding Brothers is completely factual, however, the stories are written so that the reader can see the emotional and personal character aspects that the Brothers experienced during the early years of our nation. The stories are interconnected and woven so that even though each of the stories highlight different facets of the nation's early history (the ratification of the Constitution, the question of slavery, the infamous duel at Weehawken, the location of the new republic's capitol), the major players remain the same. Their personalities are built together to create interesting and insightful history.
   
   This book won the Pulitzer Prize. After reading, I found that to be no surprise at all. It's an excellent read with a blend of wit, conviviality, learnedness, and intelligence.



2. In the afterglow of the HBO series on John Adams, I grew interested in some of the founding fathers, many of whom had seemed boring to me ever since I read their bios in grade school. Ellis does a highly intelligent and readable job of laying out the personalities, conflicts and battles of the whole group during the first years of the nation. I particularly like the chapter on the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Also great is the chapter about George Washington, who had seemed a cardboard character to me until my interest was piqued by the TV series. Ellis is more than a little inclined to repeat himself in that particular way academics have, although his ruminations are likely to advance the story, although a bit wordily. That aside, this book is worth digging into by anyone who wants to know what those guys were really all about and who doesn't want to be told by some ideologue what to think about them.



3. I'm giving this book 4 Stars. I was going to go with 3, but based on the works readability and style I believe that there is something to be taken away by everyone. The information presented by Ellis will interest the scholarly historian as well as the casually curious reader. The former of the two readers may busy themselves more with disputing some of the poorly cited, questionable material presented within the pages of this book.
   If I have it right, Ellis was attempting to portray the founders as a group of thoroughly human participants that possessed the omniprescence to grasp the scope of what their actions meant to history. This fundamental paradox of presentation left me scratching my head in search of the authors true motives. Was Ellis attempting to unite us with the men and politics of the Founding generation or was he furthering the mystification of these men, by adding to the accumulated material that presents them as histoical deities.
   Regardless of the overall impression the book leaves on you, I am sure, the reader will find themselves entertained from start to finish.



4. NOTE: THIS REFER REFERS TO THE UNABRIBED AUDIO CD VERSION
   
   First of all, I'm not going to get into the controversy over whether this book is totally accurate historically. If I knew that, I'd be writing a history book rather than reading one. The fact is, no one can be 100% sure of everything that happened or was thought 250 years ago.
   
   That issue aside, it's an interesting book but it gets bogged down in far too much detail and analyses. It isn't scholarly enough for a truly academic treatise, but not "entertaining" enough for a popular history. It may therefore bore some readers who prefer a more humanized anecdotal telling and infuriate purists who want proven facts rather than occasional speculation.
   
   The reader is good, but his voice tends to take on a droning quality if listened to for long periods. There is not enough differentiation for the quoted passages, so it's sometimes hard to tell what is a historical quote and what it the author's statements.
   
   From reading other reviews, I think it's safe to say that this is book may be too lengthy and "boring" for young students (which may be a sad commentary on both our youth and our school system) yet not scholarly enough for serious American history fans. The problem is, who's left?



5. Even though I'd seen and heard multiple items about the founding generation, I was pleasantly surprised that I learned something new from this work...namely that the discussion of the location of the new capital was seriously sidetracked by an abolitionist delegation's visit (which was even blessed by fellow abolitionist Ben Franklin shortly before his death). Highly Recommended, a great yarn.

5 comments about The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (G K Hall Large Print Book Series).

1. This book was simply marvelous, if you are into the story of the origins of the Oxford English Dictionary, this is a book that captures the makings and includes the story of two gentlemen who's lives inevitably come together in bizzare but wonderful order of circumstances, if you Love words and their origins, you will be astounded by this book!



2. Simon Winchester has come up with a nifty little tale of the making of the OED. It's a fun little gem from history, and worth the read. My only complaints are: the book would have been more interesting if he had included some pictures, and the tale itself is pretty small. The publisher makes up for this by using large type, double spaced, with wide paragraph separation. But it's still a footnote in history, and you can't hide that fact.



3. There is a certain "Did you know..." factor about the "new" genre of creative nonfiction: we read it for both the informative componenet, and the fact that quite a bit of history is, well, interesting. Did you know, for example, that the main contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary was insane?
   
   Dr. W.C. Minor was an American soldier in the Civil War, who later moved to England, where he wound up shooting a man. He was placed in an asylum (not the greatest of places in those days), where he was given a few more perks than the other inmates, simply because he was non-violent (despite the reason for his incarceration) and intelligent. One day, he happened to come across an advertisement: Professor James Murray, along with an elite group of gentlemen, was creating the single-greatest compilation of the English language ever conceived. Minor, with nothing but time on his hands, decided to pitch in. Over ten-thousand words later, Minor was the single-greatest contributor to the single-greatest dictionary ever created.
   
   It is a compelling, surprising story, told in Winchester's usual novel-meets-nonfiction style. While I enjoy a good piece of creative nonfiction, I find myself time and time again returning to Winchester's work not necessarily because of the topic, but because I enjoy his style so much. (It just so happens he chooses interesting topics to write upon.) The "P.S." section of this book, as with the others, doesn't offer too much, though there is an intriguing little section: Winchester's favorite words from the OED. Still, you'll purchase "The Professor and the Madman" for the story itself--and it's a doozy. True, too. Funny, how facts can sometimes be more interesting--and harder to believe--than fiction.



4. Many academics and scholars border on creative madness, take Kierkegaard and Nietzsche for example. This book is marvellous reading since the dull subject of dictionary making is enlivened by eccentric personalities and mental disturbance. It reveals how a dictionary as prestigious as the Oxford English Dictionary was put together. Any author who can make such a dry subject as exciting as a murder mystery deserves a good deal of credit and acclaim.



5. Absent the anti-Christian bias of his geological disaster books, Winchester writes a very good tale about a fascinating sidebar of history during the compilation of the OED. The madman was an American military surgeon (son of missionaries to Sri Lanka!) who served in the Union army during the Civil War, whose slow spiral to insanity culminated in the shooting of an innocent man in London 15 years later. The professor was the editor of the OED who corresponded with the madman for 20 years at the asylum outside London where he made a full-time career of volunteering word lists and quotes to the OED editorial team.
   
   How their histories shadowed and paths crossed, and how the OED came to be, make for a great story. The book was lavishly praised and worthily so, reading like a psychological thriller that can't be put down. I literally read through this in less than 24 hours in just a few sittings.

5 comments about When Character was King.

1. Miss Noonan writes in a clear style about a subject that is clearly personal to her. This book goes into the mans core of what he believed & why. That is no small feat since President Reagan was an intensely private man. His character grew out of his own experiences & observations.
   
   The book starts with his humble origins, the problems his family faced moving from town to town because, his dad was an alcoholic. From there she takes the reader through his College years where he developed the habit of staying in shape, & then into his radio & acting days. Not surprisingly, after a time doing films for the military during WW2 he found his promising acting career had gone adrift.
   
   However, it was during this uncertain time that his interest in politics began. While President of the Screen Actors Guild, he learned how to negotiate with the tough studio heads, & saw some of his peers lured to Communism. Their secretive & subversive methods gave Mr.Reagan plenty of reason to pause. He spoke out, making numerous enemies in the process. Soon we go into his moving from films to television, which would lead him into Politics. This was when his core beliefs of less government, lower taxes, & his crusade against the spread of "world communism' came together. Once during a speech for Barry Goldwater he spoke of a "rendezvous with destiny" for those who would fight for our freedom: he asserted that the most important words in the Constitution are the ones that begin it: "WE THE PEOPLE..." It is soon clear that he felt strongly about states rights. He stated: "The Constitution they{the founding fathers} wrote established sovereign states, not mere administrative districts for the federal government. They believed in keeping government as close as possible to the people..."
   
   Miss Noonan then goes somewhat into his time in office, first as governor of California & then President. But, he was more than a politician. She delves into his self-deprecating humor{the "I forgot to duck, honey." reply he gave wife Nancy after he was shot by Hinckley} & the affection & high regard he had for the Secret Service agents who guarded him. All in all a very pleasant & informative read.



2. Peggy Noonan is incredible and this book provides one of the most personal, honest and insightful biographical studies written to date about one of America's greatest leaders.



3. Peggy Noonan clearly idolizes Ronald Reagan. She was, after all, his speech-writer, and it seems that she contunues to write his speeches even after his demise. So I didn't expect a "balanced" biography in this book. I looked at it only to get a grasp on the image of Reagan that seems likely to play a role in the upcoming presidential election. If you are interested in a balanced, judicious assessment, I strongly recommend the brief biography of Reagan by Jules Tygiel.
   
   Meanwhile, with the election in mind, I've also been reading "Hard Call" by Senator John McCain, the longest chapter of which eulogizes Reagan for his "foresight." It's no secret that Sen. McCain hopes to identify himself in people's eyes as a leader in the mold of Reagan; his whole book is an obvious imitation of JFK's "Profiles in Courage", a book that helped the young Kennedy reach the White House. Curiously, though McCain attributes every wisdom short of the Deity to Pres. Reagan, it's really Gorbachev whom he identifies as the visionary, the man who had the courage and craft to change the course of his country's future. Reagan, according to McCain, had nuclear disarmament in his grasp, in Iceland, yet threw the chance away by clinging to a naive and totally unforesightful notion of a science fiction shield against missiles, SDI, which McCain grudgingly acknowledges to have been "unrealistic." Reagan meant to be an agent of change - what Prof. Tygiel calls the Triumph of American Conservatism - while McCain clearly intends to be an agent of nostalgia for the days of the Great Communicator. Reagan made clear what he hoped for. Can anyone say the same of John McCain?
   
   The one major blotch on Reagan's Presidency was the Iran-Contra scandal. (Again the term comes from McCain.) And forthright discussion of that situation is the major weakness of Ms Noonan's portrayal of Pres. Reagan's character. She was an insider; perhaps it's too much to expect for an insider to tell the whole candid truth, but isn't that what most people would like to hear?



4. Product arrived on time , the book is a very good look at what shaped President Reagen. Recommended reading, great addition. Given that it's from an insider, admirer of the President, still very insightful.



5. I thought I knew and understood Reagan. After reading this incredibly moving biography, I know now I did not but do now.
   
   Despite the bizarre comments of one recent reviewer, this is not a starry-eyed biography. This is a "warts and all" biography, with a frank assessment of "Iran Contra" and how Reagan was to blame and why. The comments to the contrary by the aforementioned reviewer are proof that he did not read that chapter or worse yet did not comprehend it.
   
   This is the only book I have ever read that repeatedly had me laughing out loud and then, in the next paragraph, weeping. This is a deeply moving book, whether you liked Reagan or not.
   
   Finally, I challenge anyone to read this book and not conclude that it is one of the five best biographies of anyone you have ever read. It is that good. Reagan was an American original. Peggy Noonan is possibly the most gifted writer of our era.
   
   Jack Thompson, Attorney, Miami, Florida

5 comments about The Man Who Listens to Horses.

1. well ill try out his method and if a mustang doesnt kill me ill return to rate it



2. I have not read this book. There may well be information in here that is useful. I will not buy the book due to what I read in a Time Magazine article:
   
   Monday, Dec 14, 1998 "Horse of a Different Color"
   By John Skow and James Willwerth/Aspen
   
   The article starts with:
   "To put the matter politely, memoirs are self-serving. Still, it's something of a shock to learn that Monty Roberts' enormously popular, enormously self-approving memoir The Man Who Listens to Horses may assay out as part fiction. Call it horse puckey for the soul, if charges by Monty's younger brother Larry and others close to the author's life are to be credited. By these accounts, backed up by TIME's reporting, the stirring tale with more than 800,000 copies in print--out this month in paperback--contains an embarrassing number of seeming untruths, some harmless, others outrageous."
   
   The article can be found as of today on the Time free archives site. Decide for yourself if you feel comfortable with paying money for this book.



3. I think this is a very good book on horse husbandry. The story is rather sad in many ways but for people who want to be kind to their horses, it's a very informative book.



4. It's been years since I read the book, but when I first got it, I read it twice in its entirely. The Man Who Listens to Horses is actually two books in one: It's an autobiography, and it's a how-to manual for gentling horses and speaking their language. It's just a wonderful, wonderful book, and I can't recommend it enough.



5. Having seen Mr. Roberts on television demonstrating his "Join-Up" technique with unruly horses, I'm a little bit shocked at the number of accusatory & negative reviews I'm reading on this page. Especially from people who seem to have never actually read his book.
   
   For those of us who believe that horses are naturally social creatures, and that a little gentleness & patience towards any animal is a far better training technique than trying to force a creature against its will, this is a terrific book.

5 comments about His Excellency: George Washington (Random House Large Print (Cloth/Paper)).

1. "His Excellency: George Washington" by Joseph Ellis is a brief but illuminating view of founding father and first president, George Washington. It briefly tells about what little is known of his boyhood, and then quickly moves on to his first public adventures in The French and Indian War. Mr. Ellis follows Washington from his first retirement after that war to Mount Vernon, Washington's pride and joy. From there his frustration with British authority (specifically in commerce) is followed to it's conclusion by his part in the American Revolution. Washington then tries to retire again, but is called back into service (very grudgingly) as the new republic's first president.
   
   If there was anyway to categorize this biography, it is as a myth buster. Many of the ideas we have about George Washington are, while not lies or wrong, are not exactly completely accurate. He is also presented as not so much forging the new nation as lending his credibility to the other men who's ideas were more sound (like Alexander Hamilton's bank and treasury policies or George Mason's protests against the English monarch). He is also shown as much less effective in dealing with pet projects like emancipation of slaves and a more respectful treatment of Native Americans. On a personal front Washington is miserly and land hungry, and benefited by very aggressive land schemes and ventures that may seem unscrupulous by today's standards.
   
   But he is also proud and unbending in what he thought was right. When he chose a course he stuck to it usually no matter what the outcome may be (though usually worked in favor of Mr. Washington. He was a devoted husband and father to Martha and her two children. And he treated his slaves better than most; he refused to split up families despite the economic problem this produced.
   
   I have seen many complaints of this book, saying that Ellis is trying to destroy the reputation of this great man. I do not think so. I have not done the research that Mr. Ellis has done, but I trust that the evidence bears him out. The book was entertaining and thought provoking, and I am glad I read it. Most recommended to anyone with an interest in the early American history and it's founding fathers.



2. My only real gripe about this book is that it was too short. Because Ellis has such an ability to produce readable history books, I believe a 700-page book on Washington would have been more valuable and not been too bogged down in detail. In fact, there is so much about the American Revolution that is not discussed in this book. That was a bit disappointing.
   
   On the positive side, it's a very quick read and informative. I learned a great deal about Washington's temperament and his relative sensitivity to criticism, which surprised me. The book was naturally pro-Washington, not that anyone could really justify an anti-Washington stance. Ellis gives Washington perhaps too much credit for liberating his slaves in his will; Washington could have made a greater impact by freeing them while he was alive. Regardless, this is a great book for someone with minimal history background because it's short and easy to follow.



3. I was very disappointed with the disrespect shown toward George Washington. If you remove the negative comments made by Ellis about Washington, the book would be shortened by one half. Throughout the book he makes accusations about Washington's motives. According to Ellis, almost every decision that Washington made was based on some sort of arrogance, pride or self-esteem issue. And all of this coming from a man who lied about his own past and was severely reprimanded by his employer. Washington was beloved in his own time and now. I certainly understand that people have their flaws...and Washington was no exception. In the final analysis, this was a slander of Washington's character - I would definitely not recommend this book.



4. There are many review about this book so I will not go into a lot of detail.
   First I will talk about the narration. One reviewer was very critical. He said the pace was very slow. I liked the pace and the reader has a very clear voice. The other review also mention he could hear the readers stomach or something. There are places like on the third disk where the reader takes long pauses after a paragraph and you can hear distracting noises. I think it is the reader trying to swallow or bring moisture to his mouth. I don't think it is his stomach.
   I do think Ellis had an agenda and stuck to it, sometimes in spite of the facts. Ellis tries hard to bring Washington down from the God like status he believes many hold of Washington.
   Ellis tries claims that Washington was in love with a married woman, Mary Fairfax, just before marrying Martha. He states the evidence for this is just in three letters that aren't very clear. Yet he claims anyone disagreeing with his conclusion most have had their minds alreay made up.
   Ellis criticizes the plans British leaders made in the Braddock incident. He justifies this because they made these plans without knowledge of the Ohio region. Yet when Washington does the samething later on it is evidence of a personality flaw. "Washington felt he was superior to his superiors." Washington had first hand experience, that almost took his life and did take the life of many close to him. I think he should be given a little more credit than Ellis does.
   Overall, however, I think Ellis did a good job. Ellis is human and I disagree with some of his conclusions. Readers need to realize historical writers are not divinely inspired and therefore are not free from error. Ellis did a good job in presenting the details and I just did not always agree with his conclusions.
   Ellis also had an objective. He wanted to demonstrate how Washington became the man that others would choose over what seemed like more qualified men like Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and other to be our first president. He also wants to keep his work at a reasonable lenght.



5. Some have wanted to reserve 5 stars to a "War and Peace" type book. To me 5 stars means the book did what it set out to do and did it well. "His Excellency" indeed did. It is an excellent short biography of the father of our country. When I picked this book up, I realized all I knew about Washington was what I had been taught in grade school.
   
   Ellis is an excellent biographer who delves into many aspects of Washington's life. The narrative moved well and was entertaining. Some may be put off by Ellis' style of going into analysis of issues. I found that this added to my understanding.
   
   Washington indeed was a great man who's influence reaches us to this day. Now I know why!

5 comments about Gift from the Sea (Random House Large Print).

1. This is a very touching book and it brings up many feelings that I needed to get in touch with. I would highly recommend it.



2. I have never been a big fan of books on CD. This changed with Gift from the Sea with the forward by Reeve Lindbergh and beautifully read by Claudette Colbert. This is a beautifully written and recorded book. I keep it in my car and play it quite often. I have orderered additional copies to share with friends. It is indeed as relevant today as it was fifty years ago and probably even more pertinent in today's fast paced world where we fail to slow down give ourselves alone time to comtemplate our lives. Reeve Lindbergh's forward about her mother was a lovely bonus. Although I have not read any of her children's books, I have read everything else she has written that I can find and encourage anyone who has not read her books to check her out on [...].



3. This book came very highly recommended by two friends who are avid book readers. However I hate to admit that the book did not move me as much as my friends claimed that it moved them. I was more interested about the background references to the author's personal life and how the book came into being. That I would have read voraciously. The book is short but I don't intend to read it again to see what I missed. I believe a book either moves you or it doesn't. This particular book despite other rave reviews did not move me despite my great affinity for the sea and women writers. I wonder if perhaps if the book would have touched me differently if I read it in the beach rather than on a plane which I did.



4. What timeless wisdom there is in this little book. Although it was written many decades ago, the challenges and issues faced by Anne Morrow Lindbergh are the same ones faced by women in today's crazy, bustling world. In fact, although women in Siberia, Cameroon, or Ceylon might not have her specific set of circumstances, they can still identify with Lindbergh's ponderings about a woman's life, her obligations, her relationships, and her needs. She lived in an upscale suburb of Connecticut and was the mother of five children, and yet there's something in her writing that can touch the souls of women everywhere whether in a grass hut or trailer beside a busy highway
   
   The chapters in Gift from the Sea center on Lindbergh's musings during a two-week vacation at the shore. Leaving husband, children, and house behind, she lives in a bare beach cabin without heat, telephone, plumbing, hot water, rugs, or curtains. She finds simplicity beautiful and longs to take it home to Connecticut when her vacation ends.
   
   Lindbergh takes a shell at a time and describes it in relation to other things in a woman's life. For instance, the moon shell reminds her that quiet time, solitude, contemplation, and "something of one's own" is needed. The double-sunrise represents the pure relationship found in early stages of friendship and marriage, and she reminds the reader that there is no permanent return to an old form of relationship since all are in the process of change. The oyster bed symbolizes the middle years of marriage and family, especially as the home itself grows and expands to accommodate the growing family.
   
   I first read this book when I was a young mother and could readily understand Lindbergh's comment that saints were so rarely married woman because of the distractions inherent in raising children and running a house. "Human relationships with their myriad pulls--woman's normal occupations in general run counter to creative life, or contemplative life, or saintly life." Now in midlife, I can better understand her affinity for all the shells as reminders that each cycle of the wave, the tide, and the relationship is valid.



5. Listed as a 'summer read' in a local magazine list - I hadn't heard of this book. I picked it up and finished it from one afternoon into the next morning. And -- there was nothing surprising or new to be found here in the book - the pace at which its written and the uncomplicated natural way Lindbergh examines her life and her impressions of life's stages will have me passing this book on to many people in my life.

5 comments about The Diana Chronicles (Random House Large Print (Cloth/Paper)).

1. From the moment I saw Diana and Charles appear on TV to announce their engagement, I was a Dianaholic. I followed every event in her life, through the sad disintegration of her marriage and her shocking death.
   
   I liked this book because it not only gave a thorough background of Diana's life and family, but it tried to be fair and balanced, which the majority of writing on this subject does not even pretend to do. Diana was not a saint and Brown does not sugar coat her faults. But after reading this book you have a picture of the Princess as a genuinely good person who at a very young age entered a life that few of us can begin to imagine. It is tragic that the Royal Family was unable to appreciate her qualities or to help her mature. Both England and the world would have been a better place if Diana were still here.



2. I really enjoyed this CD about the life of Diana... It seemed to give me closure about her death and unhappy life. Tina Brown gives little known facts about her life and death in a captivating style. It is a natural follow up to other books written about Diana. My only wish was that the book was longer!



3. This is an even handed, rich portrait of a very complicated young woman. I purchased the audio thinking it was a fluff piece I could listen to while working out, but found the book fascinating and was sorry when it was over. Tina Brown presents each of the major characters in this tragedy as multifaceted individuals, making this not the usual tabloid nonsense, but a sociological study of a very interesting and often self-destructive family.



4. I started THE DIANA CHRONICLES by Tina Brown by reading it in the store in parts. I figured it was ANOTHER Diana book, and I could pass some pleasant hours in the bookstore sitting in a chair going over some familiar ground. But I was surprised: Brown is an insightful, clear and unflinching writer who has the ability, due to her experience in print journalism, to view the famous through a cynical but knowledgeable media lens. This book was so good, that when I got 300 pages in to the 500-plus-page book, I bought it. It was getting hard to find, and I NEEDED to finish it.
   
   The plotline of Diana's life does not need to be repeated here. What this book is good for is the way it examines her life and her responses to the events of her life as influenced by the media and the media coverage of the her every move. It's as if it weren't Diana and the media professionals who were in a relationship, but Diana and the media coverage who influenced each other. This study is a fascinating examination of how media attention can become a character in the narrative of a famous person's life. According to Brown, Diana made decisions not just in response to the other people in her life, but in reaction to press and how her actions might be reported and perceived. She lost the goal, at some points, of how press attention can influence individuals and became focused on the press itself.
   
   This book presents a strong narrative, a plotline of a life that is compelling and cogent. Though we know the story well, Brown's reportage is complete and portrays not only a whole Diana, but a complete Charles and other royals who had to orbit her star while she was alive.
   
   This was a fascinating book to read as an examination of a woman of fame who could not help but respond to the expectations of women in the times in which she lived. Reading THE DIANA CHRONICLES, one cannot help but think of the price some women pay to be the feminine, compassionate women the world wants them to be. When that world is personified by papparazzi and reporters in fragile woman's day-to-day life, her response can be astonishing.



5. Tina Brown's book combines history with pop culture and brings the reader a whole new presentation of Princess Diana. I was wary about purchasing it at first, fearing that it would be too gossipy but instead I found that I was touched by her story. The attention to detail is remarkable and covers the life of Princess Diana with a true journalist's touch. I highly suggest it for anyone who has even a remote interest in Princess Diana or the current British Royal Family in general.

5 comments about All Things Bright and Beautiful.

1. I read his books as a teen and loved them. Bought the whole set for my grandsons, [teens]. They laughed until they cried. [so did I].



2. James Herriot (not his real name) has given us a series of wonderful stories about all creatures the big and the small. Even if you hate these kinds of book you are bound to find one of the stories that you like.
   
   My personal favorite is story of Mrs. Donovan the town busybody and amateur vet.
   Wonderful collection



3. We listened to this book on a trip and wanted to keep driving so it wouldn't end! It was a collection of Mr. Herriot's adventures as a country vet in England, and was so delightfully written. Having lived with the various ailments of large animals, the occasional realistic descriptions of ailments did not bother us. Someone not accustomed to large animals and their care, might find it too descriptive. We enjoyed the book immensely and hope to hear them all!



4. Is there anyone who read ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL and who didn't rush right out and buy this one next? I didn't think so. I gave the first one a rave review, and rightfully so, but somehow I don't recall enjoying it as much as I did this one. He's an amazing talent on so many levels. Read the real reviews by the real reviewers. They're all true. This man lived in the moment, and he enjoyed all in life that is enjoyable.



5. All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot is a true classic and I can see why it has been such a big seller through many decades. Sadly, I missed seeing his books when they were made into a television series. This autobiographical work is charming and delightful.
   
   Jim Herriot was a vet in Yorkshire, England. He was pretty much a country veterinarian, servicing farm animals for most of his years. He began his career when the practice of being a vet was pretty much in the dark ages. Antibiotics were not yet on the horizon and many of today's vaccines weren't invented. Each chapter is a story about a different experience--birthing a lamb, caring for injured animals, judging a favorite pet contest, tasting homemade wine, etc. Through them all, we get to sense Jim's love for his job, his patients, and the simple but grateful folk he came in contact with every day. Many times, being a vet was also to be a detective. He often had to come up with a diagnosis for a mystery ailment, and he had to deal with everything from copper deficiencies to hairballs. As in life, not all of his stories have happy endings.
   
   I am happy to have finally acquainted myself with James Herriot and will definitely read more of his books. I have already started James Herriot's Dog Stories.