5 comments about My Name Escapes Me (Penguin Audiobooks).

1. Where BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE and A POSITIVELY FINAL APPEARANCE are more organized as memoirs, this is simply a sequence of diary entries prepared for publication. They show a great actor, the dean of Ealing comedies and (to his chagrin) the great Jedi Master, admiring the twilight in his retirement. This is a gentlemanly, sensitive, yet vibrantly witty writer who once described heaven as sitting with one or two friends, sharing a drink and savoring the silence. There are no peekaboo stories about celebrities or iconoclastic commentaries on the state of the world; just an appreciation for an interesting life well-lived, deliciously and intimately inscribed for us in these daily entries.

   For a more organized and literary memoir, the two titles mentioned above come highly recommended.




2. "My Name Escapes Me" is a book of actor Sir Alec Guinness' personal diary entries from January 1995 to June 1996, which he wrote with publication in mind. I have to give Sir Alec credit: His diary is not as tedious as most people's would be. His writing has a nice pace, and the book is mercifully short. But there simply isn't anything interesting about it. Sir Alec was 82 years old and retired when he wrote this diary. He spent most of his time relaxing at his country home. If he were working, he might have had more interesting anecdotes to relate or perhaps some insight into the process of putting on a play or making a movie to share. But it takes a more talented writer to make something interesting out of the mundane. Sir Alec mentions music that he likes, plays that he sees, books that he reads, art in various forms, but he never expounds on these subjects, so we don't learn anything about the subjects or about him. He doesn't seem to be an opinionated person. Opinions, however trying, might make for better reading. All in all, "My Name Escapes Me" gives the impression of a man of moderate writing talent and moderate intelligence. It's really too bad that no publisher asked Alec Guinness to write a diary for publication earlier in his life. His style is both literate and easy-going. If it had been applied to the life of a working actor, an insightful and highly readable book might have resulted. But as it is, I think only obsessively curious fans of Alec Guinness will find anything of interest in "My Name Escapes Me".



3. sir alec must have been a kind and gentle man. i found in this book that he was charming and witty and deliberately effacing. it takes us on a journey to his many memories of movies,tv,politics, and a great cast of characters that he's met over the years. it's a quiet and calm book. a very relaxing and entertaining read. and what a since of humor!



4. I haven't hear the audio version of Sir Alec's diary: don't need to since I can hear his voice in my head as I read. Gracious to a fault about his fellow actors, prickly about fans who invade his privacy (whether spying him at a museum or appearing in the back garden), exasperated at the Star Wars fame, he is a truly eccentric Englishman and proud of it. I love it when he admits he probably went on and on while telling a story; a common fault of the loquacious and the aging. Pokes fun at himself and endears himself all the more. Delightful.



5. In this, the first of his two volumes (so far, I hope) based on his journal, the great actor Sir Alec Guinness makes writing and reading seem as effortless as his acting. His graceful, lucid prose is remarkable, as are his observations and ruminations on his life, on the craft of acting (he never lets one forget that acting is a craft with exacting standards of professionalism), on his reading, on his religious life, on the world around him, and on his family and friends. He is one of the sharpest yet kindest observers of the human comedy, and reading him is not only an unalloyed pleasure but nourishing to the mind and the heart. Readers of this book should scour used-bookstores for BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE and should also hunt down his new book A POSITIVELY FINAL APPEARANCE.

5 comments about Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol 1: 1884-1933.

1. I happened across Vol. 2 of this biography and procrastinated on actually reading it for several months--it is a LARGE volume and I was kind of put off at the seemingly enormous task of reading the tome. Once I started reading, I stayed with it. The book is well written and I found Eleanor to be a most intriguing figure. Something that kept me interested was the similarity between the issues in the United States in Eleanor's day and the issues currently. I found myself wishing everyone would read the biography, as a kind of refresher course in history. Maybe our country's leaders could be more effective in leading our nation away from economic disaster and loss of a middle class if they were reminded of what happened in the first half of the 20th century. Volume 2 of the biography made such an impact on my thinking, I felt compelled to locate Volume 1. I have not finished reading it yet, but so far, it has not disappointed. Blanche Wiesen Cook is a thorough and skilled researcher and an excellent writer. One should not be put off at the size of the two volumes--Reading these two volumes of Eleanor Roosevelt's life is very much worth the effort!



2. For many Americans, Eleanor Roosevelt is more a myth than an actual person. In the Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. there is a whole floor devoted to American presidents, but just a small wing devoted to our First Ladies, or more specifically their inaugural gowns. While visiting the museum, I picked up a poster of Eleanor Roosevelt, with a nice quote that reads something like, "Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent." Other than my poster, the only thing I knew about Eleanor Roosevelt was what my grandmother, who grew up during the Depression and Roosevelt years, had told me: "She sure was ugly." When Eleanor Roosevelt's letters to Lorena Hickok were revealed to the public in 1978, and questions about the true nature of their relationship arose, author Blanche Wiesen Cook, a historian and women's studies professor, was intrigued to answer the challenge of determining who Eleanor Roosevelt really was. In her book, "Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume One, 1884-1933," Cook promises to give readers a fuller view of Eleanor Roosevelt - not just the mythic character, but the actual story behind the woman, an independent power in her own right.
   
   "Eleanor Roosevelt: Volume One, 1884-1933" is, in essence, a feminist reading of the life and times of Eleanor Roosevelt, telling her story chronologically up to 1933, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes President of the United States. Eleanor Roosevelt's childhood, as would be expected, is crucial to understanding her identity. Although she grows up in a privileged family in New York - her uncle Theodore is President of the United States - her childhood is "filled with disappointment, alcoholism, and betrayal." Eleanor Roosevelt's mother casts Eleanor aside as ugly and too serious. Although her father is an alcoholic, Eleanor adores him, as he encourages her to be courageous and bold and wants her to be self-reliant and self-fulfilled. Both of her parents die before she turns 11, leaving Eleanor to be raised by relatives who mostly conform to the ideals in place during the 1890s. It is not until she is sent to Marie Souvestre's school in Europe that she is first "given permission to be herself." Marie Souvestre is an unconventional feminist and her school is unusual in that it encourages girls to be independent at a time when education is considered to be dangerous to a woman's mental health. Marie Souvestre's role in Eleanor's life is second only to her father's, as Marie Souvestre appreciates Eleanor's talents and encourages her to discover and develop her capabilities.
   
   Upon graduation, though, Eleanor Roosevelt faces the realities of her time, as she is torn between the new self-sufficient world she has discovered through her schooling in Europe and the traditions of her mothers and relatives in New York. Ultimately, Eleanor Roosevelt accepts her prescribed role as a woman, goes courting, and secretly becomes engaged to her cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, to the chagrin of his possessive mother Sara. Eleanor becomes increasingly dependent on Franklin, feeling "absolutely lost" when he is away. After they are married, Eleanor is forced to move in to his family home with his mother; as a result, she is never able to have her own home and instead relies on her mother-in-law for everything, as she essentially runs their lives and is the loudest voice in raising their children, leaving Eleanor without a role in her own family and without "self-confidence and ability to look after [herself]." Whereas, to be loved by Marie Souvestre had "meant to display an independent spirit with individual flavor, and a playful imagination," to be loved by Sara "meant to become fully like Sara." It is here that Eleanor loses her identity, mimicking Sara's views, including "flip, class-bound arrogance and egregious racism."
   
   It is not until 1918, when the "bottom drops out" of Eleanor Roosevelt's world, that she reflects on her life and determines what she wants of it. While previously Eleanor has had a romantic view of her marriage, upon discovering Franklin's letters from his mistress, Lucy Mercer, Eleanor Roosevelt becomes dejected and depressed and develops what the author characterizes as anorexia. After a period of reflection and introspection, ultimately she resolves to design herself an "independent life" that serves to meet her own needs and reclaim her separate identity. After 1923, Eleanor and Franklin live essentially separate lives, as Eleanor accepts Missy LeHand's role as his "second wife" and develops her own separate circle of friends separate from his. While Franklin works toward rehabilitating his legs after developing polio, Eleanor works on her own career and becomes a national figure in her own right, including an important role as an educator, owning and teaching at a progressive school called Todhouse, and encouraging a new generation of female students just as she had been encouraged by Marie Souvestre. Finally, Eleanor seems to complete her personal journey as a woman through her romantic relationships with Earl Miller, her bodyguard, and Lorena Hickok, an esteemed reporter from the Associated Press, who both champion Eleanor Roosevelt and promote her best interests, giving her personal fulfillment. Through these relationships, she is no longer alone, but has the support system she will need to face her next big challenge - the White House.
   
   In telling the arc of Eleanor Roosevelt's journey to becoming an independent woman, "Eleanor Roosevelt, Vol. 1" is what it claims to be - a life and times of Eleanor Roosevelt through 1933. Although the writing style is dry and the book starts off slowly, it ultimately succeeds in explaining who Eleanor Roosevelt was - her struggles to find her own identify and to put herself in a position of power where she doesn't need her husband to define her own self-worth. But because the book ends at 1933, we learn more about who Eleanor Roosevelt is and less about why she is such an important historical figure. Also, because this book is necessarily about Eleanor as an independent person, she emerges as a fully-fleshed three-dimensional figure, while Franklin comes off as a flat, ordinary, two-dimensional character. As a result, the book sparks even more questions than it answers. Why did Eleanor marry Franklin? What was the true nature of their partnership? What were her greatest accomplishments? And why should we care about Eleanor Roosevelt? While I had not originally planned to, I now intend to read "Eleanor Roosevelt: The Defining Years, Volume 2" by the same author, as well as "F.D.R." by Jean Edward Smith and "No Ordinary Time" by Doris Kearns Goodwin to help answer these additional questions and learn not just about who Eleanor Roosevelt was, but why she mattered.



3. Readers disappointed with the lack of analysis in this book are looking for another animal -- a more supple, lovelier, livlier, or more analytic one. This is a narrative mammoth, wherein Cook revives ER through dense documentary detail. I especially enjoyed the detail about her upbringing, her families, and influential relatives. With all of the details woven into this chronicle, it'd just get convoluted to add more flourish, conjecture, and analysis. I would not like to see details cut for the sake of these.
   
   The notable exception is Cook's willingness to speculate about the amorous nature of ER's friendships. Even here, she cites documentation, and chronicles what has been destroyed, gone missing, and where interview questions were refused. Cook is forthright about her motivation to venture out further here in order to counter popular conjecture about ER as sexually frigid.
   
   Cook has provided groundwork for any number of less academic biographies.
   I too would love to see other kinds of biographies of ER, other than narrative: a philosophic biography analyzing the significance of her actions in her time; a descriptive biography of her character or biopic film.
   
   For a lovelier portrait of her perspective and character, read her own works or The Wisdom of Eleanor Roosevelt. For broader context and significance, there really isn't enough, but try Kearns-Goodwin.
   
   For details, chronology, and narrative, read both volumes of this. I'd love to see a biopic made out of it.



4. I found both volumes of Ms. Cook's books fascinating. I could not wait to return to them. I learned a lot about Eleanor and the time in which she lived. I will buy copies of both for all my children and suggest that my grands read them as well.



5. This nonsensical bio is written entirely from a blind feminist perspective. The research is suspect. The prose amateurish. The details gossipy and contrived. If Eleanor Roosevelt was truly a woman of thought and progressivism, then Cook has done her an unforgivable disservice. If you're looking to understand Roosevelt's honest-to-goodness place in history, you will not find it is this intellectually offensive work.

5 comments about Papa Hemingway.

1. For those new to Hemingway, I would recommend reading a wiki review of Ernest Hemingway, and then "A Moveable Feast" to hear in his own words his thoughts on the myriad cast of characters he met around the world. If possible (but highly unlikely, due to its rarity) I would follow that with Charles Fenton's "The Apprenticeship of Ernest Hemingway." I would then read "The Hemingway Women" (probably reading chapters in reverse order) to get one of the best histories of Ernest Hemingway's life. I would conclude with Hotchner's "Papa Hemingway."
   
   The books by Hotchner and Fenton are classics and I would recommend hardback copies. I think remaindered copies from discount bookstores might be the most precious; there's something to be said for giving these homeless books a loving and final resting place on your bookshelf of treasured possessions.
   
   All I can say is that I had no idea Ernest Hemingway was so much more than an author. It would be like calling TR a politician.



2. I initially began reading this book many years ago and was taken aback by the author's use of very long verbatim quotations, often two pages long, attributed to Hemingway, which I found very hard to believe that Hotchner was able to remember verbatim things that Hemingway had said, some things decades before. Hotcher prefaces the book that he often took notes and had a tape recorder, but it is obvious that in some instances there would have been no way for him to take a tape recorder.
   
   Then I read Jack Hemingway's ("Bumby," Hemingway's first son) memoir (Adventures of a Fly Fisherman), in which he describes his experience of reading Carlos Baker's biography (which is considered the standard) as not portraying his father in any way even close to being accurate, and Hotchner's bio as being the closest to the life and personality of his father, so I took up the Hotcher book again, but still wasn't happy with it, but finished it. I have in general been very unhappy with pretty much all bios that I've read on Hemingway. I think the most enjoyable was The Hemingway Women. I think we really need an updated Hemingway bio that doesn't fall into the psychoanalytic and/or impersonal historian type of bio.



3. 
   In 1948 A.E. Hotchner was dispatched from New York to Havana by Cosmopolitan Magazine to do a story on Hemingway. Hotchner was in awe of the famous writer and tried to dodge the assignment. Well, it didn't work and even as he was intimidated by the thoughts of how Hemingway would dismiss him without so much as a hint of a story, he screwed up his nerve and initiated the first contact. And from their first meeting at the Floridita Bar in Havana, to Hotchner's dismay, the two connected. A true friendship ensued and Hotchner traveled to Cuba at least once a year and communicated frequently by letter, wire and phone. Papa Hemingway called him Hotch and Hotch was as close to Papa as anyone. During their general conversations apparently very few subjects were off limits. Most of Papa's personal problems were discussed; he even talked about some of his writing techniques.
   Travel was a big part of Hemingway's life. He paid regular visits to New York, Paris, Madrid, Key West and Ketchum, Idaho. Spain was his favorite destination and the Spanish lifestyle was reflected in his writing from `The Sun Also Rises' to various short stories.
   There was no one thing in this book that defined the Hotchner Hemingway relationship unless you consider brotherly love. That kindness is on full display toward the end as Hotchner describes Hemingway's mental path to self-destruction.
   Papa Hemingway is a must read human tragedy.
   Tom Barnes author of: `The Goring Collection,' `Doc Holliday's Road to Tombstone,' `The Hurricane Hunters and Lost in the Bermuda Triangle.'



4. Wild game hunter, war correspondent, bull fighting afficionado; these were the elements that comprised the public persona of Earnest Hemingway, unparalleled man of American letters. As time went on though, Hemingway added unfathomable amounts of liquor to the mix and he began to confuse his public persona with who he really was. Hotchner's memoir finds Hemingway near the end of his remarkable reign as macho wordsmith king extrordinaire--It begins somewhere before he wrote the Old Man and the Sea, won the Nobel Prize, and covers through his tragic psychological/physical decline and suicide in 1961. Hotchner spent a lot of time with Hemingway during these later years touring Europe and running with the bulls. Along the way Hem and Hotch rub shoulders with Hemingway pals Ingrid Bergman, Ava Gardner, among others; but front and center are Hotchner's observations of the great man himself. It must have been hard for A.E.H. to write this as Hemingway slid into the paranoia/psychosis that eventually led him to fire that shotgun into his mouth in Ketchum, Idaho. As the memoir goes on, EH drinks more and more and struggles to maintain his art. Eventually, he imagines himself a target of the FBI, and at one point attempts to jump out of a plane transporting him to the Mayo Clinic for treatment. Through it all his last wife, Mary--as well as Hotchner and his many friends, stand by him. The reader,though, gets the feeling that while Hemingway was never easy to be around, the years of decline were especially difficult. Hotchner, a loyal friend and admirer, proves a more than able chronicler, always managing to mix just the right touch of compassion (that never becomes blind hero worship) with a keen objectivity that serves a good memoir best. In this book, Hotchner relates both the high and low points of the literary lion in winter.



5. It was this book, PAPA HEMINGWAY by A.E. Hotchner, that revealed to the world upon its publication in 1966 that Ernest Hemingway died in 1961 not of an accident while cleaning a gun but of an intentional self-inflicted gunshot. If that was all this book had to offer the world on Hemingway, it would not still be in print. He provides an up close and personal portrait of a man he admired and called a good friend, but a complicated personage all the same. This is not a critical, exhaustively researched biography weighing 10 pounds; it is memoir by someone who experienced life with the man firsthand, an account that comes across with honesty and enough detail for readers to draw their own critical conclusions.
   
   Hotchner was a young writer dispatched by a magazine in 1948 to find the by then world famous Hemingway in Cuba and negotiate an article. Hotchner's terror at the assignment turned into high surprise as Hemingway took to him and brought him right into his inner circle. Hotchner never talks about himself really, so we don't know what Hemingway saw in him, but it had to be something because Hemingway was not a man who trusted easily, who required exacting standards in his pals, who also included restaurateur Toots Shor, Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper and Ava Gardner. Hemingway was at the top of his powers in 1948, living as he thought life should be lived and settled in with his fourth and last wife, Mary, who could stand up to him. On the pretense of editing work, he takes Hotchner along for European adventures, making fun while also disclosing memories of his earlier days, and most important, what inspired his classic novels. As they move into the 1950's together, Hotchner also catches evidence of Hemingway's battle with mortality. He has a tough road back to health after surviving a plane crash in Africa, and then, trying to work again, he is bowled over by the response to THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA (the Pulitzer) and the Nobel Prize. Castro, with whom he thought he had an understanding, takes his home and sanctuary. He is briefly revived in the outdoors of Ketchum, Idaho, but depression and paranoia begin to tear at him. What now seems a brutal electric shock treatment at the Mayo Clinic, especially for a man who never believed in analysis or being penned up, who wanted to do his own fighting, preceded his death.

5 comments about A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive.

1. What a wonderful heartbreaking book. I read this book in one night. I tried to put it down after the chapter The Accident. I lay there in my bed and cannot stop my mind from wondering, what happened to this little boy. I had to finish it, that night. The next morning I ordered 3 more of David's books. 5 STAR BOOK



2. I found this book to be very disturbing in many ways.
   First the shear horror of the acts inflicted on this child by a parent were too disturbing to complete.
   Second, the detail that is included in the book from the time this man was 5 or 6 until he was 12 or 13 is just a little too over the top for me to believe it is actually the memory of a small child.
   
   I am not denying that he was abused but I felt there was a little bit of embelishment from the adult writing.
   
   I could not finish the book nor am I interested in ready the rest of his writtings. I find it amazing that he can over come the abuse and become a whole person but it was just a little much for me



3. It's hard to believe that anything like this can ever happen. I admire that Dave Pelzer came far enough to be able to write about this book and the horrors of child abuse. Violent, senseless, and powefully told.



4. The book was for my daughter. It arrived quickly and she didn't put it down until she was finished. Transaction went very smoothly.



5. This book was painful and disturbing to read. The author's point-of-view, which seems confusing at first, is absolutely the voice of an abused child. I am highly upset at those Amazon reviewers who questioned whether or not he was really an abused child. This is Dave Pelzer's view of his world as a child. The emotions are overdrawn and the situations outrageous and improbable because he is writing as an adult, trying to recreate the emotions he felt and what he lived through as a child.

5 comments about As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl.

1. Wow!!! What a read, my friend Phil was raised as a girl for the first 25 years of his life and even after so many therpists, years of counselling & several operations to re-correct "himself" he still feels more comfortable keeping his long hair and still deliberates whether he can ever make that leap and have his breast implants removed. I am so glad I have found this book, now Phil my friend I truly have an insight into what life has dealt you. I only wish I could give this book 6 stars.



2. David took his own life in 2004 at the age of 38. His twin brother died a couple of years before (maybe) also of a suicide. The story of David did not end well, as much as we hoped it would.



3. This was an interesting book in that it told the story of the tragic childhood of David Reimer in addition to summarizing the background of John Money's theoretical underpinnings of his belief in early childhood reconstructive surgery. The fact that Reimer's childhood was being described as a total success by John Money when in fact the reality of the situation was the exact opposite is pretty shocking. Amazing how unethical this guy was. Your archetypal mad scientist.



4. Anyone who looked through a serious book on sex and gender in the 1970s was bound to come across the landmark John/Joan case. It seemed to indicate that children's sense of their sex (i.e., whether they were boys or girls) was soft and malleable. Counterintuitive and Marxian as that sounds now, it was presented as enlightened, forward-looking thinking.
   
   By the time John Colapinto published his expose of the John/Joan case in Rolling Stone in 1997, the jig was already up. Intersex advocates were loudly complaining that they had been mutiliated and tinkered with. The weight of evidence now suggested that for most people, one's mental sex was as fixed at birth as one's physical form.
   
   This book expanded on the original article by naming the actual principals in the tale and describing John/Joan's long and grueling experience of being a Johns Hopkins guinea pig: the transcontinental trips to the doctor once or twice a year, the psychological bullying, the constant reminder that you are some sort of freak.
   
   The article and the book are both heavily biased against John Money, the eminent New Zealander who supervised the experiment, and suspiciously eager to believe any scurrilous tales that his colleagues might offer (e.g., that Money had sexual relations with some of his students; the implication is that this sort of behavior is transgressive to an extreme, seldom encountered among academics and sex researchers!). To which I say--well, whether John Money was good or evil, he accomplished his main objective, which was to push back the frontiers of ignorance about sexual identity. We can now feel fairly confident in saying that you cannot just change someone's sex, willy-nilly, and force the mind to go along. More pertinently, if a child who appears to be female insists that she/he is really a boy, that child should not be regarded as delusional.
   
   Overall, the basic narrative of the Reimer family is not credible, and this is the basic weakness of the book. After all those trips to Baltimore, and the crushing awareness that "she" was some sort of sexual freak, Brenda/David Reimer certainly had some inkling of the truth long before she was 13. At the very least, Brenda and her twin brother must have had many intimate chats while they were growing up; surely there were some wild but accurate guesses in there. And it is inconceivable that the Reimer parents would never have alluded to Brenda's "accident." They probably discussed openly it all the time when the twins were two or three, the same way grown-ups often undress in front of their toddlers, regarding them as no more impressionable or sentient than the kitty-cat.
   
   The death of both twins a few years ago (one by overdose, the other by suicide) suggests that the family dynamics were far more messed up than we knew. I got the idea (from the book) that the twins were seriously lacking in ambition, social skills, and other incentives to get on in life. This is disturbing for me to contemplate, since it makes me wonder if the John/Joan experiment might have had a different outcome in a happier, less dysfunctional family. Would Brenda have adapted better, perhaps as a tomboy? Would she have decided to remain a girl if she'd been happier socially, with more friends and an intellectually stimulating envrionment? Perhaps not. But the sad dynamics of the Reimer family are an annoying variable, making me sometimes wonder whether the John/Joan case teaches us anything useful.



5. Horrifying story of a little baby boy, who suffered, firstly, during a circumcision accident and then every day of his life as he is forced to live as a girl.
   The description of his treatment and the treatment of his brother at the hands of the supervising doctor is beyond horrific. To show small children pornography and to make them simular sex with each other just curdled my mind. And the total lack of listening to the patient is truely unbelievable that it was permitted for so long.
   The book is well written and a realy page turner. Your heart goes out to the boy and his family and you can't help but looking at the photos in the middle. Don't be afraid that the book may be too dry, it is written with the lay person in mind. Sympathetic to David and the choices his parents made in 1967.
   A must read and extremely thought provoking.

5 comments about Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation.

1. Well intended and with too-few doses of contemporary perspective, commentary & humor, author Cokie Roberts examines some of the most remarkable women of the colonial era. Unfortunately, in her attempt to paint them as more than merely First Ladies and "Mrs." Washington, Adams, Madison, et al, Roberts comes up with a narrative that is often as slow going as a book report. Thorough, meticulous research doesn't necessarily deliver a good read.
   
   This important and underreported patriots deserve a livelier treatment than they get here. And Cokie Roberts could certainly have managed better. Maybe the fault lies with Editorial's fear that making them more fascinating would somehow diminish their gravitas.



2. The title was all that attracted me to this book. It seemed poorly written and nobody in our book club enjoyed this book. The characters came and went and then reappeared (the book was in chronological order versus taking one character at a time) which made it confusing. It was a hard read. I actually got through another book club pick "Andersonville" by Kantor- almost 1000 pages with less trouble.



3. Although this book was listed by the vendor, it was out of stock so I never got it. My account was credited, but why list the book when it isn't available.?



4. I recieved the book promptly. The book is in good condition. I am currently enjoying the book and it is alway nice to see history thru a woman's eyes. Thank You Cokie Roberts



5. One of the most sophomoric books to hit the market in a while, the prose is bad, the content is mere filler of cute stories of women doing very little, and the author can't stay on the subject at all.

5 comments about Titan : The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (Cassette/Abridged).

1. John D. Rockefeller Sr. was probably the biggest, baddest robber baron in 19th century America, and also its leading philanthropist. Many writers scorned his ruthlessness, notably Ida Tarbell, who wrote two books on Rockefeller and his company, Standard Oil. Author Ron Chernow digs deeper, through masses of Rockefeller family documents, to present the founder of the Rockefeller dynasty as a "man of flesh and bone and soul." He covers Rockefeller's ugly, dramatic and even shameful aspects, while concurrently demonstrating his business acumen and his philanthropic leadership amid a remarkable generation of business barons, including William Randolph Hearst, Jay Gould, William Vanderbilt, Andrew Carnegie and J.P. Morgan. An amazing portrait emerges of an almost invisible, rather megalomaniac ascetic who wanted to fulfill God's will. He became extremely wealthy, gave millions away, and believed that he brought the benefit of inexpensive oil products to all mankind. getAbstract highly recommends this multifaceted biography.



2. This is a really excellent book on Rockefeller. It made me laugh; it helped me to understand who he was as a person; it showed how he became who he was; and it gave me a true and complete understanding of Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Sr. in an unbiased way.
   
   I read the negative reviews on here, and I want to refute them. Some say the author clearly favored Rockefeller; I felt quite the opposite at some points and think a really objective depiction was achieved. Others say the editing was poor; I didn't find a single spelling or grammatical error during the read. In terms of its editing, it was fine.
   
   If you want to know who Mr. Rockefeller, Sr. was, this is the book for you.



3. Hopefully it is good, Kinda Long but I am looking foward to having time to read the whole novel.



4. Rockefeller is reported to have searched endlessly for golf balls lost in an attempt to recover them, yet could nearly buy the world - why?
   
   Objective biographies are important to show that it is rarely money or greed that inspires the mind of man; it is the pursuit of the solution to the particular problem that he has defined worthy of solution. Both great inventions and great works of art have been formed as a result of the tiny seeds of construction or of destruction that engage the human spirit.
   
   Without it, are we not all merely reduced to automated machine status, the robots of today for the future of tomorrow?
   
   Is the mind of man made for the pursuit of money, or for the pursuit of satisfaction of what he perceives is worthy of addressing, focusing his attention upon the manner and the object of his passion?
   
   What makes people tick is a source of inspiration often overlooked in the attempt to idolize or endow humanity, and far too often, misconstrued by mistaken others who aim to profit from that misinterpretation.
   
   Molded soles, like molded fingerprints, rarely sit anyone else. Why then do we not concentrate upon the perspective of what men aim for, and why, rather than what they accomplish, and its yield?



5. 
   This book is the best biography I've read thus far.
   Ron Chernow has a deep understanding of
   economics and history. He uses this understanding to
   paint an accurate, balanced and complete picture of
   the Rockerfeller dynasty with J.D. Rockerfeller as the
   center of their powerful universe.
   
   
   To emphasise just how well this book was written,
   consider the fact that I spent my whole
   Christmas weekend reading it! I couldn't move from my
   library or sleep until it was done. Though the book
   weighs in at approximately seven hundred pages, it is
   reads like a novel, a trait which makes it both
   palatable and pithy.
   
   

   Synopsis

   
   Rockerfeller has all the traits of a classic self made hero. His
   antecedents are not amazing. He grew up in a poor
   family featuring a bigamist foot-lose father who was
   hardly ever around. His father taught John painful
   lessons in business and human behaviour. John's father
   would regularly tell John to jump from his high chair
   into his father's arms. Once, in order to teach John
   never to trust anyone, he told John to jump. He then
   walked away, leaving John to slam painfully into the ground.
   John's mother was the backbone of the family; quiet,
   anassuming and hardworking. He assumed the role of
   surrogate father and dedicated his life to ensuring his
   mother and the rest of his family were safe, secure
   and happy.
   
   
   When Rockerfeller got into the business world, he
   began as a book keeper. It was from these early
   beginnings that he showed the traits that would be the
   core of his success. He was meticulous and diligent
   when keeping financial records and accounts. He would
   manage his own funds as well as the company's money down to the
   decimal point! Like Warren Buffet after him,
   J.D. Rockerfeller would emphasis that "numbers are
   everything."
   
   
   J.D also proved that discipline is more important than
   intelligence. In school, he wasn't the sharpest blade
   in the set but his slow, diligent, determined and
   disciplined approach to study ensured his success. He
   emphasised this in his business dealings as well. With
   this method, he created the jaggernaut monopoly of
   Standard Oil. He began by consolidating the mass of oil
   refineries and wells in Cleveland under his umbrella.
   Later, after recruiting his alter ego, Henry Flagler,
   they would proceed to dominate the oil industry
   thoughout the world.
   
   
   Rockerfeller also exemplified a reticence that would
   inspire respect and fear in his enemies while planting
   admiration and loyalty in his friends. At board
   meetings, he was often known to lie back in a settee
   with his eyes closed as he let his leiutenants debate.
   Later, he would discuss these issues in great detail,
   as though he had absorbed and understood everything
   without skipping a beat. Within his company, he was a
   ghost. Employees would never see him arrive or watch
   him leave. However, they were made acutely aware of
   his presence when he popped up at some underlings desk
   and discussed their jobs and records in great detail. He
   knew everything and everyone.
   
   
   Later on, Standard Oil would become the focus of the
   anti-trust movement. The Spellman Act was passed in
   order to curb its power. In later years,
   Rockerfeller's juggernaut would be split up with
   unforseen results. Instead of destroying his wealth,
   as his detractors and politicians had hoped, his
   wealth and that of his shareholders trippled!
   Rockerfeller's success was enduring and could not be
   stopped or limited.
   
   
   Rockerfeller dedicated the first half his life to becoming the
   richest man on the planet. He then dedicated the
   remaining half to becoming the greatest philanthropist
   in the planet. His medical foundations brought
   back the disciplined approach he applied to business to
   the medical field that had erstwhile been dominated by
   quacks and homeopaths. Were it not for Rockerfeller's
   contributions to medicine, modern health might not be
   as advanced as it is now.
   
   
   After living to the ripe old age of ninety eight,
   Rockerfeller had achieved more than most people achive in a
   hundred lifetimes. He was one of those individuals so
   powerful that he forever changed the destiny of
   humanity forever.
   
   
   
   Something in the nature of J.D. Rockerfeller had to
   occur in America, and it is all to the good of the
   world that he was tight-lipped, consistent and
   amazingly free from vulgar vanity, sensuality and
   quarrelsomeness. His cold prsistence and ruthlessness
   may arouse something like horror, but for all that he
   was a forward-moving force, a constructive power.
   
   --H. G. Wells. The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind.
   
   
   

   Conclusion

   
   This book is mandatory reading for all students of
   success. It teaches the nature of the monopolist, the
   spirit of the leader, the hunger of the rich, the
   ambition of the visionary, the structure of a dynasty
   and the soul of the innovator.
   
   
   I've idolized Rockerfeller my whole life. Reading this
   biography gave me an understanding of both his faults
   and his virtues. It humanised him. The fact that
   Rockerfeller is so much like a next door neighbour
   leads the reader to a very important conclusion:
   success is not about nature, it's about nurture. It
   is not about intelligence but of intent. It is not
   about destiny but of decision. It is not about magic,
   it is about method.
   
   Each of us can make the decision to be successful. All
   we have to do is practice the method by mimicking that
   of the giants who have come before us. That is the
   Billionaire Way.

5 comments about Lincoln.

1. We all know how the story of Lincoln tragically ends. Therefore it is a testament to the biographer's consummate writing talent that one still feels a sense of emotion and loss when he describes that night at the Ford Theater. In the six hundred pages that come before, he so perfectly captures Abraham Lincoln the man, his strengths, his sometimes surprising flaws, that you feel in some way you know him. That is David Herbert Donald's singular achievement. With a style that avoids stuffiness and prolixity, this is a great read for both the casual reader and the more serious student of history.



2. I read this book a couple of years ago. I've heard it described more than once as the "definitive" Lincoln bio, but it's not the most readable. I don't insist that the history I read be easy and light, but this book was a bit too dense and detailed for me. Parts were interesting, but I got majorly bogged down in the middle. There have to be Lincoln bios out there that would be of more interest to the general reader.



3. This is a biography of Lincoln. The problem in writing a biography of Lincoln, of course, is that so many thousands of books on Lincoln have already been written. How do you say anything new and useful about the man, about whom more words have been written than anyone else in American history?
   
   Donald deals with this problem by adopting an unusual biographic strategy. In most biographies, of course, the writer is writing both the life of the subject and at least to some degree larger history. To put the life into context, as a rule, the writer needs to explore the larger issues with which the person was concerned.
   
   Donald very deliberately does not do this. He says in his introduction that is not a general history of 19th century America and it is not. He says that he will focus only on Lincoln himself, and he does. He does not, for example, give us a detailed description of any of the Civil War battles. Lincoln was not present at those battles, so they are not described. His focus is exclusively on Lincoln, the people around him and the events in which he was directly invovled.
   
   The result is odd, but it works. You get very little about the overall strategy of the Civil War. You get next to nothing about Congressional politics in the Civil War. You get virtually nothing about the Confederacy. Instead, you get this kind of reality-TV approach, where you feel as if you were following Lincoln around.
   
   In line with this approach, Donald offers a minimum of interpretation. He presents no arguments about Lincoln's signifigance or role in history. The thesis of the book, if you can call it that, is a very understated argument that LIncoln saw himself as the passive instrument of events, rather than the active shaper of them. It is more a theme, a literary device, than an argument.
   
   The book, in short, takes a minimalist approach to the subject. It works, simply because there is so much written on LIncoln. Out of the vast oceans of material that one could cover, and out of the oceans of argument one could make, Donald sticks tight to the subject and lets events speak for themselves. The end result is that he is able to write a very full biography, on his own odd terms, and keep it just under 600 pages of text. I found the book kind of cold emotionally, but nonetheless very gripping and very informative. I would not call it a definitive biography of Lincoln -- it is too short and self-consciously limited for that -- but, as one volume biographies go, it is very, very good.



4. I have a read a lot of biographical works on Abraham Lincoln. I found this to be the best and most balanced view. If you read biographies or other works related to Abraham Lincoln, you must include this book. It is required reading and was written by one of the - if not the - preeminent scholar on Lincoln.
   
   I would also recommend you to other books, in addition to this one, if you desire to learn about Abraham Lincoln. Reading a variety of biographies about Abraham Lincoln will give you an overall and better picture than one book can alone.
   
   However, having said that, this is the best Lincoln biography. It is excellent.



5. David Donald's Lincoln is packed full of relevant (and irrelevent) facts. I was surprised that a biography of 600 pages on anybody, especially Abraham Lincoln, could contain so much information. It usually takes authors two or three volumes to say as much as Donald does in one.
   
   Just like life on the western frontier, this biography begins slowly. This provides a good place for those interested in getting the author's take on Lincoln as a person. A portion of other people's lives that is usually covered in two to three pages is covered in great depth. In approximately 150+ pages, Donald gives us a look into Lincoln's early life, his time as a moderately successful Lawyer in Illinois, and his unsuccessful political career. For those looking to learn more about Lincoln's Administration, I would recommend skipping to Chapter Eight, where the book gets much more exciting.
   
   Once begun, Donald sets an exciting (and still fact-filled) pace that does not let up until the end.
   
   While this is a great biography, the subject will always be fiercely debated. Lincoln's Administration led during the greatest upheaval our nation has ever seen. Therefore the literature will vary immensely. For some (like Mr. Donald) Lincoln was mostly passive, and reacted to events as they came; for others he was a great leader with some less than great subordinates; and to still others he was a usurper who limited individual rights and constantly ignored the constitution.
   
   Mr. Donald does an excellent job of providing a balanced review of Lincoln, both as a person and as President. Too many biographers prefer to keep out negative aspects of their subjects, hurting the overall integrity of their work, but Mr. Donald is willing to admit fault in his man.
   
   I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the American Civil War era. I must again warn the reader that this is a hotly debated subject, and taking one opinion is not sufficient. I strongly suggest looking at other writers' take on the subject as well.

5 comments about Alexander Hamilton.

1. Ron Chernow has written another well detailed and well researched biography of a man who is indeed not as well known in the formation of the government of the United States.
   It seems Chernow's writings lean toward people who are often misunderstood. Such is the case on his biography of John D. Rockefeller.
   Although Mr. Chernow is not an academic historian, he does the due diligence of an historian. As stated in Janet Mislin's New York Times Book Review, Mr. Chernow actually visited the jail cell in St. Croix where Hamilton's mother was imprisoned for adultery.
   Also in Chernow's prologue of this book, we find out that Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, the widow of Alexander Hamilton was still alive into the 1850's. The last of a generation who was at the birth of the United States.
   The author goes into the remarkable career of a bastard child who later became a man so crucial in the formation of our government. His exploits as a young officer during the Revolutionary War serving George Washington are well detailed by Chernow. His prominence as a key figure in the writings of the Federalist Papers which help to debate and form the Constitution of the United States is indeed apparent in Chernow's prose. Later Hamilton was responsible for the lasting effects of the formation of the U.S. Treasury. His plan of Assumption of the States debts and the formation of the Bank of the United States are the result of Hamilton's work.
   Hamilton was opinionated and very aggressive in all his dealings. He indeed was a thorn in the side of Thomas Jefferson and also fellow Federalist John Adams. He was brilliant and verbose. He was indeed an agitator.
   His hubris and beliefs led him to the plains of Weehawken where he was shot by Aaron Burr, the Vice President of the United States, and subsequently died.
   That ended that! At the age of 49 Alexander Hamilton died of wounds suffered in a duel with Mr. Burr on July 12, 1804. Thirty-one hours later Mr. Hamilton passed away in New York City.
   Chernow's book is excellent. Bully for him. Five Stars!!! If I could give six stars I would!!!!



2. Takes forever to read (or listen to as I did) but by the end, the reader has not only a fantastic understading of the subject, but for the entire maelstrom from which this country sprang.



3. This is the first full-length biography about Alexander Hamilton that I have read. My only exposure to him has been in general history books, short biographical sketches and references to him in biographies of the other founding fathers. I had just finished watching the John Adams miniseries from HBO and had read his biography by David McCullough. In it Hamilton was depicted as quite fanatic. I wanted to get a broader picture of his life and had heard good reviews of this book. It was available in audio book format and I grabbed a copy to listen to on my commute. It turned out to be a fascinating listening experience.
   
   The narrator was Scott Brick and his voice was perfect for a biography of this type. He has a clear and pleasant voice, and the time listening went by quickly.
   
   I knew that Hamilton had contributed a lot to our countries early history, but had no idea how much he had contributed. I wasn't aware of how he was such a key part of George Washington's career as general and president. I didn't know that Hamilton was the key author of Washington's farewell address, considered one of his greatest speeches. I also didn't know his role in the federalist papers was so key. He was clearly a visionary and was way ahead of his time. It was interesting to get another perspective on the other founding fathers, especially Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe.
   
   Hamilton also had plenty of weaknesses and Chernow points those out freely. There is a lot for us to learn from him. It's tragic that Hamilton's life was cut short. It would have been interesting to see what else he would have accomplished if he had lived longer.
   
   I highly recommend this book for all to read. The subject is fascinating and well written. It caused me to reflect on the importance of looking at both sides of a story and realize that even people with flaws can accomplish great things.



4. I find tremendous inspiration in these stories of "dead white guys"(and I probably should read the bio of Frederick Douglass and others to round it out) who spent every minute of their adult life, up to their death, providing for their families AND building a country out of nothing. In addition, because of the lack of modern communication(phone/email_ as well as the lack of leisure time they journaled every thought and action they experienced in order that we may learn from them. Their idea of a fun event was maybe being at an inn while working and someone playing a fiddle as the hummed along. We need to get inside thier heads and find out what combination of mental, physical, and spiritual energy they experienced to undertake this monumental task when just staying alive and providing for a family took every waking moment of everyone's life.
   
   Clearly the author grew to respect the role Hamilton played and felt that maybe the average reader may have been unaware(as I was) as to the various debates going on between Federalists and Republicans re: city v. country, farm v. industrialization, support of Britain v. France, etc.and Hamilton's influence (through Washington) on these events. He tried to capture the sense of adventure the young Hamilton experienced(in Nevis, then NYC, the catupulted into Washington's inner circle), the conflict between his family life(with Eliza who comes across very well here), and finally the events that drove his descent into a fatal resignation and eventually death.
   
   All in all a LONG read (took me 3 weeks at 1-2 hours a day) but a worthwhile read.



5. Long, but an easy interesting read for anyone interested in the founding fathers and seeing our current problems of today were the same ones they strugled with.

5 comments about All Things Wise and Wonderful.

1. The third book in the series and you know exactly what to expect. Yes, folks, it is every bit as entertaining as the first two, and that's probably all you need to know. But I'll go ahead and mention that he spends some time in the RAF during World War II, which we knew he would as the second book ended. I'll also mention that he and Helen have a baby, which you probably expected. One of the great joys of his writing is discovery, so I'd hate to screw that up with a spoiler, but these two tidbits are on the back cover anyway. Oh, and halfway through it, I predicted an ending in advance, and I only had to read 1000 pages by this guy before that happened. It's still great, great stuff, and you know you'll love it.



2. 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].



3. If you like animals you will enjoy all James Herriot's books. This is one of a series of delightful books. Reading one will make you want to read the next one. I can read them over and over.



4. I have the complete series of All Creatures Great and Small books now. This was the last one and I loved it as much as I loved the others. He was a fantastic writer and having been born and raised on a farm I can appreciate a lot of what he talks about. I also have his cat and dog stories books and loved them just as much.



5. The books arrived so quickly that I got to take my time
   wrapping the books.