5 comments about The Night of the Gun: A Reporter Investigates the Darkest Story of his Life--His Own.

1. David Carr has a remarkable story to tell, and he is without question a gifted writer. He also pulls no punches, time and again laying blame where it belongs -- with himself -- for terrible judgments made in a life of addiction, recovery, and backslides to trouble. Carr also takes an interesting approach to reporting his own story -- conducting interviews and research as though he were investigating another person's story. The difficulty is that Carr overwrites, or repeats himself, all too often. There are too many musings about that sort of self-investigation; far too many espisodes of crack-addled madness; too many aphorisms about second chances, missed chances, and so on. I believe the manuscript runs close to four hundred pages; it could have been pared by a hundred or so pages, and made for a far better book.



2. So says David Carr. "But if there is one, it lies in the space between people." Something haunting in that line, and relevant to anyone regardless of whether they share Carr's story of self-destruction and recovery. This reformed thug, drug addict and spiraling loser pulls out of the dive at a critical moment, rescues his infant twin daughters (or is it the other way around?) and rebuilds a shattered career to become a columnist for The New York Times. It's a harrowing story -- part crime saga, part family heartwarmer -- but the remarkable thing is how he did it. Not trusting his own memory of events, Carr retraced the steps from That Guy to This Guy, using his skills as a journalist to interview his old friends, junkies, dealers, lawyers, counselors, to connect those dots. What makes The Night of the Gun transcend the everyday memoir is his exploration of the vagaries of memory -- who remembers what, and when. Stories retold become mythologized, sins he can't bear to see forgiven absolve themselves through forgetfulness, and the question of who pulled that gun on whom becomes more existential than whodunnit. Carr shows that memory becomes a biased informant, whispering that things weren't so bad, not our fault, and yet the truth can be found for those daring enough to confront it. As a fellow reporter, this book was especially compelling. An excellent, riveting read.



3. Even though I haven't read this book yet. I WANT TO. It sounds interesting. Ever thought of making it a search inside the book feature for your book? Can't wait to buy it.



4. The concept behind David Carr's memoir is intriguing. Stoned and drunk for much of his early life, the fact that he couldn't trust his own memories was brought home to him when he was shown that he completely misremembered an incident with a gun (hence the book's title). So, reporter that he is, he set out to interview people who knew him back in the day. He became an investigative reporter tracking down the young David Carr. Along the way, he discovered lots of things he said and did, but of which he has either no or distorted recollections.
   
   So the angle that Night of the Gun takes is attractive. That's the good news. The bad news is that Carr can't quite deliver. For starters, the book is way too long and so the episodes Carr recounts (often with cinematic speed and compactness) tend to become repetitious. So there's a lot of words but not a lot of depth. Moreover, the lack of depth is reflected in the tough guy, Mickey Spillane style Carr chooses to write in, a style that comes across as inauthentic and, within just a few pages, incredibly annoying. Perhaps the point of the style is to create a living-on-the-edge ambience. But it doesn't work very well.
   
   Ultimately, and most seriously, it's difficult to see what the point of Carr's book is. Is it to draw attention to the mysterious ways in which our memories deceive us? But if so, there's precious little real reflection on the issue, and most of it consists of unenlightening one-liners. (What a lost opportunity.) Is it to impress upon us the terrible things that drug and alcohol addictions do? But surely this has been done a bazillion times already in other memoirs as well as in films and novels (read anything by Hubert Selby, Jr., for example). Is the book intended to be a sort of celebrity confessional? But if so, it falls short of the mark because Mr. Carr simply isn't a celebrity.
   
   I'm glad that Carr has straightened out his life. But I'm afraid his book rates no more than two and a half stars. For more authentic and better written recent memoirs of the addicted life, I recommend Lee Stringer's Grand Central Winter, David Sheff's Beautiful Boy, or James Salant's Leaving Dirty Jersey.



5. As a former addict and one with a story that has a lot of parallels to that of David Carr, I enjoyed reading this book. I was able to relate to a lot of what he went through and he did a great job of putting the misery of low-bottom addiction into words. My only complaint with this book is that Mr. Carr narcissistic personality is evident in The Night of the Gun. The way he told his story just made him sound full of himself, not humble like many in recovery are. Still a good read, worth checking out.

5 comments about Audition: A Memoir.

1. I hesitated to tell people I was reading this book. People tend to have strong opinions about Barbara Walters, and not usually positive. Personally I can't stand The View. However, I realized that this woman has accomplished incredible things in her lifetime and has formed relationships with people we only see on the screen and read about in the papers. So I dove in.
   
   This is a readable (if not brilliantly crafted) story of a woman with a troubled personal life who fashioned a remarkable and fulfilling career for herself. At the beginning she just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Still, she struggled to gain a foothold in a man's world. The insider's account of TV news shows warts and all (alcoholism, male chauvinism, reckless measures to get the first interview with newsmakers). Walters also shares her own personal insecurities. This is both a grand story of a life fully lived, and a rather touching personal account and self-examination. Yes, she fawns somewhat over various political and entertainment figures. Still, I found the book to be very readable, it never dragged in spite of its length, and I feel privileged to know her better after reading this book.



2. One of my favorite memoirs. Barbara Walter's life is enviable and admirable. I love the glamour and the candor from this talented woman with whom I can identify with on some levels. Don't overlook this book; there is never a dull moment.
   
   Barbara, thank you for your contribution. I think you would be one of my choices if I shared a hospital room with someone---



3. Well written, very detailed. She shares intimate areas of her life and shows a side of herself few have ever seen. It is a great way to see the the real Barbara Walters, the emotional side of her and to share her life experiences. I was surprised to see how much about herself and her world she revealed.



4. Good book from a good interviewer. I used to watch her interviews before the 'Oscar' shows ... would love to see her interview Senator Hillary Clinton and ask her how it feels to be the person who has received more votes than any other Presidential Primary candidate in the history of America.



5. I am not quite done with this book, but so far I am enjoying it

5 comments about Big Russ and Me: Father and Son: Lessons of Life.

1. It was a challenge getting it...delivery glitches...but it is here and all I had hoped it would be...thank you...



2. I really had a hard time trying to finish this book about the perfect son and the perfect father and the perfect democrats and the perfect priests.
   
   I still don't know if this was ghost written for the catholic church or the liberal democrats as Tim wore both very prominently on his sleeve.



3. Tim Russert was a highly intelligent man and it was always fun to watch him on Meet the Press, but with this CD set, you get to hear how this man got to be who he was and how his father, Big Russ, helped to shape his life. I bought the book and the CD's, but the CD's are especially nice, since Tim Russert is the narrator. The book is filled with his humor, insight, humanity, and ethics.



4. I loved this book. It brings you back to much simpler times when children respected their parents and did not question authority. Big Russ reminded me so much of my own father, who passed away in 2006. My father always said, "What a country!". I wonder how many vets of that era used that expression and have many of their families thought they were the only ones who did! I only wish I had read the book prior to Tim Russert's passing, so that I could have contacted him and expressed my appreciation for such a well-told, all American story.



5. Simply written. Obviously, a story from the heart of the love & devotion of a son for his father by relating the years growing up in his family & neighborhood, of the lessons of life from those times that shaped & molded young Tim into a man of principle & purpose. Good read.

5 comments about Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream.

1. Just to be short, this book is great. Unfortunately for me, i've seen the movie for 5 or 6 times before reading it, so the book just felt repetitive. Especially since all the movie is like a quote of the book. Which is great if i wouldn't have seen the movie.
   
   So if you liked the movie, you'll definitely like this book. No surprises there, but some of the blurry situations in the movie are cleared out.
   
   For those who haven't seen the movie, you should read the book first. it makes the movie so much rewarding, and of course, you don't want to miss Hunter S Thompson's great writing skills. He just writes everything the way he thinks and sees (hence the idea of Gonzo journalism).



2. My father had always liked hunter thompson but i had yet to read him. When my friend told me of this book I knew I had to check it out. What a trip. If you're looking for a straight forward book that explains everything with a nice plot and central characters who learn valuable life lessons...then this isn't the book for you. In many ways I say this book rings more true than most others. The character is really just an everyday druggie with a job and a hotel room in Vegas. The writing is superb and the illustrations were out of this world (literally). Even if you saw the movie and didn't like it, i would still read this book. It explains a lot more.



3. Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is one of the most powerful most inspired and most read books off all time. I bought this book after seeing the movie starring Johnny Depp. After reading it I as quite please the the movie version of this novel was pretty well adapted to screen.
   
   If you guys like a book/movie about psychedelics drugs, and a head full of acid this is the book for you.
   
   From a reviewers note, it might be hard reading the whole book in one setting, I spaced mine out. And got more satisfaction with my buck.
   
   Enjoy Hunter S. Thompson fans. This is one book that you if a fan or just a reader don't want to miss.



4. I'm about half way through this story and I don't give a darn how it will end. All I know is that it is one long, twisted, story where everything you expect to happen, doesnt.
   The characters are well written and the situations they get into are hillarious.
   I can't wait to see where their Great Red Shark will take them next.
   
   "Kill the head and the body will follow."
   
   
   Thanks



5. I suppose there are basically two ways to summarize this book:(1) Wow! Thompson is this really cool guy who gets wasted all the time and sticks it to the Man whenever he can, or (2) Thompson is a delusional icon of the counterculture, wasting his enormous talent trapped in a self destructive lifestyle. I happen to agree with the latter. Being a child of the Sixties myself, I and many others soon realized that the idealism of "peace, love, and rock and roll", while very nice in theory, didn't work very well in actuality. (Especially while trying to raise a family and earn a living.) Thompson acknowledges this himself in one of his passages, stating that the "High water mark for the hippie movement" had already occurred several years before his current escapades in Las Vegas. However, Thompson seems trapped in the Sixties motif, unable to escape the stereotype of the counterculture hero which he has become. On his ill-fated adventure through Las Vegas, he (and his lawyer) continuously commit acts of antisocial behavior against any and all types of citizenry they come into contact with. Thompson appears to realize that his avant-garde life style is no better, and probably worse, than the bourgeoisie that he is rebelling against. Sadly, he seems powerless to break out of his paranoiac state of drug abuse, even though he knows it's a dead end. Overall, I really enjoyed Thompson's writing style, although I certainly can't condone his behavior. I was hoping that there would be more to the book, but then I realized there couldn't be- the "trip" was over. I would also recommend watching the movie. I found that it complemented the book well.

5 comments about A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.

1. I bought this book because of all the rave reviews from critics and the because it was a Pulitzer finalist. I read the first one-third of the story and really enjoyed his candid writing style. I am from the Bay Area and too lost my mother at an early age, so I really related to both his accounts of Berkeley/SF life and people, as well as grieving the loss of a parent at a young age. His anger toward the insensitivity of others was frank. His urgency to protect his little brother from the realities of death and loss are memorable. His writing style is both vivid and candid, however very very detailed. At first this was interesting and kept my attention, but after the first 5 chapters or so, was a slow moving book. I found myself skipping chapters. Overall a decent read though.



2. "Well they say its kind of frightening how this younger generation swings, You know its more than just some new sensation... At an early age he hits the streets, wind up tied with who he meets / You know its more than just an aggravation." --David Lee Roth, from Van Halen's "The Cradle Will Rock," from their seminal 1980 work "Women and Children First"
   
   So it may be a little ridiculous starting off a literary review with some credible quasi-fiction book like Eggers, "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius," (heretoforeafter referred to as AHWOSG) but there is something in it that is pertinent, something I believe Eggers with his way of writing what is available to his mind at the moment, though seemingly irrelevant, would approve of. So to title your debut book, AHWOSG, borders on the absurd side of hyperboles, in the end when one is finished reading, this almost can't put down work...is not a far-off description. It's that good my friends, read on and you may be convinced.
   
   So back to David Lee Roth waxing poetic and philosophical, which are two descriptors rarely associated with the lyrical works of Van Halen, Roth years. What AHWOSG does, less concisely mind you, is capture a voice of a generation. The book does a lot of things, but this summing up of the Gen Y, the Internet Generation, or better yet, The YouTube Generation's media savvy need for an audience on a broad scale seems to be something Eggers does most successfully, Is it a generational treatise? Perhaps not quite that, because after all, can you capture in a work of literature all the voices, feelings, experiences of a whole generation. Probably not. But as Eggers proves, you can come pretty darn close.
   
   Just get a gander at this writing, before you go on to purchase this book (or however in your corner of the world you acquire fiction to consume), "What does it take to show you mf's, what does it freakin' take what do you want how much do you want because I am willing and I'll stand before you and I'll raise my arms and give you my chest and throat and wait, and I've been so old for so long, for you, for you, I want it fast and right through me---- Oh do it, do it, you mf's, do it do it you f's finally, finally, finally." That's the last passage from AHWOSG and it caps off a really really moving read. Those are the words from an author that really really craves an audience. And so it may be with a generation brought up on an expectation that it just isn't the "15 minutes of fame," we are all seeking and due...but the way one connects is through mass media. A mass audience validates ones existence or at the very least, helps them deal with any human pain they may be suffering in the present.
   
   Eggers, granted, has a lot of reasons to be experiencing angst. Whereas the Gen X'ers, my generation, are thought of as largely cynical with no clear valid reason to cop that permanent attitude, Egger's generation has plently of reason to be dislocated and distraught, the music of Radiohead only one small cultural influencer, not to mention 9/11, wars, real wars, not some mamby pamby skirmishes in Grenada and The Falklands. This is the generation that could very well go down in history as the Next Great Generation, following in the footsteps of the boomers who saved the world from certain peril during War War II.
   
   What is Eggers' AHWOSG like you may want to know? After all why would you still be reading my random stream-of-consciousness review...still? It's about loss, staggering loss. It's about coming of age prematurely when one's parents pass at age 22, leading to the taking on of guardianship for your younger high school aged brother. It's about the search for meaning in one's life through work, friends and family. It's about life, man, just read it and get back out there living it.
   
   To go on further may dilute any type of message I'm trying to send you with this review. What I'd like to do is just to convince you to read this book. You may in some small way find yourself looking at your own life, in light to Eggers', differently. You may in some larger way get to know and understand a generation, perhaps your own, perhaps someone elses. What you won't get from AHWOSG is boredom. And in a life, the pursuit of entertainment and moreso engagement, seems a worthwhile cause, if only to enlighten and give cause to live. ...mmw



3. The book as a whole is much better than some of the parts. Dave Eggers has written a raw, emotional memoir of the years immediately following the death of both parents. He becomes the guardian of a younger brother and is also trying to begin his own career as a writer. Eggers is witty, sarcastic, pretenious and possibly genius, but this book was not easy for me to read. Some parts were laugh out loud funny. Some were gut-wrenchingly brutal. Some were loving, poignant and sad. Then, there were parts that I felt I would never get through and it wasn't until I was finished that I really appreciated what Eggers had accomplished. Several times in telling his story, Eggers goes off on narrative tangents that don't really move the story. These border on stream of conscienciousness, but are just hard to follow, as are some sections of dialogue. (I was torn between 3 or 4 stars, because it was just hard to get through at times.)
   
   So why does this book have such high praise? Eggers is funny and honest. This memoir succeeds in giving an clear picture of one young adult's life and his thoughts as he strives to deal with his grief, become a parent to his much younger brother and carve out a successful career as writer and publisher. Eggers was idealistic enough to think he could do just that. I found myself wanting to like this book because of what Eggers was trying to accomplish.
   
   If you pick up this book and make it through the preface and first chapter (it may not be easy), go ahead and finish. I think you will be glad you did. Then check out Eggers work as a philanthropist and teacher-at-large. Now that deserves high praise indeed!



4. the first 50 pages or so are promising. it seems like it is going to be a quirky, honest depiction of this young man's life after his parents die and he becomes the guardian of his young brother. and as long as he stays with that, the story is compelling. unfortunately, most of the book is full of random stories about his uninteresting life told in such a self-conciously, self centered way. every bad thing that happens to anyone he has ever met manages to be completely about him. he thinks he's infinitely more clever than the rest of the world and more entitled to attention and he acknowledges this. it's as if he thinks that by admitting his faults, the reader no longer has the right to be annoyed by them. but they do and i was. the writing is scattered and lazy and i don't know how it got published.



5. My good friend highly recommended this book for me to read last summer, citing Dave Eggers as his hero, and so I eagerly picked this up and delved into a story of a great sibling relationship in the wake of a tragedy.
   
   As a 21 year old college student about to graduate, you would think that I would be obssessed with this work, completely representing my generation. And indeed, it succeeded in that. The whole living situation in the Bay Area of California was awesome, and his whole mantra of being young and free in America was great too, and the book should have ended at that. I should warn you that this is a memoir, so his ego is immensely represented as him being basically a self-absorbed Berkeley young intellectual. I could ramble on and on about this book and why I wouldn't rate it higher, but I'll just get to the point.
   
   The first half is simply enjoyable to read with the whole relationship with his brother, dealing with the loss of parents (whom he seemingly never cared for), and with his sister being driven in law school and eventually marrying. His emotions are presented well with his relationships in this memoir, and then suddenly, as if out of the blue, Toph (his brother) is never mentioned again. The second half of the book is about his magazine and this MTV interview that never seems to end. It was so boring and meaningless. I want to read about you and your brother and your lives, not about some stupid magazine and a pretentious MTV real world interview to nowhere.
   
   Overall, I get what he's saying, and it is a good message. Namely, family comes first but it is great to be young and free in America in your 20's, of course if only brought up by wealthy suburban Chicago parents. About 90% of America can't afford to rent his house that he did in the Berkeley hills with views of SF bay and not a job in site. It is a good book and I enjoyed it, but the Pulitzer Prize? No way.

5 comments about The Year of Magical Thinking.

1. Didion repeats unnecessary details. That might be fine when reading the book, but I listened to it on CD, so it was maddening.
   
   I thought the book was overrated and the insights were minimal.



2. In "The Year of Magical Thinking," Joan Didion chronicles the death of her husband, author and screenwriter John Gregory Dunne. One evening, Dunne died of a severe heart attack while the couple ate dinner. The day had seemed like any other, aside from the fact that they had just returned from a hospital visit with their grown daughter, Quintana, who was in a coma from an unidentified illness. Didion found herself lost, coping with the trauma of her husband's death at the same time that she faced the uncertainty of her daughter's recovery. This stress manifested itself in numerous ways, including the "magical thinking" from the title. Specifically, Didion talks about wanting her husband back so badly that she tries to trick herself into thinking it possible, such as convincing herself that if she kept his clothes, then he would come back for them. Or vice versa - if she gave away his clothes, this meant that he couldn't come back in the future.
   
   Anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one will likely find something in this superb book that hits them - something that describes their grief perfectly. As is typical, Didion goes through various stages of grief and finds herself wanting answers. She wants to know how her husband died, and she goes about it like an author would - researching the topic. Didion also recounts bits and pieces of their life together as she attempts to piece together a new life. At times, she is a bit of a name-dropper, chronicling her fabulous Hollywood life and her friendships with famous authors. However, in the end, she was a widow grieving a loss, just the same as anyone else; death affects us all, is universal. Didion's beautiful writing and the way she discusses her grief is universal as well.
   
   Overall, "The Year of Magical Thinking" is a sublime work of non-fiction that deservedly won the National Book Award. However, I was slightly annoyed by one aspect of the book - the lack of details about Dunne's age. At the beginning of the book, I assumed, based on how Didion writes about her husband, that Dunne was in his 50s. I haven't read anything else by Didion, so I didn't know much about her life. In actuality, Dunne was 70 years old when he died. Gradually, Didion acknowledges that his death was somewhat expected - Dunne had had heart problems for years. Perhaps her neglecting to tell us that earlier about his heart problems and his advanced age is part of her "magical thinking." If one doesn't acknowledge the heart problem, even when writing about it after his death, then said heart problem does not exist. Of course, the age of a loved one is fairly irrelevant to the person left behind; one is still alone. It's a minor point, perhaps, but one that affected my reaction to this otherwise amazing book.
   
   This review is of the audiobook version, which consists of 4 CDs. The reader is Barbara Caruso, who does an amazing job of embodying the "voice" of Didion. The reading is simple and straight-forward, with very little accompanying music, which really suits the tone of the book.



3. I am not of Ms. Didion's generation. I am not a member of her moneyed "jet set." I have never written a book. However, I have to say that her "Year of Magical Thinking" resonates with the way I reacted to the sudden death of my daughter. I recognize the tricks that the mind plays to protect you from the pain. I probably would not call these mental processes "magical." I see them as protective and necessary.
   
   As a result of my appreciation for Ms. Didion's memoir, I would like to address a couple points that stand out among the other reviews here. First, denial does not happen because you will it or because you are too weak to face reality. Despite emotional strength and intelligence, you cannot process all aspects of a significant loss at one time. This causes unusual thoughts at unusual times that do not always jive with everyone else's reality.
   
   Additionally, many dissatisfied reviewers, point to the way Ms. Didion did or did not experience, express, write about her emotions as a result of her grief. I have to admit that I also reacted very intellectually to my loss. My mind was continually trying to process the situation, to go down every path to help myself come to grips. While most people believed that my emotions were in check, I was in shock and drowning in "what-ifs." I can relate to Ms. Didion's racing mind and flat countenance.
   
   Finally, several reviewers claim that people in the Western Hemisphere(and pointedly Ms. Didion) do not handle loss well because our culture has taught us to dread, not embrace, death. This probably has validity. However, I cannot believe that anyone in any culture can unexpectedly lose a beloved spouse or child without pronounced shock, grief, and mourning.
   
   Because of my own life experience and personality, I found this book to be very comforting. It validates many of the thoughts and feelings that I have faced.
   
   I thoroughly appreciate the way she ends the book, by pointing out that no one "has an eye on the sparrow." My daughter's death reinforced my belief that random, horrible things happen with no reason, purpose, or plan. We each must face these things in our own way and time.
   
   My one criticism of this book centers around something that Ms. Didion admits within the text. She says that she does not want to stop writing the book because it will mean that she is letting go of one more attachment to her husband. As a result, this book has about 4 or 5 chapters too many.
   
   I highly recommend this book for readers who have experienced loss or are interested in how other people experience loss. I found it to be a very realistic, intimate portrayal of one person's experience.



4. K, on the continuum of accepting Buddhist to never-gave-death-serious-consideration, this story is definitely on the latter end. Right or wrong it is you think of the sort of celebrity mindset might be like. The rosary-like recitation of everything-is-extra-special details of vacations and houses and people and celebrations and work and dates that she went on about... those were evidently the anchors to her life. From the extreme shock of this author, the transitory nature of all of this wasn't obvious. I guess if you really didn't ever seriously contemplate your absolute aloneness this book could serve as a cautionary tale.
   
   One magical thinkingish word that was unintended might throw light on the author's shock about physical illness and death. The author mentioned a timeframe in which "... I had my daughter." Presumably, there is absolutely no difference in any other aspect of raising and loving a daughter whether you are the biological mother or not, but there is a significant physical difference between pregnancy and birthing compared to adopting. She might have gotten her daughter, been gifted a daughter, adopted a daughter, but "had?" That verb seemed revealing bit of magical thinking. Especially when you consider the life-changing immensity and gravity of "having" a baby irregardless of genetic deformity or other problems, irregardless of pain and risk to oneself, and then hopefully, triumph. This experience can hardly be defined as identical to her description of the day her and her husband picked up a newborn from the hospital.
   
   The audiobook is better than the book. I'd give five stars for the reader of the audiobook, Barbara Caruso. She is fantastic; her voice goes right into your DNA. I'd listen to anything she read.



5. This is a must read for anyone who has lost a partner. What a well written story of love.

5 comments about When a Crocodile Eats the Sun: A Memoir of Africa.

1. Peter Godwin was born in Rhodesia, and in 1996 he published 'Makiwa', a gripping account of how he grew up in that country. He was conscripted into the Rhodesian army to fight against the independence movement, by which time he felt that he was fighting in an unjust cause. He eventually got to England, became a journalist, and in 1981, now based in the United States, he returned to what in 1980 had become independent Zimbabwe, partly because his parents were still living there and partly because he loved the country and its people. But he now had to record that the new government of Robert Mugabe was more savage than the white government had been and was carrying out bloody suppression in Matabeleland - a sign of things to come. Godwin's reporting at that time made him persona non grata and he had to leave Zimbabwe again, though he was able to return after Mugabe had `stabilized' the country with the so-called Unity Accord in 1987.
   
   This second volume, first published in 2006, is an account of several later visits, beginning with one in 1996. In the chapters relating to 1996, 1997 and 1998, Mugabe's dictatorship is not central to his account, though of course he is aware of it; but he is more concerned with the quite non-political aspects of his family's life. At this time Mugabe had not yet whipped up anti-white agitation. Indeed he had for years encouraged white people to stay and help the Zimbabwean economy. In fact, in the year 2000, "78% of white farmers were on property they had purchased after independence, only when that land had first been offered to -and turned down by - the government, as was required by law" (p.56).
   
   Godwin's next visit was in 2000. That year Mugabe wanted to change the constitution to allow him another 12 years in power; and this change had to be ratified by a referendum. To get the new constitution accepted, he inserted in it a law allowing the seizure of white-owned farm land for redistribution to black peasants (though in fact most of it went to his cronies). His instrument for this were the so-called war veterans, and violence against whites now took off, under such thugs as those calling themselves `Hitler' Hunzvi and `Stalin Mau Mau'. When Mugabe lost the referendum, he unleashed violence also against Tsvangirai's newly created Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
   
   In 2001 there was a total eclipse of the sun over Zimbabwe, and, unusually, there was another one in 2002. The folklore expression for this is that `a crocodile eats the sun', and it is considered the worst of omens. Godwin now chronicles in the most graphic manner the increasing horror of Mugabe's appalling regime and the descent of Zimbabwe into chaos and lawlessness: the ruin of agriculture; the displacement of millions of black farm workers; famine; the government's deliberate withholding of food supplies from areas where the opposition is strong; hyper-inflation; casual murders and robberies, with the police either unwilling to intervene or actually participating in them. Among the many grotesque vignettes: cemeteries plundered, patches of maize planted between the graves, and befouled with excrement; the RSPCA being given permission to evacuate tortured animals from farms - when their white owners are not allowed to leave their besieged homes. Godwin is there during the General Strike of 2003 and its brutal suppression.
   
   But this is not only a journalist's book about Zimbabwe. It is also a touching story of a loving family. The scenes with his gallant and now impoverished, sick and aged parents - who, beleaguered as they are, refuse to leave Zimbabwe - are deeply moving. And there is an unexpected dimension. On a visit in 2001, when he is in his forties, Peter Godwin learns that his father, George, now 77, was not in fact the reserved Anglo-African he had always taken him to be, but was born a Polish Jew. Only now can George bring himself to talk and write about it. The revelation has an immense impact on his son, who inserts a couple of chapters to tell the story of George's Warsaw childhood, how, just before the war, he came to leave Poland as a teenager, without his family. George's mother and sister later perished in Treblinka. Peter Godwin had heard of Auschwitz and Belsen, but (somewhat surprisingly for a journalist) he had never heard of the other extermination camps, which he now researched and whose horrors he then describes.
   
   This beautifully written book is a lament for Zimbabwe, but it is also a tribute to his parents, and it is dedicated to his father's memory.



2. Peter Godwin's book, titled above, is a very worth while read. In plain dialogue he lets the rest of the world know what is really going on in Zimbabwe in the most sensitive way possible through his own families lives. The book is beautifully written, I couldn't put it down once I started reading it, more especially after following the last fiasco of an election in June 2008. Why the other African nations let Mugabwe get away with what he is doing to his own people, is beyond me. Farms that were productive have now grown wild and uncultivated, and a country that was the bread basket of Africa is now one of the worlds poorest countries, except of course for the government fat cats. Well worth buying and reading



3. A good description of what is happening to "the man/woman in the street" in Zimbabwe by using the experiences of his aging mother and father.
   However, the author fails to set important context as he did not live through the Rhodesia to Zimbabwe transitition. Also, by the time this book was published, Zimbabwe was already accelerating towards complete devastation for 99% of the population.
   Ended up a "lightweight" editorial with no recriminations or recommendations.



4. This book moved me on so many levels. I could not put it down. Godwin's aging parents, his heartbreak about the decline of Zimbabwe, his anguish about living so far away, the fascinating past of his father... it is all so beautifully described. But it is what is not said that will take your breath away. A FANTASTIC book.



5. I lived in South AFrica for 3 years and knew many Zim refugees, including a farmer's daughter who lost both her legs and her family to a land mine. I also knew many current refugees who just wanted to work and support their families. When are we going to be rid of Mugabe, who has ruined this beautiful country?

5 comments about All over but the Shoutin'.

1. I found myself plodding on and on to get through this book. I thought the very early part of the memoir (about the first 1/4 of it) made for some very interesting reading. I liked the authors style--almost like reading a prose poem---but then the author took us in his early career as a journalist I read too many chapters about that; and that is when I shut the book for good.



2. This is not only a wonderful story, but written beautifully. Great for adults and teens alike.



3. This is one of the best well-written books I've read in a long time. His powerful story of a ragged, poverty-filled childhood with an abusive, neglectful, alcoholic father is very compellingly told.
   
   Bragg's focus is on his strong and yet victimized mother. The only nagging thing that bothered me is Bragg's adulation of his mother to the point that he neglects the fact that she bears some responsibility for continually going back to the loser and exposing the kids to the financial and emotional depravation that occurred.
   
   I will read his other books because the writing is so crisp and clean.



4. In this first volume of his trilogy of family memoir, Rick Bragg (b. 1959) takes us to rural Alabama's deep south, and through his deft story-telling introduces us to his people and their ways. With Shoutin' and his two subsequent bestsellers, Ava's Man (2001) about his maternal grandfather and The Prince of Frogtown (2008) about his father, Bragg has earned an avid readership. It's easy to see why. His family of origin epitomized the poorest of poor white trash. His grandfather could neither read nor write, his grandmother dipped snuff, they picked the banjo, danced a jig, cussed like sailors, drank their homemade moonshine like it was water, and brawled at the slightest insult to defend "honor." Bragg spent one semester in college, then started writing, first high school sports, local stories, anything. In 1993 he won a prestigious Nieman fellowship as a journalist to spend a year at Harvard, and in 1996 he won a Pulitzer for feature writing at the New York Times.
   
   Shoutin' works well at many levels, but it's especially about embracing one's family with all its blessings and curses. Bragg introduces us to his violent alcoholic father who repeatedly abandoned his family until his early death at age forty-one, his two brothers, and most of all to his mother Margaret. In his telling, she's a hero's hero. She was effectively a single mother who raised three boys in destitute circumstances. She picked cotton and did other people's laundry at night, swallowed her pride and accepted welfare, and slept on the sofa in their tiny shack. His chapter on taking her to New York City for his Pulitzer award is worth the book alone. She had never been on a plane before and didn't own a suit case; for her few trips before then she stuffed her clothes in paper bags.
   
   In an interview Bragg once described Shoutin' as a failed effort at revenge. His attitude toward his past is deeply ambivalent. On the one hand, he's deeply proud, as every person should be of their family. With brutal honesty he describes the angry chip he's carried on his shoulder about the endless putdowns and insults about his people. He'd prove the cultural snobs wrong, by God. On the other hand, his journey leaves rural Alabama as only a distant reflection in his rear view mirror as his professional reporting takes him around the world. The revenge he savored would come, he thought, when he finally saved enough money to buy his mother a real house for cash. And he did; it would be "a house of healing." But the day she moved in his two adult brothers brawled in the front yard, and his mother returned to her shack before settling in to the new house. And so, he admits, life and the power of place are far more complicated and rich. Bragg has now come full circle; today he teaches writing at The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa.



5. Destined to be a Southern classic, Bragg's "All Over But the Shoutin'" rings true. It is not only a well-written, journalist's memoir, but offers readers who aren't from the South an insightful look at why Southern men often act as they do.
   
   On the one hand the book is a rags-to-riches story about a poor white boy from the cotton fields of northeast Alabama who reads, works and writes his way out of poverty; from being a small-town sportwriter all the way up to to heading the Atlanta office the New York Times and winning the Pulitzer Prize. Like visiting with an old friend and having a glass of ice-tea and an all-afternoon, after-funeral conversation under the shade-tree in the back-yard back home, Bragg recounts his career via the Talladega Daily Home, the Anniston Star, the Birmingham News, the Miami Herald, the LA Times (very briefly), and the New York Times. Running throughout are stories and themes of: the homeless in the mean streets of Miami; the class-structure and deaths, rapes and tortures of Haiti (which he covered two or three times for the Miami paper and the NYT); his year at Harvard as a Nieman Fellow; covering Harlem and the violence experienced by the storeowners from robberies and murders; covering a tornado that hit on a Sunday morning near his hometown in 1994 (and the resulting shock to the faith of those who lost loved ones in a church that day); and, the 1994 Smith murders in Union, South Carolina and the Oklahoma City bombing.
   
   That said, the real theme of the book is his love, concern and focus on his relationship with his mother back near Jacksonville, Alabama, his two brothers -- one older and one younger -- and, how to regard the life and his relationship with an abusive, hard-drinking and usually absent father. Having roots in the Sand Mountain area myself, I can attest to the fact that there must be something in the water (and moonshine) around there as meanness, drinking and sn snake-handling Sunday-morning gospel religion are "par-for-the-course." There's a tightrope facing folks around there trying to rise above their circumstances - it heads upward and, instead of a net, those who slip, fall into a hard life of factory-work, or worse yet, no work at all. Then, clutching for a Bible or the bottle -- and, sometimes both -- men and their families work like hell to survive.
   
   This book will become a must-read for anyone interested in Southern area studies, Southern literature, or just understanding the Southern psyche. While we're all different, I have to admit that the "Southern man" I see throughout this book is similar to those of my own family, and men I've known all my life -- a different breed, with a hard, determined drive to succeed be it through books, muscle or whatever. And, as Bragg points out, though we're every bit as smart in our own way as well-schooled intellectuals, don't mess with the chip on our shoulders -- as that very well may bring out a bit of the rattlesnake that lurks in our dark side.
   
   While not easy to read from cover-to-cover over a few days, it's a great book to place on the bedside table to read a few pages at a time.

5 comments about Because They Hate: A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America.

1. This is extremely informative and should be read by everyone in the free world. It is factual and somewhat scary to think about. It is also a call to action and all Americans should act now.



2. For americans it is extremely difficult to comprehend the mentality of muslims. This book does incredible job decribing what muslims are really like. It is a must read for every american.



3. what a win-win situation; my first amazon purchases arrived in about 3 days. ordered used books but every one appeared new. such a deal! about "Because They Hate" was at the beginning a tremendously fascinating personal story. then the author got into really heavy stuff about the Middle East conflicts. I highly recommend this book to everyone.



4. I am just sick of this!! How ignorant are those people! How demonizing and humiliating to others they are! Can't they stop being so willfully ignorant, and self-refernial...where is the knowledge, the respct, the open-mindedness??? I don't know what to say, but this book was just like any of those right-wing, anti-noneuropean books...so stay away if you really want to learn anything about islam. For those of you who really genuinely want to learn and open your minds, talk to real, practcing muslims, who aren't trying to please right-wings, and read the actual quran and authentic material..be independent minded and smart, if you really value dependence, and don't let this hateful writer control your mind, like what the fox and cnn and all this stuff did to many!! Also, just please stop demonizing 1.5 billion people at once, and stop being so selective and unfair! Ok? Please...I have had enough of stupidity!



5. I have been blissfully ignorant of an impending threat until
   I read this well written book.

5 comments about The Prince of Frogtown.

1. Absolutely Rick Bragg's best! I hated for the book to end. Holds attention throughout and very well put together. Could relate to several things in story. Must read!!



2. I read All Over But the Shoutin' years ago and recommended it to many people, including my students. I thought it was a great book, and for me, living in northwest Georgia, it was kind of like reading about things that happened in your back yard. I'm just a little older than Bragg, and I grew up in the country,too, but I felt naive and sheltered reading about how Bragg grew up less than a 100 miles from me. Like "Shoutin," The Prince of Frogtown is a "must read" for a Southerner. When I stumbled across it, I first saw the Audio book and bought it without even looking for a print copy. It is read by Bragg himself, and I loved that. It was like listening to one of my neighbors.



3. I am a huge fan of Rick Bragg's previous autobiographical books, It's All Over But the Shoutin' and Ava's Man. He writes was an amazing voice that puts the reader right there in the middle of the story and manages to convey respect for his hardscrabble ancestors. In The Prince of Frogtown, Bragg revisits the story of his father who he dismissed in Shoutin' as an abusive alcoholic who abandoned his family. Bragg was forced to take another look at his father after marrying a woman with a 10-year-old son. The son is protected and soft compared to Bragg's rough upbringing, and at first Bragg has a hard time relating to this child and then wants to toughen him up. Chapters alternate between a biography of Bragg's father and Bragg's growing relationship with "the boy". He never excuses his father's bad behavior, but he comes to understand him and himself better. The chapters about "the boy" are sharp insights into Bragg as a man, and as they grow closer, both are changed by the relationship. It's a terrific book about fathers and sons.



4. I love Ricky Bragg. While technically quintessential Bragg, The Prince of Frogtown did not tiptoe intimately through my soul as did the previous two books. Great artists' talent often pours forth from personal agony. Who wrote this book? Perhaps it was a happier Ricky Bragg. I sure hope so!
   
   Selfishly awaiting the novel.
   
   Sue in Alabama.
   
   
   



5. This is a continuation of All Over But the Shoutin' and Ava's Man. If you liked these, you will like this book about his father. He doesn't say much about his father in the first two books because his father was not in his life much while growing up but now you get to see the good and mostly bad about him. Rick Bragg is a terrific writer and I will read anything he writes.