Book Description

Featuring a wealth of new information, Down the Highway is likely to be hailed as the definitive biography of Bob Dylan. Acclaimed biographer Howard Sounes has spent three years researching the book and has interviewed more than 250 people important in Dylan's life -- many of whom have never before given interviews -- and sifted through documentary evidence unavailable to previous biographers. With this unprecedented access, Sounes dispels many myths, reveals major discoveries, and uncovers the secret life of the mysterious singer, while giving a full appreciation of Dylan's artistic achievements and significance to American culture. Sounes's prodigious research has led to many significant revelations about every aspect of Dylan's life. For years there has been speculation about Dylan's marital life and children, and Sounes has uncovered the complete, fascinating story of his family life, which will completely change the public's perception of the singer. Sounes has interviewed a key witness to Dylan's 1966 motorcycle accident, a turning point in his career. The witness has never before spoken publicly, and Sounes provides the clearest picture yet of the accident and the subsequent "lost years" in Woodstock, New York. He also gives inside accounts of the important recording sessions and concert tours, the creation of every album and the most celebrated songs, Dylan's labyrinthine love life, his heart illness in 1997, and much more. These inside accounts come directly from Sounes's extensive interviews of girlfriends, family members, former personal assistants, fellow music stars and friends, members of touring and session bands, producers, club owners and concert promoters, and many others. Candid and refreshing, Down the Highway is also a sincere appreciation of Dylan's seminal place in postwar American cultural history and an essential book for the millions of people who have enjoyed Dylan's music over the years. ... Read more

Reviews (42)

Positively first rate
The enigmatic, mysterious Bob Dylan: who can really know this guy? Sounes does an excellent job of fleshing out the man behind the music, probably about as good a job as anyone could have done. He balances the personal life of Bob (at least what can be known of his personal life) with his artistic life, and presents a full-bodied, complete picture of the man and the legend. Dylan is a man of contradictions (a born-again Christian who remained sexually promiscuous, a person who would treat people insensitively and then feel badly about it but not enough to apologize, a protest singer who was reluctant to get involved in causes), but that's what makes him Dylan. Although familiar with Dylan's music over the years, plus reading many articles and interviews with him, this is the first book-length biography I have read about him, so I may not have the perspective that others do who have compared this bio to others and have found it lacking, but speaking for myself, I found it fascinating.

The human life of a man who is a modern myth
Bob Dylan is as much a cultural icon as one person can be in our times, but he is a secretive and lonely person. It is difficult for a biographer to weave together an honest look at such a person without their cooperation. Yet Howard Sounes does a great job of looking past the image and providing his readers with a glimpse of the person behind the legend. Without being able to interview the man himself, he uses Dylan's words from past interviews, legal records, and interviews with friends and associates to piece together a picture of the life behind the legend.

Telling the story of Dylan from birth to the year 2000, this book focuses on the details of a life devoted to a musical career. I found particularly interesting the section on Dylan's musical roots in Hibbing, Duluth, and Minneapolis. Also, interviews with some of the few people Dylan befriended over the years give us a wonderful peak at his human side. Finally, producers and musicians tell fascinating stories about recording sessions that add to our understanding of the music on his CDs. The author has interviewed many people who had contact with Dylan through the years so we get much detail, but ultimately are still only on the outside looking in. Usually Sounes takes the high road and refrains from telling salacious details.

The book will appeal to devoted fans who love Dylan's music and want to know about the person behind it. If you are new to Bob Dylan and want to understand his cultural impact, this is not the book for you. It is also a very revealing study of the isolating effect that fame can have on people.

Volume 20
Some hundred years from now someone will sit down and make a life out of a 20 volume biography of Dylan. Not that he really deserves 20 volumes, but given his timing, talent & able manipulation of the culture, it's inevitable. If he deserves it, it's because his audience was always willing to be manipulated by his talent. If he doesn't deserve it, it's because he deserves an audience more willing to live up to his lifestyle: live what you are.

Want to praise the Lord? Go to church. Want to read a great book? Pick up Moby Dick, Ulysses, whatever flips your folio. Want to get some interesting info on the Life & Times of RAZ? This is a human place to start: clear, crisp, as unceremoniously kempt as Bobby was unwashed in the early days. Cherry picked, maybe, & not particularly pretty -- but you should have known that. This picks out the details. Not a Great Lot Of Turgid Prose & Big Heavy Ideas, just the players, the stage & how it all went down to the best of their rememberies. It's history in dusty boots of Spanish vinyl. Face it, some part of Bobby boy is humbug & isn't trying to figure out which part a lot of the fun?

Sounes goes some way to outlining the Private Bob, & does so with no apparent bones to pick (unless you believe Great Artists are Immaculate & their detractors doomed to perdition). Read some of the others too, while waiting for the full, authorized 20 volume edition. But this one should be on your short list. Maybe it's damning with faint praise, but there're no major disasters here & it has a fairly light touch with what could easily have been overwrought.

Good, but more a back road than a highway
Another Dylan bio, and not an unusual one in that it once more dwells on the man's many personal faults. I have no problem with that. It doesn't surprise me that the man has used people as stepladders throughout his life, befriending them when it benefits his ambitions and discarding them once they no longer serve his selfish ends. And the man treats people so shabbily that as he knocked on heaven's door with a near fatal heart ailment in 1997, only one of his band-members bothered to contact him and wish him well.

What we don't get is the exhaustive, knowledgable background on his music that Clinton Heylin provides in "Behind the Shades: Revisited" which hit bookstores at the same time. That volume bursts with background info on the recordings and still found time to dish up heaping piles of dirt. Sounes offers some surprising news about a post-Sara marriage that Dylan remarkably managed to conceal, and the revelation (true?) that at the lowest point in his career, he asked to join the Grateful Dead (and was turned down)!

For Dylan fans, at least those who don't object to learning that their hero's music may be the only truly admirable thing about him, Sounes book is a worthwhile read, but it's more of a back road than a highway.

Ballad of an unpleasant thin man.
Dylan comes across as an utterly unpleasant person in this rather good biography. As I am not the greatest fan of his music (for reasons I will come to later) this did not bother me too much, but I am sure some of other reviewers would have punished Mr Sounes for this when rating the book.

Dylan is portrayed as thoroughly self-centred, somebody with enormous sensitivity in terms of his own feelings (which he conveys with great intensity via his music), but absolutely no sensitivity in terms of others' feelings. This includes wives, girlfriends and musical associates, all of whom are discarded with disdain when no longer required. This leaves Dylan a deservedly lonely and disillusioned person towards the end of the book. In fact, when he falls seriously ill, only one of his many former band members write him, a fate which is not unexpected to the reader given how he had treated them. It is hard for the reader of this book to have any sympathy with Dylan, and I think the author does a good job of paiting a picture if Dylan without being judgemental- praising the music, but not the man.

In terms of music I find Dylan very variable in quality- all of his earlier recordings contain some great songs, but the weaker songs are always too weak for my liking, and not as good as, say, the weaker songs on a Simon and Garfunkel recording. And some of his songs are incredibly naive in terms of lyrical content, like Sunshine on the Union on Infidels. The author describes Dylan's musical decline well, including his return to live performance form in the middle 90's. I just shudder to think how bad exactly his live performances must have been in the early 90's, because I saw him live in 1996 in London and he was still bad enough.

The book has some weaknesses admittedly. The writing is not always of the highest standard and I sometimes got the impression that the author was quoting people simply because he had spoken to them, and not because they had said anything worth quoting. But all in all he has produced a fine biography of Dylan, clearly the fruit of much labour. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Dylan fans never forget
I'll be sorry to see this book eclipsed by Ellison's _Collected Interviews_, even if I do have Ellison in my amazon shopping cart already. The appearance of this book was a godsend, back in the days when we were all kicking ourselves for having failed to ferret away multiple copies of the issue of _Playboy_ which had featured THAT interview. It took an Australian journalist to get one of the pioneering volumes of responsible Dylan scholarship into print, and God bless'im, says this guy...

Portrait of a legend when he was earning the title
This book compiles much of the best writing done about Bob Dylan in the '60's, when he was in the midst of what is perhaps the greatest burst of creativity by a musical artist in this century. Includes interviews from the Village Voice and Playboy, and lengthy, perceptive essays on an artist whose music holds up to infinite levels of analysis. The rather dated quality of these essays and interviews is what gives them their beauty. These articles were written when all of this was new and no one knew where he was going or where he would take us. Dylan was not the grizzled bluesman he is today, but an absolute force of nature in his mid twenties; a kid from Minnesota who became the axis of popular culture. It is generally acknowledged that the directions that rock took in the '60's sprang directly from him. And he often changed directions every few months. For example, John Wesley Harding, released at the height of the psychedelic era, was a quiet, acoustic album, which in turn led the Beatles toward a similar sound for the White Album ... Read more

Book Description

For almost twelve years, Jean Beaulne was a member of the Baronets ("the Beatles of Quebec") along with René Angélil. In this book, he has collaborated with writer and journalist Jean Beaunoyer to tell the untold story of René Angélil and Céline Dion. Previously unknown details of René Angélil’s personal and professional life are revealed in this unprecedented investigation into the man who orchestrated one of the foremost successes in the history of show business. ... Read more

Book Description

The Unofficial Guides® are the "Consumer Reports" of travel guides, offering candid evaluations of their destinations' attractions, hotels, restaurants, shopping, nightlife, sports, and more, all rated and ranked by a team of unbiased inspectors so even the most compulsive planners can be sure they're spending their time and money wisely. Each guide addresses the needs of everyone from families to business travelers, with handy charts that demonstrate how each place stacks up against the competition. Plus, all the details are pulled out so they're extremely easy to scan.

Who better than the Unofficial Guides® to bring you an behind-the-scenes look at how the Disney empire runs? The essays in this fascinating, completely updated guide reveal how the parks were created, how Walt Disney and his successors have run the company, what it's like to be a Disney character, what imagineering is, and much, much more. If you love Disney and Mickey or pop culture in general, Inside Disney is for you.

Other Unofficial Guides® to Disney and the rest of the central Florida parks include The Unofficial Guide® to Walt Disney World®, The Unofficial Guide® to Walt Disney World® for Grown-Ups, The Unofficial Guide® to Walt Disney World® with Kids, Mini Mickey, and Beyond Disney: The Unofficial Guide to Universal, Sea World, and the Best of Central Florida. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

A Fun and Interesting Read
This little book is packed with lots of fun and interesting history and trivia about Disney. It covers everything from parks to rides to hidden Mickeys to the main players such as Walt Disney and Michael Eisner. I've read many books about the parks, Walt, Eisner, etc., and I honestly expected this to be a condensed re-hash of all that. I am pleasantly surprised to find that's not the case. I am also surprised that some of the other reviewers mentioned negativity on the part of the author. I didn't find it negative at all -- and as a Disney enthusiast, I surely would have picked up on that! In contrast, I found it fresh and just an incredibly FUN book. And the price can't be beat!

Interesting Information
For anyone interested in knowing more of the facts, details, trivia and a few stories behind Walt Disney World and the Disney Company this is an interesting book. It does tend to have it's dark side, but since it's an "unofficial" book that is expected. It was easy to get over those parts and move onto reading the more interesting facts and trivia provided.

Little new, with condescension to boot
I came to the book looking for interesting inside tidbits. What I found was a book not well-researched, with a number of outright factual errors, such as the old urban legend that the top of the castle can be removed in the event of a hurricane.
All this is wrapped up in a post-modern smugness that makes the reading experience, while fast-moving, downright unpleasant at times.

AUTHOR DOES NOT MAKE THE CUT
This book COULD have been so much better. This book SHOULD have been a lot better. I am a big Disney World fan, and was looking forward to reading this book when I first saw it, but I was very disappointed in it. The author in this book, Eve Zibart, is not very good. She shares her opinions way too much, which don't even make sense, and she is trying to write this book like she is turning it into her english teacher. The phrases and words she uses are too complicated at times, and again, do not make any sense. You get the feeling she is trying to impress someone with that. Those kind of things are not suited for this type of book. Also, she does not cover nearly as much as she should in a book like this. This book is a great concept, and if done right, would have been very interesting. I was expecting to learn some behind-the-scenes things about Disney World, but throughout the whole book I probably learned one thing. If someone else writes a book with this same concept, I would love to read it, but I do not recommend reading this one.

A cynical book written in magazine style.
I think Zibart misses the point with this book. It reads like a collection of magazine or newspaper articles, and has a highly cynical tone, that masquerades as investigative journalism.

Some portions of the book are interesting, but the most interesting parts are borrowed from widely available sources (she quotes Birnbaum's guide frequently). The review of Eisner era history is perhaps the most informative section of the book.

Zibart doesn't go to Disneyworld to be entertained or to have a good time, she is in search of a story, and she doesn't really find one. Her chapter on Disney's view of history is particularly mean spirited, and deconstructionist in nature. She often gets it wrong, looking for political correctness. She overlooks Disneyland as an historical antecedant to the WDW Magic Kindgom, in terms of ride development and change. She overlooks the value of Disney style entertainment in stimulating interest in history. She also applies a kind of psuedo-psychological analysis of Disney, which ultimately says much more about Ziebarts psychology than Walt's or Eisner's.

She spends far too much time writing about hidden Mickey's when that information is readily available on the Web. She doesn't give credit to her sources either.

There are better insider books available. This fails to be an expose or a well thought out critique. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

One of TEN best I've ever read
This book completely captivates you. It makes you feel like you are sitting down with all these people and having a cup of hot cocoa. The writer too, has the extraordinary good nature to include herself in the book, remain light and take you with her wherever she knows you'd like to go. The book has amazing insights into every aspect of the human psyche. I found myself reading, being so overwhelmed with its humaness and kindness that I had to stop and press my hand across the page and reverently feel it. It riveting, yet calming.

Living with Dorothy Day
It's Sunday afternoon, and I'm unwinding. I sit down to the refreshment of continuing to read Dorothy
Day: Portraits by Those Who Knew Her, by Rosalie Riegle. I get up to tell you the comfort, joy, and a
whole lot of other things that it gives me! Reading the book is a vicarious living with Dorothy. The
author has done a wonderful arranging of disparate materials, so that there's an appropriate sense of
progression. That's a feat! (This is a book I don't want to end.) ... Read more

Reviews (1)

What makes Bob Bob?
I read this book a few years ago, when I was starting to get really into Dylan's music, and by the time I finished the book, I had an even deeper appreciation for his music. Williams is better than anyone at describing and conveying Dylan's genius. Almost overflowing with enthusiasm, Williams reviews Dylan's earliest, most celebrated albums and concerts with an emphasis on Dylan's unique delivery of the material, rather than foculsing on his simply his words or politics, as many less perceptive writers tend to do. Reading the book makes you see Dylan not as the "voice of a generation" but more simply and accurately as the generation's most visionary artist and performer. ... Read more

Book Description

IF YOU COULD ASK A NOBEL PRIZE WINNER ANYTHING YOU WANTED...

Since 1901, the Nobel Prize has honored the world's great geniuses in the most important fields: physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, economics, and world peace. What if children could ask these creative thinkers about some of life's most intriguing mysteries, such as "Why can't I live on french fries?" and "What is love?" The answers from the Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, Shimon Peres, Desmond Tutu, and seventeen other Nobel Prize laureates are rich with surprise, humor, and of course, wisdom. Every single answer will make you think...and learn something new.

WHAT IS LOVE?
The Dalai Lama

WHY CAN'T I LIVE ON FRENCH FRIES?
Richard J. Roberts

WHAT IS POLITICS?
Shimon Peres

WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?
Mario J. Molina

WHY DO I FORGET SOME THINGS AND NOT OTHERS?
Erwin Neher

WHY DO WE HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL?
Kenzaburo Oe

WHY IS THERE WAR?
Desmond Tutu

WHY DO WE FEEL PAIN?
Günter Blobel

HOW DO I WIN THE NOBEL PRIZE?
Mikhail Gorbachev

WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE RICH AND OTHERS POOR?
Daniel L. McFadden

...AND ELEVEN OTHER RESPONSES ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Not What I Was Hoping For
Although easy to read, this book is more boring than Dorothy Day's autobiography. I had to struggle to finish it. Written in the style of a journalist's interview, the book would have been better if printed in a condensed form as a magazine article. Half the time quoting an interviewed Dorothy Day or remarks written in her autobiography, and the other half written with stage like asides for background, the book is filled with footnotes constantly interupting the reading. One can't skip the footnotes however. To follow the author he must check the footnotes listed on every page, going to the end of the book and not looking down at the bottom of the page. Thus so I often found myself lost doing this and I quickly lost interest. Towards the middle of the book I lost interest in Dorothy Day altogether. This work is terribly written. Robert Coles should have written it in a third person singular narritive to make it more concise. Coles should have omitted the footnotes altogether or at least incorporated their facts in some cohesive fashion.

As to the context of the subject, I confess I find Dorothy Day boorishly political and about as exciting as watching grass grow. Her Gandhi like ideas of Utopia are in fact unrealistic. Dorothy Day should have known what "Utopia" means and where it came from. Utopia was a word invented by the martyr Saint Thomas More meaning "No Such Place." And so indeed are the political realities of Dorothy Day.

Dorothy day
"Dorothy Day: A Radical Devotion" was a good book because it showed Dorothy's imperfections and her good points. Some authors only tell about the good points of people's lives, but this book shows that Dorothy Day wasn't perfect. She made mistakes in her life. I learned a lot of interesting facts that I never knew about Dorothy Day. This book shows how Dorothy was devoted to helping the homeless. She established thirty three homeless houses across the whole country. She was brave when she left her husband to convert to Catholicism. Her husband didn't approve of God. Her daughter was baptized. My favorite part of the whole book is when the homeless man comes into the hospitality house and he has a gun with him. He threatens to shoot the gun. Instead of calling the cops, Dorothy goes over to the man and introduces herself. This shows how brave and courageous Dorothy is. The man then talks to her. All he wanted was for someone to appreciate him and someone to talk to him. He visited her often. Dorothy was there for him. This book gave me hope because it shows that an immoral person such as Dorothy Day turned into a woman who had great morals. She went from having an abortion to establishing hospitality houses. If a person knows someone who has no morals, they shouldn't give up on them because if they have enough faith in God, they can turn themselves around like Dorothy Day turned herself around. Having faith in God can help a person through anything. We all make mistakes in our lives and do things we shouldn't but we have to learn by these mistakes and try to better ourselves. Also, like Dorothy we have to do what makes us happy and not listen to other people. She lost her husband and gave up a lot of material things, but this is what made her happy and she helped a lot of people.

A concise treatment of a complex life
Biographers frequently become lost in minutiae.

Dorothy Day poses a particular challenge to the discriminating writer, because of the sheer volume of material about her life, including an autobiography, an autobiographical novel, a huge mass of journalism, biographies, and the writings of a number of her contemporaries. Given such a prolific writer, the reader might expect with dread to encounter 900 pages of occupations of great-grandparents, musings in correspondence, and constant press quotes--the fodder of the "I've got a book deal and I'm gonna put out a tome" kind of bio writing that we see all too often.

Coles' book is a breath of fresh air. In a hundred and a half pages he gives us an overview of her life and ideas, framed by excerpts from his own interviews with Ms. Day in her later years. Coles' editorial voice is always present, but generally open-minded. This is not a literary biography, evaluating the merit of Ms. Day's writings, nor a social biography, intending to give us all the inner workings of the Catholic worker movement. Instead, this is a meditation on the inspirations and contradictions inherent in this very rich life, told as often as possible from Mr. Coles' impression of Ms. Day's own take on her life-as-lived.

I read this in an evening and a day, and found it inspiring, satisfying, and altogether well written. Sometimes I wished Mr. Coles had put a little less of his first person impressions into his reportage of interviews with Ms. Day,but other times I wanted more of Mr. Coles' touchstone analysis of what Ms. Day was saying.

A reasonable critique of this book is that one could read it and still fall well short of understanding Ms. Day's thoughts or the details of her life. The somewhat sunny tone may be perceived as uncritical. For me, though, this was a great bio--get in, get the job done, get out, leave an image as clear as a descriptive poem. This is a good read--I highly recommend.

A life of integrity
Robert Coles' friendship with Dorothy Day began in 1952 and continued through almost three decades until her death in 1980. Coles kept notes on his many converstations with Day, and in this book shares with his readers his intimate knowledge of this extraordinary woman. He quotes extensively from these converstations in which Day spoke simply and openly about all sorts of issues, and Coles says that he writes "in the hope of giving readers the benefit of her distinct, compelling point of view." In keeping with this, the organization of his book is topical rather than chronological, although the first chapter does provide a brief overview of the events of Dorothy Day's life.

The remaining chapters center about the issues that were important to Dorothy Day: her conversion to Catholicism, her relationship to the Church, politics, her daily life in Catholic Worker houses, and more.

What is special about Coles' work is that the reader comes to experience Day, as she revealed herself to her friend. We encounter her in all her complexity and even contradictions, and above all, in her stunning fidelity to her ideals and beliefs.

Interesting biography
Coles bases his biography on a series of interviews with Day, cofounder of the Catholic Worker. He explores her youth which she didn't look back fondly upon and her devotion to major social causes that her conservative fans don't want to focus on. Ms. Day truly strikes you as a dedicated, sincere, intelligent and good person. While she may not have wanted to be a saint, she often comes through as possessing the modesty, self-criticism, concern for others and devotion to the Lord that one should expect in a saint. Coles' writing isn't great but is at least average for a biography, and given the subject, this was a book well worth reading. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

"All we give is given to us to give"
So says Dorothy Day in "Loaves and Fishes" (p. 177), and it is both the heart of the book's message and the central theme of her adult life. Thank goodness Orbis has reprinted this classic personal history of the Catholic Worker movement and the colorful saints in its ranks. In the book, Dorothy tells how her depression-era meeting with Peter Maurin birthed first a newspaper, then a hospitality house, then a national movement. In addition, Dorothy tries to explain the underlying theological and spiritual principles of the Catholic Workers: the resistance to power structures that cynically refuse to care for society's most vulnerable; the Christ-inspired conviction that voluntary poverty (or what Dorothy called "precarity") is a mechanism for social reform as well as a transformative sharing in redemptive suffering; that the duty of Christians is to collaborate with God in the creation of God's Kingdom; and that in society as it's currently structured, one is either on the side of the poor or one is an exploiter--there's no fence-sitting. As Peter Maurin says (quoted by Dorothy, p. 86): "We cannot see our brother [or sister] in need without stripping ourselves. It is the only [genuine] way we have of showing our love."

Reading Dorothy Day, as I try to do every year, is a reminder both of how far from the Gospel message most of us who call ourselves Christians live, and how wonderfully easy, joyful, and liberating living that message would actually be. By both her example and writings, Dorothy invites us to ask ourselves why we hold back from doing what we know is right, and inspires us to roll up our sleeves and accept the Gospel challenge. Let her have the final word here (p. 176):

"One of the greatest evils of the day...is [a] sense of futility. People say, What good can one person do? What is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time; we can be responsible only for the one action of the present moment. But we can beg for an increase of love in our hearts that will vitalize and transorm all our individual actions, and know that God will take them and multiply them, as Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes."

inspiring
This book contains the highlights and experiences of Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement. It is a very enjoyable book. The philosophy and beliefs are brought out in a series of experiences, many of them humorous, about the unique characters, role models and lessons learned in trying to adopt an early Christian communal attitude to charity and bring it to the streets of New York City. Dorothy Day lived her beliefs intently. Over the decades it resulted in running many urban soup kitchens, Hospitality houses, a farm or two, along with publishing the Catholic Worker Newspaper and authoring this very inspiring book.. This book will make you think,

A deeply moving book, from a sorely needed voice
At a time when the "mainstream" media insists on appointing the Christian Coalition and other groups of their ilk as voices of the Gospel in todays world, we are reminded of how much the life, words, and witness of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker are needed. Back in print in the handsome edition, "Loaves and Fishes" tells the history of the movement founded by Day and Peter Maurin. In an era when far too many associate Christianity with indifference to Christ's poor, and the embracement of intolerant and spiteful political agendas, the voice of prophets like Day are sorely needed. ... Read more

Book Description

This classic history of Walt Disney's life and works asks penetrating questions about Disney's achievements and shortcomings, and the enormous popularity of the "Disney version.""One of the best studies ever done on American popular culture...unfailingly, consistently intelligent, and eminently readable."--Stephen J. Whitfield, Brandeis University. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

A TRULY BIZARRE ATTEMPT AT BIOGRAPHY.
Richard Shickel is a very confused man. His book "The Disney Version" is his attempt to totally slam Walt Disney and his audience while he tries to praise his artistic work. This book's primary purpose is basically to show that Walt Disney was this really confused, cynical genius who while bravely delivering artistic masterpieces in the late 1930's he eventually sold his soul to the "devil" (the mainstream American middle class - read "religious, conservative, etc.") and became a cheap purveyor of pop culture junk.

The author has failed miserably in his attempt. In truth, Walt Disney was an genius who managed that most unique of marriages: cherishing traditions of yesteryear and upholding the good things in the past while simultaneously blazing a trail into the future with new innovations and technologies and demonstrating that they CAN GO TOGETHER. Walt Disney was not perfect, but his life is far more worthy of celebration than condemnation.

It should be pointed out that much of the author's shortcomings in this work stem from his obvious "snobbishness" directed at the American small town and middle class cultures. This reviewers recommendation is that the author take his profits from the book and spend one full year immersing himself in movies like "Polyanna", "Follow Me Boys", "Mary Poppins", and "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" and visiting Disneyland. Maybe he can be cured of this problem.

Excellent read, but how credible is the information?
Schickel does a good research and puts facts down as they are, but he analyzes those facts from his own point of view. He thinks Disney works have manipulated masses who were of an inferior intellect and the company made fortune out of it.
While this may be true, the book could have been more balanced, with an unbiased view, mentioning many favorable things the Company created.

Good, but not great
The book is definitly an in depth coverage of what happened in the early years of the Disney company, but it's definitly more of a history of the company than a biography of Walt.

Are you sure this is a biography?
More of a social history of cartoons and the movies and the common man, than that of an unbiased look at Walt Disney.
I felt that the author believed himself above us common Midwest, small town folks, and felt pity on us that we didn't know that we were stupid and liked such low brow things like Mary Poppins, Snow White and Silly Symphonies. I think he equates pop culture with trash. I guess the millions and millions of people around the world that just want decent entertainment, and not some hidden meaning that needs interpretation, are fools. Or is he just jealous?

This is a critical biography--not a pr piece
I first read this book in 1968. It was a revealing look at why Disney was able to capture the American public and the experiences he had as a child and young man that made him try to control all around him. Disneyland is cited as the ultimate example of Disney control. Since he did not understand the importance of the hotels around the park, others built them. To make up for the mistake he planned his park in central Florida for his total control, including hotels. Disney's films, particularly the nature films, are examples of his attempt to control what was around him. He sent out photographers, poorly paid but with terrific equipment, to film thousands of hours of nature in action. His editors then selected all of the segments in which the animals looked cute or human and created a "nature" film. This was the control of nature. The cartoons are the same. Disney is the character of Mickey Mouse, although he could not draw him. Anyway, there is lots more. After you read the book you will never see Disney work the same way. Still, you can enjoy it as I do, just as a better informed person. I give the book 5 stars--there is nothing better about Disney that I have seen. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1991 Clinton Heylin published what was considered the most definitive biography of Bob Dylan available. In 2001 he completely revised and reworked this hugely acclaimed book, adding new sections, substantially reworking text, and bringing the story up-to-date with Dylan's explosive career in 2000.

Bob Dylan: Behind the Shades Revisited follows the story of Dylan from his humble beginnings in Minnesota to his arrival in New York in 1961, his subsequent rise in the folk pantheon of Greenwich Village in the early '60s, and his cataclysmic folk-rock metamorphosis at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. In the succeeding eighteen months, Dylan released Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, and embarked on the legendary 1966 World Tour that culminated with an unforgettable concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Heylin details it all, along with the true story of Dylan's motorcycle accident, his remarkable reemergence in the mid-'70s, the only exacting account of his controversial conversion to born-again Christianity, the Neverending Tour, and yet another incredible Dylan resurgence with his 1997 Grammy Album of the Year Award-winning Time Out of Mind.

Deemed by The New Yorker as "the most readable and reliable" of all Dylan biographies, this book will give fans what they have always wanted -- a chance to get to know the man behind the shades.

Reviews (23)

Cold and condescending. What about the music?
I read this biography not just because I'm a big and longstanding fan of Bob Dylan, but also because of the strength of many of the accolades the book has received, both in Amazon and elsewhere. I couldn't have been more disappointed. The biography is clearly well-researched, despite Heylin's proud but unconvincing defence of the fact that he has never met Dylan. However, the biography lacks any warmth or feel for Dylan and the huge and deep contribution his music has made to modern culture. The book comes down with detail, but much of it is incidental and irrelevant. Moreover, Heylin manages to be condescending and irritatingly opinionated, especially and unnecessarily so about other biographers. His constant use of direct quotes merely breaks the flow of the text and rarely adds much. Normally, when one reads a biography of a musician and songwriter who has played such an important part in one's own life, and especially when the author admits to being fan, one would expect to be driven back to the music with renewed vigour and interest. In the case of Heylin's biography this didn't happen. I can still recall the huge impact that some of Dylan's albums had on my life, and music more generally, but this does not come across in Heylin's often flat and at times self-important writing style. While there is plenty of gossip around Dylan's fondness for women, drugs and drink, few original insights are offered about his music. Indeed, Dylan's music is hardly assessed at all, apart from occasional references to the views of other critics. Dylan's life and music deserve a lot more.

Good... if you want an encyclopedia
This book is well researched.

It is written in a good language.

It is rather objective.

It has nothing to do with who Bob Dylan is.

Here you will find every single detail the author has ever found out about Bob Dylan. It doesn't matter whether it's important or not. This makes this book something akin to an encyclopedia - and, for me, there is a big difference between a biography and an encyclopedia. I read the former to get at least a bit closer to the essence of a fascinating personality. I've never read one of the latter from cover to cover.

If you want information, and lots of dry, even though well-presented, facts, you will find them here. All of them. A year-by-year, day-by-day account of Dylan's life.

I think Dylan is something more.

As Objective and Thorough as a Biography can be.
In Behind the Shades Revisted, Heylin presents his findings with the astute, detached eye of a detective. Some reviewers are skeptical of an unauthorized biography, but Heylin effectively defends his approach: With authorized biographies, the subject has ultimate approval of the finished product. Consequently, the results are unavoidably subjective and incomplete. Heylin culls from a multitude diverse sources (interviews with musicians Dylan has worked with, friends, former girlfriends, ex-wives, to name just a few), presenting many different sides of his subject. Heylin has never interviewed or even met Dylan, and while this makes Behind the Shades feel somewhat detached, it offers more potential for objectivity. [Dylan is notoriously disingenous with reporters, so the value of first-hand interviews is probably negligible.]

Heylin describes Dylan's childhood and adolescence in northern Minnesota. Dylan's origins (both personal and musical) are described; Dylan has been enthusiastic about music at least since his early teens. Heylin provides detailed analysis of Dylan's early influences (mostly American pop icons like Little Richard) and follows his evolution during his early 20s, when he discovered folk and blues. He then proceeds to describe Dylan's artistic heyday during the mid-60's, his late 60s-early 70s hiatus, and his mid-70s resurgence.

One of the most impressive aspects of Heylin's writing is his willingness to discuss Dylan's largely derided work during the 80s-early 90s. While Dylan's work during this era has been understandably ridiculed (though Heylin's interpretation of much from this period is a little more positive than most other critics), his analysis provides essential insight into his subject.

Whether intentionally or not, Heylin creates a dichotomous portrait of Dylan. The younger Dylan (ca 1960-68) is a vibrant, often affable personality with unwavering idealism. As the story progresses, the pressures of fame and the demanding nature of celebrity begin to take there toll to the extent that it seems to impact Dylan's work. By the time Behind the Shades concludes, Dylan is presented as a weary, slightly confused and misanthropic curmudgeon no longer capable of producing new material that is inspired or surprising. This is the only arguable flaw with Behind the Shades. This conclusion might have seemed perfectly reasonable in 1999 (when the edition I read was published), but the release of Love and Theft in 2001 somewhat discredits Heylin's conclusion. Heylin can hardly be blamed for this; Love and Theft, Dylan's most inspired work in fifteen years (and his most extroverted since the 60s), was a completely unexpected triumph, but it does make the last chapter seem a little dated.

Despite it's slight flaws in the last chapter or two (hardly his fault) Heylin has created a rich, multi-faceted portrait. By interspersing numerous quotes from Dylan's associates within his own writing, Heylin creates a book of many voices. Heylin definitely has strong views, but tries to be fair and accurate, and makes every effort to present contrary perspectives. Despite it's seemingly intimidating length (700+ pages), Behind the Shades is compellingly readable; his approach is always well-defined, and often clever (he subtly reference Dylan's lyrics on numerous occasions). Behind the Shades is a critical, objective portrait of pop music's greatest (and most psychologically elusive) songwriter.

Tiresome
I find it surprising that so many reviewers seem so delighted with Mr. Heylin's book. While I did enjoy learning bits about the origins of songs and Dylan's studio methods, I found that for the most part Mr.Heylin was falling over himself to express just how much he dislikes everyone in Dylan's life with the exception of the man himself.

For most of the book, Heylin treats Dylan like a talented golden boy, whose personal habits he finds highly distasteful, but is willing to overlook. But by the end of the book, I think maybe he has spent just a little bit too much time in his room thinking about Bob Dylan, and is clearly quite tired of him.

800 pages of humorless crankiness makes for a very tiresome read.

My recommendation is to just listen to the albums and let old Bob keep his personal life to himself.

Academic in style, but doesn't capture the essence
Yeah, well, by and large I pretty much agree with the judgement of the reader from Belfast, Ireland. Personally I don't mind the use of direct quotes that break up the flow of the text as many of the anecdotes - especially Dylan's - are quite fascinating, and the author writes well so he has to be given credit for that. Otherwise, to concur with the reader from Ireland, I find Heylin to write with a rather patronising and almost condescending academic-style truculence which bears no spirit to Dylan's music or the times he lived through. There's a faintly professorial smug sense of self-satisfaction that runs through this text, as if the author is "above it all" and is in total self-belief in having the one-and-only arcane rite to being the "Dylan authority". On the whole, he's cold, patronising, especially to those around Dylan, and he makes some appalling statements about the Beatles. Heylin is too self-important to allow a bit of funtime folklore such as the shared spiff on first meeting of BD & the mop tops in NYC in '64 to be just what it is and has to pontificate on the event with a detached, gravely authoritarianism. The closing sentence to the chapter which heralds the making of Highway 61 is appaling, something like "...while the opposition were tuning their Rickenbackers and wondering where to hide their love away, Dylan was off inventing his wild mercury sound..." - this totally discredits the true merit of both Dylan & the Beatles. He's horribly dismissive about Sergeant Pepper....sure, to be objective it is not the Beatles strongest set of songs but it's a very fine album nonetheless. It's also bizarre, and flatly irrelevant I think, that the author spends much word space in his preface to compare Dylan the genius, to Orson Welles, the genius. Most of us music fans may not know or couldn't care less about Orson Welles, we know he's some film guy, so what? Wouldn't it be more relevant to compare BD to Stravinsky, the medium is closer - and then one comes to realise that comparisons are meaningless anyway.
To Heylin's credit, he portrays Dylan as a human being with a linear life and steers clear of iconoclasm, but somehow it doesn't fit. Heylin hasn't fully conveyed the essence of the man's extraordinary songwriting, instead focusing on an overly academic-style objectivity which fails to capture the spirit of the subject matter, instead rendering it at times, a frustrating and irritating read. ... Read more

Book Description

"Documents the stunning accomplishments of Disney's imaginative genius. It is not a flattering portrait." Library Journal ... Read more

Reviews (12)

An inspiring, accurate, fair account of Disney's life.
Leonard Mosely has built a reputation for accuracy and objectivity, and in "Disney's World" he makes no exception. Even in the few instances where a dispute exists relating to the nature of the event, Mosely fairly presents all sides.

In Disney's World, Mosely chronicles the "rags to riches" story of one of America's great empire builders of the 20th century. Faced repeatedly with insurmountable odds and continuing crises, Mosely inspires the reader with Walt Disney's unstopable courage and determination to succeed.

Sources for Mosely's material include actual interviews with members of the Disney family, former employees and associates of Walt Disney,and from available public records. And most importantly, the author was given access to the Disney Archives by the corporation.

As a result, certain previously unknown facts appear in this book. But Mosely is careful to confirm each fact, and notifies the reader if there is a question. Mosely also exposes a dark side to Walt Disney, but presents the facts in a fair and objective manner.

Mosely's "Disney's World" is inspiring, uplifting, factual, and historically interesting. It is a "smooth read", and the reader will have difficulty putting the volume aside.

Walt Disney, the genious and the human
This book is amazing. It is as good as Bob Thomas' Walt Disney: An American Original. In fact, two books are almost similar, except that Mosley emphasizes the human side of Walt's. Bob Thomas describes the human side, but emphasizes the genious side.
When you have both of these books, you have a life of a true genious and just a human being, Walt Disney, in your hands.
Incredible details, personal and professional life...
Just beautful job.

Realistic Disney Biography
This is a great biography of Walt Disney, and in many ways it is similar to Bob Thomas's biography "Disney: An American Original." Both books emphasize Walt's early Midwest childhood, his strict father and good-natured mother, and his experience in WWI in shaping the young man he became. The two biographies are different in their perceptions of Disney, and it could make a difference for you, dear reader, regarding which one you want to read first.

I would describe Mosley's biography as "more realistic" than Thomas's, but I would say that Bob Thomas's was more inspiring to read. Mosley doesn't hesitate to describe Walt as an ill-tempered ringleader who suffered from emotional instability in his early adulthood, whereas Bob Thomas's portrays such behavior in a more favorable light and seems to grant that it is the stuff of genius. One very clear example: Mosley describes Walt's suicide attempt at 31 where Lillian Disney found her husband out cold with sleeping pills and booze, called a doctor, and had Walt's stomach pumped. In Bob Thomas's book, there is no mention of this incident whatsoever.

Both books describe Disney as an inspiration to the people around him, but I think Mosley's goes more in-depth into Walt's character and describes more thoroughly some of the difficulties associated with working with him. What Mosley describes as "overbearing," Thomas would call "entrepreneurial." What Mosley would call "unstable," Bob Thomas would call "emotionally invigorating." The point is: the subject is the same; it's the perception of the subject that's different in the two biographies.

I think both do a great service to the world in representing quite possibly the most influential voice in 20th century entertainment. It's a fascinating reading, and it will excite you to explore your own creativity. Walt Disney was a man that would risk everything to make people laugh, to entertain, to push the medium of film, cartoons, and theme parks to a level unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. He truly was an inspiration, and, of course, I hope this review is helpful to you!

Stacey Cochran

A well rounded biography
Walt Disney's name has become a household word. Wholesome entertainment and DisneyLand and Disney World come to mind. This book is a well rounded look at the man. Neither Saint nor Sinner this book sees Walt as a well rounded human being. Many pictures are included. Many celebrities were interviewed including Hayley Mills. The book seems to be well documented and is quite interesting..

Behind the Mouse
I liked getting a glimpse of the man behind the "imperium of Mickey Mouse". Although I would have liked it to be more personal it's full of informations about Walt, the artist, the visionnaire and the business man. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

If you have dreams,this is the book you should read
There isn't on earth more inspiring person than Walt Disney,he was not only a man with big dreams but he also was a visionare,he was a big child who made all his efforts for made his dream come true.
His work of art is still a big entreteiment for people all over the world.
In this book you can read his biographie and see how a young poor man can built such an empired. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

the amazing book
This book is amazing. John is the best. Better than the rest. Universal stinks!!!!!!!!!!!! ... Read more

Book Description

The talented and beautiful woman who has moved us with her singing now moves us with her words.

Celine Dion -- My Story, My Dream is an unforgettable true story of courage, perseverance, dedication, and devotion -- told with the wide-eyed honesty of someone who has basked in the glowing adoration of millions of fans but has never lost touch with her working-class roots. Here is a book for anyone who has ever wondered about the real person behind the magnificent voice. Touching and funny, fascinating and uplifting, it is an exquisitely detailed portrait of a remarkable woman who has never backed away from any challenge...even the most daunting challenges of the heart.

Reviews (34)

Good, but write a sequel!
When she finishes the book, she's finally become pregnant. She wishes it to be a little girl, because she feels that a little boy would be cold to her. She did end up having a little boy. I would like to see how this has worked with her career, her time at Caesar's Palace, and her fathers death. Many of the stories in her book are very touching, but she tends to be on the melodramatic side more times then not. I have to agree with the reviewer who wrote that it was disturbing to read about her ideas of seducing Rene Angelil when she was 14. Rene and Celine have a beautiful love story, but at 14 that would be wrong, and it feels invading to read it. She does come across as a diva in many points, but all of these shortcomings are minor compared to the wonderful story she writes.

Amazing Woman...
I bought this book as a gift for John - although we are both huge fans of Celine Dion's.Her voice is amazing, but she has a rare quality in her personality that made me buy the book to discover more.I didn't read the book for over a year, but when I started reading it, I couldn't put it down.It was extremely well written.

I was so interested to learn of the role that David Foster had in her American recordings.David Foster is a master with talent.He also has introduced the world to Josh Groban.It is my utmost hope that Celine and Josh will do many duets and shows together.It isn't just their voices - it's their personalities.They are both confident, but they are both so unpretentious as well.

I was awed by the strength of Celine and her family.What a unique environment to grow up in!Additionally, Celine seems so honest about her life - both the good and the bad.

I was amazed at the details regarding her husband, Rene. Amazed that Celine had such a love for this man that it triumphed over YEARS when he repeatedly "rejected" her.She was famous and could have had any number of boyfriends, but instead her heart wouldn't allow her to love anyone but Rene. I believe that Rene was MEANT to be with Celine and her family; that he truly didn't begin to live until he met them.Likewise, I think that Celine is everything that she is because of Rene.Not just her voice, but her looks, style, education, etc.

Celine, a "homewrecker?"Give me a break!She was 14 and mesmerized by a cultured, attractive,genius agent who put her first in his life.I don't think that any marriage could have survived when one woman becomes such an obsessionas Rene wanted the whole world to hear Celine.And in all fairness, the marriage had been over for a long time before he finally made love to her at 20.To me it is one of the greatest love stories of our time!!

Rene groomed Celine to become the woman she is.And he is her whole world.What man could resist this?Personally, I think he should feel as though he is the luckiest man in the world to have the love and loyalty of this gifted, funny, and amazing woman.

The Firsthand Account of Celine Dion's Life
"Remember this name because you will never forget this voice." That is the sologan of one of the greatest singers of all time, known all over the globe: Celine Dion. 'Celine Dion, My Story, My Dream' written by Celine Dion herself has the all the information that you've never read in the tabloids, and the truth on the stuff you did. What was Celine Dion doing in a public L.A. hosptal in her bathing suit? how her grandfather died so tragicly, and what is Celine and Renee's secret sign? Plus, Do you know how many shoes does Celine has? (Neither does she. It would take forever to count them, and she is a busy lady). This book has everything from before she went to kindergarten, to when she took her sabbatical in 1999. And what makes this one of the best books written about her? It's because she wrote it herself! This book is great for anyone who loves Celine Dion.

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I feel that anyone who likes Celine Dion, or anyone who has a passion for music (like myself) will enjoy this book. Very well written, I must say that Celine is a very powerful individual and I look at her in a different light after reading this book.

She gets very personal with the readers and goes into great depth about her relationship with Rene. I couldn't put it down and hope that she writes another book, to update us about her life after her son was born.

juicy juicy
Although I doubt she actually wrote a word of it - not that she couldn't b/c she is a very eloquent speaker- this book is sooooooooooooooooooooo engrossing.It really tells the intimate details of EVERYTHING about her.If you are truly a fan and you like to read about her, this is one of two books you must read - the other being "Tour de Force" by Georges-H?rbert Germaine. ... Read more

Book Description

Walt Disney's animated characters moved across the silver screen with the grace of fine actors. His vision revolutionized everything from television to theme parks. But this book is perhaps the preeminent aspect of his legacy - his philosophies and his dreams. Each anecdote lends sometimes simple, sometimes profound observations on life and all of its triumphs and defeats.

The quotes in this charming volume range from the well known to the obscure. Within the pages of Quotable Walt Disney are anecdotes that not only teach important lessons but also illuminate one of America's greatest creative geniuses. It is the perfect book to uplift, enlighten, and inspire. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Boring and Irritating
Why It's Boring

The quotes are rarely profound, unique, or written well enough to be truly "quotable." For example, "I like symphonic music. A good concert if you're kind of relaxed, it can do something to you. It's sort of an emotional break you get by listening to the music" (p. 98). If you believe that this sentiment is worthy of being presented in gift book form, gussied up with big font and given it's own half page, then order the book now!

Why It's Irritating

In the words of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "Let me count the ways." Hmm...see how I realize that that expression didn't originate in my own mind? The book did contain some quotes that would be somewhat meaningful, were they not cheap, poorly written imitations of another's work. For example, "I think of a newborn baby's mind as a blank book" (p. 130). This concept was even better when first said by John Locke in the late 1600's. And of course, great thinkers often reprise earlier theories but they don't claim them as their own and dress them up in a gift book.

Perhaps as a society we should stop looking to celebrity-types as "great thinkers" (unless they actually are) and appreciate them for their true contributions and talents. Walt Disney is not to blame though for this embarrassment of a book. It's the fault of the editor who compiled the quotes and the greed of the Disney empire trying to make money from another publication with a limited sense of integrity.

Nice Gift Book That Lets Walt's Words Speak For Themselves
Never before has such an exhaustive compilation of Walt Disney quotes been gathered together, all into one neat little package. This officially sanctioned gift book, researched by the founder of the Disney Archives, David R. Smith, is a well organized look inside the mind of one of America's foremost creative geniuses. Some of the most memorable quotes are surprisingly direct, and it don't take much effort to understand. Walt Disney always seemed to be quite sure of himself, his audience (which became the world), and his product. Perhaps that's why Disney's creations are just as embraced and appreciated as they were generations ago when they first appeared. He created the first true "theme" park, Disneyland, which inspired the number one tourist attraction in the world, Walt Disney World. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" remains one of the most highly successful films of all time, and was honored by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 greatest films of all time.

This insightful little book makes a nice gift for any Disney fan and is a wonderful reminder of the the main behind the name "Disney".

Read it and you'll find gems
Kids growing up these days lose sight of the fact that Walt Disney was, above all, a man and not just a brand name. He followed his dreams, even though many tried to discourage him, told him his ideas would never work and he stuck with his dreams... even resolutely going through a bankruptcy. The Quotable Walt Disney is just that: quotes. But if you're interested in what made the man who founded an empire (with a little help from a mouse he saw one day) tick...then you need to buy, read and even underline this book. True, these ARE quotes. And, true, as a former journalist (who is now a ventriloquist) I recognize a lot of "statements" in there -- pro forma quotes given to journalists, self-serving statements, etc. But there are also tons of gems. There are inspring quotes you can go back to and read again and again. I'm going to read it again and mark the ones I want to go back to, and paperclip them. Some entail the importance of determination; others such qualities as open-mindedness, the importance of surrounding yourself with capable colleagues, the wonder of finding inspiration for creativity in the least likely places. Yes, this IS a book of quotes. A small book. But it'll save you LOTS of time if you "listen" to Walt in this compact book, rather than having to read the many (and sometimes bad) biographies about him. And amid the formal statements given in countless interviews you'll find true gems. Like any gem, you can look a jewel of quote in wonder again and again. If you apply these gems in your life, it will be worth far more than the price of this quote-filled book.

For Disneyphiles Only
The book is exactly what is claims to be: a collection of quotes attributed to Walt Disney. It is divided into sections according to theme, rather than chronologically, including materials on films and animation, Mickey Mouse, the theme parks, children, family, education, television, art and music, success and failure (there are 16 in all). Some of the quotes are familiar, others less so. Sometimes quotes are repeated in sections.

One of the book's major flaws is lack of context. Quotes are dropped in without explanation. This is quite common for the genre, but it means that the quotes are not useful for anything oth