Reviews (2)

I liked it but there was too much business talk.
There were alot of interesting facts about Disney and how it was given new life by Eisner and his team. However, this book spent too much time talking about the business deals of the Walt Disney Company. The author should have spent more time on what was done rather than how it was done. I hope the author considers writing a revision of this book so that it will be more up-to-date. Anyway, it was alot of fun to read, so thumbs up!

A fun summary of how the Disney empire moved into the 90's.
A very interesting and entertaining perspective of how the Disney company made its transition into the 90's after having spent almost 15 years trying to recover from, and find it's way after, the loss of both Walt and Roy Disney. This book picks up where others leave off, several years after Walt Disney's death. Subjects include: changes and personalities involved in the struggle to carry the company with only Roy Disney Sr. to lead it; The search for new management in the wake of a terrible downturn in success; The struggle for directive and creative control in the company that almost resulted in all immediate Disney family members leaving the company; Several attempted leveraged buyouts; and the search for the new CEO that would save the Disney dynasty. All of which resulted in the selection of Michael Eisner as the new leader at Disney. The second half of the book takes the reader on an enjoyable romp as Eisner and his new team "brush the dust off" many of Disney's hidden treasures, re-releasing tens of Disney classics in theatres and onto video. The story also tells of how Eisner and his team add their own mix of movie, TV, music and animation creations to move Disney into the 90's. This is a great read for anyone interested in the world of the Disney empire, although I recommend reading at least one other book that focuses in the earlier Disney years for a better taste of just how things did change ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Inside View of Life at Disney Studios
While joining the studio in 1931, Kinney served as storyman, animator, and director on scores of projects, including eleven animated features.

Rarely has a studio insider given the public a first-hand glimpse into the humor (and at times, exasperation; even with the boss!) found in the working relationships that existed over the years. Kinney fills his book with dozens of stories, many of which still produce a chuckle even half a century later.

In the final pages, students of animation history will find particular interest in the dozens of brief biographical sketches of the other Disney artists and studio personnel who worked along side of Kinney during his 27 years at the Walt Disney Studios.

A classic animator looks back on his career at Disney
Jack Kinney, like many great Disney animators, did the real work while old Walt got his name on the screen. He could have used this book as a tell-all slam against Disney, but decided to instead to draw a loving picture of his work for the Mouse. And "draw" in the right word--Kinney realized that he was no writer, so the book is packed full of his rough, humorous sketches of his fellow animators from the 30's to the 50's.

The latter half of the book is the saddest, with Kinney on his own trying to make cartoons during the Dark Ages of animation (the 1960's). Still, his love for the art kept him going.

If you want a small experience of the golden age of animation, without all the technical details, then this book is for you. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

An excellent biography
A clear, concise biography of Walt Disney written with children in mind, but written at such a high level that adults would enjoy it as well. The book tells the history of Disney; then focuses on the organization behind Disney's amusement parks giving a hint of the man's genius. Well worth reading, especially given the 100th anniversary of the man. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Writer Bob Spitz, author of Barefoot in Babylon, the story of the 1969 Woodstock festival, spent years researching Bob Dylan's life, interviewing people who had known him ranging back to his earliest days in Hibbing, Minnesota. Spitz did get people to talk on the record, and while his book collects myriad quotes from Dylan associates, the overall tone of Dylan: A Biography tends to veer toward being unaccountably mean-spirited. The book does document the recollections of some people important in Dylan's life, but it's an uneven read thanks to the persistently negative tone and Spitz's penchant for writing scenes in a hipster style that usually tends to work against the subject (who is, after all, more than hip enough on his own). --Robert McNamara ... Read more

Reviews (5)

bad attitude, great research
Mr. Perle's disclaimer does this book an injustice:Spitz's sequel to the Scaduto and Shelton biographies bears the aspect of a "tabloid-style hatchet job" unmistakably.Nevertheless the amazing quality of Spitz's even-then-still-timely research remains irreducible, and his book cannot be responsibly neglected by scholars of the topic.

As for Perle's claim that "An autobiography by Bob Dylan was also available," well, if only!Won't that be the day!

Spitz' Writing Misunderstood
(This was written for a course assignment.)

Though already ten years old, "Dylan - A Biography" by Bob Spitz is an incredible, often uncomfortable look into singer/songwriter Bob Dylan's life. "Uncomfortable" because Bob Dylan, admired and even idolized by so many,named the spokesman of his generation in the early 1960s, and supposedly aprophet of peace and goodwill, is uncovered as a frequently complete andutter jerk.But at the same time, Spitz writes with an understanding pen. "Dylan" is by no means a tabloid-style hatchet job, Spitz having set out to"unmask the hero."If anything, "Dylan" shows us that Bob Dylan, the man,the myth, is indeed both a man and a myth.He is and always has been ahuman being, and one with his fair share of faults.

Reviews of "Dylan" onthe Internet are rather critical of Spitz, using terms such as"mean-spirited."Due to Spitz having dramatically different reviewsfor his other works, it seems as though these other "Dylan" readers don'twant to face the idea that their icon is not the quintessentialhumanitarian, despite the legend.Spitz interviews and quotes countlesspeople from Dylan's past who give first-hand accounts of his ownmean-spirited dealings with those who've cared about him.In doing so onefeels foolish thinking of Dylan as among the world's greatesthumanitarians.

Lack of personal knowledge created the void that "Dylan"was hoped to fill.Two topics in particular were eagerly awaited to beexpounded on.These included Dylan's mid-1960s & life-alteringmotorcycle accident and Dylan's flirtation with Christianity, followed byhis return to Judaism.Neither topic was satisfactorily covered, though itappears that the second part of the latter simply occured after the bookwas published a decade ago.As for the first topic, it appears due to theless-than-heavy emphasis and the implication that the accident was notnearly as serious as the public was lead to believe that it is for thisthat the topic was given little concentration.

The 550 pages that make upthe main text of the book, including the prologue, chapters, and epilogue,certainly comprise a work that is significantly longer than easier-readalternatives for the topic, but it was hoped that the book would live up toits promise.At the bottom of the cover is a quote from esteemed writerGreil Marcus, "No other book captures it so well, understands so well..."Anautobiography by Bob Dylan was also available, but to get the objectivestory, it is best to stay away from such self-promotion.In the author'snotes preceding the prologue, Spitz writes that he was offered exclusiveinterviews with Dylan as well as access to countless treasures includingphotographs in return for allowing Dylan control over the final manuscript. Based on Dylan's notorious history of publicizing half-truths and outrightlies about himself, Spitz refused.

"Dylan" is a recommendedread.

This book rocks
This Bob Dylan book by Bob Spitz i felt was quite intrigueing. I have always wanted to learn more on Bob Dylan and this book, i felt really expressed a lot of his thoughts and how his has lived his entire life.

The Misinterpretation of Bob Dylan
Bob Spitz manages to waste this thoroughly researched and at timesenlightening document of Bob Dylan by practicing a single-mindedinterpretation of content with the determination one uses to keep apreconceieved idea of a subject in line from beginning to end withoutsacrificing preconceptions for truths that arise between. Spitz wanted aunique portrait of Dylan and he did what shaping was necessary to achieveit. The book does provide real insight into Dylan's childhood, exceptfor the strange ommision of anything related to writing from the would-bepoet.

Spitz takes the wrong perspective, again and again.
The author seems concerned only with Dylan's popular appeal in his analysis of the man's career.For instance, if an album sells well, then it is great.If it does not sell well, then it must be awful.Amazingly, Spitz refers to the brilliant Basement Tapes as "awful."

His conclusions seem to cast Dylan as a washed-up has-been from about 1976 onward.Of course, this leads Spitz to discount some very good later works, and to generally belittle the many variations of Dylan's career.

The only reason this book doesn't get one star is because of the early chapters detailing Dylan's childhood, which were well-written and very interesting. ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document, covering the life and work of Walt(er) (Elias) Disney, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thomson Gale. The length of the entry is 7104 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author

Book Description

In an irresistible tale of a life lived fully, if not always wisely, Liam Clancy, of the legendary Irish group the Clancy Brothers, describes his eventful journey from a small town in Ireland in the 1930s into the heart of the New York music scene in the 1950s and ’60s.
Following in the grand tradition of such Irish memoirs as Angela’s Ashes andAre You Somebody?, Liam Clancy relates his life’s story in a raucously funny and star-studded account of moving from provincial Ireland to the bars and clubs of New York City, to the cusp of fame as a member of Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers.Born in 1935, the eleventh out of as many children, young Liam was a naive and innocent lad of the Old Country.His memories of childhood include bounding over hills, streams, and the occasional mountain, getting lost, and eventually found, and making mischief in the way of a typical Irish boy.

As an aimless nineteen-year-old, Clancy met a strange and wonderfully energetic lover of music, Ms. Diane Guggenheim, an American heiress.She and a colleague from America had set out to record regional Irish folk music, and their undertaking led them to Carrick-on-Suir in the shadow of Slievenamon, "The Mountain of the Women," where Mammie Clancy had been known to carry a tune or two in her kitchen.Guggenheim fell for young Liam and swept him along on her travels through the British Isles, the American Appalachians, and finally Greenwich Village, the undisputed Mecca for aspiring artists of every ilk in the late 1950s.

Clancy was in New York to become an actor.But on the side, he played and sang with his brothers, Paddy and Tom, and fellow countryman Tommy Makem, in pubs like the legendary White Horse Tavern.In the heady atmosphere of the Village, Clancy’s life was a party filled with music, sex, and McSorley’s.His friendships with then-unknown artists such as Bob Dylan, Maya Angelou, Robert Redford, Lenny Bruce, Pete Seeger and Barbra Streisand form the backdrop of the charming adventures of a small-town boy making it big in the biggest of cities.

In music circles, the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem are known as the Beatles of Irish music.The band’s music continues to play on jukeboxes in pubs and bars, in living rooms of folk music fans, and in Irish American homes throughout the country.Liam Clancy’s lively memoir captures their wild adventures on the road to fame and fortune, and brings to life a man who never lets himself off the hook for his sins, and happily views his success as a blessing. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

A Gift in Words From A Living Legend
If you are a fan of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, then this book is something you probably can't wait to read. If you are a poor soul who has never sat down and listened to "Live at Carnegie Hall"...well you'd better get busy. You have a lot of reading and listening to do, and I envy you for it. This book is simply beautiful to read. Mr. Clancy has the Irish way with words in the truest sense, and its a wonder he waited so long to begin a literary career (I always enjoyed his liner notes!) The story of his life and career is well worth reading to fans of his music and to fans of good memoir writing as well. Read this book and you will feel as though Mr. Clancy is speaking only to you. He evokes memories of family, home, and childhood with amazing grace and ease. In addition, be sure to get the reissue of his solo album "Liam Clancy" which is availble from this site. God bless the Clancy Brothers!

A Wonderful Book!
This book is the perfect example of True Celtic spirit; laugh at yourself, and never let anyone or anything keep you down. I would recommend this book to anyone. It's warm, insightful, humorous, and thought-provoking. Liam Clancy takes his readers gently by the hand and leads them through the highs and lows of his life. He shares everything from his early childhood memories to the beginning of his incredible musical career. Taking the advice of Shakespeare, he is indeed to his own self true. He's not afraid to face the good times or the bad. Like the man, his music, and his singing, this book is truly a treasure.

Insightful Biography
The Clancy Brothers albums opened by ears to traditional celtic music in the 60s, so it was a treat for me to read Liam Clancy's account of how the group evolved. The family background and his personal development as an student, actor and musician were very enjoyable reading.
If you liked Angela's Ashes, this will certainly appeal.

Publishers Weekly Award
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY AWARD

Audio: Listen Up Awards 2002Audio: Listen Up Awards 2002
By Lynn Andriani and Shannon Maughan -- 1/6/2003

NONFICTION

THE MOUNTAIN OF THE WOMEN: Memoirs of an Irish Troubadour by Liam Clancy, read by the author (Random House Audio). Irish folk musician Clancy masterfully recounts more than "40 years of acting, singing and great foolishness" with a powerful, melodic voice and guileless magnetism.

A Long Way from Tipperary
Liam Clancy portrays a poignant, honest, and sometimes irreverent portrait of the life of a young man growing up in the Ireland of the 40s and 50s. His prose is as lyrical as his music, sprinkled with laughter and pathos.

I read, and understood his struggle living in a country of which he said had one foot in the twentieth century and the other in the Middle Ages. From provincial Ireland to the fast pace of New York's Greenwich Village in an era of coffee houses, folk singers, booze and (Playboy) bunnies, the multi-talented Liam Clancy comes out a survivor, unapologetic and charming.

My only problem with this book is that it ended too soon.

Will we be treated to a sequel, Mr. Clancy? ... Read more

Amazon.com

The following passage reveals Robertson Davies's great love of the theater, and it shows that these collected pieces, numbering 33, transcend mere criticism: "For as long as I can remember, playgoing has stood first among all pleasures with me, and although to most people it is simply a pastime, I think that I have brought qualities to it which raised it above that.... I sincerely believe that I have been a good playgoer, and that is something better, perhaps, than having been a well-known critic."

One's admiration for this literary master doubles when remembering that drama was Davies's academic field, and it constituted one of his three successful careers (he acted with the Old Vic in England). By 1962, Davies had begun to craft his playgoing notes into the Theatre Diary--snippets of which appear in this posthumously published collection. Each of these 33 pieces, introduced by the author and followed by a diary entry or two, demonstrates Davies's enormous and diverse erudition. Included are speeches, prologues to plays, articles about the theatre and opera, a discussion of folksong, a children's opera, a story set to music, and a preliminary sketch of a film script. Several personal essays shed light on his own ambitions as a playwright.

Many of these pieces were lectures, and they enjoy the immediacy and cadence of the spoken word. A spacious tone ensues; that is, complex ideas are delivered clearly, because they are intended for a listening audience. Surprisingly, this enhances the pleasure of reading them. Happy Alchemy may not appeal to the reader whose interest in theater and opera is only occasional but certainly will to any ardent Robertson Davies fan who delights in the turnings of a learned and sophisticated mind. --Hollis Giammatteo ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The good stuff
What can anyone say about Robertson Davies?He was one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Interesting for a Davies' fan
Although I'm not a big theatre fan, I do enjoy reading Robertson Davies.He is one of two writers whose work I will read even when the subject is not up my alley; so when C.S. Lewis writes about Medieval English Literature or Robertson Davies writes about the theatre, I still read them.It brings me great pleasure to experience their writers' craftsmanship and I know I will learn something.(I also know I'm going to enjoy their humor.)Happy Alchemy's subtitle reads, "On the Pleasures of Music and the Theatre", and this work present 33 Davies pieces, including "Lewis Carroll in the Theatre", "Opera for the Man Who Reads Hamlet", "Dickens and Music", "How I Write a Book", and the humorously self-depreciating "My Musical Career."Happy Alchemy shares many fine insights about humanity while also providing many historical and literary lessons for the reader.To read Davies (or Lewis) is to expand one's view of the world.

Great book by a great author.
This is a delightful collection of Davies's thoughts on the theater in all its myriad forms, including opera, melodrama, tragedy, and comedy. Davies has a perfect mix of wit, erudition, and curmudgeonly attitude, and in addition to being a terrific writer, he is an ardent devotee of the stage.

This comes forth in all the pieces, and is further emphasized by excerpts from his "Theater Diary," provided by the editors, his wife and daughter. While some of the pieces are there just for amusement (e.g., a libretto Davies wrote for a children's opera), others are very thought-provoking (such as his "Opera and Humour" talk), and still others are a melding of the two extremese (for instance, his talk on "Lewis Carroll and the Theater").

Some of the pieces repeat themselves, as they are based on talks he gave and pieces he wrote throughout his life, and obviously certain comments which are redundant to the reader would no doubt have been fresh to the audience.

All in all, I recommend this book very highly, for anyone with an interest in theater, or a love of Davies. I would have liked more of his thoughts about theater and less of things like his libretto (though I did find that amusing), as it felt more like that was included to meet some page count demanded by the publisher. However, this may not have been possible given the material at hand. ... Read more

Book Description

This digital document is an article from U.S. Catholic, published by Claretian Publications on November 1, 1998. The length of the article is 742 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The gifts of Saint Dorothy Day.(Cover Story)
Publication: U.S. Catholic (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 1998
Publisher: Claretian Publications
Volume: v63Issue: n11Page: p14(1)

Article Type: Cover Story, Biography

Distributed by Thompson Gale ... Read more

Reviews (1)

One of a kind
This was an intimate and fascinating view of Bob Dylan. Alan Rinzler did a magnificent job. A perfect addition to any collection of music books. ... Read more

Book Description

"This is the book for the serious DiMaggio and sports-as-culture buff. [Moore] . . . has sifted throught most of what has been written and rumored about the Yankee Clipper in newspapers, magazines, books and even songs. The narrative portion--there's also a bibliography and DiMaggio's baseball stats--is divided into two sections: DiMaggio's life on and off the field, and his evolving stature as a mythic figure. All rendered in sensitive, but refreshingly unsentimental prose." USA Today "Anyone serious about building an excellent baseball library or interested in the role of sports in American society should get a copy of this book. . . . An excellent and well-researched book." The Sporting News ... Read more

Reviews (1)

great biography
Of the many biographies written about The Yankee Clipper, this is by far the most intelligent. It goes beyond the rah-rah nature of many common sports books and offers a fascinating analysis of DiMaggio's baseball career and impact on popular culture. Truly an important work and a book that should be part of any comprehensive personal baseball reference library. ... Read more

Book Description

A true icon of American popular culture, songwriter and entertainer Bob Dylan was a catalyst for changing social currents in the 1960s with memorable songs like "Blowin' in the Wind." Elusive to biographers, Dylan has inspired relatively few substantive accounts, although much has been written about his music. The present study presents an accurate summary of his life and an analysis of his pivotal role in popular music. His more than 400 songs and other writings, recordings, concert tours, and film and television appearances are all fully documented, as are bootleg recordings and recordings of his music by other singers. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

' A No-Nonsense Guide to the Life & Work of the Artist '
The moment I picked this work up, it was difficult to put down. A factual, fascinating look into Bob Dylan's life and work, including statistical facts regarding the artist's frantic appearance history. If your looking for long drawn out philosophical opinions of Professor Dylan's work, this is not the book for you. I found it to be refreshingly factual. One conclusion I drew from the author is that he profoundly admirers the subject and his work, as I do. I highly recommend this book and thank the author for writing it. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Darn good sports biography
Way better than you'd probably expect of a sports biography, especially from the era when this was written (1956). Good account of DiMaggio's early history and family background, very good blow-by-blow of the 56-game hitting streak. Vivid accounts of Joe's sufferings from injuries and dramatic comebacks from them. There are many direct quotes from players, including Joe-- not commentaries on events and controversies (as we'd get today), but just routine things that they said while just hanging out. The book has some quaint faults that are expectable in a sports book from that era. At times, meaningless details are mentioned as though they were important and of interest just because they pertain to baseball heroes; for example, we learn that Bill Dickey ordered tea and toast for breakfast. And sometimes the writer seems to believe that the main element of interest about an event was the question of what the newspaper writers would say ("scribes," he calls them). But, the book has an overall grace and dignity befitting its subject. Overall, worthwhile and even somewhat revealing. I first read this book as a child, and it was somewhat responsible for my becoming hooked on baseball and its history.

it is about a baseball player who tryed his best
it was o.k and it didn't put me to sleep ... Read more