Book Description

Sooner or later, each of us must face the day we develop a disturbing new interest in lawn care; the day we order sauvignon blanc instead of Rolling Rock; the day we refuse to see any concert where we cannot sit down. Sooner or later, each of us must face the day we turn uncool.

Dan Zevin, who “was never exactly Fonz-like to begin with,” is having a hilariously hard time moving from his twenties to his thirties, and he confesses everything in these comic not-coming-of-age tales. As he shamefully employs his first cleaning lady, becomes abnormally attached to his dog, and commits flagrant acts of home improvement, Dan’s headed for an early midlife crisis—and a better-late-than-never revelation: Growing up is really nothing to be reluctant about. In fact, it’s very cool. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

Hilarious look at the world as it has become...
I'm a few years younger than Zevin, but his book hit home. It is laugh out loud funny. An incredibly quick read, but I found myself recommending it everyone I knew--it is well worth the [$$$]. At a few points, Zevin reads like a younger version of Joe Queenan (only nicer). I love Queenan so I mean that as high compliment. Zevin strikes chords hilarious (like the manners chapter--his description of "Nick" the future drug dealer is priceless) and sentimental (see his chapter on his time in Spain and Denmark). He clearly loves his wife and that is a refreshing change from some other young writers. Whatever Zevin has cookin' next, I'm there.

Such a good book
I don't often buy humor books, but this one looked too funny to pass up. It turns out that the book is funny, but also insightful and a really good and quick read. The essays can stand alone, though they all fit together very nicely. I especially like the essay comparing Zevin's study abroad semester in Denmark with his week abroad visiting his younger brother in Spain. Definitely one of my new favorites!

Not what I expected
I was very diappointed when I got through the first two pages and I just couldn't read it anymore. Not worth the money, and I bought it used!!!

Doesn't Live Up
Like most other reviewers here, I definitely could relate to Dan's stories about growing up. Who hasn't lost friends over the years to marriage, procreation, money and geography? Who hasn't realized that they are slowly but surely doing the one thing that as a youth they swore they wouldn't do.....turning into their parents? I think this book contains much that any reader out there could relate to. Unfortunately, Dan simply isn't funny. I think even Dan realized this, and tried throwing in a few profanities in a futile effort to garner a chuckle or two. But even that didn't work, as it only made it more obvious his lack of humor. Hopefully, his next effort (should anyone be so daring as to actually publish it) will display an improvement.

LOVED IT!
Zevin is absolutely hilarious..
Even though I couldn't relate to much of What he wrote about (like the gardening and the dogs), it was still funny beyond proportion..
Very smart, very funny writer. ... Read more

Book Description

Nearing age seventy, and in what would be the last decade of his life, H. G. Wells fell in love at least three times-first with the much younger Baroness Moura Budberg, and soon thereafter with two well-born Americans, Constance Coolidge and Martha Gellhorn, twenty-five and forty years his junior, respectively.These would constitute what Wells himself described as his "last flounderings towards the wife idea." The affairs also would demonstrate that Wells was driven less by his considerable intelligence than by his libido, and his obsession to find his ideal lover--what he called his "lover-shadow."

In Shadow Lovers, Andrea Lynn has created a fascinating study of the very personal side of one of the 20th century's greatest thinkers. This self-proclaimed "Don Juan of the Intelligentsia" was said to have "radiated" energy--intellectual, emotional, physical, and sexual, and his assorted charms made him fabulously successful with women. Drawing on papers recently made public by the Wells estate, Lynn traces Wells's relationship with each of these three femmes fatales and sheds light on the many secrets of all of their lives. Along the way she paints a vivid portrait of the early part of the last century in London, Moscow, Paris, Peking, and the United States. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A slipshod effort
The poor quality of this book is indicated by the author's statement that I did not attempt to contact Martha Gellhorn during my research for a biography of herEven a cursory reading of the first edition of Nothing Ever Happens to the Brave: The Story of Martha Gellhorn shows that I did indeed contact Gellhorn, and that I received a reply. ... Read more

Reviews (18)

A 'Losing' Inspiration
I'm not a sports fan (okay, I like some hockey but that hardly counts). I never have been a sports fan and, at this point in my life, I think I might have run out of time to make myself into a sports fan. However, while I was reading this book and ever since, I think I finally get the amazing complexity of truly loving a sport. I think I just might have missed out on something by never learning to adore basketball.

But I didn't have to miss out on this book. Having a knowledge of basketball might have enhansed my appreciation of this book but I don't see how anything could have enhansed my enjoyment. This is a story about passion in it's purest form. Not passionate romantic love but a passion just as valid, just as beautiful and, often, just as heart-breaking. And it's written as only Pat Conroy can write: honest and without needless window dressing. It's a story that could have been so mediocre in the hands of anyone else. But Pat Conroy, who lived and loved and hurt this season, delivers a novel that is so compelling anyone can love it.

I'm still not a sports fan but, I have to admit, lately, when one of the men in my life flips the channel to a basketball game, I'm more inclined to pat him on the head and cluck lovingly than beat him with the remote control.

A Rivetting, Intriguing Memoir
Mr. Conroy is arguably one of the best writers living. This memoir focuses on his senior year at The Citadel, The Military College of SC-recently in the headlines for the losing battle to remain all-male. It offers keen insights into his life through writing of the highest level.

Conroy's tale follows his senior year but also delves into his life as it centers around his basketball and academic careers. At the forefront of the scenes from his life is the maniacal behavior of his father, an abusive, sadistic marine who was a tortuous figure throughout Conroy's youth.

I found the story of Conroy's development as a lover of books and as a writer extremely interesting. One could even surmise that all the events of his life served as ingredients to making him a great novelist.

One cannot help but to ride on the emotional rollercoaster that this book creates as it follows Conroy's ups and downs on and off the basketball court. As he writes about specific games he played, it reads like the play-by-play to the NCAA championship game, which every game was to Conroy.

The book offers great details about his relationships to other players and people in his life, including teachers, who made a lasting mark on him.

As a Citadel graduate and athlete, I found the memoir to paint accurate illustrations of life as a Citadel athlete, trying to excel in a sport when everything seems to be against you-the school, the coach, the students-everything.

I don't think any reader will be disappointed in this book. I highly recommend it.

Not enough stars for this one, folks . . .
As with all of Conroy's books, he makes you love the story even if you're not interested in the subject material. The only other author I know of that does this is Jackson McCrae. "My Losing Season" is a true story of how a college basketball player trying to get the approval of his father. Yet, getting that approval is hard due to his father's expectations. Conroy tells a wonderful story that may leave some teary-eyed. One cannot help but to ride on the emotional rollercoaster that this book creates as it follows Conroy's ups and downs on and off the basketball court. As he writes about specific games he played, it reads like the play-by-play to the NCAA championship game, which every game was to Conroy. As usual, this novel is brilliantly constructed and well-done---as all his novels are.

Also recommended: "The Bark of the Dogwood," and "Prince of Tides."

Lacerating. . .
There's a scene in a 1970s movie in which Gene Hackman tries to grind up a broken wine glass in a garbage disposal. Reading this book is a lot like that.

I picked up "My Losing Season" not as a great fan of Pat Conroy or as a former athlete. I was attracted more by the theme of loss and its lessons. And I expected a different personal story than the one Conroy tells. The losing basketball season in his last year as a cadet at The Citadel in Charleston, SC, is a pretext for a much deeper theme - survival in the face of humiliation.

And it's not the losses of the games that are humiliating. On the one hand is the brutal and unrelenting contempt of his marine colonel father, a child abuser and wife beater. On the other hand is the withering scorn of Conroy's arbitrary and capricious coach, Mel Thompson. Both, in Conroy's account, do their best to beat the spirit out of the boy who has grown into an indomitable (though undersized and modestly talented) point guard for his team. And all of this takes place in the regimented, fierce, all-male environment of The Citadel in the 1960s, where incoming boys are routinely broken by the merciless hazing of their upperclassmen.

Humiliation is a much more difficult subject than loss to deal with. Loss leaves scars, but humiliation remains an open wound, and in writing about it there is the risk of slipping into the tug of war between self-pity and self-blame. Conroy takes us there sometimes, and those are the parts of his story that are lacerating. But win or lose, the ups and downs of the season are fascinating and the accounts of the games are thrilling. As a writer, he has a gift for hustling the reader with suspense and drama and sudden shifts of mood. As an observer of character, he vividly brings to life the individual boys who make up the team. As someone deeply wounded, he is able to freely and convincingly express the many articulations of the heart - especially love, admiration, and gratitude.

Once I started into this book, I could not put it down. It kept me reading late into the night. And when I wasn't reading, it filled my thoughts, as I'm sure it will for a long time. It's a troubling book that wants to resolve a host of dark memories. And it may well want to show the reader how to do the same. I'm not sure that it's completely successful in either regard. And maybe that's the point. It's enough to recast humiliation as loss. That is a wound that can eventually heal.

My losing Season
Pat Conroy's book My Losing Season Is about Pat in his early years trying to take his basketball team to the championship but he finds it hard. He has to determine whether or not his family is more important to him than basketball. He deals with his father's abuse and disapproval of what he is doing. This has been one of the best book that I have ever read. Anyone who likes basketball or has played any sport would love this book. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

A genius? Hmmm..
This book is an interesting look at the art and literary scene of Paris at the turn of the century. This book is actually more of an autobiography of Gertrude Stein, but supposedly is written through the eyes of her longtime companion Alice Toklas. Many who knew Toklas said that Stein imitated her voice and style perfectly, and perhaps that is why it is considered such a great work of literature. For my part I enjoyed the narrative, thought I was not particularly fond of the way it was written. I realize this is a style unique to Stein, but it just didn't work for me.

The most fascinating part of this work is seeing such great figures as Picasso and Hemingway through the eyes of Stein/Toklas. Even TS Eliot makes a brief appearance. The narrative is very interesting for this reason--with all these great figures around, how could it not be amusing? And, of course, Stein does not hesitate to use the medium of Toklas to proclaim that she is one of the three actual 'geniuses' that Toklas has ever met (incidentally, this short list excludes both Hemingway and Eliot). In fact there is an awful lot of egotism apparent throughout this book, and it is very irritating at times. Still, this is a very interesting look at Paris before, during, and after the first World War, and provides fascinating insight into a circle of painters, musicians, and literary figures that I'm sure many people would gladly give a limb to have belonged to.

Gertrude Shines
"The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas" made Gertrude Stein a household name in America in the 1930s, and for good reason. This is Stein at her most accessible and I must highly suggest it for any first-time readers of this literary genius. The book has a light, breezy tone, interesting subject matter (Picasso & various renowned artists pop up throughout), and Stein's trademark intellectual brilliance. The device of using Toklas as an approach to Stein's life is certainly interesting and is responsible for some of the most entertaining passages. And this book is certainly entertaining, thanks to Stein's supreme wit and her clever descriptions of the people she interacts with and situations she finds herself in. I highly recommend this book, especially for those who haven't read Stein before. Her vivacity, wit, intelligence and skill are on display here in an accessible, classic work.

What a great read!
I just finished this book and I really loved it. Yes, Gertrude Stein is very conceited, and yes, sometimes the language is difficult to work through, but if you take the time to get through this book you will not regret it. It was so witty and subtley funny that I was smiling almost the entire way through. This book is definitely worth the time it took to read it.

Oh, man. This one is a challenge
Gertrude Stein was a self-proclaimed genius. In order to announce this fact to the world, she chose to write about herself in the words of her whatever, lover, Alice B. Toklas (probably secondarily most famous for her marijuana-laced brownies during those flower-power hippie years).
Stein's writing is, um, difficult. Yeah, difficult. And convoluted and innovative and unusual in the extreme - and totally egocentric. This purported autobiography of Alice B. is in reality the autobiography of Gertrude Stein. Here's the most famous line from the book: "I may say that only three times in my life have I met a genius and each time a bell within me rang and I was not mistaken." One of the 3, of course, was herself, Gertrude. Sheesh. Fortunately, sublime conceit is tempered with wit and irony, which makes the reader willing to continue slogging thru this epistle.
It ain't easy, though. While this 'autobiography' is one of Stein's most accessible works, it's still pretty hard going for the average literate reader. I think we can thank posterity that this particular experimental style of writing didn't prove to be universally popular.
For a wonderfully original take on the relationship between Toklas and Stein, read the wickedly innovative The Book of Salt.

Wonderful
Those looking for a straightforward narrative, go elsewhere but those looking for charming insights into the heart of the Parisian bohemian scene from roughly 1905-1933, this is the book. Stein's genius was to write the book as if one was actually having a conversation with her partner, Alice B. Toklas. Famous figures come in and out of the story: Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Fitzgerald, Hemingway. Not only is this a book about people but it's also a book about the heady days before World War 1 and the general unease and regrouping that was done after the war. You get plenty of insights about the art scene, and by the end of the book, find yourself wishing you could be sitting in Stein's salon, looking at all the paintings.

This book can be read straight through from cover to cover or it can be read in bits and pieces and there is no lack of enjoyment from reaidng it either way. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Screenwriter Frances Marion (1888-1973) is the central subject of this excellent book, but mega-star Mary Pickford, journalist Adela Rogers St. Johns, bit-player-turned-gossip-columnist Hedda Hopper, and other high-powered female friends get nearly equal time. The author's skillful mix of biography with Hollywood history results in a densely textured portrait of an industry in formation and the intelligent, ambitious women who seized the opportunities it offered them for creative expression and financial independence. The text also instills new appreciation for the artistry of silent movies. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Entertaining and Informative
With great appreciation, Without Lying Down tells the story of how women influenced the movie industry in its infancy.The author clearly admires the women she writes about without appearing to compromise her objectivity.The book is well-researched and rich with entertaining details about the world of Frances Marion.The story moves along at a nice pace and the book is well written.It was easy to imagine the challenges and adventures Frances encountered in the days when Hollywood was still taking shape.It is difficult to read the book and not feel a little sad that women don't enough influence in the stories Hollywood tells today.

A long gone girlfriend
After reading Ms. Beauchamp's biography of Frances Marion, I felt that I knew Frances...and felt a bit sad that we would no longer "hang out" within these pages.
Frances was not only an intelligent and witty screenwriter but a woman with principles and a giving heart.
The lack of respect afforded to Ms. Marion by modern cinephiles as a pioneer in film-making is a true travesty.
These pages made me wish that I could have been friends with Frances Marion...and in another life, I think I would.

A Fascinating Look At Early Hollywood
Cari Beauchamp has written a fascinating biography of early Hollywood through the life of Frances Marion, one of its most powerful and highly paid screenwriters, Without Lying Down, Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood.The working life of Frances Marion has the advantage of coinciding with the birth of movies as Marion began working on scripts for silent movies in the teens and continued into the sound era and the advent of World War II.This biography also has the joy of highlighting many of the other unique women of Hollywood as Frances Marion traveled in a powerful Hollywood clique.It is a wonderful look at Hollywood between the wars from the vantage point of Frances Marion.Occasionally, it would have been helpful if the author could have expanded the view a little to give a larger context outside of Frances Marion's own sphere of influence and given a broader perspective of the film industry.But what is seen in both entertaining and informative.There was for me real sadness at the end of this book as all these great women pass away but, now at least, one of them is captured lovingly and brilliantly in this fine biography.

Excellent!
Unlike other reviewers, I felt I knew Frances very well after finishing this book.Her generosity, her sense of artistry, and her passion (and sometimes hatred) for her profession really come through.This is one of the few books, biography or silent film history, that is actually well-written in addition to being informative.It's rare to find an historian who can write well, or a biographer who pays attention to history.And as for rah-rah feminism, Beauchamp merely points out a fact--that women were highly involved in every phase of early film-making.If you are interested in silent film history, women's history, or just want to read an entertaining biography, you won't be disappointed.

Too long - no content
This book has a few bright spots, but overall it's too long and says absolutely nothing.Like another reviewer said; I hardly felt like I knew Frances when I was finished.It dosen't even give you the feel of whatearly Hollywood was like.Just a bunch of loose, wordy descriptions tomake the book even longer and look more impressive.Overall, save yourmoney. ... Read more

Amazon.com

In this funny, razor-edged memoir, Mary Karr, a prize-winning poet and critic, looks back at her upbringing in a swampy East Texas refinery town with a volatile, defiantly loving family. She recalls her painter mother, seven times married, whose outlaw spirit could tip into psychosis; a fist-swinging father who spun tales with his cronies--dubbed the Liars' Club; and a neighborhood rape when she was eight. An inheritance was squandered, endless bottles emptied, and guns leveled at the deserving and undeserving.With a raw authenticity stripped of self-pity and a poet's eye for the lyrical detail, Karr shows us a "terrific family of liars and drunks ... redeemed by a slow unearthing of truth." ... Read more

Reviews (106)

Like a Picture From an Old Life Magazine
Mary Karr has nailed the language, smell, taste, sounds, colors and feelings of a childhood in Texas and Colorado in the 60's and 70's. She tells us the story that only a child raised on adrenalin can tell - one of humor, fear and alert, honest observation. Her memories are sharp and clear and exactly what a child would have chosen to note. This is the painfully honest and extrordinarily funny (as only the truth can be) story of two little girls trying to raise their alcoholic parents and the pasts that led the parents to that point. What is so wonderful about this memoir is that, in spite of the tribulations these little girls go through, their love for their parents and their willingness to protect them surpasses all other emotions. If for no other reason, read this book for the language. I've heard people say that it's exaggerated or embellished for this book. I can tell you that she must have a memory like a steel trap because she brought back words and sayings from my childhood that I had long forgotten. If you are only going to read one memoir this year, forget "Angela's Ashes", forget "The Color of Water". They both pale in comparison to "The Liar's Club".

Strength out of misery
Mary Karr grew up in an ugly place, the refinery/swamp town of Port Arthur, Texas, and in an ugly situation, with a mentally unstable mother and a hot tempered, hard drinking father. Yet out of such ugliness, she extracted great beauty in order to write this dazzling memoir. Despite Karr's dysfunctional childhood, her writing is completely devoid of woe-is-me whining or psychobabble.

Karr has a gift for spinning a tale, perhaps inherited from her father or honed at gatherings of his friends in "The Liar's Club," a group that met to drink, play cards, and swap stories. And boy, the stories she tells! There's the stories about her mother's manic/pyschotic episodes, including one time when she set her children's belongings on fire, another time when she attempted to drive the family off a bridge, and a third time when she threatened her lazy husband with a gun. Karr also tells about her inconsistent relationship with her father, who suffered a difficult life but emerged, if not unscathed, then unbroken.

Most remarkable about the book, though, are not the amazing stories but the matter of fact, even at times hilarious tone in which they are told. The woman telling these stories is no victim; she is a survivor. A miserable childhood did not cause Mary Karr to surrender her spirit, but rather forged her in fire and made her stronger.

Funny writing, down-to-earth style
I thought I was sick of daughters-with-crazy-mothers (often from the South) books, but this one sucked me in with its wit and candor. It's hard to stop and feel any sympathy for the narrator because you're laughing so hard. Definitely a great summer beach read. Other good crazy-mother books: Sights Unseen, An Egg on Three Sticks, Blackbird.

Disturbing Fiction
This book is fiction, not a memoir. The author writes that her mother was in a hurry to marry her Dad because she was already 30. By the time Mary's older sister is 9, Mary's grandmother moves in with the family. Mary Karr writes: "It must be terrible to have cancer at age 50". So, the grandmother was 50 at the time and the mother was (at least) 30+9+9 months = 40 years old? I don't think so!

I liked the way Mary Karr tells the story - for a while. I really enjoyed the tall tales her father made up in the first third or so of the book. After the second sexual abuse scene, however, I had thoroughly enough of the despicable characters. No need reading somebody else's nightmares stated as a fact.

Wow--just Wow
If you don't own a copy of The Liars' Club, your collection is incomplete. This is by far the smartest, ballsiest, sassiest, best-written memoir I've read. Karr takes normal words and turns them into pure emotion and eye-opening description. Never have I come away from a book feeling as though I've lived that life, experienced those situations. This book is the exception.

Karr takes us into her life growing up in Texas, the daughter of an odd set of parents and the product of too much time and too little to do with it. She tells of family tragedies and heartache so plainly, so matter-of-factly that the reader comes away with a sense of belonging to the madness that was Karr's life. What's more, deep into the book, one realizes that quite possibly, the title of the book may be revealing a private joke Karr is playing on her readers. The seed of doubt is planted, thus enhancing the story and the experience.

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It's worth a second and third read. I'm awaiting Karr's third book with the same patience as a kid on Christmas Eve. ... Read more

Reviews (103)

A "COLORFUL" CHARACTER
To say this book is a riviting account of an outlandish American character is an understatement. Brodie's work is still the standard by which all other biographies of Smith must be measured. Having unparalled access to LDS archives gave Brodie a leg up on all other biographers (other than official LDS "historians" assigned the task of whitewashing the life of their church's founder). Since this work no one has been allowed the access to official LDS records which Brodie enjoyed because of her pedigree as the descendant of an LDS President. Brodie's writing style is professional and interesting. I will fault her with speculating on the feelings and thoughts of Joseph Smith's mother at the time of his birth (1st edition). Other than that Brodie does an excellent job of sticking to the facts and setting forth the character of Joseph Smith more thouroughly than any historian before or since. History has proven Brodie right and her critics wrong concerning controversies on some of her writings. This book is the type of tour de force one expects from a University of Chicago scholar, which Brodie is. If only all biographies were this well researched and written. LDS apologists will not like this book because it presents the shaddy side of Smith (conviction for disorderly conduct, what we would today describe as fraud, his illegal banking scam in Ohio, having affairs with married women and then latter coming up with the doctrine of poligamy)and the politically maniacal side of Smith (organizing a 6,000 member malitia and terrorizing his non-Morman neighbors by marching around the county, attacking and destroying private property because a newspaper pointed out the facts of his doings in the church and city). Brodie is fair and points out the positive aspects of Smith as well. Smith's great intelligence and familiarity with the King James Translation of the Holy Bible is very evident from this biography. The problems with the official LDS account of the discovery and translation of the book of Mormon become evident because of Brodie's thourough handling of this area of Smith's life. If you only read one book on Mormanism or Joseph Smith in our life, this is the one to read.

Pretty good
I read this biography because I love history and Joseph Smith is, like it or not, one of the most important figures in American history. The book is readable and well-researched. There is a great deal of speculation on Joseph Smith's life and any work written about him will contain "facts" that are disputed. This is partly because there are gaps in the record, and partly because the LDS church has been less than forthright.

Reading through the other reviews, I think I may be one of the few is not either Mormon or aggressively anti-Mormon. I think many of the glowing reviews on this page were written by people who would and want to believe anything bad about the Mormon church. Conversely, most of the ridiculous "one-star" reviews were written by Mormons who seem to have not read the book. It is convenient to comment on a book you haven't read by pushing forward a rebuttal book you have, such as No Ma'am, That's not History.

No Man Knows My History is widely viewed as the definitive book on the life of Joseph Smith. If one wants to know what is NOT history, check the many white-washed versions of Smith's life that are available from members of the LDS church.

Full of errors
This book has been around for a long time because people who do not know the facts are deceived by it. This book takes quotes out of context, mixes them with pieces of other quotes, then tries to make the reader believe they were said in connection with each other. Many dates are wrong. The author reads into an event her own explanation and then says that is the only reason that event occured. Truth is totally obscured in this book. A waste of time and money. A "friend" loaned a copy to me and now I'm glad because I could then see what a piece of junk it is.

meticulous and thought-provoking
I will spare the reader of this review another exhaustive summary of the book contents, since the contents are well-documented and reviewed by innumerable other reviewers (the book was initially published in 1945). At any rate, I found the book well-written, the material neatly couched & contextualized into the era it occurred, and a conscientous effort given to both 'official' mormon history and 'unofficial' mormon history. In spite of one's religious beliefs, this book ought to be required reading for both the scholar of mormon history and the devout mormon churchgoer. Ultimately, this book should serve as a springboard for further investigation and research by BOTH earnest mormon scholars and pious mormons alike.

Comprehensive book to date
This is the most comprehensive, factual book about Joseph Smith's life to date. The author backs up every statement with references on where the information was obtained and how the research was acquired. Very objective and educational. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Appropriate
I always thought of Buckley has having four careers. He was of course that TV fellow that talked funny and look down his nose at his guests and viewers on a show that was very successful - Firing Line; he was that business man, writer, and publisher that started the National Review; he wrote fiction spy novels, and he wrote his sailing stories.

Most people would be happy and content to achieve just one of those undertakings. One might imagine that running the National Review for all those years and keeping it fresh was an enormous challenge. I never agreed with all the stories in the NR and conservatives are now much more complicated people but if you think it is easy to start something like the NR, try starting your own national magazine.

In any case I read many of his books and very much appreciated his sailing books. His book on crossing the Pacific "Racing Through Paradise: A Pacific Passage" was one of the best sailing books ever written. Hence the quote by John Kenneth Galbraith, who "consistently writes pleasant tributes to my own books, inevitably advising the reader that my political opinions should be ignored, my fiction or accounts of life at sea appreciated". Maybe you have to be a sailor to understand his books but it is unlikely.

In terms of a biography it would be very difficult for Buckley to achieve the same level of literary excellence in a biography that he might write today as compared to some of his many past writings. So in the end his collection of selected writings speak for themselves and are most appropriate. He does not need a conventional autobiography - his writing for those of us that have read his books are perfect. We understand that was always his strength.

How can one really criticize this book? The CD for myself was not needed. Incidentally and it is not really the same but George Plimpton came out with a similar series of stories which he called - a readers collection - in the book "George Plimpton on Sports" also available at Amazon.com, published in 2003. I read that book also and thought it was excellent and often very funny but less autobiographical. It is the same idea but for some reason it was never a best seller as the present book appears to be.

Jack in Toronto

Not as inspirational as most autobiographies, but good.
Aaaah, William F.Buckley, the erudite American with the faux British accent and devilish (some would say perverse) glare, master maligner of the English language and scathing critic of the left. Aaaah, Buckley, author of a thousand wordy books, host of a thousand wordy Firing Lines. At age 80, Buckley favors his fans with "Miles Gone By", a collection of previously written essays which taken together uniquely form what he smartly describes as a "literary" autobiography.

There are essays of his childhood days growing up in the family estate in upper Westchester, then attending Rugby games at Yale, then developing an interest in Yachting, and then of course, essays covering his experiences as a conservative commentator and television personality and hanging out with the likes of Whittaker Chambers, Jack Kerouac, Rowan and Martin and Jay Leno.

The audio CD is especially enjoyable, covering the music that influenced his life. Selections include Yummy Yummy Yummy by Ohio Express, Love is Like A Buttefly by Dolly Parton, She-Bop by Cyndi Lauper, Blinded Me With Science by Thomas Dolby and That's The Way by KC and the Sunshine Band, to list only a few of the golden nuggets provided here.

The essays on yachting are easily the most boring. I have never understood why his yachting experiences were turned into books. I recall there was even a painfully boring tv show about his yachting. I mean, come on..the guy likes to yacht...not much you can write about that. But Buckley managed to write hundreds of pages about it and turned it into these essays and even a whole book, describing the great spiritual exhiliration and his connection with nature and describing in excruciating detail every pelican, compass, turn of the sail, piece of driftwood, gust of wind and sunset he ever experienced. It's just too much.

But the rest of it, if you're a Buckley fan, is an OK read. I mean, it's not exactly an inspirational rags to riches story filled with tales of poverty, desperation, personal tragedies and ultimately the triumph of the human spirit or anything like that. It's basically about a boy who was born into a wealthy family and went to an ivy league school and did a lot of yachting and then became a wordy critic of the left. So if you know Buckley and like that sort of thing, then you will enjoy this book.

A wonderful read, an interesting life
I am only a quarter of the way through this book, but I have been happily surprised at the wonderful stories and relevant topics that are contained. I really know nothing of Mr. Buckley, and was hesitant to purchase at first, but then I decided to take a chance and to pick it up.
This is one chance that paid off.
Though Buckley is known for his conservative ideology, this book offers so much more. I was particularly touched by the writings about his family.
In this world of deceptive and slanted political books (just look at the number of liberal books available), this is a breath of fresh air. Highly recommended.

Laughing out loud
William F. Buckley pulled precisely the right excerpts from his large store of material to give a vivid picture his extraordinary life, full of verve and that irrepressible twinkle in his eye. I have laughed, smiled, chuckled, or groaned at least once with every page. This is truly a delightful, entertaining, and brilliantly written account. It's an unusual way to "write" an autobiography, but then who would expect less than the unique from Bill Buckley?

The making of a conservative icon
Read this book and unearth The Real Buckley: athlete, family man, world traveler, peerless intellectual, a religious soul with an inquisitive, skeptical mind-- and an insatiable appetite for adventure. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Kingdom of Fear is billed as a memoir, but in essence, all of Hunter S. Thompson's books could fit into this category since his life and work have always been tightly bound together by a mythology largely of his own making. (After all, this is the man who, before earning a single dollar as a writer, began meticulously saving a copy of every letter he ever sent.) Still, this is certainly an unconventional memoir, but then what would you expect from the father of gonzo journalism? In these pages Thompson manages to dig deep and reveal a few "loathsome secrets" without offering the kind of personal details he has always avoided. His childhood, for instance, is basically summed up in a sentence: "I look back on my youth with great fondness, but I would not recommend it as a working model to others." He does, however, reflect upon his considerable legacy, including his well-known, and admittedly exaggerated, use of controlled substances ("The brutal reality of politics alone would probably be intolerable without drugs"), as well as offer assessments of his own work, such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ("It's as good as The Great Gatsby and better than The Sun Also Rises").

In this collection of twisted parables and outlaw adventures, Thompson writes about his early run-ins with agents of authority and the lessons learned; his stint in the Air Force and the beginning of his journalism career; his unsuccessful, though illuminating, bid for Sheriff of Aspen, Colorado in 1970 as the Freak Power candidate; the casualties and unintended consequences thus far in the War on Terror; and numerous examples of present-day injustice and hypocrisy--all with his characteristic mix of brutal frankness laced with humor. He also offers his own take on state of the Union: "The prevailing quality of life in America--by any accepted methods of measuring--was inarguably freer and more politically open under Nixon than it is today in this evil year of Our Lord 2002." Thompson continues to make even the most deadly serious subject matter endlessly entertaining. --Shawn Carkonen ... Read more

Reviews (40)

Memoirs of a true outlaw
Unlike many reviewers of this book, this was my first experience reading one of Hunter S. Thompson's books. Having seen the bizarre and hilarious film, Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas, however, I had some idea of what to expect (I look forward to reading that book). So the fact that some of this material may have been in previous books did not bother me. On the other hand, not being familiar with the well known episodes of Thompson's life made the erratic and disjointed style of the book -he jumps from one time period to another without warning-- harder to follow than if I'd had some background. You simply cannot read an author like Thompson expecting a conventional style, and I appreciated his unique, if often drug-induced perspective. With Thompson, all of the usual barriers are meaningless, such as those that separate fact from fantasy, the humorous from the serious and even past from present. There is simply a barrage of words, emotions, perceptions and anecdotes, revealed in a seemingly random order.

Yet Kingdom Of Fear is not entirely without theme or structure. There is an underlying message, as the title suggests, that the nation is moving into a dark period that seriously jeopardizes our privacy and civil liberties. Thompson relates this post-Sept. 11, 2001 environment to episodes in his own life when authorities violated his rights. Unlike a book by the average political commentator or activist, however, Thompson makes his case with emotional verbal outbursts and poetic observations more than logical arguments. This is refreshing; Thompson's style is an anachronistic challenge to the overly regulated, homogenized and conforming culture that has been building, not only since 9/11, but over the last few decades.

A view like no other!
HST is bitingly funny in his recounting of episodes fighting against the System. In "The Witness" a has been well known porn star tries her damndest to set Hunter up for a BIG fall on drug charges and sexual assault. Thompson embarasses and shames the District Attorney and LEO's of Pitkin County (here in Colorado where he lives in Aspen).Thompson is, as always, his own person. Describing his days in SF working as Night Manager for the Mitchell Brothers famous O'Farrell Theater - THE center of pornography in it's heyday. Long running legal battles with Diane Feinstein and the leading edge of Freedom of Expression involving Sex in America. Oh enough BS! Thompson loved hanging out with strippers and other free spirits!

This is Thompson's first book since the September 11 attacks. He (accurately, in my opinion) feels that life in America will never be the same. Our generation and todays children, will be in a state of war for our lifetimes. He speculates that, for the first time in recent American history, the next generation will be less well off than the current generation. And America will relearn the sacrifices of previous generations. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Kingdom of Fear is a series of funny, irreverent memoirs describing events in Hunter S Thompson's life. He admits that some embellishing took place. A bit of what he writes about takes place in Aspen with quite a bit of Colorado "references" and landmarks, and personalities. Which (as a long time resident) I found enjoyable. The Ducati blast through "ranch" traffic and close calls with the "sausage maker" are hilarious.
The book has quite a few photographs including the back cover of Hunter buck naked except his famous hat firing a shotgun.
To sum up: As HST's good friend Warren Zevon wrote: "lawyers, guns and money"

A fun read from a guy who has led an interesting life!

Troubled thoughts and ruminations along the Proud Highway.
Hunter Thompson takes stock in his tumultuous life and assesses the current situation in America in a very aptly titled book. At its best, Kingdom of Fear evokes the glory days of Thompson. At its worst, it wallows in some rather pitiful encounters which may have been better left unsaid, such as his flirtation with an 8-year-old Xania.

Thompson launches into the current administration, as it inflicts its reign of terror on the civil liberties in this country. He recalls his bouts with the law, in particular a sordid case involving a former porn queen who takes him to court for allegedly abusing her at his home in Aspen. While he managed to survive these battles, he doesn't hold out much hope for the future because of the notorious Patriot Act.

But, his thoughts range far and wide, taking in his early years in Louisville and the proud highway to his remote home in Aspen, which he currently finds under seige from unscrupulous developers and former porn queens bent on ruining his mostly peaceful life. There is plenty of dark humor and pithy insights into the loathsome nature of the American dream. It is a very uneven book, but then that is what I have come to expect from Thompson, who hasn't been able to repeat his past great efforts such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72.

I can't think of a title
What I really like about "Kingdom of fear" is that Thompson talks about events that happened or are happening during my lifetime, he doesn't do that with his other books, I was born in 87 so Thompson had started writing way before I was born and his other books are great (at least the ones I've read, I have not read them all yet) but I can't directly relate which prevents me from fully grasping Thompson's other works but this one I could. Hilarious reading, if you have that Thompson type of humor, Dr. Thompson is alive and well and this is proof

hit and miss, but worth it
On one hand, it's true that this is not Hunter's crown jewel. On the other hand, this one is not to be dismissed. While there are parts of this that are certainly slower than others, it is clear that HST is still a lover of the language so that his prose never fails to entertain, even when the subject matter becomes occasionally less intriguing.

What makes this book indespensible (to me) is some of Thompson's anecdotes about his childhood. One revelation in particular, relating to a situation where the FBI tried to haul him away while he was in his early teens, explains things about his adulthood that make it seem only natural for Thompson to become the outlaw he is.

I've passed on Thompson's books over the last 10-12 years. Maybe he didn't seem to have the devil in him anymore. Having said that, though, there are a lot of quotable moments in this particular book. He's got some devil back and when he is on he is ON, and when he is funny he is DAMN FUNNY. This one is hit and miss, but let's face it, even welterweight Thompson is hard to top. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1962, at the age of eleven, Carlos Eire was one of 14,000 children airlifted out of Cuba, his parents left behind. His life until then is the subject of Waiting for Snow in Havana, a wry, heartbreaking, intoxicatingly beautiful memoir of growing up in a privileged Havana household -- and of being exiled from his own childhood by the Cuban revolution.

That childhood, until his world changes, is as joyous and troubled as any other -- but with exotic differences. Lizards roam the house and grounds. Fights aren't waged with snowballs but with breadfruit. The rich are outlandishly rich, like the eight-year-old son of a sugar baron who has a real miniature race car, or the neighbor with a private animal garden, complete with tiger. All this is bathed in sunlight and shades of turquoise and tangerine: the island of Cuba, says one of the stern monks at Carlos's school, might have been the original Paradise -- and it is tempting to believe.

His father is a municipal judge and an obsessive collector of art and antiques, convinced that in a past life he was Louis XVI and that his wife was Marie Antoinette. His mother looks to the future; conceived on a transatlantic liner bound for Cuba from Spain, she wants her children to be modern, which means embracing all things American. His older brother electrocutes lizards. Surrounded by eccentrics, in a home crammed with portraits of Jesus that speak to him in dreams and nightmares, Carlos searches for secret proofs of the existence of God.

Then, in January 1959, President Batista is suddenly gone, a cigar-smoking guerrilla named Castro has taken his place, and Christmas is canceled. The echo of firing squads is everywhere. At the Aquarium of the Revolution, sharks multiply in a swimming pool. And one by one, the author's schoolmates begin to disappear -- spirited away to the United States. Carlos will end up there himself, alone, never to see his father again.

Narrated with the urgency of a confession, Waiting for Snow in Havana is both an exorcism and an ode to a paradise lost. More than that, it captures the terrible beauty of those times in our lives when we are certain we have died -- and then are somehow, miraculously, reborn. ... Read more

Reviews (24)

A New Purveyor of Magical Realism
Carlos Eire arrives on the literary scene with a tasty eye for the magical, a sense of humor that is ingratiating, an ability to capture the tenor of Cuba at the time of the Revolution, an adult's sense of tragedy as perceived through the trusting eyes of a child. WAITING FOR SNOW IN HAVANA: Confessions of a Cuban Boy is wonderful rollercoaster of a ride that recalls the unimaginable beauty of Cuba before the fall, walks through the tangled streets of a city destroyed by a dictator, and finally looks back (and down) at the Cuba of today from a vantage in the United States.

Eire knows children well, so well that at times his writing is so convincingly that of a wide-eyed child that the reader needs to back up a few pages to realize this is a memoir and not a novel. In the end he has more thoroughly than any other writer given us an insider's view of Cuba in the 50's and 60's that it is possible for us to understand the mountainous changes that Fidel Castro effected on this lovely island. To say more would be to spoil an E-ride in Disneyland. Read this book for the joy of a child's perception, the insight of an expatriate's knowledge, and the philosophy of a man of heart and hope. A fine Debut Novel.

Lurking Lizards: Good vs. Evil
On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro ousted Batista from Cuba and wrested eight-year-old Carlos Eire from his life of privileged ease. As a son of the upper class, Carlos had attended the best private schools and frolicked with his brother on clear Cuban beaches under a lemon sky. Three years later, countless public executions and social anarchy convinced his parents to send the boys to the United States. Carlos was one of the 14,000 children airlifted out of Cuba to an uncertain future in America.

Despite the poverty and loneliness that awaited him in Florida, Carlos went on to achieve success as a professor at Yale University. Waiting for Snow in Havana is his cathartic tale of Cuban life before and after its Glorious Revolution. The book's blatant honesty is sometimes painful to read, but its prosaic beauty left me breathless. There is a disjointed quality to the writing that is somehow appropriate here: a hilarious tale of neighborhood boys trying to send a lizard into outer space strapped to a bottle rocket might introduce a tirade against the author's perverted adopted brother, who tormented the young boy for years with sexual advances. He tells of his cousin's death before a firing squad and his uncle's retreat into madness after languishing in one of Fidel's many prisons, then goes on to paint exquisite pictures of tangerine sunsets and selfless love.

Lizards. They crop up again and again, personifying evil. The book is a lyric commentary on the struggle of evil against God's creation. Lush Cuba is ravaged by a cruel overlord. The same ocean that teems with heart-stoppingly beautiful parrot fish houses sharks as well. Carlos' loving father is marred by the delusion, the certainty, that he is the reincarnation of King Louis XVI. He chooses his wife because he is convinced she was once Marie Antoinette. So great is his fantasy that he brings home a street urchin, whom he recognizes as the reincarnation of the French dauphin, and adopts him, thus innocently introducing a cruel pervert into his happy family. That he became a Christian believer despite the ugliness of his life is a triumph of God's grace. But believe he does, although his writing sometimes shocks my sensibilities. (The frequent use of Christ's name as a literary device, for example, offended me.) God works in mysterious ways, and His method of reaching a Cuban Catholic must surely be unlike His wooing of a Bible-Belt Protestant. It follows, then, that Dr. Eire's portrayal of God's love would necessarily be different from mine. Who am I to say that mine is better, despite his profanity? Apparently others in the Christian community agree with me; I actually read this book at the recommendation of a writer in Christianity Today, who named it among his top ten favorites of 2003. It is now a favorite of mine.

Crocodile Tears in Havana
This is a misty-eyed memoir of an egoistical man who had a very privileged childhood. Because that idealized world was sundered, he believes he has a deeper take on suffering and displacement and he asks the reader to sympathize with his plight and along the way, to blame it all on Castro. The writing is precious, almost cloyingly so--one would expect a historian to be more careful of his language. If the Cuba he remembers is a paradise lost, then he needs to move on. Cuba has survived well enough without him.

Wonderful and bittersweet
Having left Cuba as a young girl of 10, I lived through what he shares in the book. His story is told with sentiment and true emotion, as only one can tell it having lived through it. I hope Mr. Eire keeps on writing books such as this.

A moving chronicle of a childhood lost to a revolution
Very beautiful and as lyrical as one can possible get, "Waiting for Snow in Havana" embraces with equal fervor, both the beauty and innocence of childhood with its laughter, pranks and endless fascinations with lizards and the heartbreaking tragedy and the ensuing political upheaval that would eventually destroy it all. I'll admit that Mr. Eire is occasionally prone to fits of self-indulgence, rambling endlessly about trivialities and the collaboration of a sympathetic editor didn't help matters, but this is ultimately a gorgeous and haunting memoir that should be read by anyone interested in the Diaspora, Cuban or otherwise. The humorous segments are laugh out loud funny (especially if you, like me, are Cuban and can relate to the quirkiness that is inherent to the Cuban temperament) and the sorrowful ones were enough to bring tears to my eyes. The pages are seemingly perfumed with a palpable sense of longing yet eternal optimism lends its unmistakable scent to the heady brew. To those directly affected by the Cuban revolution, Operation Pedro Pan and/or endless exile, this beautifully rendered chronicle will bring back many wonderful, if equally painful memories and to those fortunate enough to have been spared those sorrows, it is my fervent hope that it will serve as insight into the beauty and warmth of the Cuban people and our much cherished culture. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Richard Ellmann capped an illustrious career in biography (his James Joyce is considered one of the masterpieces of the 20th century) with this life of Oscar Wilde, which won both the National Book Critics Circle Award and Pulitzer Prize on its original publication in 1988.Ellmann's account of Wilde's extravagantly operatic life as poet, playwright, aesthete, and martyr to sexual morality is notable not only for the full portrait it gives of Wilde, but also for Ellmann's assessment of his subject's literary greatness; both aims are served by a plethora of quotations from Wilde's own work and correspondence. Wilde straddled the line between the Victorian age and the modern world as he did everything in life ... with impeccable style. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

This book will have you eating, drinking and sleeping Wilde.
Richard Ellmann obviously knew just about everything there was to know about Oscar Wilde; what is amazing is that he was able to put most of it in his Wilde biography and still make it a graceful, engrossing read completely free of boredom or didacticism. Wilde was one of the truly great personalities of all time, and Ellmann not only brings him to vivid life, but demonstrates why he was one of the most important literary figures of the 19th century.

INCREDIBLY COMPREHENSIVE AND MOVING
I bought this book after seeing the movie, "Wilde" which is based on it. I have to say that I caught a bit of "Oscar Fever" while reading it. The book is incredibly thorough and well-researched; Ellman definitely knows his stuff. The book is written in an admiring, respectful tone but remains objective. Excerpts from Wilde's works that the author found particularly significant are included, as well as many wonderful pictures.

After reading this book I have a lot of admiration and fondness for Wilde, and I marvel at his fascinating but ultimately tragic life. A couple of months before I read this book I was wandering around the cemetery de Pere-Lachaise in Paris and happened upon Wilde's grave. I didn't think too much of it then but now that I have learned a bit about the man I really do want to go back and pay my respects. Ellman has written a beautiful, loving portrait of Wilde and it is thoroughly enjoyable and poignant. I'd also recommend the wonderful film starring Stephen Fry and Jude Law but to get the whole story, read the book!!!

scholarly yet stimulating
I remember reading this book when I was 16 and being blown away by the erudition. Even to this day it's probably the most erudite biography I've ever read. The scholarly weight and depth of this book is tremendous. It is amazingly comprehensive. This is the kind of book that takes 20 years to write and must be a labor of love for the writer--the writer must really love his subject, in this case, Wilde. And one has every indication from the book that Richard Ellman did. His portrait of Wilde is no less sympathetic as it is complete. This must be the definitive biography which all other Wilde bios should be measured against. A superlative achievement.

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

Utterly Moving
I had just finished this book ten minutes ago and I am completely in love with the man. His life was one of both tragedy and creativity. I felt so sad for him in the last part of his life. He was an amazing soul and this bio accented it. A must read!

Likely to stand as the definitive biography of Wilde
If Richard Ellmann had not already written the definitive literary biography (his astonishing JAMES JOYCE), this utterly first-rate biography would be a legitimate candidate for the title. One might initially think that Wilde would be an easy subject for a biography: his life was interesting, eventful, literarily significant, triumphant, and tragic. But the problem is that for many Wilde has become a symbol either of the late 19th century Victorian decadence or the oppressed homosexual. To treat anyone, and especially Wilde, primarily as a symbol or a representative of anything outside himself, is to distort and misrepresent. The genius of Ellmann's biography of Wilde is that Wilde never becomes either more or less than the writer and person Oscar Wilde.

The portrait that emerges of Wilde is absolutely fascinating. If Ellmann's JAMES JOYCE is the greater biography, Wilde emerges nonetheless as the more interesting of the two Irish authors, and perhaps the more brilliant, if not the more productive. Indeed, one of the things that emerges from Ellmann's book is a sense that Wilde might have become a greater writer than he did, and not just if he had not sued the Marquess of Queensbury and had not been sent to prison on sodomy charges. Wilde emerges as even more brilliant than the work he produced, as if he had produced much of his work with a minimum of reference.

Ellmann does a marvelous job of situation Wilde in his time and place, with the cultural and artistic concerns paramount at the time. He also does a fair and just job of depicting the major involvements in his life, beginning with Whistler and his wife Constance and continuing on with his various involvements, especially with Alfred Lord Douglas. With the latter, Ellmann certainly does not try to idealize the relationship, but recounts it warts and all. If there is a villain in the book, it is not, surprisingly, the Marquess of Queensbury, but his son Lord Douglas.

The saddest part of the book, by far, is the section recounting Wilde's life after leaving prison, which is one disappointment after another. He first intended to reunite and reconcile with his wife, but she unexpectedly died, thereby cutting himself off from both a family and his children. He then reunites uncomfortably with Lord Douglas, but the attempt is a disaster. He final year or two are recounted as being especially miserable, with an impoverished Wilde reduced to conversing entertainingly with strangers for the benefit of a drink. It is especially heartbreaking to read how almost all his former friends cut him off, refusing to help him in his time of greatest need. An encounter with a young man from Arkansas provides perhaps the most apt Wilde quote from his last days. Upon hearing about Arkansas, Wilde remarked, "I would like to flee like a wounded hart into Arkansas."

One learns a vast amount of fascinating biographical detail about Wilde's life from this book. For instance: Wilde was double-jointed, could speed read and knock off books in scarcely more than a half hour in some instances. He was acquainted with the Yeats family in Ireland, and spoke with a pronounced Irish accent until he went to Oxford. He bought Thomas Carlyle's writing desk. He was a Mason. Physically he had tiny feet and teeth that were darkened by mercury treatments. And there is much, much more.

On nearly every level, this is a truly great biography. Even if one is not a fan of Wilde's works, it is definitely worth reading. ... Read more

Book Description

In this major new biography of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and the first to appear in English based on Turkish sources, Andrew Mango strips away the myth, to show the complexities of one of the most visionary, influential, and enigmatic statesmen of the century. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was virtually unknown until 1919, when he took the lead in thwarting the victorious Allies' plan to partition the Turkish core of the Ottoman Empire. He divided the Allies, defeated the last Sultan, and secured the territory of the Turkish national state, becoming the first president of the new republic in 1923, fast creating his own legend.

Andrew Mango's revealing portrait of Atatürk throws light on matters of great importance today-resurgent nationalism, religious fundamentalism, and the reality of democracy. ... Read more

Reviews (25)

The best biography of Ataturk ever written
What a wonderful book. Over the years, I have read three other biographies of Ataturk, and I can honestly say that this one is the best. For those who are unfamiliar with the history of the final days of the Ottoman Empire, and the initial days of the Turkish republic, the book gives a great history lesson, while at the the same time, telling the story of a remarkable life. The book goes into extreme detail with regard to the principle players in Ataturk's life, and gives a summary of the careers of those individuals at the end of the book as well. Mr. Mango has obviously spent many hours researching and interviewing people to compile the facts and information necessary to decribe the life of the greatest leader of the 20th century. I highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in Turkish/Ottoman history. Hopefully someday a proper documentery/movie will be produced so the western world can see what a great man Kemal Ataturk really was.

Powerful, Unrivalled Achievement
Certainly, I am not the only Turk who feels indebted to Andrew Mango for his wonderful biography of a man whom the west could know more about. However, before reading this scholarly, thoroughly researched and authoritative book about Ataturk, those who are not familiar with the history of Ottoman Turkey could read as a primer Lord Kinross' "A History of the Ottoman Centuries".

In a gesture of gratitude, the Turkish Parliament in 1927 conferred on Mustafa Kemal the surname Ataturk which means "Father Turk". To this day, Turks revere Mustafa Kemal Ataturk because his vision, courage and leadership eventually saved the country from invasion and extinction as a nation. Ataturk's progressive reforms have allowed Turkey to develop into the modern nation it is today. Even his ardent critics in Turkey enjoy freedom today because of Ataturk's life long dedication and service for his country.

This book is a gem, a rich source of information about the life and times of Kemal Ataturk. Anyone who is interested in further understanding the character of this brilliant soldier, the architect of the Turkish Republic and a rare individual whose spirit is alive and well in Turkey today should read this book.

A Man, A Vision, A Country
Andrew Mango first gives his readers an excellent introduction to the declining Ottoman Empire so that they better understand where Mustapha Kemal Atatürk was coming from. The Ottoman Realm, though modernizing slowly, no longer had the means to live up to its ambitions and was shrinking fast under pressure of competing empires and nascent states at the end of the nineteenth century. Furthermore, the Ottoman State was undermined internally by increasingly restive minorities that no longer accepted their subservient condition, as well as, by part of the elite that was dissatisfied with the perceived backwardness and incompetence of the Ottoman ruling class. Born in Salonica in today's Greece around 1880 in a Muslim, Turkish-speaking and middle-class family, Atatürk early on made up his mind to join the westernizing army and thereby discard the external signs of oriental life.

Mango narrates with mastery the steady progress that Atatürk, a successful and popular student, made during his military education. Work was all that mattered to Atatürk. Atatürk became a politically savvy professional soldier while studying hard during his years of military education in Istanbul, the imperial capital. After his admission to the prestigious Staff College at 21, Atatürk kept in touch with his military friends who were assigned elsewhere, a circle that would reveal its greatest usefulness in the accession of Atatürk to the highest post of Modern Turkey two decades later. Because of his subversive political activities, Atatürk was assigned not to Europe but to the Near East after finishing his studies in 1904. Mango does a great job in giving background information, which helps readers understand the environment in which Atatürk was bound to as a soldier while he actively remained involved in politics through his connections in the empire before, during and after WWI. In 1908, the Society of Union and Progress, of which Atatürk became a member, served as the launching path for the Young Turks in their successful military coup. Atatürk understood very fast that the Young Turks, even with the help of Germany later on, were not up to the task to save the empire from its ultimate downfall after the end of WWI. Atatürk was still too junior to play a key role in the new administration. As usual, Atatürk was critical of the new ones on top because he alone deserved to be leader.

From 1911, Atatürk, still an obscure officer, progressively rose to preeminence. Atatürk first tried to quell rebellions in the disintegrating empire before WWI. Atatürk then illustrated his military superiority when he decisively helped ruin the allied venture at Gallipoli in 1915. After a new promotion in 1916, Atatürk, very resentful of the Germans for continuously meddling into military operations from the beginning, spent two agitated years in the Near East where he did what he could to slow down the advance of the allies until the end of WWI. Officers who ultimately played a key role in the War of Independence were placed under his command during these two years. After the armistice in 1918, Atatürk proved to be the most effective of all Ottoman officers who refused the diktats of the victorious allies and thwarted their efforts to carve up the territory of Modern Turkey into pieces. Mango clearly explained how with the help of other nationalist officers, Atatürk turned Anatolia into a redoubt of resistance while accommodating the decadent rule of the sultan in the short term. Atatürk also progressively centralized all military and political levers of power in his hands through shrewd maneuvering. Mango is brutally honest about the enlightened despotism of Atatürk. Modern Turkey needed a strong regime to impose its legitimacy both internally and externally.

It took Atatürk and his army several grueling years before they could finally defeat the Greeks militarily and thereby commanding the grudging respect of the remaining divided allies. The signature of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 was a personal triumph for Atatürk by making the humiliating Treaty of Sevres of 1920 associated with the discredited old regime almost totally obsolete. As George Curzon, a British imperial statesman, noted at the end of the conference: "Hitherto we have dictated our peace treaties. Now we are negotiating one with an enemy who has an army while we have none, an unheard of position." The Treaty of Lausanne, still in existence, has been the most successful and the most lasting of all the post-war treaties. Atatürk was 42 years old when he became the first president of Modern Turkey. He assumed this position until his premature death in 1938. Mango never bores his audience when he overviews the successful and not-so-successful revolutionary reforms that Atatürk enacted during the successive terms of his presidency. Unsurprisingly, Modern Turks still revere Atatürk for westernizing and modernizing at high speed their country at its creation in 1923.

In present times, the adhesion of Turkey and United Cyprus to the European Union should be a fitting tribute to western-bound Kemalism. In addition, this adhesion should help engineer a historic reconciliation between Greece and Turkey, two key U.S. allies. On top of that, Turkey is called to play a key role as a bridge between the European Union and a would-be Islamic Union. Turkey has been an anchor of stability for over 80 years in the most volatile region of the world and has demonstrated with a growing success how to marry democracy, economic liberalism and Islam with one another. Unsurprisingly, Islamic terrorists have had Turkey on their hitting list for this reason.

Interesting subject ruined by inferior narrative ability
This is a very interesting topic that has been under-scrutinized in western sources. Mr. Mango has done excellent research, but the narrative is jumbled and difficult to follow. Most egregiously, the author is the equivalent of a dyslexic grasshopper with ADHD-- he tends to switch subjects frequently, often in the middle of paragraphs.

I have no quibble with his facts, but Mr. Mango has done a worse than average job of presenting a fascinating story. This book was a disappointment and not worth the money spent even at half price.

A smaller complaint has to do with the maps -- more could have been done to show maps in the course of the narrative. A bigger complaint is that Mango (has) (never) (met) (a) (parenthesis) (that) (he) (didn't) (love) (to) (use).

Bottom line: if you're already versed in the subject and are looking for another resource, it's fine. If you're reading it to learn something about Mustafa Kemal for fun/interest, you will be an unpleasant combination of bored and confused.

Superb! Ataturk is a fascinating read
I'm a Canadian half-Turk who has been fascinated by Turkish and Balkan history. Though I've read Kinross and some of the primary sources in Turkish, this book is a highly informative and bold account of early 20th century Turkish history with Ataturk as the main character but with many other personas in sharp focus. From the influence due to the rabid and hysterical propaganda of the politicians among the Armenian-American diaspora (note: not the regular people, especially our younger generation), it is hard to debate about these issues and even consider some of the historical characters objectively in the US. Mango does this bravely (not worried about denting his book sales) and in a scholarly fashion, but the book as as engrossing as a masterfully worked novel, so even if you aren't well versed in Turkish history it will be an enjoyable read. This should be a textbook in business school courses, as Ataturk was one of the best managers in recent history. ... Read more