Book Description

In his critically acclaimed bestseller Rain of Gold, Victor Villase-or brought his mother's family vividly to life. In Wild Steps Of Heaven, he turns to his father's family, the Villase-ors. Against a vivid backdrop of love and war, magic and heroism, the author breathes life into his father's people--and in particular, the Villase-or women*Margarita, the indomitable matriarch who was swept away by Don Juan Jesus Villase-or on the eve of the Mexican revolution*their beautiful daughters, who find strength and endurance in their mother's faith, and searing passion amidst the turmoil of war. But it is little Juan, the youngest son, through whose eyes this tumultuous saga unfolds. Juan would learn from his brother Jose, a hero of the revolution, how to be a man; and from his beloved mother, how to live and love con gusto y amor.

A story of madness and miracles, rage and redemption, In Wild Steps Of Heaven creates a riveting portrait of an extraordinary family and the country whose earth gave them roots. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Wild Steps of Heaven
Read this book before you read "Rain of Gold". "Wild Steps of Heaven" is a short read and actually the paternal part of the family story. I wish Villasenor had included the info in Wild Steps of Heaven" in "Rain of Gold". Both books are a wonderful patchwork of history,and genuine family integrity. Excellent summer read!

Wild steps of heaven is magic
This is a wonderful book. This book is about a family living during the Mexican Revolution.His writing just takes into this magical world and even though you know that he has made a little piece of history into this great big piece of fiction, he does it so as a matter-of -fact that you just can't believe that it's not true.

Epic Tale of Family Loyalty, Love, and Making of Heroes
In times of hardship heroes are needed and none moreso than in Mexico as revolution rages. The Villasenor family patriarch, an exiled red-haired Spaniard, has married an Indian woman. The first ten years of the marriage are a time of great love and passion, and the children born first are fair and favor Don Juan Villasenor. Later children are dark like their mother. One of the dark ones, Jose, from age 12 must live in the barn because he defied his father and gentled a stallion to rescue his baby brother holding onto the leg rather than shoot the horse. In his exile and solitude a hero begins his training with Grandfather Don Pio Castro who knows Jose understands the power of love and gentleness. This will be the son who defends la familia during the revolution from the soldiers who time and again attach the village. The colonel commanding the troops more particularly desires Jose's true love Mariposa and destroys her. Ultimately, the younger brother Juan (author Villasenor's father) begins to show heroic tendencies himself and will be the one to defend his mother and the remaining family against the colonel. Villasenor moves the tale along with a powerful, songlike cadence. Notable characters are the giant cousins, Basilio and Agustin, who strip naked and race the lightning and then Halley's comet on January 17, 1910, a night of magic and love, the day before el colonel begins shooting up the home village, el paraiso de Los Altos de Jalisco. Each chapter begins with epigrams featuring "Great Father Sun" that provide a sense of power from above, as in "the heavens smile . . . as all around him the gods and serpents did battle." When the final epigram tells us "and out of these children of the earth and of the stars would now come a glorious new gente in all their wonder and fire," we realize that while we have been traveling through an exciting story with more twists and turns than fiction, we also have been participating in something approximating a creation myth. Highly recommended is Villasenor's first tale of the family Villasenor, Rain of Gold.

Fast-paced, enjoyable reading
After reading Rain of Gold, an exceptional story, I couldn't wait to read this one. Wild Steps of Heaven tells more of Victor Villasenor's ancestral history, this time focusing on his grandfather's life as a young boy in Mexico. The book is very fast-paced and full of stories that are shocking in their violent imagery, yet show the importance of faith in God, love, and la familia. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Minimized
I don't like for a biography to lie, but I think it should portray the subject in a favorable or atleast interesting light.This biography is frustrating because it makes Churchill, who I thought was a very inspiring figure, into a rich spoiled man who stumbles into situations which brought him fame.If he was really as uninspired and unfocused as this biography portrays him then he has a false public reputation.

Brief and excellent.
This is a brief, accurate, excellent summary of the life of Churchill. It's about 100 pages long; you can read it in an evening and still have time to catch the late news. The first duty of a biographer, said LyttonStrachey, is a"becoming brevity" (he was reacting to the huge,ponderous biographies of the Victorian era), and this work fills the bill.I had always wanted to learn more about Churchill, the greatest figure ofthe 20th century, but I put it off because I didn't have the time or desireto wade through a massive tome. Now, finally, I know how how he arrived atthe Prime Ministership at exactly the right time. I know about hisincredibly broad training for the leadership position. I know some newthings about the Second World War. And so on. This book is part of the"Pocket Biographies" series published by Sutton located inEngland. I'm sold on the concept; I'm going to buy more in the collection -Lincoln is next and then Beethoven - i.e., people I want to know more aboutbut not necessarily every single time they had toast for breakfast. One ofthe offbeat things I like about this volume is the quality of paper usedfor the cover - it's that creamy thick stuff that a lot of smart publishersare using these days. ... Read more

Book Description

What do you get when you take Indiana Jones, mix in a dash of Marlon Perkins and a bit of Jack Hanna, add just a pinch of Doctor Doolittle, and blend vigorously? Dr. William Karesh, D.V.M., wildlife veterinarian and adventurer extraordinaire.

From the jungles of the Amazon, to the golden savannas of Africa, to the rocky and unforgiving shores of Patagonia, Dr. Karesh manages an extraordinary medical practice. A healer of international renown, his patients are often as ferociously-toothed as they are difficult to subdue. As creator and head of the one-of-a-kind International Field Veterinary Program for the Wildlife Conservation Society, Karesh's days and nights are devoted to the catching of crocodiles, the examining of orangutans, and the tagging of tigers. An adventurer whose commitment to conservation is as fierce as the landscapes and animals he encounters, his exploits put fictional characters to shame. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Amazing tales
This book tells the story of Dr. William Karesh, a wildlife veterinarian. Karesh tells us about his early interest in wild animals, and how he came to study veterinary science in graduate school.Following his studies, he used his skills working for zoos and the Wildlife Conservation Society.Now he spends much of his time traveling around the world studying the habits and health of various wild creatures.Highlights of Karesh's stories include nursing an injured okapi back to health, and chasing peccaries through the Peruvian forests.The best tale of all, however, has to be that of the time he was high in a tree, attempting to stare down a jaguar who thought he smelled like a nice hunk of meat.The point of the book is not all light-hearted stories, however.Karesh provides us with some important points to ponder about wildlife conservation and the future of the planet.

SPECIALIZATIONPAR EXCELLENCE
Books by vets are usually very interesting and concern more common animals.This book is different as Dr. Karesh only works with wild animals and puts his life on the line many times during the year.

It is always interesting to discover how a person got into his line of work and this story is no exception.Though he loved animals from birth (almost), being a vet was furtherest from his mind.

This is a good readand highly recommended.

Wonderful!
Simply put - this is my most favorite book of all time!If you love wildanimals, adventure, and a great read - this well-written, heart felt bookis for you!

House Calls
I listened to this book on audio tape, and thoroughly enjoyed it.I didn't realize a vet could enjoy his life so much.Each illness was an adventure, and some were quite dangerous.He obviously loves his work, andwon't let anything stand in his way.His stories were humorous andinteresting, and just technical enough to appreciate his vast medicalknowledge.This book was a pleasure to listen to, and I recommend ithighly. ... Read more

Book Description

NonfictionLarge Print Edition*A Literary Guild Featured Alternate Selection*A Doubleday Book Club Featured Alternate Selection*A 60-Minutes feature*To be featured in a miniseriesAfter reading this charming book, readers will regret not ever having met this lovely woman, who is so full of life and love even now.BooklistNinety-eight-year-old Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux started her memoirs as an assignment in a writing program. But she didnt stop there. In unadorned, powerful prose sparked by a wry humor, this remarkable and resilient woman has chronicled her life . . . ... Read more

Reviews (10)

This book depicts the strength of a 20th century woman.
Jessie Lee has, in the simplest of prose, given us a glimpse into the life of an "average" woman. Her life is not filled with exotic trips or dinners with Presidents, but with the struggles of everyday life. Her rocky marriage to an alcoholic will give inspiration to many young women of today. Her memory is incredible and details abound of a life that began at the beginning of this century...this is an interesting book to read as this century comes to an end.

Mixed feelings
I have mixed feelings about this book, because on one hand you can learn some neat stuff about the way things were in the early part of the XX century. On the other hand, this book would have greatly improved if an editor had removed the extra weight included in the story. I can see this being a very fascinating memoir for her family members, but once you take this to the general public, the array of names and places and the personal messages to all grandchildren at the end of the book become too much. Nonetheless, it was interesting to read about the trials and tribulations of this woman, married at 20 to an alcoholic. Why she continued having children (eight in total) after she discovered her husband was a drunk i'd never be able to comprehend. She tries to explain how she felt during those years, and at times she is successful and at times she cuts her thoughts short and does not go any further with her analyses. It's a pity because she does have some engaging, albeit sometimes bland, perspective on issues like alcohol, politics, the military, war, family, sex, etc. Don't expect big depths on this book, which by the way is a very easy and fast read.

A true inspiration to all women raising families today!
Nobody who reads this book will ever feel overworked or under appreciated, in quite the same way again. We have it so much easier today; and complain MORE !! My Mother is nearing the age of this remarkable woman, and we are hoping to get her to write her memories for us too; before they fade from her mind. She has been reluctant to start, due to the fact that she is not a professional writer. For her birthday this year, Mom is getting a copy of this book; and an audio tape, to listen to, and hopefully get inspired. My Mother has been a Nanny, earned a Master's Degree in Education, driven a Taxi and Limos for Official at United States Steel(during WW II), made bombs in a munitions plant, ridden Harley-Davison motorcycles, served as a Missionary for her church (where she met and married my Father), taught elementary school, raised two daughters, and still babysits their various off spring, while making beautiful quilts. Please God, let Jessie Lee Brown Foveaux give her the courage to tell us all about her adventurous life, too!!

A rare treasure of memories that span all of this century-
Jessie Lee's incredible memory and stoically poingnant style take us all back in time, beginning with her childhood which was poor in material possessions but rich in love. Through her eyes, we see not only her family history but the history of a burgeoning nation unfold. She meets life's difficulties head on, from the untimely death of her mother to a difficult marriage and single parenthood. Her words do not plead for sympathy, just straightforwardly relate her amazing life and times. This is a must read for scholars of the 20th century and for those with a bent for human interest stories. Jessie Lee's voice is one of the precious few left from her generation.

A wonderful account of Jessie's life in Kansas. I loved it!
I really enjoyed this book. I'm from Kansas and she talked about areas that I'm familiar with. I felt she did a very good job telling her story about the hell she went through with her alcoholic husband while raising her many children virtually by herself. I would like the opportunity to meet this wonderful woman. ... Read more

Book Description

The diary by Lucia Williams and the Epilogue by Esther Lockhart of their trip from Ohio to Oregon describes tornadoes, the loss of a child, several tribes of Indians and other events which shows the women's endurance and courage which will inspire listeners. Also the diary of Jean Rio Baker, a Mormon, who travels from Liverpool by Windjammer and on a prairie schooner to Salt Lake City. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Honorable, virtuous
More heartfelt, lively accounts from the Oregon Trail during the year 1851.
Harriet Talcott Buckingham's diary is both poetic and colorful, describing prairies, mountain passes, river crossings, flora, Indians and other travelers met along the way.
Amelia Hadley's writing style is very sincere. She not only visually describes streams, buffalo, landforms and Indians, but along with counting the number of graves they encounter, she also puts names to these graves (very historical).
Susan Amelia Cranston talks much about the availability, or lack of, water, fuel and grass.
Lucia Loraine Williams's party had quite an exciting but also quite dispirited journey. She lost her ten year old son due to a runaway wagon; had an Indian offer to swap her child for Lucia's three year old; thievery surrounding Fort Hall; etc. Her letter is just, truthful and illustrative of life on the trail.
Esther Lockhart was also in Lucia's wagon train and her reminisces are both vivid and picturesque of the trek.
The diaries of Elizabeth Wood and Eugenia Zieber are a delight to read.
The jewel of the book lies in Jean Rio Baker's diary. A Mormon widow with seven children, she leaves England to make the pilgrimage to Salt Lake City. A fascinating read of courage, tenacity and nerve.
Excellent book.

Librarians say one of the best
This is a treat to listen to in the car on the way to work. An extraordinary story - women, migration, inner strength. I shared this with four other librarians who all enjoyed the tapes and proclaimed this one of the best audio books they had ever listened to.

the trek of a lifetime
In COVERED WAGON WOMEN, the diaries & letters of three mature women on the journeys of their lifetime, record their trek west into the sun; across oceans, towns, rivers, farms, forests, prairies & deserts; friendly & hostile Indian territories until, at last they reach their journeys' ends.

As you listen to actors Georgia Goodwin & Jane Merrifield-Beecher read the thoughts, observations & feelings of these three mother ancestors, you catch glimpses of how we used to live. They take us through springs of ground-level thunderstorms & sudden floods, summers of dust, mosquitos & enervating heat, & autumns of mild beauty & the biggest harvests they've ever seen. We learn of broken wagons, dying companions, days of endless trudging & nights of immense beauty. Over mountains, through rivers & down defiles, these intrepid women take us there with their simple, evocative words.

COVERED WAGON WOMEN is truly a record of an adventure that shaped our nation & our psyche. The only thing missing are sound effects!

An outstanding "living history" audio recording
The latest release in the "Living Voices of the Past" series, Covered Wagon Women 1851 is drawn from the diaries and letters of women who experienced the travails of the wagon trails west in 1851. Edited and compiled by Kenneth L. Holms and used with the permission of the University of Nebraska Press, we are treated to excerpts from the diary of Lucia Williams and the epilogue of Esther Lockhart (superbly narrated by Jane Merrifield-Beecher) describing their trip from Ohio to Oregon. Also featured are excerpts (dramatically narrated by Georgia Goodwin) from the diary of Jean Rio Baker, a Mormon who traveled from Liverpool by Windjammer and to Salt Lake City by Prairie Schooner. Surviving exposure to attacks from Native Americans, the scourge of cholera and smallpox, and the many hardships and deprivations of a pioneer excursion in a covered wagon, Covered Wagon Women 1851 is an outstanding "living history" audio recording and strongly recommended for personal, school, and community library collections. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1967, after a baby boy suffered a botched circumcision, his family agreed to a radical treatment. On the advice of a renowned expert in gender identity and sexual reassignment at Johns Hopkins Hospital, the boy was surgically altered to live as a girl. This landmark case, initially reported to be a complete success, seemed all the more remarkable since the child had been born an identical twin: his uninjured brother, raised as a boy, provided to the experiment the perfect matched control.

The so-called twins case would become one of the most famous in modern medicine and the social sciences; cited repeatedly over the past thirty years as living proof that our sense of being male or female is not inborn but primarily the result of how we are raised.

The case was a failure from the outset because the twin struggled against his imposed girlhood. At fourteen, when told of his medical history, he made the decision to live as a male. John Colapinto tells this extraordinary story for the first time in As Nature Made Him. The human intimacy of the story is all the greater for the subject's courageous decision to step out from behind the pseudonym that has shrouded his identity for the past thirty years. ... Read more

Reviews (133)

John Money the monster
I read As Nature Made Him several months ago and still think about the impact it had on me almost daily. There isn't a person that I don't recommend the book to. In short it really touched me and invoked such anger at how this boy's life began. I wept several times while reading this book for the pain that David Reimer and his family endured for a significant period of their lives. John Money can only be described as possessing a mental disorder and I am surprised he hasn't faced a court to answer for all the sordid behaviour he inflicted upon innocent children. He used David Reimer and his twin brother as his very own live human guinea pigs. He mentally, sexually and physically abused David Reimer, his twin and their parents. I felt that the author (amazingly) remained fairly objective and presented all the facts he was faced with. He is to be commended for the fabulous way he has brought David Reimer's story to light all over the world (I am in Australia) and so hopefully others who are going through similar experiences can know they are not alone and they are not the freaks but the doctors who perform these infantile gender assignment operations are the sickos. I will keep an eye out for other material by this author and probably reread As Nature Made Him another million times in my lifetime.

Amazing story
This book tells the story of David Reimer, who was born a boy, but raised as a girl after a botched circumcision. The book explains much more than Reimer's story- -it explains the scientific controversy over the plasticity of sexual identity that had arisen just before Reimer's accident, and how Reimer's psychological development was central to the controversy.

Colapinto begins David's story with some background on his parents, how they met, married, and had their first children, identical twin boys named Bruce and Brian. He details the events that led to Bruce's catastrophic accident at the age of 8 months, and then how his parents were led to the decision to raise him as a girl named Brenda. Extensive interviews with all of the family members enabled Colapinto to present vivid images of Brenda's difficulties in adapting to life as a girl. Brenda was under the care of John Money, a psychologist who, in Colapinto's account, almost single handedly persuaded the world that children developed their sexual identity based on their genitalia and societal practices. The lone dissenter at the time was Milton Diamond, whose research studied the effects of prenatal exposure to sex hormones and later development of sexual behaviors- -in guinea pigs. Unfortunately for Brenda, Money turned out to be a abusive psychologist and dubious scientist, at best. Brenda endured enforced girlhood against all instincts for 14 years, until she finally discovered her birth gender and was allowed to return to it, this time with the name of David.

Colapinto does a masterful job at presenting the scientific aspects of the story. He explains Money's background, and how he opened the first transgender clinic in the US, and how well his hypothesis of gender plasticity was aligned with the behaviorist establishment in psychology. He describes how it was Diamond who posed the problem for Money of finding a normally developed infant to undergo an experimental sex change, and how vital it was for Money, his theories and reputation, for the experiment to be a success. Colapinto details how Money used the Reimers' story in his books and research as evidence supporting his theory, while the real facts went in exactly the opposite direction. Most significantly, Colapinto explains how David Reimer's case became an essential precedent for treatment of intersexuals, infants who are born with ambiguous genitalia or genitalia that are not in agreement with their chromosomal gender. Because Money claimed that Reimer was doing marvelously after his infant sex change, many other infants around the world were subjected to similar treatment, and were to suffer as Reimer did.

Money's claim that sexual identity and gender-related behaviors were driven primarily by societal mores was also heard by feminists, who demanded changes in child rearing practices to make them more unisex and less gender-biased. In light of Reimer's experience and Diamond's work, it might be good to rethink some of these ideas now. While it is wonderful to encourage all children, not just boys, to play with construction toys, and all children, not just girls, to play with dolls, it might be a good idea to draw the line at specifically discouraging boys from being rowdy, or trying to draw girls away from their social games. Instead of actively encouraging unisex behavior and agonizing over the appearance of gender-related behavior, it might be better to just observe who each child is by nature, and supply activities and toys accordingly.

Tragic story, indeed...
Incredible book, and one wonders how something like this could happen, but truth is stranger than fiction, they say. What makes this story incredibly sadder is that David committed suicide in May of this year, two years after his twin brother, Brian, died of a drug overdose. I can't imagine the sorrow that is felt by their parents... :(

Meeting David
Just sitting in the diner this morning, leafing through a local (...) newspaper, I saw the obituary for David Reimer, once Brenda, once Bruce. Vaguely familiar with the case, but not having read the book, I was still immediately saddened by his death. An hour later, book in hand, I sat to read a compelling book about the unfounded theories of a doctor that led to the tragic life of Reimer, "As Nature Made Him".

The book, penned by Rolling Stone scribe John Colapinto, recounts the horrific, and I mean horrific, childhood of Bruce Reimer, having survived a botched circumcision, only to be forced to live as a girl by two well-intentioned yet ill-informed parents. Now Brenda, his life bascially becomes a living hell, dressing and acting against his very nature. Even worse, he is forced to undergo bizarre and irrational questioning by supervising doctor John Money that literally made my stomach turn.

Colapinto's book moves fast, very fast, through David's life, making for a quick read. Yet the speed in which you can read this book in no way detracts from its central messages. David comes out of the whole ordeal a wounded survivor, possibly an inspiration to others who might befall the same fate. And yet, his demons caught up with him, causing his recent suicide.

Perhaps none of this would have happened if that one failed circumcision never occured. Or if his mother happened to miss a television special with the notorious Dr. Money on it. But it did, and the tragedy of it all loomed over this work. We simply cannot afford, as a society, to play with people's lives for the sake of advancing careers or prestige or fame. People are much too important for that. Let David's life and death be an example, so that this simply will never, ever happen again.

Gripping, Tragic
'As Nature Made Him' is the horrifying true story of David Reimer, who lost his penis as an infant after a botched circumcision. His parents, only under-educated teenagers at the time, believed in the expertise of John Money at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Dr. Money told them the best course was to castrate the baby and raise him as a girl, that nurture was more important than nature; gender could be changed with willpower, surgery and hormone treatments. The book recounts Brenda's lonely, mixed-up childhood and the devastating effect it had on the entire family. I was filled with rage at Dr. Money, who only wanted to promote his theories and stroke his own ego, no matter what the cost to patients or their families. This book is doubly devastating after hearing the news that David Reimer (formerly Brenda) had killed himself in May, 2004 at the age of 38. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A noted scholar of the art of Anton Chekhov nowturns to his life (1860-1904), with equally revelatory results. Rayfield's densely documented account avoids general statements in favor of quiet accumulation of detail that gradually creates a multifaceted impression of Chekhov's contradictions. Witty, charming, and an ardent lover of women, Russia's greatest dramatist was also coolly detached, capable of capriciousness and considerable cruelty. In Anton Chekhov,Rayfield does not attempt to tidy up a messily complex psyche or to downplay the faults that were as intrinsic to Chekhov's genius as were his merits. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Sadly, the only comprehensive biography
I say sadly because Rayfield really isn't a very good writer.His style is clumsy, and he has no idea how to maintain any sort of narrative.He just throws facts at you.People are mentioned for a few lines and then reintroduced chapters later as if we're supposed to remember who they are.All over the book sentences crop up that are near impossible to figure out.Also, considering how much of Chekhov's personal writing survives, there aren't nearly enough excerpts from his notebooks and letters.The few quotes that are there are so fascinating that they're worth the slog through Rayfield's masses of detail.

The worst sin that he commits is that he doesn't much seem to like his subject, and invests most of his energy in making Chekhov look bad.To some extent, Chekhov needs some demythologizing, because too many people have made a saint out of him. Rayfield provides plenty of evidence that Chekhov wasn't the kindhearted conscience of Russian literature that people make him out to be - he led on a lot of women, wasn't particularly faithful to the people that loved him, and had a cruel streak.But there are lots of times when Rayfield goes out of his way to push a certain interpretation on the reader."Chekhov's response was brutal," he insists, without providing any evidence - or, on occasion, actually quoting a letter that doesn't seem to justify his interpretation of Chekhov's bad behavior at all.

In fact, Rayfield really doesn't know how to marshall his evidence to support his statements.He seems also to dislike Olga Knipper, Anton's wife, and keeps insisting that the marriage was unhappy, and that Chekhov really didn't seem to love her, without showing us why this has to be true.Indeed, much of the material that he gives us seems to indicate the opposite.

But now comes the Sadly.This is really the only biography that gives you the entire story about Chekhov.Too much about Chekhov sexual drives is left out of other biographies, and as Rayfield pretty conclusively demonstrates, this drive was a major part of Anton's life and motivations.And, for all of his faults, Rayfield really has dug deeper and found out more than any other biographer.From the teachers at Chekhov's school in Taganrog to, well, a host of other occasionally interesting trivia, Rayfield just has more.Until someone else comes along and tries to animate all this material into a biography that's actually enjoyable to read, Rayfield is all there is.Chekhov's letters provide a better introduction to his life, but anyone that really wants to go behind the mask needs to read this book.

A superb biography!
This is a book that grows and grows on the reader.At first I was put off by the book's clumsy style and by the brutality (really unforgivable) of Chekhov's father Pavel.Then I got "hooked" on Anton's fierce ambition joined to his extraordinary sweetness of temper; until, when he contracts TB and finally marries Olga Knipper, I was wholly sympathetic to him, his milieu, and his struggle to create masterpieces like THE CHERRY ORCHARD.A friend said of him, "Why are such precious contents locked up in such a frail vessel?" (p. 581).The author provides little interpretation of personalities and events; rather, he uses letters (thousands of them) to create, like a mosaic, the rich beauty of Chekhov's personality and the flowering of his genius.Highly recommended. -- Michael Squires, Ph.D.

Chekhov in Detail
Review ofAnton Chekhov: A Life. Donald Rayfield. NY: Henry Holt, 1997. 603 pp.

There are many good biographies of Chekhov available, and if a person has not read any,I would suggest another before reading DonaldRayfield's Anton Chekhov: A Life. Rayfield says that he has received accessto much previously classified information. Unfortunately this loads hisbiography with an over-abundance of undigested detail, as if we werereading Chekhov's engagement calendar for each year or an encyclopedia ofthe minutiae of Chekhov's life. The material needs to be pruned down andfocused. No where do I feel a biographer's point of view towards hissubject -- unless it be to include as many facts as possible. And althoughit is interesting to read about the lives of those with whom Chekhov wasmost closely involved, we do not need to learn about every tart he sleptwith or every family problem encountered by one of his brother's wives.When these influence his writing, they are an interesting bonus, when theydo not, a stronger hand at selection would have been appreciated. Indeed,the most interesting parts of the biography to me were those areas whichshowed how Chekhov transformed the details of his life into his work.However, too little of these connections were shown, and too many detailswere simply superfluous. I also miss the author's awareness of Chekhov'sironic humor, and I feel disappointed at the lack of discussion of theshort farces. I recommend this book for Chekhov affectionados rather thanfor Chekhov novices.

BARBARA MACKEY, Ph.D. University of Toledo ... Read more

Book Description

Six cassettes / 10 hours

In its 75 successful years, The New Yorker has set the standard for feature-length magazine biography.In fact, the magazine owns a copyright to the title Profiles.No other periodical has brought to this kind of biographical reporting more distinguished writers or more wide-ranging subjects, and none has achieved more incisive and revealing results.

The compilation includes telling, subtle, and often funny portraits of figures that come from every field of human endeavor and accomplishment:Ernest Hemingway, Legs Diamond, Thomas Edison, Roseanne Barr, Queen Mary, Julia Child, Marlon Brando, Adolf Hitler, Benjamin Cardozo, Edith Warton and Hillary Clinton.The contributors' names also speak for themselves:Ian Frazier, Janet Flanner, Joseph Mitchell, Lillian Ross, Mark Singer, Dorothy parker, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Truman Capote.

Profiles are the jewel in The New Yorker's nonfiction crown.They not only display the riches of a great magazine, but shed light on many of the great figures who have helped to shape the world we live in. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

For All You People Watchers
You have heard of the obnoxious person who, upon meeting a biographer who has given up the last 25 years of his life to write the definitive biography of say Queen Elizabeth II, asks, "Now tell me, what's she REALLY like??" Friends, I am that person, which is one reason I always find New Yorker Profiles an unalloyed delight. Rightly or wrongly, I always believe I am getting the real insider stuff.

David Remnick makes thoughtful selections in this anthology. He has covered a time period from the '30s to the present, some very famous people and some you have never heard of, and the same is true for the authors of the Profiles. I fully intended to make a leisurely tour through the book, picking and choosing a Profile here and there for a short read. Once I read the very first one, Joe Mitchell's "Mr. Hunter's Grave," I was hooked and read the whole book from start to finish. So much for leisurely reading!

It is hopeless to attempt to select a favorite; all have their own merits. I was particularly fascinated by Truman Capote's insightful piece on Marlon Brando. Capote's flamboyant personality frequently overshadows his tremendous skills as an interpretive writer. Jean Acocella's study of Mikhail Baryshnikov is an excellent in-depth study of both the man and the artist. John Lahr's Profile on Roseanne is almost scary (or at least Roseanne is!) Joe Mitchell's, "Mr. Hunter's Grave" is so beautifully rendered you can understand why The New Yorker never took him off salary even after Joe suffered the granddaddy of all writer's blocks; he didn't submit an article for fourteen years! The New Yorker always said Joe had a "work in progress."

"Life Stories" is worth it at twice the price. Some of these profiles are unobtainable (unless you have a roomful of old New Yorkers). This is a book you will go back to again and again.

An outstanding collection of profiles.
It's easy, I suppose, to knock 'The New Yorker' as effete and self-satisfied. Certainly its left-wing bias looks a bit strange surrounded by all those ads for expensive imported whisky and porcelain figures. This book demonstrates, however, that for seventy-five years the magazine has been turning out splendid profiles of a very disparate group of people. And, what's even more important, they're written so beautifully. Even an oddball piece like Ian Frazier's 'Nobody Better, Better than Nobody' is lucid and full of fine sentences. Every one of the profiles in this book has something to recommend it. You needn't admire or be familiar with the subject of the profile. I harbour an intense dislike for Roseanne Barr, for example, but John Lahr's profile of her had me enthralled; and I enjoyed Roger Angell's piece on Steve Blatt, despite my never having seen a baseball game. David Remnick states in his introduction that he gave pride of place to Joseph Mitchell's 'Mister Hunter's Grave', and that's understandable: it's a masterpiece. But Richard Preston's long story about the Chudnovsky brothers and their search for pi, or Mark Singer's tale of the amazing sleight-of-hand artist Ricky Jay, would distinguish any anthology. I think that Remnick could easily compile another volume as strong, and I hope he does so in the future -- he should include something by himself next time.

Delightful and Revealing Profiles
Hemingway, Baryishnikov, and Henry Luce are the subjects of some of my favorite celebrity profiles in this wonderful book. But topping my list is "Man Goes to See a Doctor", the awesome Adam Gopnik's sweet and funny rendering of his shrink. Here's a snippet: "Your problems remind me of" - and here he named one of the heroes of the New York School. "Fortunately, you suffer from neither impotence nor alcoholism. This is in your favor." Highly recommended!

"Life Stories" Hit the Mark
This is a compilation of some of the best Profiles to appear in the New Yorker over the last 80 years. Sometimes you will be familiar with the person being profiled, sometimes not, but in all cases you will find the stories entertaining and the writing, superb.

My favorite Profile happens to be of one of the non-famous persons, George H. Hunter ("Mr. Hunter's Grave," by Joseph Mitchell). It is a story not so much about a person but of a long-forgotten community, and a way of life. Despite being the longest entry in the audio collection, I rewound the tape three or four times to listen to it again and again - it was that good.

Some of the celebrity stories are just as compelling, although, being celebrities, many aspects of their lives are already well known. But this sometimes opened a window into foreshadowing that could not have been appreciated by the reader (or even the writer) at the time the piece was done. One example of this concerns Ernest Hemingway ("How Do You Like It Now, Gentlemen?", by Lillian Ross). Hidden somewhere in the middle of the Profile, Ross mentions the fact that Hemingway's father had committed suicide. This had no major relation to the story in general, and was probably forgotten by most readers at the time, but we have the perspective of history. And it becomes more than just a tidbit when we realize that Hemingway, too, committed suicide 10 years later, in 1961.

Another eyebrow-raising instance came when hearing about Marlon Brando ("The Duke In His Domain," by Truman Capote). Capote was on location with Brando in Japan as Brando was taking part in the filming of "Sayonara." Brando at one point confesses to Capote that he had to lose weight for the part, and that he wasn't there yet. He still had 10-15 pounds to go. Despite this, the dinners delivered to Brando's hotel room are not those of one looking to cut down; to the contrary, Brando could only gain weight eating the food being sent up to him! Hearing Brando fuss about what he should and should not eat and Capote take note of the rich foods on the tray, it almost seems fake, as if Capote knew how Brando was going to end up. But, of course, he didn't. The story was written in 1957!

But what makes this collection great, though, is the quality of the writing itself. It matters not the subject: actor, comedian, dancer, writer, boxer, even a dog! The common thread running through all the Profiles is the way in which each story is told. Always lucid, always interesting, the stories are less stories and more like works of art.

If you enjoy exceptional writing, this collection is for you. Highly recommended. Five stars.

"The Noooo Yawkuh" George W. Bush, campaign 2000
The well-known New Yorker writer, Nicholas Lehman's profile of George W. Bush on the campaign trail would be an atmospheric, perhaps poignant look at the country previous to the Supreme Court decision and 9/11, except for one thing. On the campaign bus, Bush came up to Lehman and said, "So who you writin' this piece for Nicky?" - (NICKY?) Lehman answered, with the name that Bush already knew. And Bush replies, "The Noooo Yawkuh, don't see why any of those readers would be interested in me." That, no matter what your political viewpoint or opinion about the magazine and its readers may be, is an indicator of the power of the magazine via its writing. The authors of the selected pieces are sometimes the primary reason to read the article. Perhaps the most famous example is Capote writing on Brando making Mitchener's Sayonara, an impossible thing to imagine today. The grandiosity of Brando doing something that he would no doubt later be ashamed of is not lost over time. Capote always boasted of his ability to keep himself out of an interview, something that I found amazingly untrue and part of his attraction. In this case, he managed to find the comedy in the Japanese girls calling, "Marron" while remaining deferential to the star. Capote innocently notes every plate of high calorie food consumed like Henry VIII and the serious tone Brando took about his own artistic endeavors. The result was that upon reading the article, Brando vowed to kill the author. Every reader will find their particular famous people who are no longer interesting, and that itself is instructive. For me, those were Johnny Carson, an early Roseanne, Baryshnikov and perhaps sadly, Al Gore. Others, eternally fresh are Isadora Duncan, Richard Pryor and Ernest Hemingway drinking champagne with Dietrich, who was passing around pictures of her grandchild. Papa mentioned that he'd like to see a Dietrich grandson in the ring.
The best, I think most New Yorker fans will agree are the otherwise unknowns, sometimes to everyone, and sometimes just to you. These are those pieces that seem to bring on Buddha-like powers of concentration where time stops and you can't account for the hours, the stuff's been so good. The pieces that will be the most deeply memorable for me are, "Mr. Hunter's
Grave," a 1956 favorite of David Remnick, the editor who placed it first. It's about a lost, secret community of black Oystermen and a mystery solved in graveyard fashion. There are the `Chudnovsky Brothers' and their entire apartment and life spent studying Pi, A piece of Henry Luce that was a savage, sarcastic and hilariously wicked perspective that quite naturally infuriated the tyrant. Nancy Franklin's profile on the infamous Katherine White was an unexpected source of female pride, without the attachment of doctrinaire feminism.
This is a sure thing for future journalists with an interest in the ubiquitous personality piece. Plenty here for those that may aspire beyond People Magazine but still can't quench the thirst for celebrity. For readers just seeking a good read however, it is a promise that life abounds with intriguing characters, subject of course to the eye and the voice of the finest
No matter the proportion of those who deplored reading a campaign piece about the future president, he managed to spark our interest once he shared his opinion about us. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

For personal, school, and library audiobook collections
In Great Explorers, author and biographer David Angus presents the thrilling stories of Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta, Bartholomeu Diaz, Vasco da Gama, Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Captain Cook, Lewis and Clark, Stanley and Livingstone, and The Apollo Moon Mission. Very highly recommended for personal, school, and library audiobook collections, this Naxos Audiobook 2-CD compact edition is expertly narrated by Frances Jeater, Sam Dastor, and Kerry Shale, and has a running time of 2 hours, 36 minutes. ... Read more

Book Description

Stonewall Jackson depended on him; General Lee complimented him; Union soldiers admired him; and ladies adored him--this dashing, handsome, young Henry Kyd Douglas. He rode with Stonewall. He fought at the side of Ashby. He lived, joked and courted with Jeb Stuart.

From his meeting with John Brown, shortly before Harper's Ferry, through the long bitter years of the Civil War, he clung to the Southern cause. He fought its battles and endured its defeats.And he captured it all, in a resonant prose, in his diaries.

Douglas was born in 1840, became a laywer and was the youngest member of Stonewall Jackson's staff. At the close of the war he was in command of the Light Brigade. After the war he pratices law, rose to prominence in Maryland, and died in 1903. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Great Memoir and A Fun Read!
This book, first published in 1940 - long after Douglas' death - is based on Douglas' war-time journal and personal papers. Douglas began to assemble them into book form several times, but never had them published; his relatives did......What emerges are wonderful portraits of Douglas, Jackson (for whom Douglas was a staff officer) and many other well-known (and not so well-known) soldiers and civilians caught in the Civil War. Douglas is decidedly pro-Jackson, but Douglas also shows us the real Jackson: a man who could be cruel to the extreme and then gentle and kind a few moments later. The book is fill with humorous anecdotes, which make it a "fun read" - I could not put it down. Yet there is an underlying sadness in the book, as one watches Douglas' many friends being killed off, sees the homes of his family and civilian friends burned or otherwise destroyed. Douglas never explicitly states it, but the reader can feel the anguish that Douglas - and many others - experienced....... One thing Douglas did not do was go into great detail about each battle. He reasoned that later historians, with a better overall view of things, would do a much better job. What he does do is "put you there" - whether in battle, in camp, or on some small adventure. This is one fantastic book! Along with the memoirs of Gen. E.P. Alexander, these memoirs are about the best I have ever read. Simply a great book! ... Read more

Book Description

An Unfinished Life is the first major, single-volume life of John F. Kennedy to be written by a historian in nearly four decades.Drawing upon previously unavailable material and never-before-opened archives to tell Kennedy's story.We learn for the first time just how sick Kennedy was, what medications he took and concealed from all but a few, and how severely his medical condition affected his actions as President. We learn for the first time the real story of how Bobby was selected as Attorney General. Dallek reveals exactly what Jack's father did to help his election to the presidency, and he follows previously unknown evidence to show what path JFK would have taken in the Vietnam entanglement had he survived.

Dallek lists JFK out of the gossips and back onto the world stage, showing that while he was the son of privilege, he faced great obstacles and fought on with remarkable courage. Never shying away from Kennedy's weaknesses, Dallek also brilliantly explores his strengths.The result is a portrait of a bold, brave, human Kennedy, once again a hero. ... Read more

Reviews (64)

A fully realized biography...wow!
THere have been so many books written about the Kennedys (and JFK especially) so my reaction to the news that there was to be yet another JFK tell-all was a big yawn. But when I first read some of Robert Dallek's revelations in Atlantic Monthly last year, I felt compelled to check out An Unfinished Life.

I was not disappointed.

This is an extremely well-researched and complete look at a man who, considering his public profile, led a very private life. Without spoiling the book, I must say that the information about JFK's health in An Unfinished Life are reason enough to pick this one up.

Although the media has been making much hay about Kennedy's own "Monicagate," that revelation is not at all the backbone of the book. Without taking sides, Dallek has given us the first look at the man behind the image. It's refreshing to see JFK not as an icon, but merely as a man who happened to be President of the USA...and like everybody, his life was not perfect.

Kennedy fans will learn new things (both good and bad) and others will catch a glimpse of a man who became one of the prime newsmakers of the 20th century. A great read.

An Unfinished War
An Unfinished War
Conjecture about JFK's Vietnam policy mars Dallek's otherwise solid biography

By Adam Scheuer

When John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on that fateful day in November of 1963, it is often argued, so too were hopes for an American withdrawal from Vietnam. Had Oswald missed and Kennedy lived, the theory goes, American troops would have been withdrawn from Vietnam by 1965 and the United States would have escaped the hopeless quagmire that, by its end, swallowed 58,000 American lives. It is a counterfactual theory that has been popularized by Oliver Stone's film, JFK, and by John M. Newman's book, JFK and Vietnam: Deception, Intrigue, and the Struggle for Power, but neither of these works, inclined toward conspiracy theories, offered serious scholarship. Robert Dallek, a professor at Boston University, has now lent new credence to old conjecture with his treatment of the president's Vietnam policy in an exhaustive 812-page biography of Kennedy's life and presidency, An Unfinished Life. Unlike Stone and Newman's works, Dallek's is intricately researched, his citation of sources fully accurate, and his work scholarly, in most parts. But Dallek's conclusion that Kennedy would have withdrawn from Vietnam earlier is no more correct that it was when Oliver Stone coupled it with rants about Cubans and "the Agency" over a decade ago.

The flaw in An Unfinished Life's assessment of Kennedy's Vietnam policy lies not in Dallek's analysis of his sources but in his choice of a decidedly unbalanced array of legitimate sources. In most circumstances, Dallek depicts a Kennedy favoring withdrawal. But Kennedy was a shrewd politician with mixed feelings about Vietnam, and his internal tension is not fairly represented in this otherwise evenhanded biography. For each of Kennedy's dovish statements at news conferences and in the recorded private conversations recounted by Dallek, there is a corresponding hawkish one conspicuously absent from the biography.

Dallek contends that Kennedy's actions and statements towards the end of his presidency "are suggestive of a carefully managed stand-down from the sort of involvement that occurred under LBJ". Dallek points to the National Security Council Action Memorandum 263 of Oct. 11, 1963, which called for a withdrawal of 1,000 troops by the end of 1963, as a possible first step towards total disengagement. However, Dallek does not focus sufficiently on the political forces that shaped this policy action. Kennedy did try to distance himself from Vietnam in his public rhetoric, but not because he considered the military effort futile. Rather, looking ahead to the 1964 election season, Kennedy was aware that the American media coverage of the Buddhist crisis and political repression in South Vietnam would present a political problem.

Kennedy also hoped that the withdrawal-which was intended to have a minimal impact since only 1,000 troops out of 16,000 already in Vietnam would be effected-would stifle domestic criticism from such leftist congressmen as George McGovern of American involvement in the budding war. Dallek, however, makes no mention of such political pressure, instead focusing on criticism of the action by mainstream media outlets and by individual reporters, such as The New York Times's David Halberstam. Moreover, Dallek consistently fails to emphasize the optimistic projection underlying all withdrawal plans: that the war would be over and won by 1965. A more accurate assessment of the war could have changed the administration's outlook and reshaped Kennedy's policies.

To be sure, as Kennedy gained confidence in his presidential abilities and foreign policy expertise, he was increasingly determined to resist the mounting pressure for an overt American military response in Vietnam. What's more, despite considerable concern about "losing Vietnam" from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Kennedy had a noted independence from his advisors that might have led him to respond differently than Johnson to the military deterioration in South Vietnam.

Still, Kennedy had yet to make a final decision about America's involvement in Vietnam, and Dallek is mistaken in extrapolating Kennedy's freedom of action to determine an eventual decision to withdraw the military from Vietnam. Kennedy's independence from his advisors means only that Kennedy would not have been afraid of going against their advice, not that he would have come to different conclusions than they did about the war. The same stipulation applies to Kennedy's political freedom of action. Dallek rightly notes that after successfully facing down Khrushchev in the Cuban Missile Crisis of August 1962, and overcoming Soviet and Senate resistance to the test ban treaty: "Kennedy had much greater credibility as a defender of national security than Johnson had. It gave Kennedy more freedom to convince people at home and abroad that staying clear of large-scale military intervention in Vietnam was in the best interests of the United States."

Kennedy's credibility as a leader, and the resulting political freedoms that ensued, were very real. But it is far from clear how Kennedy would have channeled his credibility. By unfairly presenting and then extrapolating from Kennedy's deliberations on Vietnam, An Unfinished Life makes an incomplete argument.

This is one of the best biographies of JFK
Robert Dallek did a good job! This is perhaps the best biography of JFK I've read. It was fair and balanced. If anyone asked me what book they should read on JFK's life. It would be this one.

A Very Thoughtful, Well-Written Bio of JFK
I have not read all the bios of John Kennedy but I have read many. I find this one very comprehensive and objective. It treats JFK honestly and it does not limit itself to those things that make him look good but it offers his shortcomings and his missteps as well.

Having said that, one senses that the author has a slight bias toward his subject. Not a worshipful feeling but a sense that Kennedy was right on more things than perhaps he was.

For example, JFK pulled a bit of a bluff in the Cuban Missile Crisis that fortunately worked. However, had it gone the other way, history (if there was anyone to write it) would have been quite different. So his finest hour was, I think, somewhat of a bit of luck more than a really smart move based on the military thesis that Sun Tzu stresses, i.e. do not fight a war unless you know you can win.

That aside, this is an excellent, well-written book and I highly recommend it.

Susanna K. Hutcheson
Creative Director
Powerwriting.com LLC

An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963
The availability of new documents, oral histories, and telephone and Oval Office tapes prompted presidential historian Dallek (Boston Univ.) to revisit John F. Kennedy's personal and political life. Dallek's research in medical records demonstrates that Kennedy was sick throughout his life. Beyond back problems and Addison's disease, an adrenal insufficiency, Kennedy suffered from acute gastrointestinal illnesses. Dallek suggests that the medicines doctors administered to the young Kennedy for his colitis and digestive problems may have exacerbated his back problems and Addison's disease. The author also discovered that among President Kennedy's numerous mistresses was a White House intern of college age, but judges that neither Kennedy's health nor his womanizing impaired his presidential performance. Scholars will find, however, little that is new about Kennedy's presidential policies. Dallek's discussions of the Bay of Pigs, Berlin Crisis, nuclear arms race, and Cuban Missile Crisis are pedestrian and ordinary. He offers no new insights into covert interventions in areas such as Brazil and British Guiana. Dallek speculates that, during a second term, Kennedy would have limited US involvement in Vietnam, but President Johnson could reasonably conclude that he was continuing his predecessor's Vietnam policies. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the century that split the atom, probed the psyche, spliced genes, and cloned a sheep. Plastic, the silicon chip, and rock-and-roll were invented. Airplanes, rockets, satellites, televisions, computers, and atom bombs were built. Traditional ideas about logic, language, learning, mathematics, economics, and even space and time were overthrown and radically refashioned. People of the Century presents the most influential leaders, artists, intellects, and heroes who shaped this monumental era.

This century's most influential people were selected by the editors of Time magazine and featured in a series of documentaries produced by CBS News. Here, their profiles are crafted by this era's finest writers, from Salman Rushdie and Elie Wiesel, to Gloria Steinem, George Plimpton, Robert Hughes, and more. Memorably narrated by some of the century's most accomplished actors, People of the Century is the ultimate millennial keepsake. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Some Parts Good; Mostly A Dissapointment
This audio presentation of "People of the Century" is I'm afraid mostly a dissapointment. Dan Rather serves as the overall narrator briefly mentioning the 100 people included with a select few of these people given an expanded presentation written usually by a famous author or personality (i.e. Lee Iacocca writing about Henry Ford; Salman Rushdie about Ghandi,etc.).

My criticism lies in the fact that some major figures were briefly mentioned while some lesser lights were highlighted. Examples of this include only brief mentions of people like Ronald Reagan and Ray Kroc(founder of McDonald's)while questionable figures like Margaret Sanger, Watson and Crick, and Charlie Chaplin are given expanded treatment.

There is of course the fact that many of these articles are slanted ideologically and that some articles are written by unabashed fans of the historical figure (i.e. Arthur Schlessinger on FDR)while other articles are written by critics (i.e. Richard Shickel on Walt Disney) thus furthuring to unbalance the presentations.

The Best Inclusions in my view: Rushdie on Ghandi, Iacocca on Ford, and Elie Wiesel on Adolph Hitler.

While you might learn something from this work, you would be better off reading individual biographies of these people

If you've never heard of Winston Churchill, this CD is for y
Very disappointing. Much of the narrative spits out facts that everyone already knows. Most of the rest is decoration, trite commentary and superficial philosophizing. The piece on Bill Gates is typical. It was delivered in a contemptuous tone, skipped the exciting history of Microsoft, and even dismissed "The Road Ahead" as trivial! Similarly, Iacocca's piece on Henry Ford does not even mention Ford's infamous bigotry. In fairness, I must say that I did learn a bit about the lesser known people, and enjoyed the imaginative piece on Gandhi. On the whole, though, if you've ever heard of Winston Churchill, this CD will probably bore you.

People of the Century
It¹s countdown time whether we face it or not. And the bestsellers prove it. We¹ve encountered books predicting happenings for the millennium we¹re about to greet and books listing people, businesses, music, inventions, events that have made impacts during the millennium we¹re leaving. In addition to Life: Our Century in Pictures and Russell Ash¹s The Top 10 of Everything 2000, there are seemingly 1000 collections about these 1000 years. One book worth looking at is PEOPLE OF THE CENTURY with a forward by Dan Rather of CBS and an afterward by Walter Isaacson of Time Magazine. The compilation features 100 men and women who influenced the century, rather than the millennium.We reunite with leaders, artists, and intellectuals who gave us rock Œn¹ roll,jazz, flight; shopping malls, existentialism, bytes; splitting the atom, penicillin, cloning of sheep, and Bob Dylan. Those writing the profiles with reputability include William F, Buckley, Rita Dove, Molly Ivins, Roger Rosenblatt, and Deborah Tannen. Descriptions of the contributors appear in the index along with photo credits, nicely referenced. We readily expect some profiles: Henry Ford, Anne Frank, James Joyce, Rosa Parks, Theodore Roosevelt, and Igor Stravinsky, We might have forgotten others: Sigmund Freud (as profiled by Peter Gay) and Leo Baekeland, the maker of plastics who moved to the U.S. from Belgium in 1889. We ask ³why?² of others. For example, Hitler is included, as is Bart Simpson. Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel bluntly admits how frightening it was to write of Hitler. And some readers might bluntly admit how foolish it is to read about ³forever 10,² make-believe Bart Simpson. Others might question ever-lovin¹ Oprah being among the 100, but the criteria put her on the list. PEOPLE OF THE CENTURY concerns people who ³cast a long shadow.² We are refreshed by some inclusions: Emmeline Pankhurst, for instance, reminds us of the women¹s-right-to-vote, which she achieved for England in 1918 (2 years before America¹s in 1920.) The book is arranged chronologically, beginning in 1903 in nearby Kitty Hawk and moving poignantly to 1989 with the ³unknown,² lone ³everyman² in Tiananmen Square. In this compact history, people are profiled as well as pictured with a ³life-at -a glance² bio. The index needs improvement ( so that readers can more easily locate people by their fields) and so do Dan Rather mixed metaphors. ( The new age is ³taking flight² and becoming a ³rough draft.²) Also Paul Rudnick could use poetic sensitivity when writing about Marilyn Monroe. He callously groups her with American commodities of Coca-cola and Levis. Isaacson¹s afterward reminds us of the century¹s lessons: ³freedom won² and not the pursuit of ³material abundance² but the nurturing of ³the dignity and values of each individual.² Obviously some of these lessons were learned the hard way. PEOPLE OF THE CENTURY reminds us to repeat the goodness of our history, repel the other, and to think as we close this year, this century, this millennium.

Well written and interesting though a biased list of greats
This presentation of 100 great people of the century (as selected by the editors of TIME) is noteworthy both for its bias and limited scope - it is heavy on Americans and late 20th century personalities - and for its writing. Each person is presented to the reader through an essay, and most of these essays are not capsule biographies so much as meditations on the nature of the person and his/her influence. The strange pairing of certain authors and subjects (Elie Wiesel on Adolf Hitler or Salman Rushdie on Mohandas K. Ghandi) allow for some interesting insights and speculation. More sympathetic pairings of author and subject (George Plimpton on Muhammad Ali, Rita Dove on Rosa Parks, Philip Glass on Igor Stravinsky) offer equally interesting, though less speculative, pieces that are quite fun to read.

Overall, the quality of writing in the book is quite high, and even when it isn't (as, for example in Bill Gate's essay on the Wright brothers or Lee Iacocca on Henry Ford) the insights of the author - because of who and what they are - allow the ideas to take on a level of significance that makes up for so-so skills as an essayist.

I received this as a Christmas present and spent most of Christmas day reading through all the essays. It provided a very pleasant way to review the century we are leaving. My one regret with the book is the inclusion of a few subjects that simply don't belong (Brue Lee, Bart Simpson? )which necessarily restricted the field that could be included. It is, of course, a personal bias and everyone will have their own take on who should or should not have been represented, but in the entire list there is only one novelist, one poet, one composer, one painter; yet there are numerous political and military figures. Understandable in terms of overt impact on history, but it sells the cultural aspects of the century short._ ... Read more

Book Description

In August 1914, explorer Ernest Shackleton and his crew set sail from England for Antarctica, where Shackleton hoped to be the first man to cross the uncharted continent on foot. Five months later, the Endurance - just a day's sail short of its destination - became locked in an island of ice, and its destiny and men became locked in history. For ten months the ice-moored Endurance drifted until it was finally crushed, and Shackleton and his crew made an 850-mile journey in a 20-foot craft through the South Atlantic's worst seas to reach an outpost of civilization. Inspired by the ordeal that Time magazine said "defined heroism," author Alfred Lansing conducted interviews with the crew's surviving members and pored over diaries and personal accounts to create his best-selling book on the miraculous voyage. In Audio Partners' abridged recording of Endurance, reader Patrick Malahide renders a masterful portrayal of these courageous men. ... Read more

Reviews (332)

An Antidote for the Age of Whining and Self-Absorption
Everything that defines courage and leadership for our age and any other is within the 280 pages of this wonderful book. For nearly two years, in conditions of constant zero and below cold, freezing wet, and often hunger, Ernest Shackleton kept all 27 men who sailed with him on the Endurance alive to eventually return to the England they left on the verge of World War I. That single-minded devotion to his men should make this book required reading for every would-be politician and corporate executive before he dares ask for the faith, trust and respect of those he would lead.

Lansing dedicated the book "In appreciation for whatever it is that makes men accomplish the impossible." He wisely and without flourish often lets the men's own words -- through the journals that many of them kept at the time and in interviews forty years later -- tell their extraordinary story, each stage of which reads more harrowing than the last. On an expedition that would have attempted to cross the Antarctic on foot (a feat not accomplished until four decades later), the Endurance is trapped in pack ice before it can reach shore. Shackleton's perhaps foolhardy original goal thus turns to keeping his men alive until they can be rescued. After ten months locked in the drifting pack, the Endurance is crushed and the men forced to abandon her for an ice floe, then several weeks later a smaller floe still. Eventually they take to three boats to reach forlorn Elephant Island from which Shackleton takes a skeleton crew of five and in a 22 foot open boat navigates the enormous seas of Drake's Passage to South Ascension Island. Once there he only (only!) has uncharted glaciers to cross to reach the whaling station on the other side of the island from which rescue of the Elephant Island castaways is eventually launched. The only other crossing of South Georgian Island by foot at the time Lansing wrote in 1959 occurred on a "easier" route with equipment and time. Shackleton had neither, only a fifty foot piece of rope, a carpent