Book Description

The scene made cult-classic status right from the start: here's rookie broadcast newsman Paul Linnman in the foreground, reporting on a sticky situation along the Oregon coast. Officials have been working to remove the body of a beached whale, long dead and now rotting. The solution: explosives. As Linnman ducks, the skies issue forth chunks of whale meat, and Linnman's live-action reporting takes its place in broadcast history.

The title piece is merely one career highlight among many for Linnman, who writes from the inside about his work in this glamorous field. Now the lead anchor for Portland's KATU news program, Linnman reflects on the inspiring people and incredible events, as well as the just plain oddities that he's witnessed over the years. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll carry an umbrella at all times. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Story of The Exploding Whale...And A Lot More
To Oregon television viewers, Paul Linnman is a familiar, friendly voice and face they've welcomed into their homes as a reporter, anchorman and talk show host for most of the last 35 years. To the rest of the world, he's "the guy who blew up the whale." Which is kind of a shame, in a way. First, it's not quite accurate...it was the state Highway Division that blew up the whale; Paul and his cameraman, Doug Brazil, were just there to record it. Second, it may be the oddest, but by no means is it the finest story Paul has told during those decades.

First, the facts, briefly. In November, 1970, a dead sperm whale washed up near the town of Florence on the Oregon Coast. No one quite knew how to dispose of it. After due consideration, the decision was made to use dynamite. The hope was to blast the carcass into small enough chunks for the gulls and other scavengers to take care of. It didn't quite work out that way. All the spectators got sprayed with whale goo, and had to dodge hunks of falling blubber. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but one large fragment landed on a new Oldsmobile a quarter of a mile away and flattened it.

Much to Linnman's surprise, the story has taken on a life of its own, thanks to the Internet, humorist Dave Barry and others. In this memoir, Paul seems a bit bemused by all the attention, but is good natured and gracious about it as well. He just wishes people would also ask about some of the truly inspiring stories of human courage, character and achievement he's devoted most of his career to chronicling. In this book, he interweaves many of these great "people" stories with all you could ever want to know about the infamous whale. Linnman also adds a few enlightening and entertaining anecdotes about life behind the scenes in television news to round out this fine volume.--William C. Hall

Timeless
Paul is a naturally funny guy, and now we know he can lay it out on paper, as well.

In this book he weaves memories from his career around, between, and through a serial narrative of his most famous story---the exploding whale of Florence, Oregon. Never heard of it? This event, along with the dynamite, the stench, the rain of blubber, and the resulting 'cover-up', established a comic standard forbureaucratic ineptitude. In his book, Paul answers all the questions and puts to rest the rumors, finally.

More important, this is an honest, insightful look inside television news as used to be, and as many us wish it had remained.

Paul shares as many laughs as nuggets of wisdom. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

on target
well done. i don't usually care to read books by academics, but this is the exception to the rule. you get the full picture here about ernie, warts and all. you may not like some of the things you'll find out about the great novelist...but then, that's life. i say you'll still want to read ernie's books--because he was that good. ernie lives on!

Excellent
Insightful analysis of Hemingway's work for anyone who wants to get past the literal meanings to reach the symbolic. Reading Baker's book makes reading Hemingway an even more rewarding experience. ... Read more

Book Description

Broadcast journalism came of age in the Kennedy Assassination crisis and helped to hold a mourning nation together.Four reporters on the scene relate their experiences. ... Read more

Book Description

America's most beloved columnist shares 40 years of advice through letters to her only child, published here for the first time.In this witty, wise, and intensely personal collection of letters to her daughter Margo, Ann Landers delivers her own unintentional memoir. The volume is both a moving portrait of a mother/daughter relationship and a keen social history of America between 1958 and 2001. Peppered with incisive information and gossip, Esther "Eppie" Lederer (Landers' real name) offers insight on everything from marriage and divorce to growing up and growing old. A first-hand account of the myriad changes in attitudes and mores spanning the last half of the last century, readers will delight in Landers' signature practical wisdom and sharp eye for the absurd. As funny and loving as they are stern and acerbic, these letters reveal the real woman behind the Ann Landers moniker--a spectacularly original writer, wife, and mother. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Beautiful book but ...
Unless you worship Ann Landers for years and know her background to some degree, this book may be quite anecdotal and a gathered pieces of personal events.

A Wonderful Read
Growing up I regularly read Ann Landers' column. I can even remember my favorite ones --- the one with the meatloaf recipe and the one about how to hang a roll of toilet paper. Living in a small town in New Jersey, I got a new perspective on the world from letters signed by people with signatures like Desperate in Dallas and Confused in Cincinnati. Sometimes I would howl at what people were asking while other times I was shocked at the depths of the problems that people shared.

Reading the column each day I formed a picture of Landers. When she passed away in 2002, I read the tributes to her and realized this was the end of an era.

A LIFE IN LETTERS: Ann Landers Letters to Her Only Child showed me another side of Landers. For here were the letters that personally defined her ---- those she wrote to her daughter Margo over forty-four years. Broken up into four sections, the book tells the story of a close mother/daughter relationship. Here, again in her own words, we come to know Esther "Eppie" Lederer (Landers' real name).

Whether she was giving Margo advice, checking in to see how she was or lavishing praise, Landers wrote with the tone of a well-meaning friend. The excitement that Landers felt in sharing her life with Margo is touchingly evident. Many of her notes to Margo were hurried pieces while others were long and leisurely, but all were personal and laced with love.

Margo has said, "I loved putting this collection together. And strange as it may sound, reading them all, together, was an entirely different experience than seeing them one at a time. A LIFE IN LETTERS - even for me - is like watching two lives unfolding."

The book is punctuated with notes from Margo that give background to the letters. At one point in her introduction she was astounded to learn that her mom had saved all of her letters, just as she had saved her mom's. It's clear that this writing ---and their relationship --- meant a lot to them both.

Readers also get a look at another side of Landers. We see a woman who was politically active and had a strong business sense. She had access to the powerful and the famous because of who she was --- people such as Walter Cronkite, Hubert Humphery and Cardinal Joseph Bernadin. She also believed in many causes and supported them with her time and her opinions.

There is enough reference to the feud between Landers and her twin sister, who penned the Dear Abby column for years, to be honest, but Landers takes the high road and remains a real lady.

Right after Landers' death, I clipped her meatloaf recipe from the paper and made it. After closing Margo's book I vowed to write more letters to my sons. Last week I was passing my older son's room and saw a recent IM session between us printed and tacked onto the wall. Sure instant communication like that is wonderful, but the preservation of letters like those in this book reminds me how much history we lose when we do not write.

Whether you are a Landers fan or just relish the chance to voyeur a very special relationship as it grows over the years, A LIFE IN LETTERS is a wonderful read.

--- Reviewed by Carol Fitzgerald ... Read more

Book Description

Fifty years after inventing the Good Life as no one else had dared, the Master Playboy of the Western World at last shares the secrets that have for generations made him the envy of all free-thinking men and women. Hef's Little Black Book conjures the legendary lifestyle of Hugh M. Hefner as never before, a treasure trove of urbane lore, wry advice, and time-honored wisdom spanning the realms of romance, hedonism, ambition, business, dreams, and, of course, sex. From the pursuit of Love to the politics of the Bedroom, from the inspiration of a single idea to the emergence of a sprawling international corporation built on self-belief, Hef provides an invaluable guide to anyone who has ever thought big.

Accompanied by tantalizing, never-before-seen photographs, the gateway to Hugh Hefner's Dream World of Cool awaits you. If you don't swing, don't ring.

Reviews (5)

Give this one to your son or nephew, and they will thank you
From business acumen to bunny love, there is much more to know about Hefner than is seen at first glance. Part mogul, part romantic, Hefner is deftly painted in the broad strokes he deserves. The result is a deeper look at the man behind the magazine empire and a legendary icon who maintains a certain charm and innocence about what it all really means. Just the kind of insight we have come to expect from author Bill Zehme.

I Worked for Hefner
Long ago I went to work for Playboy in Chicago and it was a thrill to be a part of Hefner's World. This book reminded me of why it was such fun. There is a mystique about this man and what he was able to do, living life on his own wide-eyed terms. I'm reminded here that he has always been the opposite of jaded--just a sunny funny smart revolutionary guy. It's nice to see it all spelled out, lest we forgot. The pictures took me back to a simpler happier time. What a trip.

Great Sinatra Writer Does It Again--Hefstyle
I read writer Zehme's great Esquire profile of Hefner a few years ago, and was happy to see his name on this handsome litte book--it REALLY IS a little black book!! His fantastic Frank Sinatra bio THE WAY YOU WEAR YOUR HAT may be the best book of its kind among Sinatra lit--a pure delight. Same goes for this one--Zehme's beautiful writing interspersed with his legendary subject's philosophies of living, plus truly terrific photos of the icon in his prime swinging days... The packaging is the smartest I've ever seen, black slipcase and all. What fun. Try it, you'll like it.

A Treasure Book for Large Living!
This is a happy surprise of a book--a sensual feast full of great crisp bio writing, smart life advice, and tons of fun, cool retro pix of the Hefworld all us grown boys have always wanted to get inside of! I felt like I was spending one long jazzy night at the Playboy Mansion when I read it! Plus I never expected such well thought-out wisdom from good ol' Hef--everything on how to win over a woman's heart to how to win over her body. And his business acumen is spelled out in a way to inspire the big dreams inside all guys--and women too. (My girlfriend digs it almost as much as I do.) I'm giving it to my dad for Father's Day, and nephew for graduation... Anytime's a good time to share the gift of Hef!!! Long may he swing!

Hef's Little Black Book is Now My Little Red Book
In this classic romp my dear friend Hugh, or as his friends call him, Hue, describes his various sexual escapades.

Alas, while this book is nowhere near as great as Charles Dicken's a "tale of two cities" , or "great expectations" Mr. Hefner true literary genius shines through.

What I especially liked is Mr Hefner's deep and undeniable respect/committment for women.

In addition, I was surprised and encouraged to hear about his devotion to various community activities that occur at the Playboy Mansion, such as its 24-hour soup kitchen, daycare center, and homeless shelter.

Secondly because of this book I am now aware of the major academic contriubtions the Playboy orginization has made to the worlds scientific community, including the discovery of pennicilin, and the human genome project.

Therefore, after much philosophical pondering and carefully weighing the evidence of Mr. Hefner's contributions towards the advancement of civilization I can now happily conclude that this is the greatest family novel of all time. ... Read more

Book Description

The best-selling autobiography of this century's most formidable arbiter of elegance, Diana Vreeland.

As fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar and editor-in-chief of Vogue, Diana Vreeland--and her passion, charm, insouciance, and genius for style--energized and inspired the fashion world for fifty years. In this glittering autobiography she takes us around the world with her, revealing her obsession with fashion high and low--pink plastic poodles, for example--and dropping timeless sayings like, "As you know, the French like the French very much." A fabulous, witty read. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

DV, divine!
How I loved this book! Diana Vreeland was one of those people whom we call a force of nature. This book captures her spirit so well it's just like chatting with her in person. Be warned, this is not a standard biography. It doesn't start with little Diana being born and growing up. It's a collection of stories from her life, odd thoughts and and arch observations and it works magic.

A book to read and re-read and re-read!
One of the most enjoyable books I've ever read and re-read and re-read...It's full of great stories, anecdotes and is sure to help you define your own sense of style. Vreeland is a wonderful storyteller and her life truly inspires.

SUPER FABULOUS DIVINE FIERCE!!!
Ok, so, I picked up this book because it was mentioned in the movie To Wong Foo and I thought, "Well this better be fabulous!"

Boi was fabulous an understatement! Why can't I give this book 6 stars?!?!

This is one of the few books where I can agree with all of the fluffy praise quotes peppering the cover LOL

A simply gorgeous work, Diana Vreeland is a fabulous, fabulous woman! Such taste! Such elegance! Such style! This is a MUST READ for everyone that wants an example of a true lady!

D.V. isn't just about clothes and decorating. While admittingly not a feminist, Mrs. Vreeland is obviously an independent, determined, disciplined woman who is, if not a role model, an inspiration to all!

God, I can't even put into words the qualities of this book that are just overwhelmingly fabulous! Its like anything full of good taste (although, as Diana points out, alittle bad taste is needed sometimes, its NO taste that's truly revolting) and true elegance, it leaves one feeling better about themselves and the world around them.

A bit of all right
This book hooked me from the first page. "I loathe nostalgia", Vreeland begins, and goes on to describe how she punches a man in the face for telling her she is too nostalgic. People may say she is self-absorbed and selfish, but from reading her book anyone can see how generous and affectionate she is. This glimpse into the life of a famous, tasteful, and extremely rich socialite and editor of two magazines will take you away from the dreary streets of everyday life. You will be entertained every time you read it, and escape onto the streets of Paris in the thirties and forties.

the tale of a couture creation in a pret-a-porter world
Ms. Vreeland shares her life story using a collection ( not a SERIES--there is no organization to her tales and it WORKS !)of anecdotes and observations that make you rethink your perspective on the world around us. Along the way you begin to piece the fractured bits together and find a stained-glass mural that shows the rich colors and attention to detail that form the rose-colored glasses she, so conspicuously, chooses to accesorize her view of life. The joy she finds from things that strike out at conventional tastes is almost evangelical..Before the third chapter you begin to wonder what ever happened to men who tipped their fedoras to a passing lady or the custom of DRESSING for dinner. You also discover that, beneath the veneer of a trend-hopping fashionista, you are discovering a woman who savors even the smallest details of life as if they were beluga roe or the breezes near the jasmine hedges on the clifftop gardens of the Mediterranean. You will laugh out loud and you'll catch yourself in a nostalgia for a more glamorous era when being on a "best-dressed" list meant you had more than just a lot of money to throw at the salespeople on Madison Avenue. She tells of fitting sessions ( FOR HER NIGHTGOWNS !) and the spring collections between her tangents that lament the demise of "fringe". Some may call her shallow and ungrounded but I think she is " a bit of 'all right' ".I have a first edition hardback that I use to escape the modern world when I have seen too many baseball caps worn backwards that day. The book was the basis for the off-Broadway play "Full Gallop" and is essential for anyone who forgets that fashion, beauty, glamour, and enormous style are the four basic food groups of living "out loud". Pay attention and read every word because the text is peppered with phrases that will become part of your lexicon if you know the difference between 'taupe' and 'beige'. ... Read more

Book Description

Double Yoi! is Myron Cope's autobiography, but like his announcing style, it's anything but conventional. Born Myron Sydney Kopelman, he tells about the unusual way he got started in sports writing, his colorful career as a member of the Sports Illustrated staff, and how he eventually evolved into a radio-television performer. Few know that Pittsburgh's favortie broadcaster was once a boxer, a salesman, and an integral figure in the presidential campaign of John Kennedy. In Double Yoi!, Cope also offers his personal sketches of athletes and coaches with whom he's come in contact, such as Cassius Clay, Chuck Noll, and Terry Bradshaw. The creator of the Steelers' trademark Terrible Towel also pokes plenty of left jabs at himself. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Myron's the Man
Double Yoi is the one of the best books that I have ever read. It is truely an entertaining read. It is a well written biographical look at Myron Cope's career in journalism and broadcasting as well as a combination of some of his favorite anecdotes. Any one who loves Myron Cope should read this book as well as those who hate him. I think that they will find a new appreciation for the Pittsburgh Icon. Cope also threw in some criticisms of things and people he doesn't really care for but he does this in a classy way. I am a huge Steeler fan but I don't think that one needs to be to enjoy this book.
Great Job Myron!!

A Pittsburgh Treasure
Though I'm not a native Pittsburgher, I have been a fan of the Pirates, Pens ('67), and Steelers since the early sixties when I was a kid.
Myron Cope is not just "Okel Dokel!", he's GREAT!
Myron is a native Pittsburgh sports media institution, just as Bob Prince was and Mike Lange is, and this book belongs on the shelf right next to Jim O'Brien's "We Had 'Em All The Way". Now all we need is a volume on Mike Lange. "Double Yoi" is one insightful, side-splitting read.

Great Stories Make this Book Live
This book proves that Myron Cope may be a fine broadcaster but he is a superior writer. Myron spins stories from the old days, from the greats he knew, from the Super Bowl years and from his many years as a writer for the Saturday Evening Post and Sports Illustrated. His early years as a newspaperman in Erie, PA and Pittsburgh are described with care and hilarity. Even more funny is his experience as a salesman. He comes across as a kind hearted guy who is stuck in the wrong profession. Many people can identify with that feeling, but if you aren't one who ever went through hell in an early job Myron's prose will let you know what it's like.

Reading the book, it seems as though Myron is seated next to you talking about his life and the people he got to know. The pieces and paragraphs on Clemente, Cosell, Bradshaw and Noll are special standouts.

His writing lets you see the man, not the "character" he has created in the broadcast booth. He's the kind of guy you'd like to meet in a neighborhood bar or a local restaurant and have a drink with every week. The book comes close to giving the reader that feel.

Cope, as in honest and entertaining!
Myron Cope is open, honest and sentimental in his autobiography, Double Yoi. Never boring, I hated to put this book down as it brought many smiles and caused me to laugh out loud. I enjoyed the reminising about the 70 Steelers. The chapter about Dwight "Mad Dog" White and Ernie "Fats Holmes" were my favorite, but I also liked it when he took Shock Radio and Pittsburgh's Mr. Shock Radio, Mark Madden to task for his vulgar so called sports talk show. Myron is open and honest in his discussion of his DUI and does not put the blame on anyone but himself. I have enjoyed Myron's talk show on WTAE, his TV commentaries and his analysis for many these many years. Myron proves he is a Pittsburgh Guy's, Pittsburgh Guy. A must read for anyone who loves Pittsburgh, it's sports and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Myron, Thank you. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Exciting, Scholarly, Prescient
William Honan has done history buffs and strategists alike a signal service in presenting this exciting biography of Hector C. Bywater. Not content with a biography of this journalist, spy and prophet, Honan attempts to do more: understand Bywater's intellectual development--a transformation which led him to foresee what others felt was absurd: a trans-Pacific war between the U.S. and Japan. Honan unearths Bywaters public debates with none other than Franklin D. Roosevelt--at that time a naive pacifist--as well as coming close to proving that Japan's Admiral Yamamoto seized on Bywater's ideas to create the Japanese strategy that culminated in Pearl Harbor and the rout of MacArthur in the Phillippines. For strategists, Visions of Infamy carves a statue to what it really takes to think with vigor and independence. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Hilary Hemingway's father, Leicester Hemingway, committed suicide in 1982, 21 years after his famous older brother, Ernest. In 1997, Hilary's mother died and left her a mysterious audiocassette of Leicester telling hunting stories at the family home in Miami Beach. Are the stories true? Interjections by Leicester's wife and a good friend suggest they are well-polished yarns, designed to deflect Ernest idolaters like the unnamed English professor whose nervous laugh and awkward questions punctuate the recording. Does it matter if they're true? "These stories are really good," says Hilary's 7-year-old daughter. "I even like them and I really hate hunting." Indeed, Leicester's suspenseful tales of stalking crocodiles, ostriches, and tigers with his adored big brother evoke the glamorous Hemingway world of men pitted against beasts as a test of courage and grace under pressure. Listening to the recording on her daughter's purple Barney tape player, the author rediscovers "the big, laughing man" who taught her "to enjoy whatever life might throw at me"; shethen comes to terms with his suicide in the face of a debilitating illness. Skillfully interweaving her father's voice with her own reflections in her meditative text, the author reminds us that the Hemingway legacy is not just one of swaggering machismo, but of love for family and pleasure in the physical world. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Reviews (9)

a delightful book
This is a delightful book. Don't let the boorish reviews fromPublishers Weekly and Library Journal (listed here on Amazon) mislead you. It's a charming story.

Yet another talented Hemingway
Its too bad Leicester Hemingway did not mine his own life for stories. I've never been able to find anything written by him other than "My Brother, Ernest Hemingway," and that was a fairly average read. Other than some insights and background it possessed to which only Leicester might ever have been privy it wasn't particularly noteworthy.Still, that book did hint that the talent in the family stretched beyond Ernest, and now Hilary Hemingway comes along to prove that fact.

This book has been attacked in some quarters as being pure fiction and, unfortunately, Hilary destroyed the only evidence that might have help prove that the source of the many tales therein was indeed her father, Leicester Hemingway. The tales recounted within are reputedly those left behind by her father on an audiocassette. But Hilary destroyed the only copy which is, admittedly odd, given that the tapes also apparently helped her to come to terms with her relationship with her father.

Hilary came into possession of the tape some fifteen years after her father commited suicide, a suicide which further added to the tragedy and myth of mental illness leading to suicide being an inherited trait in the family. Leicester was prompted to commit suicide when he lost his legs to diabetes. Hilary stuggled for years to forgive him.

This book recounts both stories of her father's adventuring (some with his more famous brother, Ernest, and some on his own)and the story of the process of how she came to grips with her father's decision to commit suicide. It is a book both about her father's life and her personal process of healing after his death. As we see in reading this book, which is actually relatively short, Hilary is a very talented writer. Although I should point out her husband, Jeffrey Lindsay, was a co-author on this book so where Hilary's work begins and ends is not certain.

Regardless, its a very compelling read whether the stories of her father are fiction or not. Frankly, most of them sound very plausible (a few do stretch the limits of credibility) and I guess we will just have to take her word that Leicester did indeed leave a recording containing these stories.

I only hope we have not heard the last from Hilary Hemingway because she appears to have a true talent for writing.

Hunting for forgiveness.
This book was a joy to read. The tales are basically told by Leicester as they were recorded on an old casette tape.The man is pulling your leg so just go with it and enjoy yourself. In the end you will find that the book is not about Ernest at all. It is about a daughter coming to terms with the passing of her beloved father. If you gain nothing more from reading this bookthan learning that Leicester was a fantastic storyteller then it is time well spent.

Only for the die hard Hemingway fan.
This book, although kind spirited, is only for the die hard Hemingway fan who must read everything, true or false, about the man.I found this book to be tedious at times and sometimes just simply less than truthful.At the end I felt that the authors attempted to pull the wool over my eyes but were unsuccessful, even though I was a willing participant and wished to believe their outlandish stories....

If you've read it, you've been there.
I picked this book up at a local bookstore. I've never read anything by Hemingway (that I remember, anyway), so I thought I'd give it a shot. I couldn't believe the treasure I'd found! I've been lucky enough to travel a bit..through India, northern Europe and some of the Bahamas, and this book just made me ache for more travel. I couldn't put it down! I didn't read anyone else's review, because I didn't want it to taint my own, so here's the scenario: Ernest's brother's daughter (Ernest's niece) has a cassette of her father telling tales, in breathtaking precision and detail, of his hunting expeditions with his brother Ernest. This tape comes to her after her mother's death, and she is swept up in the emotions of hearing her father's voice and sharing the experience with her own family. I'm not a huge hunting buff, but this book showed a respect for life unlike what I've seen in many others. The way a place is described...a taste...a moment...it's difficult to read this and not imagine yourself exactly in the moment. I spent hours curled up in a papasan chair on my sun porch, transported and lost in Africa, India, on the seas...I can't praise it enough. It was breathtaking. I have just this morning started reading "True At First Light", hoping it will captivate me the way the other has done. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

I couldn't put it down!
After I searched the book store for over an hour, I finally found "An Unseemly Man". Once I started reading the book, I did not put it down until I was finished! I was a big fan of Larry's before I read the book....I was his #1 fan when I was done. I laughed out loud and shed a tear or two. You don't have to like what Larry does for a living...but don't make judgments til you read the book. You might see Larry in a whole different light. His story is truly amazing!

GREAT READ FLYNT IS A HERO AGAINST A FASCIST GOVERMENT!
GREAT BOOK! You will love. If you enjoyed the movie. You will like the book even more!

Something for everyone, sex, politics and religion.
Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler and tons of other mags has finally written his memoirs. Titled An Unseemly Man it could just as easily been called A Bad Boy. The book is amusing and a quick read. He exposes his whole life to the reader, from his humble Kentucky beginnings to his luxurious life as a multimillionaire. He is not a great man and this is not a great book, but if have any interest in him pick it up. He has spent a lot of money and even spilled his blood protecting free speech. All this from a guy who just wanted to make a living giving people what they want ... Read more

Book Description

A reporter in Iraq shows how the U.S. squandered its early victories and goodwill among the Iraqi people, and allowed the newly freed society to slip into violence and chaos.

As a reporter for the staunchly antiwar Pacifica Radio, twenty-seven-year-old Aaron Glantz had spent much of early 2003 warning of catastrophe if the U.S. invaded Iraq. But, as he watched the statue of Saddam topple, he wondered whether he had been mistaken: In interviews with regular Iraqis, he found wide support for the Americans.

Then, public opinion changed.

In early 2004, the U.S. military initiated a completely unprovoked bombing campaign against the population of Fallujah, increasing support for an armed resistance. The attack confounded many anti-Saddam Iraqis, and plunged the nation into chaos. In How America Lost Iraq, Glantz tells his story of working on the front lines, while revealing truths that most media outlets have missed or failed to report. For instance, 50 percent of the U.S.-trained Iraqi army has either mutinied or refused to fight; the Iraqi public has sustained appalling civilian casualties; corporate contractors including Halliburton and Bechtel have failed to supply Iraqis with the basic necessities of daily life, such as clean water and electricity; and a respected poll shows that 82 percent of Iraqis want the U.S. to leave.

Here is the brutally honest account of a reporter who discovered how popular the U.S. presence was in Iraq-and who then watched this popularity disappear as the Bush administration mishandled the war, leaving us with the intractable conflict we face today. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

A look into the life of a girl growing up in a deaf family.
This book is a wonderful window into the Deaf world through both deaf and hearing eyes. The author describes what it is like to grow up with two deaf parents. She explains to us what it is like to grow up in a minority group and to have people treat you differently. Lou Ann takes you on a journey from her uneasiness about growing up feeling on the outside to acceptance of her self as well as her parents. When you read the book you will feel everything that she went through. I would reccomend this book to anyone interested in autobiographies, American Sign Language, or Deaf culture.

What a small world
I thought this book was an excellent book. It touched me in so many ways, i can't describe it. I told my mother about this story, and she cried. It had such an impact on my family. I too have deaf parents, and the what's so weird, is that my life is very, very similar to Lou Ann's. It's a real page turner, and i think anyone interested in deafness, or the hearing child's perspective should read this book. This book is a book that is worth sharing and reading over and over again... I guarantee it!

Excellent
I am studying American Sign Language and we were instructed to read a book about Deaf culture for a book review. I just happened to pick A Loss for Words by Lou Ann Walker and it was great! Very easy to read and easy to understand, even for someone like me who has not grown up within the Deaf community. It's a very fast read and it is very interesting. It is so informative of the way that a hearing child grows up with Deaf parents. It was amazing to see how her family affected her life and her choices, expanding even to the decisions that she made regarding her career! I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about Deaf culture.

Window into another way of life
This book details the life story of hearing child raised by deaf parents. It gives a remarkable account of the special challenges faced by deaf people in a hearing world, and of the petty bigotries that they face every day. It also answers many questions- -how can deaf parents deal with a hearing child? What is it like for a hearing child to grow up in a deaf family? Walker found her life greatly affected by her parents' deafness. As soon as she could talk, she found herself translating for her parents, helping them fill out forms, and correcting their written English. Nevertheless, I couldn't help feeling that some of the discomfort that she attributes to her parents' deafness may have more to do with her own personality and general upbringing. For example, the story of her leaving the Midwest to go off to Harvard is repeated over again every year, not only by children of deaf parents, but also children of farmers, factory workers, and drug dealers. No matter who their parents are, it takes quite a bit of adjustment to learn to survive in Cambridge. How different would Walker's life had been if she had known other children like herself in her extended family or neighborhood? Perhaps she might not have felt so isolated, so strange. No family situation is perfect- -each family has its own unique features. This is the story of what works for one family.

I Got Words
Lou Ann Walker is a fine writer, so this book goes by easily; her descriptions are intense, and the reader is sucked into the story.

I still have a problem with it. The book has a little cloud over it. The child Walker worries incessantly that people will think her parents are quaint or not worthy for their deafness or in other ways as well, because they're not socially aware and sophisticated. There seems always to be an unspoken feeling of loss.

Walker's family is deeply loving, but she grew up feeling a burden of the type that lower East side of Jewish grandmothers inflict. She was the oldest, she was her parents' interpreter. She was their conduit to the world outside their home; she was privy to things a child doesn't usually know about her family. She went to doctors' appointments with her mother, and introduced the family to new neighbors. But she bore up under this onus, smiling, never letting on that it bothered her. Until now. Or so she seems to suggest in the book.

I can't say how I would act under the same weight, however, Walker's mother says once that her oldest daughter "takes things too hard." Walker seems by nature to be subdued, and just a little dour; at times she casts too much of her own personality into what she passes off as the general experience of children of Deaf parents. My experience of the Deaf community is that Deaf people are fun, energetic, full of humor and adventure. My view is my view. This just needs to be kept in mind; this book is one woman's biography, and not an unbiased sociological study of Deafness and family life.

What also isn't made clear is that times have changed. Walker was in college in 1973. Her parents were in the State Schools for the Deaf in the THIRTIES. Back then, students were not permitted to sign; they were expected to speak and lip-read only. Rarely taken off the school grounds for outings, Deaf children went home only for Christmas and the summer. Otherwise, they were at school, signing to one another whenever they were sure they were not being watched.

The Deaf parents now raising children watched Marlee Matlin win an Academy Award when they were in high school. When they were in college, at Gallaudet University, they took to the streets in an explosive protest to eject their school's president, and have a new, Deaf president appointed.

The book is a beautiful autobiography, and does capture some important moments in Deaf history. Read the book for its language, for its eloquent and unabashed descriptive passages. Read it for history. But don't expect to learn about the Deaf Community as it is today. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The man who invented the modern profession of book editing finally got his due, 31 years after his death, when this revelatory biography appeared. A. Scott Berg's detailed explication of Maxwell Perkins's work on the manuscripts of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, and a host of other important American writers shows how much the Scribner's editor contributed to their books, all the while maintaining that he only helped his authors find the best in themselves. This 1978 National Book Award winner is a thorough, carefully considered account of a seminal period in American publishing. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A. Scott Berg: Author of Genius
Max Perkins: Editor of Genius is one of the best non-fiction titles I've read in a long time, and will likely be one of the best books I'll ever read. Berg (with the help of his own editor) truly is a genius: he pulls us directly into the story, introducing us to Scribner's Max Perkins at the zenith of his editorial career, then plunges us into his first acquisition -- F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Beautiful and Damned -- before taking us, methodically, through Perkins's life. An intrepid biographer, Berg tells us only what we need to know about Perkins's early life, getting to the good stuff: his discovery of Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe and his work with Ernest Hemingway. We also find out about Perkins's work with other remarkable authors, including Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (The Yearling), S.S. Van Dine (the Philo Vance mysteries), and Arthur Train, creator of the mythical DA Ephraim Tutt. I laughed out loud at the story about how many believed that Tutt existed after the publication of his "autobiograhpy," complete with photos.

We learn of Perkins's patient relationship with the frustrating Thomas Wolfe, a mammoth talent and physical specimen who could not contain his own enthusiasm. Berg suggests that, as Perkins discovered, Wolfe wasn't writing "books," he was writing one book, which would have encompassed thousands of pages if he had not died early -- a profound insight into the heart and soul of a dynamic author.

We learn much of Papa Hemingway as well, including some insights into the macho author's home life. Elements of Hemingway's unpublished fiction suggest that the bullfighting fan, fisherman, and big game hunter might have enjoyed switching gender roles in bed with one of his wives.

Fitzgerald comes off as one who excelled in being pathetic, a man who suffered desperately with his wife, Zelda, alcohol, and simply living large. Berg gives us a tender portrait of Perkins's greatest find.

As with all excellent biographies, Max Perkins: Editor of Genius examines only what made Perkins who he was: the editor of the twentieth century. Perkins preferred to sit on the sidelines, championing his authors. Often, he sits on the sidelines in this book as well, but this only makes sense: he was famous for his work with his more famous authors. It wasn't Max, it was his interaction with these great authors that made him all great.

As some reviewers have pointed out, Max would have enjoyed thsi book.

Scott Berg's top-notch mix of history and anecdote.
If you are an admirer of F.Scott Fitzgerald, Ring Lardner, Thomas Wolfe, Earnest Hemingway, Marjorie Rawlings; basically any significant American writer of fiction during the first half of this century--buy the book. Here's how I would put it: If those authors could send ONE, just one posthumous request for you to purchase a particular book, "Perkins: Editor of Genius" would be my sincerely expected choice. Why? Because he wasn't just the "editor of genius": he was their friend. Maybe in some cases like Mr. Wolfe's, the only REAL friend of a lifetime. Fitzgerald wrote in his last years, " Max, you are the only person who has never lost faith in me." Even after Scott Fitzgerald's too short existence, Max was a warrior for a reputation which he confidently predicted would survive the fads of that time. This is a study for those of us who can only regret never meeting him, a study in accepting the short-comings of others with understanding; and demanding the best from ourselves. Words are cheapened by their use in describing Max, because their cousins are seen so often where the object is so less deserving, but buy the book. Mr Berg paints a wonderous, living picture, whose thousand words I believe venerable Perkins would have approved--if somewhat sheepishly.

great man/great bio
Scott Berg has written a wonderful biography on one of the most important men in American literature, Max Perkins. Berg's book is well-written and very entertaining. It is more than a biography of Perkins, it is also a biography of Hemingway, Scott Fiztgerald, and Thomas Wolfe, and a portrait of America during the first half of the 20th century. This is one of those books that I could go on and on about. It is a book that everyone should read.

Good biographer - good subject
I'm a Scott Berg fan, and I bought this book as a vehicle to learn about an important editor and his famous authors. It was what I expected from a Berg book, after reading "Lindbergh." It contains excellent research and writing and gives an objective telling, although a few too many details for my taste. Scott Berg is my role model as a biographer. What amazed me about the story was how much Max Perkins had to baby his famous writers. I gained respect for him, but not them. There didn't seem to be much happiness in any of these lives.

A good view behind the scenes
Since a class I was taking required the reading of excerpts from this biography, I decided it might be a much better idea to read the entire book. By no means was that a wasted effort! This biography is very well written and opens up new vistas to readers of great fiction from the 20s and 30s.

Perkins was the editor for Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Thomas Wolfe. These are the three which get the bulk of print spent on them. You see that Perkins was much more than an editor and went to great lengths to help these writers discover as much of their potential as possible. He never wanted to credit for these and felt that the editor should always be hidden in the background.

Aside from the authors mentioned above, I found that Perkins also assisted authors like Bourjaily, Jones ("From Here to Eternity"), Rawlings ("The Yearling"), and Sherwood Anderson (although there was a bit of a falling out).

A. Scott Berg inserts a lot of information into the text, yet it is still very readable. Even in sections when I felt there was more Thomas Wolfe than needed, I still went through the book without wanting to put it down.

Even if you are not big into editing, just to hear a "behind-the-scenes" view of some of your favorite authors will make this book worthwhile to you. ... Read more

Book Description

"Thank You, Mr. President."

From the woman who has reported on every president from Kennedy to Clinton comes a privileged glimpse into the White House -- and a telling record of the ever-changing relationship between the presidency and the press.

Helen Thomas wanted to be a reporter from her earliest years. She turned a copy-aide job at the Washington Daily News into a powerful and successful career spanning thirty-seven years and eight U.S. presidents. Assigned to the White House press corps in 1961. Thomas was the first woman to close a press conference with "Thank you. Mr. President." She was also the first female president of the White House Correspondents Association and the first woman member, later president, of the Gridiron Club.

In this revealing memoir, which includes hundreds of anecdotes, observations, and personal details. Thomas looks back on a career spent with presidents at home and abroad, on the ground and in the air. Providing a unique view of the past four decades of presidential history. Front Row at the White House offers a seasoned study of the relationship between the chief executive officer and the press -- a relationship that is sometimes uneasy, sometimes playful, yet always integral to the democratic process. ... Read more

Reviews (34)

A Must Read for Political Afficionados
If you are looking into a behind-the-scenes look at how the White House interacts with the press corps, told by the premiere White House reporter of all time, this is the book for you.

Thomas tells her wonderful story in an easy-to-read style that makes this book very, very hard to put down. I read it in less than two days.

This will make a valuable addition to any political buff's library.

Entertaining and insightful
As I read this book I felt that Ms. Thomas was sitting in an easy chair across the room from me telling me an interesting story of her life covering the White House. The book gives an indepth, behind the scenes, view of covering the the White House, presidents, first ladies and families. Ms. Thomas explains many of the feelings and emotions that were not necessarily the stories but went along with the events. This is a very enjoyable book to read. I felt as though Ms. Thomas made me part of those exciting times.

A Kinder Gentler Side to Her
I have always assumed that this author would write a book that was full of nasty one liners and little back biting comments. I got that impress just because I have always felt her questions were very brash and aggressive (not that I have any problem with that). It turns out that the book had none of this aggressiveness. As a matter of fact I thought she went easy on all of the Presidents and First Ladies that she covered. The book started out with a rather dull, at least for me, run down of her life up to covering the White House. I was only interested in the White House coverage so this Bio bit of the book was mostly skipped by me.

The author laid out her recollections in a nice way. She first covered all the major events within each administration in chronological order. She then did the same for the Press Secretaries, First Ladies and then the Presidents. All of it was interesting with a good number of details about the individual people involved. She had a lot of stories to tell and they filled the book up nicely. Again my only complaint was that it seemed to me that she pulled some of her punches. She really did not give Nixon a lot of trouble for Watergate nor Reagan for Iran-Contra. I thought she was toughest on Clinton, but that could be due to my own likes and dislikes of the Presidents in question. Overall I liked the book and found it easy to read and full of new facts.

Waste of a day
I never really enjoyed her work and this did nothing to change my opinion. Just another annoying liberal with a mediocre book.

A Good Read
Reading this book is like living history through a legend's eyes! ... Read more

Book Description

With his signature style and grace, Willie Morris, arguably one of this country's finest Southern writers, presents us with an unparalleled memoir of a country in transition and a boy coming of age in a period of tumultuous cultural, social, and political change.

In North Toward Home, Morris vividly recalls the South of his childhood with all of its cruelty, grace, and foibles intact.He chronicles desegregation and the rise of Lyndon Johnson in Texas in the 50s and 60s, and New York in the 1960s, where he became the controversial editor of Harper's magazine.North Toward Home is the perceptive story of the education of an observant and intelligent young man, and a gifted writer's keen observations of a country in transition. It is, as Walker Percy wrote, "a touching, deeply felt and memorable account of one man's pilgrimage." ... Read more

Reviews (8)

If only he had lived to tell us more
Like a lot of other readers, I first became aware of Willie Morris when I read "My Dog Skip." I followed that up with the lesser known, but equally enjoyable, "My Cat Spit McGee" (in which Morris, an avowed dog lover and cat hater, comes to love a cat).

But for me, his most brilliant work has got to be "North Toward Home," which I did not discover until after he died in 1999. What is it about southern writers, particularly those from Mississippi (a state that continues to have one of the highest illiteracy rates in the world), that leads them to be such masterful story tellers?

This book was first published in 1967, but it still resonates beautifully today. Here Morris recounts his childhood in Mississippi, his time at the University of Texas, his days as a writer covering the wild Texas political scene, and his life as a transplanted Southerner adapting to life in New York (where at age 32 he became the editor of "Harper's)."

Morris brilliantly captures the changing environment in the United States as he traces his life in the forties, fifties, and sixties. Its too bad Morris died relatively young at 65, because I would have loved to see what else he had to write had he lived into his eighties or nineties.

This is about as good as an autobiography can get, as Morris examines not only his only personal growth over a thirty some-odd year period, but also reveals much about the changing political and social environment of those times.

A fine modern writer of the South
These days, people are probably more likely to know of Willie Morris as the boy in the movie, "My Dog Skip." So if anything, they know he grew up in a small town in 1940's Mississippi. They mostly wouldn't know that years later, after an education at the University of Texas, he was a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford, a controversial newspaper editor in Texas, and the youngest editor of America's oldest continuously published magazine, Harper's.

Throughout his adult life he was a writer. His memoir "North Toward Home" is a recollection of a boyhood in pre-integration Mississippi, the rough and tumble of state politics which he covered for the Texas Observer, and coming to terms as a Southerner with New York City, which he liked to call "the Cave."

As a writer, Morris saw both the humor and sadness in the circumstances of daily life. He was fascinated by people and politics, and deeply committed to social justice. Growing up in the rural South, he also had a strong sense of how people are shaped by their history, traditions, and the terrain of the land they call home.

His many books include an account of school integration in his hometown in 1970, a tribute to his friend James Jones, author of "From Here to Eternity," and an account of the making of "Ghosts of Mississippi," Rob Reiner's film based on the murder trial and conviction of the man who shot Medgar Evers. One of the best introductions to Morris' style and favorite subjects is a collection of essays and exerpts from longer works, "Terrains of the Heart and Other Essays on Home," which was published in his later years and is currently in print.

A great companion volume for "North Towards Home" is "From the Mississippi Delta: A Memoir," by African-American writer Endesha Ida Mae Holland. Her book is a compelling account of growing up poor and black in small-town Mississippi and coming of age during the civil rights struggles of the 1960s. Together, these two books provide a fascinating look at both sides of the racial divide in the Deep South of the mid-20th century.

Brilliant in parts...
Ok, this book is quite eloquent in places and borderline brilliant, especially when writing about Mississippi. The second section of the book focuses on obscure 1960's Texas politics and gets rather dry and stretches on and on and on. The third part of the book focuses on New York and is depressing in that Morris reiterates over and over about how horrid the city is, ie the traffic, the dirt and grittiness, the noise, etc. Then he cuts on surburbanites who decide to commute to the city from farther up in N. England. Later, Morris does the same thing.
I guess my main concern with this book is the fact that Morris was only 30 years when he wrote his autobiography. Who knows enough of the world at age 30 to do such a thing? I question Morris for thinking he has lived some unique life by that age; I know the author passed away and all the reviews and tributes and obits were glowing and nostalgic, but I can't get over the fact that long stretches of this book were agonizing to get through.

Different than I expected. And BETTER
After seeing the movie My Dog Skip, I bought this book to learn about a educated man who grew up in the South. I anticipated a recollection of why the South is great. What I read was a man recalling growing up in the South when it was a lazy, great place to grow up in. The first part of the book covers this and provided a perfect synopsis for the movie, My Dog Skip.

The second part of the book covers his time in Texas where he attended college and stayed to become an editor of a local liberal paper. He also was the school paper editor who became famous for his liberal stances taking on the administration. While this section gets long, it is the most interesting section as Morris is thrown in a foreign environment, becomes quite intimidated as many freshman do, and then grows in the process. This growth culminates in his acceptance as a Rhodes Scholar competing against many Ivy League namedroppers who once again intimidate him. He graduates and eventually writes for a liberal paper in Texas covering politics which allows him to see this magnificent state and challenge the beliefs of politicians and himself as he has grown into a full liberal in a very conservative state. Significant time is spent coloring the political landscape of the time and it's quite interesting to view this from 40 years hence. Anyone remember the John Birch Society?

The final section was an evolution as he moves to New York, goes through the humiliating first job search before he finds a low paying job working for Harpers Magazine. He describes what it's like working in New York, which he calls the "Cave", and living in substandard conditions where the sun never hits his building. He describes his first literary party and the pompous attitude of these intellectuals, particularly about the rest of the country. This becomes the fascinating introspective part of the book as he parallels his life in the South and his existence living in the "Cave".

This book covers the 40's,50's and 60's so clearly race was a central theme as the civil rights movement was in boom causing him to challenge so much of what he knew growing up. I think this culminates when he asks a German woman to leave his apartment after she makes some mild racist Jewish remarks. Morris really struggled reconciling the race issue given his background in Mississippi and at one point when he was introduced, he said he was from North Carolina as he had become embarrassed to mention being from Mississippi.

It's a fascinating story of personal growth that any reader will learn from. The book closes with him moving out of the Cave to a 70 mile, 4 hour commute daily to the city. And the last paragraph states the title "North Toward Home". I think many people will take the close differently but to me he was accepting his new home and turning over the page on the South which he would always appreciate and remember fondly.

This book will be of interest to Southerners looking to learn about their heritage and what living in the South in the segregated 1940's was like. Also, people with interests in journalism and political history will enjoy the book. But this book is also good for anyone looking for personal growth through the writings of others. I recommend books on whether they are entertaining and whether I learn much. I was pleasently entertained and learned a great deal. I strongly recommend this book.

ALMOST one of the best books I've ever read.
This book is comprised of three parts; 1)Morris's growing up in Yazoo, Mississippi 2)His time spent at the University of Texas, and 3) His moving to New York, and becoming an editor at Harpers magazine. The first section is absolutely fantastic. I was drawn in and couldn't put it down. Morris is a great storyteller, and the tales of his growing up are a great look at life in the South in the 1940's. If you enjoyed "My Dog Skip", you would love it. The second section starts out interesting, but then gets bogged down with Texas politics. Interesting,but not exactly a page turner 40 years later. And finally, his time in NYC was interesting, a Southern boy plunked down in the middle of America's biggest city. Many of his concerns of the time we are still wrestling with here in 2000. Our era is not as unique as many would think. I would highly recommend this book, even if you only read part one-it's that good. ... Read more

Amazon.com

He was a once-praised novelist and short-story writer who battled alcoholism and obscurity and moved to Los Angeles for his third desperate attempt at making money by screenwriting. She was a British expatriate, an up-and-coming Hollywood gossip columnist with a secret past. Although Sheilah Graham wrote about her romance with F. Scott Fitzgerald after his death (one of the many versions she wrote of her life story, Beloved Infidel, was made into a movie with Deborah Kerr and Gregory Peck), she never quite told anyone the whole truth. Her son, Robert Westbrook, works to set the record straight, using his mother's papers and other resources to place the affair within the contexts of Graham's and Fitzgerald's lives and the "golden age" of filmmaking in which it occurred. The result is a love story peppered with scintillating anecdotes about the movie stars and writers with whom they rubbed elbows, an intimate portrayal of an artistic (but financially ruthless) community as viewed through two of its fiercest aspirants. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Insightful and entertaining
I love it when nonfiction keeps me up late at night, turning pages. "Intimate Lies" may well be the definitive source on the last years of Fitzgerald's life, during which he tried (and failed) to be a Hollywood screenwriter. Westbrook's evenhanded, well-researched treatment of the romance between Fitzgerald and columnist Sheilah Graham (Westbrook's mother)is a snapshot of Hollywood just before World War II, a mixture of glamor, socialism and absurd censorship.

Fasinating
I didn't really expect to like this book. I have always enjoyed F. Scott Fitzgerald's works and that was what drew me to this book. I had heard about Sheilah Graham and i think i had read somewhere of there relationship. Bored one day with my usual 'type' of books i picked this one up amd began to read. What struck me immendiatly was the honesty, brutal at times being displayed by the Miss Graham's own son Robert Westbrook. His writing is presise and detailed recreating the golden age of Hollywood. He presents Fitzgerald honestly showing other aspects of the doomed author. His mother is shown as a master of the 'makeover' recreating herself from a very humble beginning. Take a chance with this book i think you'll be pleasently surprised.. ... Read more

Book Description

"My first meal in France, in a hushed and formerly elegant dining car, was a revelation. The menu was absurdly simple; there was a choice of an omelette aux fines herbes or a sandwich jambon beurre. I chose the omelette and was delighted by the flavors of chives, tarragon and chervil mingling in the creamy lightness of the eggs, all so new to me. If the food in France was so good even in a train, I thought I might have a happy life here after all."

In 1947, as Paris recovers from the war, young Colette returns to the city of her birth after eight years spent among warmhearted Egyptian relatives in Cairo. Initially Paris seems gray and forbidding to the young Colette, especially after her mother abandons her to the disinterested care of her stern grandmother. Yet Paris will prove the place where Colette awakens to her senses. Her transformation from "l'Egyptienne" to "la Parisienne" begins when she is taken under the wing of the family cook, Georgette, who introduces Colette to the city's markets and inspires a love and talent for French cooking. The streets of Paris soon become Colette's own as she navigates to and from her lycée -- occasionally skipping class altogether, thus beginning a decades-long habit of making room for adventure in an otherwise disciplined life. Colette is sixteen when her mother returns with a new husband, and although initially suspicious of the round man with the twinkling eyes, she soon realizes she has a soul mate in Almire Ducreux, her new stepfather. Mira introduces Colette to her first truffle and her gastronomical self. He will also be the only one to support her when she falls in love and runs away with a young American, scandalizing her proper French family.

With Return to Paris, Colette Rossant proves herself the true heir of M. F. K. Fisher. In clear, understated prose she writes of a life lived and enjoyed passionately. Memories and family stories segue gracefully into descriptions of great meals and recipes. This is food writing at its finest.s ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A wonderful conclusion to a gastronomic adventure
I read this book trying to forget about the stiffling heat we're experiencing in Europe in one day. As wonderful as the first book is (Apricots on the Nile) this book is even better. Collette takes us on her journey back to Paris after being wrenched away from her loving coccoon of close family in Egypt to the great unknown. Soon however she finds solace in the kitchen & rediscovers her passion for food. Faced with many life changing decision, she recounts the events that took her all over Europe & (later to the US) on different adventures & always with food as her loyal companion.
A wonderful read that ended too soon, & although I rated this book with 5 stars, I felt it ended a bit too abruptly ... but then again you alawys want more of a great book don't you?!

Dinner with Colette
I loved this little book and read it in one sitting on a rainy Sunday afternoon. It made me wish that Colette would invite me to dinner! The writing swept me along throughout the journeys in her life. The recipes were a surprise bonus for me as I had never read her other books and had no idea she was known for cuisine. It was the beautiful cover that sold me! Highly recommend this book. I can barely cook, but am going to try the Agvolemono soup, a favorite from my 20's when I worked upstairs from a Greek Deli in downtown Boston.

The Piaf of Food Memoirs!
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Reading _Return to Paris_ (and preparing its recipes) is like listening to a Piaf song, at once strikingly beautiful and hauntingly sad, something that commands your attention to the very end.

So, dear reader, beware! For should you open the first page of this book, you may find yourself swept away to a Par