Book Description

Pays honest tribute to the spiritual search of a generation that transformed the politics-then the heart and soul-of America

In this intelligent memoir, actor Peter Coyote relives his fifteen-year ride through the counterculture-a journey that took him from the quiet rooms of privilege as the son of an East Coast stockbroker to the riotous life of political street theater in San Francisco. Chronicling revolutionary economic theories and chaotic encampments, Coyote offers blunt, affectionate, and often comic portraits of fellow travelers.

In prose that is graphic and unsentimental, Coyote's memoir is his attempt to understand the path he forged, and the distance between the extremes in a spectacular life. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Pretty good read. No bull. Points for honesty.
I was born in 1968 so I can't comment on whether or not Coyote's take on the 60s jives. I can, however, say that it was pretty interesting to read his views on the S.F. Mime troupe and the Diggers. I admire Coyote for having been involved these groups. His recollections of them are insightful and refreshingly honest. I love the fact that Coyote talks about the ups and downs of 60s life. I like that he complains about people from time to time. This makes for a read that is not too "peace and love". So, I guess I like his honesty most. As for this book seeming too egotistical to some readers goes, I disagree. Peter Coyote is funny, handsome and interesting and I liked reading most of what he had to say. I like Coyote's ego just fine. What bored me was when he would go on and on about Olema ranch and mundane domestic stuff which really isn't that interesting to most people. Overall, I feel spent.

An amazingly rational account of a very irrational time.
"Sleeping Where I Fall" is actor Peter Coyote's personal memoirs of the San Francisco hippie/commune scene of the late 60s and early 70s. I found this to be a very interesting and well written book. It seems Coyote took advantage of being in the right place at the right time and became a cutting edge member of the emerging counterculture. His detailed account recreates the era; from the newness and exuberance of the concept of "free" - to the interminable chaos and outrageousness of trying to live it. I think it would be of great interest to people who are sympathetic to the ideals that blossomed during this era.

Too self-absorbed and showoffy.
If he had written more about the world outside his little group of friends and lovers, Coyote could have had an interesting book. As it is, it's mainly a chronicle of living dirt poor and having as much sex as possible, while being surprised that your gorgeous blonde deer-hide tanning girlfriend somehow always catches you cheating. He makes the common mistake that the rest of us care how many women he slept with and under what circumstances. Memoirists be warned: What was most important to you is not what is most important to your readers. He spends relatively little time on much more interesting events such as the prosecution of the San Francisco mime troupe, and the famous people who came to their aid. In fact, he spends very little time on anyone else at all, except to point out that he knew or met them or somehow locate himself there. Disappointing book.

Wonderful In Spite of It All
I've read other reviewers taking Peter Coyote to task for writing what they seem to think is just a self-congratulatory puff piece to satisfy his own ego. I disagree. Not once in the book did I ever see him claim that the existence he and his friends lived was the 'only' way or the 'best' way, nor did he try to make himself out to be some kind of faultless angel who never made a mistake. He simply told, in as straightforward and unembellished a way as possible, what happened in his own personal experience, good and bad, and described the process that took him from one stage of existence to another. That kind of honesty takes courage few of us can claim to have in any level of our lives.

And anyone who was as heavily into drugs as he was to have survived at all, not to mention completely turning their life around and becoming successful in their own chosen field, should be congratulated. I've known enough people in my own experience who didn't, and I grieve for them to this day.

I, for one, am very glad he wrote this book. In 1964 I was only twelve years old and have always felt a bit cheated that I was just too young to have been a part of what I felt even then to be a special and perhaps irreplaceable time. Reading "Sleeping Where I Fall" has given me a sense of almost having been there myself which I've never gotten from any other work on the era in quite the same way.

Thank you for writing this memoir, Peter. I do sincerely appreciate it.

For Hippies and ex Hippies
Peter Coyote's memoir is a must read for anyone who lived through those crazy and wild times of the 60's. His intimate involvement with so many aspects of the counter culture grass roots movement, his command of the English language,and ability to tell a tale makes this a very enjoyable account.

For me, it was also a sentimental journey. I lived on the Olema farm many years after Peter and his clan had left. His description of the place mirrored many of my own memories. I believe that many new readers will find Peter's account brings back fond and crazy memories. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (12)

JQA - The Overview
John Quincy Adams is remembered today (if at all) as the first son to follow in his father's footsteps to the presidency. Adams, or "JQA" as historian/author Robert Remini refers to him, had a brilliant diplomatic and political career--albiet under his father's long shadow--before becoming president in a disputed election (the other similarity he shares with the current occupant of The White House). Among his other major accomplishments, Adams the second negotiated the end of the war of 1812 and as Secretary of State formulated the priciples that would later become known as The Monroe Doctrine. Unfortunately, Admas's skills as a diplomat were of little help during his largely unsuccessful presidency, in which he was overshadowed from the beginning by the popular Andrew Jackson, who bitterly opposed almost every move he made. The split between the two would revive America's two party system after over a decade of dormancy.

Remini documents all of the major events of JQA's life, from the "corrupt bargain" with Henry Clay that propelled Adams to the presidency to his unhappy personal life. For all of his brilliance, Adams was a tormented man, brutalized emotionally by his domineering mother (the otherwise revered Abigail) as well as by his failure to secure the hand of the one true love of his life. The equally overbearing upbringing he fostered upon his own sons resulted in tragedy for two of them.

The sense the reader gets from Remini's book is that JQA was one of the more fascinating and tragic figures ever to become president. Unfortunately, at only a brief 155 pages of narrative the book only scratches the surface of the man. Still, Remini is a first rate writer and historian, and his easily readable prose makes this a very accessible work of history.

Overall, a breezy historical account documenting the life of an often overlooked president.

John Who? Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States, but much less well known than his father John Adams, the second President of the USA.

In this splendid biography, Robert Remini has provided us with a concise volume detailing the life of John Quincy Adams. Within this book, it is easily seen why JQA is rated as "below average" as a President, but highly regarded as an international diplomat.

Remini has done a spectactular job in describing the whole life of John Quincy Adams, and helps us to understand why Adams' life is being reclassified as more successful than previously recognized, despite the fact that his Presidency was a failure.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a basic understanding of Adams the man, not just as the President.

an error about an error
Referring to Marshall Newman's review. The Macaulay that JQA read and Remini mentions was Catherine Macaulay (1731-1791), an historian and a distant relative of T.B. Macaulay (1800-1859).

Not History's Favorite.
This is one of the few, possibly the only, early American President I am aware of who is consistently treated poorly by historians. It is almost like there is some unspoken conspiracy to paint the man as some kind of slacker. The closest we can come to this kind of consensual disapproval is how the American press treated Gerald Ford's athleticism. In Ford's case, this former center for the University of Michigan football team, an excellent recreational skier and a man who consistently shot golf in the low 70's was treated as an uncoordinated clod, who could not put one foot in front of another. Something similar is going on with the depiction of JQA.

Independent of his parents in Europe for 6 years, much of that time by his own choice, his biographers treat him as a mama's boy. That's right, the same man who undertook his first diplomatic mission for the United States at age 14! And it goes down hill from there.

Incredible successes as Secretary of State under James Monroe are glossed over, a Presidential vision for America that was the equal of Washington, Adams (his father), Jefferson, Madison and Monroe's combined, formulator of the Monroe Doctrine, extender of the Continental limits of the United States from sea to sea, ardent abolitionist who fought the Gag Rule in the House of Representatives for 9 years (that's right, he defends our most fundamental of freedoms, freedom of speech, and during a 9 year Congressional battle, defeats those who would have suppressed this freedom within our own Congress), founder of the Smithsonian, the list of this man's unbelievable accomplishments goes on and on.

Professor Remini should be embarrassed for this mediocre effort. Was JQA stiff, prickly and unyielding? Of course he was. Was he obstinate, arrogant and difficult? Again JQA is guilty. But after his outstanding works on Jackson, Webster, and Clay for Professor Remini to simply repeat Nagel's poor work and not take the time and opportunity to fairly and accurately report on this man's life accomplishments has got to be some form of academic bankruptcy. This book is only 155 pages long. And those pages are small. That should tell you something. Save your money.

Too much Freud at the begining.
Full disclosure. John Quincy Adams is one of my heroes. I eagerly grabbed this book but almost didn't finish it. The strong later chapters which effectively describe the Adams election, administration and later time in congress are paid for by a load of psycoanalisys of Abagail Adams, John Quincy to the point where the reader just wants to say ENOUGH!

When the writer calls Adams is a poor father and follows it up with a description of him informing his sons they should work hard, avoid drinking, and follow religion I must conclude that he doesn't want me raising children either. When he lambasts Adams for wanting to raise his sone the way he was raised saying that he should know better, he ignores that the method used produced one of the greatest statemen in the history of this country.

Later on it gets better the author rightly hits Adams as a poor pol but extols the virtues of his honesty and single minded devotion to what he believed was right. His chapters on Adams vision and his fight against the gag rule are great reading as are all chapters from the point that Adams serves in the Monroe administration.

The author's bias' are plain and the lens that he sees Adams life is apparent to any reader, but that lens can't cloud the life of the man, it can only make reading this story an annoyance for a time.

I suggest going right to 1816 and reading from there. The book is worth reading but it was enough to convince me that I would avoid this author in the future. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Fresh from her well-received life of Queen Elizabeth II, the Englishhistorian and biographer Sarah Bradford turns her hand to America's own answerto royalty, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Painstakingly detailed, impressivelyfair, the result is the most definitive account yet of a woman who captured theimagination of the American public like no First Lady before or after her.Bradford seems to have interviewed almost everyone who had ever been intimatewith Onassis, including George Plimpton, Gore Vidal, Joan Kennedy, and even afew ex-lovers. Most notably of all, Jackie's sister Lee Radziwill speaks withunexpected frankness about the mixture of rivalry and affection that markedtheir relationship since childhood. Jackie-lovers, take note: this is nohagiography, and its subject certainly comes off as no saint. As gracious asthis American icon could be, she also had moments of coldness and even greed,including a particularly shocking moment by the bedside of Ari Onassis's dyingson. Yet, in the end, non-airbrushed anecdotes like these only serve to makethis most private of public figures even more fascinating. Jackie was, asBradford writes, "a complex woman of many facets, concealed insecurities andintricate defense mechanisms, a strong urge toward the limelight contrastingwith a desire for privacy and concealment.... Behind the mask of beauty and famelay a shrewd mind, a ruthless judgment of people, antennae finely turned to anysign of pretentiousness or pomposity, and a wry, even raunchy sense of humor."The figure who emerges from subsequent pages is as compelling as the heroine ofany novel, and it is to Bradford's credit that she doesn't seem to have fallencompletely under her subject's spell. Her approach is sympathetic, but neverfawning; candid, but never sensationalistic. For those who are curious not aboutJackie's glamour but about its source, America's Queen offers anunprecedented look at the flesh-and-blood woman behind the Camelot myth.--Carlotta DeWitt ... Read more

Reviews (27)

Iron Butterfly
A solid biography of a complex woman, Jackie Onassis. Bradford does her usual stellar job of peeking behind the curtain of mystery and into the lives of the rich and famous. This book makes a fine companion to her biographies of Princess Grace and Queen Elizabeth II. Bradford takes us from Jackie's earliest years as the adored eldest child of a wayward father, John Vernou "Black Jack" Bouvier; to the White House as the politically advantageous mate to an unfaithful John F. Kennedy; to Greece as the trophy wife of Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis; and finally to the freedom and excitement of New York during Jackie's later years in the 70s and 80s.

We get to see behind the Kennedy mythology-Jack was as wayward as her father, and in retaliation, Jackie spent his money. Nanny Maud Shaw was pointedly left out of the many photo-exclusives the Kennedys gave to Life magazine, even though she was the main parental figure for Caroline and John, Jr. Coexisting in the First Lady was a woman who wore glamorous gowns and wowed dignitaries with her conversational skills and self-possessed manner, and a woman who smoked incessantly, hated campaigning, bit her fingernails to the quick, and was deeply wounded by her husband's infidelities.

Bradford's interviews are far-ranging: From Gloria Steinem to Jackie's younger sister Lee Radziwill, many of Jackie's acquaintances in Greece, Gore Vidal, her cousin John Davis, and some of her former flames, the people quoted in this book give us a glimpse of a privileged and often painful life. It is frankly stated that Jackie's repeated miscarriages and stillbirths were undoubtedly due contracting chlamydia from JFK. For years after the assassination of her husband, in odd moments Jackie would confide the hideous shock of holding parts of her husband's head in her hands. She had an embattled relationship with her mother, Janet Lee, and later with her sister, who was frustratingly left in the shadow of her sister's radiant beam. Many of the society wives who moved in Jackie's circle reported how possessive and flirtatious she was with their husbands. Far from being in love with Onassis (who had been having an affair with her sister), Jackie married him primarily for the security his vast fortune could afford her. Jackie was far more interested in championing the arts (her helping to start the foundation to restore the White House, her involvement in the campaign to save Grand Central Station), than in humanitarian and charitable causes, Bradford asserts.

This book could well have been subtitled "Iron Butterfly," as Jackie repeatedly gets what she wants (money, donations of antiquities to the White House, clothing) by being manipulative and irresistible at the same time. Yet despite not being the idealized version of herself we've all recognized over the years, Jackie is a fully-realized person in this book. I felt I knew more about her and her motivations after reading it, and not necessarily liking her any less for her flaws of character. The woman who stated her ambition in her Farmington yearbook as "Never to be a housewife" certainly exceeded that goal.

A good addition to your library-my only quibble would be for more attention to detail in the editing and more pictures we haven't already seen. Objective Jackie fans will not be disappointed in what, in the end, is a well-rounded portrait of an unforgettable woman.

The Real Jackie Kennedy
I highly recommend this biography of Jackie. It is, by far, the best I've read. Bradford shows us a real woman, not a myth, and there are so many stunning details. The personality of Jackie's mother particularly shocked me. How did Jackie survive the terrible, manipulative environment of her childhood? This biography highlighted such salient details, such as: - her mother's prevention of her being escorted down the aisle by her father on her wedding day; - Jackie and her sister Lee taking a back seat in the Auchincloss step family; - Jackie's unique contribution to American history through her championing of the arts (redecorating the White House, securing the Egyptian exhibit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, preserving the Grand Central Station in NYC, and so much else) - Most of all, the strength of her marriage to JFK. Bradford did a better job than any other biographer, of explaining the complex and developing relationship between the two. I highly recommend this book!

A truly well-balanced account of an extraordinary person
This elegant biography of Mrs. Kennedy-Onassis may very well be the most insightful work to gain a hold on this elusive American legend for some time to come. Unlike the many other Jackie biographies out there, this one is neither worshipful nor excessively fault-finding with its subject. Yet, while exposing the more unpleasant sides of Jackie's character (in essence, bringing her down to earth with the rest of us), "America's Queen" takes a decidedly more sympathetic route, with numerous sentences that begin "To be fair to Jackie...", etc, that assures that her virtues are still underscored while her faults are not smoothed over. In other words, skip the Christopher Anderson/Edward Klein accounts if you opt for exhaustively researched information and intimate analyses rather than sensationalistic prose and shameless cashing-in on Jackie's fame.
I also think it is a tribute to the author as much to the subject that this book is so exceptional. I think Jackie, lover of literature that she was, would have appreciated the numerous literary passages preceding some of the chapters. Despite her distaste for exposure, I think she would have felt in fairly good hands had she known the diligence, sensitivity, and, most of all, sense of morality and balance that went into this work.

the most wonderful book
This is my ultimate favorite book. I have read it a million times just because it's so fun and exciting to read.
What a glamorous life one had! She also led the most complex and interesting life with Jack Kennedy and Onassis. Sadly she had to face too many deaths of her loved ones during her life time, but she endured it with dignity and class.
I honestly think there is no one one can compare with Jackie Kennedy concerning elegance and feminism. She truely is a symbol of intelligence, wealth, fortune. That's one reason I like her so much- not only was she beautiful but also intelligent and smart.
Sarah Bradford is one of my favorite writers. Her writing is simply elegant and honest and so detailed. It's unlike any other book I have read. I often wonder how she gathered all this information and how she managed to get these rare interviews from all these people who were very close with Jackie. Sometimes I think it's more of her writing that interests me more than Jackie's actual life.
I strongly recommend this book to everyone. It's fast paced and simply too good not to read.

Shares a variety of views on JKO
"America's Queen" was an interesting read. The first chapter on her family tree was complicated and hard to follow due to the introduction of so many names. However, as the book began to tell the story of how Jackie came to be was great because of the many different point of views that were presented by those who knew Jackie. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Where were you when I needed you.
I set off for a trip to Richmond, VA last year confident that I could pick up a copy of this useful little book while there.

I was astonished to find that I couldn't buy a copy in any of the downtown bookstores or museum shops. How I would have loved to have had this history and guide with me to make me fully aware of how each place I visited was connected to some stirring or painful act of our great national tragedy.

This book is a fine companion piece to Margaret Leech's wonderful "Reveille in Washington".

Emory Thompson has written a remarkably interesting and able history and one that no visitor to Richmond should be without. ... Read more

Book Description

Wait Till Next Yearis the story of a young girl growing up in the suburbs of New York in the 1950s, when owning a single-family home on a tree-lined street meant the realization of dreams, when everyone knew everyone else on the block, and the children gathered in the streets to play from sunup to sundown. The neighborhood was equally divided among Dodger, Giant, and Yankee fans, and the corner stores were the scenes of fierce and affectionate rivalries.

We meet the people who influenced Goodwin's early life: her father, who emerged from a traumatic childhood without a trace of self-pity or rancor and who taught his daughter early on that she should say whatever she thought and should bring her voice into any conversation at any time; her mother, whose heart problems left her with the arteries of a seventy-year-old when she was only in her thirties and whose love of books allowed her to break the boundaries of the narrow world to which she was confined by her chronic illness; her two older sisters; her friends on the block; the local storekeepers; her school friends and teachers.

This is also the story of a girlhood in which the great religious festivals of the Catholic church and the seasonal imperatives of baseball combined to produce a passionate love of history, ceremony, and ritual. It is the story of growing up in what seemed on the surface a more innocent era until one recalls the terror of polio, the paranoia of McCarthyism reflected even in the children's games, the obsession with A-bomb drills in school, and the ugly face of racial prejudice. It was a time whose relative tranquillity contained the seeds of the turbulent decade of the sixties. ... Read more

Reviews (105)

Wait Till Next Year Review
....

WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR is a story about a girl growing up in the suburbs on Long Island. What could be a boring life story, Doris Kearns Goodwin makes everything exciting, and a story worth telling. The book is an autobiography of her life. One story of hers that I especially liked is the author explaining her plan for her neighborhood to be safe if they got bombed by Russia. She explained that underneath the local stores were connected basements, large enough to fit her whole neighborhood to fit it. She would bring Monopoly, so she wouldn't be bored, and most importantly, her baseball cards.

The main character, the author, was a girl who thought differently than most young girls. She had many questions on religion, current events, and her family history, all at a young age. She explained things with comparisons like how when the Dogers left Brooklyn and Jackie Robinson retired, a chapter in her life closed.

I would recomend this book to almost anyone. Many people can relate to it. If you either grew up in the suburbs, lived with a sick loved one, or had a love for baseball, you should read WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR.

A must read for all!
Doris Kearns Goodwin is famous for her biographies, especially the Pulitzer Prize winning, NO ORDINARY TIME. Her new book, though, is not about someone else's life, it's about her own. "When I was six, my father gave me a bright-red score book that opened my heart to the game of baseball." Goodwin begins to recall the game that was her childhood into this "score book". Although the cover of her memoir, WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR, is not bright-red, it serves it's purpose well. Goodwin writes a "play by play" account of her life from the time she first recieved that score book till the end of her childhood at age fifteen. Underlying it all is her passion for baseball and the New York Dodgers and her hope that they will win the World Series. The author attributes her love of narration to baseball. Every day, Goodwin would recount to her father, using the system he taught her, that day's game as he got her ready for bed. As well as a sign of her father's love, this ritual introduced her to the art of storytelling. "It would instill me in an early awareness of the power of the narrative, which would introduce me to a lifetime of storytelling..." This book is filled with poignant stories about the relationships between the author and her family and friends. It also draws on the many experiences of Goodwin's from her first trip to Ebbet's Field, to her hero, Jackie Robinson. There are stories about her religious experiences as a Catholic, her obsession with James Dean and how, at first, television brought her neighborhood together. The significance of the era is portrayed well. For me, this book was particularly interesting because of my own love of baseball. Just reading it made me long for those hot summer days when major league baseball is played. I can also simpathize with Goodwin over how many times her team came close to winning the World Series. As a Cleveland Indian fan, I have been waiting my whole life for the Indians to be crowned champions. They have not one a World Series since my Dad was born, in 1948. This theme of resulted in the title of her book, a popular saying among Dodgers fans,"Wait till next year". Not only did the story amaze me, Goodwin is an extraordinary writer. Her writing clearly and smoothly tells her story. I could almost hear her narrate the book while once in a while two characters would have a conversation. I could visualize it all too. WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR is a passionate, well written, captivating book. A must read for all!

For Baseball lovers.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. She paints a picture of her childhood home Rockville Centre that is wonderful. She describes the baseball games with such detail. I honestly could not put the book down. I liked the way she discussed historical events throughout the book.

Surprisingly delightful!
Memoir of Doris Kearns' younger years, as an avid Brooklyn Dodgers fan. Although baseball was her obsession, the story is about much more than baseball - it's about life in the 50's, childhood spent outside or at the corner soda shop, the importance the community had at that time, and the troubles and changes that adolescence brings.

Great memoir, and incredibly well written and told. I thought the book was excellent, even though I glossed over the baseball parts of it! Read this for my library book group, I never would've picked this one up on my own.

A wonderful treat
I enjoyed this book the first and second time I read it. Doris Kerns Goodwin writes about her early years in post-war Long Island with grace.
This memoir reads like a charming novel - the details are wonderful, the characters are people we come to care about, and young Doris is someone you will smile with and cry with.
I've recommended this book to friends and students (I teach adult ed creative writing workshops). Everyone thanks me. If you want a good book by a good author check this one out. If you're considering writing your own memoir study WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR to see how it should be done! ... Read more

Download Description

For more than twenty years, Sultan Khan has defied the authorities, whether communist or Taliban, to supply books to the people of Kabul. He has been arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned, and has watched illiterate Taliban soldiers burn piles of his books in the street. Yet he has persisted in his passion for books, shedding light in one of the world's darkest places. This is the intimate portrait of a man of principle and of his family - two wives, five children, and many relatives sharing a small four-room apartment in this war-ravaged city.As they endure the extraordinary trials and tensions of Afghanistan's upheavals, they also still try to live ordinary lives, with work, relaxation, shopping, cooking, marriages, rivalries, and shared joys. Most of all, this is an intimate portrait of family life under Islam.Even after the Taliban's collapse, the women in Khan's family must submit to arranged marriages, polygamous husbands, and crippling limitations on their ability to travel, learn, and communicate with others.Seierstad lived with Khan's family for months, experiencing first-hand Afghani life as few outsiders have seen it. Stepping back from the page, she allows the Khans to speak for themselves, giving us a genuinely gripping and moving portrait of a family, and of a country of great cultural riches and extreme contradictions. ... Read more

Reviews (25)

No wonder the man is upset
...but Sultan Khan had his head in the clouds if he thought he was going to emerge from this journalist's immersion in his family's life looking like a benevolent god. He's suing her, as the book-reading world knows by now, for something like defamation of character. I'm sure he thought she would extol his virtues; instead, she wrote honestly of the fiercely patriarchal Afghanistan/Muslim traditional family structure that keeps his tyranny intact and subjugates all women, regardless of their educational level or social status.
The Bookseller of Kabul reads more like good New Journalism. It's not great literature; it's great reportage. But it gives a voice to the women in the extended Family (meant in the broadest sense of the word), a voice that speaks for millions of women in the Middle East, a voice that must be heard. Especially heartbreaking is the fate of Leila, sister of Sultan Khan, educated, literate, bright - but unable to speak up for herself to escape a lifetime of servitude.

THE MISOGYNIST OF KABUL
This weekend I was able to read two books that take place in Kabul, Afghanistan; the first, "The Swallows of Kabul," and the second, "The Bookseller of Kabul." The first is a novel, the second a work of non-fiction; the first concurrent with the reign of the Taliban, the second post-Taliban. Together they provide an interesting look at the horrors of religious fundamentalism in both its extreme and slightly more moderate aspects. I've reviewed, "The Swallows of Kabul," on its page.

"The Bookseller of Kabul," is an interesting piece of non-fiction that seems to have been touched by the author's imagination in a way that allows it to move like a novel rather than a pure piece of reportage. The author, Asne Seierstad, spent three months with Sultan Khan, the title's self-same bookseller, and if more factual than imaginative, became privy to the life and secrets of a family that though somewhat liberal should have kept their secrets a bit more private. Of course, it's to our benefit they didn't. It may also be to Ms. Seierstad's dismay as she faces Mr. Khan's (actual name: Shah Mohammed Rais) legal wrath. Mr. Khan/Rais is upset that his guest chose to portray the family, especially himself, in such a negative light. He has double reason to be upset: whether or not, or how much Ms. Seierstadt embellished, Mr. Khan/Rais is going to come out looking like household tyrant - it's only a matter of degrees.

For all its novelistic impulses and rhythms, "The Bookseller of Kabul," is less a psychological portrait than a soap-operatic gloss of "three months in the life." We discover very little "why," but quite a bit of "what," and the "what" is less than pretty. Whether it's the rape of a teenage beggar, or the marginalization of Mr.Khan/Rais's number one wife it seems that Ms. Seierstad's purpose is more to shine a light on Afghan misogynation than anything else, and in this she succeeds.

Whether pre or post-Taliban the Islam Westerners are only just beginning to view, (a cultural benefit of war?) treats women as a distinctly lower form of life - meant to be kept literally in the shadows. In fact, the omnipresent burqua ostensibly meant to protect women's and men's virtue, and whether in blue or black, reduces the wearer to the status of a shadow, neither to be viewed, acknowledged nor addressed. Interesting that women are objectified in the heightened fashion of the West as well as in the reductio of the burqua.

As far as it goes, "The Bookseller of Kabul," is a quick and interesting read, and another addition to the literature of the horrors of Afghanistan. But what would really be interesting would be some insight into love's survival because what we're being told of Islam is that if love survives at all it's in a stunted form. If true it's sad, and if not it's sadder still that we haven't heard differently.

One family in Afghanistan
First of all, I enjoyed the book. Secondly, it made me think. However, little of it was truly eye-opening, for me. I thought much of the misery was due to poverty and family in-fighting which could occur - to a lesser degree- in any country, including the United States. I had difficulty parsing out how much was due to Islam and how much was culture which is simply attributed to Islam. In the book "the Princess", the author states that Islam is not to be blamed for the horrors depicted, but the culture. Into the mix must be thrown the inaccessibility of obtaining an education in Kabul. As to the plight of women there, there must be some parents in that country who permit their daughters to marry for love. So I asked myself, "Did I really learn anything from reading this book?" The one thing which stands out in my mind is the chapter about the warlords. Eisner's book "Survivor of the Holocaust" also made this point, namely, that everyone is fighting everyone else. You can't win a football game without team spirit, without some cohesiveness, and respect for one's opponents. The ballot and the principle of 'may the best man win; and then live and let live' are necessary for a nation's progress. Without those, a country remains poor, primitive, uneducated, and miserable, because everyone is paranoid about the other guy and thus kills or is killed. This bookseller's family milieu is primitive and oppressive. Even though the bookseller is well-read, he has not incorporated the lessons in his books. He is the patriarch of the family and can determine to a great extent the happiness of his progeny, but he is a tyrant. The one relaxation of his tyranny is shown when he relents and allows his son to go on the pilgrimage to Mazar-i-Sharif. Well, at least female circumcision apparently is no longer practiced in Afghanistan, although there was no reference to it in this book. In summary, though the Moslems have a reputation for this kind of controlling behavior within their families, it would have been a better book if this sort of thing were put in perspective by telling something about families living there who were more liberal and permissive and what happened to the children of such families - if they stayed in Afghanistan.

Window into another world
I found this book fascinating and told many people about it. It offered a window into the everyday life of a family in Afghanistan as they try to cope with turbulent dangerous times. Life goes on, this is the time the people of Afghanistan have been given to live. I learned a lot about the culture and family structure. Asne Seierstad admits she was extremely angry about the treatment of women in the culture and it sounds like she let her feelings be known while she was there. First and foremost though, I think it is important to try to learn about and understand the culture before judging it from a western viewpoint. For me, this book provided one building block of that learning.

Mistitled
This book should not have been named for a Bookseller. More aptly, it should have been entitled: "Downtrodden Women of Iraq".

The prologue explains that the author persuaded the Bookseller, Sultan Kahn, to allow her to live with his family. He is a successful businessman and a traditional Afghani male head of household. The book does not track him so much as it does the rest of the family.

The book takes place after the fall of the Taliban. The author gives the reader little knowledge or information about what is going on in Kabul or the country as whole. Instead she goes into the minutae of the family's life with an especial emphasis on the women. There are endless descriptions of burkhas and the tribulations of wearing them. Endless descriptions of arranged marriages and the relationship - or rather lack thereof - between unmarried men and women.

The writing is merely okay. Something might have been lost in translation because there is certainly nothing challenging in the vocabulary. At times the writing seemed demeaningly elementary - we'll blame the translator.

The book has intimate insight into an Afghani middle class family - the oppressively traditional father, women under the yoke of that tradition and the filthy living conditions. For all of that it is very good.

I was hoping for a bit more of the "big picture" of a country (hopefully) coming out of decades of war. There was very little along that vein. This was a few month look at one family.

All in all, an okay book. Good if you are looking for Afghani family life. Not so good if you are looking for something more. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

A NEW SYNTHESYS FOR AN OLD DILLEMMA
Dr. Mitchell asks the same questions as all seekers, and rightly connects the search for knowledge about self with the search for an understanding of the universe. He begins his book with a short personal history, bringing the reader up to a description of his incredible journey to the moon. As a US Apollo astronaut, he walked on the lumar surface. During the journey back to earth, he experienced a sudden insight about the nature of reality, an understanding that came from an unknown source. The experience most resembled the reports of mystics, who generally ascribe a religious meaning to it. Mitchell has spent the years since that journey searching for a way to understand the experience, a way to bring together the disparate ways of knowing, the way of science and the way of religion.

While it is fascinating to read his descriptions of the view of earth from space and to know that seeing our beautiful mother earth from that vantage point could trigger such insights, what Mitchell describes is an experience many, many people have, as he later came to realize. It is the experience of "knowing without knowing how you know." Sometimes the knowing concerns the nature of reality, as when you get the sense of the unity of all things, and sometimes it is a psychic insight, as in knowing someone has just died. Sometimes it is the amazing synchronicities that happen when you cease to believe they cannot happen.

This source of knowledge is real, so how does it work? There is no accepted scientific answer. At least there wasn't until Mitchell took on the task and gave us his dyadic theory of reality. It is an interesting explanation. The universe, in this view, evolved not just from energy but always incorporated intention. Consciousness is inherent in the universe and that is why, in the mystical experience, everything seems alive. There is no difference between the consciousness of my aloe plant on the windowsill, my cat who purrs beside me, and me. We use consciousness differently perhaps, but my plant grows better when I love it and want it to grow, I somehow know when my cat is outside the front door and wants to come in, and I use my consciousness to read books and learn more about my world. But the me that is sitting here looking out at everything else is victim of an illusion. It is only through working at techniques to shut out externals that it is possible to gain some realization of the unity, or to put it another way, to access the web that connects everything and that is the actual source of the knowledge that comes to us in these "mystical" experiences.

Dr. Mitchell's book takes us into heavy material, not always easy to grasp, and sometimes possessing its own assumptions. He seems intent on eliminating religious metaphors completely, as if providing an explanation that "works" means there is no longer a use for the concept of God. I have to agree with him that the long-standing practice of representatives of religious organizations of dismissing anything without a scientific explanation as "a miracle of God" (or sometimes as "the work of the devil") has retarded our ability to scrutinize any actual process at work. Likewise, it isn't helpful when scientists simply dismiss anything that doesn't fit their current understanding of reality -- Uri Geller must be a fraud because science can't explain how he bends those spoons. And since Uri is not a saintly person, it must not be "a miracle."

Because "God" is used to cover everything for which there is no scientific explanation does not invalidate the concept of a supreme presence, just as science is not useless even though it is intolerant of alternate explanations. It seems to me Mitchell neglects the idea of "purpose" just as he does not accept reincarnation, suggesting the past lives remembered are the result of accessing the universal web, the holographic record of everything (much like Edgar Cayce's "Akashic Record"). Could this be just a semantic difference, if we are all part of the same consciousness? While Mitchell's concepts "fit" the essentially religious experiences of those who believe in the immortality of the soul, it does not encompass the soul's purpose of perfecting itself through lifetimes of spiritual growth.

As I read this book, I found Mitchell has read the same authors I've read, and he mentions the same cast of characters with whom seekers are familiar, whether they write from a research, mystical or physics point of view. His desire to reconcile science and religion is the same desire many of us share. The journey inward is as worthwhile as the journey to other planets. Our yearning to know who we are can only be satisfied when we truly achieve the synthesis Dr. Mitchell seeks. You'll have to read and decide if Mitchell, as an explorer extraordinaire, has found the answer.

Please write more books,Dr. Mitchell about Apollo 14 !
Apollo 14 was one of the few missions that I know litle about; simply because not enough time and attention has been dedicated to it! Dr. Ed Mitchell,Apollo 14 lunar module pilot, tells us in a very open way his inner-most feelings about the mission to The Moon, and how it altered his life,and inner ways of thinking; regarding life and the universe! Telling the reader that what he felt and saw: during, and mainly after his return to Earth; how our universe couldn't have just happened,but rather, has a special purpose and significance and a meaning to its existence! i believe in God, and have heard many pros and cons said about this book! Well let me say that as a true believer in CHRIST and GOD, I feel that Dr. Mitchell has a very open and well-educated mind as a scientist/explorer; and merely tells us that there is in fact a creator, and a purpose for the creation of the universe, and a reason for its being; relating science/religion together,which, to me, makes a whole lot of good sense.and purpose, to those of us that are real thinkers and have a real open mind to the things around us in the whole universe; not just planet Earth! Dr. Mitchell should know, hes been there (MOON) AND DONE THAT! i'M VERY RELIGIOUS INWARDLY, AND STILL THINK YOUR BOOK IS WELL DONE! Good job Dr. Mitchell! Your one of the few very open-minded/rational good thinkers of the century! If only more would have your intellect, mayby we wouldnt have the world problems we have today, and would have already had a base on Moon, and missions to Mars, already underway!

Exploring Invisible Realities
Edgar Mitchell founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1972, as he began a quest for common ground between science and spirit following his life-altering experience of walking on the surface of the moon. Mitchell's autobiographical book THE WAY OF THE EXPLORER describes in thrilling detail his experiences with the Apollo missions, as well as his subsequent exploration of the fields of consciousness and paranormal phenomenon. Mitchell's heart-warming accounts of his feelings as he walked on the moon, and then traveled back through space to see how "the heavens and earth tumbled alternately in and out of view in the small capsule window" are gracefully combined with his insightful observations of the nature of consciousness and reality. We can all benefit from experiencing the Earth as Mitchell does... as one planet interconnected with each and every one of us. I was so moved by what Mitchell wrote about seeing Uri Geller bend spoons and bring lost objects across space and time that it inspired me to see Geller bend one of my (very SOLID stainless steel spoons) in person in October 1999. I love this book's timeless wisdom, beauty, and depth so much that I return to it again and again. It's a powerful book that touches my heart and greatly inspires me!

Not worth your money.
I thought this book was going to be more about an insightful philosophy. But instead, over half deals with Mitchell's experience as an astronaut and his personal life. Mitchell claims to have a magic recipe - a "dyadic model", which is the thoughtful merger of science and spirituality. I thought it would make an adequate inclusion of spirituality, but instead, the author examines certain mystical phenomena and promptly claims to take the truth from each...in his own fashion, and then retorts that such and such people's view about the event...many of its interpretations, were wrong. This is not a merger of science and spirituality, it is taking all the meat from a spiritual body and just leaving the bones. This debases and is insulting to many spiritual and cultural traditions throughout the world. This is just a propaganda for Mitchell's own particular, quasi atheist view of reality, and one that serves to finance his institute.

Moonwalker becomes Ghost Buster!
Edgar Mitchell asks Uri Geller if he would be so good as to retrieve a camera he left on the moon during Apollo 14. Sure Uri will give it a try. After all the moon is only about 240,000 miles away, how hard can it be? Later they are dining in the SRI cafeteria when Uri cuts his lip on a sharp piece of metal. It's not the camera but Mitchell's long lost tie tack! Thank God for that! Had that bulky 70 mm Hasselblad materialized in Uri's mouth his head would have exploded like a Halloween Pumpkin packed with an M-80! They'd have been wiping what was left of his brains off the ceiling!

Being a psychic is no job for wimps that's for sure! And yet they come across as a strikingly tempermental lot. Norbu Chen jealous of Mitchell's all too obvious infatuation with Geller uses psychokinesis to reduce Mitchell's gold ring into a twisted lump of scrap metal. However Mitchell is not the slightest bit upset or should I say, "bent out of shape."

In a nut shell this is what I hate about psychics. It's not that the laws of physics don't apply to them. It's that the laws of society-and much more importantly-the laws of common decency don't apply. Had Chen thrown a brick through the windshield of Mitchell's car or smashed that ring with a hammer he would have been guilty of a criminal act of vandalism and considered emotionally unbalanced. But it was his psychic power which destroyed that treasured piece of jewelry and this makes all the difference in the world. Mitchell writes, "Norbu Chen was clearly a very powerful man." Humm...

As a boy I idealized Mitchell as I idealized all the Moonwalkers. That's why this book was so painful for me to read. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (31)

A spirit free behind bars
This is one of those very rare books that can change your life forever. I was so rapt by this story that I only put it down once (to sleep) and called in sick to work the next morning in order to finish it.

There are many stories of the white man's greed and injustice towards Native Americans, but this is more than just that. It is the story of a man unbowed by years of brutal imprisonment. This man's story transcends race and speaks to the freedom-loving soul in us all.

Through his art, writing, political activism, and spirituality Peltier has accomplished more in Federal Prison than most free men do in a lifetime. His courage and determination as a spirit-warrior are undeniable.

Reading this book makes it clear that this man's imprisonment does not bring justice to the families of Ron Williams and Jack Coler. Two agents who sadly lost their lives in what can only be described as a tragic and brutal blunder by the FBI.

This book proves that there are places in the human psyche that no prison can hold. If this book were required reading for every high-school aged child it would go a long way to repairing America's soul. His life is a lesson to us all.

Write to Leonard at:
Leonard Peltier #89637-132
PO Box 1000
Leavenworth, KS 66048

Stirring...a must read if you have any compassion
This well written book not only makes you have more compassion for Leonard Peltier, it also boils the blood to know he is still incarcerated for a wrong he has not committed.

I could not put this book down once I started reading it. In one day it was finished. It also reminded me of a saying of my generation, "Question Authority."

Leonard has in these writings opened his soul and presented the reader with a look into his life as U.S.P. #89637-132. The reading saddened me, but at the same time it stirred emotions of anger.

The documented lies that led to his arrest and conviction have done nothing to speed his release. Mr. President, you have the power with the touch of your pen to right this terrible wrong.

In the Spirit of Leonard, ho!

AIM
I have read every (just about) American Indian book that has meaning and truth to it. Leonard Peltier is a man who means a lot to just about every Indian and every non Indian who knows his story. I would do some online research about him and what was going in South Dakota during the 70s prior to this book in order to understand the magnatude of BS this man has endured (not only him but American Indians as well). He tells his story, his feelings and his thoughts. He had my upmost respect prior to reading this book and this book has helped me "get to know" him.
It's a great book. You won't be disappointed.

Moving
A moving account of being in prison. Leonard Peltier, despite being in prison, is still a force to be reckoned with. His words are painful and truthful. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the truth.

Conformity, assimilation, and opression
What the land of the free whoever told you that was your enemy!Since the first spaniar set foot on turtle island this country has never been the same.Manisfest destiny was there excuse, but that just what it was, an excuse.Leornard Peltier is a prime example of the opression that has kept the native americans under the steeled toe boots of the US government.Me bieng part native american myself this book is a huge inspiration to me.It gives me pride for my culture and the strength to fight the racism in our society that i face every day.Peltier has been incarcirated for nearly 25 years and is still as pacient as he was from day one.The governmaent's attitude towards Peltier is one of complacence.They dont care.This book is basically one of the saddest but at the same time most inspirational story's ever written.No matter what race you are this is a must readand hopefully it will open peoples eyes to the corrupt US government. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Inscribed on a wall at Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia, is a quote from the Bible: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). On the other side of the lobby, five rows of stars are etched into the white marble wall, each representing a CIA officer killed in the line of duty. Below the stars is a case containing the "Book of Honor"--"a tome as sacred to the Agency as if it held a splinter of the true cross," writes Ted Gup--and in it are the names of the men and women who gave their lives serving the CIA. Well, not all the names; about half the entries are blank because the CIA says it doesn't want to compromise ongoing operations. Yet, as Gup argues in his own tome, also called The Book of Honor, the truth behind many of the stories that aren't being told threatens nothing--except perhaps the agency's own sense of shame over botched operations.

Gup, a well-known investigative reporter with experience at The Washington Post and Time, interviewed hundreds of current and former CIA case officers to tell the stories behind the stars. "In the aggregate, the stories of the stars form a kind of constellation that, once connected, reveal not only the CIA's history but something of its soul as well," he writes. Yet this is, thankfully, not an indiscrete book. He writes of "a young woman who died a violent and selfless death in 1996 ... her name is withheld from this book. The Agency made a compelling case that to identify her would put others at risk." The bulk of The Book of Honor does, in fact, name names and describe how they died. In this sense, it is similar to the runaway bestseller Blind Man's Bluff, which described the secret history of American submarine espionage during the cold war. Yet what's most striking about Gup's accounts is how many of the deaths were routine or accidental. Many agents merely had the misfortune of being on planes that crashed--hardly the stuff of a James Bond adventure. Throughout, Gup is sensitive to a situation in which, "between the values of an open society and the demands of a craft rooted in deception and betrayal, the CIA is asked to steer an uneasy, often irreconcilable course." This fascinating book strikes a clean blow for the open society--but it serves a larger purpose as well: telling the truth. --John J. Miller ... Read more

Reviews (40)

Much needed sunshine on CIA operations
First a five-star award for non-fiction by this reviewer (retired after 35 years service) is rare, very rare for my review of books about intelligence. This is a good book! It is good reading for anyone age 16 or older, casual reader to university professor. It is required reading for anyone serving in the intelligence or diplomatic fields - soldier or statesman. I was impressed that this is Ted Gup's first book, it is truly superb. Gup's research is among the best and most complete I have ever reviewed regarding this subject area. Book of Honor is about a small part of the CIA called the Deputy Director for Operations or DDO and about an even smaller part of the DDO that conducts clandestine, covert, and surreptitious operations overseas. It is a series of true action stories about the events of the men and women that died in the service of the CIA from its inception after WW II to the present. The author is fidelis honoring those who died and earned a listing in the "Book of Honor." You'll meet real heroes here. My favorite, whom I have long considered one of the bravest men I ever knew - Dick Holm. But, that's only part of the value of this living history. There is a second story between the lines for the more experienced reader. It is a story about an intelligence agency often more involved with nitwitery (like that in Laos) than sound objective or purpose. The reader will bounce between admiration of exceptional individual accomplishment and disbelief at the level of institutional incompetence by often unqualified managers - more mangers than leaders. This is a story too often about "playing army" than spying. Readers will cringe at a bureaucratic contest between better equipped and better trained military special operations units and CIA teams usually comprised of ex-military contract employees. Policy and law makers will see first hand the inherent problems of an intelligence agency wasting limited resources and valuable time trying to fight violent enemies at the expense of making sound intelligence about critical issues needed by others. The author includes a lucid passage attributed to members of US Army Detachment Delta - You just didn't know if you could trust the CIA. They were speaking about the reliability of both CIA intelligence and operational truthfulness and their assessment is directly on target. The CIA plays games when professionalism is needed. Too many CIA secrets are maintained more to protect incompetence than national security. The author with the help of many within the agency provides needed sunshine with the right blend of integrity and caution. There is no horse manure in this book.

Intriguing and enlighting
Forever interested in the CIA and it's operatives, I was anxious to pick up a copy of "THE BOOK OF HONOR" and nearly content with what I learned. Ted Gup's writing is enthralling and very real as he delves into the lives of a handful of CIA operatives and the classified missions that ultimately led to their deaths. I was most amazed to find out that these operatives are far from the James Bond characters I had imagined! I truly recommend this book as it explains two sides to each story: one from a human-interest point of view, with many in-depth interviews of surviving friends and family members, while also explaining the secrecy of cover-ups by the CIA. Definitely NOT for the conspiracy-theory types out there!

A totally different slant than I expected...
I will be honest in that I couldn't get all the way through this book. When the initial monologue started off with the author's assessment that The Agency was "founded on a basis of deceit", I winced. Then, shortly after, the author talked about his motivation for the book. Speaking about those on the wall, he wrote "They are people that, given the life they chose, probably would prefer to be in anonymity up there on the wall. But, I decided that it was important to me to tell their story." That statement made me shut off, because it was obvious this book was not about honoring those who had died in their country's service. Rather, their lives were an intellectual curiousity to the author, and what they would have wanted was less important than the author's belief that as a journalist, his needs are most important.

Bottom line is that if you are looking for an exposé that attempts to make the US look bad in an attempt to sell books, go for it. If you are looking for something that is honoring those fallen in the way they wished to be honored, do not buy this book.

A history that is long overdue
This is a book about the lives, and deaths, of some of our nation's heroes; stories that have been hidden for decades in some cases.

The author has researched the deaths of CIA agents killed in the line of duty, since the inception of the Agency. Even today some of the stories he relates are officially "classified." The truths about most of these lives should have been released by our government long ago, since it is well past the time that any national security issues would be at stake.

I found the book quite interesting--not only did the author tell a good story (or stories), but it gave me a better understanding of how the CIA works--a topic I haven't pursued up to this point.

Thorough reporting on the people behind the job.
Mr. Gup has done an incredible job on the putting together the lives and missions of some of America's unknown and unsung heroes.

This is not a Clany-esque book by any means. What this is is a collection of biographies of some of the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the CIA and USA. It is an in-depth view at the types of character it takes to work a thankless job in remote, hostile and harsh environments. It talks of the resolve (to the point of stubborness) of some men who faced life in a foriegn prison, rather than admit they were a spy (and subsequently be released back to the US - something happening to others around them).

Although some of the people died in random acts of violence that did not specifically target them, they are still powerful and moving stories of their lives surrounding service, and the families they left behind. He chronicles some of the stories of the families who suffering immense loss, were lied to or had information with held from them in the name of "national security". Not even in death could the truth come out about many of these people. The irony is, there are many cases for national security. However, there seems to be no time frame for the grieving for when they may find out the truth (some waiting more than 30 years), or be able to celebrate the fact that deceased died for America rather than for a dummy corporation as a "civilian employee".

Overall, this is a humbling book that proves no matter how trivial some of the work may seem, no matter how much information is received on "America's interests", the true value of that work and that information can be very costly. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

First history book I truly enjoyed reading.
Levy brings to brilliant light a piece of early American history that famous historians have routinely ignored or overlooked.He suggests that, if Robert Carter's act had been widely known, "the whole thing -- the Civil War, Jim Crow, the Ku Klux Klan . . . could have whimpered and died in the Potomac tidewater." Powerful and thought provoking.

A Carter who actually did something IMPORTANT!!!
This is a must read for any fan of American biography,

The author, Andrew Levy, got his M.A. from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. That is enough for me.

One editoial review called this work "luminous". Wow. What an under statement.

Get this book from your local public library or better yet buy it from Amazon.com. It is a keeper.

Robert Carter comes across under the able pen of Andrew Levy as a real, live Virginia planter of the 18th century. His wife was a virtual "foreigner" since she was a native of Baltimore County and of an arising industrial class.

One negative comment: Andrew, more pictures and maps would have been very helpful. The color picture of Robert Carter on the dust jacket is great but just not enough. He was not half-bad looking. I want to see what Mrs. Carter and some of the little Carters looked like.

This is just a super book. I am loving it. Looks like major epic movie material to me but they would probably screw it up. ... Read more

Book Description

"Succeeds more than any previous book in bringing Ali into focus . . . as a starburst of energy, ego and ability whose like will never be seen again."--The Wall Street Journal

"Best Nonfiction Book of the Year"--Time

"Penetrating . . . reveal[s] details that even close followers of [Ali] might not have known. . . . An amazing story." --The New York Times

On the night in 1964 that Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) stepped into the ring with Sonny Liston, he was widely regarded as an irritating freak who danced and talked way too much. Six rounds later Ali was not only the new world heavyweight boxing champion: He was "a new kind of black man" who would shortly transform America's racial politics, its popular culture, and its notions of heroism.
        No one has captured Ali--and the era that he exhilarated and sometimes infuriated--with greater vibrancy, drama, and astuteness than David Remnick, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Lenin's Tomb (and editor of The New Yorker). In charting Ali's rise from the gyms of Louisville, Kentucky, to his epochal fights against Liston and Floyd Patterson, Remnick creates a canvas of unparalleled richness. He gives us empathetic portraits of wisecracking sportswriters and bone-breaking mobsters; of the baleful Liston and the haunted Patterson; of an audacious Norman Mailer and an enigmatic Malcolm X. Most of all, King of the World does justice to the speed, grace, courage, humor, and ebullience of one of the greatest athletes and irresistibly dynamic personalities of our time.

"Nearly pulse-pounding narrative power . . . an important account of a period in American social history." --Chicago Tribune

"A pleasure . . . haunting . . . so vivid that one can imagine Ali saying, 'How'd you get inside my head, boy?'" --Wilfrid Sheed, Time ... Read more

Reviews (71)

Ali as agent of social change?
I found David Remnick's story of the rise of Ali quite compelling, and that's coming from someone who doesn't even like boxing. The brash young confident kid is portrayed in great detail but the portraits of the other major figures: Liston and Patterson are just as engrossing. Remnick writes well, mixes the story with telling anecdotes and chronicles Ali's rise in the context of the social changes of the time.

The book is accurately called 'the rise'; you don't get a lot of the mature Ali and his fights after his comeback. My main question about the book, and it's one the book doesn't answer; exactly HOW did this sometimes loathed figure; an outsider in a religious and racial sense from the authorities, become such a modern day hero? Exactly how did that happen? There's a book there waiting to be written.

In the meantime enjoy this one.

Good book, even if you don't like to read
This book I would recommend to all the people who either like boxing or Muhammed Ali. I would also recommend this to people who don't like to read because you would enjoy it and keep reading until its done. This book is about Ali at his best. From his childhood days to his greatest boxing match ever. This a nonfiction book that tells about Ali's career and the other boxers of his time, which include Floyd Patterson and Sonny Linston. Their fights took place in the 1960's. The best fight ever in this book was held in Miami Beach against Sonny Liston. This fight was exciting because Ali was the underdog of the fight and won it when Sonny Liston just gave up. The worst thing about this book is that it didn't fully describe all the other fights in his career.

The Titans Reigned Supreme
The Titans Reigned Supreme

Fantastic book - more than just the Ali Story -

This is one of the best-written and thought out books of the happenings amongst a small circle of the greatest heavy weights.

You get a rare insight into the lives and minds of Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston and Cassius Clay - and the awakening/becoming of Muhammad Ali

I went into this book wanting to feed my hunger for knowledge of Muhammad Ali and came out of with a craving for more Sonny Liston - I now want to know all I can about him.

Only a brief period in time is covered - but it's an in-depth look at that time and the people and the places that made up boxing and some of the world outside boxing.

This is a great book for anyone interested in these titans - for anyone interested in Patterson, Liston and Ali - for anyone interested in the history of legends.

One of the best books I've experienced - I truly felt like I was there at times - in that era - that energy of the people and the times

This is one of those books where you wish there was a part 2

muhammed ali discussed
the author is a very good writer and his style here makes this book a good read. impressive. the location of the photographs are well placed--not all in the center as in most books--but advantageously placed at the beginning of some chapters. a good read.

Liston, Patterson.
Covers three fights: Liston, Liston, Patterson. Much discussion of those opponents. More sport and less deadening Black Muslim/Malcolm X would have been better. Mentions Patterson's "vacances au soliel." Who the hell do you think is reading this book? ... Read more

Book Description

"In a word, LAUREN BACALL BY MYSELF is terrific...one of the real-life heroines of our time...and she wrote this book as she lived it."
BOSTON GLOBE
"She's a real Joe. You'll fall in love with her like everybody else."
-Humphrey Bogart
... Read more

Reviews (12)

A Life Well-Lived Makes for Good Reading
I like a good star biography (or autobiography) as much as the next person, but this one is exceptional. Lauren "Betty" Bacall is an intelligent, humorous and honest writer. Her romance with Bogie, as she tells it in the book, becomes even more legendary. A densely written autobiography, it is still a page turner and kept my interest even after I had read past the zenith of her career (which is where I usually put the book down and move on). If you are interested in the Golden Age of Hollywood, the Studio System, Great Movie Stars and Famous Lovers--this is the book for you.

A Personal Favorite
Neither judgmental nor defensive, "Lauren Bacall, By Myself" is the best autobiography I have ever read. Extensive and quite well-written, it covers so much ground that fans of the old Hollywood and Broadway days will doubtless love this book whether they particularly like Bacall herself or not. I liked the fact that she did not divide the book into chapters; life is not that way and reading this bio is just like stepping into Bacall's life and seeing it with your own eyes. Cleverly titled (am I the only one who senses a double meaning) and full of life, "Lauren Bacall, By Myself" is a literary achievement for Bacall and a great pleasure for any reader.

A look into a legend's life
She was the husky-voiced rising star, and he was the grizzled veteran. While "Laurel Bacall: By Myself" covers much of Bacall's life, the centerpiece of it is her marriage to Humphrey Bogart. Here Bacall reflects back on her eventful life, relationship and how things are for her since.

Teenage Betty Bacall first saw Humphrey Bogart in "Casablanca," and decidedly did not think he was sexy. But she started to think otherwise when she became a rising model-turned-starlet in Hollywood, a nervous budding It-girl. She met and befriended Bogart, then trapped in an alcoholic, abusive marriage with a woman he didn't love.

Their friendship quickly become a hidden love affair, despite their age difference. After his divorce from third wife Mayo, the two of them married and had two children, until Bogart's untimely death of cancer. Bacall chronicles her sorrow at his loss, and her life "by herself."

Bacall does a good job with this biography. She writes her own life story as a smart but insecure woman who isn't afraid to reveal her embarrassments and flaws. She comes across as a lot stronger than she believes herself to be, though she falters quite a bit in middle-age. At times Bacall may frustrate readers by being somewhat clueless about her own relationships and marriages (drinking and marital discord).

"By Myself" is not exceptionally written, however; the style is quite plain and lacks quite a few details. Bacall compensates somewhat with her dry, self-deprecating wit and forthrightness. There's a bit of lingering displeasure with some people like her ex-husband and Bogart's ex-wife Mayo, but Bacall keeps any negative feelings strictly reined in, and her discreet.

Don't expect lots of dirt and dish -- Bacall clearly isn't interested in talking about glitz and tawdry little affairs people around her were having. Nor does she name-drop a lot -- after all, why would Lauren Bacall have to? Rather she's interested in the solid, serious romance she and Bogie had, and the day-to-day life of acting, and her family with her adoring, very supportive mother and her children.

This is "old Hollywood" as people like to remember it. For fans of real love and romance, not to mention old Hollywood, this is a must-read.

An actress different than I expected
I enjoyed this book by an actress whom I've always thought of as a gutsy, take-charge kind of woman. It was surprising to discover that she was so innocent and sheltered when she started out in Hollywood, and to an extent continued to be once she became Humphrey Bogart's wife. I actually didn't expect so many pages about their privileged life full of upper crust friends (I got a bit tired of the name dropping). The description of Bogart's decline and death from cancer was harrowing. Bacall describes her work on Broadway in an interesting way. She was certainly less sure of herself, even into her 30s and 40s, than I ever expected. The book is certainly humanizing, and I admire the fact that she didn't mind that.

Autobiography, Love Story, ect.
Great instite to the life a Hollywood legend. Ms. Bacall speaks candidly about a truly amazing life. Unlike other autobiographies she includes hard times and faces up to mistakes she's made. The love story between her and Bogie is amazing and it's refreshing that she doesn't embellish it while sharing something so personal. Loved the sense of humor and class. Thoughout all the tragedies in her life she mainly focuses on it's positive aspects. ... Read more