biogrpahy

Oct 20 2009

In the Mail

–> Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do by Wednesday Martin

Library Journal

Martin has written an eye-opening book about the world of stepfamilies, with a focus on the stepmother. Her well-researched work delves into the animal world, fairy tales, psychology, and sociobiology as she examines from every angle the myth that a well-blended, happy stepfamily is easy to achieve. Sometimes offering differing points of view, she describes examples from animal and bird families, demonstrating the great diversity throughout the animal kingdom and the behavior of many creatures in nonnuclear families. Many animals are not leading the life portrayed in The Brady Bunch any more than the people with whom Martin talked. While the author admits that there are some families who manage to work well, she was reassured in her own role as stepmother that the frustrations she has experienced are not at all uncommon. Stepmothers, no matter how hard they try, are battling odds that appear to be stacked against them. Martin’s questions about the normality of her experience will help validate those who find themselves in a similar situation.

–> The Michael Jackson Tapes by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach

From the Publisher

In 2000–2001, Michael Jackson sat down with his close friend and spiritual guide, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, to record what turned out to be the most intimate and revealing conversations of his life. It was Michael’s wish to bare his soul and unburden himself to a public that he knew was deeply suspicious of him. The resulting thirty hours are the basis of The Michael Jackson Tapes. There has never been, and never will be, anything like them.

In these searingly honest conversations, Michael exposes his emotional pain and profound loneliness, his longing to be loved, and the emptiness of his fame. You discover why he was suspicious of women and how only children provided the innocence for which he so desperately longed.

In his own words, he takes us into the jarring moments of his childhood and speaks of the measures he took to try and heal. He divulges how he came to be alienated from his strong religious anchor and describes his views on the nature of faith. Michael brings us into his tortured yet loving relationship with his siblings. He opens up about his father and his yearning for a time when they might finally reconcile. He talks about his most personal friendships and shares with us his terror of growing old.

Despite his unprecedented fame and recent death, there remain unanswered questions about his life. The answers, presented here in The Michael Jackson Tapes, will both intrigue and move you. You will be surprised, riveted, and troubled as you peer into the soul of a tragic icon whose life is an American morality tale and whose flame was extinguished much too early.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , , , ,

Feb 12 2009

Honest Abe’s 200th

One of the perennial problems us book addicts have is that the books we want to read always outstrip the books we can read.  And as a blogger I regularly dream of connecting my reading to current events and/or holidays and presenting a timely and insightful commentary on the appropriate date.

Alas, it is most often not to be.  And today’s 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln‘s birthday is no different.  I had grand plans only to fall behind schedule and miss the deadline.  There will be no great Abraham Lincoln post from me today I am afraid (except this one).  Instead, I thought I might point out some books on Lincoln that might be of interest to readers.

Let me start with a book I have read, Thomas Keneally’s Penguin Lives Series volume on Abraham Lincoln.  I am a big fan of the series and have collected, and read, quite a few of the volumes.  I concluded my review of Keneally this way:

If you are looking for an in-depth and analytical study of Lincoln, Keneally’s work is really not for you. If on the other hand you are looking for a brief but fascinating narrative of his life, this work might suit you. It is an interesting and easy read largely because the subject is so fascinating and important.

There is no shortage of large tomes on Lincoln so if, like me, you enjoy shorter works Keneally is a good place to start.

I have already mentioned in these pages my guilt (this is a reoccurring problem and thus complaint) over not having read The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln by John Stauffer. At that time I wanted to read it for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday.  But it equally applies to Lincoln’s Birthday.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. had this to say about this interesting book:

John Stauffer’s collective biography of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln stands apart from other biographies by focusing on how each man continually remade himself, with help from women, words, self-education, physical strength, and luck. In the process Stauffer gives us the texture and feel–a “thick description”–of the strange worlds that Douglass and Lincoln inhabited. The result is a path-breaking work that dissolves traditional conceptions of these two seminal figures (Lincoln the “redeemer” president, Douglass the assimilationist). He reveals how Douglass towered over Lincoln as a brilliant orator, writer, agitator, and public figure for most of his life. He shows us how words became potent weapons for both men. And he tells the poignant story of how these preeminent self-made men ultimately converged, despite their vastly different agendas and politics, and helped transform the nation.

And last but not least, another book in the TBR pile is 1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History by Charles Bracelen Flood.  Publishers Weekly offered this Starred Review:

Critically acclaimed historian Flood (Grant and Sherman: The Friendship that Won the Civil War) provides a brilliant, compelling account of Lincoln’s dramatic final full year of life-a year in which the war finally turned in the Union’s favor and Lincoln faced a tough battle for re-election. After Union defeats at the Battle of Cold Harbor and the siege of Petersburg, Confederate General Jubal Early came within five miles of Washington, D.C., before he was beaten back; General Sherman’s September victory at Atlanta followed, with his bloody march to the sea. At the same time, Lincoln found himself running against his own secretary of the treasury, Salmon Chase, for the Republican nomination, and then against the Democrat (and general) George B. McClellan for the presidency. Lincoln won by a narrow popular majority, but a significant electoral majority. At the close of 1864, as Lincoln celebrated both his re-election and the coming end of the war, John Wilkes Booth laid down an ambitious plan for kidnapping that soon evolved into a map for murder. Combining a novelist’s flair with the authority and deep knowledge of a scholar, Flood artfully integrates this complex web of storylines.

So if you are looking for some books on Lincoln in honnor of his bicentenial birthday all of the above are worthy of consideration.

If you have a favorite book on Lincoln drop it in the comment section below.

By Kevin Holtsberry • News • 0 • Tags: , ,

Feb 5 2009

In the Mail

–> The Fearless Fish Out of Water: How to Succeed When You’re the Only One Like You by Robin Fisher-Roffer

Description

Everyone’s felt out of place at some point – be they female, minority, a geek, a non-conformist, or just boldly individual. Fearless Fish will show readers how to stay connected while maintaining a unique identity, how to fit in without blending in, how to transform exclusion and have an impact. After all, there is tremendous opportunity for influence when you’re on the edge — you’re already noticed! Fearless Fish will demonstrate how to make the most out of being noticed as you gain the tools for becoming more of who you are, instead of trying to change who you are. It will help readers use the tools they already have to find everything they want in their careers — without sacrificing their souls.

–>Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse by Thomas E. Woods Jr.

Description

If you are fed up with Washington boondoggles, and you like the small-government, politically-incorrect thinking of Ron Paul, then you’ll love Tom Woods’s Meltdown. In clear, no-nonsense terms, Woods explains what led up to this economic crisis, who’s really to blame, and why government bailouts won’t work. Woods will reveal:

* Which brave few economists predicted the economic fallout–and why nobody listened
* What really caused the collapse
* Why the Fed–not taxpayers–should have to answer for the current economic crisis
* Why bailouts are band-aids that will only provide temporary relief and ultimately make things worse
* What we should do instead, to put our economy on a healthy path to recovery

With a foreword from Ron Paul, Meltdown is the free-market answer to the Fed-created economic crisis. As the new Obama administration inevitably calls for more regulations, Woods argues that the only way to rebuild our economy is by returning to the fundamentals of capitalism and letting the free market work.

–> She Always Knew How: Mae West, a Personal Biography by Charlotte Chandler

Description

In She Always Knew How, her wonderful new biography of legendary actress Mae West, acclaimed biographer Charlotte Chandler draws on a series of interviews she conducted with the star just months before her death in 1980. From their first meeting, where West held out a diamond-covered hand in greeting and lamented her interviewer’s lack of jewels, to their farewell, where the star was still gamely offering advice on how to attract men, Mae West and Charlotte Chandler developed a warm rapport that glows on every page of this biography . . . In addition to her extensive interviews of Mae West, Chandler also spoke with actors and directors who worked with and knew the star, the man with whom she lived for the last twenty-seven years of her life, as well as her closest assistant at the end of her life. Their comments and insights enrich this fascinating book. She Always Knew How captures the voice and spirit of this unique actress as no other biography ever has.

By Kevin Holtsberry • In The Mail • 0 • Tags: , , , ,