Reviews (322)

Excellent book!
Joan Didion is able to capture for the reader what a terrible ordeal losing any loved one is, let alone two within a very short time. She deals with the fast death of her husband and the longer, slow death of her daughter. The writing is excellent, the sadness you feel is unbelievably real. What's true is that in all of our lives, what is one way one minute can change ever so quickly the next.Ms. Didion captures this feeling to a tee.

A beautiful book, but it's not really intended for other people
I'm trying to think of how to delicately recommend against reading Joan Didion's latest (for which she won a National Book Award). Some disjointed notes:
Two types of Research
More than anything else, I think Didion's latest book shows her truest colorsas a reporter.Though ostensibly a memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking is at its center an in-depth investigative report on the effects of grief, from its onset and onward a year.Didion blends research in the "field" -- hospitals, all the venues of her own experience -- and research with doctors and through print media to give us not only a moving record of her own experiences, but also a critical study into the personal, psychological, physiological toll grief can take on a person.Like her earliest works, thisbook seems effortless, almost spoken, in very measured and easy prose, which seeps into the reader and makes you even more moved by her accounts.An excellent book, both from the stand point of memoir and reportage, and an exceedingly excellent book from the stand point of being both blended into one. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Didion, Joan    7. Didion, Joan - Prose & Criticism    8. Dunne, John Gregory - Prose & Criticism    9. Dunne, John Gregory,    10. Family relationships    11. Journalists    12. Literary    13. Novelists, American    14. Personal Memoirs    15. United States    16. Women    17. Biography & Autobiography / Literary   

Reviews (6)

A Valuable Recovery Read
Broken is outstanding!I am an alum of Hazelden, sober 22 years, and have worked as an adolescent chemical dependency counselor.This book is the best description of addiction, treatment, relapse and recovery that I have come across.It is well written and well documented from the author's journals and correspondence from his father.
Powerful and Brutally Honest
I was amazed once I started reading at how well this book reads.Even more amazed that it wasn't one of those books about someone who went into recovery and never relapsed. The pain of relapse is something Mr Moyer described perfectly. I share in Mr Moyers addiction and now I have been blessed with sharing his recovery.I have ordered from Hazelden for some time now, so when this book came out, it was a must add to my recovery library.Thank you William, for sharing your story in print so that so many struggling addicts can see that there is hope and the miracle is just around the corner.It works if you work it!

Broken: My Story of Addiction and Redemption
Thank you so much, William, for sharing your story.It takes enormous courage to ascend out of the nightmare of addiction, and further courage to tell that story!You do an immense service to the many millions who struggle with this disease, both as addicts and alcoholics themselves, but also for the many others who love them and want to do the right thing.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Cocaine abuse    6. Drug Abuse    7. Drug addicts    8. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    9. Journalism (General)    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Rehabilitation    12. Substance Abuse & Addictions - General    13. United States    14. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Editorial Review

"Long before it legally served me, the bar saved me," asserts J.R. Moehringer, and his compelling memoir Read more

Reviews (82)

A Friend of Mine Recommended and I love her for it
A friend of mine recommended this book to me and I am so glad she did. A sweet and entertaining read that dipped into the more important parts of a young man's life. I loved Moehringer's moments of clarity that he disperses throughout the text - moments he remembers with "the men" that he knows shaped the man he was to become. Never overly sentimental but clearly emotional in a practical, thankful, respectful way. Well done.

"And Plaaaan-dome Roah---ohd!!!"
How many times have I heard the conductor (or The Voice on the Intercom) say this when I travel the LIRR -- but have I ever been there?? Never---well, wait... YES!! I've been there vicariously ...In the pages of JR's book!!
A great American memoir
Unlike any other memoir I've read.Yes, it has the telltale family strife, growing pains, life lessons etc., but the setting and premise of the story is very unique.I have never heard of a bar described in so many ways, it often reads likes poetry.I guarantee you will not be able to enter a bar and see it in the same light again! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Arizona    2. Bars (Drinking establishments)    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography And Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    9. Journalists    10. Manhasset    11. New York (State)    12. Personal Memoirs    13. Social aspects    14. United States    15. Bartenders   

Reviews (16)

Nothing new here - move along
It is shameful that "Best Friend" Billy Noonan felt the need to dish about John Kennedy and his family.We all know that John valued his privacy and one would think that he would be horrified at this betrayal.
Boring, Screams, "I'M THE REAL BEST FRIEND", and Poorly Written
Carol Radziwill's book was a tribute to her husband, and wonderfully and warmly written.The mentions of John and Carolyn were in context of their relationship, and truly showed their personalities.The retelling of John singing a boyhood song to Anthony brought tears to my eyes.
Poignant and Humorous Story of Friendship
The author does summon up a particular demographic (affluent Irish-Catholic third-generation young men in the Boston/Hyannis/Cape Cod area) and epoch (those coming-of-age between the mid-70s and 1990s) in this tale of friendship set against a larger backdrop with regard to the identity of one of the friends and, of course, the ultlimate tragedy that overtakes them.Noonan is generous with the details and challenges in his own life, from testicular cancer (and apparently a recurrence a year ago made him all the more intent on sharing his own story with readers) to the loss of his own father to personal flounderings with regard to college and overall life-direction. Naysayers who regard this story as an "invasion of privacy" overlook the fact that this tale is an intensely personal one and that it is the privelege of a writer to share as he pleases. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Celebrities    6. Children of presidents    7. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    8. Historical - U.S.    9. Noonan, William Sylvester    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Publishing Industry And Trade    12. Rich & Famous    13. United States    14. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Editorial Review

In 2005, two tragedies--the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina--turned CNN reporter Anderson Cooper into a media celebrity. Read more

Reviews (148)

Astonishing
I read this book, which is not very long, in one sitting, and half the time I had to read through the curtain of tears in my eyes.Like Anderson Cooper, I am a television journalist, and like Anderson Cooper I have learned to divorce myself from the stories that I am telling.And yet I understand, God, how I understand his feeling of shrieking despair underneath the veneer.I live in Latvia, which is the Old Country for my family, and the first year that I was here, I was asked by the Soviet Latvian Parliament to translate for foreign journalists when Parliament was voting on Latvia's declaration of independence.When the vote began and it became increasingly clear that the necessary majority would vote "yes", I was staring hard at the carpet, because I knew that if I met anyone's eyes, I would weep for the triumph of it all.Anderson juxtaposes the tragedies on which he reports (Somalia, Sarajevo, the Asian tsunami, Iraq, Hurricane Katrina) with the tragedy of his own life -- raised in a goldfish bowl as son of Gloria Vanderbilt, losing his father at the age of 10, losing his brother, who committed suicide by jumping off a penthouse balcony in front of his mother's eyes.This personalizes the stories which journalists tend to dehumanize -- one body, two bodies, three bodies ... you have to get the story on the air, and you remember what you were taught in journalism school -- "On television, if it bleeds, it leads".God bless Anderson Cooper, who lets the story into his heart.God bless a man who is not afraid to tell the entire world about his torments and his weaknesses.Men are taught not to do so.I so appreciate that this one did.I recommend this book with every fiber in my being, not just for journalists, but for anyone who still sees humanity in the technological world in which we live today.

Live thru this--personal tragedy to personal accomplishment
Anderson Cooper writes in the style of describing his life in one sub-chapter and then switching to an experience in an international war zone during his press coverage. This is a well written book and the way Mr Cooper details his family's personal tragedy is compelling and vulnerable. It provides inspiration as you read thru all of the details. Then his need to find his place in life in poltical war coverage is brave and risk taking. This is a book which is both smart and sensitive. Recommended.

A New Appreciation for Anderson Cooper
I learned a lot about the CNN Anchor. He's the son of Gloria Vanderbuilt and Wyatt Emory Cooper.His father died when he was ten and his brother committed suicide when Anderson was in college at Yale.I learned that he went out on his own, with faked news credentials, and journeyed the globe freelancing stories in places of tragedy, hunger, and war - just him and a camera.I respect that.I respect following your dreams despite personal danger and discomfort.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Cooper, Anderson    6. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    7. Journalism    8. Personal Memoirs    9. Television - General    10. Television Journalism    11. Television journalists    12. United States   

Reviews (2)

for all fans of great non-fiction
I picked up this book because I have admired Jeffrey Goldberg's writing on a number of topics.This book is more a memoir than a political history (although I learned quite a bit of that in the course of reading this book -- the middle east is not a topic about which I know that much). If you are a fan of well-written non-fiction, then you will enjoy reading this book.Mr. Goldberg's writing is lively, largely cliche-free, often moving, and engrossing.As I write this, I realize that Prisoners is also a travel narrative of ancient and modern Israel...All in all, a lot of bang for one book.Highly recommended.

Highly Recommended
"Prisoners: A Jew and a Muslim Across the Middle East Divide" is a memoir as much as it is a commentary on the Jewish-Palestinian conflict in Israel. Goldberg, a long time journalist for the New Yorker and Middle East correspondent was also very much of his generation -- a Jewish-American growing up in New York City, who (having reading Leon Uris' Exodus) longed for strong Jewish heroes of the John Wayne sort. That longing took him to Israel where he served in the IDF as a guard at Ketziot, a bleak desert prison that houses thousands of Palestinians arrested during the first Intifada. His interviews and accounts of Jews and Palestinians ring true and I think that's partly due to his respect for journalism done well and because he is a Zionist with a hopeful heart who longs for peace. It's that hopeful heart of his that takes a beating, as did my own, as I read this book. He writes an entertaining and informative account and this is not a book that one will read and forget. Rather, it's one to be discussed and considered. If I could only recommend one book this year, I think it would have to be this one. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Arab-Israeli conflict    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography And Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Contemporary Politics - Middle East    8. Ethnic Cultures - General    9. Jewish journalists    10. Middle East - Israel    11. Palestinian Arabs    12. Political    13. United Arab Emirates    14. United States    15. Current Events / International   

Editorial Review

Dave Eggers is a terrifically talented writer; don't hold his cleverness against him. What to make of a book called Read more

Reviews (848)

Self-indulgent writing
I have to agree with the many who did not like this book. I got it from the library and tried to read it, but couldn't get past the self-indulgent writing style. It almost seems like someone was too lazy to edit this book or make it readable for the reader. Any writer can put down stream-of-consciousness thoughts, but it takes hard work and effort to edit and revise with the reader in mind. A writer should want the reader to enjoy the process of reading a book. A book is written to express oneself, but also for the reader. Without the reader, the book is nothing.
Wonderful
Ridiculously amazing read. Couldn't put it down. Snide, cynical, heart-wrenching, and joyous all at once. A raucous rollercoaster of insight and observation. It's been a while since a book made me laugh out loud and burst into tears all in the same reading... But that's just me... If you've gotten this far, give this book a shot. I highly doubt you'll regret it. And if you do, something may very well be wrong with you.
Get to the Point!!
Once I saw the numerous reviews coating the inside and outside of this book telling me how much I was going to like it, I was already dubious.Perhaps I like to be contrary, and that may be why I was irritated by this book.I understand that this is his way of dealing with the passing of his parents and the growing up he was "forced" to do, but his style of writing came off as abrasive, narcissistic, and smug.This is a memoirs of sorts, so it's hard for me to criticize his need to put this out, but if I was supposed to gain anything from it, I didn't. I didn't find his wordplay sparkling, I don't find him droll or charming, and I felt like he was trying too hard for me to do so.Plus he yammered on so much it was hard to understand the message(s) he was trying to convey to the reader, if any. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Brothers    6. Death    7. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    8. Eggers, Dave    9. Literary    10. Parents    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Psychological aspects    13. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs    14. Reading Group Guide   

Editorial Review

Heralded as the "best book on the dope decade" by the Read more

Reviews (381)

This is one heck of a fun book!
Thompson's classic novel shows that quest literature (in this case the quest for the American Dream) is not at all dead. This is tale is wonderfully crafted and will entertain until the last page.
Sometimes you just have to give it another chance
I have read this book about a dozen times, and I won't lie, the first few times were hard. I wasn't sure if I even understood this book, let alone liked it. My husband was a big fan, and convinced me to give the book another shot one day- and am I happy he did. I got it. It is funny, sad, crazy and weird. It's a journey that I am happy I took, and will take again. It is one of those book that each and every time you read it you will take away something new and fresh. Great read. Try it, you will like it.

hilarious!
If you are looking for a good laugh and are not offended by drugs, lewd behavior, and hooliganism, then I would highly recommend this book.90% of the story takes place while the two main characters are doped up on various drugs or combinations of them, and the consequences are hilarious.I laughed most of the way through.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Journalism    5. Journalists    6. Literary    7. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    8. Popular Culture - General    9. Thompson, Hunter S    10. United States    11. United States - 20th Century/60s    12. American English    13. Biography & Autobiography / General    14. Modern fiction    15. True Stories   

Reviews (1)

Excellent Firsthand Accounts by a Veteran Journalist
Anyone who loves to read first-person accounts of current events will find this book exceptionally interesting. From its intriguing title, "Uncivilized Beasts and Shameless Hellions," to the text itself and the photographs included, the reader is presented with a tour of eleven locations around the world where veteran NPR journalist John F. Burnett found stories to report and personal experiences to describe. This book is one of the few nonfiction "page-turners" I have read in recent times. Once I started reading, it was difficult to put down. His writing is fluid and crisp and as impressive as his height (6' 7").
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography And Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Burnett, John F    7. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    8. Essays & Travelogues    9. Personal Memoirs    10. Radio (Performing Arts)    11. Radio journalists    12. United States    13. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Reviews (74)

Take the Cannoli
She's a staple of This American Life on Public Radio International, and she's also appeared in GQ, Salon and Request. Her humor and wit are sharp and perceptive. But, let me work from the back cover blurbs.
More Sarah Vowell, Please
Take the Cannoli was a wonderful mixture of essays that was throughly enjoyable. As I have become used to with Sarah Vowell, her family, her relationship with her twin sister, her friends, her thoughts on the world in which she lives, her love for history, and the challenges of her everyday life flow through many of these essays, interconnecting them in ways that you do not expect. The essays in Take the Cannoli are consistently good, often made me laugh out loud, and in some cases changed my perspective on a particular subject. Although I didn't always agree with her, I certainly appreciated her passion.

Ms. Vowell: American Hero
Sarah Vowell is one of America's best writers in the genre of humor. Personally, having read both Sedaris and Rakoff, two other fantastic humorists, I am rather partial to Vowell. Take the Cannoli seems to demonstrate her ability to both make us think and laugh. It seems that in most of her essays, I learn about as much as I laugh. Personally, I thought the title essay was extremely well done and isdeserving of much praise from the literary community. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    5. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    6. General    7. Women    8. Biography & Autobiography / General    9. Cultural studies   

Reviews (2)

Required Reading For Today
This is a wonderful, thoughtful and extremely interesting book. We can always learn from the past. Myra MacPherson tells a compelling story. A fascinating must read!!!
You Don't Have to Agree with Him
With the hindsight of several decades, it is easy to poke holes in I.F. Stone's writings.Yes, his notion of combining a free society with socialism was utopian. Yes, his economic arguments tend to be wooly in the extreme. Yes, he was wrong in denying the Soviet connections of some of his communist friends. Stone's books stay fresh despite those mistakes because he was right about a lot: governments, racism, wars.
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Subjects:  1. (Isidor F.),    2. 1907-    3. American Journalism    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    9. Journalists    10. Media Studies    11. News Reporting    12. Stone, I. F.    13. United States    14. United States - 20th Century    15. Biography & Autobiography / Editors, Journalists, Publishers   

Editorial Review

Fans of Read more

Reviews (94)

Interesting, Entertaining, and Well Written
I loved this book.It was educational and at the same time highly entertaining.There are several themes going on in the same book.First there is the actual review of restaurants and education of food and wine.Second, there is the truth about restaurants, food, and service that is exposed.Finally, there is the journey of the author and what she learns about herself, desires, and needs.All three themes are woven seemlessly to make a highly fun book to read.

Kudos to Ruth
I just read this book cover to cover on a flight back to NYC from Barcelona.My mouth watered as I read the included reprints of her past reviews of NYC restaurants - even after my five days of fantastic Spanish cuisine!But more surprisingly, I was drawn in by what seems to be quite an honest glimpse of the NYC restaurant experience seen through the eyes of many "characters".The book left me such respect for the depths that Ruth Reichl went through in order to dine as the everyday person would experience, especially in NYC's "best" restaurants.Her recounts made me actually appreciate the research and dedication required to write a truly objective (as objective as food tastes get, I suppose) review.A very easy and enjoyable read.
Made me want to eat out more
Ruth's description of the lift of a restaurant critic was both a fascinating read and mouthwatering at the same time. Her descriptions of the disguises and deferring treatments in New York's finest restaurants made for a quick page turner.Her recipes and reviews scattered in each chapter made me bothwant to eat out more often and try to cook some of those dishes myself. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Business    6. Cookery    7. Cooking    8. Courses & Dishes - General    9. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    10. Food writers    11. Hotel And Restaurant Management    12. United States    13. Women    14. Biography & Autobiography / Editors, Journalists, Publishers   

Reviews (158)

I LOVED this book!
This book had me laughing out loud from start to finish. Jacobs is clever.And he seems completely honest and unafraid to write candidly about the sorts of thoughts and feelings that everyone has but few admit.Well okay, maybe not everyone; maybe just me and him. Anyway, I have trouble imagining any intelligent person not liking this book.

Now, I Know!
A plain- old -fashion-just down right-enjoyable book full of twists, turns and laughs!
amusing and diverting
This is a great book to read right before bed as it is light, easy to follow and profoundly amusing. It cheers you up. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1968-    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Books & Reading    6. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    7. Encyclopaedia Britannica    8. Encyclopedias (Multi-Subject)    9. General    10. History    11. Jacobs, A. J.,    12. Learning and scholarship    13. Personal Memoirs    14. Scholarship And Learning    15. United States    16. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (1)

Cohen's Book Offers Rare Insider Insight on Cable News
Jeff Cohen's new book Cable News Confidential offers readers a rare behind the scenes look at the 24 hour cable news world.Cohen describes his experiences at CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. He offers many personal stories, which were always engaging and often quite humorous. They painted a clear picture of how conservatives control and frame the news we see on cable. While I have read many other books on this subject, I have never seen a book that offers as many crisp, clear examples of the way today's cable news industry operates.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography And Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    5. General    6. Journalism    7. Mass Media - General    8. Media Studies - Electronic Media    9. Sociology    10. Television - General    11. Television Journalism    12. Political Science / General   

Reviews (116)

YES!
For all who want to read a no holds barred critique of how the West simpers and grovels before the tower of political correctness read this. For those who say that is to harsh, I just watched today on the news that The London Star has just pulled a parody of itself because it might offend some Muslems. Never, never, never would a newspaper think of doing that for anyone else. As for the guy who trashed it after admitting he hadn't read it Huh? Nuf said. This should be required reading in every classroom in Europe and the U.S. It is time the truth is yelled from the rooftops as Fallaci does so well. One piece of advice, read it straight through in 1 sitting (it will take 4 or 5 hours) I wish I had. I think you will feel the full force that way. By the way, as it is wrong about the entire book so is Publisher's Weekly wrong about her translation. She explains it in the beginning ( they must have missed that part ) and it makes it all the more real, as well as reminding us that she is writing to Italians which I forgot occasionally.

The Rage and The Pride
I have been a fan of Oriana for the last 30 years. Her objectivity, fairness and compassion has impressed me when reporting on Vietnam, Mexico City, her interviews with History, her letter to a child never born.
Publishers Weekly has a distinct bias of its own
A forceful and emotional "sermon" - we see ourselves in the looking glass through the words of Fallaci.Laughably, Publishers Weekly declares (in a statement thoroughly fearful and utterly dripping of politically correctness - exactly what Fallaci chastizes us for) that the book "will not sit well with American readers".Such utter rubbish from Publishers Weekly... If you think we're not facing a war for the soul of this nation and you want to sit around the campfire and sing happy songs and hold hands, then please, by all means, have at it.
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Subjects:  1. 1995-2005    2. Biography    3. Fallaci, Oriana    4. History    5. History: World    6. Italy    7. Journalists    8. Middle East - General    9. Modern - 21st Century    10. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    11. Politics / Current Events    12. September 11 Terrorist Attacks    13. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001    14. World politics    15. History / General    16. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT   

Reviews (2)

Pioneering Style, Extraordinary Story
Isaiah Wilner's new biography, The Man TIME Forgot, does for Time Magazine what Time Magazine did for the news - it is less concerned with "how much it includes between its covers - but in how much it gets off the pages into the minds of its readers." Wilner indeed gets his remarkable story off the pages - and how! Though the conflict and tragedy at the core of the book help make it a page turner, what really marks this book as a must-read are Wilner's stylistic innovations. He fuses the pioneering sumptuousness of Indian author Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things and the irreverence of the 1920's "Timestyle" in a way that transforms what might otherwise be a dry corporate history into a poetic delight. He's bringing the beauty of the Roy style to non-fiction, paying as much attention to the art of writing as to the information he's relating. But the style never obscures the fascinating epic at the core of the book. Instead, the sparkling sentences illuminate how the titanic personal and professional battle between Time's two founders generated a creative tension that was a prerequisite for Time's transformation of American journalism and the 20th century mind.
Richly detailed and f