Book Description
Kids grown? Mortgage paid? Career topping out? What now? In My Time, best-selling author Abigail Trafford answers the questions more and more 50-somethings are asking themselves. Thanks to the longevity revolution of recent decades, today's 55- to75-year-olds are living and working longer and healthier than ever before. This generation is the first to experience the period of personal renaissance in between middle and old age-what Trafford calls "My Time." Defining this period as a whole new developmental stage in the life cycle, Trafford skillfully guides readers through the obstacles of My Time and offers them the opportunity to take full advantage of the bonus decades. With the same wit, compassion, and vivid storytelling that made Crazy Time one of the best-loved books ever written on the subject of divorce, Trafford blends personal stories with expert opinions and the latest research on adult development. From the psychoanalyst who gave up his practice to write self-help books, to the widowed mother of three who reinvented herself as a successful photographer, true tales of crisis and triumph sparkle on every page of this inspiring and insightful book. Like Gail Sheehy's Passages, My Time profoundly impacts the journey through our adult years.
Customer Reviews:
Worth Reading, But Missing Key Aspects.......2006-11-22
I was (and am) a big admirer of Trafford's earlier book on divorce, "Crazy Time." Also, I was a long-time reader of her Washington Post health care column. I am a Baby Boomer, in my middle fifties, and I was delighted to find that Trafford had written a book about the "Second Adolescence."
But I have some concerns about "My Time." The people used as examples in this book are not Baby Boomers (who are the people currently entering their forties and fifties) -- the people in "My Time" are, as shown from details in their life histories, members of the preceeding generation, the Silent Generation. They are mostly talking to Trafford while they are in their 60s and 70s about how they experienced their 50s.
Now their "looking back on it" perspective provides much useful advice to those of us now entering our 50s or in our 50s. But their life stories are so different from those of Baby Boomers that there is not enough help for us on key issues.
For example, everyone in this book -- typical Silent Generation folks -- settled down to careers and married and had children very young. Nearly all the women in the book were traditional homemakers with children who did not start careers until much later in life. Nearly all the men went directly from college to jobs as lawyers and doctors.
So their "My Time" experiences are very different from those of Baby Boomers.
Her focus on the Silent Generation also ignores the major issues Baby Boomers face as we enter our fifties -- her interviewees all have secure pensions, paid-off homes, built-in medical insurance, and their worst problem is losing too much money from their 401ks during stock market crashes.
Baby Boomers have lost their social safety nets -- many of us will have to continue working the rest of our lives because we have been deprived of secure pension plans, and unlike the Silent Generation, we will have to fight for medical care and Social Security.
Which brings me to another problem with this book -- nearly everyone in it, even the people who were born into the working class -- are now upperclass professionals, and mostly white.
Where are the middle class and the poor? where are the racial minorities? where are the gay people? where are the Asians? where is everybody else? Not everyone reaches their fifties married, white, with kids, and well-off.
I kept feeling like Trafford and I were living on different planets.
Sure, there were a few -- maybe two -- interviews with people who had started out poor -- and who also happened to be African-American/Latino -- but that made the enormous "whiteness" and "moneyied" aspects of the other interviewees glaringly apparent.
Also, while her interviewees have a few problems, they don't seem to have nearly as many as the rest of the population. Her interviewees had some divorces -- a few cases of alcoholism -- but where were the druggie kids? the people with chronic illnesses? the people in wheelchairs? the mentally retarded or autistic children? The families all seem to have perfect, college-educated, married offspring who are producing grandchildren. Most of the people who become ill in Trafford's book don't linger -- they die quickly, within about two paragraphs.
Trafford mentions her mother's and siblings' illnesses -- but almost everyone else in this book -- until they drop dead of a heart attack -- seems set to keep playing tennis forever in, say, the wealthy Georgetown area of DC.
So why should Baby Boomers buy this book? I am reading it because it has useful discussions of the emotional turbulence that set in during the fifties, a second adolescence, and how Trafford's interviewees entered and left relationships, moved to new cities, coped with (a few) deaths in their families, and started new careers.
While Boomer life trajectories and problems are very different from those of her Silent Generation interviewees, we can learn from some of their coping stratgies.
Those aspects of the book were extremely helpful, and why I have given the book three stars instead of one.
So please, Ms. Trafford, if you see this review, please rewrite the book for its second edition, and include the Baby Boomers, and include people in dire straits where things aren't working out neatly -- people who have serious chronic illnesses, or are still workingclass, etc. I'm a big fan of the rest of your work!
Indispensable guide to those of us who have reached 50.......2006-09-17
Trafford combines her own life experience, the personal stories of many typical Americans whom she has interviewed, and psychological research in constructing this guide for the later years of life. These days, age 50 is only the beginning of life for many people whose children are grown, whose careers are set, and whose health is good. Many Americans will have 30 years or more in this new stage of life. Not all of them will sail around the world or start a new career helping battered women, but most or all will make changes in their lives. This book is her guide to making the most of these years.
Trafford recognizes that for many people, these years will involve some difficult choices and even some anguish. She doesn't pretend that these years will be easy -- she even refers to them as a "second adolescence" with all the angst that that implies -- but she wants to tell her readers how fulfilling this time of life can be. Hardly anyone these days is retiring from work and settling into life on the front porch, nor should we. Life presents too many possibilities -- for helping others and ourselves and for establishing our legacy.
This can be a life-changing book.
Worth Reading.......2006-08-27
A helpful short book which adddresses issues of middle age for both men and women. A good read...
A Must Read for People Even Thinking about Retirement.......2005-10-17
This is a glorius book about how and why to make the best of your "bonus years." Ms. Trafford has an easy yet humorous way of making us look at what we have before us. This is an important time in ours lives and needs the attention that this book speaks about. Those of us who are baby boomers need to be aware of this stage of life and put energy into designing what we wish. This is not a time to sit back and wait and see what happens. Ms. Trafford speaks to this honestly and to the point.
Excellent book on what to do next.......2005-05-16
I'm turning 50 this year - this is the BEST book to read about the subject. She has great ideas on how to make your "bonus decades" (years after 50) better than your first 50 years! Very inspiring and insightful. I'm going to buy it as a birthday gift for all my friends that are turning 50.
Book Description
From the bestselling author of Crazy Time, a pathbreaking exploration of the newly discovered period of vitality between middle and old age Kids grown? Mortgage paid? Career topping out? What now? In My Time, best-selling author Abigail Trafford answers the questions more and more 50-somethings are asking themselves.
Thanks to the longevity revolution of recent decades, today's 55-75-year-olds are living and working longer and healthier than ever before. This generation is the first to experience the period of personal renaissance in between middle and old age--what Trafford calls "My Time." Defining this period as a whole new developmental stage in the life cycle, Trafford skillfully guides readers through the obstacles of "My Time" and offers them the opportunity to take full advantage of the bonus decades.
With the same wit, compassion, and vivid storytelling that made Crazy Time one of the best-loved books ever written on the subject of divorce, Trafford blends personal stories with expert opinions and the latest research on adult development. From the doctor who gave up his practice to write books to the widowed mother of three who reinvented herself as a successful photographer, true tales of crisis and triumph sparkle on every page of this inspiring and insightful book.
Like Gail Sheehy's Passages, My Time is certain to profoundly affect the journey through our adult years.
Customer Reviews:
This Book Has Pushed Me to Get Outside My Retirement Box. .......2007-09-13
When I read an excerpt from "My Time" in Unity Magazine, I knew I had to order this book.
It is one of the best I have read regarding new avenues to explore in the retirement years.
University teaching plus being a trainer for business seminars in my earlier years were the love
of my life. Yes, I have a husband and four children but the children are grown and this is now
"My Time" to awaken to new adventures in teaching and training. Yes, there is less energy
but there is Wisdom to share which I had not acquired in earlier years.
Highly Recommended!.......2004-11-18
Abigail Trafford's compassionate guide to the post-retirement years is a fascinating collection of personal stories, mixed with a healthy dose of sociological and scientific findings. Her research into what she calls "the Bonus Decades" began when she found new meaning in her life after age 50. As she talked with hundreds of members of her generation, or "My Timers," Trafford uncovered a quiet revolution in the making. These adults, who are finished with child-rearing and have reached the end of successful careers, are wondering, "now what?" as they face longer, healthier lives post-retirement. It is this generation, she predicts, that will change the structure of the workplace, reaffirm the values of family and community, and leave an enduring legacy. Trafford's insightful comparison of the storms of adolescence to the emotional and spiritual crises of late adulthood will resonate with anyone facing retirement, a late-in-life career change or simply a growing feeling of anxiety and dissatisfaction with the norm. This is not a how-to book or a survival manual, but a reassuring travel guide to the uncharted territory of "Second Adolescence." We recommend this book to everyone older than 50 or soon to arrive there - after all, it's about time.
Disappointing.......2004-07-13
If you are looking for a "What Color Is Your Parachute" book for guidance on making the most of your life between 50 and 75, this is not it. It is a collection of impressions and interviews with successful cheerful retired professionals, rather than a hard look at our choices and how to make major decisions on jobs, families, finances, health, and spiritual well-being. Her subjects are uniformly propserous, well-educated, self-aware, and articulate. It reads like an expanded article from the Washington Post, and since the author is a Post writer there, no wonder. Lawyers and doctors are her featured subjects. Some of the books and studies she cites may be worth pursing, but it is hard to tell. This book fills its market niche, but a wider audience could use a more comprehensive and analytic guide to these potentially productive and enjoyable years, as another reviewer puts it. This it reads like Gail Sheehy for 2004.
Your time -- if you're lucky!.......2004-07-06
Being well into what Trafford calls "my time" -- the time when family obligations slow down and we get time for ourselves -- I was eager to gain insights from this book. As a career coach, I work with men and women who have moved to "my time" or realize they're close.
Unfortunately, I couldn't recognize myself (or my clients) in this book, and I couldn't figure out what My Time was trying to do. Trafford is a journalist, not a counselor or career coach, and she has conducted what appear to be dozens of interviews with people at midlife. Unlike Po Bronson, who explored career change through interviews, she shows only happy, optimistic people who make few mistakes and experience even fewer financial woes.
My Time can't be viewed as journalism. Trafford adds words of wisdom -- not especially profound and not new to anyone who's been reading the self-help genre or surfing the web. For example, on page 38, she writes, "You look for potential in the daisy by your doorstep," rather than reaching for the more distant North Star. Compare this advice to what's contained in a better book, Finding Your Own North Star. Martha Beck describes a 55-year-old who starts a business after losing his job and retirement. In just a few sentences, Beck sketches a much more realistic, hopeful story.
So my biggest complaint: About Time straddles between self-help and light journalism, yet fails to fit either category. We get snippets of generalization -- e.g., dreaming helps us focus and we need to have plans -- but no tips for implementation.
My second grinchy comment: About Time trades on generalizations. In the fifties, we have increased medical bills. Older adults handle stress better. We have greater wisdom. We want to find meaning. These beliefs are comforting but not accurate.
I know lots of people who still enjoy the edge that comes with making real money. Meaning? They'll donate to charity -- and frankly, they're not good at doing warm-and-fuzzy.
Wisdom? When you're thrust into a new life, you start over. Often skills and knowledge that served you in the corporate world become irrelevant -- even harmful -- during a life transition. Any real estate agent meets midlife retirees who decide to move to the country, only to find themselves isolated and miserable. They lose money as they sell their retirement homes and move back to where they belong.
Generalizations are especially dangerous when writing about midlife, because people in the 50-to-80 age range are so diverse. We are what we've lived. In a big city gym, I once observed a group of fifty-plus exercisers, walking slowly around in a circle. In the next room, members in the same age group were training to run a marathon.
At fifty, you may be fully employed at the peak of your career. Or you may be newly laid-off, forced to discover a new path, possibly with no retirement savings. You may be ready for a career change. I've met 45-year-olds entering college and others who trained for careers as truck drivers and flight attendants. In their fifties, they'll be newbies.
That's why the comparison with adolescence fails. In the US, nearly every fourteen-year-old is in 9th grade. A few are in 8th or 10th. But legally they're all in school, with a few home-schooled, and they're getting ready for high school.
A ten-year or twenty-year stint will pay huge dividends. At fifty, a ten-year-stint will have limited payback time.
Finally, this book is relentlessly cheerful. In a poignant interview, "Nancy" reports dealing with ageism when she applies for a challenging, full-time "real" job. She freelances and consults. She's learning to reinvent herself, chirps the commentary.
But we're missing a key point. If we have thirty years ahead of us, we have time for another career. Society's infrastructure and business culture have not caught up with this reality. There's still a stigma to starting over in many professions and often the doors are closed. Free lance work and volunteering do not compensate for the loss. For some of us, the daisy on the doorstep will be a reminder that we're missing our full-blown rose garden -- or our daily treks to the steamy jungle!
I wanted to be positive until I came to the end of the book, where the author rejoices in how "good," "strong" and "generous" people are. Anyone who agrees to invest in a journalistic interview will come across as good and generous.
Strong? Trafford says, "[F]or the most part, they repaired or renewed after loss..." What does "most part" mean? For that matter, what does "repaired or renewed" mean? What's the difference between the "most part" and the "least part?"
I didn't see examples of people who were tossed out of the corporate world in their mid-fifties, with limited options in their own industry. I didn't see examples of people who lacked insurance to get the kind of health care these interviewees took for granted. Nor did I see examples of lonely people who had to make new friends after losing a profession or spouse.
Midlife can be fun and rewarding but it's not easy. Happy books sell -- and light interviews keep us entertained. We still need a book that combines realism with optimism, even at the expense of light reading and good cheer.
A Theme Deserving of More Exposure.......2004-05-01
Abigail Trafford has written a book about how creative aging can be be; this is one of the themes that run through my writing and I am thrilled that it is getting such promient exposure. She was interviewed in Time Magazine; in it she explained the title this way:
"I went to a college reunion. It was an all-women's college, and we were all in our 30s. We were in that high-stress zone. We were trying to make it in the workplace; we were making it in our marriages; we had small children. We were just torn apart by the demands of our lives. We were trying to make everything work. I remember one classmate stood up and wailed..."When is it going to be my time?" That stuck with me.
The important thing here is that aging and its benefits are being recognized and becoming desirable. This is especially important for women who have historically dreaded the first wrinkle. Hoo Ray for Trafford!
--------
Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award-winning author of THIS IS THE PLACE and HARKENING. Her new book THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON'T will be released in August.
Book Description
A star during his lifetime, a legend after a bullet killed him at the age of twenty-five, Tupac Shakur was the most influential rap musician of his day–and the most misunderstood. Far from being the insolent “gangsta” that the press put forth, Tupac was a committed and fearless visionary determined to make a difference not only on the music scene but in the black community at large. Darrin Bastfield grew up with Tupac in a rough Baltimore neighborhood, rapped with him, fought with him, and performed by his side. Now in this vivid, highly personal memoir featuring never-before-seen photos of the rap artist, Darrin shows the world what Tupac Shakur was really like as a teenager destined for greatness.
In tight, edgy prose, Darrin follows Tupac through the seven years of their friendship. In Roland Park Middle School in the mid-1980s, rap was a kind of underground movement, and the kids with real talent always found each other. Tupac–new in town, a skinny thirteen-year old with shabby clothes and lopsided hair–may have looked uncool, but it soon became clear that he had the gift. When Tupac teamed up with Mouse, king of the beatbox, they blew the school away in their performance as the Eastside Crew. It was the first in a series of increasingly electrifying performances.
When Tupac went to the Baltimore School for the Arts, then it really started to happen. A new group called Born Busy, unforgettable performances at the Beaux Arts Balls, an eye-opening backstage encounter with Salt-N-Pepa, their tight friendship with John, known among black kids as “the cool white boy,” a series of love affairs with adoring girls, the wild nights of the 1988 senior prom–Tupac and Darrin lived though it all together, and in this memoir Darrin makes it all come alive again.
From the start, Darrin knew Tupac was a marked man, singled out by his charismatic gift. So it came as no surprise that Tupac made it big when rap went mainstream. What stunned Darrin was the violent turn Tupac’s life took once he relocated to L.A.–and how swiftly that violence engulfed and destroyed him. Vibrant, gritty, alive with the tension and spontaneity of rap music, this memoir of Tupac’s teenage years is a haunting portrait of one of the most important artists of our day.
Customer Reviews:
If one man can have this effect, imagine a whole society.......2007-05-03
I was always pulling up a blank on my mind when anyone mentioned Tupac. Not only that, I also never knew when his music was playing. All I knew was that he was a rap artist who was shot to death one unfortunate day. What I came to learn from this book was stunning not only in the stories about his past, but also stories about his family, particularly his mother. The time and place of his beginning is humbling; for a child growing up in an impoverished and dangerous city, Tupac has shown society that great people CAN come from even the poorest of places. His revolutionary ideas and strong, provocative lyrics showed not only that great people can emerge from the most unlikely of places, but also showed that our society is full of corruption and in desperate need of reform, starting with the less fortunate and oppressed.
Back in the day: My life and times with Tupac Sharuk.......2007-01-23
Back In The Day: My Life and Times with Tupac Sharuk
Tupac was the greatest rapper/actor in history. But to get to the top he had to go through struggles in his childhoods. Thats why the theme of the story
Back in the in the Day: My Life and Times with Tupac Sharuk is to follow your dreams no matter what you had to go through and dont't stop unless
you have to. Tupac also teaches us to use our talents to enjoy our life. Darrin Bastfeild , the author of the book , go with Tupac adventures during his
high school years.So let talk about more of the theme.
Tupac actions of the theme was letting no one stop him from his talents. Every day he would wake up, go to school, come home or go to his freind house
and write raps, sleep then repeat the process all over. But one thing Tupac and the author always endured was both of them was poor although Darrin had
had a little more money then Tupac. So Tupac would borrow clothes from his friends or kids from the school bring him clothes. Any chances Tupac had to
to get a break he takes. For example Tupac and his friends almost had a break into Hollywood but the seruity guard caught them and the manager of Salt n' Pepa
reject them saying he had to cacth a plane. No matter how much he was rejected Tupac still had a break.
Tupac also shows the theme by the words out his mouth. One thing Darrin points out is that Tupac said he was little was that he wanted to be a revolvutionary
when he grows up. That shows Tupac known what he wanted to be which he did but did it in a different style such as a rapper and an actor.He always told
everyone what he wanted to be and he showed it. Like one of the Tupac wrote when he was growing up "We Work Hard" was what he did .He spoke out for
people like him while he and his mom was with the Black Panther movemment about the voilence in his nieghberhood. So not only did Tupac rap but he was also a
worker for peace.
Yes this theme is true because I had my own taste of bad karma. When I was born I had a blood infection so I stay in the hospital for fifthteen days. Around two
years old I had lead poisoning, which I miricaly survive and had to get surgery on on my ankle. At five my sodium level was to high. and only last year did I nearly
passed out because of my heart membrace I got when I was born. Still I'm smart, got accepted to a good school and go there and play an insturment in band.That
proves that the past can not predict your furture.
In the end Tupac achieved his goals. He starred in movies such as A Raisin in the Sun and made smash hits like Califoria Love. He had the world knowing what
his name was and rocking to his beat espcially in the black nieghberhoods of America. He known people like Biggy Smalls and Mary J. Bligh. Darrin almost went on
a tour with Tupac realized they had lives of there their own and went their seperate ways. Tupac shows just we can anything we want to as long as we set are minds
to it. But sadly, he was shot and died seven days later.
What makes the legend? This book let's you know...........2006-03-01
The book is the story of the author's life as it was when he grew up with Tupac. Even if you don't know who Tupac is (somehow I doubt that) you will still enjoy this book. The story is one of a man who plays the cards he was dealt and how no bad hand could hold him back. It gives you an appreciation of the artist, the author and of yourself all at the same time.
This is the book to read for Tupac fans as it is written in story-book format thus enabeling you not only to learn the specs of the life but also to be put in the shoes of someone who was near him before he was famous. Great book, great life, great read!! Pac4life haha!
Much better than I expected........2004-12-15
This is a good book, insightful and well written by Mr.Bastfield, it was clearly written as a labor of love and a need to document an intense kinship, that ended before it had a chance to mature in the later years of life. Since Tupac Shakurs untimely death there have been many people trying to capitalize on his memory, however this author and book do not fall into that category. For those who are interested in the somewhat awkward but always smooth teenager, who would one day become Rap musics greatest legend, this is a heartfelt account of the building of the man behind the myth, the carefree but yet fiercely determined ghetto kid, who had the right stuff to overcome the enormous odds stacked against him. Few have the courage to dream big and then pursue those dreams at all cost, this is a story and observations of a young man who did just that. The book falls short in some areas but overall is well worth reading, and a job well done by Mr.Bastfield.
A different view of Tupac (RIP).......2004-03-22
I liked this book quite a bit.
Mainly because it offered a different perspective than most other books about Tupac.
This book was written by a teenage friend who experieced the same things Tupac himself experienced. They 'shared the struggle' of trying to better themselves in a very harsh environment.
This book shows the almost relentless passion Tupac had to try and influence the world around him in a positive way. And the internal struggle he had with some of his actions. He knew of the contradiction and was trying to evolve. Too bad he was cut short in his quest.
One of the most telling insights to the basis of Tupac's personality is the answer to the question one of his earlist teachers asked. "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
For those who haven't ever looked too deeply into Tupac's more intellectual and compassionate side, there is a surprise in store, Tupac's heart. For those of us that knew he was much more than a thug, you'll see more and more of his depth.
An easy read that kept me flippin pages..
Book Description
A wicked turnabout on Jane Austen's oft-quoted adage -- "a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife" -- is My Lady Scandalous, a richly raucous history that traverses the notoriously licentious British Regency era in the company of its most celebrated courtesan.
Following a simple Edinburgh girlhood, Grace Dalrymple came of age in the sin city of London, where wealthy men ruled society and women had everything to lose, starting with their reputations. As an impressionable bride of seventeen who married a man more than twice her age, Grace's remarkable beauty (likened by journalists to "a May morning") soon attracted the attentions of other men. A disastrous liaison with a consummate rake not only branded Grace as a demi-rep -- a woman with half a reputation -- but the scandal provoked Dr. John Eliot, her philandering husband, to pursue a divorce.
Grace became mistress of the most infamous peer in England, George James, Lord Cholmondeley, whose "secret perfections" were reputed to inspire "female enthusiasm." Cholmondeley commemorated the relationship by commissioning two works from eminent portraitist Thomas Gainsborough, first in 1778 and later in 1782, the same year Grace gave birth to a daughter, Georgiana (who may, in fact, have been the child of the Prince of Wales). Had Grace been an aristocrat, she and Cholmondeley might have had a future together, but it was not to be.
The tabloids broke the news: "Miss Dalrymple has embarked for France, and it is said parted with her noble gallant." Grace was soon to find a new protector in that nation's richest man, Philippe, Duc d'Orleans. Though Grace was ensconced as "one of the most brilliant and popular among the fashionable 'impures,'" her liaison with the duke turned perilous when Orleans fell to the Revolution's guillotine, just as she narrowly escaped with her life.
"People die, but love may not," declares author Jo Manning of her subject's romantic and historic misadventures. A connoisseur of the times, Manning ably demonstrates -- through contemporary newspapers, magazines, prints, and portraits as well as Grace's posthumously published journal -- how life in George III's England and Marie Antoinette's France can seem strangely familiar, especially when history turns to affairs of the heart.
Customer Reviews:
Gave up half way through.......2007-07-11
I have recently read several biographies of famous/infamous British women, from Nell Gwynn to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Due to my great interest in the Regency period, I ordered "My Lady Scandalous". I'm sorry to say I cannot recommend this book.
There was much more content about Grace Dalrymple's family and the Regency period than there ever was about Grace, and the information was very helter-skelter. The book seemed to be mostly "sidebar" articles about topics the author had researched, like condoms, hot air balloons, and so forth.
I took it along on a trip and left it behind, unfinished. I hope the author is blessed with a better editor, in future.
Not the greatest biography of all time..........2007-04-18
But, it was an enjoyable read that had me laughing out loud on more than one occaision. It's definitely packed with lots of information that you'd never read in a "proper" history book.
It was exhaustively and lovingly researched and, contrary to an earlier review, I could definitely see how current events and social mores could easily be connected to the wild times of Daly the Tall.
I passed this one on to my dear friend MarJane who has informed me that should she get reincarnated, she wants to come back as a Courtesan just like Grace! She could definitely do worse and come back as Savonarola...
Hmmmm....now THAT would have been an interesting meeting - Grace and Savonarola...how the world could have turned out differently...
Poor Writing.......2007-01-22
This book has little to do with the woman in the title. The writing style reminds me of sixties free flow writing that people did after they were stoned. The author dashes off on one tangent after another that is difficult to follow and you forget what the chapter was supposed to be about to begin with. Not even worth checking out of the library much less owning.
Top Notch Biography.......2006-06-09
My Lady Scandalous: The Amazing Life and Outrageous Times of Grace Dalrymple Elliott, Royal Courtesan by Jo Manning is a delightful work, decidedly unstuffy but very well-researched. For anyone interested in late 18th C. and Regency era England, it is a MUST.
The story of Grace Dalrymple Elliott is fascinating and the sidebars on many subjects are always stimulating. Manning should be commended for her organizational skills and by her measured yet lively style. Highly recommended! Victoria Hinshaw
A must for every bookshelf.......2006-06-01
MLS is a wonderfully sympathetic biography of one of the Regency eras most intriguing courteseans. Grace knew everyone who mattered and everyone "knew" Grace. Or did they? Jo Mannings' detailed and painstaking research uncovers many facts about Grace, members of the Regency Ton and the French Revoluton and presents them in an entertaining and readable format. MLS is simply crammed with period details not readily found in other reference books on the period. MLS sparkles with wit and much humour for period afficiandos "in the know" regarding the period and its players. Truly a must have for the shelves of every reader, writer and fan of the Regency era.
Kristine Hughes, author of Everyday Life in Regency and Victorian England.
Average customer rating:
- One of the best of the 1960s autobiographies
|
Famous Long Ago: My Life and Hard Times With Liberation News Service, a Total Loss Farm and on the Dharma Trail
Ray Mungo
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Customer Reviews:
One of the best of the 1960s autobiographies.......2001-01-21
It's a shame that this book is out of print, because it tells the story of one man's adventures in a unique time and place in a way that is less successfully done in other such books. Mungo was there at the creation, and he (usually) doesn't gloss over the failings of the hippies' original vision. The book is witty and opinionated, well-written and amusing - and if you're interested in the 1960s you should seek out copies in your nearby library or other such repository.
Mungo's life during those intense years covered in the book (which is circa 1965 through about 1971) traced nearly the entire stereotpical path of the 1960s hippie: from the Haight to political action in Washington and elsewhere (as a member of the Liberation News Service), to a comically unsuccessful stand as a back-to-the-lander communitarian, to a wandering journey to the 'sources of enlightenment' in Asia. The book shows just how it was possible to become entirely burnt out with innovation in just a six or seven year period, and illustrates well the trajectory of the 1960s, from ideal to disillusion to acceptance.
And it's well-written.
Customer Reviews:
An Intimate Look at the Last Days of a Wonderful Man.......2007-09-13
I did not know exactly what to expect with this book. I had finished From Sawdust to Stardust: The Biography of DeForest Kelley, Star Trek's Dr. McCoy (Star Trek) (which I enjoyed very much) and was interested in learning more about De, and happened upon "A Harvest of Memories" which seemed to be just what I was looking for. It turned out to be very different from what I had expected - unlike so many other books like it, this book provided a very intimate and personal look at DeForest Kelley in a way that I found surprising, refreshing, sad, and real. The later half of the book provides an uncensored look at the last days of De, right down to the nitty gritty reality of being so ill you can not do anything for yourself; not even take a bath or use the bathroom. To some who have had experiences with loved ones passing over the course of long illnesses that render them physically weak and reliant upon others, I should warn you that this book will bring those memories back to you in a strong way. If you can endure, though, the reward is something you'll never get otherwise; a chance to feel as if you truly knew DeForest Kelley. Not the actor, not the celebrity, not Doctor McCoy - but De, the wonderful, kind, gentle, man. I am fortunate to have met, via conventions, almost every member of every cast of every Star Trek series both regular and recurring. Yet with De, I never had the opportunity; I became a Star Trek fan only in 1996, attended by first real convention in 1998, and De was gone in the summer of 1999. This book made me feel as if I finally did get to meet him - more, really. It made me feel as if I was lucky enough to know him.
Being Led Along a Unique Path..........2007-04-25
It has taken me nearly 8 years to come to the point where I could bring myself to read about the life of DeForest Kelley, who was so dear to me. As, I'm sure, with most readers of A Harvest of Memories, I was moved to tears very often by the touching narrative. It is the story of Kris Smith's devotion to a great man and his message. Because we learn of his very nature, which made him stand out from the crowd, NO ONE who has read this book could ever say, "I can't see DeForest for de trees!"
Living day to day through Kris's extraordinary experience, encourages all of us to try to do the "De-thing" and I hope that, when it is my turn, I can bow out of this life with even a fraction of the grace and heart that De showed all through his life.
Though I have come to learn De's story rather late after his passing, I shall not forget it. Kris Smith was in a unique position to mesh the details of her own life and those of the Kelleys into a seamless, heartfelt and heartbreaking odyssey. The reader is guided gently by a very special person with very special memories!
Deforest Kelley: A Harvest of Memories.......2007-01-19
I found this book to be a very good read. I didn't expect anything but the authors memoir about the time she spent with the Kelleys. I was touched by the way she voluntarily helped people who needed her. I haven't been in that situation yet, but I know people who have and have seen first hand the toll it takes on a caregiver.
DeForest Kelley: A Harvest Of Memories.......2006-12-27
As one reviewer proclaimed that this was Kristine's life and times. This fiction was incredible in showing her delusions and fanatical insight toward a very, very private man. It is not recommended reading for those who respect DeForest Kelley. My condolences to Carolyn Kelley who had to put up with this nonsense.
Touching story.......2006-11-15
Kristine's memories of DeForest Kelley was especially meaningful for me especially the last part where she served as his caregiver. I recently did the same for my father while my mother was ill at the same time. It takes a special sort of person to do what Kristine did for the Kelly's. For fans of the cast of the original Star Trek series this is a must read. It shows an honest look at what fandom can be and what a fine person DeForest Kelly was.
Amazon.com
The retired executive editor of the New York Times grippingly evokes his terror as a young Jewish boy in Nazi Germany and his discomfort as an impoverished immigrant in the United States. But it's those 45 years at the Times we really want to read about, and Frankel's account does not disappoint. Yes, he proudly believes his newspaper is America's most important, revered by its educated, influential readers and unswerving in its commitment to informed, impartial reporting. But Frankel is commendably candid about the Times' institutional failings (in particular its slowness to support and promote women, blacks, and homosexuals) and surprisingly so about behind-the-headlines maneuvers among the staff. He airs his differences with the paper's publishers, Arthur Sulzberger and Arthur Sulzberger Jr., and makes it clear that he didn't much care for Abe Rosenthal, his predecessor as executive editor. He's equally frank, in a restrained way, about his personal life (two marriages, three kids) but in approved Times fashion saves most of his plain, yet nicely turned, words for public affairs and the newspaper's response to them. It's just the sort of memoir you'd expect from a newspaper man: dignified, lucid, maybe just a tiny bit self-important, but always interesting. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
Since 1949, when Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Max Frankel began to write for The New York Times, readers have looked to his work as a lens through which they could witness America's role in a rapidly changing world. In this vivid and unforgettable memoir, Frankel chronicles the times of his extraordinary life as he experienced them...within the context of the news stories that defined an era.
A quintessentially American story,
The Times of My Life traces Frankel's riveting personal relationship with history...his harrowing escape from Nazi Germany...his life as an immigrant on the streets of New York...and his extraordinary half-century-long career at The Times. In a rich first-person account that moves from Hitler's Berlin to Cold War Moscow, from Castro's Havana to the newsroom of America's most influential newspaper, this powerful, compelling work interweaves Frankel's personal and professional lives with the era's greatest stories, from Sputnik to the Pentagon Papers to the collapse of the Berlin Wall. And it reveals Frankel's fascinating off-the-record encounters with Nikita Khrushchev, Henry Kissinger, John Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and a host of other history-makers who shaped their times--and ours.
Guiding readers through Hitler's Berlin, Khrushchev's Moscow, Castro's Havana, and the Washington of Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, THE TIMES OF MY LIFE reevaluates the Cold War, and interweaves Frankel's personal and professional life with the greatest stories of the era. -->
Customer Reviews:
Reads like poetry.......2006-07-17
I enjoyed the Max Frankel story on many levels. The story of the family escape from Nazi Germany was riviting and worthing of an entire book. The balance of the book was not riviting, but was nevertheless interesting and entertaining. I might not have finised the book except that it is exceptionally well written (I guess that that should not be a surprise considering the source!). In many places in reads all most like poetry. Word choices were very excellent without getting cute.
astoundingly interesting.......2005-01-12
This book begins in Germany, where the author was born in 1930. The account of how he and his parents got out of Hitler's grasp is vivid and breathtaking, and alone is worth the price of the book. Then his account of growing up in New York, his education in high school and college, and how he became connected with the New York Times is of sustaining interest, as is his account of his career there. I thought it equally as good as Katherine Graham's Pulitzer-prize-winning account of her career, and all it told of the Washington Post.
Great reading!.......2000-09-25
The first part of the book dealing with the author and his mother's travails in pre-WWII Germany in Weissenfels was absolutely the best part of the book. (And, this was unexpected as I bought the book to read about the editor of my favorite newspaper.) The author puts a human face to his German friends, neighbors, towns people, local officials, and even the Nazi that finally gave the exit visa to Frau Frankel and her son, Max. Even after the war and the Holocaust, Frankel admits he maintained some empathy with the ordinary German folk. I found this perspective to be refreshing and enlightening as it seemed more realistic of the German peoples and their behavior in pre-War Germany. (I do not wish to politicize my book review, please read the book to get your own opinion on this matter-- although one does have to remember Frankel's experiences were that of a young boy). In fact, most of the book was written in a honest, straight-forward manner. The authos's candor was a surprise on many topics including those of race. It is always refreshing to read an honest appraisal rather than the double talk you hear from politician-types.
The remainder of the book amazed me that Max Frankel lived through and was involved in many of the historic events that occurred during the Cold War. Although at times Frankel seemed to explain in hindsight his prescience at events about to occur on the world stage. (As aside, you wonder why you didn't have people like him working for the CIA).
An aspect of the book that I didn't enjoy was the author's apologetic tone in explaining his executive decisions while an editor at the NY Times. It seemed this portion of the autobiography was aimed at the co-workers and people at NY Times that Frankel had worked with.
Definately, the parts of the book talking about the author's personal experiences, whether in Germany, Washington Heights, or the tragic illness of his wife were captivating. The rest about his career seemed routine.
A Cut-to-the-Bone Inner Journey of a Public Man.......2000-08-10
The essential story of Mr. Frankel's extraordinary memoir has been amply described in the reviews on this site, and requires no further repetition by me. I urge everyone to read them, and of course to read the book.
Hardly anyone can fail to be moved by the prelude to his story, his family's escape from the Nazis. Mr. Frankel's mother perhaps deserves at the least a book of her own story. A remarkable woman.
Mr Frankel's story might be of another brilliant journalist whose professional story alone is worth the telling, and it is. But for me, it is his almost brutal, scalpel-like self-dissecting to reveal to us his inner turmoil in meeting challenges of his life-style and career that riveted me to the book.
Early in life, he tells us, he learned to always prepare an escape route, another way out. Repeatedly, he recounts many brushes with conflict where he seemed to side-step adversity, to protect himself from pain, to indeed take another way out. Courageous and wise, or cowardly and untrustworthy as a human being? He so presents himself to us for our judgement. He accurately points out how news media (persons) suffer the worst of narcissist sensitity at criticism, yet he stands up bravely, I think, lead on by his personal and professional vision while living in a fish bowl.
How many of us as private people, or world renown persons could stand so tall? I thank Mr Frankel for forty years of helping to educate me, and the rest of us to boot.
Irwin Moss, LA mooseman01@aol.com PS. Candor requires me to reveal playing tennis once with Mr. Frankel at Cape Cod many years ago. One learns and reveals much in a tennis game.
Wonderful, wonderful book.......2000-07-08
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As an avid reader of the New York Times, it provided a fantastic behind-the-scenes look at how some of the major events of the 20th Century were captured and recorded in the "Newspaper of record." Not only was it a fabulous account of NYT, Max Frankel's personal account of his life read like a novel--I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. If you appreciate current events, the media, and history--you'll love this book.
Book Description
Paul "Bear" Bryant created legendary, successful football programs at Kentucky, Texas A&M, and the University of Alabama. Bryant redefined coaching excellence through his unique communication and care for players. Using his coaching methods, he achieved an amazing 323 victories and shaped players such as Babe Parilli, Heisman Trophy winner John David Crow, and Joe Namath. In Bear and the audio CD, Bear Bryant: Speaking from the Heart, Bryant tells his life story with candor and insight, giving the reader a chance to understand the man behind the legend.
Average customer rating:
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With All My Strength: Dynamic Times With God : Daily Devotions for Men
H. Norman Wright
Manufacturer: Vine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Inspirational
| Spirituality
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Devotionals
| Spirituality
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Devotionals
| Worship & Devotion
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0892839686 |
Customer Reviews:
Life Inspiration.......2005-08-11
This book was very helpful for my Grandma when she first got diagnosed with lung cancer. It is filled with insights for living with a life threating illness. Good things to remember for anyone with an illness or with out an illness.
Books:
- Necessary Losses: The Loves, Illusions, Dependencies, and Impossible Expectations That All of Us Have to Give Up in Order to Grow
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- Night (Oprah's Book Club)
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- One Last Time: A Psychic Medium Speaks to Those We Have Loved and Lost
- Oskar Schindler: The Untold Account of His Life, Wartime Activities, and the True Story Behind The List
- Oskar Schindler: The Untold Account of His Life, Wartime Activities, and the True Story Behind The List
- Owen & Mzee: The True Story Of A Remarkable Friendship
- Schindler's List
- Schlepping Through the Alps: My Search for Austria's Jewish Past with Its Last Wandering Shepherd
Books Index
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