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In the Arena: An Autobiography
Charlton Heston Manufacturer: Berkley Trade ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 157297267X |
Customer Reviews:
Actor, director, activist, family man........2005-08-04
Fantastic autobiography of a true Hollywood icon! July 2003.......2003-07-28
great read!!.......2002-09-24
Despite politics, this is a fine Hollywood memoir..........2002-06-28
History, anecdote and Hollywood play the key roles in this book. I wouldn't call Heston's clearly self-written style "gossipy", but he does tell many "insider" tales. There's little judgement or conservative propoganda in these segments, just an underrated actor explaining how he's been involved with industry titans over the last 50+ years. Honest views of Orson Welles, Cecil B. Demille, William Wyler, etc. Unexpected stuff; did you know Heston crashed his WWII army truck into a snowdrift in the Aleutian Islands, then handed the keys to his superior so he could catch the next flight home? No? Funny story, and this book has many. There are spare evocative stories of a lonely childhood that may in fact be more painful than Heston could capture. And if you need to know whether Heston is circumcised, this book will tell you. (Why, I dunno...)
Heston discusses most of his films, with careful observation that shows his artistic taste and common sense. It's that taste that has kept him from making garbage films so many of his contemporaries lived off for years. Although he's made few great films, he hasn't made many dogs. His honest self-criticism is refreshing, and usually accurate. Paraphrase: ("I tried to play an educated Mexican lawyer in 'Touch of Evil' without an accent. A mistake. Everyone has an accent...") He chronicles his varied career on stage, a career most people know nothing about. Artistically, the boy done good.
Then it gets sticky. The book veers towards politics in the final 3rd, reminding me why this guy bugs me. Marching in civil rights protests does not give you justification for any goofy political idea you have in the future. (Jesse Jackson is a good example...) Heston blows affirmitave action out of proportion, and his own words in the first half make his later comments on feminism seem bizarre and slummy. (But who knows, he IS an elected president of the National Rifle Association. Perhaps there was an upcoming election?)
Still, the way I look at it, if there's room for a self-righteous Barbra Streisand promoting dopey Hollywood causes, there's equal room for a Charlton Heston promoting guns. (He just picked a cause that matched his screen persona perfectly.) I'm happy to say most of this book avoids the argument entirely. Good stuff. Buy it.
Great book by a Great Man!.......2002-05-23
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Charlton Heston : A Biography
Michael Munn Manufacturer: St Martins Pr ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 0312130678 |
Customer Reviews:
Best Book on Charlton Heston--The Man.......2003-04-22
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Immanuel Kant: Knowledge Products (Giants of Philosophy) (Library Edition)
Professor a J Mandt Manufacturer: Knowledge Products ProductGroup: Book Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: 0786169435 |
Product Description
Immanuel Kant's "transcendental" philosophy transcends the question of "what" we know to ask "how" we know it. Before Kant, philosophers had debated for centuries whether knowledge is derived from experience or reason. Kant says that both views are partly right and partly wrong, that they share the same error; both believe that the mind and the world, reason and nature, are separated from one another. Kant says that our reason organizes our sense perception to produce knowledge. The mind is a creative force for understanding the manifold of new, unconceptualized sense impressions with which the world bombards us. Kant says we cannot know the "thing-in-itself"the object apart from our conceptualization of it. His influence on subsequent thought has been monumental; all of nineteenth and twentieth century philosophy stands in his debt.Customer Reviews:
A great alternative to Strathern.......2005-04-24
what better way is there to learn and drive.......2001-04-27
Great introduction to Hume.......2001-01-12
Hume's political, historical, and ethical ideas are also interesting and I was surprised to learn how much Hume's ideas on the separation of powers in government had influenced James Madison.
Pretty bad summary of Augustine........1999-10-16
I note the other review is about Kant not Augustine.
Great Audio Cassettes.......1998-03-17
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Frederich Nietzsche: Knowledge Products (Giants of Philosophy) (Library Edition)
Richard Schacht Manufacturer: Knowledge Products ProductGroup: Book Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: 0786169370 |
Product Description
Near the end of the nineteenth century, Friedrich Nietzsche boldly announced that God is dead. There are no absolute truths, he said; the only reality is this world of life and death, conflict and change, creation and destruction. For centuries, religious ideas had given meaning to life in the western world; but with their collapse, humanity faced a grave crisis of nihilism and despair.Nietzsche proposed to replace restrictive traditional morals with the idea of humans as creative beings whose energy, strength and intelligence enable them to give purpose and meaning to their lives. He rejected democratic ideals, believing that they ignore human differences and that conflict and creative competition are essential to lifes development.
His own creative work has exercised a powerful influence on the development of literature since his day.
Customer Reviews:
Good intro. to Nietzsche, and interesting to those familiar-.......1999-04-30
good intro. to Nietzsche, and interesting to those familiar-.......1999-04-30
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Aristotle: Knowledge Products (Giants of Philosophy) (Library Edition)
A. E. Taylor Manufacturer: Knowledge Products ProductGroup: Book Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: 0786169443 |
Product Description
Few philosophers have so extensively influenced thought and language as Aristotle. His conception of the universe pervades Christian theology. Knowledge of his thought is necessary to understand Bacon, Galileo, and the modern scientific view of nature, as well as Dante and many passages from Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton. Many phrases such as "liberal education" and "theory" contrasted with "practice" originated with this student of Plato and tutor of Alexander the Great.Writing to inform the beginner and stimulate the expert, eminent scholar A. E. Taylor presents a searching analysis of Aristotle's thought, including classification of the sciences; formal logic; theory of knowledge; matter and form; the four causes; God; physics; biology; sensation; ethics; theory of the state; and the fine arts. He also considers Aristotle's provincialism, errors regarding the nervous system and astronomy, and defense of slavery.
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Arthur Schopenhauer: Knowledge Products (Giants of Philosophy) (Library Edition)
Mark Stone Manufacturer: Knowledge Products ProductGroup: Book Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: 0786169400 |
Product Description
Arthur Schopenhauer was the most articulate and influential pessimist in the history of human thought. He was convinced that the space and time of ordinary life is an illusion, that the world consists of two aspects: representation (visible appearances) and will (hidden reality). Will is a unitary, blind, irrational force underlying all nature and expressing itself throughout it. Since human actions are blindly propelled by this will, not reason, prescriptive ethical rules have little force. We flourish only at each others expense; evil, pain, and suffering are not aberrations, but express the inner nature of the world. Our will to live is a continuing cycle of want, temporary fulfillment, and more want. New desires replace any satisfied ones, so no lasting happiness is possible. There is no overall end or purpose of life; our will to live is doomed ultimately to fail, and we die.Customer Reviews:
Sufficient Rational?.......2006-10-29
Excellent summary of Schopenhauer if you can track it down.......2001-12-15
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Plato: Knowledge Products (Giants of Philosophy) (Library Edition)
Berel Lang Manufacturer: Kowledge Products ProductGroup: Book Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: 0786169419 |
Product Description
Plato was the first great philosopher of the West to organize and record the issues and questions that define philosophy. A student of Socrates, Plato preserved the teachings of his mentor in many famous "dialogues" that deal with classic issues like law and justice, perception and reality, death and the soul, mind and body, reason and passion, and the nature of love. The most famous of all Platonic doctrines is the "theory of forms," the idea that there are changeless, eternal forms on which existing things are modeled. To Plato, human beings consist of an immortal soul together with a body that keeps it in the twilight world of changing, perishing things. The soul has a love for the eternal, the Good, which gives life stability and meaning. The ideal government, Plato believed, must reflect the structure of the human soul, guarded by those with a sure knowledge of the good.
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Jean-Paul Sartre: Knowledge Products (Giants of Philosophy) (Library Edition)
John Compton Manufacturer: Knowledge Products ProductGroup: Book Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: 0786169427 |
Product Description
Jean-Paul Sartre, a French philosopher, is perhaps the best known advocate of existentialism. In this view, no external authority gives life meaning: mankind is radically free and responsible. In every moment we choose ourselves, with no assurance that we have a continuing identity or power. We set up determinisms to ease our minds, but in the face of the finality of death, only through our present consciousness do we establish our own authentic existence.Sartre's existentialism faces the evil in human existence and sees that humans are responsible for it. He doubts mankind can make moral progress, yet he embraces the possibilities for human life and believes we can attain dignity by our own efforts. Sartres ideas had a profound influence on ordinary people after World War II and continue to contribute to the development of thought in Europe and America today.
Customer Reviews:
The Philosophy of Giants - Jean-Paul Sartre.......2006-08-30
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John Dewey: Knowledge Products (Giants of Philosophy) (Library Edition)
John J. Stuhr Manufacturer: Knowledge Products ProductGroup: Book Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: 0786169354 |
Product Description
John Dewey was Americas most influential philosopher. He wanted philosophy to rise above old tired disputes to address new, more vital questions and problems. Deweys views are known as "pragmatism," which emphasizes action and results. He believed that knowledge and ethics, as well as art and religion, live only in the daily practice of ones life. Philosophy isn't a system of beliefs but a practical, empirical method of inquiry. It is one with education, which continually develops and renews the capacity for new habits.Dewey believed that the scientific method can be extended to human affairs. Properly applied, it enables us to organize society to enhance personal happiness and community cooperation. Democracy, for Dewey, is more a way of life than a form of government; each person should help create and direct the social forces that affect our lives.
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From My Cold, Dead Hands: Charlton Heston And American Politics
Emilie Raymond Manufacturer: University Press of Kentucky ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0813124085 |
Book Description
Charlton Heston is perhaps most famous for his portrayal of Moses in Cecil B. DeMille's epic The Ten Commandments and for his Academy Award-winning performance in the 1959 classic Ben-Hur. Throughout his long career, Heston used his cinematic status as a powerful moral force to effect social and political change. "From My Cold, Dead Hands" examines how Heston evolved into a major American political figure.Heston has campaigned for both Democratic and Republican candidates, marched in support of black civil rights, served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild, helped shape policy for the National Endowment for the Arts, and served as president of the National Rifle Association. Disillusioned with the Democrats, Heston formally registered with the Republican Party in the 1980s, but he argued that the decision was in keeping with his longtime advocacy of individual rights.
"From My Cold, Dead Hands" is far more than a biography--it is a chronicle of the resurgence of American conservative thought and, in particular, the birth of neoconservatism. Emilie Raymond convincingly argues that conservatives owe a great deal to Heston: his image of morality, individualism, and masculinity lent their movement credibility with a larger public, and he effectively campaigned for conservative candidates and causes. Meanwhile, Heston paved the way for many of today's Hollywood activists, using his popularity and image to fuel and legitimize his political activities.
A balanced study of Charlton Heston and his work offscreen, "From My Cold, Dead Hands" neither glorifies nor maligns Heston but provides an engaging account of how he propelled his personal beliefs into the political mainstream of America.
Customer Reviews:
Praise for a man who is obviously demented.........2007-02-28
The making of a cultural conservative.......2007-01-01
A true American who would fit right in with our Founders.......2006-11-10
almost TOO fair.......2006-10-02
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