Product Description
The authors present the history of gardening on twenty Colonial Williamsburg sites, focusing on the eighteenth-century gardeners who planted them and the documentary and archaeological research that guided each garden's re-creation. Detailed plans and captivating photographs identify the plantings and show modern gardeners ways to enjoy the beauty of colonial gardens in their own yards
Customer Reviews:
The Gardens of Colonial Williamsburg.......2001-08-02
The Gardens of Colonial Williamsburg is a most inspiring and beautiful book covering the four seasons in Colonial Williamsburg. This book covers not only the history of twenty gardens in the historic district, but who these eighteenth century garders were. The archaeological research provides a detailed look at each of the gardens, giving layout plans and detailed list of all the plants used. With the addition of beautiful color photography, this book will provide all gardeners with a source to re-create a eighteenth century garden.
Book Description
A Companion to Post-1945 America is an original collection of twenty-six essays by key scholars on the history and historiography of the period. As the twenty-first century begins, post-World War II scholarship joins the historical canon with a wealth of new material. The contributors to this volume are the most prominent scholars in their respective fields, and each essay analyzes and categorizes the historical literature of the post-1945 period over a wide variety of topics. The coverage includes family, the media, ethnicity, labor, social movements, politics, and foreign policy. Each essay contains a select bibliography to guide further research, and the volume includes a review section that focuses on eight popular and influential historical works.For students, historians, and general readers of modern American history, this book is a milestone that will set the standard for post-World War II American historiography.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Compendium of American History Post 1945.......2007-08-10
I read this book for a graduate class in American history. My understanding of American history during the period 1945 to 2000 has become enlightened and better informed by several of the readings in this book. The two areas of American history that the book has expanded my understanding pertains to America's actions as a world leader, and more especially, America's domestic struggles. In some instances, the book was pivotal in settling previously held beliefs about historical facts, and in other instances, the book broke new ground in exposing history that had not been researched until recently.
1945 was a watershed year for American history and foreign policy. The recent victory gained in World War II left America as a one of two super power nations on the world stage. America also found itself as the leader of the free world and in political tension with the Soviet Union. Several actions by the world's two super powers caused them to enter into an era known as the Cold War, which lasted until 1989 with the fall of the Berlin wall. Part III "Politics and Foreign Policy" finally settled the question of how pervasive Soviet espionage had become in the federal government prior to and after World War II. The authors' use of recently released secret documents from archives in the U.S. and the former Soviet Union made it possible to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) helped the Soviets to infiltrate some of the highest places of decision-making within the government of the U.S. One example of a CPUSA member's complicity in nefarious spying activity for the Soviet Union was Alger Hiss, who had been a highly placed member of the State Department in the 1940's. "In the late 1940's and early 1950's, the internal threat posed by the American Communist Party, both as a subversive political force and an auxiliary to Soviet espionage, loomed large."
In the realm of America's domestic policy, I found that many of the book's readings pertaining to the civil rights struggle in America and the civil unrest during the 1960's changed my understanding of what really took place during those turbulent times. Prior to the course, most of my knowledge of these events were based on my observation of them on television at the time, or totally unknown to me. Several readings that I found informative dealt with Mexican American and Native American civil rights struggles and how these groups took unorthodox positions to fight for their rights. One reading that was most illuminating explained how the Mexican American community, in league with other civil rights organizations, successfully lobbied for the state government of Texas to pass a resolution in 1943 that essentially recognized them as Caucasians. The courts would later find that the resolution was unenforceable as law. However, the fact that Mexican Americans would take the unusual step of asking to be recognized as Caucasians instead of demanding that they be treated as equals to Caucasians, was counter intuitive to the civil rights struggles that Black Americans took leading up to and through the1960's. Another reading showed how Mexican Americans finally coalesced under the "Chicano" banner largely due to police brutality in Los Angeles in the riots of the late 1960's and early1970's.
In the field of Native American history one reading dealt with tribal identities and lands, was new history to me. Once again, the reading showed a history counter intuitive to conventional belief about Native Americans anathema to life on the reservation. In 1953 the U.S. House of Representatives, in an effort to extend full civil rights and benefits of citizenship to Native Americans, passed a resolution that would ultimately strip them of their tribal affiliation and sovereignty. Essentially, this resolution forced tribal leaders to fight for their people's cultural uniqueness and acceptance as Native Americans separate from America's "melting pot."
I also found most illuminating Part II on "Movements." The readings did an excellent job explaining the transformation of cultural and political attitudes of Americans from the 1960's. The book astutely proved that activism did not die in the 1960's. Instead, it took a slower more peaceful pace and in some instances, a turn to the right politically. The readings proved that the protest movements and events of the 1960's changed American history and have left their indelible imprint on the nation to this day.
As a graduate student, I recommend this book for anyone interested in American History, and Cold War History.
Book Description
Brazen, incisive, and outrageous as ever, Hunter S. Thompson is back with another astonishing volume of his private correspondence, the highly anticipated follow-up to The Proud Highway. When that first book of letters appeared in 1997, Time pronounced it "deliriously entertaining"; Rolling Stone called it "brilliant beyond description"; and The New York Times celebrated its "wicked humor and bracing political conviction."
Spanning the years between 1968 and 1976, these never-before-published letters show Thompson building his legend: running for sheriff in Aspen, Colorado; creating the seminal road book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; twisting political reporting to new heights for Rolling Stone; and making sense of it all in the landmark Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72. To read Thompson's dispatches from these years -- addressed to the author's friends, enemies, editors, and creditors, and such notables as Jimmy Carter, Tom Wolfe, and Kurt Vonnegut -- is to read a raw, revolutionary eyewitness account of one of the most exciting and pivotal eras in American history.
Provocative and revealing, Fear and Loathing in America cements Hunter S. Thompson's reputation as one of the great literary and cultural icons of our time -- the only man alive to have ridden with both the Hell's Angels and Richard Nixon.
Customer Reviews:
Loathing Hunter S Thompson's Hypocrisy.......2007-07-13
This is my second attempt at writing a review about that ATAVISTIC GIBBERISH called fear and loathing in america.I guess the review GESTAPO didn't like my totally honest review of HST's schizophrenic prose, in my first review(to their credit) i did say some things about HST that would make even DR.Gonzo, go GONZO, LOL!!!
The MOST DISGUSTING part of this book is on page 199-200 when he offers his writing services for the kennedy's inre: to Mary jo kopechne's SO-CALLED ACCIDENTAL DEATH :-((( Can anyone be more pathetic than that???
I could go on and on about this ATAVISTIC GIBBERISH but my LOATHING will undoubtedly draw more attention from the review gestapo.
Don't get me wrong, there are some funny letters from HST and guest, but the DISGUSTING OUTWAY THE HUMOR by 10 to 1 :-(((
Hopefully this review will see the light of day, i truely believe it needs to be read, there's been enough GIBBERISH from his syncophantic minions.
Into the Belly of the Beast.......2007-05-31
The second installment in HST's selected letters, Fear & Loathing in America has proved to be a fascinating read. Beginning in the 1950's, HST keep carbon copies of all his letters for filing purposes in the belief that one day he would be a famous writer and his correspondence would be published. Like so many other Thompson predictions, this one proved true. The range and scope of the letters contained in this volume is simply amazing. HST had contacts and correspondence across almost every section of American society from Jimmy Carter, Pat Buchan, Gorge McGovern, and Walter Mondale at one end of the spectrum to Ken Kesey, Tom Wolfe, Jann Wenner, and Oscar Acosta at the other end.
The time period covered by these letters have proven to be a crucial period in modern history and nobody should be without a view from HST's side of things. From the 68' Democratic National Convention to the 75' American withdrawal from Vietnam, the Mint 400 in Vegas to his own personal bid to run for Sheriff of Pitkin County (Aspen) on the Mescaline ticket, HST was there and more often than not part of the action. In this regards his letters read like a quasi-autobiography, tracing the twists and turns of his life throughout this turbulent period of American history. For the creator of Gonzo Journalism, this was his defining period.
It is certainly preferable to start with the first volume HST's published letter, if for nothing else it provides a better context for this volume. I have to confess that I enjoyed vol. 2 more than the first, so I guess it really depends on what you are after. I found myself laughing out loud at numerous occasions while at other times rather stunned at the insight and predictive nature of some of the correspondence, specifically the politically orientated ones. Of course there are other times when HST degenerates into pure gibberish, but all the parts add up to give a composite picture of that unique and individual whole we have come to know as Hunter. So read this book when you get the chance or anything else by HST for that matter. For me he is the best US writer of the last 50 years and I do not say that lightly.
Whining for Dollars.......2007-05-04
If Volume I of the trilogy is "Rebel with a Cause (Writing)," then Volume II (this volume) is "Whining for Dollars." If you are new to Hunter S. Thompson, start with Volume 1 -- it will give you a much better feeling of who this man was, especially with regard to the risks he was willing to take to tell a good story. If you are interested in politics of the 1960's and early 1970's, and want to read about all his problems with getting paid, this is the volume for you. Having said all that, HST was truly incredible: in 1968 HST recognized Bob Dylan as the icon of the 60s; HST was everywhere -- from the Matrix, the womb of The Jefferson Airplane in San Francisco, to Saigon in April 1975, during the evacuation; and as a political junkie, HST could see the impeachment of Richard Nixon coming long before it did, as well as the eventual fall of South Vietnam. The first volume is much wilder, and even more sentimental; by Volume II, HST is starting to settle down.
Crazy Energy. Laugh Out Loud Funny.......2006-01-21
Ordinarily, I wouldn't think letters would be that interesting. But Thomson's style and sense of humor are so outrageous, I find myself laughing out loud every few pages or so.
But it's much more than humor. The letters overlap the period of Martin Luther King's Assassination, Robert F. Kennedy's Assassination, the Democratic National Convention of 1968 (which he attended), etc.
I was struck at how he tried to convince his younger brother to stay in college for at least another semester, because by then, we would probably be out of Vietnam. It was apparent to him at the time that we would leave. And yet...Saigon didn't fall until April 1975.
He also has a particular revulsion for Nixon, who has always been a fascinating figure for me. And of course,there are letters to his fans. He clearly has fear and loathing for some of them. His letters to and about them are hillarious.
A great read.
HST was IT.......2005-10-12
This is the middle, and probably the most interesting of the gozno letter trilogy. It is an absolutely must read for any Thonpson fan, or aspiring writer, for that matter. For the casual reader, if you're going to read one of the three volumes, this is it. Thompson's voice is so gripping, even an expense report can be laugh-out-loud funny. He was truely a literary giant.
Book Description
From one of America's best-loved journalists—a richly entertaining roundup of the extraordinary individuals with whom he has crossed paths in our nation's capital and of events that marked the 20th century.
Here are firsthand profiles of Washington insiders as only an insider himself could give us: Franklin D. Roosevelt counting out enough cigarettes to get through a half-hour debriefing with the press; May Craig, the first female reporter to penetrate the Roosevelt's inner sanctum; Theodore Bilbo, a Mississippi senator and race-baiter who effectively became mayor of Washington at a time when it was a segregated provincial town; Lyndon B. Johnson, whom Brinkley remembers as the most impressive and appalling figure he and appalling figure he encountered; and Ronald Reagan, who he found to be the most mysterious of the 11 presidents he covered. Brinkley also gives us an account of President Kennedy's assasination, and a poignant remembrance of D-Day.
David Brinkley has been there and seen it all. Here in the "sour-lovable manner" (Mark Feeney, Boston Globe) of story-telling that he has perfected, and in a narrative both "hilarious and intstructive" (George Will, Washington Post), he shares his vivid recollections and the intelligence, acuity, and clear-sightedness on which his unimpeachable reputation rested for more than half a century.
From the Hardcover edition.
Download Description
From one of America's most revered journalists, a richly entertaining roundup of the extraordinary individuals with whom he crossed paths in our nation's capital and of the events that marked the twentieth century.
Here are firsthand profiles of Washington insiders that only an insider himself could have given us: Franklin D. Roosevelt counting out enough cigarettes to get through a half-hour debriefing with the press; May Craig, the first female reporter to penetrate Roosevelt's inner sanctum, who never failed to remind the president that his wife was a newspaper writer, too; Theodore Bilbo, a Mississippi senator and race baiter who effectively became mayor of Washington at a time when it was a segregated provincial town; Jimmy Hoffa, the popular and ill-fated union leader; Lyndon Johnson, whom Brinkley describes as the most impressive and appalling figure he encountered; and Ronald Reagan, whom he found to be the most mysterious of the eleven presidents he covered. Here is also Brinkley's account of President Kennedy's assassination and a poignant remembrance of D-day.
David Brinkley was there and saw it all. In the "sour-lovable manner" (Mark Feeney, Boston Globe) of storytelling that he perfected, and in a narrative style that is both "hilarious and instructive" (George Will), Brinkley's Beat gives us his vivid recollections and the intelligence, acuity, and clear-sightedness on which his unimpeachable reputation rested for more than half a century.
Customer Reviews:
From a man who was there.......2007-08-29
This book contains a hundred wonderful anecdotes from the life of a man in the middle of things for four decades. They don't make journalists like David Brinkley any longer.
Light but Entertaining final "Good Night" from David.......2005-12-16
David Brinkley's final work is a brief but often amusing accounts of "persons, places, and events" covered in his long career--a literary post-dinner liquour to be sipped and savored for the moment and the memories. Brinkley is at his best when he recalls his meetings with Washington types, from reporters to presidents, in brief summations. It was fun to once again, for those of us long in tooth, recall the antics of Martin Dies, the racist Theodore Bilbo, the amusing bloviator from the Illinois prairies, Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen, the solemn hat-wearing reporter, Mae Craig, and other worthies that Brinkley chooses to comment on. Brinkley also shares his views on presidents he knew and interviewed. There is nothing particularly notable here, but little asides as, for example, his apology to President Clinton after Brinkley's late night put-down of Clinton's long-windedness during the 1996 convention are of interest.
Some of the tales that Brinkley tells are little known, or forgotten, as for example his treks into the hinterland of America, early TV travel documentaries, that he helped pioneer. All of these mini-essays and remembrancs make for a nice bedside book, to be picked up and savored before the sandman arrives. As usual, the writing is clear and unpretensious and his acerbic and sometimes jaundiced view of Life in Washington greatly appreciated, particularly by those who have lived here during many of the events written about.
Brinkley's reflections on his career.......2005-08-25
This book is not a memoir in the traditional sense, or even directly about Brinkley. Instead, Brinkley has composed a collection of essays recounting, as mentioned in the subtitle, the people, places and events that have captured his interest during his career as a television journalist. These compositions provide glimpses into the past sixty years, and are both observant and humorous. Brinkley helps shed some light on the second half of the twentieth century, and in doing so, also provides us a glimpse into his own personality. Through his insights and reactions, we can just begin to get a glimmer of the man behind the familiar face.
Sketches Across a Legendary News Career in "Brinkley's Beat".......2004-12-13
Legendary newsman David Brinkley's final book lacks the narrative sweep of his autobiography or of "Washington Goes To War," his highly recommended history of the District of Columbia's growth during World War II. But "Brinkley's Beat," published shortly after its author's death in June 2003, retains the trademark of his six-decade news career: a walk along the fine line between wry humor and casual, near folksy storytelling, all told with an insider's sense of detail.
It's basically Brinkley clearing out his lengthy, valuable notebook, remembering people he knew and sharing a few pages at a time about them. In chapters no more than a few pages each he recalls infamous icons like Senator Joe McCarthy (with some personal remembrances of Brinkey's sister, who worked for McCarthy), FBI boss J. Edgar Hoover, and Teamsters Union boss Jimmy Hoffa. He also shares his views on presidents from Clinton to John Kennedy. Brinkley candidly assesses each man's career and their enduring popularity and legacy.
Along the way he speaks of personal disdain over Johnson's allegedly wiretapping his phone during the Vietnam war, shares a moving account of the days following Robert Kennedy's 1968 assassination, and even chastises himself for publically criticizing Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election victory speech. (It would be Brinkley's final covered campaign even as another chapter addresses the 24 political conventions he reported at and how television changed the conventions' intent and approach.)
But "Brinkley's Beat" shares its spotlight with smaller, more intimate reminiscences. He writes brief histories of a rogue's gallery of forgotten political figures including bigoted Washington mayor Theodore Bilbo, Roosevelt-era reporter May Craig and long-winded Senator Everett "Wizard of Ooze" Dirksen, describing their foibles with touches of quaint sentiment mixed in with the deserved ridicule.
Brinkey extends his personality studies to places he visited during a series of travelogues he hosted in the 1960s. He writes of Vienna trying to reclaim a past of classical music and rich food, and of Florida beaches and hotels beginning their decades-long, pre-Disney reputation as tacky playgrounds. Brinkley also shares a personal portrait of Normandy at D-day in 1944 and at its 50th anniversary, keeping his wry humor while praising those who fought there and citing the horrid conditions they endured.
Many see NBC's Tom Brokaw and, soon, CBS's Dan Rather leaving their long-held anchormen's chairs as the end of an era in news coverage. To that end, Brinkley's final reflections are his most valuable as he says, "The news becomes not just what happened but what a familiar face and voice says happened, and the meaning of it is to some extent determined by how he says it." David Brinkley's unique approach to the news, from his cadence to the angles he reported it from to the rapport and credibility he gained presenting it, endeared him to two generations and made him an icon the near equal of those he covered. While "Brinkley's Beat's" tone is a bit cranky, it's still a breezy, worthwhile read for history and journalism buffs. Recommended as a solid follow up read to his essential biography.
a nice little book..........2004-11-03
with short essays of varying degrees of perceptiveness. I thought Brinkley's best essays are the ones about relatively obscure politicians like Theodore Bilbo and Martin Dies. (He notes that Dies accused Franklin Roosevelt of PLANNING Pearl Harbor- far worse than anything even Michael Moore said about Bush - and Dies was a congressman of FDR's own party!) By contrast, he doesn't tell me anything I don't already know about Clinton.
Amazon.com
This book of the just-retired newsman's reminiscences of Washington at the dawn of America's involvement in World War II is no mere historical curiosity shop. It's very instructive about the way Washington still works. For instance, Brinkley tells us that in September 1941, while FDR was still wavering about where to put the military's new headquarters building, an Army general told the contractor to get started. By the time Roosevelt found out about this a month later, the foundations for the Pentagon had already been put in place.
Book Description
"Astonishing. . . Told with endearing detail . . . He knows his Washington well."
--The New York Times Book Review
"HILARIOUS AND INSTRUCTIVE . . . Brinkley has written an impressionist history, comparable to a pointillist painting composed of small points of color that, seen whole, comprise a remarkably truthful record of reality."
--George F. Will
The Washington Post
Today the hub of international affairs and government, Washington, D.C. was once little more than a sleepy, early-to-bed Southern town that happened to host our nationally elected officials. Esteemed, award-winning journalist David Brinkley remembers well what it was like--how Washington awoke from its slumber and found itself with World War II on its hands. It was left to Washington to print the paper, alphabetize the bureaucracies, host the parties, pitch the propaganda, write the laws, launch the drives, draft the boys, hire the "government girls," and engage in an often hilarious administrative war of words, wit, and even some wisdom.
"EVOCATIVE . . . One gets the sense that he was everywhere in Washington, with a bird's-eye view of the show from start to finish. . . . A grand and moving drama."
--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt
The New York Times
"A wonderful read for those of us who lived through it. It should be even better for those who are too young to remember."
--The Washington Monthly
Customer Reviews:
Brinkley's "Washington Goes to War" a Winner.......2007-01-15
Fascinating account of life in Washington, DC during WWII.
Great Book!!.......2006-11-10
This is a great book.......I see the there can be humor in all things...even World War II.
Working together all by ourselves.......2005-11-16
The myth, a myth that I had been taught and which continues to be the popular belief, of all America working together during the big war is certainly exploded in Brinkley's tome. Brinkley's insight explains why some black folks still do not like white folks...not that I blame them. If I were African American, I would not like me either. America apparently did not like women much either, although they were better tolerated than racial minorities. Our local book club could not find any glaring factual errors, anyhow. Reading how each interest often worked for itself and against other interests makes me wonder how we managed to win the war after all. Brinkley's book is a bit slow going, but it is a detailed resource which should be read by students of U.S. history as well as the general public.
Excellent on the merits.......2003-01-14
By sheer coincidence, I read Ben Bradlee's memoir, A GOOD LIFE, Andy Rooney's MY WAR and David Brinkley's WASHINGTON GOES TO WAR in immediate succession.
Each of these books covers a different aspect of America's involvement in World War II. Taken as a grouping, these three may be the definitive report of the social history of the moment, as impacted by that War. Obviously, Tom Brokaw's book of individual reminiscences, THE GREATEST GENERATION, must be included with this list as well.
In common with all of these others, David Brinkley, too, is an excellent writer who makes history lively and interesting. As with each of the other books mentioned in this group, WASHINGTON GOES TO WAR can stand alone on its own merits. Yet each of these books gains synergistically by being read in tandem with the others.
This was a fascinating moment in modern history, and David Brinkley tells tales that most readers would have no other way of learning.
Great Read.......2002-01-21
This is one fun book. Brinkley is able to re-create how Washington DC went from a sleepy village to the thriving community it is now. Read how those crummy government buildings were only supposed to be temporary. How those girls came for work from the farms, bought leg makeup, and stayed. How the Japanese and German ambassadors were placed under guard in a mansion and still couldn't get along. Recommended to anyone who has an interest in the homefront during WWII.
Average customer rating:
- A great read....
- A Great Composer...
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Vibrations: The Adventures and Musical Times of David Amram
David Amram
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Press
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Offbeat: Collaborating with Kerouac
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Pull My Daisy
ASIN: 1560253088 |
Book Description
The Boston Globe has described David Amram as "the Renaissance man of American music." Amram and Jack Kerouac collaborated on the first-ever Jazz poetry reading in New York City in 1957 as well as the subsequent legendary film "Pull My Daisy" in 1959, which combined Amram's jazz and chamber music and Kerouac's narration. Not only part of what came to be known as the Beat generation, Amram has also composed over 100 orchestral and chamber works, written two operas, and has collaborated with such notables as Leonard Bernstein, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus, Dustin Hoffman, Thelonius Monk, Willie Nelson, Betty Carter, Odetta, Elia Kazan, Arthur Miller, and Tito Puente. This edition includes a new introduction by the author and a new foreword by Douglas Brinkley
Customer Reviews:
A great read...........2001-12-15
He is a grate mann. I luved this book. It was the very goodest book I ever red.
A Great Composer..........2001-03-03
This memoir is a great read. Anyone interested in classical music or The Beats, should check out Vibrations.
Amazon.com
This is a selection of Mr. Brinkley's favorite short commentaries, compiled from those he delivered over the last 15 years as host of "This Week With David Brinkley." Brinkley brings his weighty bearing, rich tones, dark humor, and acerbic wit to bear on the problems of the day and editorializes on the political questions of Washington. He is often funny in his irreverent dismissal of politicians and his world-weary resigned attitude to intractable issues both large and small is curiously appealing.
Book Description
Make it easy on yourself - read David Brinkley in Large Print!
* All Random House Large Print Editions are published in a 16-point typeface
No matter how seriously we take our politics, Americans love a light touch, a raised eyebrow, a generous chuckle--which is why millions of us tune in to Sunday morning television for the bracing cocktail of wit and practical wisdom dispensed, along with the news, by the inimitable
David Brinkley. His closing remarks, like an exclamation point after each broadcast, may illuminate the week's events or they may range widely through the oft puzzling human condition--but they're always worth waiting for.
In this one-of-a-kind book, we get the undiluted Brinkley. He marvels at government regulations that require cans of paint to bear a label reading "Do not drink paint." He nominates Richard Nixon as Official U.S. Government Scapegoat. He commiserates with an Oklahoma mayor who must earn extra money by collecting beer cans and claiming the deposits. He reminisces about a White House that welcomed casual picnickers on its lawn. He forgives George Bush for passing out in Tokyo. He observes that "if we can put a man on the moon, we could put Congress in orbit." He skewers lawyers, bureaucrats, Washington insiders, hypocrites of all stripes. He commemorates absurdity--and hence suffers fools gladly.
In short,
Everyone Is Entitled To My Opinion is
David Brinkley at his unbeatable best.
Customer Reviews:
Light, but amusing.......2000-12-01
There isn't really much to say about this book. It is charming, amusing and intelligent. Reading this book makes for an interesting trip down memory lane and reaffirms the old adage that "the more things change, the more they remain the same."
The format is very simple and leads itself to a single read-through or picking a page at random. Several dozen of David Brinkley's closing statements on "This Week with David Brinkley" have been collected and presented here as short essays of no more than three pages each. If nothing else it is a pleasure to once again make fun of former Secretary of the Interior James Watt.
Classic 80s-90s Brinkley Wit In Short Weekly Doses.......2000-08-23
Legendary TV journalist David Brinkley revived dormant Sunday morning political interview shows with "This Week," mixing news, interviews, bicker and banter between Brinkley and panelists Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson and George Will. Brinkley nearly always closed the show with an anecdote or thought-provoking, curmugeonly comments that, delivered with trademark diction, trumped any cute animal story local news closed with.
"Everyone Is Entitled To My Opinion," collects these short closers, reminding you that Brinkley's oratory gave fresh, common sense drama to what reads now as classier shaggy-dog stories or whining. The book has highlights, mainly Brinkley addressing his favorite topic of government bureaucracy (cited in everything from $2500 Air Force pliers to his dime tax bill). He praises junk mail ("You never get bad news by third-class") and global warming. He forgives President Bush for getting ill in Tokyo after a whirlwind Pacific Rim tour and nominates Richard Nixon for "official US scapegoat." He also offers touching eulogies for the Philadelphia Bulletin, Sam Ervin, and Benny Goodman.
The book recalls the Reagan-Bush years with their heroes (the presidents themselves, Margaret Thatcher) villains (John Sununu, Tip O'Neill) and fools (James Watt, Leona Helmsley, Jim Bakker, Imelda Marcos). This book is best enjoyed in its audio format; otherwise, check out Brinkley's autobiography or 1989's excellent "Washington Goes To War" for the best writing from this American news icon.
a beautiful insight into a beautiful man.......1999-07-14
I asked for and was given this book as a gift...having met Mr. Brinkley in the '60's...I was already impressed with him...I loved "Everyone's Entitled to my Opinion"....I have great respect and admiration for him....this book starts with his beginnings in North Carolina...his relationship with his mother....and on through his successful career as a broadcaster....one of the best autobiographies I have read...
Chuckle, Chuckle!.......1997-03-29
If you're looking for a quick, enjoyable read, with a few chuckles on the way, get this book. If you think the U.S. government has a unique outlook on life, this book proves it. "Everyone Is Entitled To My Opinion" is a small book with witty commentaries from "This Week" television show. The government is not the only oddity in the book. Life itself is seen as the intriguing, mysterious, comedic adventure it is. What I really liked about the book is you can read it in quick bites (on breaks at work) or for a longer visit (after dinner). David Brinkley's insight into the human condition is always enjoyable. And the fact his opinion often (but not always) is mine as well doesn't hurt. This is not GREAT LITERATURE (I was shouting there) but a very good book
Book Description
David Brinkley, icon of the American airwaves, has written his autobiography, a classic American story which overlaps with some of the great events and important personages of the era. From playing poker with Truman to riding the rails with Churchill to walking the beaches with D-Day veterans, readers are privy to some of Brinkley's most priceless remembrances. of photos.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
A Man on the Inside of TV News & Politics........2005-12-12
From 1956 to 1970, before the days of Dan Rather on CBS, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley said "good night" to each other at the 'finis' of NBC network news, leaving everybody watching feeling a kind of contentment that "all's right with the world." After his first eighteen years spent growing up, working for the small town newspaper, in North Carolina, his tenure fin the world of television news saw him through four wars, three assassinations, two wives, twenty-two political conventions, eleven presidents, 2,000 weeks of canvassing and reporting the news to the American public and one moon landing, he is on terra firma at last. Born in Wilmington, and educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee, he spent most of his life on the Washington, D.C. scene. He had a soft Southern drawl and a knack for brevity, using just the right word or phrase to sum up a situation. This memoir as such is mostly about politics and his role as observer of the leaders then and now.
He was in the press corps. "Even though I was in Washington covering the White House for the last years of Franklin Roosevelt's presidency and reported from the White House every day when there was any news and traveled with him on several trips, we only knew, as everyone knew, the U. S. Treasury paid him one hundred thousand dollars a year." Perhaps no form of governments needs great leaders so much as democracy. The political history of the 20th century lists six men as the best leaders: Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. The first four were tyrants; had it not been for the final two, western civilization might have perished.
In March 1946, Harry S. Truman's private pullman, the 'Ferdinand Magellan,' passed on to him after Roosevelt's death, on a private train at Washington's Union Station pulled out with his guest, Winston Churchill, his press secretary, Charles Ross, and others as the Truman-Churchill Express to St. Louis. Churchill was noted for writing his own speeches and used Lord Byron as a part of this particular appeal: "He who ascends to mountain tops shall find the loftiest peaks most wrapped in clouds and snow.
He who surpasses or subdues mankind must look down on the hate of those below.
Though far above the sun of glory shine and far beneath the earth and ocean spread round him are icy rocks
And fiercely blow contending tempests on his naked head
And thus reward the toils which to those summits led."
David had grown up watching the Tennessee Williams' plays and movies about the South with its drunkenness and cruelty. "I survived early radio at NBC, and it survived me. The grand old names in radio never made it in television." There had been only one 100-wattt AM radio station in the small town of Wilmington He called a spade a spade. His sister Mary Driscoll worked as legal secretary for Joseph McCarthy, who he called the "Grand Champion American Liar." He routinely pronounced "him to be what he was, a loudmouthed liar." He said, "had he been truthful, ...he might have been a great political figure. But it was only one lie after another...."
The 1956 Democrat Convention was the first he covered. Adlai Stevenson from Illinois was the candidate to run for that party's choice for U. S. President. Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee was chosen with the help of Al Gore's dad, Senator Albert Gore, as Vice President. They lost. The 1960 election used "multimillion-dollar mainframe computers bigger than four-door Buicks" to count the votes.
He wasn't impressed by President Nixon ("Before Nixon was forced to resign the presidency, he chose Spiro Agnew as his vice president, only to begin still another degrading and humiliating episode in American presidential politics."). He observed, "While eight years later, Nixon was one of the most intelligent presidents of modern times, he never seemed happy or seemed to enjoyed what he was doing. He always looked mournful and it is difficult to find a photo of him with a smile on his face." He didn't have anything good to say about Agnew, Gerald Ford, or Jimmy Carter. He called Eisenhower the Republican party's first president in twenty years. At the 1964 Convention, the agenda had them denouncing the John Birch Society, an even harder-line right-wing fringe group, along with the klan, and the Communist party."
This memoir was just a beginning; David Brinkley also wrote EVERYONE IS ENTITLED TO MY OPINION and BRINKLEY'S BEAT: PEOPLE, PLACES AND EVENTS THAT SHAPED MY TIME.
Plain Writing, just like his speech!.......2003-10-04
As a non-native English speaker who has been watching ABC's "This Week" all these years, I've always found David Brinkley's manner of speaking concise and easy to understand with short sentences and simple vocabulary. This was far cry from many other loud talking heads, including David's own colleagues on his Sunday program. He taught me how English could be spoken plainly but precisely and effectively. His memoir is written exactly the way he spoke. He gets to the point without being wordy and beating around the bush.
One thing I liked about this memoir is that he wrote more about his professional life than personal, which was of little interest to me. This memoir is also a history of American TV journalism, filled with episodes that were new to me. I was particularly interested in learning what he had to say about Joe McCarthy, whom David's own sister served as secretary for many years. Quite a bit is written about Kenndey brothers, too, including JFK assasination. So glad he published this memoir before he passed away.
David Brinkley, a rambling book.......2002-04-07
I was quite excited to get David Brinkley's book, as I have enjoyed his newscasts for years, particularly the early conventions. As it turns out, this is a "Chatty-Cathy" book that rambles on about his life, with his TV persona somewhat as an afterthought. The book is quite readable with his enjoyable laconic style, but at the end, you don't know much more about him, TV, the process of TV news, or the events to which he was an eyewitness....at least not more than you already knew or could surmise.
The book was a pleasant interlude, but somewhat a bit of froth
A fun book.......2002-01-22
Having grown up with the Huntley-Brinkley report and watching them at all the conventions, I truly enjoyed this book. Especially interesting is how Brinkley trashes Jesse Helms.
Light and Entertaining Memoir of Old Style News Man.......2001-04-18
To me, Brinkley always seemed a cut above the modern TV journalist / anchor -- more sober, more professional and less interested in focusing the attention on himself rather than his subject.
David Brinkley tells his life story in this quick book. Growing up with the new medium of television, he and his partner (Chet Huntly) wrote much of the playbook for the way network news and tv interview shows are conducted.
This is an interesting story that tells not only of Brinkley's growth and development but also of the maturation of the tv news industry. Along the way, Brinkley was witness to many seminal events and has of course met many of the notables of his era.
The man's integrity and dedication to the profession of journalism shines through in this book. I can't imagine Sam or Cokie or Dan or Peter writing this book. Too much would be devoted to image and the their impact on the news. Brinkley was able to achieve the incredible credibility he enjoyed because he was made of different stuff -- this is the story of a darn good journalist who understood the difference between covering the news and entering it.
Customer Reviews:
Great Reading.......2006-11-30
I listened to David Brinkley a lot through the years, and I sometimes was annoyed by his kind of sardonically superficial attitude, sort of talking down to his audience. But I found that I enjoyed reading this book very much, as I did hiw Washington Goes To War (which I read 21 August 1988). Rightfully the book is called, on the dust cover--not on the title page-- a memoir rather than an autobiography, but it does relate events from his whole life span up to the date (1995) when the book was published. It is full of fascinating items which only one as much on the scene as David Brinkley could relate, told with the somewhat sceptical slant he so often took over the years. I read this book in a day, and found it unfailingly absorbing. (I think the title of the book is the longest title of any book which I read--this book being No. 4239 in my lifetime list of books read.)
Average customer rating:
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The Atlantic Charter (The World of the Roosevelts)
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0312089309 |
Book Description
In August 1941 Churchill and Roosevelt met in a secluded bay off the coast of Newfoundland. It was the first of their wartime meetings and in many respects the most significant. The document that was created at that meeting, the Atlantic Charter, proclaimed the two leaders' vision of a new world order, a set of principles that would govern international relations with the coming of peace. This remarkable collection of essays is the result of an international conference of American, British, and Canadian scholars held at Memorial University of Newfoundland that marked the fiftieth anniversary of the historic meeting. The essays discuss both the Charter's formulation and its long-term significance and provide fascinating perspectives on the Second World War and its aftermath.
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