Biography, Autobiography, Memoir discussion
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir Read In 2016
Koren wrote: "Cat Daddy by Jackson Galaxy3 stars
If you watch the Animal Planet show "My Cat..."
Thanks for the review. I still want to read it but now will not be in a hurry to get to it.
5 stars
Andrea Lankford gives an eye opening look into the life of a Ranger. A few of the stories leave you hanging or wanting more information but overall a good collection of stories. You will not be able to look at a Rangers the same way after reading this book. At times the drama does get a little old but with all that they have to put up with and deal with, she deserves to be a little drama Queen now and then. Highly recommend.
Koren wrote: "
I, Rhoda3 stars
Everyone loves Rhoda, right? Well, it seems like she loves everyone too. There is no dirt or gossip in this book. There is a lot of na..."
Which relates closely to the other discussion on this forum, about what constitutes a tell-all. :)
Mod
I, Rhoda3 stars
Everyone loves Rhoda, right? Well, it seems like she loves everyone too. There is no dirt or gossip in this book. There ..."
Yes, it does. I really did not think this was a 'tell-all'.
Koren wrote: "I really did not think this was a 'tell-all'. "Quite the opposite, in fact.
The Philosopher Fish: Sturgeon, Caviar, and the Geography of Desire, which combines the author's memoir of getting to like fish, and eventually the Mt. Everest of fish dining -- caviar -- along with his studies in fish conservation, travelling the world to the best sturgeon rivers and lakes, and talking to people who farm sturgeons, advocate for them, and learning about those who smuggle and illegally kill them. (Yeah, even THIS book turned out to be a true crime.)
Pain, Parties, Work: Sylvia Plath in New York, Summer 1953ok I wanted to cure my Sylvia Plath curiousity. But I think she pretty much said it all in the Bell Jar anyway.
This books premise was good but was all surface. Plath's month guest editing at Mademoiselle magazine which she depicted in the Bell Jar is examined in this book, complete with interviews with the other interns she stayed with. Its as facile as the magazine that Plath ended up disliking, think of a 1950's version of the Devil Wears Prada and you get the picture.
Glossed over was the fact she was nearly raped. Sylvia ended up ditching all her clothes off a building, but the author of this biography/memoir seems to think that Sylvia was a real fashion maven and that red lipstick was important to her - well yes, up to a point.
Mod
4 stars
I read I, Rhoda by Valerie Harper and thought it was a lot of fluff. I wanted to read this book by Mary Tyler Moore and see if the two perspectives were the same. This book seems to be a lot more honest. The girl next door wasnt all she seemed. But, it does seem that the cast of The Mary Tyler Moore show got along very well. This book goes into more depth than the Valerie Harper book does. This is no holds barred. She talks about her alcoholism and cigarette addictions and her relationship with her parents that left much to be desired. Also she talks honestly about her 2 failed marriages. Well-written and interesting from beginning to end. A
Sum It Up: 1,098 Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses, and a Life in Perspective In light of her recent passing, this is a great read.
Mod
Dude, Where's My Stethoscope?
5 stars
This guy has a great sense of humor. At times it seems like a lot of complaining but in a sarcastically humerous way. Being in the medical field myself, I can totally identify with a lot of the stories. I will say, if you are not in the medical profession there is a lot of terminology that might go right over your head but if you want to know what your doctor is REALLY thinking, this is a good read.
Koren wrote: "Dude, Where's My Stethoscope?
5 stars
This guy has a great sense of humor. At times it seems like a lot of complaining but in a sa..."
Will add to my list!
Onions in the Stew 1954
Betty MacDonald
Betty is one of my favorite authors and she wrote so few books that I re-read this one about her life with her daughters and second husband on Vashon Island in Washington state at the end of WWII. She is funny and smart and has the same problems we have with our children even in different time periods. My favorite book of hers was The Plague and I and talked about her time with TB. She is best known for her book The Egg and I which was made into a film and covered her first marriage while living on a farm. And how can I forget her children's series about Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
Koren wrote: "Dude, Where's My Stethoscope?
5 stars
This guy has a great sense of humor. At times it seems like a lot of complaining but in a sa..."
Adding to my TBR Mountain. Sounds good.
Unbelievable: Investigations into Ghosts, Poltergeists, Telepathy, and Other Unseen Phenomena from the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory, by Stacy Horn4 stars!
This was a completely absorbing read, about the history of the Duke University parapsychology lab referred to in a zillion 1970s movies about paranormal researchers. This is also the biography of J.B. Rhine, one of the few who tried to apply rigorous scientific principles to this area of inquiry. Horn tells us where he got with his researches, where he found dead ends and which areas of inquiry he wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole -- and there were several of those. Horn paints a rather sad picture of a stolid scientist trying to do straightforward statistical analysis as hundreds and hundreds of bereaved, terrified, or deranged people wrote to him daily, asking for help with everything from missing their dead relatives to rocks falling out of the sky onto their rooftops.
Mod
1 star
I bought this book because the girl on the cover looked like the girl next door. She looks so happy and has such a beautiful smile. Nothing could be further from the truth. This book is about a girl who killed two people with a pick axe. However, I was disappointed to find out this was not a true crime book. It is mostly about the author and how she goes to prisons to convert prisoners to Christ. There is NOTHING at all in the book about the murder itself. She is a very religious person. It did make me want to learn more about this crime and it seems there are short stories in compilation books but no entire book about Karla Faye Tucker. There is an e-book short that is 67 pages and I am thinking about getting it but if you want to read a true crime book this is not the one.
Fishface wrote: "Unbelievable: Investigations into Ghosts, Poltergeists, Telepathy, and Other Unseen Phenomena from the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory, by Stacy Horn4 stars!
This was a completely..."
Sounds very interesting-thanks for the review!
Koren wrote: "Karla Faye Tucker Set Free: Life and Faith on Death Row by Linda Strom1 star
I bought this book because the..."
Disappointing!
Mod
5 stars
By Harold and Don Reid better known as 2 of the members of the Statler Brothers. The beginning of the book tells us that this is not an autobiography or a history of the group but is just what the book says 'random memories'. That said, there is quite a bit of information on the background of the group. There are some funny stories to tell. These guys have a great sense of humor. If you are a fan of the group you will like this book.
Koren wrote: "Dude, Where's My Stethoscope?
5 stars
This guy has a great sense of humor. At times it seems like a lot of complaining but in a sa..."
Hmm.... Not so sure about 'Dude Where's my Stethescope?'. It's a good collection of funny stories, but......
Are You My Mother?
Alison Bechdel
3/5 stars
Cartoonist Alison Bechdel who chronicled her relationship with her father, takes on her relationship with her mother in this graphic novel. Bechdel has a tumultuous relationship with both parents but her father had died before she wrote Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. However, as we find in this book her mother is still alive and her dread in showing this book to her mother is a big part of this book along with her relationships with her lovers and therapists. As Bechdel deals with her psychological issues with her mother, she also writes about the history of the psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott who she is studying to get a grip on her issues. Not an easy read. Uncomfortable subject matter but interesting. I liked Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic better because the story line flowed better for me. This has a lot of psychological terminology and the story line breaks when she discusses Winnicott which is distracting but this is an amazing and brave book and kudos to her for writing it.
I just started Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders, which is as much a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright as it is an exploration of the mass murder in one of the houses he designed and built. The author complains that there are all kinds of biographies of the architect, but none that looks in any depth into the murders, which were a major turning point for Wright. It's very interesting and moves right along, but I feel bound to warn people that this is an author who won't use plain English when he can resort to the fanciest words he can find -- "palaver" instead of "talk," for instance.
The Girl in Alfred Hitchcock's Shower
Robert Graysmith
3.5/5 stars
Graysmith writes an intriguing true life story that centers around the movie Psycho, especially Marli Renfro, the body double for Janet Leigh in Psycho, Sonny Busch, the killer of elderly women in California in the 1960's and the changing morality of the country at that time including the rise of Playboy, nudity in films and gambling. This was hard to put down and my only complaint was that at times the author was a bit wordy but it was still worth reading.
Much Laughter, a Few Tears: Memoirs of a Woman's Friendship With Betty Macdonald and Her Family
Blanche Caffiere
4/5 stars
I love Betty MacDonald, author of Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and The Egg and I and have read them years ago but now with the internet I have been able to find more books about her and this book details her life and friendship with the author. I thought this book would be just so-so but I really enjoyed this book, it was well written and a fast read. This is not just about MacDonald, Caffiere talks about her life, her family and life in Washington State. It was also a peek to what life was like during and after the depression and before TVs and computers. This book was not readily available at a lot of libraries but thank goodness for inter-library loan-I got this from a state 1400 miles away but it is also available to buy online.
Mod
3 stars
The beginning of this book was very good. It's a memoir of a guy who didn't go into the armed forces until he was 41 and had a family. His story of military training was interesting. After he got into the actual war stuff he kind of lost me. If you like war memoirs I think you will like this one.
Who Named the Knife: A Book of Murder and Memory, by Linda Spalding3 stars
This was not at all what I expected. What looked like a standard true-crime story turned out to be...how do I describe this? The author was attempting to come to terms with the events in her own life by clearing up how she feels about the criminal case she sat in on as a juror decades before. So basically, this is the same idea as Crossed Over: A Murder, A Memoir, although the results are very different. We get to know the convicted killer and what landed her in the same unit as the Manson girls (two of whom the author also met in the course of this story). We find out why this killer, like the Manson alumnae, are such standouts in a women's prison, but also what they have in common with most female prisoners. We learn a lot of things that were new to me, but all of it is filtered through the author's firm belief that this woman would never have been convicted without her, and that everything that happened to Maryann Acker is somehow about Linda Spalding. It's well written, but it comes across inherently ditzy and self-centered.
Mod
4 stars
This is a true story of a woman who married a man who was emotionally, financially, and physically abusive. At the beginning of the book I kept thinking how dumb could she be. Then he attempts to murder her and serves very little time and when he gets out attempts to benefit from her financially. From this point on I realized what a strong person she was, even helping to change a law that prevents spouses who have been convicted of a felony from profiting financially from their spouse in a divorce.
Betty-The Story of Betty MacDonald, Author of The Egg and I by Anne Wellman4/5 stars
This is the biography of Betty MacDonald, author of The Egg and I and the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books. Wellman follows the life of Betty from the very beginning, including what family history could be found. Very interesting and it fills in details that are left out of her books. If you are fan, you will appreciate this biography. There is another bio of Betty coming out soon after so little written about her. Looking forward to reading that one too.
Mod
5 stars and a heart
Best book I have read this year. Very interesting to learn how much work it takes to farm organically. I was especially interested to read the end of the book that tells why organic food is more expensive than non-organic. You will laugh and cry when you read this book. This is a book where you want to know the author and his family and when you are done you feel like you are leaving a friend. I will definitely look for more organic food and farmer's markets.
Utterly riveted by Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk by Marc Parent, who spent 4 years as a caseworker for Emergency Children's Services in the Big Apple. I worked in Child Protective Services for 2 months before I started looking for another job. My hat is off to this guy. I'm not the kind of social worker who wants to ever carry a switchblade on the job to protect herself from the pit bulls owned by the parents whose children he is removing. He not only lived that life, but writes about it so beautifully that I can hardly get over it. Read this one!
Mod
My hat is off to both of you. That has to be a hard job. We were involved with the Child Protective Agency for a few months when I had custody of my 2 grandchildren when they were taken away from their biological mother. It was not fun.
Ike's bluff Ike's Bluff: President Eisenhower's Secret Battle to Save the WorldThree Stars
by Evan Thomas
** spoiler alert ** The author's thesis is Ike played the Cold War like a game of poker. He always had the threat of using nuclear weapons but he never intended to use them. (This is the author's thesis since Ike never recorded his true belief). The author says Ike was such a good poker player that he had to stop since he was taking too much money from fellow officers. Once the Korean War was over he did not want to involve the USA in another foreign war. Since he had been commander in chief of the allied forces in WW II, he figured (perhaps correctly) the Soviet Union would never call his bluff. He also knew through CIA U-2 intelligence the USA was far superior to the Soviet Union in nuclear weapons (despite JFK's claim of a missile gap). Would the Soviet Union have ever dared to move missiles into Cuba when Ike was president? After JFK failed to support the Bay Of Pigs invasion, the Soviet Union thought they could push JFK around. I guess the problem with handling foreign policy this way is it depends too much on the individual. His rhetoric about rolling back Communism did lead to the unfortunate 1956 Hungarian uprising. Ike's CIA had encouraged the Hungarians to revolt (but when push came to shove) Ike did not provide the Hungarians any support. But Ike according to Thomas may have been the ideal Cold War president because he followed the Roman aphorism "Si vis pacem, para bellum." ("If you want peace, prepare for war."). Others, of course, may complain he gave first-strike power to SAC (which potential problem was described in "Seven Days in May") and increased the American nuclear arsenal a thousand fold. SAC was our most belligerent arm led by "bomb them back into the Stone Ages" General Curtis LeMay (LeMay was satirized as Buck Turgidson in "Doctor Strangelove").
But who else other than Ike would have warned us of the military industrial complex? Who else would have told France, England and Israel they were wrong in the Suez Crisis? Who else would have defied his Secretary of State and Joint Chiefs (who called for use of atomic weapons eight or more times during his presidency)?
This book "only" focuses on Ike's foreign policy. It does show Ike was a near-great president. (less)
Koren wrote: "Fishface wrote: "Utterly riveted by Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk by Marc Parent, who spent 4 years as a caseworker for Emergency Children's Services in the..."Funny, I feel your job -- watching people get sicker and weaker until they die -- would be far harder than mine. But I notice neither one of us has anything to do with Child Protective Services these days!
Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk, by Marc Parent5 stars!
I expected to dislike this book, but I loved it. The memoir of an Emergency Children's Services caseworker in NYC, the author serves up only the most wrenching, hair-raising and generally horrifying stories from his four and a half years at that job. He writes really beautifully and compassionately about every case, about himself, his colleagues, and about his roommate, a man being eaten by piranhas. (Read it. All will be explained.)
Mod
Its a good thing all people are not alike. I consider it a privilege to be with someone as they take their last breaths as much as it is for someone to be there for their first breaths. I do not think it is hard to be with someone when they are dying. It's part of life and we are all going to do it some day.
Now reading a memoir called Fear of Our Father, about the long years of violence the author suffered at the hands of her father, only to find herself accused later of having killed him.
Mod
Gary Marshall
5 stars
It stands to reason that someone who has written some of the most endearing, enduring television shows in the history of television would write a good memoir. Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, The Odd Couple, Mork and Mindy, among others. He has also written and directed in quite a few movies. This was the most interesting when he is talking about the shows and movies I have seen. I did tend to skim when I hadn't seen the show. He starts out talking about his younger self but although he is the brother of Penny Marshall, he doesn't talk a lot about her. Then he goes on to devote a chapter to each of his projects. If you remember fondly those old television shows that stand the test of time you will like this book.
Koren wrote: "My Happy Days In Hollywood: A Memoir by Gary Marshall
5 stars
It stands to reason that someone who has written some of the most endearing..."
I have read a book on Gary but heck if I can't remember the title. It was very good. His sister's book - My Mother Was Nuts was good too.
2012
4.5 StarsEisenhower in War and Peace
By Jean Smith
Ike had a very poor childhood. He had a remarkable stroke of luck securing a West Point appointment. This occurred only because his Kansas US Senator had instituted competitive examinations for appointments. His second stroke of luck was obtaining a commission. He had a knee injury playing football. The peacetime Army did not want officers with potential disabilities. After finally making it and obtaining a commission, Ike was again very fortunate. A couple of the leading figures in the Army mentored Ike.
As the author notes, Ike finally had a bad break. He failed in his wish to go overseas and obtain a combat command in WW II. This failure would haunt him during WW I. Nonetheless, Ike's mentors insured he would receive appointments to the War College and the command school. Ike also received another bad break when he had to work under MacArthur when MacArthur was Chief of Staff and when MacArthur was in command in the Phillipines.
When WW II breaks out, the author shows why Ike was elevated over all of his peers. In North Africa, Ike and the US Army are quickly shown to be "not ready for prime time" as its initial attack in Tunisia is smashed by the Germans. Ike shows his political skills in working successfully with the Brits and DeGaule. The author says D Day was a success because Montgomery was the commander on the ground and not Ike. Perhaps correctly, the author says Ike and US strategists were wrong in attempting to attack all along the line in France at the same time. Rather, the author says the Allies should have adopted the British strategy of probing for a weakness and then punching through at that point. For this point, the author cites German and British sources. Ike keeps his cool at the Battle of the Bulge. Also, Ike is adept at using the skills of the mercurial Patton.
Of course, we must not forget Kay Summersby. According to the author and reliable sources she was certainly Ike's mistress. At the end of the War, Ike does rather coldly dismiss her. His career was more important than his mistress!
I am now on to the second part which deals with his presidency.
Albert Fish In His Own Words4 stars!
A compilation of primary-source materials on the Albert Fish case, including a long autobiography Fish wrote for the New York Daily News. The editor thoughtfully photocopied the letter in full but transcribed everything to make reading easier. I can't imagine what the newspaper did with it -- even the Daily News will go only so far and no farther. There are some court transcripts, a collection of the obscene letters Fish wrote to women applying to matrimonial agencies, excerpts from Frederic Wertham, quotes from Fish's children and various doctors who treated him over the years, and some wonderfully cutting correspondence from defense counsel, Mel Heimer, a publisher, and various other interested parties. There are also all kinds of photos from the crime scene, the newspapers, you name it, all the way through the book. This book really needed an index and photo captions, but there is still all kinds of information in here you won't find elsewhere.
Fear of Our Father3 stars
This was quite an interesting, unusual story written from a person involved in the case, from what I hope is a unique perspective. It's a nightmarish memoir of domestic violence -- every kind -- perpetrated by a brutal, drunken father, as told by the youngest child in the family. She decided to write this book after being falsely accused of murdering her parents. So many true-crime stories include court testimony that just covers ground you're already familiar with from earlier in the book. In this one, the court testimony clears up the whole story for you, just as if you were one of the jurors. There are clearly some good-sized omissions in the information the author chose to give, and the author uses some odd constructions that forced me to go back and re-read to make sure I was following, like "Not only was I really angry, but I wasn't stupid." Those flaws weren't enough to really dent the story. Well worth your time.
Mod
Lillian's Legacy: Marriage and Murder in Rural Iowa by Carroll R. McKibben This is about a murder that took place in Iowa in the 60's. The husband is a piece of work. The richest guy in town but wouldn't give his wife a dime. But who killed her? This is a quick read at only 188 pages which includes an index.
Mod
3 stars
I'm sure there are better Alfred Hitchcock bios out there if you are interested. This one is about 50 % bio and 50% telling about the movies. It is mostly what the movies are about and not that much behind the scenes secrets. It is a short read.
The Dating Game Killer: The True Story of a TV Dating Show, a Violent Sociopath, and a Series of Brutal Murders
Stella Sands
4/5 stars
Stella Sands weaves a horrifying tale of the true story of photographer Rodney Alcala, sociopath and sadistic murderer of girls and women across the country and who still sits in prison today. Terrifying and sad.
Mod
[book:The Dating Game Killer: The True Story of a TV Dating Show..."
I used to love watching The Dating Game way back when. I probably watched the very show that those two were on. It was interesting to find out that the woman never went on the date she won because she thought her date was too creepy.
Recently read The Man That Got Away: The Life and Songs of Harold Arlen but it wasn't that interesting really...He was a popular songwriter/composer back in the day (1930-50s) who created 'over the rainbow' and 'the man that got away' both sung by Judy Garland.
He was jewish and married a 'shiksa' russian orthodox wife, she went mad and he became an alcoholic and was in and out of work as thats the life of a composer. It seems he didn't have any children. The book mentions all these other popular songwriters like Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin who were composing for Broadway and then Hollywood.
Hollywood wasn't as conducive to creative minds as Broadway was. Apparently 'over the rainbow' very nearly didn't make it to the movie.
And the Sea Will Tell, a book I'm re-reading for the first time in nearly 20 years, is Vincent Bugliosi's memoir of trying to extricate a client from a murder rap against very, very steep odds. The murder case is fascinating in itself, and the complicated dance the author is doing with his co-counsel and their odder-than-average client makes me understand better why Bugliosi went bald so early in his career... :)
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Susan Cain
Stop everything and read this book now! Whether you are a extrovert or a introvert or somewhere in between, this book can help you understand yourself, your family and the people you meet and work with. I was blown away by this book and I think this should be required reading for everyone.
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir
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I saw the movie first and the book is slightly different from the movie. Its about a woman's faith journey, and then her fall away. Carolynn grew up in Iowa and became a christian in her early 20s along with her husband and they joined a fellowship of what in those days were called 'Jesus freaks'. ie. they were hippies for Jesus.
But her increasing dissatisfaction with her marriage, which is kind of touched on (but not really made explicit) led her to a split and also separating from her faith community. In the movie it seemed some other reasons were given that were different from the book. Anyway it was quite thought provoking and I wonder if the prodigal daughter came back or she found what was missing from her marriage.