Biography Books

I enjoyed the book very much but not as much as my 18 month old grandson whould have if he could read. He is all Jeff even looks like him. This is not only my opinion but a lot of other people as well. Everything in his room is Jeff Gordan. He even has a Jeff uniform and wore it for hallowween. Took Third. If I had an address I would send a picture of my grandson Levi. He watches just about all your races with his mother as he doesn't have a male role model, just me. A race car enthusiast from Sioux Falls, SD

This is a great book not only for the pictures but the text is also very great. It's just an all around great book!

this was one of the best books that i have read on Jeff and i'm reading it over and over. I only wish it was bigger and that i was in it.

I am a big fan of Gordon i have mostly ever thing of Gordon. If you are a racing fan these sould be your first book!

I am a huge Jeff Gordon fan and I will be the first to tell you that this is a wonderful book! I have been a fan for a little over 4 years and this book goes into detail about everything that you would ever want to know! Very well written...if you are a Jeff Gordon fan this is the book for you!

Wow!!
This is a book for everyone and anyone that loves the muppets and its good for all ages, coffee table or for propsmakers.
Top choice as a present for muppets lovers

Fabulous. So many other reviewers have expressed the feelings this book gives you so much more eloquently, so I will leave mine with just that one word. Fabulous.

This book is fabulous. I ordered it from America to come to England as the current exchange rate made it cheaper to buy this book new than to buy it second hand in England, and the wait for shipping was worth it. There are some brilliant anecdotes from people working with Henson, and beautful pictures illustrating everything that ever went on in Jim Henson's studios, right up to unpublished notes that Henson wrote for a book.

This book is beautiful, and really interesting in looking at the work of Jim Henson.

Complete with full color pictures, as well as black and white photos of Jim's early years, this book is not only a great read. -It's fun to look at too! Even young children can sit and appreciate the magic of Jim Henson's creations through the artwork and photo-journalistic shots throughout.

This book contains a great deal of biographical information on Jim throughout his life, and includes a great deal of his earlier forrays into the world of experimental art and design.

Definitely a good buy.

It's hard to believe Jim Henson has now been gone for over 16 years. Christopher Finch's book stands as a great testament to Henson's amazingly prolific work and his larger-then-life existence. Despite Henson's natural shyness and reticence and quiet manner, the thing that strikes you in the book is how many lives this guy touched. He bestowed livelihoods on literally thousands of people. Their gratitude is expressed in these pages time and again in fervent, emotional recollections. To say Jim Henson inspired devotion only begins to get at what this guy meant to his family, friends and employees.

My hat is off to Christopher Finch for this wonderful collection, which is still available here as a beautiful and hardily-constructed first-edition hardback. Mr. Finch gets an extra level of respect for the decision (of which he no doubt had a say) to keep his name off the dustcover front. He's graciously stepped aside to let the lights shine warmly on Jim Henson.

I have to admit I did not expect to find this book as interesting as it turned out to be. I was only interested in identifying some species within my yard and discovered quite a bit about ants. This book won't make you an expert, but it has made me see ants from a whole new perspective, so much so that I have come to like them instead of disliking them. I can also see why it is possible to kill a colony so easily. Never knew that once the queen is gone, there is no colony. I think if ants had atom bombs they would have destroyed the earth by now - killing each other. I had no idea they were so aggressive towards one another. Anyway, great book to read.

Apart from being a great book for all kind of reader, it was, for me (eight years ago!), a start point and it was probably the cause I focus my career nowadays in these small insects. It's quite nice for a child (then better with adult, not to read alone) or young people interested in natural sciences.

I loved this book. After reading it I spent the next night telling my wife all I'd managed to remember.

Journey to the Ants is a shorter version of the authors' monumental The Ants (1990), a 732-page tome aimed at professional biologists with a lot of technical language and a clear encyclopedic intent. This book, as Holldobler and Wilson explain in the Preface, is of "a more manageable length, with less technical language and with an admitted and unavoidable bias toward those topics and species on which we have personally worked."

It is a terrific book, lavishly illustrated with many color plates, line drawings, black and white drawings, photos, etc. Especially wonderful are the color prints of paintings by John D. Dawson showing ants in various activities. His style reminds me a bit of M.C. Esher. Also notable are the many photos taken by Holldobler and Wilson during their many travels and studies. They are both renowned experts on ants around the world.

The text is both informative and entertaining. Wilson in particular is a world class science writer as well as a great scientist, and his clarity of expression and enthusiasm show through. The chapters examine and illustrate how ants live in their colonies, how they hunt prey, tend aphid "cattle," cultivate fungi, raid other ant colonies; how they fight and how they reproduce. Other chapters focus on particular species, like army ants or leaf cutter ants, or "strange" ants. Still other chapters show how ants communicate especially through pheromones and touch. There is some theory on ant origins (about 100-120 million years ago) and their evolution and present distribution. I was particularly interested in and appalled by both the way some ants are parasites and how they themselves are exploited by parasites. Our esteemed authors show how ants, for all their power and evolutionary success, can be the most naive victims of beetles, flies, butterfly larva, etc. simply because they can be fooled by smells that mimic those of the colony and/or because they can be given irresistible concoctions of food or what might be called "drugs" that make them passive and acceptive of insects that will eat their eggs and larva. They are also tricked into feeding strangers on the trail and alien larva in the colony nest!

I purposely first read a couple of other books on ants (The World of Ants: A Science-Fiction Universe (1970) by Remy Chauvin, and Ants (1977) by M.V. Brian), written by myrmecologists of an earlier generation so as to be able to better appreciate this famous work. But you need not do that. Journey to the Ants is eminently accessible to just about any literate person.

While reading I had some thoughts (as Wilson famously has had) on the differences and similarities between ant societies and human ones. Ants are not governed as we are (and as was once thought) in any way by a central authority. (They are influenced by the queen's pheromones and her behavior.) Instead ants are examples of "swarm intelligence," that is purposeful and coordinated behavior that arises from each individual doing what comes naturally to that individual. This sort of intelligence was just beginning to be appreciated when Holldobler and Wilson wrote this book. The phrase "swarm intelligence" does not appear anywhere in the book, and yet it is clear that our present understanding of how this intelligence works was gleaned in part from the work of biologists and ethologists like Holldobler and Wilson.

Ants are famous for doing human-like things that no other animals or few can do, such as gardening, tending herds, making war, and constructing elaborate living spaces. It is usually said that ants do it from pure instinct whereas we use our intelligence and the experience. Humans and ants cannot be defined independently of their respective cultures. What I wonder is, is it an artificiality to say that their intelligence, spread out as it is among the individuals and their genetic endowments, is fundamentally different from our own? Clearly ants are limited in what they can construct, what they can understand, and what tools they can make and use. I read somewhere that ants never developed fire because no ant could get close enough to a sustainable fire to tend it.

A striking conclusion is that perhaps the real difference between us comes from our ability to grow a million times bigger in size which allows us not only to tend fires, but to develop brains large enough to handle abstract thought such as in language, which further allows us to develop and share ideas, concepts, practices, and all the other aspects of our culture in a way that is impossible for ants, whose brain size is limited by their anatomy.

So, although ants were here long before we arrived, and although they probably will be here long after we are gone, it is impossible to say which life form is the more successful. We do have at present the capability, which ants do not, of enhancing our ability to survive through genetic engineering and the development of biologically friendly machines, and even the ability to migrate away from this earth so that our genes and ourselves are not in one basket, so to speak. Should a planet-sterilizing event hit the earth, we could be on Mars and still survive.

But then there is this insidious thought: perhaps the ants, like our resident microbes, will find a way to come with us!

Don't miss this book. You are in for a treat.

There is few to say that has not been said. It is very well written and the information is mind-boggling.

No need to add any reviews, just the best british legion book. Plays
in the same league like "Par le sang verse'" (Through the blood wich was
shed) by Paul Bonnecarrere.

For men who have served in a similar capacity (airborne infantry), great read. Easy to say now that I'm no longer eligible, but I wish I'd joined 20 years ago. It's the kind of adventure I was looking for then. Some of my personal experiences parallel Mr. Murray's, but not in intensity and duration. Deepest respect.

I greatly enjoyed Legionnaire, though it does bog down in places, it is a great telling of life in the Legion. The author is a very intelligent and educated man and it shows in his writing. The entire book is a collection from his extensive diaries during his time in the Legion.

The story is a classic Foreign Legion story of a young educated British boy seeking adventure and excitement. What he finds is that the Legion is not what he expected from reading Beau Geste and he is thrust into one of the most brutal and psychologically exhausting experience of his life. But you can see the transformation from the boy who entered the Legion to the hardened and weathered man who left it five years later.

Though the story might seem somewhat cliche the art is in the telling and the author does a magnificent job, a great read and well worth the time spent.

I had the old version of the book and at first the pace is slow and the diary format wasn't exciting. Later on, the action picks up and I came to like Murray as he is a very good lad and makes me sympathize with him. It is a wonderful account of 5 years in such a tough environment, although I would never join the Legion unless I really messed myself up somewhere in life...the reasons not to join are plentiful and I'm not sure Murray had any good reason to join the Legion other than for adventure, at a time when youths could take time off and worry less about the rat-race as it is today.

I've read this book at least four times over the past twenty years (yes, I bought it when it first came out) and lent it out to at least that many friends. If you are interested in the Legion, the military, history or just feeling adventurous - this is the book for you.

I received the book well before the date promised. Am happy to add another Doreen Virtue book to my book collection.

The Lightworker's Way: Awakening Your Spiritual Power to Know and Heal

I really appreciate the author writing this book. She truly details all of the little life defining moments and the events in her life that led up to where she is now and how she slowly accepted her healing and intuitive gifts. I appreciate her honesty; this book has been extremely inspiring to me. I will suggest this book to any open minded person who wants to write their own book or for anyone who is very intuitive but do not have anyone they feel safe enough to share it with. Thank you, Doreen Virtue, for doing your life's work of healing and encouraging others to love and heal as well.

A powerful book that I just would not put down. I had many "aha" moments.
Higly recommend for those "living in the light". Worth a read. :-)

As the author of The Second Virgin Birth, I enjoyed The Lightworkers Way. I found it different and interesting.

I ordered this book again, after I read it years ago and gave it away. It was great the first and second time. Doreen is a profound spiritual teacher, clairvoyant and life educator. If the word Lightworker rings true to you, you MUST read this book. Doreen is a PHD psychologist AND a healer, intutive, so you get an overall way to heal that is loving light and soulful and practical knowledge. She talks about her history of having gifts and struggling against them and then embracing them. I have seen her numerous times and met her in Los angeles and she is the REAL DEAL. She beams an angelic quality and knowledge. I can't say enough how much her books have helped me on my path. I am a spirtual healer and psychotherapist, so I resonate with her being bold enough to speak her truth.

This readable memoir of one of the darkest parts of World War II in the Pacific theater brings Lester Tenney's experiences as a young man, recruit, soldier, prisoner of war and repatriated civilian to life. Mr. Tenney's journey through the hell he describes leads us through pain, despair, hope, bitterness and ultimately to the forgiveness he found. We learn about one man's faith in family and loved ones that led to his determination to survive. Anyone interested in World War II will find this a valuable resource. My book group (women in our fifties and sixties) was moved by this book. Several bought more copies to give to friends and family.

This is a story about a terrible event in history. This is not a fun story to read but it is one that needs to be read to help us appreciate how good our life really is. There are many memorable parts to this book, I am amazed anyone could survive this.

I remember this situation when I was 10 years old during WW2. This is a fascinating read and so well written that I could not put it down. It tells it like it was..

I just finished this book, and I must say I am inspired. Lester Tenney deserves an enormous amount of respect and admiration for what he endured and acomplished during his time as an american POW.

While this is not exactly a full account of the Death March and the surrounding events filled with statistics and data, it is Tenney's first hand account that makes this horrendous event so palpable that the reader feels as though they are enduring the very same hardships.

Do not expect this to be a simple or comfortable read. While the book has some wonderful and very happy moments, namely Tenney's own postive attitude and inner strength, these moments are doubled by nearly unbearable situations that will make you cringe, as any story about one of the most horrifying events of the war should. Tenney describes in extreme detail the atrocities of the Japanese military. While this story is anything but rosy, it is indescribably important, as it tells a story which seems to be forgetten in our society. What these men suffered through was every bit as terrifying as those on the battlefield, and those who suffered during the Holocaust. Tenney does their story justice, and shows us that these harrowing men deserve every bit of respect and admiration as any other serving in an American uniform.

The story of the Bataan survivors is at the same time unbelievable and infuriating. It blows my mind the cruelty these heros were subjected to on an hourly basis and at the same time I'm ashamed to say that part of me feels like Japan got off easy with two nukes dropped on them. That anybody lived at all is in itself no small feat.

The book itself is a great read. It was obviously written by a survivor, so consequently it has that 1st person feel that I like.

Man's inhumanity to man never ceases to amaze me. The story is at once tragic then hopeful, despairing then spiritual. Oni has captured the essence of one of the 20th century's worst travesties in a simple almost childlike manner. Perhaps not brilliantly written, it is brilliantly told. This is the first Killing Fields book I've read (avoided for obvious reasons of personal discomfort, although I've read books on Armenian genocide, Holocaust and Dharfur) and I will now join those who work to build on the strengths of Cambodia and its people. I especially appreciated the brief history of Cambodia at the end of the book, and the sweet and simple photos. I felt this strong sense of peace at the end of reading, as if in fact Oni will achieve her goals and be part of a larger vital improvement for the lives of so many Khmer, both in America and in Cambodia.

"And a child shall lead them" -- Oni Vitandham begins her real life story as a child, of resilience and survival surrounded by constant death, destruction, danger, and unimaginable horror. Although dealing with a conflict over 30 years removed, this book could not have arrived at a more poignant time. At its core, the political themes are as relevant today as they were then in stemming the flow of innocent blood.

This book should further resonate with recently honed political sensibilities (per Abu Graib, Iraq, etc) and serve as inspiration to us all not only as citizens but as human beings to stand up for justice and equality (even in the face of dire political rhetoric).

Oni's story reminds us how truly blessed we all are and of our universal responsibility to prevent these horrors from re-occurring.

"Evil prospers because good men do nothing." Edmund Burke

This is a wonderful book and easy reading. I would recommend it to anyone and I am going to refer it to my friends. Take the time to read it, it's definitely worth your while.

A reading of Oni Vitandham's "On the Wings of a White Horse" is an inspiring experience to say the least. It is a tale of immense pain and suffering, yet courage in the face of failure and despair. It is the story of a life that may never have been but for the love of family and friends. A theme that seems often lacking in our world today. It is not an easy book to read. Indeed, it is often violently confronting. However, it is certain, that the reader will leave with a greater sense of compassion, love and hope for the future of humanity

Oni's is a powerful, at times confronting and terrifying story that delves into the subjects that have all too often been left to the back pages of history. From the fall of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, to the Communist movements in Laos and Vietnam, and beyond to a new life in America, Oni's journey often reads like a political history of South-East Asia during the 1970s. For one young girl to be at the centre of some of the most desperate struggles of the decade, and to emerge not only alive, but also so incredibly empowered, seems almost beyond comprehension.

Yet this is what makes Oni, and her story, so enthralling. To quote the saying, "whatever doesn't kill us, makes us stronger" seems almost inadequate to describe this story. Indeed Oni tells her life as it is, with little attempt to shield use from the intense pain and suffering that she herself has had to endure. At first this seems almost to hard to bear. However as even Oni herself tells us at the start of the book; these are her childhood memories. It is this thought enough that inspires the reader to continue on.

Indeed Oni stands for an idea that is greater than her own personal story and even greater than her desire to see a prosperous and peaceful Cambodia. She believes in the right of all people to have the chance to grow up in peace and happiness. She believes in the power of the individual and the immense capacity that humans have for spreading happiness in their world.

A reading of Oni's "On the Wings of a White Horse" will leave the reader inspired. Indeed it is a story that enters through the heart and leaves through the head. One cannot read it and not be inspired to get up and care about the plight of the millions of people who are so less fortunate than ourselves.

This is one of the most fascinating books I have ever read. From the beginning of her life in a cave to the constant struggle for suvival, Oni describes her ordeal, an ordeal no one would have dreamed could ever actually happen. Her life could have ended many times if it were not for the caring people around her and for her own perseverance. Oni is one strong, determined lady and her story needs to be told to the world. If you only read one book a year, this should be the one!

I must have said "Oh my Goodness" or it's equivalent at least 10 times throughout this book. Once I started reading it I couldn't put it down and read it straight through without stopping for any reason. It took me one hour. This is a horrifying book. It appalles me that anything like what happened to this boy could happen to anyone, let alone tons of kids in orphanages. I'm glad things are a little better now a days but we still have more work to do. This book is NOT for children and only select teens who are ready for something as horrifying and sickening as this story.

I commend Roger for living through what he did, I probably would have just given up.

Orphan is a testament to good triumphing over evil and how one boy grew up to be adopted by the world. Author Roger Dean Kiser is a 54 year old, happily married father and grandfather who now calls Brunswick, Georgia home, but he once was a beautiful child longing for love and attention, a hug or a pat on the back; a prayer or a kiss goodnight. Things too many of us take for granted.

Little Roger also had beautiful eyes and wonderfully original ears that made him truly unique. Unfortunately he didn't know that and no one ever told him when he needed to hear it the most. What he did hear and on a daily basis was that he was unwanted, unloved, crazy and wouldn't amount to anything. That's pretty much what every child raised in the orphanage in Jacksonville Florida was told. But because of Roger's wilful spirit, uncommon wit and boundless curiosity, his guardians punished him with particularly cruel and unusual punishments. In a nutshell, they tortured him.

From beatings for trying to free butterflies to being forced to eat a personal letter that Kiser found that was hidden from him under the head matron's bed, there was no rhyme or reason to the punishments. Yet, within Roger's small frame of reference, this behavior seemed normal. And instead of spouting 'poor me', the young boy kept searching for, if not love, small doses of recognition, kindness and compassion.

Like so many children lost in the system, Roger had to find his own way to freedom. Although Orphan promises us he eventually does (no doubt, there will be a follow-up memoir) Kiser mostly deals with his years at the orphanage and ends with his experiences in Juvenile Hall at the age of 13.

I'm a tough cookie, but tears definitely dotted the pages of my copy of this memoir. I also heard myself laugh. Kiser has a way with words and knows how to spin his tales for maximum effect. Besides the obvious joy at his surviving such a brutal childhood, I suggest Kiser's gift is short story telling. The book is actually made up of short stories in chapter form. Because they are chronologically laid out, the result is a success.

Orphan was a roller coaster ride with all the expected hills and bumps you would expect, but a few less bumps would have made for a more satisfying story. Human nature, I guess. We want, no, we need to know people we care about are all right. And care about Roger you will. Reading Orphan, I wished that I could have entered Roger's little world, hug him, and tell him he was beautiful and that God loved him even when everyone around him didn't! The most satisfying part of reading Orphan is the knowledge that in writing his memoir, Roger Dean Kiser, Sr., has been rewarded ten-fold, with large doses of recognition, kindness and compassion. He deserves it

I had read some of Roger Dean Kiser's work on Heartwarmer's. Reading about his entire childhood in this book filled me with such a deep sadness. I can't imagine enduring the kind of physical and emotional torment that he grew up with. Roger is such a fine example of the triumph of the human spirit. It amazes me that after surviving his childhood that he could become a loving husband, father and grandfather. He's not filled with hate, rather he's determined to wake us up to prevent more children from suffering the same abuse. We can all learn a very important lesson from his life.

I have read many non-fiction books in the course of my life. This is the only book that has actually made me cry, and I am not exactly sure why. I am not talking about the crying of normal tears. I am speaking of the type of tears that (slowly) glass over the eye until a tear falls out onto the page. You stop for a just a moment and realize that your hand is now covering your mouth, and a almost whimpering sound is now coming from deep in your throat. If there was ever a book written that makes the reader feel that they are the child that is actually being abused; This is the one!

In the style of A Child Called It (the bestseller by Dave Peltzer), Orphan is told from the viewpoint of a child who endured nearly unspeakable horrors in a Florida orphanage and somehow emerged, spirit intact, to not only survive but tell his story with unflinchable honesty. The book is divided into three sections: Before, During and After,with the majority of the book (the During section) devoted to memories of the orphanage. With no one to love him and with repeated beatings, abuse and pain to love forward to, I find it miraculous that the author, Roger Dean Kiser, Sr, actually managed to make a life for himself after enduring the indignities of orphanage life. His memoir reveals in vivid detail how orphans were seen as societal rejects and throwaways and treated as objects, not people. While he was often beaten severely till he passed out, Kiser emphasizes that "it is not the physical pain that endangers orphans the most. It is the mental pain caused by stress from years and years of being neglected, pushed aside, disregarded, unloved and made to feel undeserving..." While I'd recommend this book as an eye-opening, even inspiring, read, I do wish there had been more detail in the After section of this book, the part that dealt with Kiser's life after he left the orphanage. This section seems rushed and abbreviated and there is little explanation of the life he made for himself as an adult - or how he got the courage to rise above his painful past to do so. He notes in the book's introduction that he has a wife, son and daughter-in-law and yet he doesn't note how he met his wife, how she felt about his past and if it affected his present life. After learning so much about his early life in the orphanage, I was left with plenty of unanswered questions like: How does a person who suffers so many blows to his self-esteen find the confidence to make a new life? Did he/does he suffer from painful flashbacks or memories today? Would he describe himself as happy or at peace now?

I met Larry Flynt once. It left an impression on me. It wasn't good. The man just seemed to have sleeze permeate out of his pores. And he seemed all spaced out, like way too many drugs had interacted with way too much debauchery, intermixing in a personality that was pretty degraded right from the get-go. What must it be like to work for such a man?

Allan MacDonell knows, and he tells all the dirt in PRISONER OF X. An inside story of the man who rose to top of the pond scum at Larry Flynt Publications, it is a story well worth reading, boys and girls. Well worth reading.

For some quirk of personality that would require years of therapy to explain, MacDonell had always wanted to work for a smut mag when he finally landed the job at Hustler. What he found was a work environment that was akin to a school of piranhas, with each fish trying its hardest to eat the flesh off of anyone higher up the ladder. And with Larry himself often enjoying the spectacle, like a Roman emperor enjoying the modern day gladiators of smut trying to take one another down. Amazingly, the dude lasted 19 years.

During that time, MacDonell met his share of pornstars, celebrities, and, of course, downright degenerates, many of whom were on the payroll. But many were more famous, and no details are spared. Even if you are familiar with the Godfather of Soul's reputation with the ladies, you wil still be really, really alarmed at what you read here. MacDonell also was there for some of the high times, like when Hustler took down Congressman Livingston, who was set to become Speaker of the House, or the offer to Jenna Bush to pose naked for a cool $10 million.

Often hilarious, often mermerizing, PRISONER OF X also often leaves you with the same feeling as you have after looking at porn. You known, all empty inside and a bit embarassed. But for some reason, you keep going back, don't you? Yeah, you know you do. And you want to check out this book, too. Don't you? Well, do it. It won't leave any permanent damage.

This is an interesting book by a writer who worked his way up the ranks at Hustler magazine for twenty years. He's brutally honest about the inner workings of the magazine including his descriptions of the pedophile Dwaine Tinsley and the sociopathic Larry Flynt, as well as about his own moral and social failings. This is good reading for anyone interested in the history of the magazine or in learning about what it was like working inside the porn magazine industry during the latter part of the Twentieth Century. As to be expected it's sexually explicit so if that bothers you, you might want to skip this one. The sexual descriptions were not gratuitous and I felt they were necessary for the honest story-telling this book provides.

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wish that once in a while you had actually read some of the articles. This book is as hilarious as Hustler often was during Allan's tenure. A common misconception about this book is that it is about Larry Flynt. This book is not about Larry Flynt--it is about Allan MacDonell. If you want to learn more about Larry Flynt, you should probably visit his website. If you want to learn more about what it is REALLY like to oversee the day-to-day operations of America's most notorious stroke rag--penile scabs and all--then this is the book for you! My only complaint about Prisoner of X is that Allan has not yet recorded an audio-book version, but that's coming up next, right Mr. MacDonell?

Is it possible to write a book where the main character is yourself and you are the hero only because everyone else is insane, a sleazebag or just generally unpleasant? The author, MacDonell, at least, proves that you can. I kept thinking, "Boy, this guy's a jerk," at the same time I feverishly sped through his 20 year memoir of working at Hustler magazine. The stories he tells are at times shocking, sad, hilarious, occasionally boring (but these bits pass quickly), titillating and raucous (hey, kind of like Hustler magazine itself!). One can't help but feel for the guy at the same time one might not want anything to do with him.

The first half of the book is probably the toughest on his character (and interestingly he doesn't spare himself much). He was abusing drugs, women and himself, paranoid that he would be fired on a daily basis, and basically existing hand to mouth on his low wages (dating a girl at one time because she owned a VCR!). At a certain point time (after a particularly scaring DUI incident) he gets cleaned up and doesn't even drink. It's somewhat downplayed, but his success at the magazine soars at this point.

While he bashes almost everyone, (name dropping Dennis Hopper, Frank Zappa, who at times were friends of Flynt or connected to the magazine, and he cares for neither), he is particularly nasty to his fellow inmates at the asylum and of course hardest on his pyscho boss, Larry Flynt. (Once again these people probably deserve even worse criticism), but it would be nice to hear a more good tales (he admits at one point that his staff - when he rises to power - was actually a good one).

Comparison's have been made to Hunter S. Thompson, and while I think these are somewhat accurate as far as characters and subject matter, that should not indicate that the writing (and or editing) is nearly in that league. The book feels a little flabby (and repetitive near the end), and probably could have been 50 pages shorter.

Another complaint is no photos - it would be nice to know what some of these people looked like. The great cover art is by Daniel Clowes but there are no further illustrations (that would have been better than photos!)

Besides all the juicy gossip about the mag there is also some poltical stuff that is very fascinating (as they destroy one Republican senator's career, defend Clinton and try to trash Bush (Jr.). If you've ever read the magazine this book will be of interest to you. Even better on the porn industry itself is "The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral Histroy of the Porn Film Industry" by Legs McNeil (also reviewed by yours truly).

Although the prose is a little self consciously rich at times, this is the most laugh out loud funny book I have read since Howard Stern's Private Parts memoir.The most inside look at not only Flynt and Hustler but the entire porn scene from the 80's and 90's. His description of porn legend Tori Welles on page 118 is uncanny-"Complexion the color of cinnamon or bourbon, brunette mane of body and bounce, flaunting the defiant cheekbones and chin of an urchin empress, the sublime Ms. Welles stepped with the self-assurance of the lifelong stone fox." (See what I mean about the prose?) When he's done describing her, you will know exactly what she looked like and what her sexual magnetism was all about even if you have never seen her. Hilarious, insightful, sarcastic. Would make a great movie.

I was so moved by C. Vivian Stringer's account of her rise to stardom in the competitive world of college athletics. The predjudice and personal tragedies she endured and her ability to keep balance in her life and focus through it all is truly inspiring. She is an amazing woman.

There are 2 things I absolutely HATED about this book...I hated having to put it down, and I hated when I finished it! Vivian Stringer's story is truly an example of courage in the midst of challenges. It's not just for sports fans. Anyone can be inspired by it.

I enjoyed the book. Not life changing but there are some life lessons to be learned through the reading

How important it is to have women, young and old, to know the power and authority that lies within and that you have the perfect example in
"the Coach" of all times. Ms Stringer has given us this jewel at a time more important that any other that I can remember when so many young women are suffering from low self-esteem and rejection and so many older women are caught in the throws of life. Thanks to Ms. Stringer we have renewed HOPE!!!

This book was absolutely fantastic. I'm not really into sports but have enjoyed basketball from time to time. Though, I've never really been into college basketball and didn't even know who C. Vivian Stringer was before the Imus incident, I was able to gain a tremendous insight into the life of a strong, confident, and resilient woman and the women she lends a hand in raising. To learn all that she has been through and how she mustered the courage to "Stand Tall" through every adversity was so inspiring, and not just for Black women but for every woman and human being. I certainly recommend that every person take the time to read this incredible story.