Rich Books

this is delightful reading. There are stories told by the subjects -- and some of them are great story-tellers -- then narratives by the authors summing up each subject's life and career.

This is certainly inspirational in the sense of overcoming obstacles, but it isn't icky. The obstacles include racial prejudice, poverty, health, etc and the subjects range from long-retired players (Mudcat Grant retired after the 1971 season) to current ones (Juan Pierre). The lessons are really aimed at the young adult audience, but as an adult I am enjoying it also.

A fun read!

This book was great fun and appeals to baseball fans of all ages.

It comprises 20 true life stories of baseball players (and one executive) from various eras, allowing the reader to jump around if he chooses selecting to read first the stories of players he remembers best. You really get a sense of each player's personality, making it a quick and fascinating read!

This book is one of the greatest books I have read in a while. I could not put it down once I started to read it. I recommend this for all people, especially baseball fans! Each Chapter is exciting and worded just perfect. All in all, this is a fabulous read and an all-around good book!!!

Great book. Meet the author at a Nationals basebaal game. He has been great e-mailing my son to talk about the book and baseball.

Amazing what the authors coaxed out of their interview subjects. Baseball greats like Whitey Ford share childhood memories likely never before committed to print. In the case of some, like Ron LeFlore, they're not just memories, but admissions.

Since the players covered range from Hall of Fame greats to today's stars, there's something for fans of all ages. My son is consuming this book as fast as I am.

In fact, "Before the Glory" walks in the Sasquatch-sized footsteps of one of baseball's first great classic books: "The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It" by Lawrence Ritter (published in 1966). It was an oral history of the likes of Rube Marquard and Smoky Joe Wood.

I wouldn't be surprised if "Before the Glory" comes to occupy the same cherished place in readers' minds as "The Glory of Their Times" did in mine. A great gift for any young baseball player -- as well as yourself.

This book gives you a great understanding of Billy and Ruth Graham's sincere contribution to Christianity and their faith in God.

I loved this book. It was an inspiring and delightful time spent viewing the photos and reading about this man's life. I ended the book with the feeling it was more than just a book about Billy Graham - it was a book of history. Mr. Graham has touched the lives of countless people, but has also had the opportunity to meet with more heads of state and influential people than most public officials. The pictures and commentary were indeed a trip through history. Billy Graham is a true public servant as well as a preacher. What a great gift has been given to this man of God!

For many years through all his dedication in giving his life for Jesus Christ and helping others, Billy Graham is truly God's Ambassador. Tehabi Books in conjunction with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has organized and produced the story of the man with a lifelong mission of giving hope to the world. The book is lavishly covered with black-and-white and full color photos from the archives of eyewitness photographer Russ Busby. Busby had spent most of his life documenting Billy Graham's ministry around the world. In just half a century, Billy Graham has traveled the world to preach the Gospel to millions of people across the globe-more than anyone in history.

The book captures public and private moments from his humble beginning as a dairy farmer's son in Charlotte, North Carolina to one of the most influential evangelist of the 20th century. 'Billy Graham: God's Ambassador' includes comments, quotes and personal reflections mostly from the words of Billy Graham himself and those who have been closest to him. This insightful book looks at Graham as the advocate and preacher of human rights and world peace, Counselor with Presidents, world leaders and celebrities, inspired a positive influence in times of conflict and discord and at home with his family he was husband and father. This is an intimate and unique portrait of a man who dedicated his life to the Gospel and the world's most prominent figure of this century. Quoting from Daniel Webster-"If we work on marble, it will perish; if on brass, time will efface it; if we rear up temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds and imbue them with principles, with the just fear of God and the love of our fellow men, we engrave on those tablets something that will brighten to all eternity."

As a biography, "Billy Graham: God's Ambassador" is not as good as Graham's own autobiography, "Just As I Am". However as a coffee table book it is excellent. The photography is superb. The text is eye catching. The layout exceptional. This is a much better book for public display than most of the books I come across.

This book covered everything I could hope for on this man who has been voted one of the most admired and influentuel men of the last century.I loved the photos as well as the commentary by himself and from so many other sources. It was inspiring and informative. My husband and I were competing for our chance to enjoy the book. Should have bought two copies!

I use this book of Boetry as a guide for my everyday life. The author definitely wrote these Boems from the heart. This is a must read.

I picked up this book with the intention of reading just a few of the boems for the day, but once I got started, I couldn't stop. This book was so captivatng. It was as if my inner most thoughts and feelings that I was unable to grasp or verbalize came to life in this healing and inspirational piece.

I read this book at a time when I was feeling particularly low, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that it not only raised my spirits, but started the process of mending my heart. It is obvious from her poetry that De Costa has a passion and understanding for the important things in life, that can only lead to infinite joy and peace. Her words force us to look within ourselves to find an appreciation of what life has given us. Talent like hers is a blessing to us all. Buy this book, you will cherish it.

Boetry has arrived and stirs the inter most part of my being. In reading all the boems they reach down deep in my soul. All I can say is glorious, heart felt, the essence of the soul. Thank you to the author Batrice (Bo) for all her inspired words, filled with love and caring. It's unbelieviable that this is her first time writing. I highly recommend this book as it is a benefit to all for everyday inspiration, dealing with difficult times, or just shaing and express oneself.

I was delighted and touched by how deeply Boetry spoke to me and my life. A welcome and creative approach to more traditional poetry. I encourage others to partake and enjoy its wisdom and insights.

this is an excellent cookbook, everything i'd hoped for when i spotted it on amazon. i'm a vegan woman with low bone density so high-calcium vegan recipes are important for me. this cookbook is packed with high calcium recipes for main dishes, soups, sides, beverages, dips, and desserts. it also provides tips on adding calcium to everyday meals and solid, well-supported information on calcium and health. each recipe includes nutrition data so you can tell exactly how much calcium and other nutrients it contains.

i really wasn't expecting such a comprehensive resource on adding calcium to a vegan diet, or so many yummy recipes. to be honest, i thought this would be a slim cookbook with some tofu and kale recipes with no nutrition data. but i was wrong. this book is great.

I originally purchased this cookbook for a science fair report my daughter was doing which focused on the detrimental effects of dairy on the human body. We began making some of the recipes and were hooked! Our family rates new meals and each recipe we have tried (over a dozen thus far) has received high marks from all family members. I appreciate the fact that the tastes of the various meals varies considerably, but the recipes use many of the same produce items, which allows me to stretch my grocery budget. While the meals are tasty, they are time-consuming to prepare, but definitely well worth the effort. The recipes are easy to follow, with each page offering interesting calcium tidbits and meal enhancing ideas. I was disappointed that the dessert section recipes fairly consistently call for granulated sugar. The desserts look wonderful, but I'll have to experiment to substitute for the granulated sugar. The calcium table in the back of the book is a tremendous resource for finding high calcium foods; I've learned much! I'm planning to spend some time on line tonight, looking for more cookbooks by these authors!

CalciYum! has been a blessing in my kitchen. Not only are the recipes delicious and the instructions easy to follow, but I also know that my daily calcium needs are being met. The book has a wonderful resource table that lists the amount of calcium in each of the ingredients. This way, I can even boost the calcium in some of my own recipes. With a nutritional analysis for every recipe, an ingredient cooking guide, and tasty recipes, I recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone.

I first noticed this book when one of the authors was on a cooking show. As a vegan, I was pleased to see that it offered recipes containing high levels of calcium WITHOUT dairy products. I find that many recipes in vegetarian cookbooks call for "weird" ingredients, but CalciYum offers recipes that even meat-eaters love! And the ingredients are easy to find! I made the Quiche and Peanut Butter Marbled Cheesecake recipes - and both were delicious! This book is really helpful because it also gives interesting facts about calcium, not to mention tables showing the calcium content for various vegetables, beans and soymilks. If you're a vegetarian or are lactose-intolerant, you will love this book and are sure to use it often!

I received this book as a gift and have been very impressed. This book has been a useful resource in adding more calcium to my diet with its helpful hints and calcium tables. The Carrot Broccoli Cilantro Salad is one of my favorite recipes ever. The Chunky Corn Chowder is also great.

I already loved the calcium-rich ingredients that this book relies on (dark leafy greens, tofu, almonds - to name a few) but the recipes are creative enough that they can hopefully win over those who do not.

Many of the recipes take quite a bit of time to prepare. That is the primary reason that I do not use this cookbook more often. However, if you plan ahead you can prepare some of the ingredients while others are cooking to save time.

I got this book while visiting the Hearst castle which I felt to be so beyond ostentatious as to be offensive. And, truth be told, I read it over months. Not that it was bad. In fact the book was delightful. But there is so much to read about and Hearst is so, well, unimportant!

I have felt for many years--ever more so after visiting the castle--that William Randolph Hearst was the US equivalent of Joseph Stalin. He had more power than he knew what to do with, more control than was reasonable, and less integrity than most. The book didn't surprise me much. If a reader is well informed on, say the Spanish American war, s/he wouldn't be surprised at the quote from Hearst that, you provide me with the photos and I'll provide you with the war. (To that effect).

He was a mass of contradictions. He paid his staff well, better than the other newspapers, but he was also ruthless with critics and opponents. The author stresses that frequently, especially in the last chapter (where, for a second, I thought I was reading a treatise on Hearst's integrity. On the contrary, Swanberg denies that integrity.) But that "compassion" that Hearst seemed to express was to those who played the game according to Heart's rules. And that's the key trait of a hard-core narcissist!

There was perhaps a little less stress on the sensationalist nature of the Hearst press in the text. (And, unfortunately, its low-brow nature I think has affected the nature of American media to this day!) But I don't want to downgrade the text any points as I may have gotten caught up in other details and lost track of that which almost goes without saying.

While I tend to be cynical of the American electorate, the book suggests some items that redeem us: Hearst had run for office (I think he was elected to the House for one term) but he had his eye on the presidency. Not only was he not nominated or elected, but, as the author points out toward the end of the book, to be endorsed by Hearst was almost the political kiss of death. Candidates whom Hearst endorsed were almost sure to lose!

And his self-service also affected his politics: He was ostensibly the candidate of "the little guy" earlier on, but once he reached wealth beyond belief, he was adamantly opposed to things like income tax--while he had supported the concept earlier!

If I have a negative comment on the book, it may be, I confess, due to my preconceptions of Hearst: the author refers periodically (not obsessively) to Hearst as a "genius" because of his business expertise, etc. Well, I contend that if many people had the resources Hearst had, they could "make it" and be proclaimed genius too. Indeed, I'm amazed at Hearst's spending habits. Even deep into the Great Depression, if Hearst saw something he wanted, whether worth $50,000 or $14 million, he got it. And he got it again, for himself, for Miss Davies, his mistress, for his friends (those, again, who played his game). He finally, when things started looking pretty bad, had to sell a few castles and assorted other ostentations.

When the economy came around, he took off again. Big deal. He still had virtually unlimited resources at his disposal so referring to Hearst as a "genius" gives him more credit than he deserves.

The book was full of detail, and there were footnotes on nearly every page lending credibility to the detail.

If you're into Hearst--either love or hate him--I recommend the book. But keep a few things in mind, e.g., Heart's incredible narcissism, and how he virtually destroyed Orson Welles after the release of "Citizen Kane," quite obviously a critique of Hearst. Of course, I can understand why Hearst may have been offended by it, but he had an inordinate amount of power by nature of his wealth and his ability to INFLUENCE through his senstationalist, low brow media. And that's unforgiveable.

William Randolph Hearst, an only child, was born at the time of the Civil War to a successful gold and silver prospector and a former school teacher. His mother had thwarted cultural ambitions and poured all her energy into raising her son. He was a victim of a drastic amount of spoiling, creating an emotionally unsatisfactory human being. All three Hearsts possessed physical vitality.

His father bought the San Francisco Examiner to settle a debt. William's interest in newspapering began with his service on the Harvard Lampoon. He persuaded his father to let him take over the Examiner. The newspaper embraced the gee-whiz emotion. Hearst wooed the masses, not the rich. He surrounded himself with eccentrics including Ambrose Bierce and Joaquin Miller. The newspaper attacked Huntington and the Southern Pacific Railroad.

To staff his New York paper, the Journal, Hearst raided the Pulitzer paper. Hearst had the capacity to offer enormous salaries since his mother had sold her interest in the Anaconda Mine and given him the proceeds. In the presidential election Hearst opted to fight for William Jennings Bryan whom the Wall Street interests hated.

Richard Harding Davis and Samuel Remington, an artist, were sent to Cuba. Remington complained of boredom. Hearst told him to send the pictures and Hearst would furnish the war. Stephen Crane and others covered the Greco-Turkish War.

Newspaper jingoism is evidenced in the Hearst coverage of the Maine disaster. The public was deceived, misled, tricked. Hearst had a fixation about circulation, believing that advertising dollars would follow.

The man was a mass of contradictions. His colossal egocentricity put him at one remove from others. Lincoln Steffens interviewed him five times to penetrate the mystery of his character. He was incurably romantic. Hearst was hobbled by his journalistic recklessness, political unintelligibility, and personal eccentricities in his path through life.

The book, a life and times treatment, is filled with colorful personalities and events.

It isn't often that one reads a well-respected, full-length biography of a prominent American personality, only to put the book down with a newfound, passionate and complete disgust for the central character. That is how W.A. Swanberg's 1961 classic "Citizen Hearst" made me feel about William Randolph Hearst. I can say that about no other biography I've ever read.

Indeed, the derogatory adjectives that apply directly to William Randolph Hearst are virtually inexhaustible: irresponsible, pampered, egotistical, hypocritical, lascivious, presumptuous, adulterous, rapacious, etc. One searches in vain for admirable or redeeming qualities in Hearst. Even supposed acts of benevolence and charity - which usually centered on the one thing that meant nothing to him, money - always seem to smack of insincerity and self-interest. None of this, of course, is meant to detract from Swanberg's phenomenal account of the publisher's life, which is truly engrossing and highly recommended by this reader.

Hearst was born in the lap of luxury and never knew the value of a dollar earned by a day's work, yet for over half-a-century he fashioned himself the defender of the common man and was a leading voice in Progressive politics. Far from creating a profitable media empire, Hearst's newspapers lost money at a staggering rate for well over a decade (Swanberg's account is frustrating in that he never clarifies exactly when Hearst's efforts turned profitable). The simple secret of Heart's success was that his deceased father's mines could churn out precious metal at a faster pace than he could squander the profits on his newspapers and chasing the chimera of the presidency. He took a mistress half his age when he was in his fifties and married with five children, and devoted all his immense energy and resources into making her the biggest film star in the world, despite her rather limited talent. An early hero to the radical left, in old age he reversed course and emerged as one of the earliest and most virulent anti-communists and opponents of the progressive income tax - a measure he once championed.

Swanberg delivers this amazing life in an extremely fluid and engaging - indeed, exciting - narrative. He notes that people have never been able to adequately explain William Randolph Hearst. The instinct was - and still is - to use the world "great" when describing him, but great in what way? Swanberg offers up his own conclusion: Hearst was the greatest loser of his generation. Not exactly a flattering assessment, but nonetheless a very accurate one. In the end, Hearst failed in business, in politics, in marriage, and in the movie business. For better or worse, he left an indelible stamp on the American experience, and for that he should be remembered, if not exactly revered.

I call this book a must read for anyone interested in learning about our history during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although its not a history lesson like you would get in school, it is a fascinating look at how W.R.Hearst was able to shape it through his publications. This man was someone who seemed to think that his money supply would never run dry. He spent coutless dollars on art masterpieces and other antiquties. If you have ever been to or just been curious about his castle at San Simeon CA then you will find it entertaining to learn how he went about putting this landmark together. You also get a look into his personal life that is equally interesting. I found this book to be one of those books that really does keep you up at night turning the pages. A well written book indeed.

Everything I knew about William Randolph Hearst I learned from the movie CITIZEN KANE. So when I found a cheap, second-hand copy of CITIZEN HEARST, I decided to pick it up and educate myself. Not only was this informative, but highly entertaining. A man capable of rousing such fiercely diametric emotions from people reading his biography decades after his death must surely have raised the ire of his contemporaries something fierce. It is with very mixed emotions that the modern reader comes to understand the events of Heart's life, but those feelings probably aren't a million miles away from what was felt at the time. While reading this biography I kept leaping between admiration and loathing for the subject -- an experience I've never quite had before.

My copy of CITIZEN HEARST is over six hundred pages and written in a smaller than average font size. Yet, as the biographer points out, with the sheer amount of stuff that Hearst accomplished (or at least attempted) in his life, it would be easy to dedicate an entire volume just to single individual activities. But, W. A. Swanberg does a great job of summarizing the main details of Hearst's life without being overly superficial. I even enjoyed the opening sections, dealing with William Randolph Heart's childhood. Many times in biographies, this ends up being a list of dates, schools and relatives; yet Swanberg defies the norm and gives the child Hearst an interesting story.

Of course, the main account is everything that Hearst did after his early-twenties, when he took a fancy towards the journalistic world and obtained a newspaper from his wealthy father. Hearst's subsequent ideas of journalism, his later political ambitions (he fixed his sights on the White House, but never did get higher than the United States House of Representatives), and his obsessive collection of art and property are all laid out meticulously and clearly.

And the information imparted is absolutely unbelievably fascinating. We think the media is pretty bad today, but after reading this I realize that the today's Ted Turners and Rupert Murdochs have absolutely nothing on the yellow journalism of that era. Organizing divisions of reporters to arrive at the scene of a crime before the police do or staging an elaborate midnight rescue of a Cuban "princess" from the Spanish army -- can we really imagine Bill O'Reilly or Aaron Brown attempting those ratings stunts?

In addition to detailing Heart's business and political aspirations, Swanberg also delves into an aspect of Heart's life that was brilliantly captured in Orson Welles' portrayal of Charles Foster Kane (the thinly veiled fictionalized version of Heart himself). Just as Welles' character was a ruthless and ambition man, who is also shown happily spending hours using silly shadow puppets to entertain a sad, lonely girl, Swanberg introduces us to a serious, focused, cutthroat and dangerous man who was exceedingly soft-spoken, kind on a personal level and who would easily break into goofy vaudeville-style dances to amuse his friends.

This biography not only informed me, but also got me curious on a variety of related subjects that I intend to study further. I knew almost nothing, for example, about Hearst's intervention in the lead up to the Spanish-American War (Swanberg practically gives him sole credit for the entire enterprise). Now, I'm dying to read more about it.

This is definitely one of the best biographies I've read, though certainly not about one of the best people. Based on the information provided, Hearst was an impossible man to pin down and understand. Swanberg posits a metaphor of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hearst could be one man around some people, the other in different circumstances. In any case, this biography would appear to be an almost impossible task, and yet Swanberg has done a yeoman's service. I'd recommend this even to someone with no interest in the area because the writing and the subject are just too compelling.

for any gov., hist., econ., soc., anth. student a must read

"Democracy in America", published in two parts (the first in 1835, the second in 1840), is the great work of Alexis de Tocqueville, a young, aristocratic Frenchman, who traveled through most of the Eastern, Southern, and Midwestern United States during a 9 month period in 1832. Tocqueville had originally set out to study the U.S. prison system but what he saw inspired him to write about much, much more.

The foresight he had for such a young man is really impressive to read 160 years later. What he saw in the morals, work ethic and government structure of the United States led him to accurately predict many of the ways in which the U.S. would lead and has led the world. At the same time Tocqueville was not oblivious to many of the ills in the America he saw. He very wisely writes of the cancer that the institution of slavery was to not only all black Americans, but to the white, Southern farmers and workers as well.

I hate having to give these books "stars" for ratings because in many cases it takes away from the ultimate importance and classic status of a book like this one. Tocqueville does tend to jump around and venture off into different topics that don't fit with the rest of their chapter, which could be attributed to his youth. Also, a few of his predictions, naturally, were way off. A native Texan, I had a good laugh at his view that "the province of Texas is still part of the Mexican dominions, but it will soon contain no Mexicans." But overall Tocqueville's view of America was honest, accurate, and the perfect explanation of why, on a daily basis, people continue to risk their lives to gain the freedom that only the United States of America offers.

This is one of the greatest books ever written on politics! Toqueville analyzes American democracy and its inherent strengths and weaknesses from the view of a foreigner, thus giving the reader a balanced view of the situation. A definite must-read for anyone concerned with politics and American politics in particular.

to read democracy in america is to confront greatness itself, to follow the reflections of one the greatest political thinkers of all time, a man of balanced rationality, with a passionate concern for the fate of democracy--true democracy, that is, not the kind we see politicians preach on tv everyday. personally i prefer volume 2 of this great work, where the author summons up his astonishingly penetrating power of analysis and prophesy

De Tocqueville was simply of one of the great social scientists writing about America and Democracy. From reading the book I deduced that De Tocqueville was a social scientist before Marx! He compares European culture and government with the fledgling culture and democracy he observes in America. He is very much impressed with what he sees taking place in America in the 1830's and hopes it will spread to Europe. He at first believed that America's prosperity was simply due to geography and their distance from powerful neighbors, he abandons this idea after his visit to America. He comes to realize that the West is not being peopled "by new European immigrants to America, but by Americans who he believes have no adversity to taking risks". De Tocqueville comes to see that Americans are the most broadly educated and politically advanced people in the world and one of the reasons for the success of our form of government. He also foretells America's industrial preeminence and strength through the unfettered spread of ideas and human industry.

De Tocqueville also saw the insidious damage that the institution of slavery was causing the country and predicted some 30 years before the Civil War that slavery would probable cause the states to fragment from the union. He also the emergence of stronger states rights over the power of the federal government. He held fast to his belief that the greatest danger to democracy was the trend toward the concentration of power by the federal government. He predicted wrongly that the union would probably break up into 2 or 3 countries because of regional interests and differences. This idea is the only one about America that he gets wrong. Despite some of his misgivings, De Tocqueville, saw that democracy is an "inescapable development" of the modern world. The arguments in the "Federalist Papers" were greater than most people realized. He saw a social revolution coming that continues throughout the world today.

De Tocqueville realizes at the very beginning of the "industrial revolution" how industry, centralization and democracy strengthened each other and moved forward together. I am convinced that De Tocqueville is still the preeminent observer of America but is also the father of social science. A must read for anyone interested in American history, political philosophy or the social sciences.

Biographies can easily become subjective, as they rely upon the person telling the story. With diaries, we have almost a first-hand look at what the writer was thinking.

These diaries of Alma Mahler reveal the usual thoughts and feelings of a teenage girl and young woman. Alma desperately wishes to "be somebody," but she's not sure of how to achieve it. She spends years studying music, and practicing composition, but her works are simply fair or good, but not remarkable.

Then, she finds out what she's really outstanding at: attracting brilliant artists from all fields. This includes men such as Gustav Mahler, the composer, Walter Gropius, the Bauhaus architect, Franz Werfel, the novelist, Alexander von Zemlinsky, the composer, Gustav Klimt, the painter, Oskar Kokoschka, another painter, and many others.

Although her own art never achieved for her the fame she would have liked, perhaps she inspired all these other greats to go beyond what might have been their own limitations. There is a tendency, as you will see from photographs of Alma, to believe that men were attracted to her because of her spectacular beauty. But as you will see from these diaries, her personality must have also played a large role. She is coquettish, yet honest, and vacillates between between overestimating her successes, yet feeling humble about how much more she wishes she could be.

But what I believe you will find the best feature of this book, is seeing geniuses like Gustav Mahler and Walter Gropius, through the eyes of a young woman, who saw them up-close, as real, live men. It's like traveling back in time, for a close-up, personal look at these famous artists.

Alma Schindler - the goddess, the muse, the center of attention ... How did she manage that? How did she become an obsession of so many genial men, a thing of admiration of the Secessionist Vienna? But simply - she was a remarkable woman. And also, happened to be pretty and at the right place at the right time, born into an artistic family. It was said that she had a hearing defect. She would move closer to her companion in order to hear better. Men found that irresistible.

One would expect her to be vain and conceited. Through her diary, we entered her mind - she is none of that. At least, not more than any of us. She is an insecure girl. She has fears, doubts about herself, she loves passionately... Alas, her anti-Semitic feelings are shocking. At first, she is quite tolerant and objects anti-Semitic sentiments. Then she changes. One can only find the reason in propaganda being already pretty aggressive. She lives among Jewish families, loves Jewish men and marries two of them. Why then? And how did it happen that she married Mahler so quickly?

"Please God, give me some great mission, give me something great to do!" She could have been quite a good artist. Her drawings show certain talent that could have been developed into something much more. She could have taken drawing classes and maybe, her mission would have been even greater. But she pursued music even though it
seemed that she lacked the talent - not one of her opera impressions on the notepaper correspond to the real score. She never composed a great opera she dreamed of. But she left her mark in the history of arts and love.

This book is a great document. The correspondence between the authors just adds to the value. I only wish there were more photos of Alma as well as letters that she received. It would have been nice to read passionate words of her admirers. At the end, instead of an epilogue, there should have been a short biography. And a word of two about her sisters and mother would have been valuable. What happened to her sister Maria? I guess I need to start searching.

Is it true that Alma claimed she was for decades the main authority of Mahler's works, values, character and his day-to-day actions and movements?
Is it true that, initially, and for many years, her various publications quickly became the central source of information and references for Mahler scholars and music-lovers alike?
Now we can know why, later, her accounts have been treated as unreliable, false, misleading and often impaired soundness? It is a fact that these imperfect accounts have nevertheless had a great influence upon several generations of music-lovers, hence the legend: " Alma's Problem""
How about what she wrote in her two books (memoirs) and their impact on Mahler studies'. (Why did she write two memoirs? - My Life, My Loves, and My Diaries 1898-1902) - Alma was a graceful, well-connected and influential woman who outlived her first husband by more than 50 years. (This reminds me of Cosima and Wagner. Cosima outlived Wagner by 47 years). How trustworthy is any story laid by women who outlive their notorious husbands for so long? Shouldn't they be given credence, though there may not have been full and final grain of truth in it?) - The greatest difficulty in writing one's memoirs is to keep a certain detachment at a time when passions were running high. True in her old age Alma wouldn't admit that her apprehensions with the past `'husband and wife"" days had been influenced with the benefit of hindsight when she now perceived the significance of events after they have occurred. Within 50 years Alma's reminiscences of past events couldn't pass without nostalgia or without an urging wistful desire to return, at least in written thoughts (modified and garbled), to a former time in one's life when young - I saw her picture, indeed she was very beautiful. Alma claims that Mahler 'feared women' and that their relationship was never really without danger, arguing that he had almost no sexual intercourse right up to his forties (he was 41 when they met). In fact, Mahler's long record of prior love affairs-- including a lengthy one with Anna von Mildenburg -- suggests that this was not the case. Whereas Alma's flirtation and first kiss was in her teens - as she boastfully said so. ".In her memoirs she must have been looking for an edge over Mahler. True?
Alma Mahler (then Schindler) played piano from childhood and in her memoirs reports that she first attempted composing at age 9. Was that false or true??(She knew that Mahler's parents had arranged piano lessons for him when he was six)
After Mahler's death, Alma did not immediately resume contact with the young architect Gropius. Between 1912 and 1914 she had a highly agitated affair with the artist Oskar Kokoschka, ((who created many works inspired by his relationship with Alma, including his famous painting: Bride of the Wind.)) Strangely enough, I read something like this: "" After Alma's departure from his life, Oskar Kokoschka notoriously ordered a custom life-size doll resembling her in details. Rumors say that he was seen at a local theater in Vienna holding the doll as his companion"" Could this have been true? Was he mentally insane? Was it plausible that Alma has had love affair with a mentally sick man that she did not recognize his flaws from the very beginning? Oscar must have been a most difficult partner, impetuous and mentally unbalanced. Such rumor must have made him the laughingstock for the intellectuals. How could Alma have been `attracted"" by such character? Gustav vs. Oscar (quite the opposite, yet she could sustain the dissimilarities! - Was she so eccentric?)
During the emotional instability in their marriage after Mahler's discovery of the affair (Alma's infatuation with Walter Gropius 1883-1969 - a German architect and founder of Bauhaus and is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of "modern" architecture) Mahler took a sincere interest in Alma's musical compositions; completely regretting his earlier attitude when he dropped her talents out. (Was Mahler a capricious person - dictating his authority - as when he dropped Alma's talents in the past?) (Controversial-no doubt!)
Upon Mahler's endeavoring, and under his coaching and assistance, Alma prepared five of her songs for publication (they were issued in 1910, by Mahler's own publisher, Universal Edition). During this time, Mahler had one and unique consultation with Dr. Sigmund Freud. Why? Backlog of hard feelings I believe; they had watched with apprehension the gradual encirclement of the Jews or was it the curse of the ninth - Mahler knew he would not live long after his composition of the Ninth symphony that he completed in 1908 (perhaps!) If it were to seek guidance from Freud on Mahler's unsatisfactory relationship with his wife, this would sound absurd to me. Okay, but what was the outcome of such consultation?? Did they discuss the behaviors of Mahler's wife' or the anti-Semitic backlog of hard feelings? (Mahler was Jewish, so was Freud- Sigmund Freud knew his compatriots only too well - they give in to moral pressure) At the Opera, Mahler stubbornness in artistic perfection had created enemies, and he was subject to perpetual attacks from anti-Semitic circles in the press. His resignation from the Opera, 1907, was hardly unexpected. (Incidentally: Dreyfus affair divided France from the 1890s to the early 1900s and its repercussion continued until well after WWI)
The hard feelings of anti-Semitism must have adversely impacted his marital relationship with Alma? Initially, under Austro-Hungarian laws, no imperial posts were to be filled by Jews!!! Hence, in 1897 when he was 37, Mahler could not occupy the Directorship post at the Vienna Opera.
Something else, Mahler has had a clash with Brahms (Didn't he?) While at the university, he worked as a music teacher and made his first major attempt at composition with the cantata Das klagende Lied. The work was entered in a competition where the jury was headed by Johannes Brahms, but failed to win a prize. (Did he feel the brunt of Jewish curse?? It could be!!)
(In later years, however, Brahms was greatly impressed by Mahler's conducting of Don Giovanni.)

As a long-term diary writer myself I was interested in Mahler-Werfel's diary and the manner in which the voice of the nineteen-year old woman is expressed (and the next two years of her life). Often when I reread my own writings I cringe at my ideas and philosophies when I was young and it takes some time for me to empathise with myself and regain a feeling for the person I was. One of the great features of these diaries is that they truly express the voice of the nineteen-year old, they have not been edited to provide a more sophisticated voice. Perhaps Mahler-Werfel cringed a bit at herself in the way I do, perhaps that is why she never published these diaries during her lifetime, although we do know she gave it some consideration. But I think it is important that we heed the voice expressed in youthful writings because it reassociates us with the people we once were, and hopefully gives us greater empathy with the youth of today.
The most challenging aspect of these diaries is Mahler-Werfel's revelations of her growing sexual awareness with its contradictions, rapid changes of view, hesitancies, self criticism, and intemperate admissions. This is emotional and at times erotic writing. While we can allow Mahler-Werfel the licence to say what she wants about herself, it is less readily acceptable that she describes the behaviour of her partners - some of them quite historic figures. But this is the voice of youth going through very tumultuous personal times. Most people move through these times with varying degrees of ease and distress. Mahler-Werfel's writing reminded me of Wedekind's play `Springtime Awakening'. The awakening is not satisfactory for all - and is sometimes disastrous. For Mahler-Werfel we can only speculate.
Mahler-Werfel associated with many great artistic figures - in the times of these diaries there are Gustav Klimt, Alexander Zemlinsky and Gustav Mahler. Her reflections on these figures make them more alive than many histories. For her, they were living pulsing human beings and we see them in that way.
But was Mahler-Werfel extraordinary herself? I find it hard to decide. She obviously was not your average woman of the time, and yet it is possible to see her as just a spoilt rich girl who happened to have a pretty face. In her diaries she speaks of writing a song (lied) in a day, playing the whole of Tristan on the piano in an evening. And yet her musical examples noted in the diary are so poorly notated and often so inaccurate that it is hard not to think she had little genuine talent. Perhaps someone else completed the lieder from her tenuous musical ideas. But equally possible is that she was a real talent and, as popular history tells us, was suppressed by Mahler in their marriage. To me, however, there is another reading in that marriage to Mahler enabled her to renounce her musical ambitions, which she knew would never match those of Mahler no matter how hard she worked. To be fair about her musical notation however, we need to remember that all her writings border on the unreadable (perhaps that was deliberate - a sort of code?) although the single-minded line drawings she included are quite fine in a limited way (are they all of pretty Alma herself?).
Another way to judge her musical astuteness is her reviews and critiques of the many concerts she attended. At first look they seem to match the views of the day - wildly supportive of Wagner, dismissive of Bach, Saint-Saens and even Mozart. Was she just copying the view of the day? But then there are the changes of view - suddenly the opinion on Mozart changes, she starts to see some flat spots in Wagner. This does seem to suggest self-awareness in her musical views and even if it is selective acceptance of different critical opinion she shows a capability to make the change. There is one final thought that came to me as I read the diaries - perhaps her influence was so great (it certainly wasn't trivial) that she went some way to actually forming the critical view of the day.
I was immensely fascinated by these writings. If you are interested in human development and artistic creativity I recommend you do not overlook them. One thing is certain - Mahler-Werfel was an impassioned writer as a young woman.

Alma Mahler was a fascinating woman and this diary gives an unique insight into her personality and those she knew. Her growing years, developing both emotionally and in personality come through as does her determination and zest for life. Her time with Gustav Mahler is fascinating and sheds an interesting light into his character and fears at this time. A fascinating read.

Full of surprises. If you liked Marian Christy's previous books, you would enjoy this one.

A fun read with behind-the-scenes insight into the challenges faced by a female reporter in the worlds of a variety of famous and powerful men.

This was a terrific read, it left me wanting more than ten ... In today's tell all, self-confessional era it is refreshing to read and learn so much about each of Christy's subjects in such a manner. So much disclosed, while at the same time their dignity remaining in tact.
Grace M.
Boston, MA

Marian Christy has crafted a delightful collection of her recollections surrounding the interviews of these larger-than-life men. You feel like you are sitting with a friend hearing the inside scoop! It's an easy read, I enjoyed it!

Artfully draws reader in to reveal utmost triumphs and fears of these larger than life personalities.

When Nancy Kriplen puts pen to paper, something magic happens.
In this case I refer to her new book "THE ECCENTRIC BILLIONAIR".
This long overdue, well researched biography is the quintessential rags to riches story of one of this country's wealthiest, yet little known self made men. Kriplen paints with her well toned writing skills a never before seen picture of the good, bad and the ugly side of John Donald MacArthur.
This book is a must read and a true treasure and will remain so for many years to come...
Bob Sanford
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

How many times following a performance on PBS have you seen, "Produced through the generosity of The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation"? I never knew who they were or how he became a billionaire.

Now I do, thanks to Nancy Kriplen and her well-written book! Follow MacArthur from Chicago to Palm Beach. Get to know this man, who was extremely frugal throughout his life, and whose legacy now enriches us all.

Nancy Kriplen, already proven to be an excellent biographer (buy her book on Dwight Davis - it's beautifully written), has done it again with her excellent book on John D. MacArthur. She has obviously done an incredible amount of research, yet she has the rare talent to be able to extract from her interviews and secondary research a summary of the best and most interesting information, giving us, as a result, a book of rich details.
As a result, she both entertains and educates us about a fascinating, yet very unlikable -- and eccentric! - subject.

"Love this book. And the author's writing style matched MacArthur's quirkiness. I really think this is a winner."

V. S. McKay
Indianapolis IN

Couldn't put it down! Very interesting look at the insurance business. Excellent detail and research.

that it really shows you how to structure the deal in commercial real estate. I was surprised to learn that it's common practice to make your money when you buy a property, not when you sell.

I would highly recommend this book if you are looking to get into commercial real estate.

Herb Strathers version of how to succeed in real estate blew me away.First of all it's an easy read, broke down in laymen terms.It informs you of the necessary steps to take from getting started to acquiring multiple properties.Even if you don't know or understand the real estate terminology you will after you read this book.It even comes with proforma cd-rom so you can better access you future purchase.Fantastic read I highly recommend it.

This book was a culmination of me taking his intense classes. The classes gave us a glimpse into the mind of a Real Estate genius. The way
he calculates numbers, makes million dollar decision without hesitation is amazing. So when I got the book I was not sure, but it gave me the
basics of what I need to do each and every day to Get Rich in Real Estate.

The book gives you a roadmap to success, so if you are interested in going to the next level in Real Estate, Getting Rich is Easy should be a book in your library. Mr. Strathers shows how the ordinary man or woman can obtain extraordinary wealth in a relatively short time.

The unspoken subtitle of "Getting Rich Is Easy" is "...when you know what you're doing." Herb Strather knows what he's doing, and has a 20-plus year history of successful real estate investment to prove it. Fortunately, he is more than happy to share a lot of what he knows. "Getting Rich..." is a concise and information-packed book which explains some complex real estate concepts, including financing issues, in understandable everyday language. I appreciate the book's step-by-step approach to the real estate investment process, beginning with a self-appraisal which helps the reader to decide whether in fact a real estate investment career is right for them.

I read this book and liked it a lot. I was surprised to find that it was not only very engaging and easy to read (it's like having a conversation personally with the author) but was helpful. I've been in real estate for a few years and thought I knew everything there was to know but found some really great tips on real estate buying. I especially liked the chapters on repairing your credit and choosing the right investment. The book also comes with a disc for a Performa which is an added bonus. Whether you are thinking about getting into real estate, a beginner or experienced in real estate transactions, I would highly recommend a copy of this book to keep you on track.