Book Description
Even a short list of Bette Davis's most famous films -- Of Human Bondage; Jezebel; Dark Victory; The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex; Now, Voyager; All About Eve; What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? -- reveals instantly what a major force she was in Hollywood. Her distinctive voice, her remarkable eyes, her astonishing range and depth of characterization -- all these qualities combined to make Bette Davis one of the finest performers in film history.
Drawing on extensive conversations with Bette Davis during the last decade of her life, Charlotte Chandler gives us a biography in which the great actress speaks for herself. (It was she who suggested that Chandler write this book.) Chandler also spoke with directors, actors, and others who knew and worked with Davis. As a result Davis comes to life in these pages -- a dynamic, forceful presence once again, just as she was on the screen.
Though she owed everything to her mother, Ruthie, Bette Davis remained fascinated all her life by her hard-to-please father, who walked out on his family. She remembered the disappointment -- which never left -- over her father's lack of interest in her, and she believed that her resentment of him was probably a major factor in her four failed marriages: she kept putting her men in a position where they would eventually disappoint her. She spoke happily of her love affairs with Howard Hughes and William Wyler; she recalled her leading men, favorite co-stars, and unloved rivals; and she took great care to refute the persistent Hollywood legend that she was difficult to work with. Alone and ill, she faced her last days with bravery and dignity.
The Girl Who Walked Home Alone is a brilliant portrait of an enduring icon from Hollywood's golden age and an unforgettable biography of the real woman behind the star.
Download Description
"Even a short list of Bette Davis's most famous films -- Of Human Bondage; Jezebel; Dark Victory; The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex; Now, Voyager; All About Eve; What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? -- reveals instantly what a major force she was in Hollywood. Her distinctive voice, her remarkable eyes, her astonishing range and depth of characterization -- all these qualities combined to make Bette Davis one of the finest performers in film history. Drawing on extensive conversations with Bette Davis during the last decade of her life, Charlotte Chandler gives us a biography in which the great actress speaks for herself. (It was she who suggested that Chandler write this book.) Chandler also spoke with directors, actors, and others who knew and worked with Davis. As a result Davis comes to life in these pages -- a dynamic, forceful presence once again, just as she was on the screen. The Girl Who Walked Home Alone is a brilliant portrait of an enduring icon from Hollywood's golden age and an unforgettable biography of the real woman behind the star.
Customer Reviews:
Her life in quotes..........2007-07-17
I ran across this book in the library when I was doing some research on old Hollywood and the title "The Girl Who Walked Home Alone" really struck me. Being as this was the first I've ever read about Bette Davis, I can't really say how true to form or redundant it may be in relation to previous biographies or accounts of her life. What I liked most about this book was the perspective it gave, the fact that it encompassed not just Miss Davis's take on things but those around her as well. She really had a larger-than-life life, which you really can't help but admire her for living through. I found myself with great sympathy and respect for her after reading this book. Many may be turned off by the fact that the entire biography is a mere compiling of quotes with little narrative by the author herself, but I rather liked it that way. No false second-hand impressions here. I've never been a fan of biographers who try to get into the heads of their subjects and recount from their own imagination as if they themselves were the authority in the matter, all knowing and telling. Here, all concerned spoke for themselves (assuming they were accurately quoted) and the interpretation is left to the reader basically. I thought Miss Davis herself came across rather intelligent and forthright in looking into her own life, though of course not entirely unbiased in her own way. But it gave her a very human quality that I found quite endearing. And with age comes insight it seems, as she detailed the events in her life. However, the amount of typos and grammatical errors in the book was distracting. I mean, it wasn't riddled with them but definitely made me think were there no editors around or did they all just snooze on the job? But overall, a pretty engrossing read about a thoroughly interesting person of substance.
A centerfold of black and white photos completes a wonderful coverage.......2007-06-09
The Girl Who Walked Home Alone: Bette Davis, A Personal Biography is a recommended pick for any collection strong in movie star biographies, especially those which aren't overstocked on Bette Davis coverage's already. Film biographer Charlotte Chandler interviewed Davis extensively in the last decade of her life, so this biography includes many of Davis' own words and insights, rather than the usual third-party analysis from those who just have had her films and reference materials to work from. A centerfold of black and white photos completes a wonderful coverage, highly recommended for any library strong in film biography.
Been Done Before and Better!!.......2007-05-08
I agree with the reviewer below who said there is nothing new here. The author breezes through Davis' life with Davis interjecting here and there. Its been done before and a lot better (notably Whitney Stine's book 'Mother Goddam'). The author writes very poorly as well and the book is labyrinthical and very confusing. One doesn't know when Davis is talking, when the author is talking, or when one of the people whom the author interviewed is talking. Skip this one. Davis deserves better.
Listening to Bette Davis in person.......2007-01-05
I casually opened this book, thinking it would be just like every other biography, and didn't put it down until I finished it the next day. It was just as if Bette Davis was talking in person. It gives a real insight into her life, which wasn't as glamorous as we probably all imagined. Very very interesting!!
A little redundant.......2006-12-10
The book was good, yet a little redundant. I found myself having to force my way through to get the book finished in the beginning. Honestly, going back and forth from quote to quote to narration was a little confusing. A lot of time it was not stated who was speaking, so you'd have to backtrack to find out who was the speaker at that moment. But once I got into the book, it got better. If you're interested in Bette Davis, I would definitely recommend the book, but keep in mind that it can get a little boring, at least in my opinion.
Product Description
A memoir that reveals Bette Davis in her own words, her accounts of career, failed marriages, affairs, and feuds.
Book Description
Alvin C. York went out on a routine patrol an ordinary, unknown American doughboy of the First World War. He came back from no-man's-land a hero. In a brief encounter on October 8, 1918, during the Argonne offensive, York had killed some two dozen German soldiers and, almost single-handedly, effected the capture of 132 others. In this definitive biography, David D. Lee has firmly established the facts of York's life, distinguishing them from myths that have grown up around the man. York claimed a special place in the hearts of his countrymen because his life seemed to show that the virtues of the common man continued to be a vital part of American society.
Customer Reviews:
Too little on WW I.......2005-02-11
After reading the biography on Eddie Rickenbacker, I figured this book would be a good follow-up on the other "hero" of WW-I. However, the book spends little time on Mr. York's military achievements and contains minimal information on battle tactics and strategy of that time. While the book is interesting and quick to read, it does not rate as a 5-star biography. For those armchair generals who is interested in learning about US history, there are no doubt better sources than this book. But for the cost, its well worth the addition to your library.
Superb Bio of a WWI Hero.......2004-07-13
Lee views the life of World War I hero Alvin York through the lens of a changing society. York represented, according to Lee, the values of 19th century rural American-simplicity, honesty, hard work, Protestantism, and Anglo-American heritage-in an industrializing society. His defeat of German machine gunners came to symbolize "man over machine" as well. York moved from a pacifist, noninterventionist position to accept America's role as a major world power. This acceptance was based on a religious vision of the US as a defender against evil in the world. Lee's book is well written, moves fast, and well argued. He succeeds in demonstrating that an indivdual life can be used to understand American history in the early 20th century.
Riveting!.......2001-05-22
A valuable look at York the man, the times he lived in, and the process of creating a national legend. Distinguishes the myths of York's life from the simple facts of his famous exploits. I especially enjoyed the look back at York's rural background and how those values shaped him as a man as well as an American heroic ideal. WEll-researched and documented, but also simply a good read!
Grab some toothpicks.......2000-04-17
If you like to grab a book and take a nap shortly after opening it, this is the book for you. It starts out keeping your interest, but will quickly loose it. If you are looking for a book that really lets you meet York (which was what I was looking for), this is not the right book. This book is a wealth of information, but you will get easily dis-interested, lost, and confused as the author goes into great depths to introduce the men that were involved in York's struggles after the war. I was hoping for a book about York and his family, but was disappointed in this one. He gives very little information about York's family life.
Amazon.com
She tried to warn us: With the publication of Shrub in early 2000, syndicated columnist Molly Ivins detailed George W. Bush's privileged rise and disastrous reign as governor of Texas in the mid- to late `90s. In Bushwhacked, she looks at his first term as president. The picture she paints is unremittingly bleak—unless, of course, you're a big campaign donor well served by Bush's prescription for all economic ills (deregulation, tax cuts for those who need them least, and lax enforcement of worker and environmental safety standards). As the only president in U.S. history to slash taxes and go to war simultaneously, Bush wins consistently low marks from Ivins for pursuing "crony capitalism" to its inevitably depressing extremes. While many of the topics covered here have been covered extensively (Enron, the war in Iraq), Ivins does a good job of building on what's already been written (proving Bush's close ties to former Enron chief Ken Lay, and laying out the fundamentalist, apocalyptic view of Iraq and the Middle East that drives Bush's foreign policy). Ivins is particularly good in taking arcane federal regulations and showing how the Bush administration's lax oversight has hurt ordinary Americans, making their jobs, homes, water, and food less safe. Ivins is no distanced observer. She's clearly incensed by Bush's policies, but her reporting is so detailed and writing so witty that even those who come to the book undecided about Bush will likely be outraged by the time they finish it. ----Keith Moerer
Book Description
A simultaneously rollicking and sobering indictment of the policies of President George W. Bush, Bushwhacked chronicles the destructive impact of the Bush administration on the very people who put him in the White House in the first place. Here are the ties that connected Bush to Enron, yes, but here, too, is the story of the woman who walks six miles to the unemployment office daily, wondering what happened to the economic security Bush promised. Here are reports on failed nation-building missions in Kabul and Baghdad. Here, too, the story of a rancher who has fallen prey to a Bush-Cheney interior department that is perhaps a wee bit too cozy with the oil industry. Bushwhacked is highly original and entirely thought-provoking—essential reading for anyone living in George W. Bush's America.
Customer Reviews:
Dear Molly.......2007-03-08
Yours was the first book that turned me into an politicalaholic. The story you wrote of people who could make a change, lived simply but made a difference, had a real affect on me.
I was also unaware, until you came along, how this administration has relaxed food inspection standards to the point the production lines may not be stopped unless an inspector sees contaminants. It's stupefying that people are dying daily because food inspectors are not supposed to stand in the way of big business. This was just one chapter in a myriad of things you brought to light.
Thanks to Bush, Houston now has a higher level of air pollution than Los Angeles. There is not a clean river in the entire state. And there is an alarming rise in respiratory illnesses. The man also claimed, that as governor Texas had the most comprehensive health coverage in the country. The bill was only passed over his second veto, and was left unsigned on his desk. You let us know all these things.
Your writing style made each page an effortless wonder of new information served up in an impressive and humorous way.
It's good that there were people like you who walked the earth. We are the better for it, and that is why we will miss you.
I don't have a stetson, only my Yankee cap to tip, but my hat's off to you!
Happy Trails, gracious lady!
Ed
Do not waste your money.......2007-02-05
This book is a feeble attempt to slam a politician. There's nothing constructive here, just liberal whinning.
A loss.....and an inspiration.......2007-02-01
America just lost a great journalist in Molly Ivins. That she found a way to add humor to her writing was value additive. It made the trip through her thoughtful work something you could cope with. Somehow the horrors she told us at least found some balance this way. I always thought of Mark Twain. In this way I thought she was wonderfully considerate of audience both for telling us the truth, and sparing a knife blade in our gut with the kindness of humor. It takes such writing work to write with humor.People do not realize. This was my favorite book as she wrote of Bush in office. I'd rather choke on dirt or learn to bungee jump off a hot air balloon than tell his "evolving" and she credited him with thinking ability, amazing. I am a school teacher and what she said about how education devolved/developed in Texas under the Shrub was very helpful. And on NCLB also so insightful. But I'm reviewing to say basically to all women, she was a model for having a voice, making a mark on the field, operation with integrity and grit. We should all have a week off to read her and recall what a mind. I think of her as an American writer who chose to report.I'd recommend any of her works but I preferred this one.
A must read for every American regardless of political affiliation........2006-12-17
Molly Ivins at her absolute best. She and Lou Dubose have put together an indictment of the Bush administration that every American - regardless of political affiliation - should read. This book had the power to infuriate me, delight me and upon occasion bring me to tears. Ivins and Dubose interviewed people (many of them life-long Republicans) who have been negatively impacted by the Bush administration through scorched earth land use legislation favoring large corporations instead of landowners, health care legislation favoring large health care conglomerates instead of patients, education legislation written to favor textbook manufacturers and test suppliers instead of students, food processing legislation favoring large scale operations at the expense of their workers. Many of those interviewed live lives shattered beyond repair by Bush and his cronies. They present very real and personalized accounts of the damage the Bush administration has done to this country and its people, much of which will likely take decades to undo - some which will never be undone. With her "no BS" attitude, Ivins, along with Dubose, has skewered the makers of this disaster deftly, accurately, and completely. Thank God for Molly Ivins.
Right On, Molly.......2006-11-10
Ivins has a way with words and situations that is just priceless. She kept me laughing driving down the freeway.
Average customer rating:
- Brilliant content!
- great book
- Scary but true
- convoluted writing style
- Jaw dropping, unabashed honesty.
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Bushwhacked : Life in George W. Bush's America
Lou Dubose Molly Ivins
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 U.S.
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Executive Branch
| United States
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
21st Century
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1588360512 |
Book Description
From Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose, authors of Shrub, Bushwhacked is a hilarious, no-holds-barred look at George W. Bush and his administration, and an essential book for understanding the full, destructive impact of his presidency.
For years, bestselling political commentator Molly Ivins has been sounding the alarm about George W. Bush. In Shrub, her 2000 skewering of presidential candidate Bush, the inimitable Ivins, with co-author Lou Dubose, offered a devastating exposé of Dubya’s career and abysmal record as governor of Texas. Now, in their second book on our current White House occupant, Ivins and Dubose take the wire brush to the Bush presidency and show how he has applied the same flawed strategies he used in governing Texas to running the largest superpower in the world.
Bushwhacked brings to light the horrendous legacy of the Bush tax cut, his increasingly appalling environmental record, his administration’s involvement in the Enron scandal, and the real Bush foreign policy—botched nation building in Kabul and Baghdad, alienation of former allies—and, unfortunately, much more. Ivins and Dubose go beyond the too frequently soft media coverage of Bush to show us just how damaging his policies have been to ordinary Americans—“the Doug Jones Average,” rather than the Dow Jones Average. Bushwhacked is filled with sharp observation, humor, and compassion for the people often ignored by the federal government and the Washington press corps.
With the war on terrorism posing unprecedented challenges to our civil liberties, and with the Bush economic policy in shambles, it is high time for a close look at the state of our Union. Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose provide just that in Bushwhacked—an incisive, entertaining, and damning indictment of the Bush presidency.
We've been Bushwhacked
Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose on:
Dubya’s involvement in the failure of Harken Energy Corporation:
“There are countless subjects on which George W. Bush might have pleaded ignorance in 1990, but a failing oil business was not one of them.”
Dubya’s accomplishments as governor of Texas:
“As full-time residents of the state that gave you tort reform, H. Ross Perot, and penis-enlargement options on executive health plans, we’re obliged to warn you that if Dubya Bush really had exported ‘the Texas Miracle,’ the country would be in deep shit.”
Dubya’s environmental record:
“Bush has a chemical-dependency problem, but it’s not cocaine. It’s Monsanto, Dow, and Union Carbide. They wrote the checks that put him in the Texas governor’s mansion....Bush had two voluntary emissions-control programs here in Texas. One involved polluting industries. The other was directed at adolescent males, who were encouraged to ‘try abstinence.’ Only 3 of our 8,645 most obnoxiously polluting refineries actually volunteered to cut back on their toxic emissions. Numbers on teenage boys are not yet in.”
Why the Republican Party is the party of unregulated meat and poultry:
“The Republicans win elections in the ‘red states’ in the center of the country, where cattle and chickens are produced and slaughtered. Democrats win their elections in the ‘blue states’ on the coasts. Republicans use the USDA to pay off their contributors in the red states. The result of that crude electoral calculus is laissez-faire food-safety policy whenever a Republican is in the White House. (If you must eat while the Republicans control the White House, both houses of Congress, and the judiciary, you might want to consider becoming a vegetarian about now.)”
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Brilliant content!.......2004-07-05
I have read this book and it scares the hell out of me: a right wing, Christian fundamentalist, oil cartel have staged a coup in the Whitehouse! Right under the nose of decent, hard working American people. (PLEASE remember they didn't actually win the 2000 election; this is the first administration in your great country's history to be appointed by the Supreme Court!)
This book exposes some of the methods and the madness of the current Whitehouse administration whom; if elected again, will probably seek to bring about the Armageddon they actually believe in - and they have the power to do it! Incidentally fellow reviewer - extreme liberal is oxymoronic, there's no such thing!
Back to the book: It's badly written, sorry, because it's a good book but some very sloppy writing and punctuation slightly spoils it, making it quite difficult to read; especially for ignorant people, (some of the reviewers plainly haven't actually read this book).
great book.......2004-03-28
great book. Bush should never have been president.
Scary but true.......2004-01-20
From the economy to the environment, foreign policy to federal judge appointments, Bushwacked breaks out each element of the Bush administration's attack on America. Using solid research and factual evidence the authors outline not only what is currently underway, but the historical perspective of what Dubya and Rove left in their wake in Texas. The authors point out that they warned us in their previous book about what could happen if Bush was elected (appointed). The warning bells are going off again, this is if they ever stopped at all.
Although following the convoluted paths of some of Bush's business dealings with Enron, Harken, et al, can be cumbersome, I found the writing style to be quite understandable and enjoyable to read. I particularly liked the fact that they didn't attack Bush's personality, but rather his policies and patterns of governing that can be substaniated with facts. A significant distinction from the angry ad hominem rhetoric tossed against those that are patriotic enough to question what's being perpetrated on our country by this administration's policies.
Required reading for anyone under the jurisdiction of the US government!
convoluted writing style.......2003-12-14
I really like the topic and am trying to read as much as I can, but these writers have a strange style, when mixed with too many numbers and stats, make it a cumbersome read. That being said, its right on and very informative.
Jaw dropping, unabashed honesty........2003-11-22
I absolutely loved this book! I read it in one sitting because I could not tear myself away from it. The facts regarding Bush's presidency and his administration forces you to really look for the underlying motives in all of their moves. They are not supportive of the average american and are each and every one of them crooks in one way or another. Backed by real, factual, documented evidence (which is more than I can say for some of the right-wing literature out there); this book will cause you to laugh, gasp and your jaw to drop as you realize just what kind of men and women are running the country. This should be required reading for every single American.
Download Description
Molly Ivins¿s column is syndicated to more than three hundred newspapers from Anchorage to Miami. A three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, she is the former co-editor of The Texas Observer and the former Rocky Mountain bureau chief for The New York Times. Her freelance work has appeared in Esquire, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times Magazine, The Nation, Harper¿s Magazine, and other publications. She has a B.A. from Smith College and a master¿s in journalism from Columbia University. Her first book, Molly Ivins Can¿t Say That, Can She?, spent more than twelve months on the New York Times bestseller list.
Lou Dubose has worked as a journalist in Texas for twenty years. He has been editor of The Texas Observer and politics editor of The Austin Chronicle, and is the co-author of Boy Genius: Karl Rove, the Brains Behind the Remarkable Political Triumph of George W. Bush. His freelance work has appeared in The Nation, Texas Monthly, The Washington Post, the Toronto Globe and Mail, the Liberty, Texas, Vindicator, and other publications. He lives with his wife, Jeanne Goka, in Austin.
From the Hardcover edition.
Average customer rating:
- Pelican rescuers take note
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Fly Away Free
Joan Hewett
Manufacturer: Walker & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Birds
| Field Guides
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
California
| United States
| Regional
| Field Guides
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Birdwatching
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0802764037 |
Customer Reviews:
Pelican rescuers take note.......2003-05-04
This is a 1980's documentary of a vet's pelican rescue. Style points for the funky font . Gives a good overview of how to rescue a single bird, but doesn't exactly relate to people who do so on a grand scale, or say, after an oil spill.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Trailer Boats, published by Ehlert Publishing Group on March 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1811 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Bug-free boating: here are proven tips -- and new tricks -- for keeping mosquitoes, deer flies and no-see-ums away from you and your boat.
Author: Dan Armitage
Publication:
Trailer Boats (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2003
Publisher: Ehlert Publishing Group
Volume: 33
Issue: 3
Page: 72(3)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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