Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross

Book Description

On April 16, 2003, Luther Vandross suffered a near-fatal stroke, and the world held its breath. Inside sources said he might never sing again. He was too weak to receive visitors, but cards and good wishes came from Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Anita Baker, Halle Berry, Patti LaBelle, Jesse Jackson, Burt Bacharach, Bette Midler, Star Jones, Gladys Knight, and Dionne Warwick, among others. With a will to live matched only by the enormous strength and power of his heart, soul, and singing talent, Luther survived and is regaining his voice. This biography is a loving tribute to the man who has entertained millions.

Luther remains one of the music industry's most private celebrities. In Luther, the first biography of the hugely popular and beloved singer, Craig Seymour investigates and illuminates Luther's life, from his early obsession with soulful girl groups to the day he was discovered by glam rocker David Bowie to his devastating stroke and inspiring recovery. Seymour explores Luther's elusive sexuality, the taboo question that has plagued him for his entire career. He talks about Luther's yo-yo dieting, and the pain his weight has caused him and those around him. He tells the whole story behind the widely publicized feuds between Luther and R&B icons Aretha Franklin and Anita Baker as well as the group En Vogue. And he frankly and honestly explores the tragedies of Luther's life: the 1986 car crash that killed his best friend and nearly destroyed his career, and the 2003 stroke that almost ended his life.

An authentic R&B legend, Luther Vandross is one of the most popular and talented vocalists in the world. His life has been full of pain and love, tragedy and redemption. And now, for the first time ever, Luther gives you a backstage pass into his life and longing.

Customer Reviews:

Luther's Biography a great book.......2006-09-04

I enjoyed Luther Vandross' biography by Craig Seymour immensly. I think that because Luther was so private, Craig drew out the essence of the man as much as possible. I learned so much about Mr. Vandross from the biography that I felt like we could have been personal friends. The author makes the man come off of the pages and into your life. You can feel Luther's pain, his joy, his mysterious loves, as well as the heart beat of his music from the book. I have read the book at least five times within the past year.

The other reason the book is so good is because this is the only complete biography of Luther Vandross that I know of. Thank you Craig Seymour in being persistant in persuing Luther to write the book. Thank you for bringing us "Luther."

Mr. Seymour is their a sequel?

very good but not excellent.......2006-06-29

A book about Luther has been long overdue, but to be honest a lot of people would be reading it purely to find out who he did and did not sleep with. That is one reason why I like this book, it makes it clear that Luther was super private, and although we may all have ideas about his love life we can never conclusively say.

The book tells a lot about his work as a backing vocalist as well as his triumphs and failures. I would have liked a little about his friendships for example with Oprah, Patti LaBelle etc. I would have liked to know more about Luther away from music and how he lived, but I guess that is why private life is called just that.

Overall this book does give you a picture of Luther, but I just don't think it is as glossy and HQ as Luther truly deserves. Credit where credit is due however, the author does do a good job with the story, it was never going to be an easy book to right. I think fans would appreciate it a lot, but if you are expecting juicy tabloid fodder then find some other book to read.

If you're passionate about Luther, this is a "not to miss" read.........2006-06-05

I as with many other fans lost more than a singer when Luther passed away last year. Luther's songs touched the very core of me during the days I was trapped in a loveless marriage; he seemed to know very intimately what I was experiencing and seemed to express those very words so meticulously in his verses. It wasn't until I read this book that I could even begin to know why. His own tragic and lonely search for love ironically proved to be a blessing to the world in providing the many cherished loved songs that will play on forever.
If you are a true Luther fan this is a MUST read. You will begin to understand and find the parallels of his works with his personal life and his haunting weight struggles. A true professional, Luther never delivered less than perfection in his music and it was through his pain that his fans were able to look beyond love. I am looking forward to a followup to this book. : )

I Read This Book for Nothing.............2006-01-07

I ordered this book because I loved Luther Vandross deeply and I miss him and I'm still in shock over his passing. I received this book and read it cover to cover in two days. I was somewhat disappointed in this book in that it depicted Luther as being a moody spoiled brat--so to speak who wanted things his way or no way, and if you didn't do thngs his way he would lash out. While I didn't know Luther personally I don't believe that he was that way. This book quoted a lot of things that BET's "Journeys in Black" broadcasted. I was very disappointed by this book and I found it a total waste of time to read. If you want to know about Luther refer to Bet's "Journeys in Black" on DVD.

Getting beyond the glitz.......2005-09-10

I must say that I found this peek inside the life of Luther Vandross very informative. I appreciated the fact that I was allowed to read his perspective on the things that drove and influenced him emotionally and musically as well as why they did so.
All too often in publications we only get the writer's perspective and it is often biased. There are even some occassions in this book when the author offers his views on certain subjects, he tends to highlight the facts or situations that seem to support those views even when other options are available.
Overall I think the book did what it was supposed to. As with most Luther-authorized media, it told us what we needed to know, and were "entitled?" to as fans of his music. He suffered losses and celebrated successes, worked hard, believed in himself, paid his dues and shared it all with us through that music.
Enough said.

Luther the Life & Longing of L :Vandross

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Luther the Life & Longing of L :Vandross
Craig Seymour
Manufacturer: HARPERCOLLINS @ PUBLISHERS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UD3ZHW

Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross

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Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross
Craig Seymour
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEORVU

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Luther: The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross
Craig Seymour
Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OF1UAU

Book Description

In the beginning, North America was Indian country. But only in the beginning. After the opening act of the great national drama, Native Americans yielded to the westward rush of European settlers.

Or so the story usually goes. Yet, for three centuries after Columbus, Native people controlled most of eastern North America and profoundly shaped its destiny. In Facing East from Indian Country, Daniel K. Richter keeps Native people center-stage throughout the story of the origins of the United States.

Viewed from Indian country, the sixteenth century was an era in which Native people discovered Europeans and struggled to make sense of a new world. Well into the seventeenth century, the most profound challenges to Indian life came less from the arrival of a relative handful of European colonists than from the biological, economic, and environmental forces the newcomers unleashed. Drawing upon their own traditions, Indian communities reinvented themselves and carved out a place in a world dominated by transatlantic European empires. In 1776, however, when some of Britain's colonists rebelled against that imperial world, they overturned the system that had made Euro-American and Native coexistence possible. Eastern North America only ceased to be an Indian country because the revolutionaries denied the continent's first peoples a place in the nation they were creating.

In rediscovering early America as Indian country, Richter employs the historian's craft to challenge cherished assumptions about times and places we thought we knew well, revealing Native American experiences at the core of the nation's birth and identity.

Customer Reviews:

Bad History.......2007-09-29

The book has many problem sin my view as a history graduate student. Although many important arguments were included in this work, I found it to be a struggle to determine which was an "Eastern" view or an actual fact. Richter used his imagination a bit too much. Sometimes historians have to make the best possible interpretation but going on a limb and guessing what someone may have thought is not HISTORY. Furthermore, Richter is somewhat unclear throughout the work. He switches between imagination and reality, and sometimes it becomes a task in itself deciphering what is his idea or fact. Richter uses almost NO missionary documents when trying to argue his point. Very few examples of missionary texts were given, creating a situation of where did your idea come from. Furthermore, Richter generalizes far too much. A tribe in Delaware is not going to react similar to one in S. Carolina. While trying to put his point across he fails to discuss changing regimes in Europe (England, France, and Spain) and their effect on colonial policies against natives. He mentions that Louis XIV wants natives wiped out, but says nothing of the Stuarts or Hapsburg policies.

Now I understand this was supposed to be a work facing east, not west, but Richter seemed to go too far outside the scope of the sources and use his imagination a little to often. What happen to American Natives was sad, but imagining history to glorify them does not do justice to them or the faculty of history.

"Eastward" Approach of Studying Native Americans.......2007-05-18

Traditional histories of Native Americans have focused on the point of view, or history, of European Americans. But in 2001, historian Daniel Ricther breaks this trend in his novel work - Facing East From Indian Country. The "eastward" approach incorporates the interpretations, or stories, of early Native Americans who observed the movements of Europeans from eastern America. His research is by no means exhaustive, but advances a fresh perspective of the scant pre-existing primary sources on early Native Americans. His sophisticated synthesis and analysis of the aforementioned sources, coupled with his incisive imagination shed light on a virtually untold Native American history.

Richter chronologically organizes his work and concentrates heavily on early colonial times in his opening chapters, which appear to be his area of expertise. His passages of primary sources are often lengthy and precariously worded, but his strong narrative and eloquent articulation of Indian culture supersede these minor distractions.

Revisiting the oft told stories of Pocahontas and Metacon, Ricther articulately portrays these individuals as being champions of peaceful co-existence, and cooperation, in the New World. In addition to the previously noted amenable traits, Native Americans also possessed sound diplomatic skills. For instance, Richter provides considerable detail about the sophisticated "treaty protocol" that early Americans utilized. Noting that this process "ideally consisted of nine stages," ( 135) Ricther explicitly detailed the expectations of Iroquois during these meetings in the mid-eighteenth century and illuminated the European's poor cultural understanding of these protocols. These examples, and others, highlighted the European's ignorance of Indian culture.

The latter chapters chronicle the Indians transgression from peaceful co-existence with the Europeans in the eighteenth century to all out war with them in the early nineteenth century. In the mid-eighteenth century, for instance, Ricther convincingly argues that "diversity wrought an increasingly pervasive view that Indians and Whites were utterly different, and utterly incompatible." (180) These views became more solidified in the nineteenth century. And Indians gradually surrendered more rights, and property, in the New World.

In the epilogue, which was more suited for the introduction or opening chapters, Ricther outlines the writings of Native American writer William Apess who sought to promote an eastward narrative of Indian history in the early eighteenth century. According to Richter, his work was silenced by European histories.

This work, in closing, creates new opportunities for scholars to re-interpret Native American history. This paradigm shift will likely lead to more sophisticated studies of early Indian culture in the New World, and ultimately add to our rather meager understanding of Indian history. A must read for Native American scholars and graduate and undergraduate history students who wish to broaden their understanding of early American history.

Informative and analytical.......2007-03-06

Mr. Richter does a fine job of deftly parsing small bits of information to imagine the Indian American's point of view. I was rather expecting an I-hate-America diatribe, but that's not at all what this is. It DOES show that between the clash of cultures in North America, the natives were much more adept to adapting (because they had no choice) than were the Europeans. And adapt they did, somewhat successfully until the war of Independence was fought between the US and Britian. After that, well, there were so many indefensible acts by the new US that it came down to "civilize-or-die" to the natives. Even those that did civilize were not safe, being punished by vigilantes for 'outrages' by other Indians - not even of the same linguistic group.
Those few who understood the complicated culture of the natives were by and large ignored, while small bands of cunning Indians would sell land that wasn't even theirs.
Sometimes it is said that there's enough blame to go around; if by that it's meant that because all Natives were not "Good Injuns" we should exterminate those who refuse to be deported, well okay.
Some say slavery was the darkest blot on our history, I believe it was the lies, broken treaties, forced removals, genocide and outright stealing of land that is that darkest chapter.
Read also Eve Ball's "indeh", and Britton Davis' "The Truth About Geronimo."

Refreshing switch of viewpoint.......2006-08-30

The author does an excellent job tracking down the limited available sources that shed light on the earliest Native American perspectives of Colonial history in a way that never come out in our traditional histories. This is a very readable book that is superior to "Mayflower" in providing a detailed analysis for the Indian view of that history. Facing East doesn't stop with the Pilgrims, but explores its theme through numerous early interactions between Native and European peoples.

Thinking Opposite and Otherwise.......2006-08-29

Most historians have sufficient presence of mind to clear from their brains the Panglossian cant which insists we live in the best of all possible worlds. The best histories, of which Daniel K. Richter's Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America is most certainly one, are able to envision a historical narrative where paths not taken would lead to a counterfactual narrative to our own.

To this end, Richter musters the sources traditional to any historian--varied secondary sources, the journals of participants of historical interactions between Natives and Europeans, literary sources by Natives and sundry oral sources likely to be their own. Utilizing a vast knowledge of the period between the first arrival of Europeans in the Americas through the period of "Jacksonian Democracy," Richter paints a lucid picture of European interaction with the tribes of North America, and how it altered the behavior of all parties involved. This narrative is neither a record of triumphant civilization moving west, nor is it an account of genocide moving ferociously from East--though Richter makes clear both of these fit, respectively, into American myth and American realty--he is much more concerned with how the cultures interacted with each other in creating the circumstances that Natives lived under and how they viewed their changing world.

Richter's approach to understanding how the world did and would appear to Natives is grounded in the understanding that commerce, politics, environment, and ideologies will be discernibly altered by any new presence. Just as North America became a new market for European goods, so Europe allowed for the prospering of some tribes through a need for raw materials such as leather and beaver pelts. The same interaction could, and did, sometimes, lead to intertribal and international conflict (as well as a combination of both at once) or to the unforeseen environmental degradations associated with depopulating a large area of beavers. Richter's understanding of history acknowledges the law of unforeseen consequences--a law that is in fact central to his explanation of how so many Native communities were wiped out, radically altered, even created by European diseases--and how a good deal of the history between Europeans and Natives was the result reciprocal relations and not conflict, to say nothing of an irreconcilable conflict.

Perhaps the most interesting area Richter explores is in the realm of culture. The importation of European goods, African slaves, and Christianity led to profound changes in the ways that many natives lived. The foreseeable creations of Moravian, Catholic, or Anglican communities of Natives; changes in work wrought by iron made tools and warfare through the importation of muskets; expansion of world views due to contact with truly foreign cultures: all of these were the logical consequences of European arrival in North America. These facts were do as much to reciprocity and basic cultural interchanges as they are to the unequal relations that materialized between the two cultures as time passed. Richter is keen to point out that none of this was solely the result of the conqueror and subject role which so Natives were forced to accept.

Richter does not shy away from showing the disgraceful, murderous, and ultimately tragic side Euro-American and Native American relations. Throughout the whole of the book, Richter carefully records the injustices, massacres, broken promises and treaties, as well as the demagoguery that insured Natives even less than second class status. Richter quite convincingly argues that it is the proliferation of all of these factors which led to the creation of an ideology of irreconcilable conflict between Natives and Europeans--later Americans. By implication, Richter shows that this myth required those who believed it to repudiate, if not altogether forget, much past history.

To steal a phrase from Professor Ronald Takaki, Richter is able to look at history through a different mirror. Through his creative reading of the history of Native contact with their own New World, Richter does much illuminate what was one of the most central tragedies of American history.

Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America.(Book Review) : An article from: The Historian

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Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America.(Book Review) : An article from: The Historian
Thomas E. Emerson
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000B9DSSG
Release Date: 2005-09-03

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Historian, published by Thomson Gale on March 22, 2004. The length of the article is 562 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: Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America.(Book Review)
Author: Thomas E. Emerson
Publication: The Historian (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2004
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 66 Issue: 1 Page: 159(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Facing East From Indian Country: A Native History of Early America

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Facing East From Indian Country: A Native History of Early America
Daniel K. Richter
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QV4UV8

Book Description

The Smithsonian Institution, the largest museum complex in the world, holds more than 142 million artifacts and specimens in its trust. This colorful guide to the eight museums and galleries on the National Mall, five more in the Washington metropolitan area, two in New York City, and the National Zoo presents an enormous amount of history and pertinent museum information, ensuring a rewarding visit. Each detailed section presents the history of each museum and offers a fully illustrated, gallery-by-gallery tour. All the practical information-location, hours, phone numbers, public transportation, services, tours, dining, gift shops, special attractions for children, Web site addresses-is also included. This strudy guide has been accessibly produces by the Smithsonian's award-winning designers and is beautifully photographed throughout in full color.

Customer Reviews:

Gift item for family members.......2007-01-04

Really can't say but they were thrilled getting the book.
Was a Christmas gift so haven't gotten feed back on if it has been read yet. They did love the idea as they are going to spend the summer there and wanted to spend time at the Smithsonian.

What You Would Expect.......2004-12-16

This book is just what you would expect from the Smithsonian, 224 pages of glossy pictures that leave you wanting more. The _Guide_ starts with about 35 pages of useful information such as how to get around DC and some of the history of the Smithsonian Institution. Then comes a quick survey of the different museums starting with that favorite, the Air and Space Museum, which is the home of the Wright Brothers first flying aircraft. And don't forget the Steven F Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport or you will miss a proto-type space shuttle. After surveying the rest of the Smithsonian museums near the National Mall, the _Guide_ includes a few other attractions in DC such as the National Zoological Park. A few noteworthy mentions in NYC round out the _Guide_.

Of course, you could spend your entire two week vacation at the Smithsonian and never see it all. (Do an online search to see how big it is.) If you use the _Guide_ to plan a trip to DC, one thing I might suggest is that you learn to use the Metro (subway) system. The _Guide_ mentions it, but it is too bad that a map of the Metro system was not included. (Get one online.) If you buy the _Guide_ in order to remember a trip to DC, one thing that will quickly catch your attention is that the National Museum for the American Indian mentioned is the one in NYC. Either way, the _Guide_ is well worth it.

Official Guide to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

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Official Guide to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
David A. Romanowski
Manufacturer: Smithsonian
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Aeronautics & Astronautics | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Air Travel | Specialty Travel | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1588340023

Book Description

This fully illustrated guide to the world's most-visited aviation and space museum is both an indispensable companion for visitors and a detailed history in itself of humanity's quest for flight. The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) houses the world's greatest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft plus an amazing assortment of other historic objects. Many fascinating items from the twenty-three galleries and two off-site facilities are presented here in 197 full-color photographs, and are accompanied by their equally intriguing stories.

EHRGEIZ Official Strategy Guide (Smithsonian)

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Nice production, but virtually no content
Great move list and so much more

EHRGEIZ Official Strategy Guide (Smithsonian)
BradyGames
Manufacturer: BRADY GAMES
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Video Games | Games & Strategy Guides | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Video & Electronic Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1566868769

Book Description

BradyGAMES EHRGEIZ Official Fighter's Guide Features: Complete bone-jarring move listss for every character. Coverage of all the Mini-Games. All the hidden characters and secrets revealed!

Customer Reviews:

Nice production, but virtually no content.......1999-07-19

The bios of the characters are straight out of the CD's rule book, and do nothing to explain the differing styles of the fighters. While it's nice to have pictures of every move, there's no sense of the strengths and weaknesses of them. In short, the book is eye-candy.

Apparently, amazon won't let me use a URL in a review, so here's a hint: use a search engine to look for "Ehrgeiz" and "Mike Allen". You should be able to find the 100-page "Ehrgeiz Master's Guide: Advanced Strategy and Techniques Version". *This* is the book Brady should have printed -- smart, opinionated, fun-to-read and contagious in its enthusiasm for the game. While it doesn't have pictures of every move, it does say which ones to use when, and why.

Great move list and so much more.......1999-06-26

This book is great! It has a great move list for each character. It has pictures next to the moves to guide you through the move. It has many secrets about the game telling good strategies for the adventure mode and getting the hidden characters. If you have this game I recommend getting this guide.

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OFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE SMITHSONIAN
JACOBY
Manufacturer: MURRAY BENSON
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TJBGSM

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OFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE SMITHSONIAN
Various
Manufacturer: USA: CBS Publications, 1976
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NYPSJQ

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OFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE SMITHSONIAN
S. Dillon Ripley
Manufacturer: CBS Publications, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000REU7BQ

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Official Guide to the Smithsonian

Manufacturer: Smithsonian Institution Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000EAPY8Y

Product Description

Tells what you will see at the Smithsonian and some of the history.

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Official Guide to the Smithsonian
Smithsonian Staff
Manufacturer: Smithsonian Institution Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000E1D976

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OFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE SMITHSONIAN

Manufacturer: No Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H1X59U

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Official Guide to the Smithsonian
Smithsonian Institution
Manufacturer: Smithsonian Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VL08BE

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