Average customer rating:
- Applauds for Sinatra and Hamill
- Sinatra to the point
- Consider The Source
- The man and his music
- Some Outstanding Ideas, But Just a Touch too Much Gossip!
|
Why Sinatra Matters
Pete Hamill
Manufacturer: Little, Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Voice
| Instruments & Performers
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Popular
| Musical Genres
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Actors & Actresses
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Country & Folk
| Composers & Musicians
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Entertainers
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Sinatra, Frank
| ( S )
| People, A-Z
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Downtown: My Manhattan
-
The Gift: A Novel
-
The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin'
-
Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording
-
A Drinking Life: A Memoir
ASIN: 0316347965 |
Book Description
As products of the same urban landscape, Pete Hamill and Frank Sinatra have both been credited with giving the American city a voice. In this widely acclaimed and bestselling appreciation-now available in paperback for the first time-Hamill draws on his intimate experience of the man and the music to evoke the essence of Sinatra, illuminating the singer's art and his legend from the point of view of a confidant and a fan. - May 2003 marks the fifth anniversary of Sinatra's death. - The hardcover edition of Why Sinatra Matters (Little, Brown and Company, 1998), published five months after Sinatra's death, became a national bestseller.
Customer Reviews:
Applauds for Sinatra and Hamill.......2007-09-15
Another masterpiece by Hamill. This work reveals the humanity of Sinatra. It is short, but oh soooooo good! If you are interested in Sinatra, read this book. It is sophisicated and loaded with the nuances of the man who did it his way, faults, bruises, and all.
Sinatra to the point.......2006-10-02
This is a small book. Short and sweet. Mr. Hamill gets right to the point . There isnt a lot of fluff in this book. A few pictures and so anecdotes to start some of the chapters. It written well and the layout is succint. This is a must read for any Sinatra fan.
Consider The Source.......2006-06-18
Ironic that Pete Hamill should write this book. To my ears and eyes, Pete Hamill has never written a sincere or honest word in his life.
The irony is that when Sinatra was asked how he wanted to be remembered, he said he would want people to think of him as an honest singer.
The book is good, but read it with a grain of salt due to the author.
The man and his music.......2006-04-19
I like this book because it isn't like all the other Sinatra biographies out there. In fact, it isn't really appropriate to call "Why Sinatra Matters" a biography at all. Author Pete Hamill was an acquaintance of Sinatra's and much of the book is built around conversations that the two men had together, which is very interesting. This book gives a general overview of Sinatra's upbringing and rise to stardom. Hamill explains how Sinatra's childhood and Italian American background contributed to the development of his music. Sinatra's "fall from grace" is also examined, but Hamill is quick to point out that the only thing that really matters is that Sinatra was able to overcome his obstacles and make an incredible comeback. There has never been another singer like Frank Sinatra and there never will be again. Sinatra continues to represent so many things to so many people, which is why his music will live on forever.
Some Outstanding Ideas, But Just a Touch too Much Gossip! .......2005-05-24
Many of the basic,well known aspects of FS's life are mentioned here, starting with the Genoan and Sicilian branches of his family history, his quiet father and brash, Democratic Ward Leader mother. The segment on Bing Crosby's huge influence on 1930's popular culture, especially in the new radio-centered family (like TV today) is great, and perhaps not known too much today. FS as an icon for immigrant Italians, along with LaGuardia and DiMaggio, is also a high point. The days with James and Dorsey are also well done, if rehashes, like much of this otherwise excellent book. And much is written about FS's legendary "Fall" and 2nd Rise, the Fall being among the most overdone of FS's incredible life.(Many would love to fall from such Olympian heights!). Mr. Hamill says that the music is what matters. Obviously, he's right! Only Frank could sing so well about the depths of anguish and despair, as well as the thrill of triumph! The author also gives a nice summation of the great work of FS with Nelson Riddle. Unfortunately, short shrift is given to Billy May, and a short paragraph mocks the "sugary" work of Gordon Jenkins. Oddly, the most famous pairing of Jenkins and FS, "September of My Years" is listed in the appendix as among Mr. Hamill's favorite albums! It would have been nice if a CD was included,since this book does not really mine the golden depths of FS's best recordings. Still, all in all, a fine and succinct presentation of The Man and His Music.
Amazon.com
Despite the fact that Michael Korda was city born and bred (and, as editor in chief of Simon & Schuster and a bestselling author, part of Manhattan's elite), when he decided it was time to put down roots, he wanted land, trees, and a place in a community with history. The house he bought with his wife, Margaret, in Pleasant Valley, two hours north of New York City, was built when George Washington was president. It came with two barns, 20 acres, a backhoe, a bush hog, a York rake, a dozer blade, a bluff, and a slightly deaf old man named Harold Roe. Since Korda couldn't handle a hammer (plumbing and heating problems in his past merely involved calling the building super and keeping a 20-dollar bill handy), Harold became a permanent fixture, wielding large equipment, destroying the flowers, and showing the couple everything they needed to know about the real country.
Pleasant Valley, it turned out, was on the "wrong" side of the Taconic Parkway. It was "red and black plaid hats with earflaps and insulated bib-front overalls country," as opposed to Ralph Lauren estates country. Despite the blue-collar atmosphere (or rather because of it), the Kordas have been there for two decades. Becoming locals hasn't been easy, however. Korda relishes the moments that mark him as an insider--hanging out at the local diner, buying a Harley-Davidson, and most importantly, buying pigs. Pig watching in a place like Pleasant Valley is a truly bonding experience, which Korda describes with his characteristic dry wit:
Pig watching is not something anybody does in a hurry, as we came to learn. You have to shift your trousers down a bit, loosen up your belt a notch or so, give your belly a little breathing room, light a cigarette if you're a smoker, and look at the pigs for a good long time. Then you sigh, nod your head, and say, "Them's nice pigs, them pigs." Then you look at them some more.
You get the idea. A natural raconteur, Korda makes the quirks of living in an old house and the quest for local status in an insular community highly entertaining, and he proves once again that, while he may not be handy with tools, he certainly knows his way around the written word. --Lesley Reed
Book Description
With his inimitable sense of humor and storytelling talent, New York Times bestselling author Michael Korda brings us this charming, hilarious, self-deprecating memoir of a city couple's new life in the country.
At once entertaining, canny, and moving, Country Matters does for Dutchess County, New York, what Under the Tuscan Sun did for Tuscany. This witty memoir, replete with Korda's own line drawings, reads like a novel, as it chronicles the author's transformation from city slicker to full-time country gentleman, complete with tractors, horses, and a leaking roof.
When he decides to take up residence in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in Dutchess County, ninety miles north of New York City, Korda discovers what country life is really like:
- Owning pigs, more than owning horses, even more than owning the actual house, firmly anchored the Kordas as residents in the eyes of their Pleasant Valley neighbors.
- You may own your land, but without concertina barbed wire, or the 82nd Airborne on patrol, it's impossible to keep people off it!
- It's possible to line up major household repairs over a tuna melt sandwich.
- And everyone in the area is fully aware that Michael "don't know shit about septics."
The locals are not particularly quick to accept these outsiders, and the couple's earliest interactions with their new neighbors provide constant entertainment, particularly when the Kordas discover that hunting season is a year-round event -- right on their own land! From their closest neighbors, mostly dairy farmers, to their unforgettable caretaker Harold Roe -- whose motto regarding the local flora is "Whack it all back! " -- the residents of Pleasant Valley eventually come to realize that the Kordas are more than mere weekenders.
Sure to have readers in stitches, this is a book that has universal appeal for all who have ever dreamed of owning that perfect little place to escape to up in the country, or, more boldly, have done it.
Customer Reviews:
Poorly researched, contradictory and full of unnecessary insults to locals.......2007-05-19
I found this book to be insulting to those from this charming area of New York. At first, I read this book hoping that his snobbery was done in jest. As it was made clear that the author was completely serious and his ignorant view of this town was incorrect and offensive, the book lost its charm, if, of course, it ever had any. I was surprised that such a small-minded story was to follow in this book since the author presents himself in the first chapter to be world-traveled. Clearly, world-traveled does not mean you travel well.
Rising above.......2007-02-09
The typically tedious arrogance of East Coast intelligentsia must be overlooked while reading this book. It's just too funny to be dissuaded by Korda's sophomoric attitude. My husband and I kept reading lines to each other and laughing. We've taken the same road and we couldn't have said it better. It's a must-read for anyone who is planning a similar path...before you sign on the country dotted line. Oh, the days/weeks/months we sat waiting for the "remodeling crew" when we could have tracked them down at the local café. We laugh now every time we pass that café and see their trucks...now that our moving wounds have healed.
A rich man's self-absorbing babble.......2006-09-26
This book gives you a good picture of life in the country (country here meaning two hours away from Manhattan), if you have a British blonde model as a 2nd wife whose passion is foxhunting and horseback riding, four horses in the barn, two stable hands, a Hungarian mother and daughter team to cook your dinners for you, an interior decorator to dress your house in imported fabric from Italy, and a full-time help who mows your grass and takes care of all your country needs.
In sum, the pleasure of moving to the country for Mr. Korda: looking at the forty acres and thinking: "it's all mine." And the tribulation: being snubbed by even richer friends because his estate is not as grand as the next person's.
Do not even make the mistake of opening this book.
Spare me Mr. Korda.......2005-03-16
I was about halfway through this work when I began to read the reviews here. I was heartened to find that I was not alone in finding Korda's tone condescending, snobbish, and in its own way, extremely provincial. He seems to value his neighbors, if at all, for one reason: their utility. That is, their usefulness to himself! He displays very little genuine interest in these hardworking people in terms of their histories, their interior lives, their unique stories. They're just there to fix stuff and do the physical labor which is apparently beneath Mr. Korda.
Despite the author's long-time position as editor at Simon and Schuster, I did not find the book particularly well-written. Indeed, I found it riddled with cliches, especially "in our neck of the woods." Did the editor not submit his work to an editor?
I almost always finish books once I start them. In this case I made an exception. Life is too short to read unfunny and basically insufferable books like this one.
it will take more than a tuna melt to make Korda "country"........2004-09-01
I have to agree with the other reviews that this book falls a little short of the target. I disagree, however, with criticism that Korda focuses his ridicule on the country folk. I thought he poked equal fun at his various big wig guests from the city. What struck me, and why I can't give the book a favorable review, is that I'm not sure that Korda is aware that he himself is ultimately one of the saddest characters - naive, gullible, short-sighted and arrogant. The only person in the book who seems to escape having fun made of them is Mr. Korda (even his wife comes across as a beautiful 'get-what-she-wants princess). A little self depreciation would have gone a long way.
Take, for example, this final line from chapter seven: "The trick is to become just plain folks somehow, however you manage it - and if it takes the occcasional tuna melt, so be it". Lines like that inevitably indicate that Korda believes he is extraordinary, but for the good of the people around him, willing to stoop to the level of everyone else. That's why so many people are turned off by the book. The central character in the novel needs some development.
Book Description
The effect of demography on economic performance has been the subject of intense debate in economics for nearly two centuries. In recent years opinion has swung between the Malthusian views of Coale and Hoover, and the cornucopian views of Julian Simon. Unfortunately, until recently, data were too weak and analytical models too limited to provide clear insights into the relationship. As a result economists as a group have not been clear or conclusive. This volume, based on a collection of papers that heavily rely on data from the 1980s and 1990s and on new analytical approaches, sheds important new light on demographic-economic relationships, and it provides clearer policy conclusions than any recent work on the subject. In particular, evidence from developing countries throughout the world shows a much clearer pattern in recent decades than was evident earlier: countries with higher rates of population growth have tended to see less economic growth. An analysis of the role of demography in the "Asian economic miracle" strongly suggests that changes in age structures resulting from declining fertility create a one-time "demographic gift" or window of opportunity, when the working age population has relatively few dependants, of either young or old age, to support. Countries which recognize and seize on this opportunity can, as the Asian tigers did, realize healthy bursts in economic output. But such results are by no means assured: only for countries with otherwise sound economic policies will the window of opportunity yield such dramatic results. Finally, several of the studies demonstrate the likelihood of a causal relationship between high fertility and poverty. While the direction of causality is not always clear and very likely is reciprocal (poverty contributes to high fertility and high fertility reinforces poverty), the studies support the view that lower fertility at the country level helps create a path out of poverty for many families. Population Matters represents an important further step in our understanding of the contribution of population change to economic performance. As such, it will be a useful volume for policymakers both in developing countries and in international development agencies.
Average customer rating:
|
Macro-Economics: Making Gender Matter: Concepts, Policies and Institutional Change in Developing Countries
Manufacturer: Zed Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Policy & Current Events
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Development & Growth
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Economic Policy & Development
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Macroeconomics
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Gender Studies
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1842770616 |
Book Description
Economic analysis grounded in a gender approach is beginning to enter mainstream economics. The discipline is increasingly recognizing that economic behavior may be influenced by gender, as well as examining critically the gender discrimination inherent in some macroeconomic concepts. This volume, with its wide-ranging intellectual explorations and specific case studies, seeks to make a contribution to this process. Using often original empirical material taken from the actual experiences of Latin American countries, the contributors explore a wide range of key issues.
Book Description
The Luttrell Psalter is one of the best-known English manuscripts. Written and illuminated in the early 14th century for Sir Geoffey Luttrell, it is celebrated for its long series of attractive marginal illustrations showing scenes of life in medieval England. The most celebrated sequence of pictures represents the annual cycle of growing crops including plouging, sowing, weeding, harvesting, threshing, and the delivery of the grain. Animal illustrations include domestic boars, geese, pigs, cattle, ferrets, rabbits, birds, cats and mice. Sports, pastimes, entertainers and musicians are all represented, showing the reader that rural life did have a lighter side beyond the routine of work. Janet Backhouse's entertaining study reminds us that although The Luttrell Psalter was created to provide a reflection of the status of the Luttrell family, its preservation has given us a supremely emotive pictorial source for the daily life of rural England.
Customer Reviews:
Large and gorgeous.......2003-01-22
A lovely book with large color photos of some of the pages of the original Luttrell Psalter. Wonderful representation of rural life in the 13th century. My only quibble is that some of the nicer larger images stradle two pages which means that some of the details are lost in the gap between the pages.
Customer Reviews:
so helpful!.......2007-07-15
What a great book for those interested in multicultural literature. It has been great learning about quality literature and gave me a whole new perspective. Every teacher, librarian, and anyone working with children in a teaching environment should read this.
Book Description
Foreign aid, mostly from industrialized countries to developing countries, has been going on for 50 years, and some Third World countries depend on it to a remarkable extent. Though its purpose is ostensibly selfless and benign, as this introduction to the difficult issues surrounding aid show, it is the focus of considerable controversy. Aid is an issue of great concern, both financially and morally. This book suggests ways in which aid can be made less of a problem, and more of a solution.
Average customer rating:
|
Country Matters
Jo Northrop
Manufacturer: Fulcrum Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Essays
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Classics
| Comic
| Contemporary
| Literary
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Rural
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Communities
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Conservation
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Nature Writing
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1555911501 |
Customer Reviews:
Warm and wonderful!.......1999-07-08
This is a wonderful book! I enjoyed Jo Northrup's column in Country Living for years. In this book, she brings the same charm she brought to her column. I especially like to read this book on nights when I can't sleep. It's low stress!
Average customer rating:
|
Masculinities Matter!: Men, Gender and Development
Manufacturer: Zed Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Gender Studies
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Men
| Gender Studies
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Islamic Masculinities (Global Masculinities)
-
Masculinities
ASIN: 1842770659 |
Book Description
Men appear to be missing from much gender and development policy, but many emerging critiques suggest the need to pay more attention to understanding men and masculinities, and to analyzing the social relationships between men and women. This book considers the case for a focus on men in gender and development, which requires us to reconsider some of the theories and concepts which underlie policies. It includes arguments based on equality and social justice, the specific gendered vulnerabilities of men, the emergence of a crisis of masculinity and the need to include men in development as partners for strategic change.
Customer Reviews:
too many cooks?.......2004-02-17
It's funny that the time has an exclamation point in it. Unlike the double meaning of Cornel West's title "Race Matters," there is nothing inventive in this. I'm surprised that academics would want to scream anything for a book like this.
The contributors mention that the idea of "women in development" (or WID) has changed to "gender and development" (or GAD), yet has not looked specifically at how masculinity issues affect men in developing countries. Further, it is honorably noted how women's issues won't be advanced without male participation. If men don't agree to use condoms, AIDS will still spread in southern Africa. If men don't learn to respect children, they will sire boys that will commit the same injustices they have, etc. This book definitely had impressive goals.
The book's contributors are equally male and female; also, it seems ethnically diverse. While the book has chapters involving Asia and Latin America, half the book focuses on sub-Saharan Africa. This is left unexamined. Is that where most development scholars work? Is that where funds tend to be directed? Is that where masculinity issues are the most glaring? It's surprising that the cover of the book shows a Latin American male worker and his sons when the majority of the subjects in the book are African males.
This book must be applauded for two reasons. First, I appreciated its mention of boys and the violence that grown men perpetrate against them. One chapter mentions that development agencies must do more to re-program child soldiers who have been abused by rebels and goverments in power. International child advocates may want to read this book for that reason.
Second, along with the aforementioned example of how dominant men do not just oppress women, but also other males, this book highlights the diversity of males in developing countries. Examples include older men vs. younger men in South Africa, classic bugarrones vs. modern pingueros in Cuba, or tribal differences in Namibia. Obviously, the scholars here borrow from feminists of color that say women are not a monolithic category and that race and class must be taken into account. These authors apply that claim to men. This book was gay-inclusive or at least tried not to be rigidly heterocentric.
Still, the chapters wondered on and on, with very little structure. The points that authors want to make to other development scholars usually had nothing to do with the actual groups or phenomena they later described. This book was totally disorganized and not much fun to read.
I applaud the contributors for trying to bring men's studies and development studies together. Still, this was quite a flawed production.
Books:
- Why Size Matters: From Bacteria to Blue Whales
- Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China
- Wings: A Tale of Two Chickens
- Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, Book 5)
- Working with Your Woodland: A Landowner's Guide (Revised Edition)
- Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century
- 1634: The Baltic War
- A Dictionary of Ecology (Oxford Paperback Reference)
- A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation (ECONOMICS OF NON-MARKET GOODS AND RESOURCES)
- A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Official Guides to the Appalachian Trail)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Wish You Well
- The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids Favorite Meals
- The Complete Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens
- The God Delusion
- The Beatles As Musicians: Revolver through the Anthology
- The Happiest Man in the World: An Account of the Life of Poppa Neutrino
- The High Sierra of California
- How to Buy and Manage Rental Properties: The Milin Method of Real Estate Management for the Small In
- The Fourth Dimension: The Next Level of Personal and Organizational Achievement
- Confessions of a Name Dropper
