Book Description
William Orville Douglas was both the most accomplished and the most controversial justice ever to serve on the United States Supreme Court. He emerged from isolated Yakima, Washington, to be dubbed, by the age of thirty, “the most outstanding law professor in the nation”; at age thirty-eight, he was the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, cleaning up a corrupt Wall Street during the Great Depression; by the age of forty, he was the second youngest Supreme Court justice in American history, going on to serve longer—and to write more opinions and dissents—than any other justice.
In evolving from a pro-government advocate in the 1940s to an icon of liberalism in the 1960s, Douglas became a champion for the rights of privacy, free speech, and the environment. While doing so, “Wild Bill” lived up to his nickname by racking up more marriages, more divorces, and more impeachment attempts aimed against him than any other member of the Court. But it was what Douglas did not accomplish that haunted him: He never fulfilled his mother’s ambition for him to become president of the United States.
Douglas’s life was the stuff of novels, but with his eye on his public image and his potential electability to the White House, the truth was not good enough for him. Using what he called “literary license,” he wrote three memoirs in which the American public was led to believe that he had suffered from polio as an infant and was raised by an impoverished, widowed mother whose life savings were stolen by the family attorney. He further chronicled his time as a poverty-stricken student sleeping in a tent while attending Whitman College, serving
as a private in the army during World War I, and “riding the rods” like a hobo to attend Columbia Law School.
Relying on fifteen years of exhaustive research in eighty-six manuscript collections, revealing long-hidden documents, and interviews conducted with more than one hundred people, many sharing their recollections for the first time, Bruce Allen Murphy reveals the truth behind Douglas’s carefully constructed image. While William O. Douglas wrote fiction in the form of memoir, Murphy presents the truth with a narrative flair that reads like a novel.
Customer Reviews:
A Good Start.......2006-06-03
As another reviewer has pointed out, the author is determined to debunk many of the Douglas myths. Yet this needs to be done. The 'polio' and 'WW1' veteran myths created by Douglas himself are as unsightly as they are unseemly, as was much of his personal life and relationship with others. This is not being overly negative however. This is telling the truth, and the author's sources and documentation on these scores is very good. Bill Douglas, as a person, was unquestionably an SOB to be around unless you were at least his peer. The author does present an admiring portrait of Douglas' jurisprudence, especially from the Rosenberg case forward, but this could/should have been done in much more detail. The book itself is well-written from a technical point of view, reads fast, and is (unlike too many recent publications) well-edited. I do believe, however, that this is a stepping stone book and that the definitive biography of this finest U.S. Justice has yet to be written--one with more scholarly emphasis on his jurisprudence. It will probably be a multi-volume work.
Incomplete portrait of a fascinating man.......2004-04-19
This book will probably stand as the definitive examination of William O. Douglas as a person. Having undertaken over a decade of research, Murphy has produced an exhaustive (though not exhausting) account of Douglas' personal life, from his boyhood in eastern Washington through his early years as a lawyer, law school professor, and New Deal administrator, to his years on the Court. While the basic details have been known for nearly a quarter century, thanks to James Simon's earlier biography of the justice, Murphy provides many new details gleaned from his research in the Douglas papers (which were closed when Simon wrote his book) and his extensive interviews with people who knew the justice offer several illustrative anecdotes. The result is an important corrective to the idealized image Douglas constructed of himself in his many autobiographical accounts, recounting his womanizing, his politicking, and his terrible treatment of his staff with considerable thoroughness. Murphy's descriptions of Douglas's failed campaigns to become the Democratic nominee for president are particularly fascinating, and alone justify the price of the book.
In his effort to debunk the Douglas myths, though, the author adopts an excessively negative interpretation of the facts. Murphy claims, for example, that contrary to Douglas's assertions he did not suffer polio as a child, yet without definitive medical evidence to the contrary, such a topic can only remain an open question at best. Murphy's charge that Douglas unjustifiably inflated his time in an officer's training unit in college into army service further demonstrates Murphy's assumption of the worst from Douglas and was subsequently refuted by other scholars, who argued that Douglas' interpretation of his service was a plausible one. Such matters call Murphy's overall judgment of the justice into question, as do the open questions that his book fails to address. If Douglas was such a jerk to his secretaries and his clerks, why did they continue to work for him? What was it about Douglas that led friends to continue to support him both personally and financially? Reading this book doesn't answer these questions, nor does it reveal (as a reviewer elsewhere has pointed out) that some of his clerks became and remained his friends - gaps which mar further Murphy's presentation of Douglas' personal life.
The major problem with the book, however, lies in Murphy's episodic and superficial examination of Douglas' jurisprudence. Murphy's intriguing argument is that Douglas' initial opinions were written with an eye towards positioning the justice for a run for the presidency, yet he bases this contention on a selective examination of only a few decisions. Moreover, he offers no new philosophy behind Douglas' decisions once his hopes for the White House disappeared after the 1960 election, nor does he show the extent to which his jurisprudence - self interested or otherwise - played a role in shaping constitutional law. Many significant cases from his lengthy tenure on the Court are either barely referenced or even go completely unmentioned. Such flaws are glaring considering that it is Douglas' tenure on the Supreme Court which makes him historically significant to begin with, and ultimately diminish the contribution this book makes to the historiography of the Court.
While these criticisms should not discourage people interested in Douglas from reading this enjoyable book, they should be taken into account in their assessment of Murphy's overall view of his subject. Though Wild Bill offers much new insight into the life of this fascinating man, this biography is not the last word on the justice or his impact in American constitutional history.
Excellent Biography of the Controversial Justice.......2004-01-18
Murphy has done an excellent research and writing job to bring us the story of Justice William O. Douglas. Brilliant, misdirected, and insecure. Those three words sum up Douglas and his life and his accomplishments.
Absorbingly interesting and readable.......2003-11-12
The author has done a good job researching the way a biographer should--he checks sources which some might find too tedious to dig out. So he has come up with information which shows that it is not wise to rely on autobiography for the facts in some csses. The legal analysis in regard to Douglas's work on the Court is not very profound, but I don't suppose most readers want the detail which a good law review would give to the very interesting work the Supreme Court did during Douglas' time on the bench. The unadmirable aspects of his personal life and character are set forth with devastating detail, though the author I think admires some of good work on the Court which his subject did. Anyone interested in the Supreme Court will find this book greatly absorbing, and anyone interested in the amazing events surrounding the selection of Truman as FDR's running mate in 1944 cannot omit reading this book--and looking at the photos! In this respect, if you have not read Choosing Truman: The Democratic Convention of 1944 by Robert H. Ferrell (read by me 17 May 2002) it might be wise to read it first, then read this book for new light on the events of July 1944. Reading this biography will be an event.
Great read.......2003-08-21
Mr. Murphy's book is perhaps the easiest 500+ pages I have ever read. It was suprisingly humorous. Some of the aspects Wlliam O. Douglas' life were hilarious, the type of stories that you could not make up yourself. Mr. Murphy, though, was rather generous to Douglas. He could have easily written the book in a manner that would reflect negative bias on Douglas top to bottom. However, he decided to lay out the facts and let the reader decide. I applaud him for that. Douglas was a great character, and Mr. Murphy presents him well. Great work. This book is well worth your time.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Florida Bar Journal, published by Florida Bar on October 1, 2003. The length of the article is 993 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: Wild Bill: The Legend and Life of William O. Douglas.(Book Review)
Author: Steven P. Cullen
Publication:
Florida Bar Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 2003
Publisher: Florida Bar
Volume: 77
Issue: 9
Page: 96(1)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
Cinderdog's life is purt near perfect at the Gitalong Ranch, until his best bud, Cowboy Carl, went and married Cactus Kate. Now Cinder has a brand-spankin'-new stepmother, and a Stepcat to boot. Wicked is the cat's name, and that's what she is all right. While the lovestruck Carl is busy moonin' and spoonin', Cinder's busy cleanin' and sweepin'. And what's Wicked doin'? Not a darn thing! Cinderdog is ready to pack his bags and get outta town. This cowboy tale will make a great read-aloud for all young buckaroos, especially those with blended families.
Customer Reviews:
Funny book with a message.......2002-11-17
When Cowgirl Kate and Cowboy Carl decide to "get hitched", Kate's cat and Carl's dog wind up living together on the same ranch. And it's hard for these 2 pets to get along. What a great way to show stepkids how to get along with stepsiblings! The illustrations in are funny and cute and they add to the story. In one, the dog paints in the word "Don't" on "The Gitalong Ranch" sign, so it reads: The Don't Gitalong Ranch.
A cowdog country.......2002-02-08
I think it's kind of funny because a cowdog is a dog that goes on a journey. These pictures are painted with watercolors. That is cool. It is actually written and illustrated by the same person named John Holub. It has a lot of detail to it, like patterns, different colors and cowboy clothes.
Average customer rating:
- Cowboys and Dog Tales by Tim O'Byrne
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Cowboys and Dog Tales
Tim O'Byrne
Manufacturer: Caitlin Press
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0920576656 |
Book Description
"O' Byrne is a natural storyteller. His ability to take you along for the ride gives you a unique perspective of cowboy life almost as if you were on the back of the horse...Tim has a talent that is the gift to bring the personality of an animal to light. . . [Cowboys & Dog Tales will] teach you something about the bonds created between man and animals."
-Canadian Cowboy
Customer Reviews:
Cowboys and Dog Tales by Tim O'Byrne.......1999-12-20
The autobiography of an Albertan cowboy. His adventures are vividly depicted in the comical sense of humour natural to him.
Amazon.com
The catalog of lovers, husbands, and tryst partners that runs throughout this 560-page biography of Pamela Churchill Harriman is astonishing in itself: Randolph Churchill (the besotted son of Sir Winston), Edward R. Murrow, Elie de Rothschild, Averell Harriman ... What's more astonishing is that along the way Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman managed to find time to become an accomplished globe-trotting socialite, a mother, a leading fundraiser and den mother for the Democratic Party, and, today, the American Ambassador to France. Sally Bedell Smith sought out Pamela Harriman's most far-flung associates and detailed everything from her subject's cosmetic surgeries to her fudged studies at the Sorbonne to produce this exhaustive work, and though the subject comes across as cold, calculating, and duplicitous, there is a grudging admiration for the century's ultimate courtesan.
Customer Reviews:
this woman was shameless in pursuit of her own advantage.......2006-08-22
every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every month of every year of her life...and
it is SO MUCH FUN to read about it!
i read this book almost 10 years ago when i wasn't sure i could ever REALLY laugh or marvel at anything again... it snapped me out of languishing in the "Is This All There Is?" ---
back to the absurdity of life, to [what the heck] get back into the game -
pamela harriman was so BAD --- and there's nothing to admire here except that she did take good care of the men she stole from other women!
you have to hand it to her and to Scarlett O Hara: these broads set their sights on things and Got What They Wanted...
a case study in manipulation and the business of maneuvering to get what you want from others - a page turner!
Intriguing and enthralling account.......2004-09-23
This biography separates itself from other Pamela Churchill Harriman tomes in that it reads almost like a fiction novel. Some of the salacious and outlandish goings-on seem almost implausible, if not absurdly bizarre. Harriman proves to be the most singularly opportunistic individual that I have read about - possibly ever. Although she does have her good points(although even her philanthropy seems perfunctory at best), Harriman(or should I say Digby, Churchill, or Heyward?) comes across as the most devilishly clever courtesan of the 20th Century.
I recommend this account as one that makes for a most compelling, if not a trifle unnerving, read. From her days as a seductive young debutante to her days as the wily big wheel of Democratic Party fundraising and later as the U.S. Ambassador to France, you'll find yourself intrigued as you read about this incredibly shrewd seductress.
20th century female version of the vintage Machiavelli.......2004-01-04
I have not read such a good biography in a long time. Ms Bedell is neither enamored nor appalled with her subject (a sin that many biographers commit). Her well-researched book has a good balance between the broader historic narrative and the focused portrait of the controversial individual.
Good for What it Is.......2003-10-03
This book is the type that I begin reading, and by the end am angry with myself for wasting the time.
I purchased this book out of curiosity about Mrs. Harriman's life. Certainly the author dug up sufficient dirt on the subject to satisfy the most 'enquiring' minds.
As with another reviewer, I am still mystified as to what so many famous men saw in this women. Not particularly attractive for most of her life, she apparently had a female magnetism that escapes the written page. No surprise, many women have had that ability. It doesn't read well for the male of the species, many of whom appeared as pawns to this woman's machinations.
Ultimately this is a rather depressing book. Like others, Mrs. Harriman is in the end old, alone and a rather pitiful character. What a ride while it lasted, though!
Serial Bride.......2003-08-17
Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman was a serial bride, and she interspersed her marriages with conspicuous love affairs. She was a 20th century courtesan who, apparently, chose her men for the money and gifts that they would lavish upon her.
In REFLECTED GLORY, Sally Bedell Smith has done a scholarly and thorough job of researching and reporting the story of this rapacious woman. The only liason that Harriman had had with a man who was not wealthy was with her first husband, but he was the son of Winston Churchill, England's Prime Minister, at the time that they wed. For the rest of her life, Pamela used her Churchill connection as her entry to all things important--and, to Pamela, the only things that apparently seemed to have been important were rich men.
She slept with English nobility--her own father was an obscure English nobleman--French aristocrats, Arab oil sheiks, South American polo players, Italian car manufacturers and filthy rich Americans. And she was an equal-opportunity mistress; she didn't care whether they were married or not.
Decades after they first began their affair, Pamela got Averill Harriman to marry her. Thoughtfully, he died soon after, leaving her the bulk of his huge estate.
She used some of those funds to underwrite America's financially insolvent Democratic Party, and a young politician named Bill Clinton. After he became President, Clinton rewarded her generosity by named Pamela Harriman as his Ambassador to France.
Sally Bedell Smith has written an excellent biography of a woman who truly was fascinating, albeit in a horrifying kind of way.
Book Description
Subtitle: And all of us with unveiled faces seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Every soul is invited into mystical union with Christ, the challenging process that brings the joys of an intimate relationship with God-and through Him-with all others. It offers the wondrous gift of wholeness that is the result of courageously overcoming all within and without that opposes true identity and destiny.
Average customer rating:
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Glory Reflected
Martin Freud
Manufacturer: London, Angus and Robertson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KGYLHM |
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Reflected Glory
Brenda Bullock
Manufacturer: Brewin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1858581451 |
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Reflected Glory
Carney Lake
Manufacturer: Leo Cooper
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0850523664 |
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Reflected Glory
George Kelly
Manufacturer: Samuel French
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JWBZF8 |
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Reflected glory
Ronald Harwood
Manufacturer: faber and faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 0571164633 |
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Reflected Glory
Thomas A. Smail
Manufacturer: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0340202904 |
Book Description
With Behind Bars, Ty Wenzel offers a revealing account of her ten years as a 'bartendress' slinging drinks at a hip Lower East Side bar in New York City. Wenzel, now thirty-six, has just thrown in the towel after a decade at Marion's Continental Restaurant and Lounge-a gig that was sup-posed to be a temporary refuge after corporate burnout, but instead took over her life. Honest, clever, and scathingly funny, this memoir at once offers outrageous tales, the dirty little secrets of the trade, a wonderful personal story, and inspired commentary on bar culture and the human condition. Unsparingly candid, these stories of life behind the bar cover sex, money, celebrities, and more: -The seven rules to insure a strong, prompt drink (hint: a $1 tip does not cover five drinks) -What the 'Floating $20' is between bartenders -The tricks bartenders play to get you to stay on the stool -Why bartenders can't seem to save money and get out of 'the life' -How pink drinks like the Cosmo are ruining civilization.
Customer Reviews:
Horrible.......2006-05-11
I would not recommend this book. Don't know what the publishers were thinking by printing this book. Bar fly stories that are shallow and pathetic.
Pet Peeve #1.......2006-02-16
The book starts off with Ty describing her last day as a bartender. As the book continues, you as the reader get a quick and dirty tour of how she started in the business, a sort of why she started, and then the narrative goes on to describe all kinds of different things she has seen/experienced in her years as a bartender. Throughout the book there are little blurbs "Pet Peeves". For someone married to a writer, one would think the book would have some polish and more of a "flow" to it. As one reviewer put it "it comes across as a bunch of magazine articles scotch-taped together" A pretty accurate description. Its fluff, not a lot of "behind the scenes" so much as one persons mostly dis-likes about the business. She comes across as cynical and somewhat jaded. Its interesting how she has a special place reserved in hell for a particular kind of woman, yet she also brazenly states she used whatever weapons she had (clothes no bigger than a belt, mat-gloss lipstick, etc) to get the customers money...the "grat" or tip. She might as well have referred to them as "johns". If you can buy it for under 5 bucks, maybe, but not worth the cover price.
funny, well written tale of bartending in New York City.......2006-01-24
This quick read is both a story about bartending, and a story about New York City. The characters, places, and even to a degree the politics are all mid-to-late 90s NYC lore, and great for anyone with an interest in NYC's nightlife scene.
Ty Wenzel's writing is funny, smarmy, and honest. Her years tending bar at Marion's Continental, a classic, kitschy New York City bar/restaurant/lounge that was quite popular with the drag queens and clubbers of the 1990s, obviously earned her a real insight into human behavior. Memorable passages include her size-ups of different types of drinkers (suits, "campers," and the types that sit and pick out of the garnish dispenser all night); her description of "Kahiki Lounge," a tiki-themed night Marion's would run in the summers (and the ensuing madness and hilarity); and permeating the book is her battle with her upbringing. She is a Muslim of Turkish descent, and to her parents, drinking alcohol is a sin. She managed to keep her ten-year bartending career secret from them. This and all its complications are an interesting part of the book, and keep it from being too light.
Wenzel occasionally gets a bit heavy-handed when ranting about the politics of choice (e.g. smoking), but all in all, this is a fun, enjoyable book that wraps up beautifully in the end. Recommended and fun.
An insightful and intriguing memoir from a one-of-a-kind woman.......2005-10-13
The narrator, Ty, is unique as a Turkish-born Muslim woman who came to America, got her degree, worked a few unsatisfying fashion industry desk jobs, and finally found fulfillment working for a decade in a hip and crowded bar/restaurant. Her anecdotes are funny, strange, heart-warming, voyeuristic, and downright delightful to read.
Wenzel organizes her tales into a series of chapters that focus on the dating scene for bartenders, what tipping is like (and how it affects bartenders), the Cosmopolitan craze, her "regulars," the insufferable bar theme nights, restaurant hygeine, and practical tips for entering the bartending trade (Wenzel reports that bartending school diplomas are worthless).
Wenzel has a big chip on her shoulder about men who order frou-frou drinks. She also claims that the popularity of the Cosmopolitan and the "pink drinks" is the downfall of a liquor-appreciating society. And don't even get her started on those messy blended ice drinks!!
The prose is scattered with Wenzel's instructive pet peeves, which include: customers who beg after last call, customers who grab her for attention, foreigners who pretend they don't know American tipping customs, people who just graze on the garnishes, and more. Wenzel is also an outspoken critic of anti-smoking regulations, claiming that people come to bars to drink, smoke, let loose, and have fun, and bartenders know what kind of lifestyle they are signing up for when they accept the job.
Wenzel's narrative is free-flowing and loosely structured, and overall, the style works. As a reader, I was left wondering about the resolution of Wenzel's panic attacks and how exactly she met her husband, but even with these mysteries obscured, Wenzel's memoir makes for great reading. I wish this book had reached a wider audience, and I'm going to do everything I can to recommend it.
A Great Read.......2005-02-22
Witty, funny, sexy and filled with great prose, Ty Wenzel penned an inciteful look into the bar scene of one of New York's hot spots. If you enjoy Sex and the City, Kitchen Confidential, dining out, drinking and/or people watching, you will simply love this book. I did.
Highly recommended.
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