history

It Happened on Broadway: An Oral History of the Great Whire Way by Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer. A husband and wife team of Professors in the Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies at Dartmouth College, the Frommers have gathered together the living memories cf over one hundred actors, directors, producers, lyricists, playwrights, critics, designers, publicists, and stage managers to create a volume filled with the light and magic of Broadway itself. These collected memories take us from the enduring dramatic successes of the years~ before and after World War II, through the golden age of the American musical, right up to today's megahits. It Happened on Broadway offers priceless recollections of Broadway hangouts, such as Sardi's and Lindy's; performing with Brando in "Streetcar," the collaborations of Kaufman and Hart and Rogers and Hammerstein; and countless encounters with the likes of Mary Martin, Carol Channing, Jerome Robbins, Tennessee Williams, and Steven Sondheim. There's enough theater lore here - from back stage to the orchestra pit - to entertain the most devoted Broadway aficionado.

"It Happened On Broadway" is nothing short of living, breathing theatre history. Carol Channing's first appearance on stage at a grammar school in San Francisco; Patricia Neal's subsistence jobs cutting pies and scooping ice cream while waiting for her career to bloom (which really didn't take all that long by today's standards); the advent of the Theatre Guild; Celeste Holm and John Raitt on creating the grand-daddy of musical theatre, Oklahoma; Kim Hunter on Marlon Brando; Donna McKechnie on Michael Bennett; Linda Lavin on Neil Simon and Len Cariou on Stephen Sondheim, it's all in there.

"It Happened On Broadway" is told by those who have spent the past 50 years in the trenches, the actors, designers, press agents, choreographers, directors, and even their offspring. With vintage photos, drawings, posters and Playbills the Frommer's provide us with a look at theatre history from a time when $1.50 would buy you a movie and six or eight vaudeville acts to the impact of the AIDS crisis on the theatre community to the vast corporate culture now responsible for many of today's Broadway shows. An invaluable and engrossing book for anyone interested in an insiders perspective on the business of the Great White Way.

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Actors and backstage personnel alike recall their experiences and their peers on Broadway in this unique book. Such luminaries as Carol Channing, Gwen Verdon, Patricia Neal, Richard Kiley share their memories in a book that spans more than six decades of Broadway history

As an Ohio Catholic elementary school student in 1958, the tragic fire at Holy Angels School in Chicago left an indeligble image. Heaven, opening its arms to the little angels, solemnly and obediently praying with their nun had more spin than Elvin in those days. "To Sleep With The Angels" not only unspun the myths about a tragedy, which led to safety improvements in all American schools, but it brought out the raw emotions of the survivors.

The book is balanced, hesitating to point fingers, trying to put the event into the cultural perspective of the time, and succeeding in forcing each reader in appreciating their own relative heaven.

While ghastly and emotionally devastating, the prose is outstanding, bringing each of us into the doomed class rooms. This book demonstrates the best drama is on the non-fiction shelves.

In conclusion no monument was ever erected at the site of the fire. I believe this book may be the lasting tribute to the children, nuns, parents and firefighters forever haunted by the Holy Angel's fire.

"To Sleep With the angels" is the true story of how and why 92 children and 3 nuns died in a catholic school fire in Chicago on December 1st 1958. It is also a study in how people and a society react to such an enormous tragedy. A previous reviewer stated he was angry that people would blame the nuns for failing to evacuate their students on time (They couldn't) or blame the innocent janitor for some how causing the fire, but with a tragedy of this magnatude it is to be expected, it's human nature. When stuck with enormous loss that can't be easily explained people and society look for scapegoats and people to blame. This book details how that came to be in this case. In my opinion the worst example of that in this book is the Fire commissioner berating the first fireman on the scene for trying to extingush the fire rather then saving kids hanging from the windows. The fireman in question was an engine man doing what he was supposed to do, fireman assigned to truck duty are assigned resuce. It seems mankind is a dense creature it took the sinking of the Titanic for goverments to mandate enough life boats on cruise ships to hold all the passengers, and it took the deaths of 92 school children to mandate common sense fire safty in school rooms across the country. While this books most powerful points may be made in how to prevent and or respond to fires of this type the most powerful chapters are of course in discribing the fire itself and the pain both emotional and phisical that the children and thier families endured during and after the fire.

As a student of a Catholic elementary school in norhtern Illinois, I was shocked and scared to death by the rumors that came from my relatives in Chicago about this tragic event. I too went to an old two story frame school with stairs, high window sills and a six foot wrought iron fence around the perimeter of the school building waiting to spear anyone who would jump from above! This is a gripping and emotionally charged piece of literature, as well as an excellent piece of investigative reporting. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. My uncle, a commander in the Chicago Fire Department on that day, refuses to talk to this day other than to say ruefully is "That was a BAD fire." Through all the heartache and pain I read in each chapter, I could not separate myself from those children. As I watch my youngest go to high school now, I am grateful for the changes that came as a result of the OLA fire, yet an saddened and somewhat ashamed of the cost. As a legal practitioner, I bear a sense of guilt at the handling and prosecution of the person I believe (and the book believes) responsible for the deaths of 92 students and 3 nuns. As a former Catholic, I can recall all too well the absolute authority of the church, which ultimately failed its parishoners. I have passed the book along to a friend who is working on his Master's Degree is School Administration as a testament of the duties and responsibilities a community shares towards its schools. Although the subject of the book is a disaster about the most precious things on earth, our children, it serves well as an indictment for all to recognize the value of those too young to protect themselves. I wish there had been more development of the successes enjoyed by the survivors and possibly a summation ascribing the culmulative effects and benefits that resulted from the sweeeping changes regarding fire safety in our schools nationwide. Nevertheless, this book is an excellent read and an extraordinary piece of work. My hat is off to the authors.

First off, I am an aviation nut. I am a student pilot and aspiring ATP. For me, finding a good book let alone a good aviation book is nearly impossible. So many books are chocked full of technicalities that I either already know or don't care about. Finding a truly interesting aviation book is a rare treat. After about 2 pages of 'Fate is the Hunter' I was truly hooked. This book puts you right in the cockpit with Mr. Gann as you venture the world from the start of his flying career on the DC-2 to flying across the endless Pacific during WWII when airlines were called to help the war effort. Mr. Gann is truly a talented writer and in my opinion one of the best in Aviation right up with St Ex. If you are as engrossed in aviation as I am, this is one book you wont want to put down and will wish would never end.

I have read and re-read "Fate is the Hunter" so many times that the pages are loose and falling out. You are not just reading the best aviation book of all time, you are in the cockpit behind the master himself, as he savors the illicit thrill of a zero-zero takeoff from a fog bound Presque Isle airport in a C-47 during the war, taking a load of steel girders to Goose Bay. Just after takeoff, the girders break loose and slide to the rear of the aircraft, which starts a climb so steep that the plane is shuddering in a stall. As Gann and his co-pilot are pushing the control column forward as hard as they can with their feet a crewmember is trying to move the girders back up the near vertical floor.

Gann's writing so inspired me that I wanted to become an airline pilot, but my flying ability was just slightly better than Bixby, his inept co-pilot that almost collided with the Taj Mahal, another fascinating story later on in the book. I became a dispatcher instead, an occupation I truly loved, which was also inspired by Gann's interaction with the dispatchers of his line.

I wrote Ernest Gann at his home in Friday Harbor, Washington and tried to convey just how much I enjoyed "Fate is the Hunter" and what an impact it made on my life. I received short note from him. It was very gracious and humble, and is one of my greatest treasures.

I also highly recommend "Hostage to Fortune", a chronology of Gann's incredible life from a rebellious young man that could never follow his father into business and be chained to an office, through a lifetime of adventure, to his retirement on Red Mill Farm, on an island in the Pacific northwest.

Speaking from a background of 36 years as a pilot of small aircraft, tactical supersonic military aircraft, and Captain of a number of modern day airliners, including the Boeing-747, I regard "Fate is the Hunter" as an aviation classic that is not only a "must read" for every aspiring pilot, but a "must have" in his/her library, to be read over and over again, as I have. Gann's book provides a unique insight into the origins and challenges of the trial and error development of the procedures that have now become the rule in modern transport aircraft operations. For anyone who has an interest in the developmental history of aviation in America or, as in my case, anyone who wants to know more about the forces behind the phenomena of "when you pull back on the yoke the houses get smaller and when you push forward on the yoke, the houses get bigger," "Fate is the Hunter" is the place to start.

In *All but My Life*, Gerda Weissmann Klein tells us the story of a young girl forced into the events of the Nazi Holocaust. The story of a family torn apart never to see one another again. The story of Nazi work camps and death camps and seemingly endless inhumanity. Sadly, this story was her own.

Klein provided a heartwrenching account of the events leading from her teens to her adult years. We met her family, lived vicariously through her relationships with friends and neighbors and hoped and prayed the Nazis never capturedd the Weissmanns. But the inevitable occurred.

Over the years that Gerda was a prisoner of the Nazis, we learned of the unspeakable acts the Germans performed. And we cried with Gerda through her experiences. And we finally felt the joy of freedom and the love relationship that ensued.

*All but My Life* should go up on our shelves next to *Schindler's List* and *The Diary of Anne Frank*. It's an absolute must read and a classic. Thank you, Gerda, for showing all of us what must not ever happen again.

On the hot June day that Gerda Weissmann left her home for the last time, her father insisted that she wear her hiking boots. Gerda resisted, but an unspoken plea in her father's eye convinced her to strap them on. During a death march from January through April of 1945, those boots saved Gerda Weissmann's life. Many other women died of cold and starvation, but most fell for simple lack of footwear. Her camp sister, with whom she survived the worst horrors in several concentration and slave labor camps, died of exhaustion at a water pump minutes after American liberators freed the women from the march.

Ms. Klein's tale about her boots, screened at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, led me to her book. I wanted to know every detail--although, over the years, I have been privileged to hear many personal accounts from Holocaust survivors I know. Too many still cannot not speak about what they lived through. Millions never had the chance at all. By itself, the silence of the majority makes Ms. Klein's testimony priceless, like every other personal Holocaust chronicle. So does her reminder not to take anything for granted. So does her gem of a soul. Alyssa A. Lappen

This book was assigned by my English teacher. The first page, i thought of reading it as a chore. After that, i couldnt put it down. i read the whole thing in two days. It was remarkable!! This showed what the Holocaust was really about. The Holocaust wasn't just about the millions of Jews that were killed- it was about real people being killed, real people losing all hope to live, among Gerda. When liberation day came around, it didn't mean much. The very few survivors still had a life to rebuild. Gerda told her own remarkable story of what happened to her. Gerda goes from camp to camp, hardship to hardship, but learning valuable lessons about life in gerneral on the way. This book deserves way more than 5 stars- everyone should read it.

After reading this book three times already, I must say it is one of the best books I have ever read in my life. Mason manages to hand in a very realistic picture of the every day life as a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam war, actually he does it so well that I could never doubt him being there in person. As I see it, Chickenhawk is a 'must'for any flight lover and for anyone who is interested in a realistic historical document about the Vietnam war, spiced with tons of humor. Remember not once being 'stuck'so deep in the book that I forgot having my lunch... Roy Shoocman

Back in the late 80's, Robert Mason's "Chickenhawk" appeared on bookshelves. Mason's personal story of a helicopter pilot in Vietnam was the first of it's kind and has since spawned a number of personal helicopter stories, and they all owe the market being opened by Robert Mason. I was still in high-school when the book out and I wanted very much to fly helicopters for the US Army at the time. After reading this book I was not sure what to do, I was scared at the thought of being shot down in battle, but also saw the pride in what the helicopters pilots had done in Vietnam. This was also the first book I recommended to my father to read, a two tour veteran of Vietnam himself. I have gone back and reread "Chickenhawk" at least 4 times over the years and it still holds up so well, and I still feel like someone hit me in the stomach everytime I get to the end and read those last few lines.

This is the first book I've read on this topic, so I can't compare it to any others. It was certainly very, very good.

I found it a difficult read, probably because I only read magazine articles, and am not used to reading stuff with dialog or narratives.

I think that you get a pretty good idea of how pilots coped with getting in and out of dangerous areas, often under attack.

Mason decides not to re-enlist after returning to the U.S., even though he's promised Captain's bars. Is he nuts? I guess he'd have to be nuts, just to survive the awful things he had to endure while flying. He flew a Huey slick, that is, he carried troops and supplies. (a** and trash, as he calls it)

My main interest was how helicopters work and how pilots deal with tough terrain. I suppose search-and-rescue helicopter stories would interest me equally.

You'll read about his opinions on the war, and how the horrors of war really messed him up. The book gives a quote stating that helicopter crews, infantry and the Marines always have the highest mortality.

The book gave some insight into what the Vietnam war was like. To me, that was just a bonus, as I really only read it to learn about helicopters.

This is the first book I've read about helicopters or combat. It was time well spent. If you care, he's written a sequel about how he messes up badly when he gets back to civilian life.
I personally will pass on it, though if its written as well as this book, could be a good read for someone who's interested in the psychology of ex-soldiers.

A well researched, laid out and engrossing guide to the vast Star Trek universe. You stop to look up one thing and next thing you know it is 30 minutes later and you've read through an entire letter's worth of entries.

My ONLY complaint about this book (and what keeps it from it's fifth star) is that the new entires weren't integrated, but simply stuck in the back as add on. So let's say you want to read the complete entry on Capt Sisko. First you have to read the original entry and then flip to the back of the book to read the additional information. And since you are never sure what got an additional entry, you have to constantly flip to the back to make sure you aren't missing something.

Luckily the Pros far out weigh the cons, and this is still a must have for any die hard fan!

I can't imagine being a die-had Trekker without this book: the ultimate reference to people, places, things, events in the entire Star Trek universe from the original series of 1966 through all the movies and series right up to Voyager. This updated edition is not quite as smoothly integrated as previous updates--the last couple season's worth of shows and Star Trek: Insurrection are all treated in a separate (but extensive) section at the back, but a decent cross-referencing system lessens the inconvenience. I find it the ultimate can't put-down book-start to look up a subject of interest and you'll find yourself drawn from entry to entry until you've forgotten exactly what it was you were looking for but find yourself seized with the intense desire to rewatch several episodes. Unless you're the most serious Trek fan, you probably don't need the updated edition if you have an earlier one...but for those who do, it's a wonderful guide.

I am a "part-time" fan of Star Trek, having always been interested in the world, but not exactly a know-every-registry-number-of-every-ship kind of fan. But, having bought this very rich and detailed book, I must say my interest in Star Trek has multiplied tremendously. As an encyclopedia, it doesn't quite bear reading page-to-page, but flipping through it makes for very interesting reading. I am grateful to the authors for additional notes made to many entries, attempting to explain side-points or discrepancies; also, the many diagrams, pictures, dates, episode references, and even the occasional off-beat entry like, well... "mashed potatoes" for one! The appendixes, including gorgeous pics of the ships of Star Trek, episode timelines, historical timelines, and so on, are absolutely wonderful.

The best way I can summarise my rating is: the dedication and love for Star Trek demonstrated by all the writers/contributors in this book is ample and obvious. Congrats.

This book is not a novel. It is an unusually constructed history in three volumes, written by a word-class writer. It is a heavy read. In this volume, Solzhenitsyn describes arrests, interrogations, tortures, trials, prisons, and methods of transporatation from the prisons to the labour camps. He gives a brief history of the genesis of Gulag, its principles and its expansion, in the chapter "A Brief History of Our Sewage Disposal System." Solzhenitysn marshalls an impressive range of facts and first hand anecdotes in addition to his own experiences, usually relating them in a straightforward manner, sometimes with bitter, vicious sarcasm, sometimes with passionate anger. The book is an astounding achievement, especially when one considers that he wrote it in sections, hiding each as it was completed; he was never able to refer back to what he had previously written, yet I noticed no repetitions. The book is an astounding achievement, immensely powerful, but very depressing, sometimes heart-breaking. Nonetheless, anyone who wishes to be well-informed in general, or about history in particular, must read it.

It is very interesting to compare The Gulag Archipelago, the true story of a horrible and real dystopia, with George Orwell's 1984, the story of an imaginary dystopia, or Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, another imaginary dystopia.

The difference between Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's book and the others is his more convincing, more concrete detail. Solzhenitsyn describes the gritty details of the arrests, tortures, kangaroo court trials and murders or imprisonments that the Communist Party of the Soviet Union inflicted on countless millions of people while Lenin or Stalin were in power. He gives exact details about the coarse criminality and ingenious cruelty of Communist prison officials whom he watched while he was in prison. He also weighed and sifted evidence that he gathered from other prisoners and he reports it here.

Solzhenitsyn entered prison a convinced Marxist. He gradually lost his Communist faith only after many years of physical and emotional abuse by other Marxists. The hope of a free lunch in a Communist paradise dies hard.

Review by Mike, Age 13

Solzhenitsyn does an excellent job of retelling the story of the atrocities of the Soviet Union. The Gulag Archipelago is a disturbing account of what happened inside the Gulag prisons. This is an account about the things hidden from the public and the things the Marxists wanted to keep hidden. And how he gave a first person account of prison life, well that was just amazing! His vivid descriptions about the kinds of arrests that took place I thought was very interesting and an amazing brainchild of a distorted Soviet Union!

How Stalin could turn an innocent gesture of two long lost friends being reunited into an arrest is beyond me. The Gulag Archipelago is an excellent book that unveiled an entirely new side of the Soviet Union and its perverted system of justice. It's a great book for historians and World War II buffs, or even if you are trying to find out more about the Soviet Union. The Gulag Archipelago is quite possibly one of the best books I've ever read! I would recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in the Soviet Union. (Content will be confusing for younger readers.)

Mr Caputo (as in TOE) takes the reader on his journey from college to war to military inquiry and part of the power of the work is how well the language illuminates that experience. It begins with clear, concise prose, as the young man is clear in his goals and what his country "stands for" , and rises to poetry of a kind as the narrator descends into a confused hell, where his goal becomes simple survival and he is uncertain about his country and its values. The narrator's journey in his early twenties, is from a sobriety to a delirium and back again but on that return, the open, trusting individual, is transformed into a cold, hardened, and cynical Nam Vet. There is some especially good analysis of "courage" (p.294) and the nature of a patrol by a platoon (p.252). The passage on 240 has a music and power which I could imagine being quoted as a classic piece of war prose/poetry in which the phrase "All secure. Situation remains the same" is echoed five times throughout the piece in a kind of fugue. Great writing which summarises the misery and the exhaustion men suffered on patrol, especially the power of the landscape and climate to overpower.

"A Rumor of War" is a darkly disturbing book. It is set in what was the early, "optimistic" Vietnam in the spring of '65 when we thought we were fighting for "freedom" and before the reality of the place hit home. Vietnam hits Lieutenant Caputo very quickly, as it must have for all Marine Corps platoon leaders. It's all right there-booby traps, mines, trip wires, leeches, foot blisters, jungle rot, constant shelling, dysentery, pigs eating corpses and cold C Rations. As a Vietnam vet, I was surprised the author never mentions RATS!, but we both know they were there too. (THEY were everywhere). Lt. Caputo's transfer to a staff job is worse than the field, so he transfers back to the bush as a platoon leader.It's more of the same-patrolling and repatrolling the same trails, the same hills, the same villes. All watched over by unsupportive and bureaucratic commanders. "RW" offers yet another look at the Vietnam War, one more pessimistic than most because so many of us felt that the years of '65 and '66 were more positive than this. I might suggest reading Joseph Owen's "Colder Than Hell" to compare the Marine experience in Korea with Lt. Caputo's. Reading the late Bernard Fall's "Street Without Joy" will make us aware, again, that perhaps there was never a time to be optimistic about Vietnam. I must admit that I constantly found myself curious as to how I would have handled many situations in "RW". How would I have measured up? What would I have done? How would the men have judged me? While the story of "RW" tends to stray at times, I found no fault since the author is relating a painful part of his past. One small point: "RW" would benefit from better maps-these are so often lacking in military books. The bottom line:"A Rumor of War" belongs on the bookshelf of any serious military book reader or anyone searching for yet another angle to the frustrating Vietnam War that affected so many of us.

For anyone who has ever asked, "What was Vietnam really like," Marine Lieutenant Philip Caputo's book, "A Rumor of War," is a must read. In this autobiographical account of his time as an infantry officer in, "the 'Nam," he describes the experience in authoritative terms enhanced by collegiate English studies and time spent as a combat journalist. The result is the most well written account of life in an infantry platoon in Vietnam that I have ever read.

Phil Caputo could have been virtually anyone in America in the early '60's. A young, idealistic, all-American boy who joined the Marines in search of adventure, and out of a patriotic desire to answer John Kennedy's challenge to, "Ask not what your country can do for you. . ." He and his platoon marched off to war to find glory and honor. What they found was, "death, death, death."

Caputo takes you into the muddy foxhole with him, making you feel the heat and annoyance of the ever-present insects, and the sniper shots that all united to deprive you of the precious commodity of sleep. He takes you on patrol with them down, "Purple Heart Trail," where the main enemies were the heat, the insects, and endless mines and booby traps. The reader can feel the rage of the infantrymen who fought endless battles with an enemy that was everywhere, yet nowhere. Gradually enthusiasm turned to pessimism; pessimism to despair; and despair to rage; rage that ultimately vented itself in mindless violence against anything Vietnamese. They were then left with the heat, the insects, and guilt borne of actions taken that they would never have dreamed of a few short months before.

Caputo and his enthusiastic, young, Marines could have been anyone who has ever fought: the patriots at Lexington and Concord, who later found themselves half starved and freezing at Valley Forge; or any number of Union or Confederate soldiers from Bull Run to Appomattox. They could have been "Doughboys" who went, "Over There," to "Make the World Safe for Democracy," only to find themselves "fighting" immersion foot and mustard gas in the trenches of France; or perhaps even soldiers serving under, "Ol' Blood and Guts" himself, George S. Patton; "Our blood, his guts," as the GI's said. Their stories all verify Gen. Robert E. Lee's famous quote: "War seldom avails anything to those unfortunate enough to have to fight it."

A Rumor of War ranks up there with Gen. Harold Moore's, "We Were Soldiers Once and Young," and Col. David Hackworth's, "About Face." All three show how debates that raged in Washington, Paris, Saigon, and Hanoi were ultimately scored. Whether you were a "hawk or a dove," a liberal or a conservative, a professor or student, you will benefit from reading this book that answers the question authoritatively: "Hey! What was Vietnam really like?"

Auriane is a strong female characters who's life IS NOT centered around her romance with a man! This book is about her loyalty to her family and her tribe. The history in this book is fantastic. Gillespie must have spent years researching this book. If you are someone that loves roman or ancient history in general, this book is a definite must read. The story was woven together like a beautiful quilt. Just when you wonder where Gillespie is going with certain chapters, she weaves them back into the story in a surprising twist. I would have given this book five stars, but there were a FEW parts where it was too into details, but not many. It was still a very refreshing, non cheesy book about FEMALE warrior and a LEADER of men, a concept I've not found much

One of the finest examples of HISTORICAL fiction I have read. There is a romance component to this novel, but it is very much in the sub-plot category. The characters are complex and developing throughout the book, the setting - including the warring psychology and belief systems of Rome and the 'barbarians' - are wonderfully described. I am still 'haunted' by some of the imagery and marvelous juxtapositions in this book (after a couple of weeks). On the other hand, the historical detail does not prevent this from being a page-turner - and a pretty easy read.

After reading this book, Donna Gillespie has made it high on my list of favorite historical fiction (loosely defined) authors, which includes Margaret George, India Edghill, Edward Rutherfurd, Steven Pressfield, Diana Gabaldon, Ken Follett, Irving Stone, and Sharon Kay Penman. All of these authors have varying styles, but what unites them is portrayal of the paradigms of the times about which they write through well-researched detail. The Light Bearer is a perfect example of this amazing talent. If you enjoy HISTORICAL historical fiction, and some of the authors above, this is a book for you.

The Light Bearer is my favorite book. In fact, I'm giving a speech on it tomorrow. Auriane is the classic (yet still unpredictable) heroine that fulfulls every detail of a warrior maiden that I can imagine. I liked Marcus, too, though. He was strong and manly but still had common sense and alotta brains. I was so impressed with this book that I started reading it on a Monday, and I was finished with it by Friday! I think that it's the style of writing that is so great. Gillespie has this wonderful way of writing that provides suspense and excitement, yet is still passionate and tender. My favorite part is when she has finally caught up with Aristos and is fighting him. I think that part is beautifully written because it tyes in all the different memories and every intricate detail of the book up to that point, complete even with Ramis' ghostly words. The Light Bearer is one of the best books I've ever read. I even tried to read parts of it to my 10 year old sister

I enjoyed reading about the life of George Dawson, a man whose life has spanned three centuries. However, the mere fact that he has lived so long does not necessarily a feature book make. Aside from Mr. Dawson's rail travels and working on the Mississippi, Mr. Dawson had not done much else until he took up reading at 98. He can't comment much on events of the 20th century because he couldn't read, and what he could remember was scant. The reader is presented with a view of a genuinely kind man whose outlook on life is basically positive and warm. Yet, I often could not distinguish if I was listening to Mr. Dawson, or his "co-author", Richard Glaubman. It would have been far more interesting to detail Mr. Dawson's years since he began to read. The book speaks of the large numbers of letters written to Mr. Dawson, congratulating him on his beginning his literacy venture so late in life. Why not write more about his classroom experience and how that must have transformed him recently?... or the interaction with those who now wish him well? Perhaps a second book should be in order because that is where the REAL interest in Mr. Dawson lies.

When a friend loaned me this book, I hadn't heard about it. Once I started reading, I wondered why the book wasn't widely known. LIFE IS SO GOOD reveals, with great poignancy, how an illiterate black man earned his living for most of a century--years of wandering, taking hard labor jobs, following the rules for survival in a white man's world. At an age when white boys were getting their favorite toys, he left home to work on a white man's farm. . .truly a hired "hand," not acknowledged as a youngster who needed family, recreation, education, social development, and nurturing. We follow George Dawson as he hoards the few dollars he earns, never complaining about his plight. Unable to decipher a newspaper, George is oblivious to the progress taking place around him--automobiles, modern appliances, jobs with fringe benefits. He knows little about the historical and social revolutions permeating America. Nevertheless, he survives--and remains content. His greatest miracle, though, comes at age 98, when he learns to read. At this point, he starts to grasp what others have known all along. LIFE tugs at the reader's heartstrings. We grieve as we consider all he missed in life, we rejoice at his delayed triumphs. If you've ever considered yourself disadvantaged, read this book. You'll be blessed by George Dawson's fortitude and gratitude.

I read this book about 5 years ago and have never forgotten it. I wanted my grandson to read it, but I couldn't remember the title and was so glad after trying many searches to find it. This is one of those quiet books. I found it very engaging and soulful when I read it, but I have only come to understand recently how much it affected me. I still think about it often. This is a sign of a great book.