Bob Basso is the poignant and rivetingly funny voice of the sixty-plus generation yearning to recapture the simplicity and wholesome values of a fading past. His tenth book, a compilation of short stories, Searching For Hula Love Under A Blue Papaya Moon, is pure soul food."--William LeClaire, Editor, New Books Weekly (Editor's Choice Award) If you're over fifty, or hope one day to reach it, then you'll recognize the common struggle to rise above modern absurdity and find refuge in your own history. Some tales are autobiographical, verbatim true, others more or less true. Deciphering which is which is part of the fun. An aging historian loses self-importance encountering France's greatest living myth ("The Legend of Mr. Beaumarchaise"); the frustration of sex after sixty combines with disgust of all things politically correct ("White Man's Rage"); an ironic farewell to heroes ("Forty-Two Minutes With The Boys of Pearl"); an eccentric Nobel Prize poetess burns her books and looks to her garden for salvation ("Yard Work"); and magic, myth and an epic journey backward to recapture meaning at the end of life ("Searching For Hula Love Under A Blue Papaya Moon").
The Deluxe Encyclopedia of Piano Chords is a thorough analysis of chords and how to use them as applied to the piano keyboard. Virtually every conceivable chord in all inversions is shown in bass and treble clef notation as well as in keyboard graphics. This study does not only list chord types; it also explains how each type of chord is constructed. In addition, the text provides information on usage, scales, and rhythm patterns. This valuable volume will enable the keyboardist to effectively use and apply the full diversity of chord possibilities in creating interesting, personal, and colorful musical styles.
They called him the Babe. The Bambino. The Sultan of Swat. And finally they called him a legend. But the greatest baseball player who ever lived was also a flesh-and-blood man, the freest spirit ever to give managers gray hairs. This is the story of the game he played and the life he lived to the hilt—told as only he could tell it. Here are the golden moments on the diamond and the unforgettable times off of it. Here are the highs, the lows, the friendships, the feuds, and the loves—in a book filled with the plain-speaking, hard-hitting style of the man who came to symbolize America's favorite game.
Fabulous Fives comprehensively categorizes five-letter words to suit word game players, mostly as a learning tool but also as an educational aid. Over 5000 unusual five-letter words are defined within its 144 pages, as a sequel to Winning Words which covers shorter words.
Critical facsimile edition making crucial modernist texts available for the first time since 1931 Restores a rare but highly influential modernist anthology to print in a new critical facsimile editionProvides extensive scholarly commentary, analyses, and newly discovered biographical information, setting the anthology in its broader cultural contextOffers the first collection of avant-garde writing designed to be read on a 'reading machine' invented by the American expatriate poet Bob BrownIncludes both Craig Saper's new Introduction and a separate chapter on the Contributors and their readies. Saper is the leading scholar of Bob Brown's work as well as an important scholar of experimental writing, media, publishing, and artThis new edition of Bob Brown's groundbreaking collection of modernist writing experiments has been out of print since 1931, when Brown's Roving Eye Press originally published it. Only a few copies exist in archives today. The contributors include major modernist writers such as Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, F. T. Marinetti, Eugne Jolas and Ezra Pound, key social realists like Kay Boyle and James T. Farrell and daring queer novelists and artists including Charles Henri Ford and Sidney Hunt. Providing extensive scholarly commentary, analyses and newly discovered biographical information, this book sets the anthology in its broader cultural context. This is an essential resource for those interested in print and book history, the politics and culture of the expatriate avant-garde and the reading machine's impact on reading, writing and literacy.
From its infancy, television networks and studios explore others avenues to increase their revenues. Conveniently enough, several film studios and production companies—MGM, MTM, Columbia/Screen Gems, Talent Associates, Warner Brothers—had their own record label divisions. The obvious benefit was cross promotion: a television series could be plugged on the record and the record could be promoted on the TV show. Though few and far between, several television performers went on to become major recording stars. Ricky Nelson started as a child actor on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet before dominating rock and pop charts. Johnny Crawford of The Rifleman, Walter Brennan of The Real McCoys, and even Bruce Willis of Moonlighting all scored Top Ten hit singles. But these were just the standouts from the hundreds of TV actors who recorded songs, and the stories behind their records are simply fascinating. In From Small Screen to Vinyl: A Guide to TV Stars Who Made Records 1950-2000, author Bob Leszczak offers a look at hundreds of stars who performed double duty: as a television performer as well as a recording artist. He looks not only at the show and the performer but the behind-the-scenes dramas that unfolded as each attempted to tackle the two different mediums. Through his interviews with many of these multitaskers, the author has uncovered new, and mostly never before known facts about those who sought to conquer the world of vinyl. As Leszczak stresses, most eagerly embraced the opportunity to record, while others saw it as a necessary evil—the result of contractual obligations or industry pressures. Entries are listed alphabetically from Nick Adams (of The Rebel) to Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (of 77 Sunset Strip). Also included are over 80 photos of these rare releases taken from the author’s private collection. For a new look at your old favorites, From Small Screen to Vinyl, will let you see that just because one is a TV star does not mean that he or she does not have the ability to expand beyond their acting prowess. Baby boomers, fans of classic hits radio, and devotees of classic TV programs will find From Small Screen to Vinyl a treasure trove of TV and record trivia—and no TV or music library can be considered complete without it.
Experience the exciting music of the marichi tradition! Lifelong mariachi performer and educator John Nieto joins Bob Phillips to provide authentic orchestral settings of familiar, traditional tunes for string orchestra alone, mariachi band alone, or string orchestra and mariachi band together. Trumpet and accompaniment books are available to provide optional parts for trumpet, guitar, guitarrón, vihuela, piano, and harp. Historical background and arrangement ideas are provided in the Teacher's Manual.
The Christian church in America is doing its best to be relevant. Its leaders are trying harder, working longer hours, offering more programs, and trying to solve more problems. Not coincidentally, more clergy than ever before are burning out or "browning out," losing their edge, becoming lethargic. How do we move beyond this sense of despair and hopelessness? What does it mean to restore the soul of the church? How can it become more relevant unto itself and to people like those with whom I talk in the workplace-those who eagerly seek meaning? In Not Trying Too Hard, Bob Sitze has taken the bold first step on this journey of restoring the soul of the church.
The Marvel super heroes make bullying a thing of the past! The Avengers have always stood up for those who cannot stand up for themselves, but this time they're in for a bombastic adventure of the highest order! Plus: Swing along with Spidey and a gathering of his amazing friends as they take on this important social issue in the inimitable Mighty Marvel Manner! Featuring guest stars from across the Marvel Universe including Thor, Hercules, Daredevil and the Guardians of the Galaxy! Collecting Avengers: No More Bullying #1, Thor (1966) #356, Avengers Vs. #1, Amazing Spider-Man on Bullying Prevention, and material from Daredevil (2011) #28.
When H. L. Mencken wrote about "the miasmatic jungles of Arkansas," he was referring to the relative obscurity and uncertain image that Arkansas has enjoyed—or suffered from—throughout its history. In these entertaining and sometimes quirky essays, Lancaster sheds light on that image by analyzing the stereotypes that have characterized the state since its very beginning.
In this colorful tale set in 1457—the year the Scottish Parliament banned golf (in the first recorded reference to the game)—renowned golf architect Bob Cupp brings to life the origins of a pastime that has transfixed us for centuries.In the Middle Ages, St. Andrews was famous for its cathedral, its university, and for the game developed out in the linkslands by bored shepherds using balls and clubs. One of these, Caeril Patersone, is sufficiently skilled to compete for the title of champion, but in this quest he must contend with not only his competition but also a conniving financier in league with a sordid nobleman, not to mention the ravishing girl they have enlisted to further their interests. The Edict is rich in history about both golf and the community that defined the sport-a delight for anyone ever touched by the magic of the game.
Discover the best in science fiction, fantasy, and horror with the 2020 Del Rey ebook sampler! 2020 is a year of new chapters. Max Brooks, who helped us survive a zombie pandemic, now searches for a more elusive threat: Bigfoot. Kevin Hearne, the author of The Iron Druid Chronicles, takes us back to that beloved world with a new spin-off series—and dreams up a different epic fantasy series with an entirely new mythology. Peter F. Hamilton masterfully builds a blazing space opera series. Silvia Moreno-Garcia, who dazzled us with her vision of 1920s Mexico and the Mayan underworld, reimagines the classic gothic suspense novel with the story of an isolated mansion in the 1950s Mexican countryside. These eleven recent and upcoming works are full of action. A young space pilot tries to save his best friend—the heir to a galactic empire—from a ruthless rebellion. A girl whose interdimensional doppelgängers have died in 372 worlds discovers a secret that puts her life in jeopardy. A man whose daughter has newfound, terrifying powers must risk his life to save hers. The last human in the galaxy hides her identity while trying to discover the truth about humanity. A woman traveling through time finds a mysterious child with unimaginable power. A spell allows women to control their own fertility in an epic feminist fantasy. This captivating ebook sampler contains excerpts from: DEVOLUTION by Max Brooks THE WOMEN’S WAR by Jenna Glass SALVATION by Peter F. Hamilton INK & SIGIL by Kevin Hearne A PLAGUE OF GIANTS by Kevin Hearne THE VANISHED BIRDS by Simon Jimenez THE SPACE BETWEEN WORDS by Micaiah Johnson THE LAST HUMAN by Zack Jordan MEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia Moreno-Garcia THE NOBODY PEOPLE by Bob Proehl BONDS OF BRASS by Emily Skrutskie
The English Language Word Builder organizes English words in a way that is beneficial to anyone wishing to improve their vocabulary, from those learning the English language through to those wishing to excel at word games such as Scrabble. The book contains the basic form of some 82,500 words from two to nine letters in length, and is organized in chapters depending on the word length. Within each chapter, words are designated as either familiar or less familiar, with the familiar words deemed to be those of most use when communicating in English. With the exception of less familiar nine-letter words, each word is assigned a part of speech which is evident from formatting applied. For example, underlining indicates verbs while bold type indicates adjectives and other words that cannot be pluralized. Symbols are used to indicate additional forms of each basic word, with a special symbol being used to designate irregular verbs. Within sections of familiar words in each chapter, words are grouped in accordance with their part of speech. Within sections of less familiar words, words are grouped firstly into those which are built from shorter words, and then into all other words with various groupings depending on the word length. Available single letter extensions of basic words are shown by a lower case letter at the end of each capitalized main word. This enables users of the book to build on their existing vocabulary to make new words, either for use in word games or in communicating in English.
Inspired by the real life post-divorce experiences of television comedy writer Danny Simon, The Odd Couple has touched multiple generations of fans. Playwright Neil Simon embellished his brother Danny's pseudo-sitcom situation and created an oil-and-water twosome with memorable characters showcasing the foibles of mankind. The original Broadway production enjoyed a run of 964 performances. The story of the cohabitation of Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison translated extremely well to the silver screen, and then in 1970 to television, where it brought weekly laughs and mirth to an even larger audience for five seasons in prime time. This thorough history details The Odd Couple in all its forms over the decades. It provides capsule biographies of the stage, film and television casts and crew, as well as an episode guide and a wealth of little-known information.
Someone lucky enough to live on Milwaukee’s near north side between 1888 and 1952 could experience the world without ever leaving the neighborhood. Nestled between North Seventh and Eighth Streets and West Chambers and Burleigh, Borchert Field was Milwaukee’s major sports venue for 64 years. In this rickety wooden stadium (originally called Athletic Park), Wisconsin residents had a close-up view of sports history in the making, along with rodeos, thrill shows, and even multiple eruptions of Mount Vesuvius. In Borchert Field, baseball historian Bob Buege introduces the famous and fascinating athletes who dazzled audiences in Milwaukee’s venerable ballpark. All the legendary baseball figures—the Bambino, Satchel Paige, Ty Cobb, Joltin’ Joe, Jackie Robinson, the Say Hey Kid—played there. Olympic heroes Jim Thorpe, Babe Didrikson, and Jesse Owens displayed their amazing talents in Borchert. Knute Rockne’s Fighting Irish competed there, and Curly Lambeau’s Green Bay Packers took the field 10 times. Buege tells stories of other monumental moments at Borchert as well, including a presidential visit, women ballplayers, the arrival of television broadcasting, the 1922 national balloon race, and an appearance by scat-singing bandleader Cab Calloway. Borchert Field is long gone, but every page of this book takes readers back to the sights, sounds, and spectacle of its heyday.
The stories in Bob Reed's delightful book are surefire spirit lifters that celebrate life and enrich the soul. Reed's seven tales not only come alive with hilarity and warmth, they show how God works through even the most bumbling and misdirected human efforts. Reed's humor is laced with insight, his descriptions with inspiration, and his characters with God's own love. In the lead story, "The Choir That Couldn't Sing," Reed's description of a hopelessly off-key church choir assembled from eccentrics and misfits will trigger gales of laughter. But tears are sure to flow when readers feel the impact of the choir's humble but grand, accomplishment. The book's other stories come equally alive with humor, insight, and inspiration that demonstrate how the least in the kingdom of heaven can touch the heart of God.
Laws against Strikes, comprising contributions from South African, Italian and British legal scholars, examines the right to strike in periods of socio-economic crisis. The book aims to contribute to the debates on this issue, by comparing, where a
Bob Drury and Tom Clavin's The Last Hill is the incredible untold story of one Ranger battalion's heroism and courage in World War II. They were known as “Rudder’s Rangers,” the most elite and experienced attack unit in the United States Army. In December 1944, Lt. Col. James Rudder's 2nd Battalion would form the spearhead into Germany, taking the war into Hitler’s homeland at last. In the process, Rudder was given two objectives: Take Hill 400 . . . and hold the hill by any means possible. To the last man, if necessary. The battle-hardened battalion had no idea that several Wehrmacht regiments, who greatly outnumbered the Rangers, had been given the exact same orders. The clash of the two determined forces was one of the bloodiest and most costly encounters of World War II. Castle Hill, the imposing 1320-foot mini-mountain the American Rangers simply called Hill 400, was the gateway to a desperate Nazi Germany. Several entire American divisions had already been repulsed by the last hill's dug-in defenders as—unknown to the Allies—the height was the key to Adolf Hitler's last-minute plans for a massive counterattack to smash through the American lines in what would become known to history as the Battle of the Bulge. Thus the stalemate surrounding Hill 400 could not continue. For Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, there was only one solution: Call in Rudder's Rangers. Of the 130 special operators who stormed, captured, and held the hill that December day, only 16 remained to stagger back down its frozen slopes. The Last Hill is replete with unforgettable action and characters—a rich and detailed saga of what the survivors of the 2nd Ranger Battalion would remember as “our longest day.”
Music has been neglected by imperial historians, but this book shows that music is an essential aspect of identity formation and cross-cultural exchange. It explores the ways in which rational, moral, and aesthetic motives underlying the institutionalization of "classical" music converged and diverged in Britain and India from 1880-1940.
The Psychology of Advertising offers a comprehensive exploration of theory and research in (consumer) psychology on how advertising impacts the thoughts, emotions and actions of consumers. It links psychological theories and empirical research findings to real-life industry examples, showing how scientific research can inform marketing practice. Advertising is a ubiquitous and powerful force, seducing us into buying wanted and sometimes unwanted products and services, donating to charitable causes, voting for political candidates and changing our health-related lifestyles for better or worse. This revised and fully updated third edition of The Psychology of Advertising offers a comprehensive and state-of-the art overview of psychological theorizing and research on the impact of online and offline advertising and discusses how the traces consumers leave on the Internet (their digital footprint) guides marketers in micro-targeting their advertisements. The new edition also includes new coverage of big data, privacy, personalization and materialism, and engages with the issue of the replication crisis in psychology, and what that means in relation to studies in the book. Including a glossary of key concepts, updated examples and illustrations, this is a unique and invaluable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students and instructors. Suitable for psychology, advertising, marketing and media courses. It is also a valuable guide for professionals working in advertising, public health, public services and political communication.
STARCALL Anthology of Novelized Radio Dramas and Teleplays, Vol.2, by Bob Bello, illustrated by the author with Dramatis Personae (portraits of the main characters). Written in the tradition of The Outer Limits TV series, each "episode" (standalone story) is in its own genre: sci-fi, military fiction, space opera, mystery, suspense, action/adventure, cyberpunk, steampunk, romance, drama, apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, supernatural, prehistory, alternate reality, time travel, etc. A little bit of everything for everyone, suitable for teens and adults alike. STRACALL is published yearly each Christmas since 2011.
Mexican American Baseball in East Los Angeles highlights the unforgettable teams, players, and coaches who graced the hallowed fields of East Los Angeles between 1917 and 2016 and brought immense joy and honor to their neighborhoods. Off the field, these players and their families helped create the multibillion-dollar wealth that depended on their backbreaking labor. More than a game, baseball and softball were political instruments designed to promote and empower civil, political, cultural, and gender rights, confronting head-on the reactionary forces of prejudice, intolerance, sexism, and xenophobia. A century later, baseball and softball are more popular than ever in East Los Angeles. Dedicated coaches still produce gifted players and future community leaders. These breathtaking photographs and heartfelt stories shed unparalleled light to the long and rich history of baseball and softball in the largest Mexican American community in the United States.
Last Men Out" tells the riveting story of the last 11 United States soldiers to escape South Vietnam on April, 30, 1975, the day America ended its combat presence.
Divided into two parts, this book shows how human memory influences the organization of music. The first part presents ideas about memory and perception from cognitive psychology and the second part of the book shows how these concepts are exemplified in music.
When a group of outcasts with extraordinary abilities comes out of hiding, their clash with a violent society will spark a revolution—or an apocalypse. “Much like the X-Men comics, Proehl masterfully uses science fiction as a lens to examine social inequality and human evil.”—Booklist Avi Hirsch has always known his daughter was different. But when others with incredible, otherworldly gifts reveal themselves to the world, Avi realizes that her oddness is something more—that she is something more. With this, he has a terrifying revelation: Emmeline is now entering a society where her unique abilities unfairly mark her as a potential threat. And even though he is her father, Avi cannot keep her safe forever. Emmeline soon meets others just like her: Carrie Norris, a teenage girl who can turn invisible . . . but just wants to be seen. Fahima Deeb, a woman with an uncanny knack for machinery . . . but it’s her Muslim faith that makes the U.S. government suspicious of her. They are the nobody people—ordinary individuals with extraordinary gifts who want one only thing: to live as equals in an America that is gripped by fear and hatred. But the government is passing discriminatory laws. Violent mobs are taking to the streets. And one of their own—an angry young man seething with self-loathing—has used his power in an act of mass violence that has put a new target on the community. The nobody people must now stand together and fight for their future, or risk falling apart. The first book of a timely two-part series, The Nobody People is a powerful novel of love and hope in the face of bigotry that uses a world touched by the fantastic to explore our current reality. It is a story of family and community. It is a story of continuing to fight for one another, no matter the odds. It is the story of us. Bob Proehl will return with The Somebody People!
An in-depth exploration of the style and influence of Pat Metheny, a truly distinctive musical voice of our time. Guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, among the most acclaimed, visionary musicians of our time, has for five decades toured with his many creative musical projects, most prominently the Pat Metheny Group, while collaborating with celebrated artists, including Charlie Haden, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman, and Steve Reich. Bob Gluck, whose perspective as pianist, composer, and educator has illuminated the music of Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis in his two previous books, now focuses his lens on the music of Metheny. Neither a biography nor chronological record of Metheny’s musical output, Pat Metheny: Stories beyond Words instead captures Metheny’s self-conception as a musician and the threads that unite and distinguish his creative process. Drawing upon a wealth of new interviews and close readings of musical examples, Gluck offers a bird’s-eye view of Metheny’s musical ideas. Among these are the metaphor of storytelling, the complementarity of simplicity and complexity, and the integrated roles of composer, performer, and band leader. Much like Metheny’s signature style, this book is accessible to a wide range of readers, presenting new clarity, musical insight, and historical perspective about the legacy of Metheny’s groundbreaking music.
INCIDENT AT HOWARD BEACH A CASE FOR MURDER BY CHARLES J. HYNES and Bob Drury THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION The murder that shocked a city and nation and how our justice system works at its best. Late on the night of December 19, 1986, four black men were driving through the all-white community of Howard Beach, in the New York City borough of Queens, when their car broke down. By the early hours of the next morning, one of them lay dead on the Belt Parkway and one had been beaten nearly to death with a tree limb and a baseball bat by a dozen local teenagers. In the months to come, Howard Beach became a code all over the world for the worst in racial tensions. The story behind the Howard Beach incident, its investigation and the subsequent trial is a story of hatred, brutality and deceit; of media outcry, political shuffling and public manipulation; of a cast of characters ranging from petrified politicians to outraged black activists to the quiet citizens of an insular neighborhood. But it was up to one man to bring the case to trial and steer it to its fair conclusion: Special Prosecutor Charles J. Joe Hynes. Incident at Howard Beach is his storya riveting and candid expos of his fight to discern what really happened that night, his struggle to make a coherent case out of those events, and the battles and tactics he used during the trial a year later in state supreme court. From the on-site investigation through jury selection, behind-the-scenes deal-making, and trial deliberation, here is everything that led to the convictions of the ringleaders and helped to quiet a city in turmoil. Charles J. Hynes Charles J. Hynes, the District Attorney of Brooklyn, New York, has been in public service for more than forty years. He has been chief of the Brooklyn DA's Rackets Bureau, a Special State Prosecutor investigating Medicaid Fraud, a Special State Prosecutor for Criminal Justice who prosecuted the Howard Beach case and a New York City Fire Commissioner. He has been the Brooklyn District Attorney since 1990. Bob Drury Contributing Editor and Chief Military Correspondent of Men's Health, Bob Drury has been nominated for three National Magazine Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. He is also the author, co-author, or editor of nine nonfiction books. Re-reading Hyness excellent account of this awful racial crime with 25 years of perspective once again brings the blood to rapid boil. I covered that crime. I watched Hynes fight for justice as a special prosecutor in the courtroom. I interviewed him during the trial. I believe that had it not been for his tenacious prosecution in this vile murder New York City would today be a much uglier city. Reading his new Forward and Epilogue reminds me of just how far we have come in race relations in New York since Howard Beach. History will not forget that Hynes had a helluva lot to do with that desperately needed change. For that reason alone this compelling, page-turning book deserves this second look. Denis Hamill Columnist New York Daily News
This is a book for audiences. It is a book about audiences. It is a book for anyone who watches, is watched, and all the spaces in between. Introducing the idea of performance as a shared transformative experience, this engaging book will help you make sense of the performer/audience interaction in a landscape where boundaries are collapsing. Drawing on themes of performance, exchange and the body, it offers an accessible entry into the philosophy of spectatorship.
Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew is one of the most iconic albums in American music, the preeminent landmark and fertile seedbed of jazz-fusion. Fans have been fortunate in the past few years to gain access to Davis’s live recordings from this time, when he was working with an ensemble that has come to be known as the Lost Quintet. In this book, jazz historian and musician Bob Gluck explores the performances of this revolutionary group—Davis’s first electric band—to illuminate the thinking of one of our rarest geniuses and, by extension, the extraordinary transition in American music that he and his fellow players ushered in. Gluck listens deeply to the uneasy tension between this group’s driving rhythmic groove and the sonic and structural openness, surprise, and experimentation they were always pushing toward. There he hears—and outlines—a fascinating web of musical interconnection that brings Davis’s funk-inflected sensibilities into conversation with the avant-garde worlds that players like Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane were developing. Going on to analyze the little-known experimental groups Circle and the Revolutionary Ensemble, Gluck traces deep resonances across a commercial gap between the celebrity Miles Davis and his less famous but profoundly innovative peers. The result is a deeply attuned look at a pivotal moment when once-disparate worlds of American music came together in explosively creative combinations.
From New York Times bestselling biographer Bob Spitz, a full and rich biography of an epic American life, capturing what made Ronald Reagan both so beloved and so transformational. More than five years in the making, based on hundreds of interviews and access to previously unavailable documents, and infused with irresistible storytelling charm, Bob Spitz's REAGAN stands fair to be the first truly post-partisan biography of our 40th President, and thus a balm for our own bitterly divided times. It is the quintessential American triumph, brought to life with cinematic vividness: a young man is born into poverty and raised in a series of flyspeck towns in the Midwest by a pious mother and a reckless, alcoholic, largely absent father. Severely near-sighted, the boy lives in his own world, a world of the popular books of the day, and finds his first brush with popularity, even fame, as a young lifeguard. Thanks to his first great love, he imagines a way out, and makes the extraordinary leap to go to college, a modest school by national standards, but an audacious presumption in the context of his family's station. From there, the path is only very dimly lit, but it leads him, thanks to his great charm and greater luck, to a solid career as a radio sportscaster, and then, astonishingly, fatefully, to Hollywood. And the rest, as they say, is history. Bob Spitz's REAGAN is an absorbing, richly detailed, even revelatory chronicle of the full arc of Ronald Reagan's epic life - giving full weight to the Hollywood years, his transition to politics and rocky but ultimately successful run as California governor, and ultimately, of course, his iconic presidency, filled with storm and stress but climaxing with his peace talks with the Soviet Union that would serve as his greatest legacy. It is filled with fresh assessments and shrewd judgments, and doesn't flinch from a full reckoning with the man's strengths and limitations. This is no hagiography: Reagan was never a brilliant student, of anything, and his disinterest in hard-nosed political scheming, while admirable, meant that this side of things was left to the other people in his orbit, not least his wife Nancy; sometimes this delegation could lead to chaos, and worse. But what emerges as a powerful signal through all the noise is an honest inherent sweetness, a gentleness of nature and willingness to see the good in people and in this country, that proved to be a tonic for America in his time, and still is in ours. It was famously said that FDR had a first-rate disposition and a second-rate intellect. Perhaps it is no accident that only FDR had as high a public approval rating leaving office as Reagan did, or that in the years since Reagan has been closing in on FDR on rankings of Presidential greatness. Written with love and irony, which in a great biography is arguably the same thing, Bob Spitz's masterpiece will give no comfort to partisans at either extreme; for the rest of us, it is cause for celebration.
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