BOOKS THREAD

Does anyone know a good book about Spain in WW2? Why didn't they jump in with the other facsists? And it was a place of spies from what I have read.

 

Hellraisers by Robert Sellers about Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, Richard Harris and Oliver Reed. As a teetotaler, I found a lot of vicarious amusement reading about these legendary boozers. I have never seen Reed act (aside from Gladiator) and not much of Burton either. Love Harris and O'Toole. The book is VERY slangy but a light, funny work.

 

Just found out last week I'm in the back of the book this year.

 

Awesome!! I won't ask you to reveal yourself (but PM me if you want).

 

Sent

I'm as stunned as anyone else.

Even more stunned that it has happened twice in five years.

 

I like reading obituaries, and I like reading about obituaries. I have at least two other books on the subject, and I was looking forward to this one, and it was a waste of time and money. It reads like the authors did a Google search of "interesting facts about death" and put the results into book form. There's absolutely no depth to the content at all. The authors are podcast hosts, not writers, and I'm not hating on podcast hosts. I know several, and many of them are good writers and researchers. These folks aren't.

Joe Bob says do NOT check it out.

 

As someone who's taken calls, typed up faxes, and arranged emailed obituaries for nearly 30 years, what are the two other books you have on the subject? Are they worth reading?

I am wondering how much longer obits will last in newspapers -- before long, families won't request them, and certainly won't pay for them. And for people who are into genealogy, that's a shame.

 

Camelot's End by Jon Ward about the 1980 primary battle between Carter and Kennedy. Fascinating subject, but not an expansive one, loaded with all sorts of back story to bring the book up to 300 pages.

And he refers to legendary TV announcer Ernie Anderson as Ernie Nelson.

Decent, but only recommended for Carter diehards.

 

My Carter Admin reading list continued with the recent Den of Spies by Craig Unger, about the Iranian Hostage Crisis. More specifically, it is about his piecing together, bit by bit, of Reagan-Casey treachery.

And that is the biggest problem with the book. A more cohesive narrative would have been much more effective in getting his point across. Instead, we get lots of pages detailing how he interviewed this character or that one here or there.

2.5/5