Melvin J. Dubnick

Even better than I anticipated.

Revisado: 10-30-24

The whole book is fantastic. Could Micheal Anthony have been given a bit more coverage? Sure, but he was generally presented in a positive light and it was nice to hear AVH give DLR his due credit and acknowledge his importance to the band. Great insight into EVH, especially when combined with WVH and DLR’s WTF with Marc Maron interviews. Comes off as a genuine and honest memoir.

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Beautifully descriptive classic

Revisado: 12-31-23

Written in the mid 1940s, Kazin’s reflection on growing up in Brownsville in the 1920s demonstrates his skills as a writer and observer of life in an area better known for crime and poverty than for its role in nurturing talents like Kazin. The irony is that he uses his urge and efforts to get out of the neighborhood as a vehicle for highlighting his appreciation of life both in the area and “beyond”.

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OK, but hardly worth the credit or price...

Revisado: 06-12-17

What did you like best about On Power? What did you like least?

On the best side of the ledger, some insight into the life of a star nonfiction writer. On the negative, is that all there is in terms of insight?

Would you be willing to try another book from Robert A. Caro? Why or why not?

I am in fact going to tackle the audible version of Power Broker -- its been years since I read it in bits and pieces and loved the writing -- hope to love the 66 hours of listening.

Which character – as performed by Robert A. Caro – was your favorite?

Of himself, of course.

Do you think On Power needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Yes, if it is more about the topic -- power -- and less about his writing. Behind the writer is a thinker -- or at least I hope there is. So why not a lecture on the nature of power?

Any additional comments?

While his works are notable for the depth of research and the readability (stylistically) of the narratives he spins from that research, there is always a question about liberties he might be taking in order to apply the dramatistic approach. Consider, for example the wonderful segment he reads about LBJ's mother and life in the Hill Country during the period after WWI. It is a "New Yorker" view of life on the praire more suitable perhaps to a description of life in the early 1800s. A bit too much generated from his own sense of that life -- and too little form the record. The social and economic life of the Johnsons was likely a lot more "modern" than Caro provides -- the writer trumped the researcher....

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