Anthony B. Ford

Need more natural history, less armchair philosophy.

Revisado: 06-17-24

There was too much time spent trying to impress the reader with obscure quotes from Aristotle and Descartes and hardly anything about owls in comparison. What a yawner.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

The narration means so much when the author reads his own work. You feel that Gary Sinise's heart is in the book.

Revisado: 05-03-24

I loved the narration, and I admire the author for his selfless love for our country and for those who fight, and sometimes die, to keep us free. To hear Sinise explain what he thinks about our country and why, made me feel amazed at the author, and think that perhaps I could do more for the country that has given so much to everyone. This really is a book that will touch many hearts.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Alvin York wasn't a big deal according to this guy.

Revisado: 04-07-24

The purpose of this book is apparently to discount the reputation of Alvin York by telling the reader that there were ten other guys who did better stuff than he did, but that York lucked out and got the publicity.

What it amounts to, as far as I can tell, is that Alvin York realized that if he, and the rest of the remaining members of his patrol, were going to get out of this alive, he was going to have to do something. And he did. The rest of the men did what they could do, but they signed statements confirming that York did what they saw him do. But after the war, when Alvin York was acclaimed and got all the publicity, the rest of the guys began to suffer from Sour Grapes Syndrome, even to the extent of trying to work up a plot to kill York because they were mad at him for being famous.

In short, the author wrote an alternative tale to what Americans believe. But sometimes sour grapes are exactly what they are.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Great backstop about the making of Star Trek

Revisado: 02-27-24

I would have liked more authentic voices of the voice quotes used to flesh out the story. Some were close to what I would expect, but others sounded like someone the program producer grabbed out of the hallway to fill in a voice.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Brands obviously has an anti-TR bias

Revisado: 03-11-23

Couldn't finish the book. From the day TR hit pre-adolescence, Brands had nothing good to say, including his opinion about Roosevelt not being particularly smart. Sorry, Brands is a writer with an agenda. Skip this and read the three-volume Morris series. This book is a loser.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Narrator needed a little prep.

Revisado: 11-27-22

I really knew the story well. Different authors approach it from their own perspective. The narrator needed some work prior to reading words like the group of Sioux named Hunkpapa (he said -papa like in the song Oh My paPA) and his attempt at saying the term for multiple travois was a crackup. I also think the author really let Benteen off the hook for crawling to answer Custer's note sent to him asking him to hurry up -- Benteen hated Custer and didn't mind a bit that he died.

The book was okay, but noting the above, not great.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Fascinating and understandable to the layman.

Revisado: 11-22-22

Professor Brier is fun to listen to, and better than that, his instructional style and obvious love for the subject makes the student WANT to learn the material. 48 lessons FLEW by, and I'm going to run through them all again and plan to learn to read hieroglyphs. I was always interested but Bob Brier hooked me.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Could have lived without the psilocybin ...

Revisado: 11-17-22

and drug shamans. I understand the man-dog relationship. Too bad there are just too many of us old people who predate the need to screw up relationships by trying to "find ourselves" by using foreign substances. How much richer could Moon's and Denali's relationship have been without resorting to dope? We'll never know.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Justice Thomas justified.

Revisado: 07-01-22

A wonderful story of a great American with a pure heart and brilliant mind. Thank you, Justice Clarence Thomas, for sharing your story with us . Perfectly written and read by the author.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Two nasty explorers and their one-upsmanship

Revisado: 05-22-22

John Speke and Richard Burton are two explorers who are both very full of themselves. Each thinks they're a better explorer than the other guy. They both decide that they need to discover the source of the Nile River. Exploring together they spend more time backstabbing each other than they do exploring. As a reader, I don't know about anyone else, but I like books about people I can identify with. These guys are both a couple of self-absorbed grating jerks, and I disliked them both.

I normally enjoy Candice Millard's writing. Her book The River of Doubt, about Theodore Roosevelt's exploration of an uncharted tributary of the Amazon River, was a page-turner from the moment I started reading to the last page. I can't say the same thing about this one. Burton and Speke were both such nasty, strange men (Speke spent most of his time hating and backstabbing Burton and Burton spent his whole life being impressed with himself and his knowledge of languages and the sexual proclivities of different societies) that I just couldn't wait for the book to finish. Others will like it, I'm sure. The narration was fine but I just disliked these guys and their story immensely. Thank God one of them finally found the source of the river so the book could end. Not my cup of tea. I hope Millard, an extremely talented writer, finds a more engaging story for her next book.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña