The Kennedy Curse: Why Tragedy Has Haunted America's First Family for 150 Years

Book Description

A subject of endless public attention and fascination, the Kennedy family remains the most blessed-and perhaps the most cursed-of any American family. Edward Klein, already renowned for his eye-opening and revelatory Kennedy por-traits All Too Human and Just Jackie, now delves deep into the misfortunes of the Kennedys, developing the premise that a curse has plagued them for centuries. Starting with Patrick in Ireland in 1834, Klein traces the family's mis-fortunes to the modern era, discussing both little-known and notorious subjects such as: -Joseph Kennedy's political and social machinations -John Jr.'s relationship with his fragile, troubled wife Carolyn Bessette -Jackie's anxieties about her children's problems and her almost pathological fear for their safety -The most recent theories in genetic analysis, and how the 'thrill-seeking' gene may afflict the family. In a penetrating, compulsively readable way, Klein once again offers up a fascinating analysis of this American dynasty.

Customer Reviews:

Very Compeling.......2006-07-30

This story is very interesting. It details the lives of some of the famous Kennedys/Fitzgeralds and tells how "the Kennedy Curse" affected them in their life. The author even has a timeline of major things that have happened to the extended familie for 150 years.

The first to be aflicted with the Kennedy Curse was Patrick Kennedy in the 1850's. He was an Irishman who immigrated to the United States, married and had children, but 9 years after arriving died leaving a widow with an infant son.

The next to be cronicaled is Rose Kennedy's father John "HoneyFitz" Fitzgerald. He was a polition in Boston and Massachutes before being forced to give it up when the competion found out about an affair he had with a woman the same age as his daughter.

The next person cronicaled is Joe Kennedy himself. He wanted to be President of the United States of America and shortly after leaving his post as Ambassador to the Court of Saint James during World War Two he gave an interview that ended his career and his dreams.

The next two people cronicaled are Joe Kennedy's children Kathleen and John. Kathleen fell in love with two Protestants during her life. The first she married but he died during the war. The second was married, but wanted a divorce. They were on there way to meet Joe in Paris when the plain that they were on crashed killing all on board. John of course was President of the United States and partily due to his lacks rules about his safty he was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

The next people are JFK Jr who like his father was taken too soon and William Kennedy Smith who was on trial for rape.

Because Klein misses alcoholism as the root of the "curse", the diagnosis is flawed.......2006-06-23

Edward Klein covered John F. Kennedy's 1960 Presidential campaign and later served as foreign editor of Newsweek and editor-in-chief of The New York Times Magazine. He has authored countless articles and several books, including two others on Kennedy family members. He's a good writer and meticulous researcher. However, despite his resume and, sadly, in concert with virtually every other biographer and historian, he reverses cause and effect.

As discussed in by books, "How to Spot Hidden Alcoholics: Using Behavioral Clues to Identify Addiction in its Early Stages," and "Alcoholism Myths and Realities: Removing the Stigma of Society's Most Destructive Disease," alcoholism mimics virtually all the Personality Disorders, particularly Narcissism. A diagnosis of this Disorder requires any five attributes out of a menu of nine, including "a grandiose sense of self-importance," "a belief he is `special,'" "a sense of entitlement" and an "arrogant and haughty attitude." These, as well as the other five attributes, are all classic symptoms of alcoholism or severe codependency, especially in children of alcoholics.

According to studies cited in my first book, "Drunks, Drugs & Debits: How to Recognize Addicts and Avoid Financial Abuse," 70-80% of recovering addicts with two or three months of sobriety who were diagnosed with a Personality Disorder when drinking are found to have been misdiagnosed. While most Disorders clear up or become far less of a concern after two to three years of sobriety, experience shows that what most consider normal behaviors usually don't return for five to ten years.

Klein includes vignettes on a potpourri of Kennedy clan members, some alcoholics and several children of alcoholics. The manifestation of narcissism in apparent non-alcoholic members of the family, including Joe Kennedy's favorite daughter Kathleen, suggests the power of familial alcoholism. Extraordinary tolerance to alcohol makes the disease all but invisible in many, including Joseph P. Kennedy, even while numerous behavioral indications of the disease are evident (I counted two dozen such clues in the 45-page chapter on Joe, from attempts at blackmail to hyperbole and a public display in which he flouted long tradition). The fact that narcissism can be so obvious in non-alcoholics, as well as in those who defy the diagnosis, may account for the fact that alcoholism is overlooked as the most common root of the Disorder. However, the likely underlying cause becomes more apparent when we realize that a confluence of narcissists is found in families in which alcoholism is epidemic.

The Kennedy Curse is billed as a "detective story". Unfortunately, Edward Klein helps to perpetuate the myth that most character flaws are inherent, when they are instead usually rooted in alcoholism. While including some interesting and telling depictions in the lives of alcoholics and their codependents in what may be America's most famous family, Klein's book fails in its most fundamental goal.

Not much new except for rumors, gossip and innuendo..........2006-03-25

In Edward Klein's The Kennedy Curse: Why America's First Family Has Been Haunted by Tragedy for 150 Years, there isn't much new here except for pure gossip, rumor and innuendo.

Klein starts off to make this a pseudo-scientific study of facts contributing to the Kennedy curse including lots of psycho-babble, genetic factors, etc. He claims his book is a detective story. He tries to show how "the Irish immigrant experience of poverty and humiliation developed into an obsessive lust for power and dominance over others at the expense of all ethical behavior." Throw in domineering fathers, cold mothers, alcohol, drugs, sex, thrill-seeking behavior, ADHD, restlessness, boredom and impatience, and you get a prescription for tragedy. Many people believe a black cloud has followed the Kennedy family for many generations. It actually appears that the Kennedy's followed the black cloud on their own.

In trying to prove his curse theory, Klein spotlights seven family members including immigrant Patrick Kennedy, Joe Kennedy, Sr., Kathleen (Kick) Kennedy, JFK, William Kennedy Smith, JFK, Jr., and JFK's maternal grandfather, John Honey Fitz Fitzgerald. He barely mentions other Kennedy's that have suffered tragedies including Bobby Kennedy, Ted Kennedy, and Joe Kennedy, Jr. It was interesting to read about the immigrant experience of the Irish, as well as some of the lesser known family members including Kathleen Kennedy and Honey Fitz. But overall, there isn't much new here, and what is new seems mostly rumor and innuendo. For instance, Klein accuses JFK of having "chronic venereal disease" and claims it is possible that this caused the death of his pre-mature son, Patrick. This is a pretty serious allegation to make without proof. He also tells how Carolyn Bessette Kennedy's friends destroyed her drug stash after that fateful plane crash. I don't believe the Kennedy's are saints and I know they've done some atrocious things, but give us hard facts.

Overall, my recommendation is to skip The Kennedy Curse. If you want to read more about this fated family, there are much better and more comprehensive books to be had. It is hard to believe this book was written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

Captivating............2006-03-22

This book is not boring... easy to read...good insight to the Kennedys... would recommend for anyone who likes real life..

2.5 stars; buyer beware.......2005-12-30

While there is some merit to Edward Klein's books, they read like tabloid journalism. More importantly, there are passages which raise eyebrows, such as his alleged interview with Dave Powers. Read with a skeptical eye.
Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.)
Pittsburgh, PA

BEST JFK ASSASSINATION BOOK: ULTIMATE SACRIFICE
BEST JFK SECRET SERVICE BOOK: SURVIVOR'S GUILT BY YOURS TRULY :)

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Winning's Only Part of the Game: Lessons of Life and Football
Bobby Bowden , Terry Bowden , Bowden Family , and Ben Brown
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Winning's Only Part of teh Game: Lessons of Life & Football

Manufacturer: Warner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HYOX02

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WINNING'S ONLY PART OF THE GAME: LESSONS OF LIFE & FOOTBALL
Bobby & Terry with Ben Brown Bowden
Manufacturer: Warner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NWDP48

Book Description

From poignant to silly, brilliant to ridiculous, here are hundreds of quips and quotes from movie stars, musicians, singers,stage actors, comedians--then and now--arranged by subject matter including Fame, Success, Family, Sex, Aging, and more.

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Crossfade: A Big Chill Anthology

Manufacturer: Serpent's Tail
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1852428759

Book Description

"This ambient event has become a cherished window of tranquility in the diaries of overworked thirtysomethings."-The Sunday Times

From humble beginnings as a Sunday all-day multimedia event, The Big Chill kick-started the whole 'chill out' genre, whilst steadfastly remaining far reaching in its musical remit. Now respected as a trendsetter and tastemaker, its annual festival has quickly grown to a capacity of 20,000. Crossfade addresses the notion of musical genres and the way in which they have influenced key musicians, DJs and Big Chillers' lives.

Pete Lawrence,co-founder of The Big Chill, has been immersed in music since day one. He is currently living in North London and working on his "Chilled by Nature" album project and the next Big Chill festival. Vicki Howard was born in 1975. She also lives in North London and is currently writing her first novel.

Book Description

THE COMPETE GUIDE TO COACHING AT WORK is a timely and important book for people looking to step into the dynamic and progressive area of coaching. This comprehensive, unique reference explains the basic principles and key concepts behind this increasingly well recognised, effective method of achieving change and development in organisations. Coaching follows a well defined, systematic logic which produces results that can be powerful.

This book provides a concise, step-by-step blueprint of successful coaching methods, models and tools, using case studies and an accessible format to make it easy to use and informative. It contains useful insights on how to permanently enhance personal and organizational effectiveness, performance and growth in the work place.

The authors have combined their wealth of research, professional knowledge and experience as successful Master Coaches to write this book and make a valuable and substantial contribution to current literature on coaching.

Customer Reviews:

Looks like the reviews are written by friends of the author.......2007-01-30

I was intrigued by blurbs for the book, since I am interested in evidence-based coaching. However, if you look at the comments of the "reviewers," most of them were written within one or two days of each other and seem to employ the same writing style! This shows a great lack of integrity.

I Use This As a Master-Level Coaching Text Book.......2005-12-15

This book is written as university-level textbook on the coaching profession. It covers what coaching is and how it is used in business today, particularly in Australia the Author's setting. The authors provide coaching models and do a thorough job of describing the core issues and skills of which coaches must be aware.

Part one of the book defines coaching as "a conversation, a dialogue, whereby a coach and coachee interact in a dynamic exchange to achieve goals, enhance performance and move the coachee forward to greater success" (page xiii). They write of what coaching is, and is not, and what are the qualities of a successful coach.

Part two describes business coaching, executive coaching, the manager as coach and team coaching. Each is addressed in a separate chapter with helpful information, tools, and tips on the "how-tos" of coaching that particular client. These chapters are rich in advise on what to watch out for and pay attention to when working with a certain type of client.

Part three speaks to coaching skills and issues. One chapter starts out as goal setting and then backs up to the client purpose, vision and values as a base for establishing goals. The coach can surface greater perspective and awareness in the client by using helpful tools to assess these three areas of client's life. I believe this is one of the most valuable aspects of coaching, only recently acknowledged by professional coaches (Life Coaches knew this all along) as the key to improving client performance. Other chapters deal with, by now, standard coaching skills such as listening, questioning, non-verbal communication, learning styles, resistance to coaching, and self-limiting beliefs.

This book is an excellent source for the nature and practice of coaching. The authors have incorporated many other coaches' techniques into their text. Coaching books will always have the limitation of being written word and not live dialogue. It is impossible to gain the skills of coaching through any book. However, for the beginner or intermediate coach, the coaching issues, tips and advice in this book are well worth the price.

A solid reference!.......2003-11-04

If you are looking for a solid framework for professional coaching this resource is a must. In this book you are presented professional coaching models, a great range of templates and tips and traps every coach should be alert to.

It is presented in an easy to read format that allows this information to be employed in either an internal or external coaching practice. This is not just a book to read it is an action plan.

The 'How-to' text on coaching!.......2003-11-04

This book, written in non-academic prose and strewn with practical examples, is the most comprehensive book yet authored on the contemporary involvement of coaches in the business and executive development world. The book can serve as both a reference text for experienced coaches and a 'how-to' book for coaches seeking instruction. The book is also appropriate for those who want to make decisions about using coaches or establishing a coaching culture or academics or trainers seeking a primary text on coaching for use in an educational setting. Throughout the book, the authors underscore the importance of coaching as a learning opportunity. In tackling these issues the authors provide a blueprint for coaches on how to become more effective and increase their ability to work with a variety of clients. As coaching continues to grow as an applied profession, dominated by practitioners, its credibility is strongly enhanced when solid ideas are presented in a clear, articulate, and succinct fashion. This book easily achieves all those criteria and will add considerably to the wealth of knowledge and professional skills associated with coaching.

The Reference Text!.......2003-11-04

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Interesting, Eloquent Reflections on an Author's Life

Killed My Respect For Harrison

Jim Harrison: upinmichigan.org review

What a life!

in praise of the candid

Off to the Side: A Memoir
Jim Harrison
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Amazon.com

Rarely does one encounter a memoir so filled with the details of a life lived. Whether recalling bits of his past as a depressed child, manual laborer, Hollywood screenwriter, aspiring poet, novelist, or alcoholic husband, Jim Harrison pauses to analyze these moments--the cause and effect--and the choices that have made him who he is. Loosely divided into chapters, Off to the Side is somewhat rambling, and Harrison's opinions and conclusions occasionally remain obscure ("nearly everything you hear about Mexicans in the great north is utterly untrue")--but, to the benefit of readers, Harrison is never at a loss for ideas.

The solace Harrison finds in the natural world is most compelling, and it could be said he, too, shares Frost's "lover's quarrel with the world." After losing an eye at an early age and sinking into melancholy, Harrison's father advised that "curiosity will get you through hard times when nothing else will. Your curiosity had to be strong enough to lift you out of your self-sunken mudbath, the violent mixture of hormones, injuries, melancholy, and dreams of a future you not only couldn't touch but could scarcely see." These words were not lost on Harrison. With "no expertise outside of [his] own imagination" Harrison plays to his strengths in Off to the Side by setting down the events, experiences, thoughts, and feelings that have shaped his quite literate, truly American life. --Michael Ferch

Book Description

Selected as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Off to the Side is the tale of one of America's most beloved writers. Jim Harrison traces his upbringing in Michigan amid the austerities of the Depression and the Second World War, and the seemingly greater austerities of his starchy Swedish forebears. He chronicles his coming-of-age, from a boy drunk with books to a young man making his way among fellow writers he deeply admires — including Peter Matthiessen, Robert Lowell, W.H. Auden, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, and Allen Ginsberg. Harrison discusses forthrightly the life-changing experience of becoming a father, and the minor cognitive dissonance that ensued when this boy from the "heartland" somehow ended up a highly paid Hollywood screenwriter. He gives free rein to his "seven obsessions" — alcohol, food, stripping, hunting and fishing (and the dogs who have accompanied him in both), religion, the road, and our place in the natural world — which he elucidates with earthy wisdom and an elegant sense of connectedness. Off to the Side is a work of great beauty and importance, a triumphant achievement that captures the writing life and brings all of us clues for living.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting, Eloquent Reflections on an Author's Life.......2007-07-27

Jim Harrison passes on reflections on his life to readers of Off to the Side. I don't think he tries to accomplish any goals of self revelation or sequential order in this book. He merely shares episodes of his life and work, as well as thoughts on a wide range of topics like strippers, religion, nature, literature and Hollywood. Harrison could write a description of a coke bottle and make it eloquent and enjoyable to read. His writing skill and literary talents are at the top of the bar, so readers will appreciate even his writing about day-to-day events.

Harrison writes in-depthly about his childhood and early family life, but then departs from writing much about his adult family to share more about his Hollywood interactions. Similarly, he shares early inspiration by literary giants and unknowns, then later in the book delves into episodes with drinking buddies and Hollywood cronies.

This book is at its best when Harrison is revealing significant stories about family, nature and literature. It devolves as he spends considerable pages repeating the frustrating stories of trying to turn novels and novellas into successful screenplays. He drops many big names but rarely reveals much about them.

It seems like Harrison writes some of this book to cater to what he thinks readers will want to read about like Hollywood and drinking in Key West with Jimmy Buffet, but the real richness is in Harrison's tales of writing and trying to make it as a writer in the solitude of his cabin or small home with a young wife and new baby. He returns again and again to his calling and his passion for writing that sometimes comes to him in dreams and visions. I think the treasure of this book lies in his accounts of the challenges, rewards and heartache of responding to the deep call to write.

I would like to know after reading this book about the author's family life as a husband and father while he was continually off on hunting, fishing or Hollywood endeavours. Did the wife and kids come or were they content to let him go for months at a time each year?

These questions may have to wait for answers from a biography of Harrison written by someone else. For now, Off to the Side serves as an enjoyable and at times revealing and enlightening memoir of a called and committed author who did the work required to bring his gift to life.

Killed My Respect For Harrison.......2006-06-29

I've greatly enjoyed many of Harrison's novels and novellas (I'm not much of a poetry fan), and although the other reviews were mixed, I picked this up for cheap and started reading it with low expectations.

Harrison is just too good of a writer, and too interesting a person, to write a truly boring memoir. Those who find his references to celebrities intolerable name-dropping may perhaps be envious, or haven't read many memoirs by those who happen to have associated with famous people. If your life has included relationships with such types, so be it; no need to hide it or be self-conscious about it. I didn't find Harrison partularly abusive in his mention of those with whom he has palled around.

Unfortunately, I didn't find him particularly enlightening, either. If you're going to mention, say, Jack Nicholson, who strikes me as potentially intriguing, what's the point, unless you're going to tell me something about Nicholson other than the mere fact that you know him, or that in a certain situation he made some comment that anyone might have made? I didn't learn anything about any of these other people, since Harrision seemed to have no inclination to tell me anything. Is this offensive? Not to me -- just much less interesting than it might have been. But then, it seems Harrison wants to maintain his welcome at the Nicholson digs, which is like trying to have your cake and eat it.

The organization of this memoir is, well, mostly absent. Harrison's initial effort to start from the begining and tell the story of his life quickly degenerates into more or less random vignettes Harrison, or someone, later cobbled together into something book-length. Often he repeats himself in a manner that suggests he wrote one piece either before writing, or without any recollection of having written, the preceeding section, and jumps from one period in his life to another like Billy Pilgrim.

Ultimately, the theme of the book seems to be "How I went from starving Artist to screenwriting Big Shot and then dropped off the merry-go-round -- after I'd made a bundle so I could afford to be an Artist again." Harrison seems not to be fully aware that there's a limit to how much sympathy he can expect from readers who will never earn in a lifetime what he made in a year after he hit the big time with Legends of the Fall; his honesty about his inability to handle all the money is refreshing, but I suspect more than a few readers will feel "Gee, woulda been nice if he could have done something with all that dough besides drink two hundred dollar bottles of wine and pick up thousand-dollar tabs after lunch with the Rich and Famous." Disappointingly, he really does come off as something of a pig, as well as a Hollywood hanger-on who parlayed his obvious, but limited, talent into an opportunity to party with celebrities who were frankly in another league.

Harrison is oddly selective about what he chooses to discuss. He's under no obligation to tell me about, say, his marriage or experiences as a father, but it does seem odd that he'll go on, and on, confessing his weakness for booze and rich food and strippers but say next to nothing about how someone who seems to have spent countless days rambling about, drinking, stuffing his face and chasing skirts, managed to stay married to the same woman for over forty years.

Harrison also tries way too hard to present his musings as something more substantial than they are. I don't demand timeless philosophy from every memoir, but Harrision tries for it, with very spotty results. In the manner of Montaigne, Harrison often makes a series of one-line, abstract pronouncements of purported Truths he's discovered, but too often these would-be gems are obtuse, vague, and frankly pretentious. In fact, Harrison's manner throughout has a touch of pretention about it, with frequent use of words that he rarely, if ever, would use in any of his other works -- lots of "quite," "indeed," and other overly refined language that may be entirely appropriate coming from someone who actually speaks or writes that way, but sounds incongruous from a writer who's made his fortune playing, and portraying, the rough-hewn backwoods rascal. Harrison has written several very entertaining novels (and a few that, IMHO, are unremarkable), but he's no literary giant. One suspects, in reading his memoirs, that he's torn between humility and believing the blurb-hype.

Notwithstanding any of this, though, it really isn't a bad read. It moves along, and Harrison is about as clever as a reader of one of his better writings might imagine. One might be a little disappointed to find, however, that he's not the modern-day Thoreau one might romantically have supposed.

Jim Harrison: upinmichigan.org review.......2006-04-03

Jim Harrison, Off to the Side: a Memoir
Atlantic Monthly Press

reviewed by Sean Aden Lovelace

Jim Harrison has often said he's horrible at titles. I'm not sure that's true (excluding his novel SunDog, neither of sun or dog, and possibly A Good Day to Die, which smacks of Elmore Leonard, or one of Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns), but then again few writers have had such literary prolificacy (28 volumes and counting), and thus an ongoing need for titles. And so what of Harrison's 2002 memoir, Off to the Side? I suppose it depends on your definition of title. Is it a key to a door, or the door itself, opening into the rooms and hallways of a writer's memory? Or more a structural device, a textual map, guiding us along? Or is it simply a disarming introduction, a gesture of the hand, an invitation to pull up a chair and gather round the fire, to sit right by the storyteller-right off to the side.

I'd say the answer is yes.

The book does indeed begin with memory, section one, "Early Life," a brief review of parental courting, family life, Harrison's youthful days of fishing and hunting and scraping by in rural Michigan, and though admittedly a life of poverty- "catsup sandwiches" and "plates of beans"-never a hint of self-pity. Primarily through lively imagery and lyrical description (Harrison is also an accomplished poet), the author expresses a certain calm and simplicity in a caring family and rural environs. He writes of waking in the morning: "There had been a little rain in the night and I could smell the damp garden, the strong winey smell of the grape arbor, the bacon grease from the kitchen below." In short, his childhood embodies the poetic idyll, and Harrison never takes for granted this fortunate reality.

Yet, like childhood, Harrison's Eden quickly gives way to the pain of knowledge, and "Early Life" shifts in tone and mood. Off to the Side becomes a title of the artist's first identity as outsider, and this alienation is no garden variety adolescent angst-Harrison's abstract loss and longing can be traced to a concrete source. At age seven the author is partially blinded when a playmate jabs a glass bottle into his left eye, permanently disabling him. (Interestingly, the writer James Thurber also suffered a childhood blinding in one eye, and was likewise a prolific and imaginative writer.) Harrison must now adjust, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. His perceptions change; his life now a type of inward synesthesia: "You have the idea you can actually hear color." Later, Harrison spends the money he has saved for months-$1200 earned at the rate of $1.50 per hour-on a quack physician who promises to repair his eyesight. Harrison's eyesight is not repaired; in fact, he is totally blinded for a time, as he feels a "hot nail in my eyeball." To put it plainly, he feels foolish, hopeless, and alone. He yearns for escape, "for the places you read about..." And so he leaves his home, and childhood, behind.

Section Two of Off to the Side is clearly segmented, a sometimes forced arrangement of heavily modified deadly sins, the modification a bit ironic (and playful-a Harrison trait), in that the sin is to omit these activities from a full life. Harrison labels these topics as "Seven Obsessions." At this point, the book's title might refer to a whiskey chaser on the side (obsession one: alcohol), a woman on the side (strippers), a sidearm, or sidearm cast (hunting and fishing), a spiritual side (private religion), a side of roast pheasant and truffles (a tour of France), the side of a highway shoulder (the road), or possibly an empathetic and holistic side (nature and natives). To summarize this delightful section of writing would be akin to wading through one of Harrison's famous (or infamous) 37 course gourmet meals, yet I would implore the reader to never dismiss the seriousness the author allows these sensory pursuits. Each "obsession" is followed with insightful reflection, its demerits and merits, even the likely consequences of excess. All of Harrison's activities-from the primarily hedonistic to the often spiritual-are undertaken with one purpose: "a willingness to be conscious."

Memory knows no true chronology, and the final section, "The Rest of Life," is an often random medley of recollections: some tragic, some elated, some a bit repetitive, some fresh and startling. We get the soaring events of Harrison's first literary success, and also the sodden (and brief) days of his teaching in academia. We experience yet another sudden act of devastating violence, a list of the author's pernicious phobias, but then gentle, often intimate, reflections on the role of husband and father. We eavesdrop on the intellectual subtleties (and often intriguing arguments about the state of writing today) of living among artists such as Brautigan, Auden, Lowell, Capote, and Ginsberg, but also the freewheeling immediacy (as in partying) of Harrison's screenwriting days in Hollywood, with the likes of Orson Welles, Jack Nicholson, Jimmy Buffett, Danny DeVito, and Sean Connery. (Harrison has been criticized for dropping names; and for mimicking the life of Hemingway, a man who was himself a celebrity. Both complaints are, of course, absurd. A writer of memoir has the right (the duty?) to mention his fellow human beings. And I've never understood an attack that uses a Nobel Laureate as its foundation.)

Memoir-if written with skill, care and seriousness-surpasses and transcends the life of any one writer. Jim Harrison's finest wisdom is found midway through: "What you get in life is what you organize for yourself every day." Well said, and yet another way of nudging the reader to embrace life, but never just with the physical, always with the cerebral along for the ride. Jim Harrison engages life in all its arenas, and then he writes what he sees and hears and touches and feels, with all of his considerable energy and ability, either head-on, or yes, Off to the Side. Yet another point of the book's title? Possibly. Does it matter? Possibly not, but you should, if paying attention, already know the answer; and you won't find it in a book review. Go outside, get the book, read it, and then you decide.

What a life!.......2006-01-15

I have always been a fan of Jim Harrison. His autobiography is even more interesting than some of his novels. I can now see that he puts himself in most of his stories; you just have to read between the lines to understand and see this.
The man has paid his dues and yet lived a wonderful life in ways many of us can only dream of.

in praise of the candid.......2004-01-15

When I finished this book, I felt much like the other reviewers. I thought the first half was great, and it finished strong in the very end, but my perception of Harrison was tarnished as one Hollywood name after another was trotted out during the screenplay writing phase. It was as if, caught within a pseudo-fame, he had to ensure his readers (or moreso himself) that he was in the game, whether we knew it or not.

Then, as the book settled in a bit, I began to realize that this was probably a relatively candid look at the man's professional life (I don't know him - I'm only guessing). True to his persona, he didn't fall into politically correct pressure - this time by not being modest about who he knows. Maybe this reveals just another one of his addicitons. The only difference is that the other addictions he talks about have a mythological romance to them, evoking endearment in job-shackled readers and probably selling a lot of books for him. This particular vice repels people.

Nevertheless, whether he intended it or not, I felt the book revealed a man constantly torn between the seduction of Hollywood's powerful, fast pace and his cheap cars and favorite dogs rolling out to a fishing spot before hitting the local northern Michigan watering hole. I can relate.

His language is, as always, poetically beautiful and you can truly feel the passion of somebody who seems fascinated by the simple fact that he's alive.

Out of morbid curiosity, I would have liked to understand more how he maintained his family life with so much wild and carefree excess. But, then again, that's really none of my business.

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Off to the Side: A Memoir
Jim Harrison
Manufacturer: Atlantic Monthly Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UF0RCQ

Book Description

A laboratory for competing visions of modernity, the Weimar Republic (1918-1933) continues to haunt the imagination of the twentieth century. Its political and cultural lessons retain uncanny relevance for all who seek to understand the tensions and possibilities of our age. The Weimar Republic Sourcebook represents the most comprehensive documentation of Weimar culture, history, and politics assembled in any language. It invites a wide community of readers to discover the richness and complexity of the turbulent years in Germany before Hitler's rise to power.
Drawing from such primary sources as magazines, newspapers, manifestoes, and official documents (many unknown even to specialists and most never before available in English), this book challenges the traditional boundaries between politics, culture, and social life. Its thirty chapters explore Germany's complex relationship to democracy, ideologies of "reactionary modernism," the rise of the "New Woman," Bauhaus architecture, the impact of mass media, the literary life, the tradition of cabaret and urban entertainment, and the situation of Jews, intellectuals, and workers before and during the emergence of fascism.
While devoting much attention to the Republic's varied artistic and intellectual achievements (the Frankfurt School, political theater, twelve-tone music, cultural criticism, photomontage, and urban planning), the book is unique for its inclusion of many lesser-known materials on popular culture, consumerism, body culture, drugs, criminality, and sexuality; it also contains a timetable of major political events, an extensive bibliography, and capsule biographies. This will be a major resource and reference work for students and scholars in history; art; architecture; literature; social and political thought; and cultural, film, German, and women's studies.

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The Weimar Republic Sourcebook
Anton, et al, eds. Kaes
Manufacturer: U. of Cal.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TCDERA

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