Fred Pontin: The Authorised Biography of Sir Fred Pontin

Fred Pontin: The Authorised Biography of Sir Fred Pontin
Average customer rating:
Fred Pontin: The Authorised Biography of Sir Fred Pontin
Peter Willsher
Manufacturer: St. David's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Business | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1902719220

Amazon.com

Loved by millions in his heyday, exiled into obscurity in his middle age, and worshipped anew in his final years, Charlie Chaplin has been the subject of many biographies. In this book, Kenneth S. Lynn focuses on Chaplin's personal, political, and romantic associations. Lynn sees Chaplin's obsessive egotism and brutality toward women as a result of his obscure London upbringing and the torment and embarrassment his mentally disturbed mother caused him. Lynn also takes a fresh look at Chaplin's alleged victimization at the hands of immigration officials in the 1950s and performs an intriguing psychological reading of Limelight, which he considers Chaplin's most autobiographical film. Along the way, Lynn provides mini-histories of issues and events that shaped Chaplin's life, including a consideration of the tramp in early 20th-century America, biographies of famous silent film stars, and an account of the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

Book Description

This astute biography of Chaplin's life and times delves into his childhood, career, and often controversial relationships with four wives and a slew of mistresses to illuminate his elusive genius and cinematic output, as well as his sometimes reprehensible personal behavior.

Customer Reviews:

Unpleasant.......2006-03-01

Kenneth S. Lynn's "Charlie Chaplin and His Times" is an almost-unmitigated piece of ugly character assassination. Focusing obsessively on Chaplin's romantic/sexual liaisons and his "radical-left" politics, it is not Mr. Chaplin so much as Mr. Lynn himself who ends up as the unlikeable figure: narrow-minded, prudish, politically-unbalanced and, ultimately, unfair. By the book's midpoint, the only reason to continue reading is to marvel at the insidious viciousness with which Lynn pretends to accurately portray Chaplin [a task which pays dividends on nearly every page]. Chaplin was surely no saint, but Lynn's account allows Chaplin no quarter, continually twisting incidents in such a way as to render Chaplin as little more than a libido-driven, communist-duped, ungrateful egotist-and while these elements may have been present in the man, obviously he was much more. Lynn gives us precious little of the "more." To add to the book's ineffectiveness, it offers few insights into Chaplin's films themselves. Scrambling for a positive statement about the book, the best thing one can say is that it is rather gracefully-written. In sum, Kenneth S. Lynn's biography of Charlie Chaplin is a one-sided, mean-spirited, entirely unsympathetic book which does no one any good. Not recommended.

One-Sided, Hateful Biography.......2006-01-10

This will be short because much of what I have to say echoes previous reviews. Kenneth Lynn dislikes Chaplin to the the extent that he has written a biography of the man that is patently unfair and one-sided. Lynn is often shameful in attributing hateful and narcissistic motives to as many of Chaplin's career and life decisions as he can. Lynn focuses obsessively on Chaplin's sordid sex life at the expense of his exquisite art. (Lynn doesn't know much about film, it is clear). Lynn writes of Chaplin's political leanings in terms that would make all but red-baiting Joseph McCarthy, the Junior Senator from Wisconsin, blush. Its almost as though through Lynn, McCarthy has returned from the grave. Read this book only if David Robinson's "Chaplin: His Life and Art" remains out of print, and then read it skeptically and as a last resort.

Right Wing Diatribe.......2005-05-30

Two stars because the biography is a thorough life examination & extremely well researched. Is this a biography of Charles Chaplin or a ceaseless right wind diatribe against all things "left"? Lynn sits atop his comfortable ivory tower of academia and deigns to lecture instead of enlighten. Lynn seems infinately more interested in pushing his extremist agenda than he is presenting an understanding of Chaplin's art and genius. Lynn's biography is unprofessional & unscholarly: hateful, insulting, condescending, name calling, accusatory, assumptive and filled with convenient monday morning quarterbacking. He uses words like "seems" "perhaps" "maybe" "apparently" and "possibly" far too often. Lynn feels perfectly comfortable jumping to conclusions and cherry picking his research to support them. I wasn't aware Prof Lynn's expertise extended into analytical pychology & mind reading. Repeatedly, he makes a point of damning with faint praise or blank faced dismissiveness Chaplin's tremendous achievments in comedy, drama and filmmaking. In discussing the Communist witchhunts and blacklisting of several suspected reds, including Chaplin, Lynn's attitude is a rather airy "gotta break some eggs to make an omelete." That Chaplin was, in many ways, a horrid person, is hardly news. His narcissism, dishonesty, unpatriotism toward both Britain & his adopted country, prevarication, petty tyranny, meanspiritness, cheapness, disrespect for his fans, professional ingratitude, bitterness, self loathing, and misogyny have been thoroughly documented. What I was hoping for was a biography that would at least say, "Sure he was a jerk but he was also a brilliant artist." Lynn focuses on the jerk & all but ignores the artist & the reader is poorer for this lack of insight.

The Tramp was a Red!.......2003-12-23

The best thing I can say about this biography by Kenneth Lynn is that counterbalances the 1992 biopic of Chaplin's life. In this film, Robert Downey Jr portrayed Chaplin as an artist-hero who was martyred by the political right. While the Chaplin movie didn't ring particularly true for me, Lynn's biography appears to go too far in the opposite direction. This biography is not about Chaplin the Tramp, Chaplin the filmmaker, Chaplin the comic. Its about Chaplin the sputtering, spastic tyrant, Chaplin the felon, Chaplin the sex fiend, Chaplin the Red.

This book reads more like an indictment than a biography. Lynn makes his case persistently and repetitiously. He grants weight to negative accounts of Chaplin's character while positive accounts are brushed aside, or are relegated to the footnotes. (A typical example: Lynn gives an account of the problematic relations between Chaplin and Brando. Lynn relies on Brando's account of an interaction between the two men, which reveals Chaplin as a petty tyrant. Then, in the footnote Lynn slips in a completely contradictory account of the same incident by another source. The footnoted source, which depicts Chaplin in a much more favorable light, seems far more credible than Brando's. Lynn repeatedly dismisses the veracity of Chaplin's autobiography. But when he comes to Brando - now there's a reliable memoirist!)

In some cases, Lynn delivers jabs at his subject which seem quite pointless (for example, Lynn states that Chaplin "ignorantly" named his Modern Times heroine the Gamin. (the word is correctly spelled gamine). To me, this sort of criticism seems petty and overly personal. In sum, this mean spirited and poorly informed biography of Charlie Chaplin can be safely bypassed. David Robinson's Chaplin biography remains the primary recommendation.

beware: author hates subject!.......2000-01-12

This book is factually wonderful. More details about Chaplin's life are discussed here than in other bios. But, I gradually wondered what it was that was bothering me about the writing. Suddenly it dawned on me. Kenneth Lynn hates Chaplin! I dont know why, but there is an overwhelming sense that he is doing his best to knock Chaplin down wherever he can, but Chaplin's genius is always sticking it to him in the end. Read with the knowledge that the author is in no way in love with his subject (a strange concept to be sure) this book can be read through and enjoyed with reservations. Without realizing this fact though, the reader can get a very unfair view of Chaplin.

Average customer rating:

Charlie Chaplin and His Times

Manufacturer: Aurum Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1854105558

Charlie Chaplin and His Times: Library Edition

Average customer rating:

Charlie Chaplin and His Times: Library Edition
Kenneth S. Lynn
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

Entertainers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0786113405

Average customer rating:

Charlie Chaplin and His Times

Manufacturer: Aurum Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HJTP8W

Charlie Chaplin: His Reflection in Modern Times

Average customer rating:

Charlie Chaplin: His Reflection in Modern Times
Adolphe Nysenholc
Manufacturer: Mounton de Gruyter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OLQJ1E

Book Description

From security training simulations to war games to role-playing games, to sports games to gambling, playing video games has become a social phenomena, and the increasing number of players that cross gender, culture, and age is on a dramatic upward trajectory. Playing Video Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences integrates communication, psychology, and technology to examine the psychological and mediated aspects of playing video games. It is the first volume to delve deeply into these aspects of computer game play. It fits squarely into the media psychology arm of entertainment studies, the next big wave in media studies. The book targets one of the most popular and pervasive media in modern times, and it will serve to define the area of study and provide a theoretical spine for future research.

This unique and timely volume will appeal to scholars, researchers, and graduate students in media studies and mass communication, psychology, and marketing.

Six-Hundred Endings (Cadogan Chess Books)
Average customer rating:
Six-Hundred Endings (Cadogan Chess Books)
Lajos Portisch
Manufacturer: Pergamon Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Chess | Board Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0080241379

Six-Hundred Endings
Average customer rating:
Six-Hundred Endings
Lajos Portisch
Manufacturer: Pergamon Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OGJC90

Book Description

So much of what is commonplace today was once considered impossible, or at least wishful thinking. Laser beams in the operating room, cars with built-in guidance systems, cell phones with email access. There's just no getting around the fact that technology always has, and always will be, very cool. But technology isn't only cool; it's also very smart. That's why one of the hottest technological trends nowadays is the creation of smart homes. At an increasing rate, people are turning their homes into state-of-the-art machines, complete with more switches, sensors, and actuators than you can shake a stick at. Whether you want to equip your home with motion detectors for added security, install computer-controlled lights for optimum convenience, or even mount an in-home web cam or two purely for entertainment, the world is now your oyster. Ah, but like anything highly technical, creating a smart home is typically easier said than done. Thankfully, Smart Home Hacks takes the guesswork out of the process. Through a seemingly unending array of valuable tips, tools, and techniques, Smart Home Hacks explains in clear detail how to use Mac, Windows, or Linux to achieve the automated home of your dreams. In no time, you'll learn how to turn a loose collection of sensors and switches into a well-automated and well-functioning home no matter what your technical level may be. Smart Home Hacks covers a litany of stand-alone and integrated smart home solutions designed to enhance safety, comfort, and convenience in new and existing homes. Kitchens, bedrooms, home offices, living rooms, and even bathrooms are all candidates for smart automation and therefore are all addressed in Smart Home Hacks. Intelligently written by engineering guru and George Jetson wannabe, Gordon Meyer, Smart Home Hacks leaves no stone unturned. From what to purchase to how to use your remote control, it's the ultimate guide to understanding and implementing complete or partial home automation.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting and Informative reading........2007-02-20

I am very into the X-10 gadgets and have been for several years. This book was intended for the average homeowner interested in inexpensive home security. The only thing it lacks is diagrams and layouts for the systems it covered.

Very Interesting Book: So many ideas, so little money!.......2006-03-16

This book presents a great variety of ideas for using the X10 protocol. I'm sure every reader will find several ideas or projects interesting enough to try.

Although I've been using X10 products for over five years, I have found this book to be a very useful reference. What I like about it is that it starts off with the very basics and move through to the esoteric ... something for everyone.

I recommend this book to the beginner or to the experienced. I'm glad I bought it: I refer to it all the time.

Occasional gem, but disappoints overall.......2006-02-06

"Smart Home Hacks" provides a basic introduction to X10-based home automation, a technology that's been around since the 1970s. For the most part, the book just scratches the surface of the subject and often goes off on unrelated tangents, such as an example of how to build a robot lawnmower. What's missing is a more comprehensive overview of X10-compatible modules and the different ways they might be used to solve home automation problems. For example, irrigation is a very practical application that's ideal for a computer, and there are X10-based models, such as the Rain8 made by WGL designs. But the author chooses to ignore irrigation because of a perceived flooding hazard, even though the Rain8 has an internal limiter that shuts off the water even if no X10 "off" signal is received. Many pages are devoted to computer automation systems sending text-base messages, but no mention is made of voice-based solutions which are much more practical and cost-effective. The newer software applications that are available are impressive but it's amazing how primitive the available hardware is. The book fails to mention one of the biggest obstacles to X10 deployment: the need for a "neutral" (white) wire in household wiring. Since most light switches are wired with a simple 2-wire loop-back for economic reasons, it would require expensive re-wiring to use X10 switches. And, unless I missed it, it fails to discuss the problem of X10 signals not being passed to the "other side" of typical 2-phase house wiring. Only a passing mention is made to the new INSTEON technology that improves upon the old X10 protocol. So, although the book appears to be "current" it reads like it was written five years ago. "Smart Home Hacks" works best as sort of an idea cookbook. You'll find yourself bouncing around from one "recipe" to another but often finding most cool ideas can't be cooked up because of various obstacles (cost, permits, electronic expertise, obscure hardware, and so on).

SMART HOME HACKS: Tips & Tools for Automating Your House.......2005-09-15

SMART HOME HACKS: Tips & Tools for Automating Your House
Gordon Meyer
O'Reilly Media Inc.
ISBN: 0-596-00722-1

For years we have heard of how computers can provide benefits around the house. Television news programs show research labs using computers in conjunction with special equipment for recording or controlling test. I have often wondered, "How is this accomplished?"

Smart Home Hacks introduces you to previously hidden benefits our computers can provide. With software available for Macintosh and other operating systems we learn to control many items in and around our home from our computer's CPU.

How is this done... using the existing 120 VAC wiring in our walls to transmit and receive signals via X10 transmitter and receivers around your house. Whether controlling 12 volt landscaping lights, the timing cycles for your pool pump, or simply turning lights and sound on and off for security reasons, from the ground up Gordon Meyer's Smart Home Hacks explains the process.

Your computer can send messages to your cell phone, pager, or e-mail account. Driveway lights can be set to come on and remain on for a given period of time, and sprinkler systems can be controlled by your home computer. Meyer takes readers from the basics of X10 codes to starting your hot tub and having it ready when you get home.

For those wanting a computer to work for them this book even shows you how to monitor and plot heating oil fuel consumption. With broadband Internet service you can monitor Fido's actions when you are away from the house by adding video camera(s) and a link to the Internet.

To add cost effectiveness to a home, SMART HOME HACKS: Tips & Tools for Automating Your House is a great addition to a home library. Additionally, it should be considered as an ideal gift.

All about X10.......2005-03-16

Technical people are always looking for ways that technology can improve and enrich their lives. Smart homes-or home automation-has always seemed like something more from science fiction than science fact. However, after reading this book, the truth is that creating a smart home is easier and far less technical than most people think. This book provides the reader with 100 tips or things that can be done (some quite easy, some might take longer to complete) to automate your home.

Contrary to what you might think, much of what you can do with home automation doesn't require your home to be re-wired. Instead, much of what you might want to accomplish (like having your computer automatically turning on or off lights in the house while you're on vacation) can be done very easily through X10 modules. X10 modules are relatively inexpensive components which can send signals over power lines. Once you understand X10, many of the more straightforward hacks in this book make a lot of sense.

Other projects you'll find in this book include a home monitoring system, a smart sprinkling system, sending messages of what's happening at home to a cell phone or pager, and even controlling your home from a web browser. While some of these projects may sound a bit Orwellian, they are actually very interesting and can make your home a safer place to live. Instead of becoming a victim when a toilet or washing machine overflows, you can put preemptive measures in place to be alerted before a problem occurs.

This is a very interesting book and a must read if you've ever considered home automation. Not only will this book step you through some projects, but it will give you some excellent ideas for the future. I enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it.

Book Description

More than 12 million American men and women entered the U.S. armed forces during World War II, and millions more worked and sacrificed at home to help the Allied cause to defeat the Axis powers. At the close of the war, America had become the leading nation on the global stage, and its veterans returned home to forge a vibrant postwar society. Written under the direction of two distinguished historians, The World War II Desk Reference explains in clear prose, backed by rosters of statistics, time lines, and maps, the global cataclysm that was World War II.

But this volume is not a typical almanac. With material ranging from battlefronts to important military commanders to armaments, among the backdrop of all the necessary political, social, and economic factors, Douglas Brinkley and Michael E. Haskew's reference will prove invaluable to readers. Photographs, lists, time lines, tables, glossaries, and maps encapsulate many pieces of complicated information, making The World War II Desk Reference immensely browsable. The book also includes a helpful resource on national World War II monuments, organizations, and museums.

Throughout the book, you'll find oral histories culled from several sources, including the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans, which holds the world's largest repository of valuable letters, journals, and other war-related records. Excerpted from those who fought on both sides, these accounts add a deeply touching, profoundly personal dimension seldom found in other books on World War II.

In a modern world plagued by terrorism, dictators, and weapons of mass destruction, Brinkley and Haskew's seminal work reminds us that America's role in World War II led to a truly monumental victory. For World War II enthusiasts, history buffs, and anyone interested in our nation's history, this is the one book to own.

Customer Reviews:

The World War II Desk Reference.......2004-06-18

At last! A reference that includes all the major topics relating to World War II and not just the military and political history. I was 10 when Germany entered Poland and 16 when the war ended. Yet, at that young age, I followed the war assiduously. I listened to nightly newscasts and read the local newspaper accounts, even making scrapbooks of the war's progress. The Desk Reference of World War II recently published by Harper Collins is the best single reference to that epochal struggle. There have been many books published on the years 1939 to 1945, many dealing with the military campaigns and other with the causes or other specific aspects of the war. This book is not a narrative,although some chapters chronicle the material in story form. Rather, it is a reference; and what a reference it is. The 33 maps are excellent and easily followed. Numerous tables detail a wealth of information. Whatever topic of the war interests you, you will probably find it here. Timelines outline the major events from 1918 to 1950, the political history from 1918 to 1945, and the holocaust. The causes of the war are discussed. Other chapters relate how the countries -- allies and axis -- paid for the war. Treaties, pacts, alliances, charters, and conferences describe how the countries of europe made decisions relating to peace and war, land and aid from Versailles at the end of world War I to the end of the second World War.
Brief accounts sketch the politicians, dictators, military personnel, spies, and propagandists on both sides of the war. Maps, tables, and narrative provide an excellent overview of the military campaigns in Europe, Africa, and Asia. It's all here: military arms and eqjuipment, how the home front in the major participating countries of the war coped and maintained morale. This book even deals with the arts: books, films, songs, visual art, and entertainers.
Perhaps the most enlightening feature of this volume is its equal treatment of both protagonists and antagonists. Anyone interested in World War II will want to add this volume to their library and refer to it frequently.

Average customer rating:

The World War II Desk Reference
Douglas; Eisenhower Center for American Studies Brinkley
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEOQ66

A New Face on the Countryside: Indians, Colonists, and Slaves in South Atlantic Forests, 1500-1800
Average customer rating:
A New Face on the Countryside: Indians, Colonists, and Slaves in South Atlantic Forests, 1500-1800
Timothy Silver
Manufacturer: Cambridge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000W2YRVO

Book Description

Georges Canguilhem (1904-1995) was one of France's foremost historians of science. Trained as a medical doctor as well as a philosopher, he combined these practices to demonstrate to philosophers that there could be no epistemology without concrete study of the actual development of the sciences and to historians that there could be no worthwhile history of science without a philosophical understanding of the conceptual basis of all knowledge. A Vital Rationalist brings together for the first time a selection of Canguilhem's most important writings, including excerpts from previously unpublished manuscripts and a critical biography by Camille Limoges.

A VITAL RATIONALIST: SELECTED WRITINGS FROM GEORGES CANGUILHEM. Edited by François Delaporte

Average customer rating:

A VITAL RATIONALIST: SELECTED WRITINGS FROM GEORGES CANGUILHEM. Edited by François Delaporte
Georges. Canguilhem
Manufacturer: Zone Books,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VZILHS

Book Description

This is the first book to examine the link between international and national environmental institutions. It examines this link in depth by analyzing the making and implementation of North Sea pollution commitments. The author develops two models generating different propositions aimed at distinguishing the significance of institutions from other explanatory factors. The key to understanding the success of international institutions in the North Sea cooperation lies in the balancing of hard legally binding and soft politically acting institutions in the same issue-area. He goes on to show the extent to which different national institutions in Norway, the Netherlands and the UK are suited to implement the North Sea commitments.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books