just a good, engaging yarn about people you want to know ...
582287
I missed the series when it was on television, but wondered about the buzz.  Now I know--part history, part soap opera, part sociological study.  But most of all, just a good, engaging yarn about people you want to know better.
4662350
I have been reading this apparently out of sequence but that doesn't hurt too much.  I find the characters to be genuine and people that I would enjoy getting to know. Keep 'em coming!
3052541
A good 'Bodice Ripper' type yarn that rises above the pack by its attention to historical detail and some good twists in the number of people that die!

An excellent read and I devoured it in a couple of nights.  I wanted to shake the two lead characters with their 'will I or won't I (have sex)" but in the overall scheme of the book it actually fitted well.

A good buy at this price so grab it quick.
1157554
A great light weight yarn which hooks you in and transports you to the believable world of school politics! Great read
2548772
As usual there are,characters that catch your interest in a good story
2110229
A great yarn set in a historical context. As long as you can accept it as just that it is a quite enjoyable read.
3815037
For those readers who enjoy a long romp through families and history, this book fits the bill.  The characters are well drawn and engaging. The history is fairly well researched but as presented a bit dull, (I have my MA in medieval history although I do not work as an historian.)  The Middle Ages are an incredibly fascinating period of time and I would have appreciated a bit more background about the political climate during the time covered in the narrative.  But it is a good read.  One of those books to curl up with and enter a world so different from your own that you lose yourself.
995781
I'm a female who has no interest in sports, so you wouldn't think this book would appeal to me.  However, I love a good yarn about a group of memorable, loveable people pulling together to save their team and their town, and searching for love in its many forms along the way, and this book was that.  But baseball fans would love it, too.  I hear the author has written a sequel.  I will be among the first in line to read about the ongoing lives of Tommy Lee, Dutch, the Chief, Billie Jo, and my personal favorite, Bruce Kelly, the wise and caring newspaperman.
2975994
This was quite an entertaining read - more about the people after the end than the end itself. The characters are likable, if a bit flat - but that fits with the story. After the end of all things, what good is a rich backstory? What good is a personality? You are a gun, or you are dog meat. In Hig's case, he is a pilot, burdened by memory. There are flashes of action, but don't expect The Walking Dead. There are brief moments if humor, and brief moments of despair.
The writing is colorful, engaging, and mostly accessible. There is an odd lack of quotation marks, as if written by a man who has lost need of fancy convention. It fits the story. Some trade-specific vocabulary may pause you, but it won't distract from the story,
402642
A fun read, and a great peek into the news business. The characters are well drawn and perhaps you'll feel, as I did,that you know a few of them from somewhere....(could it be off cable tv?). A book to enjoy. You might learn a few (political?)  things, too.
1065313
Well written, engaging book that makes a potentially dry subject an enjoyable read.
120074
This book draws you into knowing the characters.  It is not an exciting book, but one that you read to find out about the people involved.
3052615
Clearly the author has a personal relationship with many of the people who served on the ship...I felt like I was talking with good friends and hearing their stories firsthand.  (If he really doesn't he faked it well).  The writing style was very conversational - it made it an easy read.  As another reviewer noted, it would have been nice if the pictures were more clear, but who knows the reason for that - age, production process, paper type?  Not being a history buff I sometimes felt lost in the details, but at the same time, since I'm not a big history buff I got a lot of fascinating information in a very compact book.  The people whose stories were told will live on - and that's a fabulous reason for a book.
2556555
Never read this author before, but now I want more about these interesting people.  I liked the Senator who was on the "wrong side" of the issue best, and frankly, so did most of the other characters in the book.  Even the "good guy" president has plenty of personal regrets that should keep him up at night, and it would be interesting to see which of them come back to haunt him in future novels.  At first I was skeptical that one of the key attorneys would allow himself to be adverse to his own daughter in a higly publicized trial.  But this device revealed a tenderness and complexity not always seen in such committed people, and also moved the plot along rather nicely, so Patterson can easily be forgiven.  How refreshing to close a book with conflicting and changing reactions to the people in it!
While I really enjoyed the people in this book, the reason I picked it up in the first place was to see how someone could write a cogent novel about such a politically charged issue as abortion.  Patterson succeeded pretty well, no, very well.  While his pro-choice bias is evident, he really does present the pro-life views with some understanding and sympathy.
So, while the incidence of abortion as a core issue in the lives of the characters is quite a bit higher than in the general public, this book is a pretty credible summary of the diversity of opinion on abortion in this country.  It is also a great insight into the complexities of Washington politics and the labrynth of judicial appointments.  Most of all, it's a great yarn, and filled with people you would not mind knowing better.
204339
Not expecting much, I picked this up, but found it really engaging as well as interesting.  There is also a triteness to counter culture, like two year olds who go against whatever, and people who become known seem often to have an obviousness.  Although a few years younger than Patti, I found many of her experiences were familiar, as were the way she relates her sense of the times.  I read the same Rimbaud books, saw similar kinds of people, hung out on 10th St, Central Park, etc, and her observations rang true, and fresh with feeling. There was that disconnect with the conventions and values of the establishment, the boredom of their lives that made one move in other directions.  Her genuine curiosity and poetic sensibility moved her in a new one.  Sympathetic, original, a surprise.  A very informative and honest read.  Attuned.
634459
I normally don't review items, especially books, since it's pretty difficult to gauge anonymous people's opinions on any form of media or entertainment. With that said, I enjoyed this book. I think as an oral history, it did the job pretty well. Quite a bit of it flowed like a conversation; several of the players from these shows talking about a subject, then someone would mention another topic, character, experience, etc., which then leads to some more related anecdotes. Reading first hand accounts of these actors' and producers' experiences helps round out your rosy view of your childhood memories, and that's what we're really looking for out of this, right?

Like another reviewer mentioned, focusing on the business side of the Nick back then, on the rise of it as a cable channel and the business model it forge is really interesting, but that, to me, seems more like a Wikipedia thing; more of something to look up rather than to digest. I think I'd rather have the oral history focus on the players that directly influenced my experience of the shows.

And for those who complain about not knowing many of these people by their real name, and not knowing their connection to which show or what role they played in the network; I get it. I admit that I'm not too familiar with everyone, but there is an index in the back that explains who everyone is. I would suggest anyone who hasn't read this yet to flip through that before reading. The true fans, though, probably know who most, if not all, of these people are already, so it's not that necessary for this group.

Overall, I think it's a really fun book, giving voices to old friends we watched grow up as we navigated through our own childhoods.
1497187
This is a believable, insightful yarn based in a real world setting spun by an author who has "been there - done that". Most can identify with each character as someone they know or have met and not necessarily in the service. Sit back and enjoy it. Be prepared to gain some insight and to be intellectually challenged in the process. ENJOY.