Douglas's career through his own eyes
586149
This book offered a unique opportunity to see a number of personally important and particularly illustrative cases through John Douglas's eyes. Unfortunately, it seems difficult for Douglas to leave behind his bias and write for the reader rather than himself. There are some sections of the book that drag on far longer than they need to and while I appreciate their importance to him as a reader I'm simply not as invested as he is.

He's also very clear and up front about his own philosophy of crime, its causes, and its related ethics. I often found myself disagreeing with him but he presents this material in way that's well reasoned, well argued, and only approaches abrasive without actually crossing the line. I appreciated his restraint and as a result can respect his opinions even if I don't agree with them.

Overall I think this was one of the more informative books to come out of the Investigative Support Unit, though it wasn't one of the more cohesive and poetic works.

Kindle edition: This book isn't in Topaz format but there's a strange glitch that makes the text appear one size larger than the actual setting. It's well formatted otherwise but do be aware that you'll likely need to bump the text size down a notch.
4465674
Living in Brazil, I can't remember exactly how I happened to find this  book. The important aspect is that I found it, I read it and even some  years later I still carry some passages in my mind, so I have to regard  this book as a good one.
It is a kind of autobiographical narrative of  the youth of Mr. William O. Douglas, who later in life became a Supreme  Court Judge in America.
An interesting aspect, is that later I learned  that as a Judge, Mr. Douglas would very often give shelter to the 5th.  Amendment in his sentences, and by reading the book, we can sort of  understand how his personality and his passion for freedom was formed many  years before.
It is a first person narrative of his early years as a  child and later as young man, and we can clearly understand his respect for  wildlife and independence in a human's being life.
Recalling his early  expeditions as a boy in nearby mountains, Mr. Douglas describes us the  forests, rivers and rainbow-trouts of his youth. At a certain time I  started to think there was too much information about trout-fishing, but we  should always forgive and understand a man when he decides to tell us about  his childhood. :)
This book is not about the Supreme Court Judge, but on  the contrary, it is about the poor boy who grew under the mountains and  borrowed some of their magnificent dignity from them.
I hope to read  some of Mr. Douglas' Law writings one day, so I can finally understand the  whole man and close this chapter. But this will still take some years, and  until then, all I can say is that I have nice memories from this book. By  the way, a pretty hard to find book.
1050651
Kirk Douglas' memories of the McCarthy era could well be a cautionary tale.  Fact is, that human beings have not changed that much over the decades and such abuses of power are not unlikely in this century.  Douglas narrates his decisions to give credit to blacklisted authors during the reign of the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities.  This is important, but not so important as what it suggests:  When fanatics have great power, none are secure.
I applaud Mr. Douglas and all that he has done.  His films have been among the best and this book should be required reading for all political science students.
3303653
Colorful and intriguing tale of David's life and career, told in his own inimitable style. Especially recommended for readers who remember him from the original KUNG FU series, or enjoy today's updated version of the series.  Despite his reputation as one of Hollywood's "bad boys", particularly in his younger days, David has mellowed in recent years.  He pulls no punches and is almost brutally honest in many places, but he applies this same straightforward honesty to his own failures and shortcomings, so it's not just another "look how everyone has screwed me over" story.
4460907
Wonderful to see the recollections of men who grew up playing sport for the enjoyment of others. Ted Williams is a legend. This book shed light on some of those he loved, trusted and respected. Insightful and easy to read.
1154188
Though Dave Douglas is an expert trumpetist and song writer/arranger, it is because of Chris Potter, the man on sax, that I got this CD.  This is a very nice album and Douglas gives Potter a lot of presence.  Douglas, as others have noticed, derives a lot of influence and inspiration from the Miles Davis small ensembles.  Uri Caine is also a talent on the keyboards, his own solo and ensemble recordings are something to persue if not familiar with yet.  Chris Potter can also be found as member of Dave Holland's band and his own band recordings.
2609898
There is some familiar ground covered here, but not so much that it felt like a retread, only enough for people who are unfamiliar with who he is to be brought up to speed.  It was pretty much exactly what I had hoped for and expected.  The only downside, as it is with most audio books, is it's not read by the author.  Other than that, I thought Shawn gave a very honest, often very specific and introspective account of how he went from growing up in a nominal Catholic family, to for all intents and purposes, Catholic in name only, to both his and he's wife's conversions to Christianity.  I've watched all the WWE produced stuff on Shawn, as well as read his other book, and even seen a RF video shoot interview with Shawn, and this is a fabulous addition if you share Shawn's world view, which I do.  He addresses a lot of specifics troubles he had trying to navigate through the landmines of life as a celebrity in a business that is often viewed as low brow entertainment.  I was very happy to hear how well thought out his decisions were and that he was sincere with God as his primary focus in his decision making.
693442
I liked the way they saw him through his life.  The reflections on th times as well as diff. times in his life
3306045
A detailed look into the real life experience of a real competitor. He shares his daily activities as well as his inner most thoughts.
2526243
have been a fan of the DUKE my adult life, (now 87 years) have viewed all his films, including the obscure ones, watch all that are played on t.v. every time, but this is the first time i've found a book that clearly outlines what his life was like and how he died. being an army vet with over 20 years of service, i don't have a problem with him not serving during the war. he did mor good for the american cause as a movie star than he probably would have as a warrior. i would highly recommend this book to all his fans, and i will probably read met of eymans books.
3288436
Dick Van Dykes autobiography is an essential read for his fans.  As he promises in the introduction, he does not dish Hollywood gossip although there are a few interesting tidbits.  According to DVD, his rise to fame was incredibly lucky, but this reader suspects his incredible talent is what really opened doors.  He seems down-to-earth and appears to have retained his Midwestern values.  He is honest about his personal failings, including the end of his long-term marriage and battles with alcoholism.  The book is easy-to-read, and one can almost hear DVDs voice telling the story.  One cant help but wonder whats in Danville, Illinois water to produce so many enduring talents, including Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Van Dyke, Donald OConnor, Bobby Short, and Gene Hackman.
783085
Abraham Lincoln was a great President.  Where he falls on your list is a private judgment, but most put him at or near the top.  It is true that there is a more vocal element of detractors nowadays, but those voices tend to also advocate versions of America that most of us would not recognize nor care to legitimate.  This volume begins with Lincoln as a young man of twenty-three beginning political career.

The letters are quite interesting and cover a range of topics.  It is interesting to note his private correspondence on various topics such as the Mexican War and compare those notes to his public speeches.  While he is clearly a politician and aware of the need to garner votes, he uses his powerful intellect to find the line that will hold to his principles and still be convincing to the electorate.

This volume culminates with the seven famed Lincoln - Douglas debates when those two candidates contended for a seat in the Senate representing Illinois.  Remember, this was before Senators were directly elected.  These were debates to win popular support, but also to show political viability so when the public selected the legislature, the legislature would choose the preferred candidate for the Senate.  These debates received national attention, which pleased both candidates.  The format was this: first speaker for one hour, response by the second speaker for an hour and a half, the first speaker responds for a half hour.  They alternated who spoke first with each debate.  They went after each other directly with challenges, personal attacks, interruptions, and appeals to the crowd.  Can you imagine any of our candidates even attempting such a risky format nowadays?

As I read the debates, Douglas seems to be a panderer and clearly supporting slavery in a way that seems odd for someone seeking office in Illinois.  However, he was really positioning himself for the Presidency.  Stephen Douglas did become Senator while Lincoln did not.  However, two years later, Douglas did not get nominated as a candidate for President and Lincoln won the Presidency.

This great volume has a chronology of Lincoln's life and notes on the texts and an index.
272265
Impressive collection of stories that give the reader an intimate look at the real man. While not always flattering, it was obvious the Bruce himself wanted the truth to be told, warts and all. Some might be disillusioned by some of the stories, particularly those that describe his relationship with his bandmates. The real story, though, is the way Carlin ties a deeply flawed childhood to Bruce's decisions as an adult. I came away with a better way of worshiping The Boss - not just for his ability to write and perform deeply relatable songs, but for being an honest and flawed supertalent who doesn't hide behind his celebrity.
3819179
This book is comprised of profiles of four leading Supreme Court Justices during the (roughly) 1940's through 1970's period.  The author suggests he is dissatisfied with judicial biographies because they do not focus on the "dual nature" of the Court--i.e., the Court speaking through not only majority opinions but also via the individual justices involved in contributing to its opinions.  Instead, the author posits the idea of "assessment-seeking judicial profiles" as a superior technique.

The author's approach is highly biographical, with some attention to substantive legal developments, and heavy emphasis is placed upon patterns of interaction, agreement, and dissention.  Each profile runs around 40 pages.  Domnarski pays particular attention to the language of opinions, a task for which he is eminently qualified given his previous important work, "In the Opinion of the Court," which analyzed opinion patterns. I found that this perspective added considerable value to his discussion.  After all, opinions are more than just words, but constitute attempts at persuasion and justification as well as explanation.

The profiles vary in quality and impact.  One problem is that so much has been written already about Black, Frankfurter, and Douglas. As a result, I found the Black and Frankfurter profiles, while interesting, did not provide new information or perspectives on the Justices.  The profile of Robert Jackson, however, is quite impressive, since so little real analysis of Jackson has been written.  Students of Jackson await the promised new biography of him by John Q. Barrett since a suitable judicial biography has been lacking up to this point. Domnarski has dug deeply in the record and produced quite a perceptive portrait of Jackson, though one that is perhaps too critical.  It is hard to believe that Jackson became much more conservative and combative (as to Black and Douglas) after he was passed over by Truman to be Chief Justice and that this affected his voting patterns.  We shall have to await Barrett's analysis to consider this thesis.

I found the strongest profile to be, surpringly, that of William O. Douglas.  Here the author had to face the problem of so much already having been written on WOD.  Nonetheless, he has produced one of the most interesting discussions of Douglas that I am aware has appeared anywhere.  His reliance upon the Douglas/Walter Murphy oral history interviews, done in the early 1960's, is highly effective; it is delightful to discover that all these transcripts are available on the internet.  While Douglas certainly had his shortcomings, he stands pretty tall after Domnarski's analysis.

The research is quite solid; the notes extensive; an appendix of voting agreement/disagreement statistics is helpful as well.  I think the principal value of the book is for those not familiar with the existing literature on the four justices, because each study packs a lot of information and understanding into a relatively brief amount of space. But even experienced Court watchers can benefit from the author's perceptive discussion of Douglas and especially his suggestive analysis of Jackson.
4934559
I've read some, but not a lot on almost all the cases in this book. I found this fascinating reading, partially because Douglas gives us an edited view into a world most of us are interested in, but really don't want to be immersed in. He has admitted before that his job took a familial and health toll on him, and most of us recognize that we would even be less prepared for what this 'world' requires of those who work in it.
The stories/cases are especially interesting because of the insight which Douglas can give. I thought the histories of the Ripper and Borden cases were especially good. I had no idea of the historical and social context of the area in London where the Ripper resided, and the lack of forensic evidence does not seem to interfere much with the common sense with which Douglas proposes specific possible suspects.
As others have said, all I read on the Jon Benet murder was from the slanted information given through the media. Plus as a mother, I was horrified by the dressing up of this little girl to look like someone older than she was. Douglas provides a different point of view with validity, that I don't see being portrayed in the media. We definitely should not be trying people though the media...we cannot possibly know all the facts, especially when others involved (including the police, the FBI, friends of the family, etc.) all provide divergent views. I am not sure what I believe at this point, but I think I will reserve judgement in most cases from now on and also curtail my exposure to the news media's take on cases like this...
As usual, Douglas and company write a good, and intelligent book for readers. I get a huge kick out of his snide remarks...he tends to write as he thinks and as he talks, which makes it more accessible.
Karen Sadler,
University of Pittsburgh
3435365
While I enjoyed these memoirs of Doug Harvey, one of the greatest major league baseball umpires in history, as he repeatedly tells his readers, the book is long on self-promotion and short on baseball insights.

The first third, in which he talks about his early years and a bit about developing as a basketball and baseball official, makes for slow reading. When he talks about the major leagues, the book picks up quite a bit, especially when he talks about other umpires and about the players and managers of his era (he was an ump from 1962 to 1992). In fact, I wish he'd talked about the players and other umpires more, and about himself and how great he was less.

Interesting but I've read better umpire books, such as As They See 'Em, for instance. This is not a book I can recommend, though it has its moments.
967222
It's clear that M. J. Simpson knows a lot about the bare facts of Douglas Adams' life, but there is little heart or deep understanding in this biography. Because Douglas Adams is an intrinsically interesting character, the book is still enjoyable enough to read for the anecdotes as well as for its descriptions of Douglas' projects. I found it interesting to read about the many failures or quasi failures that followed the publication of the Hitchiker's books. It just goes to show that talent is often not enough and that success is relative. The author seems to have a strangely forensic delight in finding inconsistencies in different versions of some of the anecdotes surrounding Douglas' life... Which I suppose may be of interest to some, but for me that wasn't really something I was terribly interested in anyway.  Amazingly, even John Lloyd's forward is a bit critical: He writes, "The initial conditions in which Douglas was saddled were rather more trying, I suspect, than the author of this book has been able either to discern or to put in print."

John Lloyd's forward is really quite wonderful, and I would gladly read more material from his hand about "The Big Man." As for this book, I'd say if you enjoy Mr. Adams' books and you're looking for some moderately enjoyable bed-time reading, this isn't such a bad choice.