Trio: Oona Chaplin, Carol Matthau, Gloria Vanderbilt : Portrait of an Intimate Friendship

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Trio of facinating women

A Life of Her Own

Fascinating!

Trio

Trio: Oona Chaplin, Carol Matthau, Gloria Vanderbilt : Portrait of an Intimate Friendship
Aran Saroyan
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0671509195

Customer Reviews:

Trio of facinating women.......2006-05-13

I loved reading this book. It's one of those special books that one can't wait to open again and read more and is sad when it is done. As the other reviewers have written, this book is about a trio of lifelong friends. It is special because it was written by a man, a son, from a female perspective. Once you finish you want to know more about these incredible women, their friends and children, their times and loves. Bravo Aran...Happy Mothers Day!!

A Life of Her Own.......2003-12-10

I found this book, and the friendships of the three women, completely captivating. More than the fame that surrounded them, what entranced me was their enduring friendship. I thought Aram Saroyan's grasp of women's relationships unusually astute and loving.
After reading TRIO, I found myself looking for more information about all three of the main characters. I recommend this often, and even purchased an additional copy just to loan out.

Fascinating!.......2003-06-27

This is a fascinating book about three fascinating women who had been best friends since childhood. One woman, Gloria Vanderbilt, has a reputation that speaks for itself. Oona is the daughter of Eugene O'Neill, and she married Charlie Chaplin, who was decades older than she was. They had a long and happy marriage, and many children together. Carol Matthau's first husband was William Saroyan, and she is the mother of the author. After a disastrous first marriage, she married Walter Matthau before he was either rich or famous. Collectively, the three young women personified the concept of synergy, of one plus one plus one adding up to much more than simply three. They all were the debutantes of Cafe Society in New York in that happy moment just after the end of World War II, the favorites of the gossip columns of that era. Aram Saroyan has written a touching valentine to his mother and her best friends.

Trio.......2000-02-24

I'm just about finished with this book and it's fascinating. The book starts with the three girls as teenager's and you soon realize that these famous women are very human just like the rest of us. They deal with love, relationships, children, and careers. Granted, they started out on a higher monetary level (for the most part) and associated and socialized with the more privileged, but their fears, woes, etc. were the same as anyones.

Trio: Oona Chaplin, Carol Matthau, Gloria Vanderbilt, Portrait of an Intimate Friendship

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Trio: Oona Chaplin, Carol Matthau, Gloria Vanderbilt, Portrait of an Intimate Friendship
Aram Saroyan
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIXH26

Customer Reviews:

useful, informative for theatrical costumer.......2002-02-08

I was very excited to get this book as there doesn't seem to be much written on period menswear.This is an excellent book for theatrical costumers (the section on pattern sizing is particularly useful). However, the serious student or historic re-creator will be frustrated by the theatrical conventions of some of the patterns...the 18th century breeches come to mind. For these, I would recommend _Costume _Close_Up for graghs of actual 18th century garments. Still, with this caveat, this is one of the books that I have been "hanging out with" lately.

Great for pattern drafting.......2000-02-26

I found this to be a great book for the person who loves to draft patterns. Being a costume/fashion design student and an excellent pattern drafter, the books instructions are very easy to follow and understand. Although it gives somes tips on contstruction in certain areas of the garment, I wish books of this nature would offer more construction information.

Book Description

A revealing biography of the little-known private life of this famous child star whose family set the style for many other stage parents who found fame and fortune through their child's stardom. It is also the rare instance when one major child star (Baby Peggy) employs her own hard-won insight in exploring the career and family woes of the most famous child star of the them all. This is the first published study of Coogan's life.

Customer Reviews:

Life of Jackie.......2007-04-03

This was a good book and easy and fast to read. It mainly focuses on the very early film making of Jackie, and then goes into his later years. The only thing that makes me wonder about authors of these biographies (of which I read MANY), is when their information is not correct, and then I wonder a bit what else might be not quite the truth. In this respect, I refer to a couple of references which the average reader might say "who even cares", but what I am saying here is that if this information is incorrect, then what else hasn't been researched thoroughly or completely and happens to be wrong? Are we getting the real truth? My questions here refers to when Jack Coogan died, and the author says that he was buried at Calvary Cemetery in Culver City. Calvary is in East L.A. (where Jack is), and Culver City is where another Catholic cemetery is located. So we have not good research here. Then, after Jackie died, the book says he was "laid to rest at Holy Cross Mausoleum, near the crypt that held the remains of Jack Coogan Sr." But before it says he's at Calvary, now it's Holy Cross. And I do happen to know the truth. Jack is at Calvary, but Jackie is at Holy Cross. So, maybe trivial to some, but like I say, whatother information may not be the real truth. Another bit of the book that disturbed me was when the auto accident happened that killed Jack and injured Jackie. She says that after the accident the mother was notified at 5 PM, and that immediately his stepfather chartered a plane in Los Angeles, which consisted of his mother, their doctor and 4 other people and when they arrived in San Diego they were led by police escort the 59 miles to the acident area. She makes it sounds like this was accomplished in a very brief time period, but honestly, chartering a plane and getting 6 or more people to the airport and flying to San Diego and then driving 59 miles of rugged road would take an awfully long time, many hours I would think. They would have arrived at 2 in the morning or something. This isn't very believable. But it's a good book and I liked it. Jackie was fortunate to live out his life and die a natural, as he lived some pretty fast years.

Jackie Coogan's Life Story.......2004-08-06

Diana Serra Cary was once know as Baby Peggy in the 1920's. Mrs. Cary must have done exhaustive research into the life of fellow child star Jackie Coogan. She also reveals a crime that was committed during Coogan's college years. Jackie Coogan: The World's Boy King is aptly titled. Coogan's parents were Vaudeville actors. Charles Chaplin was searching for a child to work in one of his pictures. Adorable 6 year old Jackie got the part. Until he hit the awkward age, Jackie was making millions of dollars. There were no laws during that era about child labor or whether the child would benefit in adulthood from a working childhood. Jackie was mobbed all over the world. Since the pictures he made were silent, the subtitles could be changed for every country. Naturally, this greatly effected the child. During his teenage years he was in an automobile crash with 3 other people. Jackie was the only survivor. His father had died.
When it came time for Jackie to inherit his trust fund he discovered that he had no right to it under the law. His Mother, now remarried met Jackie in court to fight over his childhood earnings. The public was horrified to learn that Jackie under old fashioned laws was not entitled to one red cent. This is how the famous Coogan law was brought into effect. At this time Jackie was married to Betty Grable. He was terribly cruel to Betty. Continuously drunk one night he urinated all over his wife. Unable to find work because of being black listed by Mayor, Coogan enlisted in the military. Later in life he would become known as Uncle Fester on the Adam's Family.

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10 Easy Lessons Keyboard with CD (Audio)
Gary Turner
Manufacturer: Koala Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1864691093

Product Description

Learn to read and play Keyboard music using the Easy Read music system. Learn chords, chord progressions and over 25 songs using two octaves.

Learn to Play Keyboard for Young Beginners: 10 Easy Lessons with CD (Audio)

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Learn to Play Keyboard for Young Beginners: 10 Easy Lessons with CD (Audio)
Andrew Scott
Manufacturer: Koala Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 1864690178

Product Description

Includes CD, 48 page color booklet and chord poster - for beginners - ideal for young children - no previous musical knowledge or experience necessary - suitable for all types of keyboards - easy to follow lesson by lesson format - play music from the very first lesson - all music examples recorded in stereo onto the enclosed CD so you can hear how each example sounds - play along with the backing band as you learn.

Book Description

Clearly written, amply illustrated guide provides step-by-step directions and full-size patterns for creating over 30 delightful projects — from the simple Vane Whirligig to the intricate Clashing Knights. Figures include Danny the Dinosaur, Doctor Doolittle, Johnny Appleseed, the Dancing Sailor, and the Coo-Coo Bird, among others. Photograph accompanies each finished project.

Customer Reviews:

Not for the experienced.......2001-11-13

This book is good for a young woodworker but if you have woodworking experience the book is too basic. The book spends too much time explaining woodworking tools. Most people who work in wood already know what a band saw is and how it works.

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A classic compendium of Marxist thought.......2007-06-03

Whether or not one is a Marxist, knowledge of Marx' work is important in understanding the variety of political philosophizing over the millennia. Marx' political thought is sometimes difficult (think the "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844") and sometimes transparent (e.g., "The Manifesto of the Communist Party," more popularly referred to as the "Communist Manifesto").

This edited work is one of the best introductions to the works of Marx (and Engels). The volume begins with the early Marx, which includes the "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844," excerpts from "The Holy Family" (in which he attacks some of the other socialists of the era), "Theses on Feuerbach," and the first of the truly classic works that Marx and Engels co-authored, "The German Ideology." It is interesting to note that "The German Ideology" covers much the same territory as "The Holy Family," with the major exception that Marx now addresses the intriguing and offbeat work by Max Stirner, "The Ego and His Own." In the process of addressing Stirner, Marx and Engels take the philosophical edifice to a more powerful level, creating a new perspective with a move away from idealism and toward materialism.

Other major works included are excerpts from "Das Kapital" (fairly turgid reading, I fear), the "Manifesto of the Community Party" (which ends with the famous phrase [page 500]) "The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains."), the "Critique of the Gotha Program," and "The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte" (with its great introductory phrase [page 594] "Hegel remarks somewhere that all great, world-historical facts and personages occur, as it were, twice. He has forgotten to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.").

The final section of the work features the work of Engels, including "Socialism: Utopian and Scientific," "Anti-Duhring," "The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State."

If one be interested in learning more about Marx (and Engels), this is an accessible edited work that provides some of the key works.

Essential Marx, all in one volume.......2007-05-19

If you're looking for a single volume collection of Marx (and a little Engels), this is the one you want. The other reviewers list some of the selections, but the bottom line is: if you've heard of it, it's here. This is the book I keep on my shelf for those (decreasingly common) moments when I want to look up something in Marx.

The only problem lies in the production values - - the pages are thin and light weight, and the font a bit small, in order to cram it all in. If you highlight with a yellow pen, you'll be frustrated because it will bleed through worse than usual. Use a ballpoint pen or a pencil. My eyesight is still good, but if it weren't, I suspect the font size would be another frustration.

Still, if you're browsing this page, you're in the market for Marx. This is the book you want.

Essay: Alienation from Humanity, on Marx and Mill.......2005-06-07

The modern age is a dangerous age, an age in which we might be alienated from that individual independence in work and in mind which defines our humanity. Confronted by this crisis, Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill offer the world diverging solutions: annihilate the existing world and march toward communism, or guard against the dangers of the existing world as we further embrace liberal democracy. Despite these divergent paths which arise from differing views on the driving force of history, both systems aim to rescue the supreme interest of our individual humanity-for Marx, this interest lies in reaching absolute prosperity for the material man, and for Mill, it lies in the search for absolute truth for the idealistic man.

With its emphasis on individuality and diversity, Mill's theory is in a sense more encompassing than Marx's. Mill's theory, however, is fundamentally flawed in comparison to Marx's because of its ignorance of property as a danger against human liberty.

Marx sees in the industrial age the death of the property-less class. This death is brought by the industrial age's five qualities: division of labor, accumulation of capital, competition, financial crisis, and monopoly. In this age, machineries and the division of labor reduce the skillful artisans to the proletariats who merely work on one monotonous element of production. The capitalists who own the machines enlarge their capital by exploiting the proletariat's labor, leaving them only with enough to eat. Competition forces capitalists to lower prices, but this is good only until each factory produces more than demanded and a financial crisis emerges. The small capitalists are reduced to the property-less as millions of workers are swept into deeper hell. Only the biggest capitalist survives, and he becomes the monopolist who can lower wages and raise prices at whim, destroying the lives of all. (Part 1, Bourgeois and Proletarians, Manifesto of the Communist Party)

The above scenario is unavoidable because the accumulation of more capital is the only end of capital. If the capitalist stops investing capital for gains he ceases to be a capitalist, and becomes a mere consumer of goods, enjoying the fruits of old exploitations. Tragically, capital can only increase when it exploits the difference of what labor costs and labor produces, as Marx writes,

"The modern bourgeois private property is the final and most complete expression of the system of producing and appropriating products, that is based on class antagonisms, on the exploitation of the many by the few." (Marx p484)

The rich man sitting in his patio who has inherited a million pound and who lets others manage his money has not done anything to deserve profits, indeed, since he himself did not work, his profits must come from the works of others who he exploits. In the capitalistic system, there exists no pity, only keen self-interest, "all are instruments of labour, more or less expensive to use..." (Marx p479)

The workers might die, but before their body ceases to be exploited, their mind is already died-capitalism has alienated them from their humanity which is defined by their creative productivity. This alienation from our humanity was Marx's greatest worry. Animals make nests and produce goods just as we do, however, as Marx writes,

"...a bee would put many a human architect to shame by the construction of its honeycomb cells. But what distinguishes the worst architect from the best of bees is that the architect builds the cell in his mind before he constructs it in wax... Man not only effects a change of form in the materials of nature; he also realizes his own purpose in those materials." (Chapter 7, Das Kapital)

In order to freely produce as the creativity of his mind directs him and as his productive ability allows, the material man must be endowed with control over the means of production. In the world of private property, however, the workers have turned from the master of production to the slave of the machine-they are reduced to programmed animals that produce merely for the end of survival.

The proletariat can only reassert his humanity by violent overthrowing the capitalists and through the "abolition of private property" (Marx p484). Once in communism, the workers will own the means of production and enjoy the full produces of their labor. He will be motivated to constantly transform the world into a more prosperous kingdom. As Marx writes, "In communist society, accumulated labour is but a means to widen, to enrich, to promote the existence of the labourer." (Marx p485) The abundance of material goods will allow man to work not for survival, but for his own enjoyment. In this society, there will be no family and nor religion, everything is made for the love of all and enjoyed by all. Any vestiges of private interest would result in the return to capitalism with all its evils.

To Mill, the modern life is also threatening because the voice of the majority might alienate men from their individuality. The differentiation of society is essential for the vitality of the society, and this vitality empowers men on their search for truth.

Political debates, according to Mill, have been about striking the balance between the ruler and ruled. It is necessary for the ruled to have a ruler in order to preserve peace and law, yet the elected or unelected ruler's power must be restrained so that he does not abuse it against the ruled. In contrast to Marx's class struggle, this "struggle between liberty and authority" (p59) from Mill is more amiable. In the current era of democratic nations, however, since the ruled are also the rulers, the opposition no longer exists. People feel that all actions taken by the people's government will be good for the people, and hence they lose the old vigilance against the invasion of public power into their private spheres. The voice of the majority becomes the equivalent of the truth and justice.

Mill is worried that this majority voice will obstruct man's search for truth, the attaining of which is the goal of life. Truth is not reached once and then preserved for eternity, it is an organic being with a thousand facets whose survival requires continued inputs of each person's active mind. This truth is the individual treasure of each being, fitting perfectly to his taste and preferences; yet it is also a truth for the whole community, since it is only through the struggles of different truths that humanity as a whole reaches a higher truth-a higher level for the activation of the mind. As Mill writes, "There is always need of persons not only to discover new truths and point out when what were once truths are true no longer" (p71) If the majority religion is the only religion and taste the only taste, then people will no longer think but simply follow; society will be bogged into the swamp of mediocrity with a mind that is dead. Marx also feared the death of the mind, the mind of the creative worker. Despite the differences, both philosophers are concerned about the destruction of man's defining qualities.

To counter this, Mill proclaims that the only defense for "interfering with the liberty of action of any of their number is self-protection." (p68). The government must be restrained in the sphere of public affairs, and individuals shall live as free as they want to following their individual passions.

Marx and Mill both want to regain humanity. In one case, the enemy is the benumbing effects of majority rule, and man's mind for truth is debased forever into mediocrity, in the other case, the enemy comes from the benumbing effects of subjugation to the machine, and the man is turned from the master of production into the slaves of capital.

The core difference between the two theories in practical operation arises from their different views on individuality (both systems serve individuals as their ends, however, individuality, allowing people to be different, are treated differently). For Mill, we must preserve individuality to bring truth (Chapter 3, On Liberty), but for Marx, the destruction of private property is the only task. The communistic society will be a union in which man can "...hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner..." (The German Ideology). This free life of a communist in communism is all good until one day the comrade does not want to be a communist anymore-but he must be one, there is no choice. In Communism, one does not have the individual liberty to have families, nor try to build a little store of private wealth.

On the other side, if someone in Mill's world decides to be a communist, he has the full right to do so. He can even segregate himself away with his friends and enjoy the life of a commune. In another word, Marxism can not destroy Mill's democracy-it will just be one of the many ways of thinking allowed by the system-but Mill's cry for diversity will destroy Marx's world within a second.

Confronted with the above, Marx would reply like he did in the Jewish Question, that the so-called liberty and freedom of the capitalistic world are nothing other than man's desire to keep himself a self-sufficient nomad. As he writes, all the rights of man are simply "the right to enjoy one's fortune and to dispose of it as one will; without regard for other men and independently of society." (Marx, p42) Marx will say that only seeing the superficial political liberation is not to see the deeper human liberation which could only be achieved with the abolition of private property. Marx might not be completely right, but he does stand at a higher ground than Mill in this analysis of property.

Mill in On Liberty is focused solely on avoiding the abuse of power through government, but he ignores the abuses that property owners are capable of against the property-less. In an agricultural society where everyone is equal and land unlimited, the government might be the only thing capable of suppressing individual liberty, but when one sees child-labor and 12 hour work day in modern industrial society, there is no doubt that capital could be a pitiless monster. Even when one ignores the industrial age, and tries to give Mill credit for drawing the best possible life for the pre-industrial man, one still can not avoid noticing the subjugation of the slaves, the suffering of the serfs, and all the other dark stories of the property-less in all the ages previous to the industrial one which Marx gives a full account of.

Marx and Mill were faced with the same modern phenomenal, the danger of been alienated from the defining quality of humanity in the face of a new economic and a new political system. Marx might not have made the best analysis, but he did have a deep understanding of history and the problems in history. He stood at the level of the common people and tried to solve their problems caused by their material desperation. Mill did not stoop to the common people, he looked up into the sky of truth and tried to preserve the march toward truth first embarked on by Plato.

Essential Works Of Marxs & Engels For the Beginner!.......2004-02-25

Given the impact of Marxism on the unfolding history of the later nineteenth and twentieth century, the beginning student of the combined writings of both Marx and Engels will find this collection of the essential works of these two pioneering socialists absolutely essential reading. Its list of included works covers the waterfront of all that is required to gain a fruitful first look at the wealth of their philosophical musings, and the nature of their revolutionary canon, as well. Reading this material is essential if one is to understand the depth of Marx's understanding and the detail of his genius, however discredited he may be in current estimations. Indeed, with the rise of international corporatism is so close to his prognostications regarding the final phases of capitalism that it is hard to deny his continuing relevance.

Included here is everything from the Communist Manifesto all the way to Volume One of Das Capital. One can gain a better appreciation for his ideas regarding the way in which the antagonism between the oppressed and the oppressors provides the motive force for history, and how all history is the history of such class struggles between the owners of the means of production, on the one hand, and the workers, who have nothing to barter with but their considerable capacity to accomplish labor. If one want to gain a better appreciation for the nuances regarding how alienation is created buy the organization of work, or the origin of property, or even the ways in which all of the aspects of a particualr society's culture are manifestations of the values of the ruling class, then a careful reading of the material found here will serve you well. I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!

The best collection we have.......2003-06-07

"The Marx-Engels Reader" is the best single collection of Marx's thought. What makes it doubly important, is that it is one of the few texts which contain an index. This sounds unremarkable, but believe me, it makes the text extremely more useful. This book transcends the state of being a mere anthology, and is an indespensible reference work.

Customer Reviews:

Stars are irrevelant : am giving description of book:.......2006-09-09

from back cover "This volume is designed to provide a coherent amd systematic presentation of the Marxist world outlook as given by the great exponents themselves. It is the first volume devoted exclusively to their philisophical writings, many of which have been scattered through innumerable works.

This book is divided as follows: I: What Marxism is, II: Materialism - Versus Idealistm III: Dialectics and the Dialectical Method IV: THeory and knowledge and the philosphy of science V: THe materialist interpretation of history VI: Religion VII: Ethics Appensix A: The Formative Period. Appendix B: Lenin's philosophical notebooks. "

I got this book for a dialectics class taught by one of the foremost marxist philosophers in the US - B. Ollman.

A Reader on Social Sciences (ABC Of Social And Political Knowledge, 1)

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A Reader on Social Sciences (ABC Of Social And Political Knowledge, 1)

Manufacturer: Progress Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ANSOU0

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