Customer Reviews:
Vast detail on a controversial figure.......2007-05-22
I got this book while visiting the Hearst castle which I felt to be so beyond ostentatious as to be offensive. And, truth be told, I read it over months. Not that it was bad. In fact the book was delightful. But there is so much to read about and Hearst is so, well, unimportant!
I have felt for many years--ever more so after visiting the castle--that William Randolph Hearst was the US equivalent of Joseph Stalin. He had more power than he knew what to do with, more control than was reasonable, and less integrity than most. The book didn't surprise me much. If a reader is well informed on, say the Spanish American war, s/he wouldn't be surprised at the quote from Hearst that, you provide me with the photos and I'll provide you with the war. (To that effect).
He was a mass of contradictions. He paid his staff well, better than the other newspapers, but he was also ruthless with critics and opponents. The author stresses that frequently, especially in the last chapter (where, for a second, I thought I was reading a treatise on Hearst's integrity. On the contrary, Swanberg denies that integrity.) But that "compassion" that Hearst seemed to express was to those who played the game according to Heart's rules. And that's the key trait of a hard-core narcissist!
There was perhaps a little less stress on the sensationalist nature of the Hearst press in the text. (And, unfortunately, its low-brow nature I think has affected the nature of American media to this day!) But I don't want to downgrade the text any points as I may have gotten caught up in other details and lost track of that which almost goes without saying.
While I tend to be cynical of the American electorate, the book suggests some items that redeem us: Hearst had run for office (I think he was elected to the House for one term) but he had his eye on the presidency. Not only was he not nominated or elected, but, as the author points out toward the end of the book, to be endorsed by Hearst was almost the political kiss of death. Candidates whom Hearst endorsed were almost sure to lose!
And his self-service also affected his politics: He was ostensibly the candidate of "the little guy" earlier on, but once he reached wealth beyond belief, he was adamantly opposed to things like income tax--while he had supported the concept earlier!
If I have a negative comment on the book, it may be, I confess, due to my preconceptions of Hearst: the author refers periodically (not obsessively) to Hearst as a "genius" because of his business expertise, etc. Well, I contend that if many people had the resources Hearst had, they could "make it" and be proclaimed genius too. Indeed, I'm amazed at Hearst's spending habits. Even deep into the Great Depression, if Hearst saw something he wanted, whether worth $50,000 or $14 million, he got it. And he got it again, for himself, for Miss Davies, his mistress, for his friends (those, again, who played his game). He finally, when things started looking pretty bad, had to sell a few castles and assorted other ostentations.
When the economy came around, he took off again. Big deal. He still had virtually unlimited resources at his disposal so referring to Hearst as a "genius" gives him more credit than he deserves.
The book was full of detail, and there were footnotes on nearly every page lending credibility to the detail.
If you're into Hearst--either love or hate him--I recommend the book. But keep a few things in mind, e.g., Heart's incredible narcissism, and how he virtually destroyed Orson Welles after the release of "Citizen Kane," quite obviously a critique of Hearst. Of course, I can understand why Hearst may have been offended by it, but he had an inordinate amount of power by nature of his wealth and his ability to INFLUENCE through his senstationalist, low brow media. And that's unforgiveable.
Gee-Whiz Emotion.......2007-04-06
William Randolph Hearst, an only child, was born at the time of the Civil War to a successful gold and silver prospector and a former school teacher. His mother had thwarted cultural ambitions and poured all her energy into raising her son. He was a victim of a drastic amount of spoiling, creating an emotionally unsatisfactory human being. All three Hearsts possessed physical vitality.
His father bought the San Francisco Examiner to settle a debt. William's interest in newspapering began with his service on the Harvard Lampoon. He persuaded his father to let him take over the Examiner. The newspaper embraced the gee-whiz emotion. Hearst wooed the masses, not the rich. He surrounded himself with eccentrics including Ambrose Bierce and Joaquin Miller. The newspaper attacked Huntington and the Southern Pacific Railroad.
To staff his New York paper, the Journal, Hearst raided the Pulitzer paper. Hearst had the capacity to offer enormous salaries since his mother had sold her interest in the Anaconda Mine and given him the proceeds. In the presidential election Hearst opted to fight for William Jennings Bryan whom the Wall Street interests hated.
Richard Harding Davis and Samuel Remington, an artist, were sent to Cuba. Remington complained of boredom. Hearst told him to send the pictures and Hearst would furnish the war. Stephen Crane and others covered the Greco-Turkish War.
Newspaper jingoism is evidenced in the Hearst coverage of the Maine disaster. The public was deceived, misled, tricked. Hearst had a fixation about circulation, believing that advertising dollars would follow.
The man was a mass of contradictions. His colossal egocentricity put him at one remove from others. Lincoln Steffens interviewed him five times to penetrate the mystery of his character. He was incurably romantic. Hearst was hobbled by his journalistic recklessness, political unintelligibility, and personal eccentricities in his path through life.
The book, a life and times treatment, is filled with colorful personalities and events.
"I think it would be fun to run a newspaper...".......2005-04-13
Everything I knew about William Randolph Hearst I learned from the movie CITIZEN KANE. So when I found a cheap, second-hand copy of CITIZEN HEARST, I decided to pick it up and educate myself. Not only was this informative, but highly entertaining. A man capable of rousing such fiercely diametric emotions from people reading his biography decades after his death must surely have raised the ire of his contemporaries something fierce. It is with very mixed emotions that the modern reader comes to understand the events of Heart's life, but those feelings probably aren't a million miles away from what was felt at the time. While reading this biography I kept leaping between admiration and loathing for the subject -- an experience I've never quite had before.
My copy of CITIZEN HEARST is over six hundred pages and written in a smaller than average font size. Yet, as the biographer points out, with the sheer amount of stuff that Hearst accomplished (or at least attempted) in his life, it would be easy to dedicate an entire volume just to single individual activities. But, W. A. Swanberg does a great job of summarizing the main details of Hearst's life without being overly superficial. I even enjoyed the opening sections, dealing with William Randolph Heart's childhood. Many times in biographies, this ends up being a list of dates, schools and relatives; yet Swanberg defies the norm and gives the child Hearst an interesting story.
Of course, the main account is everything that Hearst did after his early-twenties, when he took a fancy towards the journalistic world and obtained a newspaper from his wealthy father. Hearst's subsequent ideas of journalism, his later political ambitions (he fixed his sights on the White House, but never did get higher than the United States House of Representatives), and his obsessive collection of art and property are all laid out meticulously and clearly.
And the information imparted is absolutely unbelievably fascinating. We think the media is pretty bad today, but after reading this I realize that the today's Ted Turners and Rupert Murdochs have absolutely nothing on the yellow journalism of that era. Organizing divisions of reporters to arrive at the scene of a crime before the police do or staging an elaborate midnight rescue of a Cuban "princess" from the Spanish army -- can we really imagine Bill O'Reilly or Aaron Brown attempting those ratings stunts?
In addition to detailing Heart's business and political aspirations, Swanberg also delves into an aspect of Heart's life that was brilliantly captured in Orson Welles' portrayal of Charles Foster Kane (the thinly veiled fictionalized version of Heart himself). Just as Welles' character was a ruthless and ambition man, who is also shown happily spending hours using silly shadow puppets to entertain a sad, lonely girl, Swanberg introduces us to a serious, focused, cutthroat and dangerous man who was exceedingly soft-spoken, kind on a personal level and who would easily break into goofy vaudeville-style dances to amuse his friends.
This biography not only informed me, but also got me curious on a variety of related subjects that I intend to study further. I knew almost nothing, for example, about Hearst's intervention in the lead up to the Spanish-American War (Swanberg practically gives him sole credit for the entire enterprise). Now, I'm dying to read more about it.
This is definitely one of the best biographies I've read, though certainly not about one of the best people. Based on the information provided, Hearst was an impossible man to pin down and understand. Swanberg posits a metaphor of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hearst could be one man around some people, the other in different circumstances. In any case, this biography would appear to be an almost impossible task, and yet Swanberg has done a yeoman's service. I'd recommend this even to someone with no interest in the area because the writing and the subject are just too compelling.
Good Book - Bad Man.......2002-02-23
It isn't often that one reads a well-respected, full-length biography of a prominent American personality, only to put the book down with a newfound, passionate and complete disgust for the central character. That is how W.A. Swanberg's 1961 classic "Citizen Hearst" made me feel about William Randolph Hearst. I can say that about no other biography I've ever read.
Indeed, the derogatory adjectives that apply directly to William Randolph Hearst are virtually inexhaustible: irresponsible, pampered, egotistical, hypocritical, lascivious, presumptuous, adulterous, rapacious, etc. One searches in vain for admirable or redeeming qualities in Hearst. Even supposed acts of benevolence and charity - which usually centered on the one thing that meant nothing to him, money - always seem to smack of insincerity and self-interest. None of this, of course, is meant to detract from Swanberg's phenomenal account of the publisher's life, which is truly engrossing and highly recommended by this reader.
Hearst was born in the lap of luxury and never knew the value of a dollar earned by a day's work, yet for over half-a-century he fashioned himself the defender of the common man and was a leading voice in Progressive politics. Far from creating a profitable media empire, Hearst's newspapers lost money at a staggering rate for well over a decade (Swanberg's account is frustrating in that he never clarifies exactly when Hearst's efforts turned profitable). The simple secret of Heart's success was that his deceased father's mines could churn out precious metal at a faster pace than he could squander the profits on his newspapers and chasing the chimera of the presidency. He took a mistress half his age when he was in his fifties and married with five children, and devoted all his immense energy and resources into making her the biggest film star in the world, despite her rather limited talent. An early hero to the radical left, in old age he reversed course and emerged as one of the earliest and most virulent anti-communists and opponents of the progressive income tax - a measure he once championed.
Swanberg delivers this amazing life in an extremely fluid and engaging - indeed, exciting - narrative. He notes that people have never been able to adequately explain William Randolph Hearst. The instinct was - and still is - to use the world "great" when describing him, but great in what way? Swanberg offers up his own conclusion: Hearst was the greatest loser of his generation. Not exactly a flattering assessment, but nonetheless a very accurate one. In the end, Hearst failed in business, in politics, in marriage, and in the movie business. For better or worse, he left an indelible stamp on the American experience, and for that he should be remembered, if not exactly revered.
FASCINATING MAN-FASCINATING BOOK.......1999-02-23
I call this book a must read for anyone interested in learning about our history during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although its not a history lesson like you would get in school, it is a fascinating look at how W.R.Hearst was able to shape it through his publications. This man was someone who seemed to think that his money supply would never run dry. He spent coutless dollars on art masterpieces and other antiquties. If you have ever been to or just been curious about his castle at San Simeon CA then you will find it entertaining to learn how he went about putting this landmark together. You also get a look into his personal life that is equally interesting. I found this book to be one of those books that really does keep you up at night turning the pages. A well written book indeed.
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Citizen Hearst
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0684145030 |
Average customer rating:
- Darkness At The Edge Of Town
|
Walking Shadows: Orson Welles, William Randolph Hearst, and Citizen Kane (Ray and Pat Browne Book)
John Evangelist Walsh
Manufacturer: Popular Press 3
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Binding: Hardcover
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Citizen Kane
ASIN: 0299205002 |
Book Description
Walking Shadows dramatically dissects the wild, high-profile battle between newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst and famous young actor, director, and filmmaker Orson Welles over Welles’s groundbreaking film Citizen Kane. In 1940 and 1941 it became the center of public controversy and scandal, especially in Hollywood where Welles’s own stark honesty and blatant self-confidence heightened the drama.
Citizen Kane portrayed the ruthless career of an all-powerful magnate bearing (not accidentally) a striking resemblance to Hearst, who immediately tried to kill the picture. John Evangelist Walsh here illuminates the conflict between these two outsize personalities and for the first time brings Hearst’s vengeful anti-Kane campaign to the fore. Walsh provides thorough documentation, supplemental notes, and an extended bibliography.
Customer Reviews:
Darkness At The Edge Of Town.......2005-04-29
Hearst's involvement in the movie industry has been the subject of much recent scholarship. In a way it was bad luck for Orson Welles that the man he wound up attacking in his masterpiece CITIZEN KANE was one of the very few men with the power to avenge himself so thoroughly. For Hearst's tentacles were everywhere. John Evangelist Walsh, a veteran of history's noirish back alleys, has written interesting books before on the treason of Major Andre and the sex life of Emily Dickinson. Hearst apparently saw Welles as a kind of Major Andre and CITIZEN KANE as an attack on everything America holds dear. Incidentally, it was a slanderous, even misogynistic portrait of the talented soubrette Marion Davies, Hearst's girlfriend of many years' standing and practically his "other wife."
Almost a "third wife" was Hearst's hatchet woman--the columnist Louella Parsons who had a contract with Hearst's newspapers and a mission to destroy Orson Welles. Quickly RKO lost faith in their erstwhile "wonder boy" Welles and managed to sabotage his projects THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS and IT'S ALL TRUE, along with several others he had planned, including the thriller SMILER WITH THE KNIFE and a proposed movie version of the Joseph Conrad novella HEART OF DARKNESS. Walsh is the kind of writer who will do just about anything to advance his own thesis, but here he writes crisply and cleanly about the battle between two men who were both, in different ways, quite megalomaniacal. Though the verdict is still out about who was right and who was wrong, CITIZEN KANE still remains one of the towering pinnacles of world cinema; however, the reputation of the slandered Marion Davies has emerged from the Stygian gloom into which KANE had plunged it, and she has rebounded cheerfully into the light of critical regard.
Book Description
The Heroic Story of a Team of Ordinary Americans -- and How They Won the Greatest Yacht Race Ever
Set against the backdrop of the first world's fair in London, America's Victory takes readers into a world rich in adventure and history -- an unforgettable story of skill, daring, and honor at the heart of our national identity.
The America's Cup is the oldest international trophy in competitive sports, yet few know the inspirational story of the dedicated seamen behind the original historic race. The story begins in 1850 with a terrible deal struck between the New York Yacht Club and a brilliant young boat designer: A boat would have to be built that would be the fastest in the world, and the designer would not be paid his fee unless the yacht beat all comers at The Great Exhibition in England. With a revolutionary design and striking beauty, yacht America set sail the following year from New York on what most experts nevertheless thought was an impossible mission. It had already cost over half a million dollars in today's currency. Now, America would have to beat fourteen of the best yachts the world's greatest maritime nation could bring to the line. It was a race Britain thought it couldn't lose.
Yet America's small, unlikely team -- including Captain Brown, a Sandy Hook Pilot; first mate Nelson Comstock, whose family were early settlers of New London in Connecticut; and the brilliant designer George Steers -- achieved the almost un-thinkable. These humble, hard-working men faced the might and arrogance not only of their British competitors, but also their own backers, such as millionaire John Cox Stevens of the New York Yacht Club, who wagered they would win, but harassed and belittled them throughout the campaign.
In the course of his research, David Shaw found letters and notes recounting the experience of the crew that provide a vivid historical realism for his compelling narrative. No one has previously told the story of the race from the perspective of the men who designed and sailed the plucky boat America. Shaw places readers on board as the lone American yacht in the field crosses the finish line first, while Queen Victoria and Prince Albert look on amid cheering crowds.
This is an account of an amazing feat accomplished long ago at the turning point in the growth of a young nation's confidence, but it is also the tale of a victory of the American spirit that bravely lives on today.
Customer Reviews:
America's Victory is a Victory for Shaw.......2003-02-14
Shaw has done it again! David captures the personalities of the men who designed, built and raced America. This isn't a story about the most famous Yacht race the United States ever participated in, it's a story about the human spirit, and nerves men had years ago to cross oceans and take on all comers. you think the race started in England, think again. As pilot captains these men knew how to race to earn a living; it was their way of life. Read no more of this review. Purchase the book and read a fascinating account of what became the greates sailing race of all time. You'll be surprised where America ultimately met her fate.
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Essays on Communication & Spirituality: Contributions to a New Discourse on Communication
Amardo Rodriguez
Manufacturer: University Press of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0761820795 |
Customer Reviews:
Don't get your hopes up.......2003-12-30
It is just as well that this book is out of print. It might save you some money. This 100-page book consists of 4 chapters, of which the first is a historical perspective of dubious relationship to the subject matter. The remaining three are "connected" by the common "theme" that the demonstrated play takes place on the queenside, but the contents could easily fit into any number of other books.
If you are looking for some GM revelations or strategic insights into "Attacking the Queenside", forget it. The closest this book comes to that is the beginning of chapter 2 with the quote, "The main aim of a queenside attack is an invasion behind enemy lines by the major pieces, to the back two ranks where the main strength of the defense is normally situated. The invasion of the powerful rooks either obtains a material advantage or sometimes results in a switch over with extraordinary speed to an attack on the King."
Now, anyone with any playing strength or experience already knows that the second sentence is true. And that same experience may cause you to question sentence number one.
In fact, the premise is totally abandoned at the conclusion of chapter 2, when the author takes up the subjects of pawn play and pawn promotion. The idea of rooks on the seventh rank just seems to disappear into the fog.
As it happens, I think the illustrative games are really excellent examples of the ideas under discussion. For that reason alone, I give the book three stars. So, if you feel compelled to search out this book, just be forewarned - it has no other redeeming qualities.
Book Description
Practical suggestions for reducing paperwork and stress while increasing profit. This practical, strategy-filled book provides readers with information on the basics of private practice: how to cut overhead costs, simplify insurance paperwork, manage appointments, handle billing, and implement client policies. Essential reading for new and seasoned therapists alike, no practitioner in private practice should be without the advice offered here.
Customer Reviews:
useful advice for many practices.......2006-05-27
Much of the advice in the book is applicable to any professional who wants to start her own practice. Not necessarily restricted to mental health workers. She offers useful tips in many mundane details of getting started and also in minimising your costs. The latter is vital, especially if you are starting a new practice of your own, and probably will have to carefully watch expenditure.
The extended discussion about dealing with insurance companies probably understates the amount of effort [paperwork] required in actually getting reimbursed.
Excellent guide to starting a practice.......2006-02-21
Forget the fact that the author is a psychologist. Do not let that dissuade you from purchasing this book if you are not in the mental health care field. Perhaps 98% of the information is applicable to any health care provider wanting to establish a private practice.
The book is filled with treasure. The first sections elaborate on where to look for a potential office/clinic, what questions to ask the prospective building manager (and when to ask them), and how to get an effective phone/voicemail system established. The section on cancellation policies alone is worth the price of the book, as are Dr. Hunt's examples of how to diplomatically pursue outstanding payments. She also devotes a sizable portion of the book to navigating the difficult realm of insurance. To put a human face to the book, Dr. Hunt showcases her past successes and failures (and those of her colleagues) in her first attempts at establishing a private practice.
This book is excellent -- very engaging and seldom boring, concise and pithy. It provokes a proactive spirit. It should be required reading for any health care worker fresh out of school, about to begin a private practice, and with little to no business experience.
Great on office practices and getting paid.......2006-02-14
I could have used a bit more on marketing, but really like this book. I bought it after "How to Survive and Thrive as a Therapist" which had more on the practice itself and not so much on the business end of things. A very helpful book and I am SO glad I bought it!
Essentials of Private Practice.......2005-09-15
Holly Hunt's book, Essentials of Private Practice has been helpful to me in setting up my private Coaching business.
I found the sections on setting up phone practices and cancellation policies especially helpful. I was able to avoid costly mistakes because of the experiences Holly Hunt shared.
In addition, the section on selecting an office helped me select the right office for me. Now I am moving into a successful Coaching business, that is efficient and effectively managed.
Important Contribution.......2004-11-21
I agee with the other reviewers completely. This book was engaging to read, clear, and the charts were practical. I enjoyed the authors use of her own experiences as well as the experiences of other practitioners. The narrative format created an interesting way to address sensitive issues and potentially difficult areas involved in practice. I found the book to address the delicate aspects of the relationship shared between clients and therapists and the issues that are the hardest with which to deal because they highlight that mental health work is about helping people and business, and how business, treatment and ethics are intertwined.
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Books Index
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The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst: The Early Years, 1863-1910
Times We Had
William Randolph Hearst: The Later Years, 1911-1951
Hearst Castle: The Biography of a Country House
