Fred Thompson. Teaching the Pig to Dance: A Memoir of Growing Up and Second Chances. New York: Crown Forum, 2010 as reviewed by Ted Odenwald Many fans of TV’s “Law and Order” will recognize Fred Thompson as the senior lawyer with southern roots; followers of politics may recognize him as […]
Michael Sheldon. Mark Twain: Man in White: The Grand Adventure of His Final Years. New York: Random House, 2010. As reviewed by Ted Odenwald It’s not that there isn’t enough biographical material available on Mark Twain. Between his autobiography and his “official” biography, penned by Albert Bigelow Paine (but definitely […]
Mary McDonagh Murphy. Scout, Atticus & Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: HarperCollins, 2010. As reviewed by Ted Odenwald If a novel, first published 50 years ago, still sells nearly a million copies per year, a celebration to recognize its enduring appeal seems […]
Mary Karr. Lit: A Memoir. New York: HarperCollins, 2009 as reviewed by Ted Odenwald Readers of Mary Karr’s memoirs, The Liar’s Club and Cherry, will not be surprised to find powerful elements running throughout this third work, which focuses primarily on her twenties and thirties. In the first book, she […]
A.E. Hotchner. Paul and Me: Fifty-three Years of Adventures and Misadventures with My Pal Paul Newman. New York: Nan A. Talese, 2010. as reviewed by Ted Odenwald What had begun as a collaboration of screenwriter and performer progressed into a relationship of neighbors and fishing buddies, and eventually evolved into […]
This fictional account of wartime Nazi Germany is unusual in many respects. The author clearly wants the reader to view the protagonists, Otto and Anna Quangel, as being heroic; yet they are ordinary working people in no position of influence and without connections or power to resist—much less to overturn– […]
