Entertainment Books

I own a copy of the original edition, and I guard it well. I use it to get students into Nashville electric guitar type music. I don't move on to something more difficult until (a) they have them all down cold, and (b)They start altering them. These are starting points, not the final destination. I agree with another reviewer who said that these licks are hard enough to be interesting and simple enough not to discourage the person learning. I once picked up a book of Albert Lee licks, and I couldn't believe that Albert could play them. (of course he can, but he's not human) If you are looking for help on your way to being scary, this is the right book. Learn the licks dead cold, and then make them yours.

This is a collection of really standard "Honky Tonk", Bakersfield telecaster style licks. If you allready play guitar and want to play/explore this style or classic country in general, this book will get you there.
What i liked: 1) the tracks on the cd match numerically the licks in the book i.e. "lick 34" is "track 34" sounds simple but a lot of books screw this up. 2) spiral bound!! Yay! Lays flat. 3) Everything is in one key. (C)Licks are presented as going from the I chord to the IV, V to IV etc. And 90% of the licks are easily moved around the neck for other keys. (If this makes sense to you, you'll like this book)
4) The material is intermediate, meaning not too simple and not too difficult. Too many of these type collections are simply too flashy. This one is useful and playable.
What I don't like..1) Piano is used to keep time with the guitar on the cd. Piano is mixed too loud. 2) A few examples of the lcks used in a complete solo would be helpful.
Really, overall, this is a good deal. The licks fall inot three catagories for me. Ones that I allready know, others that are variations of things I play, and finally ones that make me say "Wow. That's simple, but sounds sooooo good! Why Didn't I think of that?"

Very informative, has lots of detail, comes with many extras. Must-buy for any Kingdom Hearts fan.

This is the best biggest guide to any game I have ever bought, I love it! I read it just like a book, it is so awesome!

I bought this for my son 15. y.o. He already had the same book but hisone is the better one I guess, well he LOVES it and cant put it down! So I am very happy with my purchase!

This is the ultimate gift for the ultimate Kingdom Hearts fan. Not only is the back cover customized with a beautifully glazed image of one of Sora's four forms, there's also an extra character booklet that gives you even more detailed information on every single character within the game. To top it off, the entire package is neatly stacked in a stylistic cover case.

This makes for a great gift and the price is absolutely worth it.

I just got the KH II Limited Edition Strategy Guide shipped to me yesterday! It was great! The outside is a hard cover of sora and the gang,the cover holds the books. There are two books the Jiminy's Journal and the official strategy guide. There are 4 different covers: Valor, Wisdom, Master, and Final form of Sora. U can only get one of them. I luckly got the Final form version of Sora for the cover.

-(The 1st book)Jiminy's Journal:
- Has 400 stickers of the same size as the 100 dalmation in the first KH strategy guide.
- The Strategy guide has info on all the character you meet and the worlds. Even the Heartless and bosses.
- The journal is like a grocery list, like a check list for everything in the game that you wont miss and it even tells you what kind a cutscene there is for what world. Every world you go to, they have a picture for every you get, like certain potions or maps, shards, AP Boost. It even tells you where in that world to get it like for example: there are 2 potions and 1 HI-potion in the Mansion(Foyer) in Tranverse Town.
- Every character you meet and every boss, or heartless , and even CUTSCENES are in there. Once you have meet that character or defeated that certain boss or discover a new heartless or saw a certain cutscene, you put a sticker there to indicate that you are done with it. For example: In Agrabah, you have to meet characters like Aladin, Jasmine, Genie, and etc.. Once you have met them already, you can get the sticker with their face on it from the back of the Jiminy's journal (one of the 400 stickers)and put it in the box next to the picture of Aladin indicating that you have already met that character. There are also stickers of potions to put on so you know which and what kind of potions you still need to find.

-(The 2nd book)The Official Strategy Guide:
- This book has all the info on important characters. The moves, ability, level-ups, limit-commands, and their stats.
- It is basicly a walkthrough of the game. Every step to the end.

I hope this helped all of you and encourages you to buy it. It is really worth it to buy it! Especially if you are a bbig fan of KH and Final Fantasy like me! ^_^!

In "My life so far" Jane Fonda opens her heart and her life to all of us and while doing so teaches us how to live and survive in these difficult times.

My Life So Far by Jane Fonda is a fascinating look into her family life and journey into womanhood. Very revealing look into her life as the child of Henry Fonda to "Hanoi Jane" and the criminal investigation waged against her by the government, to Jane the mother/wife, to the insightful woman she is today. She is her own woman. Never knowing much about her, I found this book intriguing, candid and educational.

Very Honest and inspiring. Just when she gets whiney she deflects you. A great read overall.

First of all, I would like to thank Jane Fonda for sharing so much of her spirit, self and life. Reading her book made me feel like I was a time traveler as she took me back in time to when she was a liitle girl and traversed along side her throughout her life and into her third act.

I most definitely could relate to some of the same issues Jane Fonda dealt with in her life. For instance the lack of love, compassion and acceptance in the home while growing up.
The uncertainty about her sexuality.
Questions concerning the Vietnam War.
Jane Fonda's relationship with her father or lack thereof. Unable to connect with her father on any level (no fault of her own). All these issues I to combatted in my life and just like Jane I am a fighter and a survivor.

On another note, I have a favorite actress for each decade going back to the 30's. For instance Merle Oberon is my favorite actress of the 30's, Ginger Rogers the 40's, Kim Novak the 50's, and Jane Fonda of the 60's and 70's. I have not been able to choose one since Jane Fonda retired, but I am so happy to see that she is making a come back in movies. I so missed her presence on the big screen.

In closing, I believe this book has something for everybody. I highly recommend "My Life So Far" to everyone.
Thank you Jane Fonda for sharing so much of yourself with family, friends and fans.

For a love story that is unlike anything you've ever read check out D. W. Gutridge's Captured by a Smile.Captured by a Smile "Imprisoned by Love": A Memoir of Young Love that Refused to Die.

Jane is a pretty misunderstood woman. People make judgements about her based on stories they see in the media, and based on the rhetoric of those who oppose her. I learned a lot about the real Jane Fonda in this book. Her childhood was not that pretty. Her relationship with her father was strained at best, and this book delves into that with the insight and sensitivity of a person who has learned to accept parents who are not perfect, and who has come to understand how those early years shaped her life and the decisions she made throughout.

- C.A.Wulff, author of Born Without a Tail

I felt better knowing that my fears with my illness are not mine alone.

I recently read this book, and I can't honestly say that I liked it. I too have been diagnosed with MS. I'm happy that Mr. Lander can find humor in his condition, however I find nothing he had to say not in the least bit funny.

MS is a terrible diease that affects the Central Nervous System and there's nothing funny about that. Even the title of the book is seriously upsetting(How Squiggy caught Multiple Sclerosis and Didn't Tell Nobody). You can't catch MS, and to put that in print is misleading.

I take my MS, the treatment for it, and all the symptoms very seriously. I have no desire to joke about them.

Some of the information in his book were very informative and very much worth reading, however I believe his approach is less than ideal.

When my father finally told me he had MS (like David Lander, he kept it a secret), he suggested I read this book. The insight it gave me was priceless. Everyone will find their own path, but I can tell you that by sharing his experiences, Mr. Lander has helped me to be the best son (and friend) that I can be.

I just loved this book. It is a very quick read and very upbeat. For someone with MS or caring for someone with MS it is a story you can relate to. My husband was recently diagnosed with MS and has been very reluctant to read anything about the disease. I am going to have him read this book because while I whink it might confirm some of his fears, at the same time it does so in a positive manner.

The book is a quick read. Sometimes you feel very alone with MS. This book will help you feel better. And, it explains some of the MS symptoms that you are experiencing better than a medical text. It will put some words on your feelings.

Walter Cronkite who at one time was among the most famous and celebrated Americans tells his life- story . He does this with the dry and clean prose of the good reporter. He tells of his childhood and early years in Kansas City and in Houston, of his work with UP and later on with CBS, his adventures as a war- correspondent. He traces his career in television including the dramatic coverage of what would be the most politically well- covered in his judgment convention of all, that of 1952. He also writes about his wife Betsy their three - children and his family. He in the end provides an analysis of TV journalism and where it has gone wrong, been replaced by considerations of entertainment. This is a decent book by a very decent and modest man.
In his final chapter he says that he asked himself whether he could say he had really made a difference. Surprisingly and modestly his answer was 'no'. But for many Americans for many years he was the embodiment of the honest and reliable journalist.

For me who watched Walter Cronkite almost every night from the 1960's to the 1980's when Dan Rather took over, this is most enlightening book. Behind the scene stories were given for a lot of news stories. Unlike Eric Sevaried, Cronkite never stated any of his personal feelings and comments on the air. Quite a lot of them were found in this book.

Two things bother me. None of the chapters in this book had a topic so the reader is completely unaware of what is in there when he/she starts reading a chapter. In addition, no index is avalable and locating a topic or name is very difficult and time-consuming

In a fascinating and thought-provoking autobiography (1996), Walter Cronkite reflects on his career in journalism, from the earliest days in which he listened to radio on a crystal set, through his own participation in world events as a television journalist. Without the ego one usually associates with newscaster-celebrities, Cronkite gives the history of journalism--radio, newspapers, news syndicates, and television--by giving anecdotes from his own long career, always showing what he learned from his mistakes (which he is remarkably candid and often humorous in describing), and giving ample credit to the people who helped him. His thoughtful observations about the impact of television and its negative effects on voting participation, along with his predictions for the future of this country, offer a broader perspective and warning about our national vision.

Cronkite's sense of excitement about journalism is obvious from the earliest days of his career, when he used brief, coded teletype messages to invent play-by-play accounts of football games for his radio audience. By career's end, he was participating in world events, his interview with Anwar Sadat and its follow-up bringing Sadat to Israel in a precedent-setting meeting with Menachim Begin and an eventual peace treaty. As he takes the reader step-by-step through this career, he describes his goals as a young man, his earliest jobs at local newspapers and radio stations, his work with United Press, his press responsibilities overseas during World War II, his work in Russia, and his early foray into television, when other serious journalists were avoiding this medium.

The landmark TV coverage of the 1952 political conventions opened the eyes of the country to how the political system worked in reality. The Nixon and Kennedy interviews in 1960 (and Theodore White's book, The Making of the President), show the power of television to affect outcomes. He gives candid, personal insights into various Presidents, from Franklin Delano Roosevelt through George Bush Senior, including fascinating insights into Eisenhower (far more aware of issues than often thought), JFK (with whom he had mixed experiences), and Jimmy Carter (in his view, the most intelligent President).

It is Cronkite's candor and his ability to see himself as a facilitator of communication, rather than as an ego-driven reporter looking for the landmark "scoop," that makes this autobiography so compelling. When, in his conclusion, he modestly offers his own observations about the end of the twentieth century, based on his experience, the reader pays attention. Mincing no words, Cronkite describes the social, political, and economic evolutions taking place around the world and their potential as revolutions, warning, "They have man's dreams on their side. We don't want to be on the other side." Elegantly written, this is a landmark book in the history of journalism. n Mary Whipple

To live the life of Walter Cronkite is to live a thousand years. For nearly half a decade Walter Cronkite served as the voice of reason to millions of Americans who looked to his print, radio, and television reports for information and reassurance. This autobiography covers the life of Walter Cronkite from his early life as a lowly radio announcer to his ultimate stand at the pinnacle of journalism.

As usual, Cronkite's wit is second-to-none and comes through clearly in his prose. Still, he never pulls punches and minces no words regarding the multitude of famous and powerful men and women he met along the way. His engrained honesty and objectivity is a refreshing look to when journalism was an honest art, plagued not by corporate sponsorship.

Cronkite's work not only serves as an interesting look at "Cronkite, the man," but is a work of modern American history, written by the man who lived and reported it all. For a readable, enjoyable look at Cronkite's America, "A Reporter's Life" is one of the best.

This book contains the memoirs of Walter Cronkite, pioneering television journalist. Cronkite begins by describing his childhood briefly, noting that even as a youngster, he was pulled to journalism. He credits a volunteer journalism teacher in his high school for introducing him to the rigors of print journalism, but once started, he was hooked. It was this teacher who taught him the prime importance of getting the facts correct, a value that he would hold primary throughout his career. As a high school student, Cronkite competed in statewide journalistic writing tournaments, and won. After high school, he enrolled in college for a while, but decided that pulling in an income was more important than getting a degree (this was during the Great Depression), a decision which he later came to regret. On a lark, he landed a radio news announcer job in Oklahoma City. Later, he worked for UPI, where he honed his collating and rewriting skills under pressure of constant deadlines. The experience from all of these jobs was to prove invaluable later when he landed a job announcing the news on CBS television. Cronkite was not only one of the first early TV news broadcasters, but the word `news anchorman' was even invented just to describe what he did (or so he claims).

In this book, Cronkite reminisces not only about his career, but also about the big news stories of day. He discusses how television came to play a strong role in politics, starting with the 1952 party conventions, which were the first to be televised. He enumerates the presidents he has known, from Hoover through George Bush, senior, and he compares the effectiveness of each, as well as their relations with the media. He analyzes the forces behind the fateful American build-up in Vietnam, and the eventual pull-out. He also relates how he inadvertedly became involved in negotiating peace between Egypt and Israel. All in all, his tales are fascinating. I usually find political discussion hideously tiresome, but Cronkite manages to make even politics interesting.

This is a great book to start with if you are thinking about a career in Hollywood. The author gives a great overview of the business and makes sure she explains herself well. An easy read. Highly recommend!

This book is a great addition to this author's other work - a fact-filled compendium of documents and advice for producers and production managers that's simply the best single book about making films professionally.

This book is a bit different, dealing with the other things - personal drive, character, etc.

If you are in the business, you will find something here you didn't know!

My friend Mark Hansson wrote to me recently to recommend Eve Light Honthaner's The Complete Film Production Handbook (3rd Edition, Book & CD-ROM). Mark is a busy guy in `the biz,' having done almost a hundred films and TV shows, including episodes of Murder She Wrote, Fat Actress, Six Feet Under, as well as the features Dreamgirls and The Quickie (overlooked and much-recommended) - so his advice is key.

Turns out that Eve and Mark have been friends for a couple of decades, since they met on a film when Eve was a Production Coordinator. Mark read the first edition in galley form, long before it became a standard reference book at most studios and at many film schools. Eve's got another book out too: Hollywood Drive: What it Takes to Break in, Hang in & Make it in the Entertainment Industry.

While Hollywood Drive deals with more `esoteric issues,' The Complete Handbook is worth its price for the production forms alone: a CD Rom of almost 200 templates that can be customized and adapted for any film or TV show. Mark says, "I still use some of them today, such as the `Walkie Talkie Checkout List,' an active Word document that you can type into once it has been downloaded."

Eve herself has helped thousands of our industry colleagues, through classes and the group she founded - the Film Industry Network (FIN), which still meets once a month at Sony studios. Mark again: "I'm very proud of Eve and the second career she has found as an author and teacher. She's an extraordinary person. And no - I don't get royalties from the book!"

The Complete Film Production Handbook is a must-have for any producer, director, or production manager. Look for third edition on Amazon.com, and at Samuel French and Larry Edmunds bookstores.

You wouldn't know this book is a great marketing book and writers should read this one. The book focuses on the film industry but there is a wealth of information in here about marketing yourself that writers can benefit from. There are some great excercises you can use to start defining yourself and begin your publicity. Whether it is for your book, screenplay or yourself.

I just received this book today, and cannot put it down. Honthaner writes with such ease, it's almost as if she's sitting there discussing the entertainment industry with you. As a recent graduate and an intense drive to make it in Hollywood, this book suits all of my needs in seriously knowing the ins-and-outs of the business. I would definitely reccomend Hollywood Drive to anyone with a similar passion to want to know all and be in the mix of the entertainment industry.

I attended author Eve Honthaner's class at USC in 2004. Titled "Breaking In, Hanging In and Making It," the class gave me all the skills and tools necessary to make it into the film industry in Hollywood. Her encouragement and burning desire to help people succeed in following their dreams translates well from the classroom to the page. For those who don't have 6 weeks and $2,000 to spend on her enlightening course at USC, this book is a real bargain. If you are serious about pursuing a career in Hollywood, "Hollywood Drive" will teach you the importance of networking and all the other skills necessary to get your foot in the door. Using the tried and true methods of Eve Honthaner, I got my first job in Hollywood with Fox -- and many more to follow. I now recommend this book to everyone who dreams of Hollywood and has the courage to pursue that dream.

Alright, here's the skinny.

1. It's a reverse veiw map. So it looks the same as the view through your refractor with a star diagonal or SCT.
2. Rukl knows his business. The map is detailed, and shows you everything you can see.
3. It's laminated. It won't get damaged from dew or those inevitable drink spills.
4. The "hinging" system makes it easy to use. It folds nicely, isn't bulky, and is easy to carry, store, and use at the eyepiece.
5. At this price you can't go wrong just TRYING it.

Face it. This is a moon map that you will USE. If you don't need the reversed view (perhaps you prefer binoculars or the naked eye to a telescope) there is a non-reversed version available, too.

For price, performance, and just plain smart design, this is MUST HAVE if you're looking for a moon map.

I am workinkg part time for Planetary of University of Santiago of Chile, and when is necessary watch the moon by telescope, I was received many children to make excursions over moon surface. Then I was used this map, to locate place where astronauts from Apollo 11, put their feet first time on the Moon. I give to children locate trought mirror scope, many moon features: Seas, Hills, craters, until arrive aproximately over site, where man from earth, arrive there. Is very funny to children and adults too.
Fernando Franco Blü.
Rancagua, CHILE.

Both versions of this map are drawn by Antonin Rukl whose Atlas of the Moon in book form is currently the gold standard for readily available paper lunar atlases. While the scale is smaller here, the amount of detail will be sufficient for the vast majority of telescopic observers.

But what distinguishes these maps is how well they're designed. Laminated, folding in quarters and just about the perfect size, it's plain that Sky Publishing meant these to be practical and rugged.

Also, two very nice touches. The lunar surface features are repeated where the map folds so no details are lost "in the ditch". And each map quadrant shows the libration zones.

This map is excellent.

I loved this Mirro-Image of the Moon so much I bought two, one to hang in my bedroom and one to use at the Telescope. With my Celestron C8-SGT and the mirror image I'm not constantly correcting myself and can find eveything so much easier. And its laminated, when helps when the Dew and late night moisture comes in. I have about ten sky atlases, but only this one and another are laminated.

I decided to buy this Mirror-Image field map because I have a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope that also reverses viewed objects. I already had the true-image field map, but I had a lot of difficulty using it because I'm a novice of lunar topography. The reverse map made such a difference in my ability to see and identify landmarks. The map is laminated and folded, separating the moon into four quadrants. This makes it easy to handle and use without worrying about nighttime dew. I took it to an astonomy club star party, and showed several experienced amateurs. None had ever seen this particular map before. It got rave reviews from them too.

I recently started using this product in my free time and during piano lessons i take and have found the product very satisfactory if you'd like the piano part with the vocal line in it. the songs sound like the actual songs but are not ,however, written in the same way that they appear in the actual songs. this was a problem i encountered but many people may not be bothered by this fact. if you are not bothered by this detail the product is very good and i encourage you to buy it

When selecting piano music I always feel more assured when the songwriter is a pianist. Since Isaac Slade is a pianist the music we get to play is truer to the music we hear on their CD; another great example of this it Five For Fighting's "100 Years" by John Ondrasik. Most of the songs in The Fray's book are awesome to play and not terribly difficult. The rhythms are a bit tricky at times, but mastered with some devoted practice. Most of the songs in the book are in the key of Bb, Ab, and Cmin. I love the intro to "Hundred," classical stuff; listening to Isaac play it, and then myself, sounds spot on. Love it!

This product consists of excellent arrangements of music by the Fray. The arrangements are geared toward pianists with medium level skills but are useful also for other skill levels. Definitely worth the price...a wonderful addition to my music library.

I think this is a great piano book. The songs on piano sound very true to the originals. I get really annoyed when I buy piano arrangements that have a separate voice line, and the piano part sounds completely different and is just accompaniment to that, so unless you sing along it doesn't sound like the song. But on this one what you play sounds like The Fray.

I didn't notice a problem of songs being transposed. My favourite tracks are Look After You and Vienna, and I had no problem trying to play along with those. In fact, I just tried all the songs out and the ones that have been transposed are: All at Once, Fall Away, Heaven Forbid, Dead Wrong, Little House. These are all transposed by a semitone, for instance from B major to B-flat major. I guess they thought 5 sharps would be too tricky. The good news is that at least for some of them it's not too hard to transpose back to the original key on the fly- it's usually just a matter of adding a sharp to all the notes.

I still recommend it!

Bought this mainly because of two songs: How to Save a Life and Cable Car (Over My Head). I wasn't disappointed with those two. The arrangements are great and in the right keys. So I was really looking forward to the book as a whole.

Problem, there are very few mentions of this on the first pages of the different songs, but quite a few of them have been transposed, which isn't so fun when you were planning on playing along. So a bit misleading, especially if they plan on catching people offguard in a bookstore where they can't test the keys, but still a good buy.

Peter Jennings was taken from us at the pinnacle of his
career. He shaped the news in many areas like the
ABC Nightly News. The book provides many specifics about
his life and career. There are memorable pictures
contained throughout the book. i.e.
o The Miss Canada Pageant of 1965
o various political conventions
o the Munich Olympics
o the Clinton Presidential Inaugural of 1997
o a meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991

The acquisition would be perfect for persons interested
in journalism, politics and government.

This book is purchased for our Book Club for next year's books. Several of our members had read it to be sure it was okay. It was difficult to purchase - first we had to wait till it was published (you know how THat goes!) and then the price was exhorbitant (that was overcome) and finally it joined the other books we purchased for the Club. Oh, and say, did I mention that this is a book for next year's selections? and that it will be much like "saving it for dessert?" I haven't read it yet either - just scanned through it, and therefore I know it to be the "icing on the cake."

I was never a regular viewer of Peter Jennings' news broadcast or any of his documentaries, but now I wish I was.

This book pointed out all the great time, effort and blood, sweat and tears that Peter Jennings put into all segments of his broadcast and documentaries. He did not take his anchor position lightly and wanted all viewers to share his same passion and understanding of the subjects he was speaking.

It also went into great depth to speak of the man that none of us saw on his nightly newscasts. One who was such a humanitarian and lover off people from all different walks of life.

This book kept my attention and made me feel sad that I did not pay closer attention to his newscast while he was still with us.

If you loved Peter Jennings you will love this book. It was written in an innovative style by way of an amalgam interviews with his colleagues. If you are looking for dirt on Peter skip this book, but if you want to relive the hundreds of wonderful hours you spent with him on your TV, this book does the trick. Your memory might also be jogged when you read the many adjectives describing him in the book: charming, distinctive, exuberant, thoughtful, reflective, gracious, caring, sincere, whimsical, questioning, authentic, direct, gentle of spirit, warm, great sense of humor, intelligent.

I loved the insight many of the contributors gave, as well as the quotes from Peter: "He connected with every person he met. He didn't use them." "He had this life force that seemed to surround him--his enthusiasms, his boundless energy and curiosity. He was one of those people that was just a great sense of nirvana to be around." "And when he was faced with the actual test, he instantly did the right thing." Peter: "Be spare, be precise, take your time, and don't say too much. Let each work carry the weight of the story....communicate in a concise way."

Peter would ask, "What are we going to do today what will distinguish us?" He despised predictability, mediocrity of any kind, laziness." "Listening to Peter was...riveting." Peter WAS riveting, and so is this book!

Bill Kizorek, CEO, Two Parrot Productions

When ABC newsman Peter Jennings died from lung cancer in 2005, he left a void in the industry that has yet to be filled. Along with the likes of Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, Jennings helped revolutionize television news, sitting on both sides of the desk, transforming the genre from a 15-minute afterthought to a major component of network broadcasting.

The editors of PETER JENNINGS: A REPORTER'S LIFE, including his wife, have collected the thoughts and memories of scores of family, friends and colleagues who are universal in their praise and turned these stories into an oral biography. It seems as if Jennings was almost predisposed to the profession. As the son of one of Canada's most respected radio broadcasters, he got an early start, hosting his own children's show as a nine-year-old. Formal education held little interest for Jennings; these days he might have been diagnosed with ADD. His success, despite dropping out of high school, was truly remarkable.

Jennings was just 26 when he was handed the anchor assignment for ABC News in 1965, a job to which he admitted he was not suited at the time. He earned his stripes by going out into the field --- far, far afield to Europe and the Middle East where he thrived on the exotic surroundings and the action.

The entries in A REPORTER'S LIFE reveal a man in a hurry, ever curious and always willing to do whatever it took to get the job done, even when that meant putting himself in harm's way. Jennings was no "Scud-stud," a term used to describe reporters who made a name for themselves during the first war in Iraq; he didn't even like to fly. But he impressed everyone, from his sound men to heads of state, with his ability to soak up information and present it to his audience.

When he stepped down as an active reporter to once again take over the anchor desk for ABC News, he brought that same restlessness with him. He was a demanding boss, always expecting the reporters to do the same thorough job he did. But his humanity was always evident. During the coverage on 9/11, he wanted the audience to see the devastation of the World Trade Center rather than in-studio shots of him. And he was never afraid to defer to experts or admit he did not know every issue involved.

Many of those interviewed said that Jennings never wanted to be the center of attention, which made his on-air revelation of his illness all the more conflicting. For him, it served as an abject lesson, another chance to educate his viewers.

The format of A REPORTER'S LIFE both works and doesn't work. Since it's not a straightforward biography, it appears choppy at times, a series of mini-monologues interspersed with Jennings's own words. It is also understandably biased; you won't find too many speaking ill of him. On the other hand, these are the people who knew Jennings best, and the book serves as their final chance to pay him tribute.

--- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan