Book Description
In January 2000, America Online and Time Warner announced the largest merger in U.S. history, a deal that would create the biggest media company in the world. It was celebrated as the marriage of new media and old media, a potent combination of the nation's No. 1 Internet company and the country's leading entertainment giant, the owner of such internationally renowned brands as Warner Bros., HBO, CNN, and Time magazine.
But only three years later, nearly all the top executives behind the merger had resigned, the company had lost tens of billions of dollars in market value, and the U.S. government had begun two investigations into its business dealings.
How did the deal of the century become an epic disaster?
Alec Klein has covered AOL Time Warner for The Washington Post since the merger. His reporting on the company led to investigations by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. In Stealing Time, he takes readers behind the scenes to show how a clash of cultures set the stage for a spectacular corporate collapse. AOL's Steve Case knew it was only a matter of time before the Internet bubble of the late 1990s would burst, grounding his high-flying company. His solution: Buy another company to keep his own aloft. Meanwhile, Time Warner's Jerry Levin was enamored of new technology but frustrated by his inability to push his far-flung media empire into the Internet age. AOL and Time Warner seemed like a perfect match.
But the government forced the two companies to make concessions, and during the yearlong negotiations technology stocks tumbled. AOL executives lorded it over their Time Warner counterparts, who felt they were being acquired by brash, young interlopers with inflated dollars. The AOL way was fast, loose, and aggressive, and Time Warner executives -- schooled in more genteel business practices -- rebelled. In the midst of clashing cultures and conflicting management styles, AOL's business slowed and then stalled. Worse yet, AOL came under government scrutiny, and when the company conducted its own internal investigation, it admitted that it had improperly booked at least $190 million in revenue. The Time Warner rebellion gathered momentum.
This is a riveting story of ambition, hubris, and greed set amid the boom-and-bust years of the technology bubble. It is filled with outsized personalities -- Steve Case, Jerry Levin, Bob Pittman, Ted Turner, and many more. Based on hundreds of confidential company documents and interviews with key players in this unfolding drama, Stealing Time is a fascinating tale of the swift rise and even swifter fall of AOL Time Warner.
Download Description
"In January 2000, America Online and Time Warner announced the largest merger in U.S. history, a deal that would create the biggest media company in the world. It was celebrated as the marriage of new media and old media, a potent combination of the nation's No. 1 Internet company and the country's leading entertainment giant, the owner of such internationally renowned brands as Warner Bros., HBO, CNN, and Time magazine. But only three years later, nearly all the top executives behind the merger had resigned, the company had lost tens of billions of dollars in market value, and the U.S. government had begun two investigations into its business dealings. How did the deal of the century become an epic disaster? Alec Klein has covered AOL Time Warner for The Washington Post since the merger. His reporting on the company led to investigations by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. In Stealing Time, he takes readers behind the scenes to show how a clash of cultures set the stage for a spectacular corporate collapse. AOL's Steve Case knew it was only a matter of time before the Internet bubble of the late 1990s would burst, grounding his high-flying company. His solution: Buy another company to keep his own aloft. Meanwhile, Time Warner's Jerry Levin was enamored of new technology but frustrated by his inability to push his far-flung media empire into the Internet age. AOL and Time Warner seemed like a perfect match. But the government forced the two companies to make concessions, and during the yearlong negotiations technology stocks tumbled. AOL executives lorded it over their Time Warner counterparts, who felt they were being acquired by brash, young interlopers with inflated dollars. The AOL way was fast, loose, and aggressive, and Time Warner executives -- schooled in more genteel business practices -- rebelled. In the midst of clashing cultures and conflicting management styles, AOL's business slowed and then stalled.
Customer Reviews:
History and a Whole lot More.......2007-06-30
First, the style of this book makes for a great and enjoyable read.
The story begins with the background of an eccentric entrepreneur who has a tendency to have great ideas with a lot of flash, but a terrible habit of spending all of the money he borrows and asking for more. The idea he has come up with now is to have video games on subscribtion to people's homes. Knowing he will soon run out of money he hires his banker's brother to come on board (if we hire his brother he'll give us more money later). The banker's brother was working at Pizza Hut in marketing. His duties entailed tasting the pizza in various stores and his name was Steve Case!
Through this book you can watch Steve Case go from shy and unsure business plebe to a high powered and fast moving CEO who was groomed over many years to become one of the most iconic executives of the late 20th century.
There are also other details that are very interesting such as the insider trading schemes that made the AOLers very rich; investing in companies they were about to close deals with and then selling their shares as soon as the press release hit and that company's stock went up. There are stories of abusive power among the ranks and the major rivalry that came of the merger which disgruntled the Time Warner employees.
This is a great book for anyone interested in business stories, and this is one most who are, are familiar with.
The downfall of a great company (Time Warner).......2006-12-20
AOL Time Warner has been one of the most disastrous mergers of the century but it had the glimpse of the future in it. Overpriced AOL used to stock to buy a company with tons of equity but a low stock price. AOL sought the content of Time Warner to drive their website and failing business which was stemming from lack of content. When the tech bubble burst Time Warner was left holding a virtually useless company. The battle of egos and more realistically the collapse of AOL left this company in desperate shape. This is a great start to understanding how the company failed. It also is instructive in showing what search engines need to do. They need to get content and give people a reason to search AOL over Yahoo over Google or the other way around. The struggle for content is well shown here and is worth further consideration.
Good story, Poor writer.......2004-12-18
I really wanted to learn about this fascinating story: the dynamic personalities, the diametrically opposite companies, and their highly publicized $170b(?) merger. And I am willing to overlook a prejudiced author delivering a biased tome as long at he puts forth a good story. But this guy simply cannot write. The book is, at best, boring. Klein gives us inessential speculations on the characters' childhoods while never developing any of the real players. I like to be able to glean some insight as a result of reading a book like this but the author serves up absolutely nothing. Of course there are many lessons to be learned from this dot-com merger folly -- just not any from THIS book. Whatever positive reviews this book has received must have come from other `reporters' who mistakenly think that they too can cash in on their own utterly worthless 3-400 page book. In fact, read all the 5-star reviews and ask yourself if they were written by the author's friends.
If you enjoy well-written books of this type try: "Taken For a Ride" by Bill Vlasic & Bradley Stertz, "The One Best Way" by Robert Kanigel, "Goldman Sachs" by Lisa Endlich, "Inside Intel" by Tim Jackson, "When Money is King" by Richard Hack, "Consulting Demons" by Lewis Pinault, "Wireless Nation" by James B Murray, "Oil & Honor" by Thomas Petzinger, "Dark Genius of Wall Street" by Edward J Renehan, or "Steve Jobs & the Next Big Thing" by Randall Stross.
thoughts.......2004-12-11
good book that provides an interesting snap shot of the late 90s. Drags a bit in the third quarter and never quite rebounds.
Compelling Tale of Corporate Malfeasance.......2004-11-06
"Stealing Time" is a riveting saga told succinctly by Washington Post reporter Alec Klein. Depending on your point of view, it either comes across as a thriller or a Greek tragedy (perhaps both) chronicling the rise and fall of the AOL - Time Warner corporate merger. Klein is ideally suited to tell this story, since he spent two years covering the merger and its aftermath for the Washington Post. He discloses much of what went on behind closed doors at both AOL and Time Warner, recounting especially the spectacular rise and fall of AOL's corporate elite. Indeed, his reporting led eventually to Federal government investigations and the subsequent retirement of Steve Case, Jerry Levins, Bob Pittman - the primary architects of the merger - and the dismissal of several senior AOL executives.
Klein offers a fascinating portrait of these figures, the erratic Ted Turner, and last, but not least, Dick Parsons, Levin's annointed successor at Time Warner, who would emerge relatively unscathed by the firm's declining financial fortunes and internal corporate mudslinging. He also features some of AOL's top executives, most notably the infamous David Colburn, whose aggressive negotation style was responsible for AOL's financial woes. All of these portraits shed new light on the motivations of those responsible for the corporate merger.
Without question, Klein's book is a revealing examination of what went wrong with the AOL - Time Warner corporate merger. He shows why the merger was doomed to failure; it was quite literally a shotgun marriage orchestrated by Case and Levin which pitted the brash, exuberant dot.com corporate culture of AOL with against a more muted - if not less contentious - corporate culture within Time Warner. Klein's saga is one of the most important in recent business history, and may be the finest I have come across.
Customer Reviews:
A fascinating introduction to the anti-aging research........2005-01-17
"Stealing Time, The New Science of Aging" is a captivating, easy-to-read and understand introduction to the field of anti-aging. His language is highly descriptive--he shows you, not tells you. I felt transported onto a field trip led by science journalist and television producer, Fred Warshofsky, who took me to the labs of top longevity researchers and delved into their work. I felt I was on a field trip for good reason: this is the companion book to the PBS documentary of the same name. I didn't see the documentary, but this book is complete in and of itself. Sprinkled through the book are interesting discussions and questions Warshofsky goes on to answer. For example, why are men able to father children at any age, whereas women go through menopause? Why are elderly folks revered in pre-industrial tribal societies, but not in the United States? The book, published in 1999, provides a great overview of the important anti-aging research up though the end of the 20th century.
Below are the eight chapter headings, along with some commentary and take-home points:
1. The Aging Paradox - Why are the people who make it past 85 a generally hardy and healthy group? Warshofsky cites a 1995 study which found "that medical expenditures for the last two years of life average $22,600 for people who die at seventy, but just $8300 for people who live to be one hundred."
2. Other Species - This chapter contains many interesting discussions of the longevity of many species, including mice who may live to age four, to the giant tortoise who can live to be well over 100, the latter with showing signs aging. An especially fascinating study was zoologist Steven Austad's study of opossums. Why do opossums on an island off the coast of Georgia age more slowly and live 50 percent longer than their mainland cousins? (See page 64.)
3. The Genetics of Aging - Genetics can be complicated, but Warshofsky simplifies them enough so the educated layperson can understand the research in this field. One interesting study discussed is Michael Rose's work on fruit flies, which mate at about 14 days and typically live for a month. For generation after generation of fruit flies, Rose only let eggs hatch from the oldest flies. The generation of flies visited by the author mated up to 50 days and lived for up to 5 months, giving hope that extending life is possible.
4. Extending Life - Caloric restriction is examined in depth in this chapter, which includes an interview with Dr. Roy Walford, then age 74 and on nutritionally dense caloric diet expecting to extend his lifespan by 15 to 20 years. Although Walford subsequently died at age 79 of ALS, there is still plenty of evidence that nutritionally dense caloric restriction has the potential to significantly increase longevity.
5. Exercise and Hormones - If you just read one chapter, read this one! Cardiovascular and strength training physical activity are important for staying healthy and reversing part of the aging process. Among the exercise researchers Warshofsky interviews is Dr. Miriam Nelson at Tufts University, who found that people can build muscle and increase their strength and activities of daily living even in their 80s and 90s. Also, this chapter discusses human growth hormone (HGH) which was found to improve tissue repair, bone strength and brain function among other things. It's been found that people can increase their HGH naturally through physical activity.
6. Mastering the Mind - People (and rats) who are successful at aging keep their minds mentally challenged.
7. Alzheimers and the Chemistry of the Aging Brain - This chapter briefly explores theories of dementia, and discusses the Nun's study. The Nun's study found that the more highly educated nuns with bachelor's degrees or higher live about four years longer than the less highly educated sisters, with better mental and physical functioning. One caveat about this chapter: About half the chapter discusses estrogen, found to help improve memory in menopausal women, only in glowing terms. Several years after publication of this book, the National Institutes of Health halted their estrogen replacement due to increased risk of stroke and lack of improvement in heart disease. The downside of estrogen replacement therapy, including increased risk of breast cancer is not discussed.
8. Tomorrow - This brief chapter covers some odds and ends not discussed in other chapters, such as that people who live to be 100 tend to have strong, mentally tough personalities along with deep spiritual beliefs.
Some take home points for living longer and healthier lives emerge from the research in this book:
* Stay physically active, with regular cardiovascular exercise and strength training. In fact, women who exercise four hours a week reduce their risk of breast cancer by more than one third.
* Eat a healthy diet which includes at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
* Stay mentally active.
* Reduce stress.
Overall, if you want to learn about anti-aging and longevity, this book is a great place to begin.
Average customer rating:
- Can't wait for Volume II
- Dull and Predictable... A Waste of Time and Money
- a romance
- Magnificent Novel...
- Nice love story - but three "books?"
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Stealing Some Time:Volume 1 (Parts 1 and 2)
Mark Kendrick
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
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Stealing Some Time: Book II
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ASIN: 0595276725 |
Book Description
Winner of the
2004 Stonewall Society Imagination Literary Award
for best gay-themed science fiction.
“It is 2479 AD. Technical Sergeant Kallen Deshara and his team have traveled from the 25th century to the 19th. Their mission: to eliminate powerful ion storms caused by the very device that opened the portal to the past. If they don't succeed, their present may cease to exist! Once done, they'll return home and the future will be as it should be.
But Kallen didn't plan on meeting Aaric Utzman, a young cartographer from post-colonial America. Nor did he plan to fall in love with him. He must find a way for them to stay together or Aaric will have been dead for over six hundred years after Kallen's return. No matter what he decides, the past, the present, and the future will be irrevocably altered.”
Customer Reviews:
Can't wait for Volume II.......2006-08-29
I throughly enjoyed this book and can not wait for the second volume to come so I can find out what happened. Really a great read.
Dull and Predictable... A Waste of Time and Money.......2006-08-12
In Stealing Some Time, Mr. Kendrick created a very interesting futuristic world. That is, IMHO, the only thing that saves this book from certain death (hense the one star rating)...or maybe not.
The science fiction aspect of the story was the most interesting part of this book...that is, if you enjoy reading highly technical science fiction explained in very painstaking detail. In other words, if you don't know what a photonogrid is, you'll not only learn what one is but also be able to configure one by the end of this book. That being said, there were times that the technical aspects of the story interrupted the flow of the book. At times I felt it tedious and I am one that ADORES science fiction.
I did not find Kallen Deshara, the protagonist, the least bit interesting. He seemed one-dimensional and superficial, perfect in every way (except he's gay-seen in this book as an abomination). The men he becomes involved with (which makes me wonder why there is still homophobia in the year 2479?) are all instantly attracted to him and are, of course, all perfect and gorgeous...yeah right.
There is a paranormal romantic aspect in the story as Kallen timewarps (by way of portal) back to the 1800's where he meets the (yawn) most beautiful man he ever laid eyes on, Aaric (pronounced Eric...insert chuckle here). Of course, as predicted, the two engage in a physical relationship (as they are both instantly hot for each other, go figure) and eventually fall in love (bet you didn't see that one coming). Kallen risks it all by not going back to his time in order to stay with Aaric...who'd of thunk?
The book ends with the portal closing, and Kallen and Aaric paddling their canoe into the sunset. Yeah.
I did not find myself cheering for Kallen and Aaric as I felt there was no chemistry between them outside of lust. And dialogue between Kallen and Aaric was, often times, so cheesy...I was wincing in pain.
And there's a part 2?
a romance.......2006-04-10
(I am not a native speaker, please overlook my style)
This novel is far from flawless, nearly all the premises are quite wrong.
Let's start with editorial aspects: this book is rather short but has been nonetheless divided in two volumes, each available for an outrageous price. The cover art is pityful and the backcover is printed with the usual misleading blurb.
The writing is so simple it easily borders the simple-mindedness; many passages, such as the extended physical descriptions, are rather clumsy, the shifts of narrator are often unclear and several silly inconsistencies could have been avoided. The SF is very soft, not entirely believable in its social implications and the novel itself focuses more on coming of age and homophobia than on creating a complex universe.
Still, this work results as a page turner: the story may be too simple and straightforward but flows unerringly, characters are extremely commonplace but easy to rely to: the main hero's quest for love and intimacy is nothing unheard of but you love him just the same.
Probably the appeal of this book lies in its stressing the basic needs of human beings: freedom, self esteem, friendship, peace of mind: the author manages to give them due importance and gets his reader's attention.
There is some explicit sex in this book, not always well written but always tasteful; this notwithstanding I would recommend it to teens, and I do not mean gay teens only, because it can give them a lot of basic stuff to meditate about.
Magnificent Novel..........2005-08-29
I've read plenty of books with 'Gay' undertones too them but this BOOK by far beats out all...'Stealing Some Time' Book 1&2 is not only interesting,sexy and thy most important thing of all, it KEEPS the READING WANTING more after it ends and i definitely WANTED more and kept reading until i finished the whole set, which ends with Book 3..I Have too say, i'm a little disappointed that it's not longer..Book 1,2,3 that is...
Great storyline and very creative..How the author sticks the historty of a World that could've been and might've been too how it all changed due to ONE person's desire's and hope for WAR Peace etc...
As for book too, look for my review on it...
This book doesn't only deserve 5 stars..
Nice love story - but three "books?".......2004-03-08
Great little sci-fi love story. However, "books" 1 and 2 (together in one binding) are not at all self contained. To get one full story out of it you need to buy book 3 along with 1 and 2. One wonders what the point is in calling this a three book set. I'd call it three parts in two books. It isn't a trilogy - trilogies are usually pretty much three self contained and related stories in three books. Beats the heck out of me...
At any rate I did enjoy the story. This is a nice love story between two boys on a sci-fi time travel adventure. Nothing kinky (thankfully) but still lots of sex expressed in a delicate romantic way. Maybe a little soft on the science but the focus on adventure makes up for it.
Average customer rating:
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Magician in the Trunk: Time Spies, Book 4 (Time Spies)
Candice Ransom
Manufacturer: Mirrorstone
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ASIN: 0786940700
Release Date: 2007-02-13 |
Book Description
With her mastery of police procedure and unflinching take on race relations, Leslie Glass is one of today's most original female suspense writers. April Woo's investigation of a child's disappearance in New York's Chinatown takes a nasty turn when suspicion falls on the wealthy parents. The father is hostile, the mother is unconscious, the police are without a lead, and all the pressure is on April. The facts don't add up and April's only hope of cracking the case is to find the child's real mother. Everyone involved is clearly hiding something, but is bound to silence by fear or guilt or both. With the reporters, her superior officers, and her own mother pressuring her, April is stuck in the middle of the kind of high-profile case most cops despise-- the kind of case perfect for cool-headed Sergeant Woo.
Customer Reviews:
Annoying, verges on offensive.......2006-01-18
I read this because I'd read and enjoyed another April Woo book. Now, I have to question my judgment on that one -- was it similar to this, or was I just in a forgiving mood? Because I found this book awful. Fairly lame plot with very little mystery to it, overdone writing, and some really annoying inaccuracies.
For example, the baby at the center of this book is supposedly half-Chinese, but has BLUE EYES. Green eyes might be possible -- I know of a friend's child who is biracial with a Japanese father, and has blond hair and green eyes -- but given the fact that blue eyes are recessive, blue eyes in this case are a genetic impossibility, and I wonder why no editor caught it. Small point perhaps, but it made me picky about other parts of this book, and easily annoyed with a lot of its other faults.
A far more serious problem is that the depictions of April's mother verge incredibly close to stereotype, so close I found them offensive. Yeah, yeah: inscrutable Asian parents consult herbalist, brew up mystical brew, scream at daughter in stereotypical bad English, make comments about the "shame of the Han people...." I mean, REALLY. Aren't we beyond this yet? As an aspiring fiction writer myself, I don't have much trouble usually with writers attempting to write outside the worlds they themselves are part of, but this one really set alarm bells going. I hope Leslie Glass ran these scenes past some Chinese-American acquaintances, because they're so extreme that, given her lack of Chinese ancestry, I really see no reason to trust them. Which makes them doubly offensive.
The problematic descriptions don't stop there. Mike Sanchez's Mexican mother is shown (luckily briefly) wearing a garish dress that "shows off all her curves." This too verges very close to offensive.
Kudos to Leslie Glass for having an Asian detective in the first place. But this book is abysmal. I hope later ones in the series improve.
I accidentally read this book twice..........2004-02-18
because I forgot that I already read it. This copy was printed in 2000 so I had to have read it within the last 4 years, but I couldn't remember a thing. I got half way through it the second time before I came across something that I recognized. The memorable piece for me was such a minor plot point, I finished the book again anyway because I still couldn't remember how it ended. It was okay while I was reading it (good enough to read twice), but it obviously didn't stick to my ribs the first time.
Nothing lacking in this mystery novel!.......2003-02-16
I really liked this mystery! April Woo is a wonderful heroine...complex, victimized by a mother who just happens to be Chinese (but sounds a lot like many mothers I have known), and fighting her insecurities just like the rest of us. The New York background is well drawn, and the plot is crafted intricately and maintains suspense. Leslie Glass is a writer who crafts her prose well, too. "Stealing Time" is one good book.
Solid Lead Character In a So-So Crime Mystery.......2001-12-17
NYPD detective April Woo is assigned a disturbing case. A Chinese-American mother is beaten senseless and her newborn infant is kidnapped. What first appears to be an open and shut domestic crime turns out to be something more sinister. April's budding career is on thin ice as she is forced to expose big city names that are linked with the heinous act.
April Woo is a strongly written character. She is bright and ambitious yet she also struggles with insecurities. She was reared in two cultures and must deal with the clashing of such. Certainly she is not the super heroine described in other bestsellers. This quality gives April a realism most professional women can relate to.
As for the plot itself, it was somewhat lacking. The pace was slow, the action was limited, and no big surprises jumped out at the reader. If you're an April Woo fan you are sure to enjoy it. If you pick the book up at the library or borrow it from a friend, then give it a whirl. Otherwise you may want to keep your money in your pocketbook.
lst rate.......2000-06-13
Once again Leslie Glass has produced a fast paced lst rate mystery centered upon a heroine, Dectective Woo, of complexity -- a modern professional woman who struggles to preserve loyalty to her family yet separate psychologically from family myths and outdated cultural expectations which distress her.The reader is provided a double treat: the opportunity to track down the "bad guys" while enjoying this heroine's psychological growth.
Average customer rating:
- GREAT READ . . .
- Loved this book
- Nope, Nope, Nope...
- disappointing
- Just as Great but some flaws!!!
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Stealing Some Time: Book II
Mark Kendrick
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Stealing Some Time:Volume 1 (Parts 1 and 2)
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ASIN: 0595276733 |
Book Description
Kallen Deshara has discovered his world’s origin, nature, and destiny; and has fallen madly in love with Aaric Utzman in 1820. His decision to stay with Aaric, knowing full well that his presence might change all of history, brings him to the very edge of reality. But his colleagues who have returned to the 25th century have other plans. They intend to bring him back before he changes anything, even if it means killing him. But first they have to find him.
Traveling along the Wilderness Trail with his new companion, Kallen is totally unaware he’s being stalked. In the meantime, he realizes what had been missing his whole life, deepens his love with Aaric, and sees more water than he thought possible. Slowly but surely, he recognizes that he has more to offer than he ever knew. In fact, he may even be able to shape the future that should have been!
But Kallen learns an even more important lesson. He discovers that love knows no boundaries—not even of time itself.
Customer Reviews:
GREAT READ . . . .......2007-04-11
I'm not much into science fiction but I found this book to be absolutely fasinating.
Loved this book.......2006-11-10
I had read the first one and couldn't wait to finish off this book to see how things turned out. I thought it was very well written and have also enjoyed other books written by this author.
Nope, Nope, Nope..........2006-08-20
Book one of Stealing Some Time by Mr. Kendrick gives you the details of the setting of this book. You will be completely lost in Stealing Some Time book two if you have not read the first book.
This book has more of the same of book one but the biggest difference is that Aaric and Kallen get to know each other more as Kallen spends some time in Aaric's 1800 world.
Of course, Kallen is in pursuit by the powers that be (in his respective time and world) as they learn he stayed behind. They don't know why he did but the ball of yarn eventually unravels and everything comes out.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, exciting happens in this book. Tons of dialogue between Aaric and Kallen and lots more tech stuff happens that slows the pace of the book out of warp speed to a crawl.
Yawn.
disappointing.......2006-07-05
In this second volume (and third part of the trilogy... a bit confusing this -very short- trilogy divided in two books) I missed nearly all the qualities of the first volume and found the flaws heightened.
The storyline loses its pace and gets a little slow and boring, which is surprising enough if you reckon that this last part is essentially a manhunt, a subject that, if well done, should actually be breathtaking.
Characters feel a little stereotyped, they declare their feelings for each other a little too loudly to be entirely believable.
The overall impression is a sense of pedrantry, as if the intent in writing this last part of the story was to be didactic about homosexual relationships.
Just as Great but some flaws!!!.......2005-08-29
The ending to this book was indeed VERY ROMANTIC and i somewhat came to tears..I liked the ending very much...It's one of the things i liked about book 3..
Overall,this book comes to an end very nicely but there are flaws compared to book 1 and 2...For instance, there seems to be some weird GRAMMAR problems with this book and the use of language is just outright WRONG..It makes no sense too me why the author changed soo much from book 1 and 2 to book 3..It just doesnt't work at all..
Book 3 tends too have WAY too MUCH repeative INFORMATION which gets tooo long and boring other-wise the book is definitely great...Esp with the detailed SEX scene..Ohh my God, loved them..
I still like the whole set...The soo called 3 books, which is condensed into two books, is way too short, in my opinion..I wished it was LONGER, over 300 something pages book it wasn't...
OK, that's it for the review...
Average customer rating:
- An important, useful book; the single, most complete compilation of Finney's work
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Stealing Through Time: On the Writings of Jack Finney
Jack Seabrook
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0786424370 |
Product Description
The writings of twentieth-century author Jack Finney are classic contributions to the genres of science fiction and suspense thrillers in American literature. Two of Finneys novels, The Body Snatchers and Good Neighbor Sam, became the basis of popular films, but it was his time-travel story Time and Again (1970) that won him a devoted following. The novel about an advertising artist who travels back to the New York of the 1880s quickly became a cult favorite, celebrated especially by New Yorkers for its rich descriptions of life in the city at that time. The year of his death, Finney finished the sequel, From Time to Time (1995). In 1955 he published The Body Snatchers, a chilling tale of aliens who emerge from pods in the guise of humans. Many critics interpreted the insidious infiltration by aliens as a cold war allegory that dramatized Americas looming fear of a communist invasion, and the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers was remade twice. Over the course of his career, Finney wrote ten novels, more than 50 short stories, two plays, and a work of nonfiction, all of which are presented and discussed in this book. Also, reproduced in full and analyzed is a series of letters exchanged between Finney and various persons associated with his alma mater, Knox College. These letters give rare insight into Finneys character and demonstrate his personal interest in some of the themes that recur in his fiction. This work begins with an overview of Finneys life and career, presents a complete assessment of the authors works, and concludes with a look at the various ways that Finneys works have been adapted for the stage, television, and film. Also included is the first comprehensive list of Jack Finneys writings ever published.
Customer Reviews:
An important, useful book; the single, most complete compilation of Finney's work.......2006-07-03
This is an important, useful book for students and fans of Jack Finney. It is the single, most complete compilation of his work to date. Invaluably, it lists nearly all of Finney's works, with summaries and reviews.
Seabrook builds on, and expands previous outlines of Jack Finney's work, such as Jon L. Breen's The Fiction of Jack Finney (in They're Here...: invasion of the body snatchers: a tribute). Where Seabrook excels is in both scope and detail. He includes short stories published in magazines, books, movies, television and play performances. While references to these works already existed in such places as Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) and various other places, Seabrook has done a great service by aggregating these sources into a single volume.
Finney's short stories, including serialized novels, actually number 60 rather than the 59 listed, and cover a slightly longer period. Missing is "Someone Who Knows Told Me ..." from the December 1943 issue of Cosmopolitan. Seabrook may be forgiven for not including this story. It is Finney's shortest; 577 words. As an advertising copywriter at the mid-point of WWII, Finney was doing his part for the War Advertising Council, echoing the Office of War Information's (OWI) "Loose Lips Sink Ships" campaign, driving home the point that careless remarks by otherwise patriotic citizens can aid enemy agents, resulting in the death of US servicemen. It is notable for the mention of Finney's step-father, Frank Berry, and for its mood, used so well in The Body Snatchers: There are enemies who look like us, but aren't us.
Also included is a chapter titled "The Galesburg Letters." Seabrook publishes letters between Finney and various representatives of his college alma mater, Knox College in Galesburg, IL. While Seabrook is providing a service by publishing these letters, their utility is uncertain. Beyond small details of Finney's college days -- and his home address in Mill Valley -- what comes across is Finney's well-known shyness. His daughter described him as "intensely private," and to many who sought to interview him, he was polite, but unavailable -- until he was publishing a new book. Then, he had his list of who he wanted to interview him.
On the other hand, it might have been more useful to republish non-fiction articles Finney wrote for the New York Times, such as "Where Has Old-Fashioned Fun Gone?" (1970), or "When Felony Had Style" (1971).
Seabrook appropriately titled the very brief biographical chapter, A Life Kept Hidden. Details regarding Finney's private life are not readily available, and again, Seabrook has done a service by compiling what details there are. The veracity of these details however, is not certain. Many statements are couched in language like "he is said to have divorced his wife" or "Finney's mother was described as an accomplished seamstress" or "Finney appears to have a half-sister." [Italics added] In truth, almost like a criminal who wants to be caught, Finney hid details of his life in his stories. For example, the return address Charley's psychiatrist uses on his 1894 letter from Galesburg in The Third Level, was Finney's Galesburg address while he attended Knox College.
Seabrook also includes a bibliography, but a good number of the references are fan websites and critiques of Finney's works. While not denigrating fan websites -- mine is at http://homepage.mac.com/cssfan/jackfinney/work_date.htm -- the internet is notorious for repeating erroneous information. For example, planète ubik, and other sites display images purported to be Jack Finney, but are in fact photographs of an alumnus of Texas A&M University, also named Jack Finney.
Much of the original content in Stealing Through Time is critique. Therefore, inclusion of popular reviews in the bibliography is reasonable. Personally, I'm not much interested in how others evaluate any work of literature. I'd prefer to read it, and come to my own conclusions. Therefore, I often found myself at odds with Seabrook about his evaluation of a Finney story. There is a tendency for example, to discount all of Finney's non-time-travel stories -- and they account for more than half of what Finney wrote -- as "fluff"; the stuff that's left over when a pod duplicates a human. But Finney felt otherwise. Without benefit of his agent, he personally approached publishers in England for example, to publish a collection of nearly a dozen Timberlake Ryan stories he had written for Collier's. Apparently, he hoped what was not salable in the US might enjoy a better market overseas.
The bibliography also seems to be skewed to East coast sources. This may not be surprising since Seabrook lives in New Jersey, and while Finney lived twice as long in California as he did in New York, his books Time and Again, and From Time to Time let New York claim him. But we locals also have something to say. For example, Don Keown's December 20, 1977 article in the Marin Independent-Journal quotes Finney as saying "the idea for `The Night People' came out of a belated admission a few years back by his son, Ken, now 21, that when he was 10 or 11 he would get up at 2 a.m., leave the Finney house by the window of his room, join his chums outside, and roam the Strawberry area in search of adventure." This fact would have been a useful addition to Seabrook's summary of The Night People.
Any criticism of Stealing Through Time though, is armchair quarter-backing. Hopefully, it will be the start, not the end, of serious literature about my favorite author, Jack Finney.
Average customer rating:
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The Art of Stealing Time
Louis Andriessen , and
Mirjam Zegers
Manufacturer: Arc Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1900072882 |
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Chasing Time - The Magic Bicycle 2 (Stealing Time)
William Hill
Manufacturer: Otter Creek Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1890611034 |
Book Description
Imagination, magic, and fantasy are all at play as Danny and Murg, the talking cat, take on Spike the bully. For teens and pre-teens!
Customer Reviews:
An Adventure Beyond Time.......2000-04-21
In this exciting sequel to The Magic Bycicle, the reader is reunited with Danny and Murg for the adventure of a life-time. We meet new and interesting characters, such as Plato, Merlyn, Joan of Arc, and even Babe Ruth. The plot quickly develops into a lightning-fast race through time, as Danny must save himself, humanity, and Time itself...
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- The Discipline of Market Leaders: Choose Your Customers, Narrow Your Focus, Dominate Your Market
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- The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah's Book Club)
- The New Saint Joseph Sunday Missal & Hymnal/Black/No. 820/22-B
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