This book's contents are so exhaustive, containing such a wealth of information, much of it rather insignificant in itself, that only the most obsessive of Dylan fans would ever buy it, much less slog through its voluminous contents. Needless to say, I bought it and did so. If you are truly interested in Bob Dylan, in a scholarly and historical sense, not just as a fan of his music, then you will serve yourself well by getting this book. If you are not, however... well, let's put this book into perspective:

What this book purports to be is a chronicle of Bob Dylan's life -- not an autobiography, but, rather, a listing of each day of his life, from the day of his birth up until the year this book was published (1997); as short pre-history is included, as well. Now, as you probably assumed, the book is not exactly this: Dylan is, and always has been, a mysterious, aloof, and reclusive character, despite his great fame. Consequently, long stretches, often encompassing months at a time, are missing from this chronicle. Still, what is here is amazing. Documented herein is a record of every recording session, rehearsal, and tour that Dylan had done up to this point. Heylin tells you what songs were played, how many times, what the arrangements were, if there were any changes from their original incarnation, what musicians played on them, etc. Also documented are most of Dylan's interviews -- where, with whom, and about what. These kinds of details form the vast majority of the book; needless to say, the more personal aspects of Dylan's life are as unknown to Heylin as they are to the rest of us, and probably always will be. Examples of the other kinds of information that he manages to include are such things as Dylan's travels, public appearances and events, and the like.

As one can see, this is not a book for the casual Bob Dylan fan. If you are looking for a biography, stay far, far away from this; Heylin's own Behind The Shades is a good place to start for that type of tome. On the other hand, if you are a Bob Dylan fan who is truly interested not only in the man's music and life, but in the historical and scholarly aspects of his work, then this is a book that you will want to eventually pick up. Due to its lack of brevity in information and the level of obsessiveness in its detail, however, this is still a book that you will want to pick up later, after your collection already includes numerous other Dylan books -- biographies, lyrical analyses, etc. -- before you take on this daunting volume.

This excellent book documents every concert, recording session and personal appearance that Dylan has ever done. Includes T.V. and radio appearances as well as unrealesed recordings. The book is laid out by each year and tells what Dylan was doing on a particular day of that year. Incredible and exhaustive research which makes one believe that Dylans every move has been documented by someone and all that info has been gathered in this stupendous edition. Out of the many Dylan books I own , this is without a doubt the one I turn to the most. INVALUABLE.

Once, in the environs of Wheeler Hall in the mid 80s, I was talking to Robert Pinksy about this-and-that poetics, and I was ranting in hyperbolic style about Bob Dylan being a kind of Blake for our time, refiguring "Jesus the Imagination" in a time of imperial blight and so on. Pinsky looked at me wryly, a bit baffled, and said, "Dylan is somebody I never got into. I never really thought of him as a poet." I was amazed by this comment, and begin to wonder (as I often do) if I knew what poetry is anymore. But I never lost my amazement towards B Dylan, and his latest Nietzschean attack on his own deepest belief structures and pieties in "Time Out of Mind" and "Things Have Changed" from "Wonderboys" soundtrack only confirms the scope, depth, and generic visionary quality of his work. Happy Birthday Bob Dylan....

This book should be required reading for every registered voter. The issue is not sex -- the issue is purjury, buyoffs, and attempting to influence the testamony of others. Clinton has some pretty tough charges to answer once Congress gets its mind off sex and partisanship.

I think that people should form their own opinions of the Clinton scandal AFTER reading the Starr Report. Extremely well documented. This should be read by every American in order to get the story straight as to why Clinton is being accused of perjury. The report has been damned for being too sexually graphic. However, this is a necessity since the details refute everything Clinton said during the Paula Jones deposition. Instead of saying Clinton is guilty or innocent based on one's emotional feelings for the man, an opinion should be formed after reading the Starr Report. I have passed on my copy of the book around in the office and am encouraging everyone to read it.

Regardless of your opinion of WJC and Starr, there's too much here to blame it on the vast right-wing conspiracy. There's the "hero". He has a tragic flaw. That flaw leads to his downfall -- purjury. No matter how the sequel turns out - impeachment or no - this is enough of a page turner to occupy an afternoon.

Interesting to revisit the 90's but I felt that the section on the Clinton Presidency was too long and that Johnson is somewhat biased. Very interesting sections on technology development and the youth of the 90's. I learned a lot of detail that I missed because I was too busy living!

As a big fan of Bill Clinton, Johnson did justice in pointing out that Clinton had more potential. People who like Clinton will be reminded that he was human, and a politician that can be trapped by the office and power. It's not what he did, it's what he could have been. The Clinton years were good for me and this book reminded me that it's not what you are but what you could have been that gets under your skin. Bet we all wish we bought eBay on day 1.

One of the best of the gaggle of electronic journalists who has successfully made the transition to writing full-time as a contemporary historian is former television correspondent Haynes Johnson, who has penned a wonderful series of books on American politics and social issues like "Sleepwalking Through History", a savvy and fascinating best-selling study of the Reagan's presidency and its aftermath. In this book, In "The Best of Times", Johnson adds to his series of fascinating narratives on contemporary American culture that now focuses on the intriguing developments of the 1990s. As in his previous book, "Divided We Fall; Gambling With History In The Nineties", Johnson explores the social, economic and politics realities of the times in a work that largely acts as a snapshot of the country and the polity at a particular moment in time, i.e., in the late 1990s, in the fullness of Bill Clinton's fateful Presidency.

One of the things making this book special is the author's unusual ability to draw those that he interviews out of themselves. As a result he mines some fascinating data from the wide range of people he contacted while making a kind of sentimental journey across America. He found that people quite consistently voiced concerns and reservations about the same kinds of issues; employment, race, education, public schools, and also about traditional values and what their place in contemporary America should be. Johnson divides the snapshot into four different views or perspectives; taken together they comprise his view of the state of the polity, and taken individually, each lends a critical element to the otherwise bewildering polyphony that is our contemporary culture.

The first of the snapshots is of the so-called short life of "Technotimes", which nimbly traces the daunting list of scientific particulars dotting the numbing technological advances and accompanying changes in corporate culture it imbues. The second theme, that of "Teletimes," is a distressingly accurate portrayal of the developing cult of celebrity, the contributing influence of electronic media, and its rampant manifestations throughout the social, political, and economic landscape. The third aspect investigated is what he refers to as "Scandal Times", which focuses on the sordid particulars of the Monica Lewinsky affair and the ay in which it was allowed to corrupt every aspect of the Clinton administration. Finally, he describes "Millennial Times," showing the degree of diversity and pluralism that still remains and flourishes in contemporary America.

Faced with unpleasant choices about how to deal with the development of terrorism, our new economic woes, and a rapidly evolving technology, the use of this point/counterpoint perspective has some interesting points to make about the state of the country and the culture. Thus, this is a book that paints an indelible and unforgettable portrait of today's modern America, a country characterized by the common people feeling both frightened by the brave new world we now face and yet at the same time embracing this new world with care, compassion, and courage. As always, Johnson finds ample reasons for hope and optimism, and some of the individual narratives provide ample proof that idealism isn't dead, that there are people who passionately care about their country and their values, and who are actively involved in trying to make this a better country and a better world.

Mainstream lesbian comedian (and Provincetown resident) Kate Clinton's humor is showcased in this collection of 26 short pieces -- part stand-up routine, part essay, part schtick. Some of them are quite funny: "Whenever a woman describes herself as 'post-feminist,' I picture women lashed to posts. Joan of Arc was an early post-feminist." Some are mildly amusing: "Jean Harris was an early hero of mine. Who hasn't wanted to blow away a diet doctor?" Some are perfectly dreadful: "When CBS sportscaster Ben Wright claimed women don't make good golfers because their boobs get in the way of things, I thought, 'Two words, Ben. Beer. Gut.'" Once you get her started, you might want her to shut up. For a bit.

I found myself laughing throughout this wonderfully funny book, however it would have been considerably funnier preformed. Clinton is among my favorite Comediennes, and proves again to have an inteligent wit. The book drags in places, however, when tone and motion are simply necissary additions. So I recomend having someone read this to you while adding tone to their voice and motion to their bodies! Or simply watch her live or listen to one of her CDs.

Great book, but I wanted to verify the statement by Maggie B. concerning Rosie O'Donnell. My cousin, Wanda, is in her chub club and before she was allowed on the set, Rosie herself stuck her head in the green room and said, "If any of you are queer, keep it to yourself".

At potentially great risk to his personal safety and that of his family, Dr. L. D. Brown offers a disconcerting, inclusive, first person account of the moral duplicity and political corruption of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Crossfire is an intelligible, detailed disclosure of the the Clintons' insidious personal and political impropriety from the state level to the White House as experienced by Dr. Brown. He makes no effort to conceal his own involvement in order to protect his integrity and provides pertinent documentation to verify his claims.

I, for one, am grateful for his courage in offering the truth, as he knows it, to posterity by means of historical literature. I definitely recommend that anyone who is interested in insight regarding the Clintons and their administration read and consider the content of this book.

On 10/31/98, L.D. Brown appeared before thousands on the Washington Monument grounds, plus a live national C-Span audience. He announced that what he was about to do, he was doing with reluctance, because of the increased risk that his disclosure would pose for his family. But he felt it had to be done. He announced that the investigation into the death of Vincent Foster could not be properly concluded until someone INTERROGATED Hillary Rodham Clinton about her affair with Vince Foster. "You've heard the rumors and the denials, but I'm here to give first person evidence that it was real. I saw it and talked to them both about it. And she's never even been interviewed!"

What was especially disconcerting was that this brave man's statement, about his observations as the state police driver of Governor Clinton's limo and, later, as the husband of Chelsea's nanny, was spiked nationwide. If this type of story can be made to disappear, who will carry the truth to the American people? When the "main stream" doesn't want such a story aired, it is up to witnesses to publish. This book's addition to the "body of evidence" in the public domain will make future analysts of the Clinton years even more incredulous that the national mass hypnosis has been so successful!

I found this book to be truthful. J D Brown writes about his illegal dealings with the CIA and Clinton. His life has been ruined by the Clinton Machine. In this book he shows how he witnessed the illegal activites in Mena as well as Little Rock. He writes how he has paid dearly for being close to that man, Bill Clinton. I found it hard to put this book down. My hope is that JD's family has peace when Cliton is out of office. This book is well worth the price. Don't miss it.

Overall, this book was helpful. I discovered about a dozen distance learning MBA programs that I wasn't aware of. However, I was disappointed with a couple of inaccuracies in the book. It listed several MBA programs as being accredited by the AACSB when in fact they weren't. Also, at the back of the book they give a url that you can check for mistakes and outdated information published in the book. The link provided is not active.

With that said, I would still recommend this book. It was helpful in pointing me to several MBA programs I didn't know about before.

My review is based on last year's guide. Bear's Guide to the Best MBA Programs by DL was my guidepost during my selection process. The first five chapters are the best, especially the sections on vital factors in selecting a program and the section on accreditation. This information made me a much better consumer. I probably annoyed more than one admissions counselor with my questions! The detailed information on each school is only fair -- make sure you go to the schools web site instead. John Bear really cares about this topic and often posts to DL forums, so in my opinion you can trust him. He even responded to a personal email with some good advice. After exhaustive analysis, and marking up Bear's Guide from cover to cover, I choose a particular European MBA DL program. One year later, I changed to a MBA program in the US but not due to bad advice from Bear. Read the section on accreditation and choose carefully.

This book very clearly spells out the options of earning a business degree via distance learning. Accreditation (typically one of the most confusing issues facing students) is thoroughly explained, and there are no unaccredited schools listed.

My only criticism is that some schools I think are good options (such as Baker College) are left out. However, the title is "Best MBA's", so obviously some have to be left out. If you're in the market for a non-traditional business degree, buy this book.

The title and pictorial representation leads one to believe that the book would share some light on the past and present exploits of the Clinton's political arranegements. However the book is in fact a catalog of ramblings about unsubstantiated charges of corruption at all levels of government. Additionally an inordinate portion of the text is dedicated to the struggles the Clintons went through in their early lives. It also goes off on tangents that only remotely relate to the Clinton's felonious life style. To the interested student of power brokers this book is replete with redundancies that leads to a boring and sophomoric exercise.

This book detailes the corruption of not only the Clintons but Arkansas and Washington D.C. as well. The book paints a picture of the idealistic and somewhat tortured personal lives of two people who get caught up in the corruption of not only Arkansas, but Washington D.C. The book does get kind of bogged down in discussing tangents to the main theme of the book, the Clintons, but its meant to show what kind of Arkansas and Washington D.C. they came into politically. The book, although defintely not pro-Clintons, avoids purely polemical and emotional language and writing. It is a sad commentary on politics in general and our country when corrupt people can get into high places.

This is an excellent read! If you are unconvinced of the corruption we have had for the last eight years, then this book will cause you to reconsider. It also goes into detail as to how Bill Clinton got into this terrible state.

Anyone who dismisses this book as unsubstanstiated is obviously partisana and also hasn't been paying attention to the news for the last eight years. An objective and reasonable person will see the truth and the truth is what is written is true and well documented. Mind you this is a close friend of Bill Clinton who wrote the book! No agenda - just truth for those who can accept it.

This book highlights the pattern of deceit, drug use and corruption. Frankly, I'd rather not be in denial but admit the obvious about this man. Hopefull the American people will never allow someone of this low calibur ever become President again.

A very dry, self glorifying effort at expanding his image, Jim McDougal's book is as boorish as the man himself perhaps was. We were saved his testimony in the Grand Jury, perhaps for the better. Truly an old boy who liked to make himself bigger than he really was.

It is only tempered by the shabby treatment that Jim McDougal received not only at the hands of his friend, Bill Clinton, but also long time political ally, Govenor Jim Guy Tucker, Clinton's sucessor. Govenor Tucker, like McDougal, went to jail. Clinton did not & went on to screw many others, figuratively & literally. Bill Clinton's charisma was such that long after it made any sense, McDougal, & especially his wife, Susan retained a great deal of personal affection for the president. Politically, being a "yellow dog" democrat, McDougal could do no less than support both the president & the govenor.
The political stories fronm an Arkansas insider are light & funny. Some universally true about politicas & others peculiar to Arkansas.
The legal morass that McDougal found himself & tries to explain make for rough going in places but these segments are brief. Any good ol' boy or political junkie will like this book. As to the veracity of this book, Mr. McDougal knew he was dying & in fact died before it's publication. Most people do not wish to leave this world with a lie. He had considerable help from Curtis Wilkie, a professional writer, which probably helped him keep it real. Lloyd James' narration made it seem as if it actually was the voice of Jim McDougal.

Curtis Wilkie's name appears in smaller case type below that of Jim McDougal's on the cover, but there should be no doubt in any reader's mind that without Wilkie's dogged pursuit of the truth and his well-honed journalist's credentials this would be just another publisher's attempt to capitalize on the Clinton scandalmongering machine. Fortunately, Wilkie successfully navigates McDougal's obfuscations and produces a fascinating account of McDougal's sad life and role in one of the late-20th century's seminal political events. Required reading for anyone interested in southern-or national-politics.

Strobe Talbott's latest book does not add much to the understanding of Russia or the role played by the Clinton administration (of which Talbott was its most senior Russia hand) towards that country.

Talbott will not be remembered by the Sovietological community for those things he describes in his book, which seem superfluous and self-glorifying. He will be mostly remembered for three events. The first is the billions of dollars wasted of U.S. aid money that he personally oversaw to Russia. The government of Viktor Chernomyrdin (whose personal fortune is estimated at over 10 billion dollars) squandered much U.S. aid money yet Talbott ignored the many warning signs and continued to advocate lending and aid to the Chernomyrdin government with the excuse that Russia is too big to lose.

Second, Talbott will be remembered for the disdainful way in which he treated the genuine Russian democrats that could have given that country a chance, while assisting former communist officials. Talbott famously under-cut the Russian reformers in 1993 when he quipped that "Russia needs more therapy and less shock," referring to the program of "shock therapy" that the reform-minded finance minister Fyodorov was trying to implement. Fyodorov later mentioned that Talbott had "stabbed us in the back." Later that year, the head of the largest pro-democracy movement in Russia, Galina Starovoitova, pleaded with Talbott for assistance in convincing a foreign TV star popular in Russia, to appear in commercials to help the democrats in the December 1993 parliamentary elections. Talbott refused to even return her calls. However, both the U.S. ambassador in Belarus (David Swartz) and the democratic leader of that country at that time (Stanislau Shushkevich) accused Talbott of using U.S. aid to help communist politicians there.

The third event that makes Talbott memorable are the widespread suspicions and accusations of his prior involvement with Soviet state security, the KGB. Some suspect that Talbott may have collaborated with the KGB to portray the USSR in a favorable light as Time Magazine correspondent (which he did) in exchange for access (which he had). Talbott was evasive in his confirmation hearings at the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the specific issue of his contacts and relation with a KGB agent named Louie.

These three events are not explored in his self-glorifying book, which is why those seeking to understand those tumultuous times read instead some other book, such as the account by former ambassador Jack Matlock.

I have gotten nothing out of reading this book. I am currently a student interested in diplomatic relations having some experience working in the White House and expected a down and dirty book about behind the scenes presidential diplomacy. I read nothing of the sort.

This book bounces from issue to issue, following events as far as dates rather than consolidating the efforts of the president and Talbot into subject by subject chapters.

I was also lost with names. He floods the reader with Russian names, mentioning there titles once or twice in the entire piece. This makes for very hard reading when trying to make sense of the various Vladmirs.

Nothing can be truly learned from the book and would be much better suited to a Tom Clancy reader who is not expecting a plot.

Contrary to several other reviewers on this site who are rather critical, I found this a very useful and insightful book. The fact that it hardly deals with the rise of the oligarchs and other important Russian domestic items is in my view not relevant as this is a book mainly on Russian-US relations in the 1990s. Talbott writes lucid prose and is often entertaining. One gets a good impression of the endless diplomatic wheeling and dealing behind the scenes with the Russians. Talbott gives a very interesting account of his direct relationship with the Russian official Yuri Mamedov, who served as his personal contact at the Russian foreign ministry. The wounded pride of the Russians, basically due to the collapse of the old Soviet empire, was so great that all kinds of irritations about Yugoslavia and Kosovo, NATO enlargement and other issues were basically inevitable, Talbott suggests between the lines. Amazing that things went so well between Russia and the US in this period of great difficulty for Yeltsin on the Russian domestic front. Boris Yeltsin comes through as an unpredictable politician with a drinking problem which was much bigger apparently than I suspected from reading other written accounts of the 1990s. During summits with the Russians, Clinton and his team were always counting the number of drinks Yeltsin gulped down and were often trying in vain to keep the hard liquor out of reach of the Russian president. When the summit was on American soil, that is. In Russia they didn't have this possibility, of course. Talbott writes with a great knowledge of Russian history and a love of the country, but is in no way uncritical of the mess Yeltsin and his team often made in the realm of foreign policy as well. Witness the unexpected transfer of Russian troops from Bosnia to Pristina at the end of the Kosovo crisis in 1999, which as Talbott pictures it, was a clear example of messy and irresponsible Russian decision making. Still, Talbott rightly suggests that Yeltsin as president was definitely preferable to a communist fossil like Zyuganov.

This is an amazing example of what I've only heard about heretofore: The feminist attribution of motives that probably didn't even enter the minds of the plantation ladies Ms. Clinton has written about. Her research sample is small and perhaps overused, but quite interesting when letters are included in the text, and therefore there is some worth to the work. Often foolish, this book says more about the author's politics than the lives of plantation mistresses.

I browsed through it to get to parts that were the most interesting but overall the book was good. nice read for anyone interested in plantation life.

The Plantation Mistress by Catherine Clinton was an overall good book, and I recommend it for anyone interested in the lives of women in the Old South. I read it for a school project, however it was actually interesting. Some parts were boring, andthe author went into too much detail about some aspects of the life of a southern women, but other parts were really interesting. You will finish the book with a greater appreciation for women's status today, and a better understanding of women's role during the period 1780-1835. AN enjoyable read considering its a history book!!