Why this book: This is volume two of James Kaplan’s authoritative biography of Frank Sinatra – following Sintatra – The Voice, which I thought was well done (my review of it here.) . I listened to this one as well. It was longer and addressed his most productive years, when he was at the apogee of his popularity.
Summary in 3 (long) Sentences: This volume begins in 1953 – a major turning point in Sinatra’s life when his marriage to Ava Gardner begins to unravel as he wins an academy award for his surprise outstanding performance in the movie From Here to Eternity, just when Hollywood and the public believed he had been a flash in the pan, was washed up, and his career was essentially over. Afterward he went on to record some of the most highly regarded popular music of the 20th century, and he had roles in a number of follow on movies, most of them mediocre, but his fame and influence continued to rise – as he became one of the A list stars in Hollywood. This book recounts the roller-coaster of Sinatra’s life from the early 50’s until his death in 1998 – his marriages to Ava Gardner, Mia Farrow, and finally Barbara Marx, his relationship with his children by his first wife Nancy, his multitude of love affairs with the most beautiful women in Hollywood, his involvement with the Kennedy’s and later more conservative politicians, his charisma, charm, and emotional instability, how he adapted his music to changing public tastes in the late 50s, the 60s and 70s – as he held on to the spotlight into his later years – the many high points and low points of his remarkable life.
My Impressions: A remarkable book – a tour de force look at one of the most famous men in the world for much of the middle of the 20th century. Kaplan did an amazing amount of research, interviewing or reading the autobiographies of many of the people who were instrumental figures in his life – to include a thorough look at what the tabloids and gossip columnists were saying as they drooled over the chaos and drama of his life. I was truly impressed with James Kaplan’s research and writing – he gave full credit to the talent and so much that Sinatra did which deserved admiration, but also did not pull any punches when describing his foolish, immature, and sometimes violent actions inspired by anger, disappointment or simply spite. He was often an entitled hyper-sensitive narcissist, but was also a charming generous man of great talent. As many who know him said, Sinatra was a complicated man.
I listened to the book, and thought the reader Donald Corren did an excellent job reading Kaplan’s script – his voice sounded authentic and authoritative and fit the subject matter well. I have recently listened to good books which were significantly diminished by the voice of the reader not being a good fit for the text. That is not the case here.
There was so much to this long book nearly 1000 pages and 40 hours to listen to. He lived to be 83 years old, dying in 1998 after being married 4 times. His first wife Nancy was the mother of his two daughters and one son, and though his character was not suited to monogamy and family life, he remained close to that family throughout his life and by most accounts contiuned to be a friend and provider to Nancy and caring father to his children. His tempestuous marriage to Ava Gardner was fodder for the tabloids for years – they were married for several years, but in my and the author Kaplan’s opinions, were too much alike to be happy together – they fought all the time, and made up in the bedroom. The passion between these two makes up much of the book and continued throughout their lives, to include long after their divorce. Following Ava was the very controversial and short-lived marriage to Mia Farrow, and finally his marriage to Barbara Marx for the last 22 years of his life.
The following is a list of some/many of the famous starlets and women that is it was well known that Sinatra had romantic/sexual affairs with, all pretty well documented in the book, with Ava Gardner being at the top of the list. Additionally: Lauren Bacall (Briefly engaged,) Angie Dickinson, Lana Turner, Juliette Prowse (briefly engaged,) Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Kim Novak, Grace Kelly, Marilyn Maxwell, Gloria Vanderbilt. Sinatra’s unlikely marriage to Mia Farrow, when he was 50 and she was 21 shocked much of the world, and didn’t last long. These are women he saw not just sexually but also saw romantically whose company he enjoyed, but he was not willing to extend them to marriage.
Frank had no problem finding beautiful women to have sex with – his valet George Jacobs and his good friend and song writer-musician Jimmy Van Heusen were nearly always in his entourage and seemed to knew all the “procurers” in the cities to which Frank traveled. When Frank travelled and wanted female company, they would find, beautiful women, often several at a time, to keep Frank company and share his bed at night.
In addition to all of these salacious stories, Kaplan gives great insights into Sinatra’s relationship over many years to key figures in the Mafia – “the mob.” It began in his early years in Hoboken, New Jersey, and when Frank became famous he was something of mascot to the Mafia. Frank did use his relationship and credibility with them as a fellow Italian-American to help his career, while also trying to keep them at arm’s length, as his relationships with well known mob figures were hurting his reputation. Kaplan seeks to explore the truths, and separate fact from fiction regarding the many rumors.
Frank was a well known advocate for the underprivileged, the poor, and for those who suffered from discrimination as he had in his youth. He never forgot his experience of anti-Italian discrimination early in his career and later, and so actively and publicly supported causes that fought racial/ethnic discrimination against blacks, jews, Hispanics, and others, as well as Italians. In the late fifties and sixties, he became enamored of John Kennedy and the Democratic party’s promise to upend such discrimination, campaigned actively for JFK, and arguably his efforts were key to his narrow victory in 1960 over Richard Nixon. His infatuation with the power and romance of the Kennedy’s was greatly diminished when, after the election, JFK and the Kennedy clan distanced themselves from Frank due to his close relationship with Sammy Davis Jr, and later when Bobby Kennedy came after Frank because of his cozy relationship to the Mafia. Frank eventually moved right politically and endorsed and supported Ronald Reagan.
The final third of the book deals with Frank’s life and career from the late sixties until his death in 1998. Though he remained in the news and a very popular figure on TV and Hollywood into the 70s and early 80s, he continued to travel, perform and produce great music. After the public drama of his ill conceived and unsuccessful marriage to Mia Farrow, his romantic life became of less interest to the public and the gossip columnists.
– Toward the end of the 70s, rather than grow old alone, he opted to marry Barbara Marx – the former wife of Zeppo Marx, who had strategically befriended and supported him living alone in Palm Springs, ultimately pressuring him into marrying her. He was in his early 60s, she very attractive in her late 40s and a marriage to Frank fulfilled her goal of cementing her position into the world of the rich and famous to which she aspired. Their marriage then became one of mutual dependence, but she kept him on a short leash and controlled much of his life. According to this book, it was a stable but not a particularly happy marriage that lasted 22 years. Older and emotionally beat up after the failure of his marriage to Mia Farrow, Frank’s once prodigious energy was waning and he he didn’t have it in him to resist or fight her control, nor to pursue the wild adventures and sexual exploits of his past.
– Like many celebrities of that era, he never took great care of himself, and a lifetime of smoking, drinking, and all-night carousing was catching up with him. Though he continued to travel and perform into his 70s, and early 80s with a lot of help from Barbara – 11 years his junior, he suffered from cardiac disease and he died of a heart attack at age 82 in 1998.
In the summary above, I hit on some of the many highlights from this fascinating book about a complex man who was, and continues to be prominent in American culture; Here are some of my key takeaways from spending some sixty hours amazed, startled and entertained listening to this two volume biography:
– As a major popular figure in America for over 40 years, his life served as a lens through which to look at American society and culture during a period of great turmoil and transition, from the WW2 generation, into the Eisenhower years of the 1950s, followed by the rebellious turmoil of the 1960s with the Vietnam war and the counterculture revolution, and then the subtle slide and transition into the very different world of America in the 70s and 80s.
-This bio provides insights into the lives of the “rich and famous,” and Sinatra’s life, values and lifestyle are a window into the lives of those in this period with lots of money and no real concern about making more. Frank hobnobbed and was good friends with everyone who was considered Hollywood royalty at the time, as well as with people of great wealth and influence in America outside of Hollywood. While “keeping up appearances” Frank was often in debt living the lifestyle of the rich and famous, but he never seemed willing to scrimp or economize. He was always confident he could make more, and he always did, but he did have to keep working to make the money he needed to live as though he didn’t need it. He spent lavishly but was also very generous to his friends and admirers. He famously often gave $100 dollar tips to valets and waiters.
-Frank got all that most men fantasize about- lots of fame, money, power, attention, as well as love, affection and sex from a multitude of beautiful women. And yet his was not a happy life. He was unable to develop emotional intimacy with women, (or arguably, with anyone,) he was often depressed, attempted suicide at least once and seemed to always be chasing the next high – either in fame and recognition, or romantic love with a desirable woman. And he was often/usually able to get what he wanted – but the joy didn’t last. He was then driven by an urgent need for the next high.
-It seemed that many if not most of the Hollywood stars with whom Frank cavorted were similarly driven – to find fame, sex, adventure – due to an unwillingness or inability to enjoy or be satisfied with simple pleasures. These drives were often fueled and enhanced by alcohol and drugs, as well as the promise of more fame, sexual adventures, and excitement. These internal drives also fueled their ambition, hard work, and drive to succeed and excel at their craft, and then to get more fame, glory and power. In many or most cases, even for the most successful, the happiness and joy achieved was ephemeral, like a drug high, and when it went away, it was followed by an emptiness that could only be filled with more commercial success, fame, sex, money adventure. And that high was accompanied by fear that it wouldn’t last and they would lose it. That was certainly the case with Frank Sinatra – he perhaps represented the apogee of that syndrome..
-I learned to appreciate how important the musical “arrangement” is to the quality and impact of music – especially popular music. Frank was very sensitive to and dependent on his music being well arranged – meaning, which instruments introduce the tune, how and what they play to accent and enhance the melody, what instrumentation is played during the “break” from the lyrics, how the instrumentals affect and color the emotional impact of the tune, and the singer singing the lyrics. Frank was regarded by the musical elite as a master in shaping and expressing his music. Of his musical collaborators, Nelson Riddle is the most famous, but also Billy May and Gordon Jenkins were important arrangers of Sinatra’s music. Since this book, I pay much more attention to and appreciate the arrangement behind the lyrics and the basic tunes in the music I listen to.
-Frank was unique in the amount of emotion he was able to put into and communicate through his singing – listeners, especially women, almost had the feeling he was singing to them personally. He worked hard at internalizing the meaning of the lyrics – the poetry – of the songs he sang, and making the writer’s intent his own, which gave the lyrics and his singing special power. When I listen to Franks hits now, I can hear the power of the emotion that he puts behind his singing.
FINALLY This was a fascinating book about a complex, fascinating and very driven and talented man, perhaps one of the most famous and popular of all of the TV and Hollywood stars while I was growing up in the 50s, 60s and 70s. The book addresses the litany of salacious rumors that surrounded his life, and attempts to validate or debunk those rumors. The author did an AMAZING amount of research – he must have read thousands of gossip columns from newspapers of the day spreading and addressing rumors of his crazy life, and read the biographical accounts of the many prominent people who had interactions with Sinatra in his lifetime. It seemed that anyone who wrote their own story and had interacted with Sinatra, felt compelled to comment on that interaction and their own impressions of the man. Ultimately, after age left the glamor and wild and crazy fun behind him, I felt it was a sad story. Almost a cautionary tale for the ambitious young stars of Hollywood.
I read a great quote from Thomas Merton that I believe applies here – as a counter to the life Sinatra lived, “Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance.”
Why this book: On a recommended reading list of books to read before my impending visit to Sardinia. I looked at google and it said that Reeds in the Wind was first published 1913 and Deledda won the Nobel Prize in literature in1926. In her award, the Nobel committee specifically noted how well her books described life in her native Sardinia, how she treated guilt, aging family, regret, forgiveness, fate, human responsibility. and the feeling of being carried along by forces one cannot control – as universal. She was was the first Italian woman to win the Nobel prize. That was enough to convince me to read the book.
Summary in 3 sentences: Reeds in the Wind is about a formerly well-to-do family, now nearly destitute, in a small village in the mountains of central Sardinia in the late 19th/early 20th century. The protagonist is Efix, the family’s servant who had served the famaily for decades and stayed on to take care of the four spinster daughters on their struggling estate after their tyrannical father died. It is about his life and the drama that ensued after the father died, and a relative arrives from the mainland.
My Impressions: An interesting short (about 190 pages in paperback) book which tells a story that takes place primarily in a remote and isolated mountain village in Sardinia, in the window of the late 19th/early 20th century. There are no automobiles, electricity, telephones – none of technological advantages of more modern urban civilized countries – and as such we get a glimpse into how traditional villages – our ancestors – lived in previous centuries. The story is about a poor family in the village, and the story’s protagonist is a very poor servant of that family who is driven to leave the family and his village to wander out into neighboring towns and villages, and then returns at the conclusion.
The description of life in the village includes the petty jealousies between the members of the village, the power of superstition, how most good intentions go awry or mask ulterior motives, and the suspicions and distrust of those who seem to have more than others. Also, the church (in this case the Catholic Church) has much authority and is the the center of community life, and the stories of the bible are the primary source of moral guidance and inspiration among the relatively uneducated population. Festivals celebrating religious figures, holidays and saints are a primary source of social entertainment.
I’ve told my friends that I believe that this book describes a Sardinian version of pre-20th century life in remote villages around the world – that a similar version of this story could probably be told taking place in Scotland, West Virginia, Germany, Lebanon, India, the Balkans- in nearly any country. The setting is similar to what what was described in another book I read in preparation for my trip to Sardinia Accabadora (my review of it here) and about what I read of life in remote villages in the Balkans in The Tiger’s Wife (my review here) This particular story is about the experiences of the servant of what was once a relatively prosperous family in a village in the mountains of Sardinia, of four sisters who had been living with their father, after the mother had died. The protagonist however is their servant.
The background of the main story is that the mother in this family was a kind and well-loved woman who was the glue that held the family together. The family’s servant, Efix had served them for many years doing chores and manual labor around their farm/estate. The family saw itself as among the “better,” more affluent. “well-healed” segment of the small society in that village – having a “servant” was part of that. When the mother died the father became something of an angry irrational tyrant, ruling his family with an iron fist – carelessly and flagrantly spending what money they had, ignoring his responsibilities to his estate. The youngest daughter chose to escape such an environment, and with no notice, simply left and never communicated with her family again. This created something of a scandal within the village, and the family and especially the father, were humiliated – this sort of thing just doesn’t happen with the best families in town.
The father becomes even more unhinged. He searched, turned over every stone, and unsuccessfully pursued every lead to find his wayward daughter, ostensibly out of anger to punish her for this travesty. People in the village rightly assumed that she had secretly fled the family and Sardinia for mainland Italy. After a while, the father is found dead on the road near the village, perhaps from a stroke or a heart attack, and the remaining three daughters and the servant are left with little money and few resources to maintain the farm. This is where the story begins – about 18-20 years later.
By now, the daughters have fallen into poverty, but Efix loyally stays with them, doing what he can to take care of them and the farm, even though they continue to take his service for granted, promising to, but never paying him for his service. Then, out of nowhere, they get a letter from Giacinto a young man living on the mainland who claims to be the son of their wayward sister, who he claims has died, and is on his way to come and live with his Sardinian family. This letter and his prospective arrival create a buzz of excitement, curiosity, and also of suspicion in the family and the whole village.
After several months of uncertainty, Giacinto finally arrives without notice and turns out to be a handsome and charming young man, says he indeed has some money and hopes to find work. The women in the village are all a-twitter, especially the younger unmarried ones, and the older men are interested in the money he claims to have. The three sisters, his aunts, though they recognize that they have a responsibility to host him, are suspicious of his intentions about which he is vague. One of the sisters in particular, Noemi, who by nature is distant and distrustful, is unwelcoming to Giacinto and wants nothing to do with him – which we later learns has subtle reasons.
Giacinto turns out to be less mature than his general demeanor suggested. He borrows money under false pretenses, makes some mistakes and after a series of misunderstandings and recriminations, he is seen by many as a irresponsible rogue, so he imply leaves without notice. There is chaos in the family of the three sisters, but he tells Efix that he intend to find work in a nearby town to make money and then to return in good stead, to repair his reputation, and repay the debts he’d accumulated in the village. After a short while, Efix leaves the acriomny behind, to go pursue Giacinto.
Efix finally finds and reconnects with Giacinto, and they have a long discussion. It appears that options for reconciliation at home and with the three sisters don’t look good. Efix becomes frustrated and sad, returns to his village with little hope of resolving this issue, then again, leaves the chaos of the three sisters without a plan.
He teams up with a blind beggar and becomes part of the community of beggars that travel on foot around that part of Sardinia, begging for money and handouts to survive. Efix turns out to be one of the few in this “community” of beggars with common sense and integrity, and assumes the difficult role of trying to manage the tensions within that group. After a while he decides to leaves them to their bickering, and returns again to the sisters and his village, to see if he can perhaps find a way to facilitate a reconciliation that would bring some order to the chaos he left behind. We also learn that Efix is largely driven by the need to do penance for a sin he’d committed many years ago, which he confessed only to Giacinto, when Giacinto was confessing to Efix a burden of guilt he was carrying from his misdeeds in Italy before coming to Sardinia.
Efix is the main character and protagonist of this book. He is a humble, moral man, selfless almost to a fault in his dedication to others, but also capable, resourceful and practical. We inevitably are impressed with his generosity of spirit and his character as we observe how he deals with his many challenges, from a position of very little power.
At this point, to relate the next and final phase of the story would be to give away the conclusion of the book, which (I believe) is a key reason to read and stay with the book, and knowing it in advance would significantly detract from the experience of reading it.
Would I recommend Reeds in the Wind to others? Yes with caveats. As I wrote similarly in my reviews of The Tiger’s Wife and Accabadora, if you’re looking for a page-turner with a driving plot, you won’t enjoy this book and would probably put it down. But Reeds in the Wind is legitimate literature – well written, with interesting and unique characters in a setting that exists in the history of nearly all of us. If you’re willing to step into a family drama in a small village in 19th century Sardinia, and get into the challenges of a loyal servant doing his best to keep the lid on a family drama and ameliorate the suffering of those he has committed himself to protect, it is a well written book, a good story and an often fascinating read.
Why this book: Selected by the SEAL Book club I’m a member of. I listened to the book on audible, but wish I’d read the hard copy, which includes pictures, maps, lists of participants and acknowledgments and would have permitted more easily reviewing portions to get clarity on parts I may have missed.
Summary in 3 Sentences: Winter Fortress describes the full context and details surrounding the British SOE and Norwegian Kompani Linge special operations resistance movement and their successful operations to damage/disable the Vemork heavy water plant and and a subsequent follow-up raid, which significantly impeded Nazi efforts to develop an Atomic bomb. The book additionally provides important context, with information about how the raids fit into the overall Norwegian resistance movement against the Nazis, as well as the competition between the Alllies and Nazi Germany to develop an Atomic bomb. We get to know the various key players in the operations, their lives and their struggles to succeed in their very challenging missions.
My Impressions: An excellent narrative history of the famous Norwegian commando raids designed to interrupt Nazi efforts to develop an Atomic Bomb. Bascomb describes the extensive planning, and preparations to conduct two raids – one against the heavy water plant in Vemork near Rjukan Norway, and one later, to sink a ferry transporting heavy water to Germany. I had read the 1st person account of one of the main participantsin the raids (Skis Agains the Atom, by Knut Haukelid) quite a few years ago, and this book provides much needed and appreciated context to the raids themselves.
In this book Bascomb treats us to stories about the lives and characters of the key participants in the raids, their extensive training and suffering to await the “go” signal to conduct the raids, as well as where and how these raids fit into the entire Norwegian resistance movement against the Nazis. We also learn where these raids fit into the years-long race between the Nazis and the allies to develop an Atomic bomb. and of the brutal methods the Nazi’s used to suppress Norwegian resistance. These brutal measures were mirrored throughout Nazi occupied Europe.
I was thoroughly impressed with the research Bascomb did to create this excellent book and to bring the reader into the lives and challenges of the key participants in the raids.
In The Winter Fortress, we accompany the participants in their years long struggle to train and prepare in the UK, and then after insertion into Norway, to remain hidden and survive in the remote mountains and plains (the Vidda) outside of Rjukan, while the Nazis desperately searched for them. We also learn of a tragic unsuccessful early effort to insert commandos into Norway by gliders, to conduct this raid that cost many commando lives, while also alerting the Nazis to the intent of the Allies to attack the plant. We learn of the extensive planning and preparation the commandos undertook while the Nazis were actively seeking them, to successfully get into the Vemork plant that the Nazis had done all they could to secure. Subsequently, how the few remaining commandos overcame the extensive efforts to prevent a raid on their shipment of heavy water to Germany. The Winter Fortress involves the reader in the training and planning in the UK, coordinated between the Norwegian and British special operations teams, the political issues involved, as well as the on-going efforts in Nazi Germany to develop a bomb before the Allies, a bomb which Hitler believed would win the war for Germany.
Bascomb does an excellent job providing important and engaging detail behind one of the most important special operations in recent history, and does it in a captivating way, to engage the reader with the participants, their struggles, mistakes and successes in planning and conducting these unique special operations. For those interested in special operations history, I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
Why this book: Suzanne Giesemann was invited by a good friend of hers who is also in our discussion group to join us for one of our discussions. I was impressed with her – she is affable, credible and it was a joy to have her share her thoughts and experiences with our group. Also, as a retired Navy Commander, she has automatic credibility with me. I have been reading other books in this genre (Proof of Heaven, After) and it was enlightening to get Suzanne’s take on how these books address life-after-life phenomena.
Summary in 3 Sentences: Suzanne explains how she transitioned from the Navy into her unlikely role as an “evidentiary medium” connecting with souls who have already left this world and are available “on the other side” to be contacted by those who may have the means. This is Suzanne’s amazing story of one such soul who went by “Wolf” and her regular contact with him over years, almost to the point that she was channelling him, as he gave her guidance and direction to lead her and his family to profound new insights into his life and the “greater reality.” One of the messages of her book is that we should pay attention to events that we often dismiss as coincidental “synchronicity” – this book is an encyclopedia of synchronistic events in her life, many of which she ultimately realized were subtle and important messages to her, rather than random coincidences.
My Impressions: A fascinating and enjoyable read. It is an autobiographical account of Suzanne Giesemann’s experience as a medium connecting with one particular young man who had died as a result of a lightening strike. That fact drew Suzanne to this case, since her step daughter had also been killed by lightening, and communicating with her is what drew Suzanne into her role as a medium.
As a medium, Suzanne trained herself to open the portal between her consciousness and the consciousnesses of those who’ve already passed. She shared some of what that process has been for her – how she meditates, and calms herself to open the portal between her and “the other side.” There appear to be a number of variables determining whether and how clear her communication will be between her and the soul with whom she is trying to connect. One of those variables seems to be the desire and willingness of the soul which has passed to communicate back to those still living.
It was clear that Wolf, who felt very misunderstood in this life, was keen on clarifying some of the messages that he had left for his family, and to resolve some unfinished business with his parents. It seemed from early on that Wolf was actively orchestrating the connection between Suzanne and his parents, by nudging circumstances to drive them together. When Suzanne agreed to sit and try to connect with Wolf, the connection was unusually strong and clear, and over time – years – they communicated regularly and, it seemed, pretty clearly – not only when whe went into her receive mode, but Wolf also would initiate contact, by interrupting her life with a message or insight. Suzanne would get a “sense” that Wolf was present and wanted to communicate, and she would stop what she was doing, and “listen.”
The messages Wolf left for Suzanne not only explained some of his confusing behavior during his life, initially for the benefit of his parents, but as he developed his relationship with Suzanne, also explaining his life to her. But perhaps more important was his intent to provide insight into the greater reality into which his and all of our earthly existence fits – what he referred to as the One Big Web that connects all of us, and all that we do. The extensive contact Suzanne had with Wolf, and the message of love and acceptance that he passed to her from so many different directions, led Suzanne to put the entire story of Wof and his insights and message into a presentation which she called “Heart Gifts,” which she has shared with a broad number of audiences around the world.
The skeptic must confront these facts about this case: It was clear that while still alive, Wolf had anticipated his own death. In his communication with Suzanne, he gave her information and details about himself and his life that was subsequently validated – in many cases, information and “tidbits” that even his parents didn’t know.
There are many interconnected messages Suzanne shares with us in Wolf’s Message. Here are the key messages I got:
– There is an afterlife – very different from our earthly existence, and that things that are important in our day-to-day lives on earth often have little significance “on the other side.”
-Those on the other side CAN influence life on this side – as evidenced by how Wolf nudged Suzanne to get her attention in order that they could communicate and that she would better understand his message.
-He repeatedly made the point that Love was the primary message and value coming from the other side – that it is the primary currency in this life and the next.
–Synchronicity should be paid attention to. Her book is FULL of so-called coincidences of synchronicity that indeed she subsequently realized had been sent as often subtle messages by Wolf or forces from “the other side” We should all pay attention to them – there are often important messages there – and who knows? They could well be from a guardian watching out for us from “the other side.”
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I went online for a summary of the key messages from Wolf’s Message, since it’d been a few weeks since I had finished the book These are the key messages from the book that ChatGPT gave me – and they are consistent with my reading of it:
-Consciousness survives physical death and we are more than our physical bodies.
-The heart and the intellect need to be brought into balance (one of Wolf’s key messages.)
-We are all interconnected – we are all part of a huge web
-Love is more fundamental than death
-Life is an opportunity to awaken spiritually.
Chat GPT summarizes Wolf’s messages throughout the book as: “You are not merely a physical human being. You are part of one interconnected web of consciousness. Love- not separation, fear or death – is the underlying reality.”
Why this book; Recommended as a book to read before my upcoming trip to Sardinia.
Summary in 4 Sentences: We learn early on what a “soul-child” is in Sardinia – a child who is given up to another adult – not a biological relative – to raise for whatever reason. This book is about the life of such a “soul-child” and her adopted mother in a small village in Sardinia in the 1950s. The “Accabadora” is the adopted mother – and denotes a person who is called upon to help a dying person (and their family) prepare for the transition between life and death – in America such a peson is called a “doula.” The book is about the life of the a young girl soul-child, how she grows up and her eventual estrangement from her adopted mother, departure from Sardinia, and eventual return and reconciliation.
My Impressions: A short book of 175 pages and beautifully written/and translated from the Italian. The story was simple and compelling, no overly dramatic “page-turning” events, but a simple and straightforward evocation of some of the identity issues of a child given up for adoption in her own village – in this case her continued relationship with her biological mother and siblings. We experience the somewhat narrow perspectives of many of those who live lives of routine and hard workin small rural villages, the pressure to conform and the power of gossip.
The protagonist is Maria, the soul-child herself, and we watch her grow up in the community where her biological mother and siblings also live, overcoming a bit of prejudice for having been farmed out from her biological family, and where all know her as a “soul-child,” vice a regular child in a regular family. That said, the main character in the book is Bonaria, the stern but fair, quiet and loving older lady who adopted her – who had no children of her own, but had been engaged to be married to a soldier who disappeared in “the Great War” – WW1. When he failed to return – she never learned what happened to him – she never married and was on her own to survive. She thereby became a talented seamstress to whom people came from near and far for her to make clothes and other items at home. She had always wanted a family and when she saw that Maria’s mother, nearly destitute had a fourth child, she offered to take the child in and raise her as her soul-child. As she grew up, Maria became her assistant and learned the trade of being a seamstress.
We and Maria learn later in the book that Bonaria’s occasional mysterious departures in the evenings were to serve as an “accabadora” – to quietly help the dying with their transition. Maria had no idea until later in the book, when the fate of the son of one of the more prominent families in the village took him to the edge of death. At this point Bonaria was faced with a challenge that put her in conflict with her own values and ultimately with Maria.
Maria subsequently left Bonaria’s home, went overseas to Turin where she worked as a Nanny for a couple of years, ultimately to return to Bonaria, when Bonaria was facing her own death.
I really liked this book – for its simplicity, its elegant writing, and how it evokes life in a rural village (I was reminded of village life as depicted in The Tiger’s Wife and Zorba the Greek)
Why this book: 1929 was selected by my SEAL Book club for our June 2026 session.
Summary in 3 Sentences: Sorkin is the well known author of the best seller Too Big to Fail about the 2008 recession and market hiccup, and he used that approach to describe what led to the 1929 market crash that led to the great depression. He introduces us to the financial and political leaders of the time, their characters, their strong beliefs and disagreements and the controversial decisions that over time led to the great crash of 1929.
My Impressions: I enjoyed this book which is written for the lay person, but not being terribly literate in banking and financial matters, I didn’t understand all of the banking and finance issues that were brought up. But that didn’t really detract from my interest in and enjoyment of the story. He writes historical narrative well, for the lay reader as well as the specialist. What most intersted me were theprovise of the key leaders in Wall Street and America who, together and unwittingly, made decisions that cumulatively led to the crash of the market. Some of these leaders included Mitchell, Morgan
Also, as I read the book, so much of what was happening sounded like an echo of what I hear in the news every night – about the market hitting new highs almost daily, and investment money flowing in. Reading the book was eerily similar to what I was hearing on the news every day about the markets
What most interested me were the profiles of the key leaders in Wall Street and America during the Roaring Twenties that led to crash: Charles Mitchell, known as “Sunshine Charlie” for his always optimistic view; Thomas Lamont, senior partner in JP Morgan; Carter Glass, US Senator and longtime unsuccessful advocate for banking reforem; President Herbert Hoover who inherited the momentum of the Roaring Twenties; John Raskob, a business titan of that era; Jesse Livermore, a legendary trader and speculator, and others.
Also it was interesting to note that in the Roaring Twenties was a period of signnificant technological transition for America, as automobiles became omni-present, travel by aircraft was commercialized and available to the wealthy, and the public was amazed at the new technology represented by the radio or “wireless,” which allowed people all over the country to hear music, public announcements, news and presidential speeches, and RCA was the leader in that technology. All that resonated with me and our world today, given the relatively recent development of the internet and the ubiquity of social media, online shopping, Spacex, AI, Spacex, Amazon, Meta. Then as now lots of new wealth being rapidly created and everyone wanted in on the skyrocketing profits. Relationship of national debt to GDP?
For me, the major takeaways and themes from the book include:
1. It was a slow-moving disaster, not a one-day event Sorkin frames the crash not as a sudden statistical anomaly, but as a deeply human tragedy fueled by greed, institutional hubris, and psychological denial. While modern memory often condenses the crash into “Black Tuesday,” Sorkin emphasizes that the crisis was a prolonged, agonizing process. The collapse of the economy and the stock market didn’t happen overnight; rather, it was a slow-rolling catastrophe that unfolded over months and years, exposing structural vulnerabilities bit by bit.
2. The Danger of Extreme Leverageas debt and subprime instruments triggered the 2008 financial crisis, the core driver of the 1929 bubble was excessive leverage. The “call money market” allowed everyday speculators, celebrities, and institutional players to purchase stocks on as little as 10% margin. This created an incredibly fragile house of cards where even minor downward fluctuations triggered massive, unstoppable margin calls.
3. Legalized Manipulation and “Stock Pools” Sorkin details how prominent Wall Street insiders, such as William Crapo Durant, exploited the lack of market regulations through “stock pools.”Wealthy investors would quietly band together to buy up shares in a specific company. They would artificially inflate the price by trading shares back and forth amongst themselves. After leaking bullish “tips” to the press to entice ordinary retail investors to buy in, the insiders would dump their shares at the peak—leaving the public with worthless investments.
4. Institutional Hubris and Blind Optimism. A major focus of the book is the psychological denial of elite financiers, including Charles Mitchell (Chairman of National City Bank) and Thomas Lamont (of the House of Morgan). Sorkin shows how these titans had too much financial and reputational capital at stake to ever publicly acknowledge a downturn. They couldn’t accept that they could be wrong. and ignored flashing red lights, dismissed skeptics, and attempted to use their own capital to prop up the market—firmly believing that the “Roaring Twenties” boom could be sustained indefinitely.
5. The Dismissal of Skeptics. Sorkin highlights the lonely position of those who saw the crash coming. Figures like legendary speculator Jesse Livermore warned that stock prices were ridiculously overextended. Instead of being heeded, they were dismissed as unpatriotic or fear-mongering doomsayers until the reality of the crash proved them right.
Conclusion: Sorkin makes the point subtly throughout the book and more directly toward the end, and one hears it in the interviews with him on youtube about his book, that he’s seeing many parallels today with what led up to the crash of 1929. And these days, just like back then, people are making so much money they chose to, want to believe that this time will be different. In our discussion afterward, I and others in our group who have shared our concerns with our financial advisors, heard in response that these advisors are also nervous about the “irrational exuberance” they’re seeing. They expect a “correction” and are watching many of the indicators of trouble to come (inflation rate, constantly rising national debt) but all say that now is not the time to get out of the market. There is fear and apprehension, but the exuberance, and the unprecedented profits continue.
Why this book: I read it in preparation for my trip to Sardinia with “Friends of Bob” in a few months (Oct ’26)
Summary in 3 Sentences: The author covers history, culture, art and more of Sardinia in a personal story – he is an American author and teacher, married to an Italian lady and they spend their time between America and Italy. He became interested in Sardinia, moved there for an indeterminate period, and shares his fascination with all that he learned there, visiting all parts of the island, researching its history and speaking to both prominent and regular folks. He covers a lot of the history, as well as current dimensions and challenges of those who live on the Island.
My Impressions:In Sardinia covers Sardinian history, culture, historical challenges, with a very broad brush, stopping at fascinating points along the way. He writes from a first person perspective, sharing experiences and insights he and his family have gained from living there for a year or so. The author writes very well – and comes to this new area of his and his family’s fascination from having previously written a number of books dealing largely with American culture and history.
I was amazed to learn that Sardinian history goes back not just centuries but millennia BCE and that archeologists are still finding and learning about different civilizations that lived there millennia before recorded history. I’ve learned that Sardinia is one of the richest places in Europe for archeological research, given that it has been isolated for most of its history from many of the wars and encroachments of civilization that the rest of Europe has experienced. There are thousands of stone Nuraghe – megalithic towers, edifices, ruins – all over Sardinia, built by the Nuragic civilization occupying the island for thousands of years before they eventually became subsumed in the Phoenician, Carthaginian, Roman, and then European and Italian civilizations.
In reading this book, I was struck by the many similarities I see with Scotland, where I have spent much time. Both are mountainous regions, isolated, to large extent insulated from major European civilizations, and which therefore developed unique and independent cultures. Both developed hardy rural populations of independent farmers living primarily in small villages, and were exploited by wealthy landowners from the more dominant European civilizations- the Scots by England; the Sardinians first by the Roman and then the Spanish, then the Savoyards (in SE France) and the Piedmont region of NW Italy, and finally and currently by the Italian government in Rome.
Both were treated essentially as colonies to provide resources, labor and soldiers to their dominant wealthy European overlords. In both cases their exploitation led to widespread resentment and then, rebellions which were brutally suppressed. In both cases, their hard scrabble male populations often turned to banditry and which led to the entire cultures being described and put down as barbarians, brigands and bandits. In both cases they were forced to provide soldiers to the armies of their overlords, and their soldiers were among the toughest and most effective fighting men, fighting for those who had exploited them. In both cases, they were eventually peacefully integrated into the dominant culture – Great Britain for the Scots, and the Kingdom of Italy for the Sardinians. But in both cases they remain generally self-governing, and fiercely and proudly protect their culture and cultural identity.
A few other interesting “facts” I learned about Sardinia from In Sardinia:
In 2006 Sardinian language became the official language of Sardinia, though much official work is still done in Italian. The Sardinian language has some similarities to Italian and Romance languages as a result of centuries of interaction Sardinia had with Italy, Spain, and France. But in addition to Latin, Sardinian includes elements remaining from other ancient languages. There is currently an aggressive effort to keep the Sardinian language alive, and nearly 80% of the population speak it.
In order to save the coastline from tourism, they’ve passed a law prohibiting new construction within 3km from the coastline. This is to prevent coastal spoilage by aggressive developers wanting to build future major centers of tourism on the beautiful beaches and coastline. There is at least one such large tourist destination, Cosa Smeralda in NE Sardinia, which resulted in this law – to severely restrict or prevent future exploitation of their coastal resources.
There are several World Heritage sites on Sardinia to include Domus de Janas – groups of ancient tombs cut straight into rock over 5k years ago, and an old well-preserved Nuraghi from the Bronze Age.
There is an almost hidden mysterious ancient village “Tiscali” built entirely inside a massive hidden mountains cave. Very hard to see – one has to hike into the mountains to see these (apparently) fascinating ruins.
The town of Orgosolo is characterized by extensive beautiful and graffiti-like murals depicting life and various key events int the history of Sardinia. Reminds me of what I saw in Christ Church, New Zealand.
Sardinia’s population was decimated by the black plague that arrived from Europe in the 14th century, and an estimated 30-50 percent of the population died. Malaria- infected mosquitos also brought into Sardinia by foreign commerce in later centuries later became endemic and led to several thousand deaths per year into the 20th century, especially in the lowland regions. The government undertook to spray heavily with DDT after WW2, which essentially eliminated malaria as a threat.
Emilio Lussois a name of one of the most prominent figures in Sardinia during the 20th century and his name comes up a lot in Biggers’ book. During my hikes in the Dolomites, I was intrigued by my visits to various trenches and other remains from WW1 which inspired me to find and read Lusso’s book The Sardinian Brigade. This is his highly regarded first person account of trench warfare based on his experiences as an officer in the Italian Army fighting the Austro-Hungarians in Italy in the trenches of WW1.
During the 1930s and 40s there was a strong Fascist movement in Sardinia. The Fascists, with Mussolini’s support, essentially took over the country. Many Sardinian patriots were imprisoned and as a result of his anti-fascist, anti-Mussolini views Lusso was able to escape to France to avoid imprisonment.
I was surprised to learn that many in Sardinia resent NATO’s presence in Sardinia, specifically the NATO naval base in La Maddalena in the north, and because of NATO’s efforts to appropriate rural areas from farmers and shepherds for military training.
It was interesting to learn that all the way into the 20th century, Sardinians have been fighting the image of themselves as they were described by Roman visitors two thousand years ago. Biggers notes that “The image of the ill-clad plundering highlander remained a vibrant prototype for the next two thousand years.” So very similar to the Scottish Highlanders fighting the same image given them by the English.
There had been a malaria epidemic in Sardinia for years in the 18th and 19th centuries, caused by mosquitos inadvertently brought in by traders. In the post ww2 20th century, the Sardinian government was fed up with heavy negative impact malaria was having on Sardinia, killing hundres and thousands annually, and waged a successful campaign to rid the island of the mosquitos using DDT.
SHORTCOMINGS of In SARDINIA: I really enjoyed the book, though in several chapters Biggers went into detail on some things I wasn’t particularly interested in. But what did frustrate me was that he mentioned and described so many interesting and obscure places in Sardinia that were not included on the one map of Sardinia in the frontispiece of the book. Occasionally, I’d get my phone out to find out where ARE these places located, and how does one get there. The book needs lots more maps. Also he described several aspects of Sardinian history that assumed I knew more than I did. For example he referred to the Savoyards and the Piedmonts as absentee landlords exploiting Sardinia. Who were they? Nearly a whole chapter on Garibaldi – a key figure in Italian and Sardinian history – I knew the name but not much more. I repeatedly had to go to google, or ChatGPT for explanations that should have been included the book. That said, I have described the book to my friends as very well written for an intelligent audience, and I’ve strongly recommended it to my friends who will accompany me to Sardinia in a few months.
In Sardinia is expensive to buy ($50) but I got a copy at the Coronado Library. It is well written by a published author for an educated audience. But if you are not inclined to read the whole book, and you are planning to visit Sardinia, I highly recommend reading at least the following short chapters, between 4 and 10 pages ea, a total of about 75 pages of big print:
8. Monte Prama
16 Monte d’Accoddi
18. Valley of the Nuraghes
19. Girl Writer Found dead in Mystery Case
22. In sos logos de Angioy 23. Su Patriotu Sardu 24. Saving the Coasts
Why this book: Recommended to me numerous times by good friends, and it is also a recommended book in my Psi discussion group. I listened to it which worked well, as it was narrated with updates from the original publication, by the author, and includes updates on his experiences since its original publication in 2012.
Brief summary (edited from Amazon): Thousands of people have had near-death experiences (NDEs), but scientists have argued that they are impossible. Dr. Eben Alexander was one of those scientists. A highly trained neurosurgeon, Alexander believed like his colleagues, that NDEs feel real, but are simply fantasies produced by brains under extreme stress.
Then, Dr. Alexander’s own brain was attacked by a rare illness that completely shut down that part of the brain that makes us human – that controls thought and emotion. For seven days he lay in a coma, and as his doctors considered stopping treatment and pulling the plug on the systems that were keeping him alive, Alexander’s eyes popped open. He had come back – a medical miracle.
But the real miracle of his story was that while his body lay in coma and his brain showed no activity, Alexander journeyed beyond this world, had vivid experiences, and encountered an angelic being who guided him into the deepest realms of super-physical existence. This story would be remarkable no matter who it happened to. That it happened to Dr. Alexander makes it revolutionary.
My Impressions: A remarkable book that deserves its outstanding reputation. I, like so many others, finish the book believing the author’s description of his experiences, intrigued and inspired by what he claimed to be their implications, and asking myself, “Assuming he’s telling the truth about his experiences (it’s hard to doubt his integrity), what do I do with this?”
After describing his life and what preceded his NDE, then what he experienced while in a coma with no detectable brain activity, and then his return to his earthly life, he describes the reactions of his colleagues in the scientific and medical communities to his story. He understood their prejudice as scientists against believing such non-testable, not repeatable phenomena, because he had shared it – prior to having his own NDE. It has been frustrating to face challenges to the credibility of what he experienced. And then he dedicated himself to sharing what he beleives are the implications and spiritual meaning that can be derived from his unique experience. But it wasn’t unique – there have been thousands of such claims, but what was unique was that it happened to him – a man at the peak of science’s understanding of the physical principles of the brain. But he notes that science is still confused about “consciousness” what it is, what is its relationship to the brain, and which he now argues is separate from the biological brain.
There are several key conclusions that he draws from his experience.
1, WHO we are is much more than what is in our brain, our memories and our identity in our earthly life. We have a separate identity to which our consciousness is more closely tied.
2. We exist in multiple dimenstions, but our conscious awareness is limited to our physical selves and the physical world we live in. There is another dimension to our existence which is somehow connected to the larger reality which is spiritual, (somehow) beyond space and time. The “reality map” of our existence is much larger than we perceive.
3. He felt a “truth” while in that other dimension, that he was unconditionally loved by a being or presence that is beyond comprehension. And he says this truth applies to all of us – and that is the key reality of our existence
4. He said his experience was ineffable, beyond words to adequately represent, and he struggled to describe what he experienced and his insights with the inadequate tools of vocabulary. To describe what he felt and experienced would be like trying to build a rocket ship with a hammer and a screw driver (my analogy.)
5. That we are all connected on a level most of us don’t feel most of the time in our daily lives, but it there. He experienced a profound spiritual connection to this greater reality which if recognized and embraced, could/should be a primary source of our happiness
6. He experienced what he perceived as God – not the personal one that we learn about in Sunday school or church, but more of a “presence.” He called it “Om” rather than God, to distinguish it from the “God” we learn about in religion, which is a concept limited to our earthly experience and perceptions.
After reading this book, I contacted my friend John Alexander and noted that there were aspects of his experience while in his coma that (to me) had a flavor of western culture. I asked John if there had been studies that compare NDEs across widely divergent cultues – where were there similarities and where were they different. He pointed me to a book entitled After, by Bruce Greyson, another medical doctor, which I’m reading now.
Why this book: Selected by my Sci Fi reading group based on it being listed (somewhere) as an excellent modern Sci Fi Novel. Written in 1953 apparently it is one of the most read Sci Fi books of all time, though it is not so well known today. It was ground breaking in that it deals with psychic abilities and spiritual evolution.
Summary in 5 sentences. It begins with a description of a psychologically damaged young man who appears to be catatonic, but seems to have some awareness and connection to humans. Then suddenly we meet another character, a young girl who is psychologically abused by her mother, and two of her other children playmates. The three of them have psychic abilities, take care of each other and escape from their unpleasant home lives and link up at a cave-like dwelling in the forest, created by our first character. Then we meet a third dysfunctional character who joins the others, creating a rather bizarre communal existence, Then the story morphs again – ultimately coming together in a surprising climax which offers profound spiritual insights.
My impressions: Not an easy read, but worth it in the end. For much of it, I was having to guess what the hell was going on. The story changed directions multiple times, and I was struggling to see the connection between the different characters and stories, but I soldiered on with the faith that, like multiple pieces of a puzzle, floating separately in the air, they would somehow all come together as the story progressed. Which they did in the very end, with a powerful insight that may look a bit cliched today, but which was new and groundbreaking when it was first written. I believe the novel would have been better with more clues as to what direction the story was heading, and for me, the road to the end was longer and more winding than it needed to be.
One of the interesting twists in the story is that the main characters – each of whom was dysfunctional in mainstream society – each had a special psychic ability – telepathy, psycho-kinesis, teleporting, computer-like omniscience, mind reading, hypnotic powers – but alone the advantages of these abilities were limited.
I believe an important part of the charm of this story is how disconnected and strange it seems – for a while. And then when these interesting characters eventually come together, there is still no sense of direction, and we are still wondering WTF? But for those who hang in there, it does (finally!) come together well with a surprise ending. I felt like the concluding vision was very much in harmony with the vision that was is described in Proof of Heaven.
And at the end, after it all came together, I asked myself – and then what? He postulates a new human being that “bleshes” individuals with separate abilities and strengths into a single entity. “Bleshing” is a word he invents, combining “blending” with “meshing” to describe the process whereby individuals, each with different strengths and abilities, becomes a single entity which is functions as more than the sum of its parts. Which is pretty much the description of a good team.
One of the main points of the book is that these bleshed abilities without a moral compass can lead to very bad outcomes, by valuing an individual’s or team’s short-term well-being or goals above the well being of the greater humanity. I’d have liked the story to have continued a bit, to see how his team of bleshed individual characters with a new moral synergy, would deal with a morally complex situation that would test their bleshed abilities, and their new insights.
Some of they key themes of the book as I read it:
-People with disabilities often have abilities and super-powers that aren’t readily apparent.
-Dealing with parental abuse hurts children badly, but CAN be the hardship that develops great strength and power.
-We all have different strengths which alone are of limited value, but together can create a powerful synergy.
-Psychic powers and strength are morally neutral and can be used for evil, or good. It takes a strong moral compass to give these powers value to best serve the individual and humanity.
-Our “humanity” – our love for and connection to others – is ultimately the source of real power. And that means connection to and empathy for our fellow human beings.
Why this book: I was on a cruise on the Columbia and Snake Rivers in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho which had a significant Lewis and Clark focus. I’d recently read Steven Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage and my friend Rick Woolard who was on the cruise with me recommended this short book as a nice augmentation. I read it in a couple of days.
Summary in 3 Sentences: I’ve described this book as an excellent short, digestible description of the entire Lewis and Clark expedition with certain pieces injected from the perspective of Seaman, Meriwether Lewis’s Newfoundland Dog which accompanied him on the entire trip. Pringle tells us in the introduction that Seaman’s adventures during the expedition that he includes in the book reflect what L&C included in their journals, though he writes that he does include some of Seaman’s responses that only make sense given what is known (eg, he wagged his tail when Lewis returned to camp.) It was an excellent summary of what I’d read in Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage and written in simple language that a young person would be able to follow and enjoy – I sent a copy to my son to read to his children.
My Impressions: Short enjoyable read – about 195 pages of large print on medium sized pages, and though written in children/young adult language, this book provides an excellent overview and summary for anyone interested in learning about the entire Lewis and Clark expedition. He also points out several incidents from Lewis and Clark’s and journals from others in the Corps of Discovery about Seaman’s actions and contributions to the expedition which didn’t make the cut to be included in the other literature I’d read about the Corps of Discovery.
I’d recommend that someone interested in learning about the L&C expedition start with this book, and then move on to one of the other four highly regarded books on that expedition, to fill in the fascinating details. Those four books of which I am aware, are: Undaunted Courage by Ambrose, Lewis and Clark Among the Indians by Ronda (which I’m still reading), This Vast Enterprise – a New History of Lewis and Clark by Fehrman, and The Journals of Lewis and Clark Expedition Day by Day by Moulton (These last two I haven’t read, but they both come highly recommended by friends of mine who have read them.)
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