A soundtrack to a book – the best of both worlds! After reading the Clapton autobiography, I saw this CD and checked it out. Finding several of the songs my brother’s rock band played in our basement when I was a kid (and that me awake nights!) on this CD was an extra bonus. Great to listen to on its own, and especially as an accompaniment to the book.

Worth reading, with caveats …

First of all, Mr. McCaig has done a good job on several points with this novel. He elicits a very real sense of historical time and place. Most memorable here was the retreat of the Confederate troops from Atlanta. It was done pretty well visually in the GWTW film, but very well verbally here, without an excess of words. McCaig’s own characters are interesting. Tunis Bonneau, Rhett’s childhood friend and a freed slave’s son, gives a perspective Margaret Mitchell wouldn’t have conceived of. In addition, Rhett’s sister Rosemary is very well developed here. One gets the feeling that she is who Scarlett might have been if a man had written the character.

There are a few negatives, though. I felt like some of Margaret Mitchell’s characters got less care than then did in the original. Ashley and Melanie especially seemed out of character, a lot less dignified or genteel than they were in GWTW. (Miss Melly writing about sex and seduction in a letter to a friend? God forbid!) And at times I found myself wishing for a clearer understanding of Rhett (as there was of Scarlett in GWTW), and less so of his “people”.

Finally, I think male authors have some difficulties with the character of Scarlett O’Hara. When Pat Conroy was in negotiations to write a GWTW sequel, he is said to have considered killing Scarlett off. Though I won’t reveal the ending, I felt a bit like McCaig might have had some similar thoughts as well.

Overall, I’m glad I read Rhett Butler’s People. It gave me a wider understanding of the antebellum, Civil War, and Reconstruction South, in some ways maybe a little more realistically than GWTW did. But when it comes to Rhett Butler, nothing beats Clark Gable and the mystique of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind.

This is a book to make you think. The author went undercover to discover what it was like to be a minimum-wage worker in the United States. Her insights were striking, and yet she was also able to go back to her “real life,” something that the working-class people in her book don’t have the luxury of doing. Makes you want to tip your waitress/hotel maid and smile at your cashier. Makes you also want to unplug/toss out Paris Hilton and “The Simple Life.”

This is one of those books with all the you think you want to do in your life, but never get around to. Fun!

I love Snoopy. I grew up with Peanuts—the Christmas special, Snoopy as an astronaut, the whole 9 yards. I even liked Charles Schulz. While I was glad to read some of the background of the comic strip, I was kinda dismayed at the depth of detail related about (and sometimes psychoanalysis of) Charles Schulz’s life. Yeah, I know; it’s a biography. I guess I just prefer the rose-colored memories to the icky details. Worth consuming, with that caveat.

I have read several celebrity-musicians’ biographies over the past several years. Most of them seem a bit egocentric or esoteric & unapproachable – fascinating info, but difficult for the reader to relate to the subject/writer. Clapton: The Autobiography was different for me. Eric Clapton has been on the music scene for decades, and has done a lot in his life. But in this book Mr. Clapton leaves his ego at the door. One of his most engaging qualities is his utter and total love of music, and his wonder at being a part of it. He tells his tale in a very down-to-earth manner which is very appealing. From drug use to affairs to illegitimate children, Clapton is candid, and not necessarily proud of the things he’s done. Especially moving are accounts of the loss of his young son, Conor, and his ongoing battles with addictions. Clapton has been sober for 20 years now, and in 1998 founded the Crossroads Centre, a rehabilitation facility for drug and alcohol abuse on the island of Antigua. The story ends happily, as Clapton meets and eventually marries Melia McEnery in 2002, with whom he has three daughters. By the end of the book I had a very real sense of the guitarist finally being at peace with himself and his life, a very satisfying place to be.

The premise of this book-that you have to care for yourself so you can be responsible to your kids (or other loved ones, for that matter)-is nothing new. It’s nice to see it framed for the parenting relationship, because screaming can be way too easy sometimes! Would have liked to see more references to actual solutions (techniques to use, etc.). But all in all, it’s a worthwhile read.

For the person who wants to know a little about a lot of things, this is a fun book!

The last time I watched this was the original release in the theater. The sound was spotty then, so I missed a lot of the dialogue. This film is priceless, a classic! I had forgotten a lot of the humor, and yet when certain scenes came up I knew they were going to be funny! And the casting in this was extraordinary, especially Billy Crystal and Mandy Patinkin.

This is such a neat idea! We all know picky eaters, and the idea here is to sneak the things they don’t like into the things they do. FYI, this requires is a little extra food prep, so allow extra time. Gonna try my first recipe with this tomorrow – hope they like it!