I've been a fan of Buddy's since he was still alive. This is the best biography available. The authors do not deal in sensationalism and wacko explorations of Buddy's sex life or possible contributions to the crash of the plane. He died at 22, and was only famous for two years, and never was wealthy. He can be expected to have had moments of immaturity, and to have made mistakes in judgement. But the overwhelming evidence is that he was a nice, normal young adult with abnormal talent for singing, songwriting, guitar-playing and record-producing. He's been gone for more than 40 years, and he left about 80 recordings behind. Those performances are still wonderful, and this book tells you a lot about how they were created and captured and preserved. Who needs anything else?

This is, hands down, the best biography of Buddy Holly available. I have read them all and though others have their moments (mainly rare photos) this is the standard by which all others are judged. The updates keep making the book better (and more accurate) but I will always keep my first copy which I've had signed by Buddy's parents, his brothers, Jerry Allison, Niki Sullivan, Joe Mauldin, and, of course, the author John Goldrosen. If you only read one biography of Buddy Holly, this should be the one.

This is the book to buy if you want an accurate, well-written biography of Buddy Holly, the greatest rocker of them all and the most influential person in the genre's history. If it were possible, I would give this book ten stars. It is absolutely the best biography of Buddy Holly. I got my first copy in August 1975 and have gotten updated versions as they came out. I've read it several times. John Goldrosen spent a year or so of his life (circa 1972) researching this book and talking to the people involved.

John R. Adams's "Harriet Beecher Stowe: Updated Edition," in the Twayne's United States Authors Series is a short and succinct biography of Harriet Beecher Stowe from A to Z in less than 131 pages. No small task considering her influence on 19th century America.

Adam's book includes a chronology of events that serves as an excellent outline of the major events in Stowe's life. The book also includes a section on research notes, a selected bibliography and it includes a detailed index.

The book in organized by major life periods, such as her moving to Cincinnati and her publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The book will serve those who require a significant understanding of Stowe without spending a lot of time reading larger biographies of her life. Therefore, it can be describe as an excellent introductory text. Well suitable for those studying American Civil War history, American literature, American religious history or women's history.

While John R. Adams is not an historian, he has clearly contributed to our understanding of Harriet Beecher Stowe and her writings. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California.

For anyone who doesn't know about John Beecher, he was THE American social protest poet. (He died in 1980) His poetry is not technically complex, it's far from high art, but that's the point: it's poetry for common people about common people. His voice of protest is so heavily laden with the truth that it's impossible to ignore. In one poem in the book, he describes how standing up for the right thing isn't hard when you accept what the right thing is and don't accept anything less - in a world where money interests rule so many parts of life, Beecher's is a much needed voice.

When you read John's words of his pilgrimage in the late 1970's you become keenly aware of how he was shaped by circumstances. He had passed thru and survived the acute lymphatic leukemia of his eight and one half year-old daughter, Laura Lue. Within six weeks he was caught-up in reading Gerhard von Rad's words on Genesis when Abraham offered his son, Isaac. He finally writes about this in "Mending the Heart" twenty years later. He wished to discover more about that darkness and obscurity surrounding the ancient belief of offering your first-born back to the gods! In listening to John in his first "Preaching Genesis" class at Mercer-McAfee, two years ago, it was difficult for me to sustain his remembered emotions. We had both gone thru the loss of child and grandchild when we had desperately prayed they would survive with God's Miracle.

When I saw no review in the list of John several powerful books, I went back to re-read and look more closely for his growth of emotional strength! As we reminisced about our seminary >experiences he reminded me not to value the experience as much as to reflect upon the experience. We valued professors, Wayne E Oates, Eric Rust, Red Top Owens, Dale Moody and Wayne Ward. In his "Preaching Event" he alludes to seminary, being a "community of grades rather than a community of grace!" I felt differently because I barely survived with only a Masters of Sacred Music!

Looking thru John's Lectures, I caught myself counting how many persons he used as resources: Fredrich Buechner, C S Lewis, Sam Miller, Abraham Lincoln, Henri Nouwen, Daniel Levinson, Carl Jung, Gail Sheehy, Karen Horney, John Powell, John Killenger, Carlyle Marney, Loyd Oglivie, Helmut Thielicke, plus a few contempories. My sense is that he is better read than most of his pastor friends with whom I have touched base! Re-reading this early collection of John's Journey from Baptist background into the Episcopal Priesthood...back to 'Being' Professor of Preaching in McAfee School of Theology, I can raise the rating to 5+ Stars!
Retired, Chaplain Fred W Hood

This book is a biography about Harriet Beecher Stowe. It is a very interesting book that tells you a lot about her life but also about the 19th century and the antislavery cause. The book was very well written but was someimes a little hard to get through. However, I think it is important for people to read about Harriet's life because she was a very important abolitionist. She wrote the book UNCLE TOM'S CABIN which changed a lot of people's minds about slavery. I recommend you read it if you are interested in history.