This is a good collection of literature from the Enlightenment to the early 20th century. Some of the choices were wuite interesting such as Wuthering Heights as the example of the Victorian novel, (I, myself, would have chosen Jane Eyre), but all in all this is a well put-together collection. The biographical information before each author is also interesting and puts the works into context. This is amust-have for English majors and literature fanatics alike.

Gunn and Smith struggled valiantly to shape a collection of 9 biographies of Native American achievers, blending the historical and the personal in a somewhat old-fashioned style of narration that young people will find attractive. The biographical sketches review the life and achievements of Weetamoo, an Indian woman who figured in very early white-Indian skirmishes, Geronimo, Will Rogers, Jim Thorpe, Maria Tallchief, Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Wilma Pearl Mankiller, Michael Naranjo (Vietnam War Veteran), and Louise Erdrich. Yet, this reviewer believes that most libraries will not want to purchase it this book. First of all, the title picks up an egregious lie that appeared in many treaties that were later broken. The authors admit knowing this but used it anyhow. The persons pictured, for the most part, became successful in the white world on white terms. In the story of Jim Thorpe, Gunn and Smith tell of a battle in which 300 Sac and Fox Indians were killed, and include parenthetically a comment by Lincoln that, during his war experience at this time, he "could not remember meeting any enemy except mosquitoes." The authors refer to the disparaging term "blanket Indians," which is very nearly as offensive as the n word to black Americans. They say that Quakers forced an Indian young person to do indoor chores but provide little context. They comment that Senator Campbell made jewelry but never got to the point of selling it for income; also, that he was married in a sleazy wedding chapel. The authors refer, directly or indirectly, to disparaging stereotypes this reviewer has not heard for half a long lifetime: laziness, drunkenness, and unwillingness to embrace reasonable white demands for education, private ownership of land, and relocation to urban areas. They may not have intended to offend, but they have a glaring lack of intuitive sense of what Native American culture is all about today. Add this to the unattractive packaging of the book--black and white portraits, large print, and narrow margins. Schools should reject this collection.

Did you know Will Rogers was American Indian? Want to know about Balancine's wife? Read this book. It's good

Very difficult book to finish and when I got to the end I was sorry I wasted the effort. There are too many characters and all of them are dealt with very superficially. The premise of the book was good, however the author didn't do justice to what could have been a great story if she would have developed her characters more thoroughly.

I thought Ms.Clark's writing style was great and her characters brilliant. I think that it was easy to follow and well worth the time it took to read it. Her knowledge of the medical field shines through during the entire book. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good medical thriller.

I didn't really like the book and the author seems to reiterate information from her different books into others. I had just borrowed the book from the library as well as the book on Grace Kelly and neither this or the book on Grace had any pictures to speak of and any author who cannot be resourceful enough to get pictures to include in the biography is lazy or did not try hard enough...others have been able to so why can't she? So you definitely can't say I am her biggest fan.

This biography is saddled with many flaws. It often reads like one of those silly romance novels one sees at the literature sections of such famous bookshops as Walmart, K-Mart, Walgreens and B.Daltons. It is filled with irrelevant gossip, much of it more suitable for a luncheon of late-middle aged hens rather than a serious biography. The author's interviews with Joan Crawford(one of Gable's many lovers) dominate too many sections of the bio; much of what Miss Crawford says is taken at face value with little to counter-balance her assertions. Most undefensible is the author's portrayal of intimate conversations as if she were there with a microphone and tape recorder. Many of the precise "conversations" alleged by the author were between two people long since dead. How would Jane Ellen Wayne know precise conversations between Louis B. Mayer and Clark Gable? Both have been dead for over thirty years. Did the author interview either man from beyond the grave? This technique of the author is most dishonest. However, this biography has some very good points. Gable's early life and rise are covered in great detail. The author's desriptions of the big studio milleu of pre-TV Hollywood are interesting. The author paints a thorough personality portrait of Gable- his calculated decisions, his high sex drive, his alcoholism, his love of the outdoors, his tight wallet. Gable's marriage to Carole Lombard is handled rather well. Oddly, the Gable-Lombard marriage reminds one of the marriage of the current First Couple in the White House, only Carole Lombard is better looking and much, much better humoured than Hillary R. Clinton and Clark Gable is much more manly than Bill Clinton. Clark Gable is worthy of a fine biography; Jane Ellen Wayne's is not it, however.