With a growing interest in the life and literary works of the English writer G.K. Chesterton, I was in the market for a modern, one-volume biography of the man. A friend suggested this book, and I am SO glad he did! As literary biographies go, this one is excellent. Coren not only covers the great Chesterton's life with sympathy and humour, but also manages a solid critique and evaluation of the writer's output...and Chesterton's output was very substantial (rather like the man himself)! What is a real joy though, is to read a biography of a fine writer, written by another fine writer. And Michael Coren is all of that. This well-educated, erudite, and witty man is a wonderful author in his own right, and I look forward to further works by him. I suspect that a century from now, people may be reading a biography of Michael Coren, just as we can now read Coren on Chesterton. We can only hope that such a future author creates as pleasant and stimulating a work as the Canadian Michael Coren has here! I'll go so far as to say that this biography is a worthwhile read, even if you don't care about Chesterton. Biography doesn't get any better than this! -A wonderful book.

We have read the Narnia series as a family and have enjoyed it very much. We picked up this title to learn more about the man behind the wonderful stories. I enjoyed reading it through more than my 6th grader. It gave insight on Lewis' spiritual struggles. How the events in his life shaped his later writings on Christian Apologia. Having only read the Narnia series and his science fiction triology, I was left with a reader's curiosity for more. Listed in the bibliography are all of Lewis' published books. I am enjoying his other literary work also.

"The Man Who Created Narnia" is the most straight forward, down to earth kind of biography I've read on C.S. Lewis. The author doesn't take time to stray from the general layout of Lewis's life, and there are very few obscure "facts" in this book. However, it is singular in that it keeps you interested, moving the story of Lewis along at a good clip. Fans will probably enjoy this one the most, while scholar's of Lewis might be put off by the size and lack of in depth information.

One of the aspects I especially liked about this book was the concentration on Lewis' Christian beliefs, and how they effected his literature. Some other biographies seem to lack this very important side.

If you're looking for a very thorough and meticulous biography, you should probably stay away from this one. Coren simply outlines the major events in Lewis' life, without straying from the general purpose: to reflect on the life of the 20th century's greatest Christian Apologist.

I found it most interest, and, even though I believe I'm an up and coming Lewis scholar, still feel it was captivating and fairly in depth. A good quick read for Lewis fans.

First let me say that I am neither a science fiction fan nor a literary expert. Like many children, I read The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau and the War of the Worlds. Those books became a part of my dreams-and nightmares-for many years. In the intervening decades, I had really almost forgotten about Wells. However,I recently came across a collection of his complete short stories, and this sparked my interest in learning more about him.

This is the first biography of H.G. Wells that I have read, and I must admit I chose it mainly because it was short and compact! I would actually class this book as as more of an essay on Wells the man and his character, than a history of his life. Not that the author ignores biographical data. I knew absolutely nothing about Wells when I opened the book, and now feel that I have learned quite a lot about his life and times.

However, the historical information is mainly presented as a background for the author's argument that Wells has been whitewashed by previous biographers. He begins with the premise that standard biographies of H.G. Wells ignored or downplayed certain negative aspects of his character and thought. According to Coren, Wells was wrongly admired as a working class hero, a scientific visionary, and a utopian dreamer. He states at the beginning that his purpose in writing this book was to set the record straight. His intent is to prove that Wells' works had a "pernicious" influence on society. He also contends that Wells was a man of bad moral character, which was concealed by a public image of genial tolerance.

The author attacks Wells and his previous biographers with two lines of argument. In one, he presents evidence for his assertions of Wells' pernicious influence on British society. Coren contends that Wells was an exponent of xenophobia, religious intolerance, and racism. As he quotes from Wells' own writings, these criticsms seem to be founded in fact. He quotes from works in which Wells predicts a future in which the world has been made safe through a combination of technological progress, and radical eugenics. (Although the author does not make this explicit connection, Wells seemed to be advocating a future totalitarian world society very much like Plato's Republic-except with flying machines and wireless communication.) If true, this certainly seems grounds for criticism.

The second line of attack is on Wells' faults as a friend and husband. The author gives considerable space to the feuds that Wells carried on with other literary figures such as Shaw and Chesterton, and to his spats with members of the Fabian Society. I found this the least interesting part of the book, but that may be because I know so little about the people involved.

Mr. Coren also takes Wells to task for his marital infidelity and irresponsible sexual behavior. Here the argument seems a bit shakey, as Wells and his circle were exponents of free love and sexual revolution. It is hard to see what else could have been expected from someone who held such views.

As I have not yet read the other biographies to which this book refers, I can't comment on the accuracy of his claims, or say whether Mr. Coren proves his point. However, reading this book was worthwhile. Before reading it, I had no idea that Wells had been such an influential man, or that his writings included such a broad range of subjects. I certainly found this book a fast and enjoyable read, and I am now interested in in tackling some of the longer biographies and crititical studies of H.G. Wells.

"Who was J.R.R. Tolkien?" With the release of the astounding movie trilogy, a lot of people are suddenly flocking into the "Lord of the Rings" fandom, people who previously would have paid no attention to a classic fantasy or its author. If you don't know much about Tolkien, then this book is a good introduction to his life.

After an introduction where Coren talks about the popularity of the book (and how much critics hate that it IS popular), Coren introduces us to Tolkien in his youth. John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in a turmoil-filled time, was orphaned as a boy, fought in World War I, and married and had four children. And, of course, he produced books -- the fantasy classic "The Hobbit" and the darker, more epic "Lord of the Rings," "Roverandum," a few other little tales, and the Bible-like "Silmarillion."

Coren does a good job with the book. Not a great job, but a good job. His tone is usually pretty conversational, but occasionally he gets a little too heated or gushy or cutesy. This book doesn't contain any new interpretations or information; it's pretty basic, he tells us what Tolkien did, where, and sometimes why. There are plenty of crisp black and white photographs of Tolkien, his buddy C.S. "Jack" Lewis, Tolkien's homes, his guardian Father Morgan, book covers, parts of Oxford such as Merton College, and even a few wide shots of all of Oxford.

Normally this book would earn four stars, but there are some basic errors in describing people and events in "Lord of the Rings." This is pardonable in the author -- everyone makes booboos -- but an editor should have caught those little items; that's what editors are for. It gives the book a rather rushed feel.

If you already know about J.R.R. Tolkien, his life and his works, then you won't get anything new from this book. But if you're a new fan, or never learned much about Tolkien himself, then this can be considered a good introduction to the basics.

Although "JRR - The Man Who Created ..." was aimed at young adults, I found it a good introduction for me as an older adult. It can be read in an evening, but I believe that it touches on all the main points. True, it does not go into the scholarly quarrels and quibbles or the lit crit, but I did not need that. I really just needed to know what type of a person Tolkien was. The book serves that purpose admirably. If I were cataloguing for a library, I would put one in the adult section too.

The introduction to this juvenile biography of focuses on how "Lord of the Rings" keeps coming out on top of surveys of the most popular literature of all time, to the dismay of academics and critics, and that fact that the trailer for the first film in the trilogy set a download record on the internet. Michael Coren certainly covers the biographical details of J. R. R. Tolkien's life and gives young readers a sense for how the Oxford don's love of words led to him creating entire new languages, which in turn led to him telling stories about the people who spoke these unknown tongues. However, Coren's writing style does get a little too cute at times and while children might think nothing of it, older readers might find themselves rolling their eyes or wincing from time to time. There are lots of black & white photographs from throughout Tolkien's life and attention is paid to the publication of his famous works and the various attempts to transform them into radio programs and feature films. Coren is obviously a fan of Tolkien and if he lays it on a bit thick at times that is not too grievous a sin. At least he focuses on the man's life and his work rather than getting caught up in gossip and details about "The Fellowship of the Ring" film. I learned some details about Tolkien and if I rolled my eyes a few times at Coren's verbal excesses, I can live with it.