Parts of the book are overly detailed, yet some parts are quite sparse. The portrait of Brown's hometown of Mineola, Texas is riveting yet there are few details of what Brown was like as a child -- readers wanting to find out what books, philosophers or anything that inspired Brown will be left wanting. We must settle for the unsupported statement that he was a voracious reader. Also, there seems to be a mismatch in focus -- over half of the book is devoted to Brown's career before becoming speaker when he really was a marginal figure. Perhaps a dozen pages are devoted to obscure delegate credentialling details about the '72 convention that could have been covered in a fraction of the space.

On the objective side, the book does call Brown to task for several ethical and race-baiting missteps, and he largely accepts the common view of Brown as a fixer extraordinare who made the trains run on time in the legislature at the expense of an agenda. The author also perceptively highlights why Brown succeeded tactically in holding his Speakership for so long, sometimes by pulling absolute political miracles. This is when the book is at its best, showing how Brown has become one of the most powerful, savvy figures in California political history.

On the minus side (for those who prefer their history unfiltered by the author's personal politics) references abound throughout the book to "ultra right conservatives", "hard right conservatives" and the like but there are no similiar references to figures on the left; Jesse Unruh and Ronald Reagan have "cronies" while Brown has friends.

While clearly critical on occasions, at other times the author blatantly bends over backwards to make Brown look good. When Brown made some vicious personal public remarks about then Governor Duekmajian (sp?) the author criticizes Brown yet excuses him by saying he was just doing so to satisfy the Democrat Assembly members who disliked the Duke, yet its impossible (for me at least) to believe Brown's Assembly delegation ever included people who demanded hateful comments from the Speaker. Throughout the book, Brown is portrayed as a consummate, off-the-cuff showman who's unmatched with his rapier-like comments, yet we're expected to believe this one was done calculatingly to satisfy people who insisted that Brown engage in brutal personal insults. This doesn't hold water.

The author also uncritically accepts Brown's assertion that he went to law school on a whim and says if he hadn't seized this seemingly random impulse, he never would have gone into politics. This seems a stretch to say the least, largely because the author paints a quite vivid picture of Brown the showman who lives for thie limelight -- it's virtually impossible to imagine this truly unique personality not in politics. That, and the fact that he was running for office by the time he was 28 indicate to me that like Bill Clinton, Willie Brown was intent on being a politician at an early age.

In the "give Willie the benefit of the doubt" category, outrageous remarks that can be fairly categorized as inciting violence are excused because Brown, according to the author, was so personally devastated by RFK's assissination a few weeks before. Yet the author provides nothing to support this strange assertion. It seems reasonable to conclude the author is going to extremes to excuse some of Brown's most inexcusable conduct.

At the end, the author drops all pretense of objectivity and discloses that he was a McGovern delegate at the '72 convention (which explains why, although doesn't justify, the excessive focus on that convention's minutae) and highlights Brown's greatest achievement as stymying the agendas of numerous Republican governors during his Assembly career.

The book was enjoyable largely because the subject is so fascinating. Parts of it are extremely well written, filled with strong analysis and the author undeniably did a tremendous job researching the book, but even more, in landing firsthand interviews with the major participants. Nonetheless, the book is unevenly focused, lavishing attention on Brown's flamboyance at the expense of personal insights. There is also a sometimes subtle but unmistakable bias from beginning to end in favor of Brown's leftist politics and Brown himself.

I found this book to be very interesting and informative. Without a doubt it gave me a look into the life and times of Willie Brown and the state of California. From growing up under the repressive laws of Jim Crow and segregation to becoming one of the most powerful men in California,Willie Brown is a courageous and complex figure in California's history. In the tradition of "showmen politicians" like Adam Clayton Powell, Huey P. Long, and Lyndon Johnson, Brown is a part of a by-gone era. With term limits well in place, we will never see the likes of such a powerful and personable politician. President Clinton could not have said it better when he arrived in Sacramento and met Willie Brown in person for the first time. He stated, " now i have finally met the real slick Willie". Whether demon or devil, Willie Brown changed the face of legistlative politics in Califonia and paved the way for the state to expand in many other areas. After reading this book, you wonder how California can survive without Willie Brown.

Willie Brown is a politician regarded as both a political reformer and a modern political boss, a sometime political progressive and sometime defender of corporate interests, and a man of humble background who flaunts a flashy lifestyle. The book, "Willie Brown", presents a study of a man's contrasts and complexities.
This biography neither glorifies nor lambastes its subject. The reader is allowed to thoroughly understand the gray areas between the good and evil which is the human nature of most public figures. We learn about Willie Brown and the events shaping his life and histroy.
We learn that Willie Brown sought being the center of attention from childhoold and how this trait was internalized through lifelong quests for leadership. Willie Brown emerged from a life of gambling and nightlife into a life or politics and nightlife.
Controversy has followed Willie Brown's life. Branded as both a radical liberal and a conservative coalition builder, Willie Brown has learned that power and personal feelings can change and that these changes can be used for advantage. Readers learn how Willie Brown, upon becoming Speaker of the California House of Representatives, was adept at maintaining power.
The author demonstrates that Willie Brown enjoyed political power games more for the sake of power than for setting policy. Willie Brown played the legislative power game very well for a long time. When he finally lost the power game, he exited the legislature by becoming a big city Mayor. This book presents a remarkable study of one of America's most resilient politicians.

After having read some of the author's negative reviews of other prog books (so young, so angry, damn that prog music), I felt inclined to review his. Generally speaking, this book is a decent listing of the author's opinion of what is significant progressive music and video. As other reviewers have stated, there are some obvious omissions of bands/artist that most people consider to be progressive "legends." Futhermore, there are numerous inclusions of music that is on the "fringe" of the progressive scene. Many of the included artists would be considered by most prog fans to be new age, ambient or industrial (Throbbing Gristle is a cool name, but are they a progressive rock band?). The author also seems to have a preference for what most people would consider fusion music. Most prog fans are interested in this, but don't prefer it to the traditional symphonic sounds of the big six. My other criticisms of this book are twofold. First, I believe the author underestimates his audience's ability to determine what they like. Some of his accounts of cds sound "preachy" and like he is stating "if you really knew about music you would be listening to this instead of" (Van Der Graaf, Banco, PFM, Hands, Yezda Urfa, etc. etc.).
The other issue I have is that while I like his format of listing "essential" prog cds, I did not find myself discovering very many new cds to add to the collection from reading this. Once again, this may be due to differing ideas as to what prog is. Where this books succeeds is in providing detailed descriptions of a variety of artists and cds. The material the author does cover is thorough (everything from sound quality to album art). Overall, this is a worthy, but flawed, addition to a prog-rock library (even if his definition of what constitutes progressive rock is "creative"). However, you should also include the Macan and Martin books (which Mr. Smith is truly hostile in his review of, I mean, does it really matter if an album came out in November of 70 or February of 71?). I don't know about anybody else, but I just want to read about this stuff and find more music I like. I also find myself questioning Mr. Smith's reviews of newer prog books, since he seems to so negative about all of them, and I frankly enjoyed some of the prior books he thinks were terrible. Ah, but what do I know, I think Gentle Giant is more progressive rock than Liz Story.

This book is very misunderstood by those who have critiqued it thus far, and I feel like some of thier critisisms have a lot of validity. I mean yes, Smith should have included those progressive greats such as Van Der Graf Generator, Gentle Giant, and Dream Theater... and Brian Eno did a lot more for Progressive Rock than only the 3 albums that Smith chose to review. But what anyone who reads, reviews, or even just glances at this book need to understand is that Smith has written this book about the genre of Progressive Music, not just Progressive Rock Music, hence the including of such New Age artists as Liz Story and Emerald Web and Space Music artists such as Tangerine Dream and Lightwave. He is exploring a huge genre of music that goes way past Progressive rock, but deals with progressive music on the whole. If you are a progressive rocker, this book is less value to you, and I suggest Paul Stump's book; but if you are truly interested in exploring not just progressive rock but all progressive music, then this book is without a doubt for you! So criticize all that you want critics, but Smith absolutely knows his stuff when it comes to progressive, and the book has become a guide for my personal progressive music collection. A GREAT BUY FOR MUSICIANS!

This book is essentially a compilation of album reviews with a very personal approach by the author.

Most of the book is dedicated to avant-garde, ambient music, electronic music, modern classical works, jazz-fusion and lengthy instrumental and experimental music in general that is closely related to prog-rock but it is definitely not progressive rock and sometimes not even rock music.

However many progressive rock albums are also included. Some of them real classics, others over-rated due to the author preferences and of course many important classic works and artist are missing.

On the other side, the album reviews are excellent.

The reviews usually open with an excellent and brief overview of the band, followed by a little more extensive album overview and a song by song analysis.

The articles are very smart, nice to read, full of valuable information and his analysis reflect solid knowledge of music and a clear understanding of its meaning on every context.

Even when Bradley writes with love about a music I hate, it is a pleasure for me to read his article and his arguments sustain equally his love and my hate.

I would say that this book becomes a "must" for a prog-rock fan when we consider that most of prog album reviews sources like GEPR, AMG and even some other books and web site are very poor and amateurish.

This book offers excellent comments on the albums you already know. It will introduce you to many other less known and excellent bands and it eventually would open a door to other music styles closely related with the progressive rock.

But definitely not for novices who should look for an approach closer to the progressive rock classics.