I must begin this review by admitting my biases. No, I am not related to David Gallen. Roger Goldman, however, did teach me constitutional law at St. Louis University during Justice Brennan's service on the Supreme Court.

Justice Brennan was one of the longest serving justices on the Supreme Court, serving from his appointment by President Eisenhower in 1956 until his retirement in 1990. A member of the New Jersey Supreme Court before his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Brennan became one of the court's consistently liberal justices during his 34 year tenure.

This book is in no way a biography of William J. Brennan, Jr., although some biographical details do work themselves into the narrative. This book is an exposition of the judicial legacy of this very important justice of the twentieth century.

This book is organized into three sections. The first section contains tributes to Brennan from others who have known him, primarily his former clerks. Section II contains a summary of the judicial positions which Brennan championed in his opinions. Section III contains a collection of Brennan's most important opinions.

This book is a worthwhile read, whether you are a fan of Justice Brennan or whether you see him as an activist justice run amuck. His fans will revel in his judicial literature. Strict constructionists will find justification for criticism of his kind in the pages of this book. All will notice his shift from an intellectual mainstay of the liberal Warren Court, to a sometime dissenter and sometime majority builder on the Burger Court to his role as a frequent dissenter on the Rehnquist Court, who still packed the punch necessary to bring an occasional majority to his thinking. When he failed to persuade the majority he left his dissents for liberals who he knew would follow later.

Read and enjoy.

I've read several William Goldman books and like his others, this one is an easy and fun read. However, I found some of his other books to be more engrossing (The Princess Bride, Marathon Man etc.) Still, this book about a serial killer on the loose in New York is a good read....creepy, scary and very entertaining.

Goldman relates some funny anedotes in this book. That's mainly what it is, a bunch of anecdotes. He's ridiculously dramatic when relating his personal life, and his bleeding-heart-liberal moments are almost laughable in their (unintended) schmaltziness. And he is so opinionated about films, that, if you've seen the ones he's talking about, may scratch your head about the certaintly of his wrong-headed opinions. Despite those flaws, the book is very entertaining. And it inspired me to rent the movie he voted for the Cannes jury prize award (I won't say which one and give the surprise away), which, indeed, is a great film.

I loved this book. It has been quite a wait for the next Repairman Jack novel to arrive. I remember when I first read the the Tomb I was amazed and have been anticipating a new chapter ever since. This book did not dissapoint. My favorite chapter without giving to much away was Jack's booby trapped hideout and the suprises that it held in store for the thugs. I only had two minor gripes. I wish there was more of a supernatural element to the story like in the Tomb but that is just a personal preferance, also the relationship between Alicia and the cop never really seemed to have a purpose, it was all set up and had your interest but then it just dissapeared. Anyway read the book you will be entertained.

The writing in HYPE AND GLORY is sloppy beyond belief at times, but most of the anecdotes are amusing enough to keep you breezily turning the pages. For reading around the back yard this summer, this book should do the trick.

I love the novel Marathon Man, and I've read it several times. I couldn't believe my luck when I saw Brothers for sale. Unfortunately, this isn't a sequel to Marathon Man. It's a whimsical, superficial secret agent story that brings Scylla back from the dead -- or does it?

I'm afraid, if you are a big fan of the Marathon Man novel, you'll be disappointed with Brothers. Read Brothers as a stand-alone story, by all means. But if you want a sequel to Marathon Man, steer clear. The Scylla in Brothers is not the same character as in Marathon Man; he is a completely new character with the same name. Brothers concentrates on this new Scylla.

Babe comes into the story for no good reason -- he appears briefly for the purpose of contributing to a hastily-finished twist ending. If you liked Babe from Marathon Man, again, this is not the book for you.

The fight scenes are poor, with this new Scylla, at times, swinging wildly from being a terrifying, super-strong menace, to a klutz who repeatedly gets knocked down and trapped by the most innocuous of characters.

Certain important characters significant in Scylla's life and background from Marathon Man have disappeared, to be replaced by new characters, without explanation. The author hasn't given a damn about what went before.

Maybe William Goldman, who is, yes, a great storyteller, should have had his own novel Marathon Man open in front of him when he was writing Brothers. The connection between Marathon Man and Brothers is spurious at best.

So, I repeat my advice: if you are looking for a sequel to Marathon Man, steer clear. Brothers is not a sequel.

I wasn't crazy about this Marathon Man sequel. Although Scylla was improbably resurrected from his fatal stabbing from the first book, this feat paled in comparison to the wealth of fantastic plot devices and tricks appearing throughout Brothers, which, while clever, were never quite explained: potions capable of encouraging suicide; sprays causing complete compliance in those within range; and bombs disguised as children, which can walk and talk effectively enough to fool brilliant scientists and government agents (and even sophisticates such as Scylla himself). Unlike Marathon Man, I really had to suspend my disbelief in order to get into the action.

Fight scenes abound and are excellent- Goldman has a gift for describing them unconventionally and believably. However, combat alone couldn't save this story; its scope was just too ambitious, and literally involved Scylla's assignment (and, later, efforts) to infiltrate the Division and to save the world. The mention of Scylla's brother and Marathon Man protagonist Babe was token at best- he appeared spottily throughout, and was thrown in on the next to last page in a rushed effort to tie things up neatly. In fact, the entire last quarter of Brothers was too summarily wrapped up.

I thought there were a lot of brilliant ideas in this story, the majority of which would have been better served if they were fleshed out in another few installments. Scylla remains fascinating, although there was just too much going on in this story to do the complexity of his character justice. Oddly, as another reviewer noted, Scylla seems to have altered his sexual preference as drastically as his external appearance, miraculously turning hetero without explanation (perhaps to further his attempts at anonymity?). Quirks like this suggest that more development was necessary to make Brothers as robust as its predecessor.

I loved Marathon Man and have read it several times. As a rule I also am a great admirer of William Goldman as a writer. However, on more than one occasion he has read as if he was phoning in the stories.

This is one such case. Most of the characters are killed within a chapter of being introduced. As a result, there is little drama as it becomes obvious that the only question is how the adversaries of Scylla will meet their ends within a few pages of being introduced.

Skip this one. Re-read Marathon Man instead.

The writing style of the book was fast with the main character, Nick Escalante, an interesting complex character that wasn't all that likable. However, the timeframe of everything happening over a few days forced the appearances of other characters to be short and sweet, and the characters were far from "fleshed out". I found there were a few too many "coincidences" that were hard to accept. "Red Herrings" weren't really explained well and the ending was more of a comic book ending than I expected. Also, if you don't want to know what's coming then don't read the dust jacket summary!

William Goldman's Heat is one of the best books I've read. I can't exactly say that it takes you from the first page, but wait for ten pages or so, and you won't be able to leave it (I tried). The twists and slides of the book are Marathon Man style and even though I say that, you'll never guess what's going to happen next. I don't want to spill any of the contents of the book, for fear of spoiling it, and a word of advice, don't even read the back to know what the stories about. Certainly a rarety where it'll leave you both exhilirated and shining.

Yes, William Goldman is one of the most renowned screenwriters around but no, these essays have not aged well. If you want to read about handicapping the oscar races from five and six years ago, buy this book. But if you want some real insight into Hollywood, start with any other of the non-fiction books Goldman has written over the years.

As a 25yr vet of Hollywood, I'm often asked for advice by neophyte writers. I always direct them to two things: William Goldman's ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE, and any and all of his screenplays. The man is a genius at screenwriting, and ADVENTURES is witty, brilliant, and dead-on about Hollywood. True to form, this new book contains nuggets of sheer brilliance and some great entertainment. But the unedited (apparently) collection of articles is repetitive, and begins to read as a rant. How many quotes from addlebrained movie execs does it take for us to realize that they can't have an opinion without hedging? How many times must we hear that Mr. Goldman would like the Oscar voting scores revealed and why? I wish he or an editor had spent the time to shape this book into what Mr. Goldman's terrific ideas warrant. He's a much better writer than the sum of this book. Buy this one to read by the pool, but buy his others to laugh and learn from a master.

Goldman is always compulsively readable. (If you doubt, track down "Adventures in the Screen Trade," "Hype and Glory," or "The Season," for me his best three books about show biz.) This collection -- and it is very much a collection -- is no exception. If you're a Goldman fan and you missed these short essays in "New York" magazine and "Premiere," the book is worth getting (though perhaps not for the hardcover price Applause is asking -- I'd wait for the paperback myself).

Some of the other generally positive reviews on here have made several negative remarks and they're all true. Embarrassing number of typos. Repetitive. Truly terrible book design -- par for the course with Applause. But I'll say this much: The book kept me a lot more entertained than Goldman's most recent book, "Which Lie Did I Tell?," a somewhat unworthy follow-up to "Screen Trade." And it contains, as one of the other reviewers mentioned, a massive smackdown on "Saving Private Ryan" -- perhaps annoying if you loved the film, but absolutely hilarious if you didn't.

The only serious flaw or bias I detect in Goldman's attitude is that he romanticizes the movie era when he first fell in love with movies -- say, the '40s and '50s -- and constantly uses the classics of his childhood as a stick to beat modern movies with. The fact is, probably there were just as many stupid movies back then as there are now, deservedly forgotten. Movies as an art form are still so young that it seems inaccurate to say they've gone downhill, when in fact there have been many peaks and valleys over the last 100 years. Goldman never seems happier than when he's saying movies have never been worse. (Then later in the book he says they've gotten worse still.) The fact is, there are movies getting made now that wouldn't have stood a chance 10 or even 5 years ago. So, when reading this autopsy on movies from 1990-1998, take it with a grain of salt. And enjoy.

ABSOLUTE POWER had success written all over it. It is based on a best-selling novel of political intrigue, adapted by screenwriter William Goldman (BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID) and was directed by and starred the sturdy Clint Eastwood. But, like most things political, the film gets lost in red tape and the story is trivialized.

Luther, a slick jewel thief (Eastwood) witnesses and is blamed for a crime of passion while 'working'. As the murder intimately involves the President of the United States, more than jail awaits Luther if he is trapped. The President's chief of staff and bodyguards will stop at nothing to keep the President 'Protected'. Thrown in to round out the film is Luther's derivative quest to mend his relationship with his daughter.

Gene Hackman, who is able to add a touch of class to every film (except HEARTBREAKERS), is the President who gets less out of his cabinet when he's not out of his drawers. At the books writing, the concept of the philandering command-in-chief was unique. Not since John Kennedy had the tabloids been filled with such material. But the film is watered down by President Clinton's controversial real-life relationships. But bad timing is no excuse for the poorly executed material and awkward scenes.

An overlong and overcomplicated relationship between Luther and the Homicide detective who hunts him down is only made worse when he falls for the daughter, Kate. The usually strong Ed Harris plays agent Seth Frank feebly and Laura Linney fills the unrewarding victim role of Kate nicely. Scott Glenn is wallpaper as the bodyguard that gets a crisis of conscience. He works alongside one of the only bright points in the film, Judy Davis as the manipulative Chief of Staff.

This film has some clever moments but is altogether shoddily constructed as potentially short scenes are dreadfully long and vice versa. However, the film can be a brief distraction from what ails you. The DVD has an audio video transfer worthy of a better film.

Luther Whitney (Clint Eastwood) was once a war hero, but a long time ago he turned to the bad side and became a jewel theif. A few days before his retirement, Luther decides to end his profitable career on a high note. Knowing he is away, Luther cautiously and slowly breaks into Walter Sullivan, who is a well-known billionaire. But after Luther finds out Walter has some daringly dark secrets, things go beyond his control.

Absolute Power has reasonably good acting, Clint Eastwood is impressive as usual, but Gene Hackman seems somewhat miscast. The script is clever and mostly intriguing, but not faultless. In places, Absolute Power is far too slow, and the fairly long running time makes you get a bit squeamish.

Overall, this film will definitely keep you entertained for a couple of hours, but don't expect it to be a totally memorable or brilliant experience on the box.

Thriller, with some good moments,about an ageing,charming and wealthy burglar(Clint Eastwood)who is about to pull off a major heist when he witnesses a murder involving none other than the U.S. President himself,played by an over the top and at times grossly annoying Gene Hackman. Eastwood gets involved in a cat and mouse game with "all" the authorities,good and bad,as they zone in on him and he attempts to prove his innocence.

Scott Glen lends tremendous credence to his role as a secret service man with a conscience,although Eastwood's character leads them a merry ,exiting,and amusing chase at times.

Clint Eastwood also directed, and all in all an entertaining,fairly satisfying,reasonably good thriller.

Although very easy to read, I felt that the book never really grabbed you and pulled you in. Goldman does a good job creating all the characters, but doesn't seem to know what to do with them after that. Certainly shows the dark sides of a bad marriage and its affects on a child. A decent read, but Goldman has done so much better!