It's often said that in Los Angeles, the myth is more important than the truth, and certainly people seem to care more about the former than the latter. But Longstreet has managed to tell the truth about LA by recounting the myths and anecdotes, quite factually, quite humorously, and appropriately scathingly. He paints a portrait of LA that is both broader and deeper than anything that, for instance, Raymond Chandler ever did in his over-rated fiction, without all the self-agrandizement and hyperbole. Few native Angelenos (not to mention the 90% of the citizenry that's non-native) know anything about local history, which is hardly surprising in a town where it's common for a business to boast in its advertising, "An LA tradition since 1993," so this book seems to be nearly bursting with revelation. For example, Longstreet's recounting of the great LA Silk-Worm bubble is an amazing story, and at the same time practically the archetypal tale of Los Angeles. Anyone living in this city ought to read it. Anyone who wants to understand the psychology of American expansion ought to, too. Moreover, it is as entertaining as any work of fiction... except perhaps LA itself, which (as Longstreet demonstrates) is the most substantial work of fiction we Americans have ever produced

...here's the description from the back of the book to help you decide if this book is for you: "The great romantic epic by the bestselling author of The Pedlocks ... THE PRIDE OF THE KINGSTONS ... At last their strange and unforgettable story is revealed, an epic of romance and creation rooted in the American soil and a fortune built on the rails of a vast empire. Begin the saga with ENOCH KINGSTON -- a brawny, daring Western adventurer on a relentless climb toward wealth and power ... a man whose burning ambitions matched his consuming passion for two women: MAUDE ALVAREZ, aristocratic daughter of a landed Spanish family, and BROOK DE LEON, a proud black woman whose strength and spirit equalled his own. Follow the intertwined lives of this magnificent family across three generations and a turbulent centuryof sacrifice and greed, deeply felt love and unbounded lust, incomparable wealth and all-too-human failty ... and discover, in its full fury and emotional sweep, the thunderous heritage of THE KINGSTON FORTUNE."

Damaged by war, looking for solace and overrun with hormones, W.W. Windstaff (or so he calls himself) is a casual observer to post WWI city life. His text is real and alive. His words carry a soft cynicism and lyric but brutal honesty. We never know his name. Doesn't matter, he has the versatility one learns from desperation. He is anybody from nerve racked fighter pilot to well kept whore. His simple and natural character brings to light the humanity behind the images surrounding him--Hemingway is a whining brute with a gift for terse prose, Gertrude Stein an over ambitious skirt chaser, and his best friend can't remember how to grow up. Windstaff's writing is real and conversational. I can almost imagine a gruff but still handsome older man leaning in front of me, his hand creeping up my knee, whispering,"This is how it is". He likes truth. Wandering Europe, giving in to base sex and good alcohol, he still keeps his guard-avoiding the artistic lif! e but unable to resist those that create it. He is a drunk with a reality fix, sick of the superficial city but believing in the moral to any story. Yet,through all his dirty, backhand and heroic experiences he maintains an innocence I admire. This is the man women want to change,never do and love them more for their stubborness. This book is above all dignified. No wonder God chose us over the angels.

I'm so glad they finally re-issued this book. The first copy I read was a used and vintage copy. So many books have been written about the jazz age and the swing era that it's nice to get the perspective of someone that was there. Hoagy has a wonderful way with words and writes with a wit that also shows in his movies (think To Have and to Have Not). I highly recommend this for anyone interested in American history and the history of American Classical music.

Will Cortlandt -- a blazing legend in a brave young land. The most prized of Major George Washington's soldiers, a fighter of extraordinary daring whose name roused fear and respect across the war-torn frontier wilderness. Will Cortlandt--a man as passionate as he was strong, whose arms had held a hundred perfumed beauties in Virginia's most elegant boudoirs, but who was driven to a strange, sloe-eyed woman whose love promised to drive him to destruction.
Paperback 1965 Popular Library

This book was very interesting and very informational. I was actually able to sit down for hours and read. I am not a person that is able to stay focused on one thing for a long period of time, but with this story I was constantly interested.

I have a copy of this book which was sent to me when I was a youngster who corresponded with the editor of The Studebaker News (a publication for Studebaker Dealers). I still have the original box that it was mailed in. I consider it a collector's item.

Very readable story of a Jewish immigrant family in the United States, starting at the time of the Civil War. All kinds of important issues are dealt with in this novel: slavery, racial intolerance in general, love and marriage, parent/child relationships, business in an emerging America, and even the reasons for the stock market crash in 1929. Highly recommend it!

This finely written novel is highly evocative of late 19th and early to mid 20th century American life. This is a humane, compassionate novel by a writer with a gift for capturing interesting characters. Longstreet is a prolific novelist, and this is one of his very best works.

As a non history buff (but an aircraft buff, pilot and antique aircraft builder and flier), I enjoyed this book about fliers and planes of WW1. It is about the gut feelings of those who flew and died in the beginnings of combat aircraft. An insight of those who had guts that sometimes got disturbed by events around them.

I'm not an aviation buff so I found no pain in (and can't verify) any technical errors this book might've had concerning the aircraft. I did however, enjoy the stories and goings-on of the various pilots and their air groups. The focus is mainly on the more famous (but some will definitely be lesser-known) English, German, and French fliers, but does stop to talk about American fliers, as well as pilots of other countries and lesser known areas of operation during WWI. Includes short histories and family upbringing on the pilots, their characters, their friends and fellow pilots, how they got into the then yet undeveloped air service, their trials and duels in the air (many times their deaths), and their activities on and off base, often interjected with their own quotes and sometimes excerpts of their own writing. Also includes stories of the more famous inventors working on the technological developments accompanying the planes and its armament at that time. Definitely interesting -- I felt a mix of awe, admiration and excitement for the fliers and innovators, was horrified by the gruesome realities in air combat, and sometimes laughed a bit at the funny and silly situations of that life and time. The people of the early 1900s: stupidly innocent, stubborn, brave, pioneering, and romantic...

While there do appear to be a few technical inaccuracies with this book, I found it amazing in at least one respect: rather than the typical hero-worship associated with our view of world war one pilots, THE CANVAS FALCONS provides the best understanding of what their lives were like that I've ever read. Were they gallant? Yes. But it was eye opening to me to see that these men were also very scared, completely in touch with the fact that death was almost a certainty. This was brought home with information about things like men flying with the 'shakes' while losing faith in the war effort. Yes, they were gallant and some were gentlemen but, it turns out, some were also just self aggrandizing louts. So, technically perfect, no. A mind opening view of what was supposedly a glamorous service? Absolutely!

If you ever wondered why Sephardic Jews put dates in their Charoses & Askenazi Jews didn't, this book is a good place to find out.

This is not a kosher cookbook although many of the recipes are kosher. The chapters are divided into countries rather than types of recipes. Then within the chapters are food divisions. I really liked finding out why recipes differed from country to country