After a slightly tedious beginning (who cares if Styron had the sniffles and recurring earaches as a kid?), West's biography delves into the heart of Styron's life and work. I was stunned to learn of the many and varied connections between the two: much of what appears in Styron's books is based upon actual experiences he had and people he knew. West clearly has a deep respect for his subject, and the portrait we receive of Styron is one of a dedicated, sometimes angst-ridden literary genius, slowly and methodically creating his masterpieces. West occasionaly sidetracks into Styron's interesting relationships with other authors, including his controversial feud with Norman Mailer. The main quibble is that the final quarter of the book seems awfully hurried. One might expect "Sophie's Choice", Styron's most recent and well-known novel, to receive the most treatment, but West seems to give it the least. Those hoping for a more in-depth look at Styron's battle with depression than is found in his memoir "Darkness Visible" will probably be disappointed, as West adds little new to the saga, and in fact often seems to quote it directly (which seems rather lazy). Still, a mostly fascinating read, and one that any fan of Styron will find engrossing.

For anyone who is amazed by William Styron and all that he creates, this book provides the glimpses behind the start of each creation. We do not need to know every bit of Styron's emotional life to know what it is that compels him to write in the genius that he does. We understand him because we can see what motivates all of his great works. I would heartily recommend it to anyone who is a writer, reader or lover of his works.

I've read all of Styron's fiction and all his published nonfiction, and was happy to find out that this biography explores in detail the mind of the writer who has created such beautiful, enduring prose. Author West has had unusual access to working papers, unpublished works, and early drafts of Styron's well-known books, and is able to illustrate how the changes Styron made during the editing process reveals his character. You couldn't ask for a more deeply felt biography. In contrast to the main review on this page, I also felt that this was one of the only biographies I've read in which the connection between the subject's childhood and writing was made clear. If the only book of Styron's you've read is the excellent Sophie's Choice, this biography may give you more information than you want. If you have more of an interest in Styron's other writing, this book is a fascinating adjunct. By the biography's end, you feel you know Styron and you hope he completes the "Marine novel" he's been working on for so long.

Written in 1968, Styron's "Confessions" delves deep into the psychology behind Nat Turner's 1831 slave revolt. Almost unbearable in its graphic violence and Biblically-dimensioned heartbreak, the novel (for it *is* fictional) has Turner telling the whole story in painfully honest detail. Styron neither defends Turner nor paints him as crazy; he is less interested in pointing out right or wrong than in trying to understand the broad ironies of the system of slavery and its effects on the people who ran it and were subject to it. Styron's Nat Turner is a man who is both educated and destroyed by his masters; he is both uplifted and misled by the Bible. His hatred is not fueled by the hatred of whites, but by the pity of whites. And when he kills, he is only able to commit one physical murder, though he takes responsibility for 60. The book is often painful to read, especially for one who might think that race relations today have little to do with 19th-century slavery. But in its wealth of detail and its ability to enter into the mind of a complex and criminal mind, it is unique, and should be required reading for every self-termed patriotic American.

The Confessions of Nat Turner is one of Styron's most powerful works, a fascinating exercise in imagination. Styron begins with a true historical event -- a slave rebellion that struck terror into the hearts of white southerners before ultimately being quelled. Styron sees in the psychological tinder box ignited by the rebellion, and in its leader, Nat Turner, a little-understood passion play. Critics who complain that Styron doesn't answer some historical questions: "Gee, Nat's owner didn't treat him so bad, why'd he rebel?" miss the point. What fascinates Styron, and a careful reader, is what the fact of rebellion does to the minds and emotions of those it touches. Besides, anyone who finishes Styron's novel without a sense of why Turner led the rebellion wasn't reading very carefully; the whole novel turns on Styron's hypothetical answer to this question. One of the central conceits of the book is Styron's imagination that Turner could have been fueled by his sense that he had been chosen by God to lead his fellow slaves in an uprising. Styron paints a powerful picture of one driven by the conviction -- whether divinely inspired or delusional -- that he is a vengeful avatar called upon by a higher power to wreak vengeance on the perceived enemies of God. There is an obvious parallel here to the Harper's Ferry uprising led by John Brown (whom Russell Banks, in Cloudsplitter, depicts as similarly driven by mania), as well as to figures like Joan D'Arc. Styron, who wrote a moving memoir discussing his own struggle with mentally illness, has a special fascination with, and sensitivity to, such issues.

being or is this book written by a white guy about an entire ethnic group? I have to be able to talk to you all about slavery, the buying and selling of human beings in the United States of America, a peculiar institution abolished by law only a few generations ago. Styron's book was a fictional account dealing not peripherally with these issues and specifically with one man, a United States of America slave. If there is a problem with the scholarship, judge the book by whatever incoherent and misguided poor writing that is to be found. I was moved with sympathy, tears, anguish, anger and ultimately love by this sublime novel. I wonder what Nat Turner would have said about Styron's adaptation? It is preposterous for anyone now living to decide the man's opinion for him. Styron is an artist. He is a brilliant writer of fiction. Obviously an opinion of my own, I'm jublilant we may each agree or disagree with my analysis. What am I hearing from critics that proclaim Styron's, Confessions of Nat Turner, racist? Am I hearing the equivalent of, "You can't write about that! You're the wrong shade of human!"? Let's keep talking and agreeing and disagreeing. William Styron initiated another dialoge of magnificent proportions.

A fascinating subject and book. My problem with it dates back to when I read excerpts of the original diaries of Dennis Stockton in the Virginian-Pilot, not long after the escape. Frankly, Stockton is a better, more forceful, less breathless writer than Jackson and Burke, but the authors have seen fit to rewrite and summarize his journals, and to claim authorship. They are good reporters, but they were given a gift when Stockton decided to hand over his fantastic, intelligent journals.

I'm deeply troubled by the fact that Stockton is _not_ given co-authorship credit on the jacket or on the title page, even though the best passages of the book are his writing, and most of the "inside" accounts of death row life are lifted and rewritten from his journals. It's disturbing that the true author of this story has been made into a mere exhibit by these authors. It's troubling to me that the book, based largely on the work of a dead man (and featuring big chunks of that dead man's writing) is copyrighted by these two authors, and that they're probably enjoying a full cut of the royalties. (I'd be happy to find out that they were sharing royalties with Stockton's family, but I'm not holding my breath.)

This is an important, essential book in the literature of death row. I just wish Dennis Stockton had gotten more credit for being the man he had longed to be -- a writer.

"Dead Run" is the best prison drama I have ever read, made more gripping by the fact that it is ALL TRUE. The bookd recounts the final prison term of Dennis Stockton, who was probably innocent and spent over a decade on Death Row. The first part of the book deals with the only successful mass escape from Death Row in American history, but the drama does not end there. Following that, by following Stockton through the system and finally to his execution, one becomes acquainted with the grim, crushing reality of the brutality and neglect of the American prison system.

On top of being a gripping tale of prison life, the book is a damning account of capital punishment and our prison system in general. By picking Stockton as a subject, a probably innocent man singled out by the UN as an example of a case of capital punishment that did not meet up with the standards expected of international law, the authors make a ringing statement against death penalty laws and procedures in the United States. Only the most rabid pro-death penalty advocate could read this book and not come away questioning their support for the execution of criminals.

A further feature that permeates the story is just how seedy and corrupt everyone and everything in the book are. The courts, the cops, the guards, the prisoners, the politicians - they are all part of the same basically corrupt world. Only (not coincidentally) the reporters and some of the witnesses come off as being white in a very grey and black world.

The book is a magnificent, cannot-put-it-down peice of work that I heartily recommend to any lover of a good non-fiction tale!

DEAD RUN is the best work of crime journalism I've read since THE EXECUTIONER'S SONG. It transcends the increasingly shabby true-crime genre. It is a superb study of life on Death Row. It is the latest proof that the land of the free continues to execute the innocent. It is a jailbreak story that rivals PAPILLON. It is crime history at its most elevated, and yet there's not a stodgy line. Social context is never forgotten, but the narrative line chugs ahead like a runaway locomotive. I will re-read this book many times and recommend it to all who enjoy a great yarn and responsible journalism.

Lie Down in Darkness is not a great book. But it is a very good one, and shows how William Styron, even in his youth was a talented and perceptive writer. This novel begins with the death of Peyton Loftis, and goes back in time to follow her childhood and coming of age, as well as her eventual marriage, until her death. We see these pictures through the alternating points of view mostly of her father and mother, but also of some other characters, and learn how her death was inextricably related to the slow attrition caused by stubborness, jealousy, and hate that tears apart her family. Darkness is everywhere in the novel, taking the form of guilt and personal failures that corrode the hearts of each character and make inevitable Peyton's tragic end. Indeed the predetermination is all the more evident, since we know from the very beginning that she has died.

Although Sophie's Choice shows how much more polished (and more thoughtful too, perhaps) he has become as a writer, Styron's writing is beautiful, as are the characters and the story. This may not be a necessary read, and the beginning may be slow, but it was well worth my time.

William Styron, in Lie Down in Darkness, tells the story of Peyton Loftis, the beautiful daughter of Helen and Milton Loftis, her ultimate suicide, and her family's contribution to her fate. Sad, yet compelling. As I read, my revulsion for the characters grew line by line, for they are wasted, empty, and they drown themselves in a swamp of despair and impotency. Helen is a vindictive, jealous mother who takes painful jabs at anyone in her path; Milton is an incestuous alcoholic who can't own up to his failures and who is stuck in a sort of paralyzed stupor; and Peyton, well, she is a genetic carryover of her parents-from her mother she learns revenge, and from her father, alcoholism.

The story is one of severe despondency, a portrait of lives that have lost their savor and are headed toward destruction. Of all the characters in the story, the Negro house servants come forth as the strongest. They have a spiritual strength that contrasts strongly with that of the Loftis.' The overwhelmingly best quality of the book, I believe, is the beauty of the prose. It's like an epic poem, lyrical and dramatic and sweepingly colorful. And, believe it or not, I actually enjoyed Peyton's stream-of-consciousness marathon just before she killed herself. Styron made it enjoyable and I will always remember the flightless birds and how they follow Peyton all over New York and also the $39.95 clock that Peyton perceives as her refuge from the evil world. Is this what mental illness is really like? This book is certainly one to be read again.

Never have I wanted to pound some sense into fictional characters as when I read William Styron's Lie Down in Darkness. The Loftiss family saga is sometimes hard to read because they hurt each other so easily and so often. But Styron's language is beautiful, and his understanding of the characters is deep. The account of Peyton's last day is especially heartbreaking and revealing. In short, this novel is one of my favorites simply because of its account of human frailty and the amazing way in which the story is told. Styron is one of the best.

War's usual outcome is warped, maimed and dead men.

'The Face of Mercy' documents medicine's work to counter the cost for the soldiers and civilians who survive. With narrative by several authors, including Dr. Sherwin Nuland, 'Mercy' begins with an introduction by novelist William Styron.

The book straddles the urge to destroy and the desire to heal. 'The body's very tissues reflect this struggle in their constant process of breakdown and repair,' Nuland writes. 'Unfortunately, the ability and impulse to cure have never kept up with the ability and impulse to kill.' The physician's will to save lives so near to battles is a conflict that partially explains why the text is strangely hopeful, given its subject. The large-format photography is matched by lucid writing.

The battleground has yielded some of medicine's great accomplishments Ð mass inoculation, antiseptic surgery, blood and plasma transfusions, plastic reconstruction, and huge leaps in heart and lung surgery. Perhaps more importantly for soldiers, war observation established the relationship between speed of treatment and survival; the casualty statistics bear it out. In World War I, the average time between injury and treatment was 10 to 18 hours; surgeons write of removing battle dressings to discover maggots. In Vietnam, the swiftness and valor of helicopter pilots carved the wait to an average of one to two hours. In that conflict less than 2 percent of the hospitalized died.

But some things are immutable. The psychological impact of war on doctors and the wounded remains. And as our inventiveness in destruction increases, so does the cost to the mind. One doctor who served in Vietnam writes of 'mud, screams and the terrible smell of death.' Napolean's chief surgeon, Dominique-Jean Larrey, is said to have performed more than 200 amputations during a single day of the doomed expedition into Russia. Undoubtedly, men lived because of his extraordinary effort, but what butchering dreams did he live with afterward?

The pictures, largely black and white, range from documentary to editorial. Physicians discovered photography could aid teaching and straightforwardly recorded their methods. But other images are heavy with emotional weight, such as 'A Morning's Work,' a haphazard monument of men's amputated feet and legs, piled outside the door of a Civil War hospital.

The effect of war upon civilians is also represented. Survivors in St. Petersburg are shown delivering their bundled dead aboard a child's sled, to a dynamited mass grave. In Leningrad, an estimated million died from starvation, waiting for the war to end. The city's loss was more than the combined military and civilian death toll for both the United States and Great Britain during all of World War II.

Lisa Ashmore

Having a daughter myself, I was naturally drawn to this book. It is beautiful in concept, and the writings from the fathers and daughters are much more powerful than the photographs themselves. Of particular interest was Vernon Jordan and daughter each writing about their friendship; Nigerian author Chinua Achebe writing how cultural changes in his country are forcing him to publically dote on his children, and how he is reluctantly, enjoying it; and finally the little girl who likes her daddy because he's always fun.

Can't beat that, that's what we're for.

The problem is that at 132 pages, you can go through the whole thing in a day. There weren't enough memorable letters to warrant reading them over and over. And, as another reviewer alluded, most of the photos are posed, and emotionless.

Although this is still a nice gift between fathers and daughters, the editors should have solicited far many more essays, and used a lot more emotion in the photos. Even though I enjoyed it, I wouldn't have paid for it myself, as it feels like it was designed not to be memorable or touching, but to sell books.

The heart of this book is a series of photographs showing a father and daughter(s). In many cases, one or the other (or both) then makes brief comments about one another. Although many famous fathers are included, ordinary dads are here, too. The father-daughter relationship is captured only superficially here, because the subjects are protective of each other in both the comments and in the observations. Only occasionally does a glimpse of the core of the relationship come through. I am aware of this from having heard some of the fathers and daughters speak about each other in the past. The introduction by William Styron masterfully captures the father-daughter role in literature, and goes on to explain about his relationship with his three daughters. You see the same transition from openness to great care as he shifts to talking about the women, which shows that the wise father knows how to be both polite and careful in what he says.

An exception to this closed material shows up in one of the first comments, in which Charles Waters describes how he taught his daughter, Alice, how to set the table so she wouldn't be criticized by her sister. It's a beautiful, gentle story that can help all fathers and daughters.

The only revealing photograph is of Bill Bradley and his daughter Theresa Anne. He has on a terrific looking suit. She is wearing a beautiful dress. They are each relaxed and smiling as they sit on a small seat in the middle of the grass in front of a hedge. Then you look down . . . and see that she's barefoot and he has on old tennis shoes without socks. Suddenly, the whole photograph clicks in a new way and you understand the relaxed relationship they must have with one another, filled with fun.

Basically, the photographs fall into three categories. First, there are those where the daughters are dominated by dad. In the most extreme cases, dad is an emperor surrounded by his consorts. The second type has dads who step into the background so the image focuses on the daughter. Some of these seem forced and artificial. The third type shows people who are equally connected to each other in respectful, affectionate ways. I generally liked the third type best, but found them all to be interesting.

Here are my favorites: Styrons; Paul Volcker and Janice Zima; Jacques and Bethsabee Attali; Colon, Linda, and Annemarie Powell; Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Christina Schlesinger; Yo Yo and Emily Ma; Mark and Madeline Bromley; George and Mary McGovern and Susan McGover; Colin and Rudi Salmon; Allen and Annie Shawn; Harry Blackmun and Nancy Blackmun Coniaris; James Vincent and Jon Marie Gearen; Niccolo Tucci and Maria Gottlieb; Thomas, Luned, and Rosamund Palmer; Claus and Cosima von Bulow; Ron and Sadie Cooper; and Vernon Jordan, Jr. and Vickee Jordan Adams.

The photography is done beautifully from a technical point of view. The lighting is great, the contrasts are powerful, and the compositions are insightful. The only problems occur in some outdoor shots where the background required a scale that didn't quite work, but was necessary for the photograph. The reproduction is also outstanding in this volume. I wager that some of the fathers and daughters don't have a photograph nearly as good as these in their homes today, outside of this book.

One of the nice surprises in the book is its conception. Ms. Cook was inspired by her father's looming 80th birthday. " . . . [I]t occurred to me that he would not live forever. My best friend was aging." "I became fascinated with every father and daughter I saw." The photograph they appear in at the end has him holding his 80th birthday balloon, as they both look up at it. Suddenly my heart was full of what father-daughter relationships are and can be. "Each love has its own roots, its own destiny." What a great and thoughtful monument to her father this book is!

I suggest that you develop your own album around this theme. You can do the same for siblings and for mother-son pairs. Take photographs at different ages, and capture a few comments at the time. I assure you that this will deepen and expand the mutual love of all involved by celebrating the best of these relationships.

Support and help those you love . . . always!

...I was pleased, when I received the book, with its size (almost a coffee table-sized book) and with the photography; however, I thought the pictures could have been more intimate. To me, the fathers and daughters looked too much like they had posed. Although a description of the relationship of the figures in the photo may accompany the photograph itself, I feel that the photograph should also depict the closeness (or distance, as the case may be) of the relationship of the fathers & daughters. I won't argue the photography, though. The pictures are beautiful black and white photographs. They just seem to be lacking some emotion...I had hoped that it might seem more personal.