Aside from the illustrations, I don't find much to recommend this book. There are no commentaries about the making of Wayne's films, no discussion of Wayne's working methods, no critical analysis, and nothing about the films' financial impact in the theaters. No character names are included in the cast lists, so they are basically useless in finding out who played who. Much of the information is inacturate. In the introduction the authors state that in his early days Wayne appeared in several Ham Hamilton comedies, but no such films appear in the main body of the book (in fact, I've never heard of a screen comedian named Ham Hamilton, although there was an animator by that name working for Walt Disney at the time). The plot synopis to many of the films are incorrect, listing wrong character names and describing incidents that don't happen in the film. And I'm still trying to figure out why Ward Bond is listed twice in the cast list of DAKOTA. There's a really great blooper in the write-up to CHISUM: The authors state that the true-life characters of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid are included in the story and that Garrett is gunned down by Billy! Say what? (No, this doesn't actually occur in the film.) Oh, yes, if this book is the "complete" films of John Wayne, then why isn't COLLEGE COACH (1933) included?

My final verdict: Skip this book and seek out a copy of Allen Eyles' far superior (and, unfortunately, now out-of-print) book JOHN WAYNE AND THE MOVIES (re-issued as simply JOHN WAYNE).

If you are looking for John Wayne films this is the book to have. It tells what the film is about, who also starred in and what year it was made. It also has plenty of photos to help you recognize what movie it is and if it is the one you are looking for. The book has some interesting facts about some of the movies.

The real testimony to the value of a resource is whether it occupies eternal space on your shelf, gathering dust, or if it becomes so worn out that it bears replacement. I have dogearred, destroyed, or otherwise "used up" two complete paperback copies of TCFOJW over the past twelve years since it first appeared. It was not until the last replacement that I finally relinquished and went to a hardback copy. This book is an indespensable (if not exhaustive) resource for any serious John Wayne film buff. My only complaints (and, subsequently, suggestions for future revisions) are that the cast and tech lists are not complete; and that Wayne's appearences on radio and television are not documented. Another helpful feature would be to show which films are available in video and letterbox formats. You need this book

This book was really too long, and it was very difficult to read. It is a little hypocritical considering the trouble the University is in now. Put there by the people that they say have so much faith, but they are dishonest. Kinda a slap in the face.

it's got great ideas for a story, but this guy is the worst author i have ever seen, and the editors are twice as bad. i haven't even read all of it to see numerous mistakes. it's "special teams" not "specialty teams" (Chad Goss story). Rick Moody put "insulation" in homes, not "installation." Alabama lost to lsu 18-12, they didn't beat them 18-12 (Jim Wells). Keep looking and you will find many more mistakes

I am in awe of the stories that are contained in this book. I was a little leary at reading the first two chapters on Shaun Alexander. They seem to be just statistical recaps of his years at UA. Then I got to Tommy and Robin Ford's story...that is what I was think that this book should be about. It was so moving. As I read on, I wished that I had the faith that these Alabama coaches and players had in God. I am going to try to make my life better because of the stories in this book. It has made me want to have the relationship with God that all of these folks have had. I believe that their faith is strengthen at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes group here at Alabama. I wish (and strive for) a group like that in my life, and am committed to find one or build one on my own. I am giving the book five stars due to content, not editing. The editing is pretty bad. There are a number obvious errors in the book. (Even spelling Phil Mickelson wrong in one of the chapters). Buy it because it may change your life, not because it is technically perfect.

This biography succeeds in its evenhanded portrayal of John Wayne. No doubt some will criticize it because Davis doesn't spend his time eschewing Wayne's politically incorrect opinions, but neither does the author lionize Wayne the man. What you have left is a concise and readable 400 page biography that covers all the movies and all the wives. Davis gives his opinions as to why the Wayne legend still survives, and what his fellow actors thought of him way back when.

Interesting is the story behind the making of the ALAMO, a film he produced, directed and starred in, the subsequent Oscar campaign, and the aftermath. Also interesting is Wayne's relationship with director John Ford, whom he loved, and their disagreements.

Though very in-depth in explaining each movie John Wayne appeared, the book lacks somewhat in explaining who John Wayne was. In comparison, Donald Dewey's recent biography of Jimmy Stewart gives the reader a more detailed examination of Stewart than Ronald Davis does of Wayne. Ronald Davis also relies too much on the self-centered Pilar Wayne, the third Mrs. John Wayne, for anectdotal information. Davis's use of interviews with Harry Carey, Jr. are quite valuable and illuminating. It's a shame that Davis didn't thoroughly interview other actors who shared the screen with Duke, including Ron Howard, about whom Duke thought highly or Kim Darby (Mattie in True Grit), who didn't like the Duke (remember, True Grit was filmed in 1968). Mr. Davis does an excellent job explaining Duke Wayne's desert years in the thirties doing one-reel westerns. One has to admire Wayne's persistance. One note Pilar Wayne reveals through Ronald Davis that puts Wayne in a very bad light and has changed my personal views toward him to the strongly negative, was Duke Wayne's insistance that a pregnant Pilar get an abortion. The baby was inconvenient as Duke was in the divorce court with number two wife Chata in a highly charged divorce battle. The baby was killed but Duke Wayne received a fairly good divorce settlement. A conservative icon, when the chips were down, was capable of a selfish, dishonest, sordid, dirty act. The Duke was a great actor and icon but was not a good person. He was not a great American.

--Derek Leaberry

This is a richly detailed bibliography of J.R.R. Tolkien's writings. (Keep that in mind-- this is not a bibliography of Tolkien criticism or scholarship-- only of Tolkien's own works). Each edition of each work is described in careful detail-- subtle distinctions in the cover, title page, etc. are noted as are variations in spelling, typography, errata and corrections. To be honest, I'm not sure how relevant this work is for the average Tolkien fan-- or even for the Tolkien scholar. It will certainly be useful for book collectors, used/rare booksellers, book appraisers, and others who are interested in the book itself as a physical object)-- but I think there's very little of interest here fans interested in broadening their understanding of Tolkien's fiction or for scholars interested in writing about it. Because of its very limited, very specific utility, I can't really justify a high rating for this. Don't get me wrong-- for what it is, it's thorough and quite excellent. But, I just don't think it's all that *useful* of a book to anyone but a small handful of bibliophiles

Although this rather pricey work is intended for booksellers, collectors, and librarians rather than for the general public, I believe that just about anyone who is interested in the writing and production of Tolkien's great works will find much here that is both informative and interesting.

This is a maddening book, so full of promise it never really delivers on. Yet I've read it twice, something I don't usually do. Though some might argue, the subject is an important one: the mythic stature of John Wayne as American hero. Given his unparalleled popularity over the years, Wayne's elevation poses some serious questions. Namely, how did this fame come about, and what does the elevation of a cowboy actor to national icon reveal about ourselves. Understanding this revered status should at least tell us something about the mind-set of American men, if not women (Wayne has never been as popular with the latter as with the former, Wills observes). I think it helps to get at the way Wills presents the Wayne phenomenon to target three levels.

First, there is Wayne the person, the man. Wills doesn't devote much space to this level, though the book's subtitle, i.e. "The Politics of Celebrity", might suggest otherwise. Very little is presented of Wayne's personal life or controversial political stances. Most of what is presented are efforts to either debunk popular fictions from the early years, or to pass along opinions of others, which about the man are usually unflattering, (Ford's disapproval of Wayne's lack of war service). Clearly the author believes Wayne's mythic status comes from the screen and not from the private individual.

The second level is Wayne the actor, the commanding screen presence. Despite many insights along the way, Wills falters badly by spending way too much time on seemingly irrelevant details of John Ford's personality and film style, many of which (the diagrams of seating arrangements in "Stagecoach", for example), shed no light on Wayne the actor. Wills' s preoccupation with Ford to the exclusion of Wayne is a serious defect, which may imply that the author found Ford the more compelling of the two, and could not restrain himself. Yet it is not Ford who is enshrined in the national consciousness, it is Wayne.

The third level is the most important: Wayne the mythic figure, the mirror in which we catch our own reflection. Here Wills both succeeds and fails. He succeeds by linking the Wayne figure with some of our most enduring national myths: unbounded western horizons, uncorrupted primitive, Jeffersonian ideal. But here in the book's last chapter, which should bring together the preceding 300 pages but which is only 12 pages long, there is no real synthesis of what has gone before. There is no effort at showing how, despite the many pages given over to him, Ford' romanticized vision of the Old West shapes the Wayne myth, or how that same vision embodies enduring national myths, or how to a lesser degree Hawk's vision taps into those same legends through the Wayne figure. In short, Wills fails at this crucial third stage to adequately fill in the blanks between Wayne the actor and Wayne the myth.

I get the feeling the author intended a deeper work than is there in the result, but instead got sidetracked on underdeveloped details that end up shedding little light on the Wayne phenomenon. Too bad, because there is an important project still unfulfilled. Certainly Wills has the skills to bring it off. I only wish he had.

The idea for this book as outlined in the introduction is intriguing. Garry Wills attempts to write a 'biography of an idea', how John Wayne's on screen persona was fabricated over the years and how it differed from his real life character. I think this objective however is only partially achieved.
Wayne in real life differed dramatically from how he was presented on screen (should this be surprising? He was after all an actor, and a good one in my opinion). Mention is made of his dislike for horse riding, his preference for suits over jeans and his efforts to stay out of the military during World War II, all of which were in marked contrast to his movie roles.
However in neglecting to include much detail on his life off the screen, we are forced to assume these dramatic contrasts between fiction and reality existed, without much in the way of illustration. Wills includes an anecdote from the filming of "They Were Expendable" in 1945, regarding Wayne's humiliation on the set by John Ford over his failure to serve in the military during WWII. A few years later Wayne filmed "The Sands of Iwo Jima", which essentially was a Cold War rallying call to arms, made with the approval of the US military. Did Wayne's war record therefore lead to any embarrassment or controversy over this film? The author doesn't discuss this so we don't know.
Much of the book is taken up with more general discussions on the plot and characterisations in Wayne's more important films, and contains nearly as much discourse on John Ford than anyone else. Granted this is intended to show how directors such as Ford, Raoul Walsh and Howard Hawks developed his on screen persona, however the problem is that we are always not given enough insight into the actual Wayne.
In fairness, this book should still please Wayne fans, and if anything it contains interesting detail on directors such as Ford, Walsh etc. Personally however, I think it would probably be more worthwhile reading a conventional biography of John Wayne, rather than looking at him obliquely through this book.

Heard the taped version of John Wayne's America by Gary Wills . . . this was not a typical biography . . . it gave some background information on Wayne, but most of the emphasis was about how his life acquired a larger political meaning . . . the author effectively traced this, using Wayne's appearance as a young, individualistic cowbody hero (Stagecoach) to middle-aged authority figure weighed down with responsibility (Sergeant Stryker) to cool, determined patriot in the midst of cold war danger (Davey Crockett) to elderly lone survivor of past heroic time (True Grit) . . . this book helps explain why John Wayne remains one of our most popular American heroes--even after his death . . . I know look forward to revisiting some of "The Duke's" movies, but will now view them in a somewhat different context.

Having read between 60-100 true crime books, including three onGacy, I feel qualified to critque this. The book simply skims thesurface in a shameful tabloid manner. The two other Gacy books, Buried Dreams & Killer Clown, were far superior in quality and mass. Gacy was a despicable human being, but even he deserved a better biography than this. This book doesn't offer much more than a few good photos. If it's information you are seeking, then I recommend Buried Dreams by Tim Cahill w/ Russ Ewing. Gacy wasn't a very interesting man to begin with, you could see through him like cellophane. He was sadistic, childish, and ignorant. I corresponded with him for a while and I would not only suggest skipping this book, but I would also recommend finding a better subject to read about. Try Randy Kraft, Jeffrey Dahmer, Dennis Nilsen or Gary Gilmore. Now Ian Brady, there's a sick mind worth exploring!

Linedecker's description of the events as they were portrayed in the media is accurate and complete. Trouble is, it appears he simply went to all the old newspaper articles to cull the information he needed. He also managed to go through police reports. But this books is scant on first person interviews. All the quotes in the book appear to have been taken from newspapers. The book follows an easy narrative, one that is logical and continues to move forward. I agree with another reviewer's comment that the narrative at times is homophobic. But that's not surprising from a book originally published in 1980. While this book is lacking in content, it should not be ignored by those who are interested in Gacy. It at least provides a perspective of how the horrific events of the murders were revealed, as well as the typical nonchalance police exhibit when confronted with missing teen reports.

While not as good as Buried Dreams or Killer Clown,which go into much greater detail about the entire story,this book had some details that I had not known when I read the other books many years ago. A lot of info on gacys neighbors,friends and mostly,some of his victims stories that were not as well publicized as the other unfortunate kids.

The ultimate conclusion of this report is that the closing and transfer of the Philadelphia naval should yard ought to be an example/model fo rthe US military in the future. Although not overwhelming, this report is a good introduction to the issue of base restructuring in the evolving structure of the post-Cold War military. As a case study, it has a lot of useful historical and analytical information that could be beneficial for policymakers in other situations.

It deals heavily with the procedures of the transfer. Though it does address them significantly, a deeper analysis of the political interests and conflicts surrounding this is as equally useful as any procedural analysis. Helpfully, the report also deals with the court issues that arose out of the case. Since it is a common tactic in these issues, understanding the uses and limits of the court system in these transfers is useful as well.

The report lacks an index, but the table of contents is extensive. A thorough bibliography is also included.

The Life and Times Of John Wayne by David Hanna is a pretty good book. I liked this book because it listed all of the movies and shows John Wayne has ever appeared in. I also liked this book because it did a time line of his life and showed all of the obstacles he had to overcome.
I would recommend this book to people who enjoy western shows and movies. I also think farmers,ranchers and cow tenders would enjoy this book.
The book has a section listing quotes,and one of my favorites is,"I'm 53 years old and 6'4,I've had three wives,five children and three grandchildren.I love good whisky.I still don't understand women, and i don't think there is any man who does."

Interesting. The first article, though, on Polk's New England tour, was dull and pointless. Wayne Cutler makes his point long before he ends the article. The best article was Miguel Soto's on the Monarchist's conspiracy in Mexico. Soto's work is probably an essential piece to a study on the politics of Mexico during the conflict. John Eisenhower also gives a interesting look into the relationships of Polk, Scott, and Taylor. However, even this article is lacking. Soto's article is the only purely essential piece. The others are just food for thought.

as a kid growning up in the seventies, John Wayne was one of my heroes. Larger than life, so I collected everything on the Duke including Paper dolls. So my parents bought me the booklet and I still have it totally intact. I can't see any "guy" actually playing with them but for collectors they're awesome. Good details from his most popular movies.