Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend

Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend
by Susan Orlean, Simon & Schuster, September, 2011

...Well researched and well written, thankfully the dogs carry the story

My only memories of Rin Tin Tin (RTT) are from the 1950s. It was a never to be missed Friday night TV show that in our house included the entire family, my best friend and TV Time popcorn. We lined up as the bugle called us to report and we faithfully watched Rusty, Rinty and Lt. Masterson overcome the trials of life on a Western army fort (Yo Rinty!). Who knew that RTT had a fascinating story that started on the battlefields of WW1.  In this in depth telling of the life and legend of the dog (s) Susan Orleans gets the story. Interspersed with personal recollections from her life she leads us on a fascinating journey through the twentieth century.

The original RTT was born in France on a battlefield and rescued by an US Army private, Lee Duncan. Working through what must have been considerably less red tape than today Duncan was able to get the dog shipped to his southern California home. Duncan, taciturn and in many ways unknowable trained the dog and secured for him parts in the rapidly growing film industry. The author gives a full picture of Hollywood in the 1920s. I had no idea of the wide influence movies had in the 20’s and 30’s. To quote one of many statistics in the story 100 million movie tickets were sold weekly in a country with a population of 150 million people – everyone went to the movies! And in the late 20’s before talkies everyone went to see RTT movies. RTT and Duncan would travel the country appearing at theaters, hospitals, and civic events. In Houston 10,000 people attended a RTT appearance! So the TV show that all of us boomers watch in the 50’s had its beginnings with our parents in the movie culture of their generation.

The author does a comprehensive job of describing all aspects of this story. The origination of the German Sheppard breed in pre WWI Germany, the training of the dogs for use in war by the Nazis, the movement from dogs as working farm animals to domestic pets, the evolution of dog shows in the US, the efforts of the US to quickly develop a canine corps at the start of WWII are all side stories supporting the main narrative and many of them are wildly interesting. Good thing too because the major human characters in this story are not interesting. Lee Duncan was a one dimensional man more interested in dogs than in wives, children, other people, etc. Bert Leonard, the RTT producer responsible for much of the RTT programming was a similarly uninteresting character. Thankfully the dogs can carry this story, the original RTT and his assorted namesakes and offspring were iconic symbols for several generations of Americans.

This book is hard to characterize, part autobiographical by Orleans, part a social history of the US in the twentieth century and part man loves dog biography. Well researched and well written this book reads like an extended New Yorker (for which Orleans writes regularly) non-fiction article. I enjoyed this book and had no trouble skipping some of the latter parts of the story that dragged along.

I read a copy of this book provided by the publisher.

Bossypants

Bossypants 

by Tina Fey, April 2011, Hachette Audio 5hrs. 35 mins.

Fey is witty, intelligent, sarcastic, surprisingly serious, and self deprecating – her memoir is all of the above.

I will be participating in Audiobook week hosted Jen at Devourer of Books this week so I will post a couple of reviews of audio books I’ve listened to. I just started listening to audiobooks last year.  Here is a link to some of my favorites last year.  I'll post later this week on this years favorites.

Bossypants is far and away the funniest of the books I've listened to recently. Tina Fey reads her memoir herself and her comedic timing as always is excellent. The memoir is part comedy, part life advice and part assessment of social mores. On more than one occasion I found myself laughing out loud at the comedy. She relates stories, with great characters and descriptions from her experiences in the Summer Stage program at Upper Darby HS (full disclosure Fey grew up near me and went to high school near my parents’ home in Drexel Hill, PA). Her Greek parents, her time at Second City in Chicago, and her work at Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock all have segments in this story. Some of the funniest sections are the descriptions of how the Sarah Palin role came about.

Her life as a female comic in a male dominated world is fodder for much comedy but also many insightful suggestions for women facing gender discrimination. She draws some universal life lessons from what she learned in improve theater, also very funny. Soooo, in summary this audiobook is worth your time. Fey is witty, intelligent, sarcastic, surprisingly serious, and self deprecating – her memoir is all of the above.

I listened to a copy of this story that I downloaded from the Free Library of Philadelphia and there was an annoying problem with this production. At the end of Fey’s sentences the volume would become lower for the last two to three words. Not sure if it was a function of the download or the original production

Cleopatra: A Life

Cleopatra: A Life

by Stacy Schiff, Hatchette Audio, November 2010,

14 hours, 16 minutes

read by Robin Miles

...she might have been one of the strongest female rulers in history, widely misunderstood and wrongly criticized

If your only impressions of Cleopatra are like mine – an Elizabeth Taylor like seductress – prepare to be educated! Stacy Schiff has written a lively, intelligent, researched based biography of the Egyptian Queen. While there is much that is not known about her life, Schiff manages to make it all work by her intense research of that era that provides a rich setting for the action. Cleopatra was born 70 years before Christ into the Ptolemy dynasty. The strongest traditions in her family included sibling murder and incest. That the woman managed to grow to adulthood is a testament to her intelligent and cunning ways. She ascends the throne of Egypt with the help of Julius Caesar at the age of 18. She successfully rules that country for the next 22 years. No uprisings, no famines, no court intrigue. She is beloved by her people. In this time before Christ the Roman Empire ruled throughout the Mediterranean and beyond; Cleopatra’s skill in navigating a successful course for Egypt was masterful. She visited Rome, was Caesar’s lover and the mother of his only child. Following Caesar’s death she and Mark Anthony fall into a 15 year relationship where she bears him three children. In the end Mark Anthony is defeated in Egypt by a Roman rival Octavian. History has blamed Cleopatra for seducing Anthony and diverting him from his military and civil tasks. The author does a good job of sorting out the prejudices of the historians (mostly Roman or Roman clients) who have tagged Cleopatra with this persona.

I learned a lot reading this book. I had only the vaguest understanding of the history of this period. I loved the descriptions of Hellenic Egypt and the excesses that the Ptolemy’s brought to kingship. Also well done were the descriptions of life in Rome at this time. I am visiting Rome in April and will look at the Forum with new interest after acquiring this background. This book completely changed my perspective on this queen. As I said I thought she was a fairly one dimensional character who played a minor role in the Roman story. I now think she might have been one of the strongest female rulers in history, widely misunderstood and wrongly criticized.

As I noted above the prose in this book is splendid but the reading that Robin Miles does in the audio edition is marvelous. She has just the right intonations for this entertaining prose. I am often undecided as to whether reading or listening is the most enjoyable for me – not with this one. Get the audio book!

I listened to an audio presentation of this novel downloaded from The Free Library of Philadelphia