It's been awhile since I did a Thursday Thirteen. I used to really like doing them, trying to think of what 13 things that would go together I was going to do every week. Well, sometimes life gets in the way of things, but I thought I'd give it a another go. I've compiled 13 biographies from my library. I've tried to make it a varied list, not 13 biographies of Presidents, or Rock Stars, but a little of all sorts of people that I have books on. 1) Red Hot Typewrite by Hugh Merrill: This is a biography of John D. MacDonald, the creator of the Travis McGee series and the writer of a lot of other great books. MacDonald is often overlooked as an important writer because he was writing original paperbacks back when if you had an important book it was published in hardback. Some of MacDonald's books are as good as anything you'll find out there.
2) The Five of Hearts by Patricia O'Toole: This is a group biography. When I read Gore Vidal's series of American novels and was introduced to Henry Adams and John Hay I wanted to read more. This book is about those two and their wives, Clover Adams and Clara Hay, and Clarence King. Henry Adams is the grandson of the Sixth President and John Hay was Lincoln's Secretary and later Secretary of State under Theodore Roosevelt. Very interesting people. The Five of Hearts was the name of their group that they coined.
3) In Memory Yet Green, The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov (1920-1954) by Isaac Asimov: This is the story of one of the great science fiction writers written by one of the great science fiction writers. This book is only half the tale and it looks like a doorstop. Isaac liked to write.
4) Shadow Man: The Life of Dasheil Hammett by Richard Layman: Hammett created Sam Spade and wrote "The Maltese Falcon."
5) Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton by Edward Rice: Burton the adventurer, not the actor. Burton lived from 1821 to 1890. He was one of the first Europeans to discover the source of the Nile. He traveled all over Africa and the Mid East, writing of his many adventures.
6) October Sky by Homer H. Hickam: This is one of my favorite books. It tells the story of how Hickman grew up in a small coal mine town to end up working for NASA.
7) First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong by James R. Hansen: The life of the first man to walk on the moon. I bought this after just watching "From the Earth to the Moon" recently.
I know I listed two books about astronauts, but I could have listed 13.
8) The Man Called Cash by Steve Turner: The life of Johnny Cash. The only music book I included, though it was hard not to list more. Maybe next week a 13 of music biographies.
9) American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of Robert J. Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin: Oppenheimer led the Manhattan Project that created the first atomic bombs. He later went on to oppose atomic weapons.
10) Wheels For the Road: Henry Ford, His Company, and A Century of Progress by Douglas Brinkley: Actually this is the second biography of Henry Ford I have. Why I don't know, I'm really not that big a fan of Ford, somehow I ended up with two books on him.
11) Pretty Boy by Micahel Wallis: A book about the life of the outlaw Pretty Boy Floyd.
12) Einstien by Walter Isaacson: I am fascinated by Albert Einstien.
13) The Last Days of Marilyn Monroe by Donald H. Wolfe: Another fascination of mine. My Mom made a comment about this while I was up in Tennessee, she doesn't understand what I see in Marilyn, she said she was before my time. But still...
6 comments:
Although I haven't read any of John D MacDonald books, I remember that one of them (Darker Than Amber) was turned into a film starring Rod Taylor.
I may have to look into the Hammett bio because the book and film versions of "The Maltese Falcon" are among my favorites. Your T13 has caused me to pop in the bonus disc from The Bogart Collection DVD set so that I can watch the featurette about "The Maltese Falcon" again.
I hope you decide to do a T13 on music biographies. I'll be interested to see if we have any of the same ones on our respective bookshelves.
I have read the MacDonald one and the Cash one. I like Cash by Cash as well. He was one very cool gentleman.
I've read the Cash by Cash too. You're right, they don't make them like Johnny any more. And you're a fan of John D. MacDonald! That's so cool!
Malcolm, if I don't forget next week I plan to do my 13 on music bios, perhaps you should do one too and we can compare books.
It was Homer Hickam who wrote the classic memoir Rocket Boys (aka October Sky), not Hickman. His webbie is here: www.homerhickam.com.
You're right, I didn't look at the book before I listed it and for some reason in my mind I saw it as Hickman. I'm going to change it now.
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