Books

It's Been a Good Life
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Average customer rating:

Great condensed memoir
Excellent!
Abbreviated autobiography yields mixed results
A warm and revealing literary biography
Stirs memories

It's Been a Good Life
Isaac Asimov
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

I.Asimov: A Memoir
Notes for a Memoir: On Isaac Asimov, Life, And Writing
The Roving Mind
Yours, Isaac Asimov: A Life in Letters
Conversations With Isaac Asimov (Literary Conversations Series)

ASIN: 1573929689

Book Description

Isaac Asimov's boundless, inexhaustible intellectual curiosity and his extraordinary talent for explaining complex subjects in clear, concise prose is logendary to readers throughout the world. In addition to treating his devoted fans to nearly five hundred illuminating science-fiction and nonfiction books, he also found time to write a three-column autobiography. Now these volumes have been condensed into one by Asimov's wife, Janet, who also shares excerpts from letters he wrote to her and shocking revelations about the illness that led to his death. More than being just an absorbing history of Isaac Asimov's life, IT'S BEEN A GOOD LIFE is like having an intimate conversation with the master himself.

Customer Reviews:

Great condensed memoir.......2005-12-06

Even though Asimov wrote a few autobiographies, this one really stands more as a condensed version of the others. I don't think it's really meant to be as serious and in-depth as the other ones. It does exactly what it sets out to do--inform the reader about Asimov's life in a more general and succinct way, with plentiful anecdotes along the way. We get to find out about his boyhood, education, early writing days, when he was an established writer and long past his days of writing for magazines, quite a few of the books and stories he wrote, his interactions with other people in his life, his twilight years, and his beliefs on quite a number of subjects. Even though I don't share his atheism and humanism, it was interesting to read about those beliefs of his, how he came to have them, and how he lived them. I've never really been into sci-fi, except maybe for some soft sci-fi, but Asimov is just about the only hard sci-fi writer I voluntarily read things by. This engaging writing style is a big reason why, as well as the influences behind his writing. And as he describes in some of the chapters, he didn't just write sci-fi; he also wrote some books on the Bible (he didn't let his atheism get in the way of writing a pretty neutral unbiased account of Biblical history as it was understood at that time), Shakespeare, limericks, and history, and points out that his famous 'Foundation' trilogy was inspired by his love of history. He wanted to combine his love of history with his love of sci-fi, and that series came about as a result, being so successful in fact that years after the original trilogy came out, he was called upon to write a few more books in the series. It was also a big shock to read that Asimov had actually died from AIDS, having gotten a blood transfusion in the days before blood was routinely screened. After the main text of the book are also one of the essays he wrote, along with his story 'The Last Question,' which he considered to be his favorite of all of the stories he'd ever written, and one which was also the favorite story of many of his fans as well. This was a fascinating multifaceted human being, and this book would be a good general introduction to a new fan.

Excellent!.......2003-03-20

It's been a good life is a good way to describe Asimov's life as he describes it in his own words. An autobiographical account of his life, with inserts by his wife, this book details Asimov's life in a funny and interesting volume.
He starts with his birth and childhood, which is an interesting feat. Not many people can remember their young lives. From there, he describes how he became interested in reading, then writing and finally how he first became published. From there, he describes his academic and writing lives in a clear, paced fasion. Everything blends in perfectly, from birth to death.
I was paticularly fasinated by his writing life, as a fan of his. For most of the book, he describes how he became a novelist, then how he stopped in favor of scientific resources and then how he returned to fiction. Because he wrote this in the first person view, it is entirly too easy to fall right into his head, and see things the way he did. This is expecially true towards the end of the book and his life. I really got the sense that he had too much to do, that he wanted to do and didn't have nearly enough time to accomplish it all.
I have read many of his science fiction novels, and from this book, learned a lot about what drove him to writing the stories I enjoy, but also about his life in general. There was much that I had no idea about. For example, he was in the Army, died of AIDs, due to a blood transfusion, and went through writing cycles.
Paticularly helpful was the editing that his wife did. On almost every section, she inserted references to his life that explained what he was talking about a little better. This book would have been very difficult and/or confusing if they had not been put in.
In addition, this book is an extremely fast read. I finished it in nearly five to six hours and enjoyed every minute of it.
The only complaint that I have with it is that it's too short, almost abridged in sections, that could have had more to it. Other than that, it's a wonderful and entertaining read.

Abbreviated autobiography yields mixed results.......2003-01-23

This compression of Isaac Asimov's earlier autobiographical works will principally be remembered as the book that announced to the world that Asimov died of AIDS. But as a one-volume summary of his life, it enjoys only mixed success.

This book both benefits and suffers from its source material: the best chapters are those on Asimov's early life and career, and were extracted from his first volume of autobiography, In Memory Yet Green, which was strongly narrative and, as a result, stronger; the second volume, In Joy Still Felt, was more anecdotal and quotidian, as Asimov settled into the routine of a workaholic full-time writer, and as a result yielded less insightful material to excerpt.

Like Asimov's third autobiography, I. Asimov: A Memoir, and his collection of letters, Yours, Isaac Asimov, the chapters are topical. While some chapters are solid, others are quite thin: the chapters that simply collect funny anecdotes could have been dispensed with. For example, Chapter 26, "The Bible", includes a couple of not-very-illuminating anecdotes related to Asimov's Guide to the Bible, and could have been folded, along with the chapter on humanism, into a longer chapter on religion and unbelief. I would have preferred fewer, longer chapters that went into more depth. Substantial introductory and connective material to piece Asimov's own work together would have strengthened the book; instead, we're given passages that sometimes look like they were excerpted, word by word, with a razor blade.

On a more mundane level, the proofreading is sometimes surprisingly bad, with several misspelled authors' names and even one book title ("I, Robert"?!?) -- just the sort of thing that Isaac would have found bothersome.

A warm and revealing literary biography.......2002-06-06

Isaac Asimov can justifably lay claim to having been one of the most prolific writers of modern times, producing science fiction, fantasy, essays and other works. His wife Janet Asimov here edits her husband's personal thoughts about his life and works, including excerpts from his letters and insights into his life experiences throughout the process. Fans of Asimov will find It's Been A Good Life to be a warm and revealing literary biography.

Stirs memories.......2002-05-12

This book is definitely worth reading, even if you have read previous autobiographies. The chapter of most interest and emotional impact is the one that describes how he died, while giving very wise (almost mystical) advice on how to cope with loss and death. A wonderful book.

Life as I have known it has been finger lickin' good

Average customer rating:

like a face to face conversation more than a book
Excellent

Life as I have known it has been finger lickin' good
Harland Sanders
Manufacturer: Creation House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Customer Reviews:

like a face to face conversation more than a book.......2006-05-19

I finished this book in two days of commuting on metrorail and bus. It's hard to put down, a most fascinating story (they say that truth is stranger than fiction). Now I will no longer just see the familiar face at KFC outlets; I actually know Col. Sanders (not by personal acquaintance, to be sure, but very close to it).

Excellent.......1999-10-18

An extrodinary book that inspired my 81 year old father when he read it. This is hard to do and this is why I am desperatly trying to find the book. I lent mine out and it never was returned.

THE GREATEST PLAGUE OF LIFE: or the Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Servant. By One Who Has Been "Almost Worried to Death."

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THE GREATEST PLAGUE OF LIFE: or the Adventures of a Lady in Search of a Good Servant. By One Who Has Been "Almost Worried to Death."
Mayhew Brothers (editors) with George Cruikshank
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Binding: Hardcover
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A cheerful heart doeth good like a medicine: but Christians have always been afraid of laughter and humour.: An article from: Presbyterian Record

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A cheerful heart doeth good like a medicine: but Christians have always been afraid of laughter and humour.: An article from: Presbyterian Record
Barry Baldwin
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Presbyterian Record, published by Thomson Gale on June 1, 2005. The length of the article is 890 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A cheerful heart doeth good like a medicine: but Christians have always been afraid of laughter and humour.
Author: Barry Baldwin
Publication: Presbyterian Record (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 129 Issue: 6 Page: 25(1)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Practical Vastushastra and Fengshui ; Good Luck Guide for Success, Money, and Happiness, and Remedies for Problems in Everyday Life have been Made Easy with Artistic Designs, Illustration, Sketches an

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Ashwanie Kumar Bansal
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ASIN: 8190125745

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Isaac Asimov It's Been a Good Life
Janet Jeppson Asimov
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Its Been a Good Year: The Anniversary Book

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Its Been a Good Year: The Anniversary Book
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Any Day with Hair Is a Good Hair Day: How to Get Through CANCER and Get On with Your Life (Trust Me, I've Been There)

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Any Day with Hair Is a Good Hair Day: How to Get Through CANCER and Get On with Your Life (Trust Me, I've Been There)
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Book Description

Cancer survivor Michelle Rapkin shares her hard-earned wisdom and encouragement to those battling the disease, and vital information that your doctor doesn't know to tell you.

Life's Been Good: The Children of the Great Depression

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Life's Been Good: The Children of the Great Depression
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Memoirs of the life of Mrs. Charlotte Deans: From her earliest infancy, comprising the periods when she was Miss CHarlotte Lowes, Mrs. Johnston, and Mrs. ... been her good and bad fortune to associate

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Memoirs of the life of Mrs. Charlotte Deans: From her earliest infancy, comprising the periods when she was Miss CHarlotte Lowes, Mrs. Johnston, and Mrs. ... been her good and bad fortune to associate
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