Customer Reviews

Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have been a fan of Molly Ivins for years, and one of my great regrets is that breast cancer took away this remarkable, larger-than-life but still very humble journalist too early in this decade since so much of our contemporary politics and discourse would have been perfect - to put it bluntly - "Ivins Bait."

What surpised me the most, however, was how the authors, Minutaglio and Smith, both of whom knew the prolific and principled gadfly well, managed to put together not a posthumous love letter, but a surprisingly frank and layered portrait. Ivins came from a socially conservative background and attended some of the finest schools in the world, but one would never know. What emerges is an Ivins tormented, driven, brash, magnificently read, sometimes oddly shy, but always - always - funny and aecerbic as only she could be. As I mentioned, I have been a fan for years. But I knew nothing of the person. Now I do, and I am glad I came on for the ride. Something in everyone, I think, can appreciate a person who used her many journalism plaques and honors as table trivets, but had no fear of any power that would cloud the eyes of her readership and the United States she loved so passionately.

I also really appreciate how the authors took great pains to preserve Ms. Ivins' authentic "voice" as told through her reams of paper, even down to mundane shopping lists. Molly was, apparently, one of those people who could never bear to throw one scrap in the trash, and the work shows how the authors went through these papers with a meticulousness that allowed them to almost tell her story as she might have told it. I think she would have loved this book, and that's just about as high a mark as I can give any biography.

Just wonderful. Buy it, enjoy, and remember what Ms. Molly always said - "Get out there folks, and raise hell!"

Five stars, no reservation.

Molly Ivins was a funny, incisive, brilliant observer of the American political landscape. Her years covering the Texas "lege" had given her a nose for smelling a skunk before it sprayed. She delighted her readers with her witty descriptions and analyses of politicians and their foibles. She called George W. Bush "Shrub" which perfectly described the less than brilliant son of the original Bush. She gave Texas Gov. Rick Perry the name "governor good hair" by which he is still known today.
Molly was an upcruster from a wealthy Republican family who was quick to see how "things worked" by observing her own father and his cronies as they wheeled and dealed in the Houston of the oil boom. She was smart, well-educated, spoke French, and could slide from an East Coast cultured voice into her downhome Texas twang when she needed to in order to get the story that she wanted.
Her life was not an easy one. It's never easy when a person realizes that their parents' life and social milieu and political positions totally conflict with ones own view of the world. She spent her life dealing with that confict. It took a toll emotionally and physically and psychologically BUT at the end of the day, she was a voice that spoke to a lot of people -- even the ones who didn't agree with her political views could never deny that she could get to the heart of an issue quickly and expose it and make it comprehensible to the reading public.
I miss Molly Ivins and reading this book which was written by two people who knew her well made me realize once again that when we lose a voice like hers, we lose a lot.

Outstanding journalist and Texas legend Molly Ivins richly deserves this thorough reconstruction of her astounding career as a frontline news reporter and columnist.

A plodding style could make it difficult for non-fans to slog through the first few chapters about her family life in Houston in the 1950s and her college exploits in the early sixties. But Bill Minutaglio and W. Michael Smith use massive research of her bountiful writings in newspapers and magazines from Texas to Minnesota to New York and back to Texas, interviewing Molly's many friends and co-workers along the way. Many of her longtime friends and fellow workers are as talented and famous as Molly was, so this is an especially appealing look at journalism to those of us who shared the profession from the late sixties through the first decade of the new century.

We had the good fortune to see Molly in a live college performance in Missouri late in her career and took to heart her autographed inscription in our copy of "Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?": "Y'all Raise more Hell!"Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?

Minutaglio and Smith apparently couldn't stand to leave out any of their research details, so it's a little repetitive in spots. But on a five-star scale, their effort gets four full stars -- a lot, even in Texas.
[[ASIN:B0032IKGT2 Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life (Hardcover)]

It stops frustratingly short of really letting us feel as if we had gotten to know the "real" Molly Ivins.

But the biggest problem with this book is something that would be hard to avoid, which is that Ivins didn't write it herself. She was such a good writer, her voice so well-developed and indelible that some of us can and do still quote a favorite line or two.

The authors here, though they keep your interest, just aren't as good. You feel like someone being mean to a dog for saying this, because these writers' hearts are clearly in the right place, but I think they've let down their craft.

They say early on that they deliberately decided not to quote large pieces of Ivins' work readily available elsewhere; I can understand that. But it meant I prized those sections where she did pop out all the more, and hope for a full-fledged collection of her letters and other papers.

Molly Ivins became an icon for some people, especially in Texas, and the title "A Rebel Life" says it all. She was a rebel, but a truly likeable one. I thoroughly enjoyed her biography and recommend it to anyone who has ever read her writing. You may not have agreed with her, but you have to admit she was entertaining. And the authors of this book both knew her well and give a very comprehensive view of her life. I plan to read this book again.

Molly Ivins was a larger-than-life character... which makes her a very tough subject to write about. In this book, authors Bill Minutaglio and W. Michael Smith tackle the subject with impressive results.
"Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life" is a loving portrait of an amazing woman who somehow managed to overcome the boring future she seemed destined to live and became a witty writer with guts to spare and much to say... to everyone and anyone. Especially praiseworthy is the fact that the authors manage to present, discuss and contextualize every aspect of Ivins' life while staying away from two mistakes that could've easily been made: romanticizing her and judging her alcoholism. Instead, the book is a bittersweet celebration of a journalist that became one of the most feared/beloved pens both in Texas and the US as a whole.
As a small bonus, the book is written in that brilliantly ironic, fast-paced prose that has become Minutaglio's signature.
I won't bore you to death with my review: this book is thoroughly researched, scrupulously accurate and beautifully written, making it a hard read to put down. Heck, even the pictures are great! If you're even remotely interested in journalists, biographies, Texas, political humor, Molly or journalism in general, this is a must-have for you. Oh, while you're at it, do yourself a favor and pick up "City on fire" too... you'll end up wondering why the hell no one has made it into a movie yet. Happy reading.

I haven't finished it yet, but ran through another 70 or so pages last week while doing jury duty. But this book has so informed me about someone who was literally an icon in progressive thinking. If you can imagine Matt Drudge carrying anyone's column outside of the majority who are slightly to the right of Attila the Hun, then you have to know that Molly had the kind of authority -- earned baby earned -- and grit that few had. Her childhood in Houston, well off with a hard driving unforgiving father and a mother who simply did what dad told her to, to the early loss of the love of her life the book details her meteoric rise in the world of mainstrain (read Republican) newspapers in the Southwest and Midwest. Molly Ivins could say things like no one else could. She covered the Texas Legislature (the lege as she called it) when there were mostly D's and a handful of R's ... and believe me she was as scathing and on point about the D's as she ever was about the R's. When she saw folly, racism, bigotry, financial scams, idolatry whatever --she called it as she saw it. And she was always right on point! This is a wonderful book -- buy it, read it, sleep on it, and keep it in your library forever. It's that good. Written with her assistant and Bill Minutaglio, an author in his own right.

While Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life is an interesting, and dare I say valuable, book; its flaws leave the impression that, well, Molly deserves better. The authors' painstaking interviews and research result in an oddly colorless portrait of one of journalism's trailblazing originals. It should have been a vivid story, but reads like a research paper that begins with "she was born" and ends with vignettes in which Molly comes across as a caricature of herself. The strengths of this book consist of the painstakingly researched episodes of Molly's life, the lists of her many friends and colleagues, her education, her years in New York, France, Austin and Dallas, and the development of her journalistic and public personas.

Its weaknesses are lack of insight and inconsistency. For example, in one chapter, as Molly is coming to grips with the damage alcohol is causing her, she describes overhearing her friend Ann Richards saying about her, "I can't stand her any more." In the next chapter, Ivins and Richards are BFFs again with no explanation. In a column Molly wrote after her mother's death, Mrs. Ivins is described as several things, among them a bad housekeeper and 'ditsy', but other than in the words of one contemporary, none of those character traits are described in the chapters on Molly's childhood. Molly's father is referred to as a 'martinet' who caused Molly's self-destructive tendencies. The groundwork for understanding exactly how this happened should have been laid in describing Molly's childhood, but it wasn't.

She supposedly stopped drinking several times and underwent treatment at the Hazelden and the Betty Ford Clinics. Those events were referred to in retrospect, but the extreme circumstances that would have led to the decision to seek in-patient treatment are a mystery. Apparently she was close enough to the Clintons to rate a handwritten note of encouragement when she went public with her breast cancer diagnosis, but how that friendship came to be is a blank, and in one very odd scene, she and George W. Bush hug each other at a public event. Yes, that was weird, the authors seem to agree, but there's no explanation other than Ivins' own acknowlegement that President Bush was a likeable guy. Did President Bush feel the same way about her? The reader would like to know.

Molly was described as undergoing three rounds of cancer treatments when at that time she'd only undergone two. One chapter refers to her as child-like in her lack of self-discipline. In the next chapter her incredible self-discipline in never missing a deadline is discussed. Which is it? Perhaps if the authors had shown more and told less, it would have been a better book. This reader noticed that in several instances only one source was quoted to make a point, when a more rounded picture would have been more valuable. The whole book had a rushed and incomplete feeling, as if it was rushed to press while Ms. Ivins was still fresh in everyone's memory.

I'm glad I read this book. I wish it had been a little more informative in some areas and a little less in others. Perhaps the problem is that Ivins' death is still too recent for literary perspective, and that the authors maybe had too much material. Perhaps they'll try again with a bit more distance. Molly Ivins deserves it.

This was not a hagiogrophy. Molly Ivins was an excellent writer. She was loved and hated here in her time with the now defunct Dallas Times Herald. The book does an excellent job of describing her family, her education, her rise as a journalist, and her personal demons. I loved Molly Ivins and feel like I know a lot more about what makes her tick. Bill Minutaglio is an excellent writer.

but I had forgotten what a true fighter she was. I wish we had her voice now. The woman was fearless. What I didn't realize (or know) is her life story behind the columns. What a terrific read. Both on Molly and the state of Texas; the rise of big oil and the politics that have gotten us to where we are today. Thank you thank you thank you.