Customer Reviews

The Secret Parts of Fortune: Three Decades of Intense Investigations and Edgy Enthusiasms

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Ron Rosenbaum got a lot of attention a couple of years ago with his amazing book "Explaining Hitler", which was about all the different theories people have come up with to account for that figure's almost overwhelming evil. However, he has been writing journalism for thirty years that explores the hidden underside of contemporary culture--the "gnostic knowledge", if you will, of the modern world. This book is a thick, satisfying collection of much of that work. Some of the best stuff: an exploration of Kim Philby and the information about him that Graham Greene might have taken to his death. An amusing expose of the naked "posture photos" that used to be required of every freshman at Ivy League universities. His Hitler essay that first appeared in the "New Yorker" magazine. The inside poop on the secret society of "Skull and Bones." There is also a lot of terrific "literary journalism"--the best essay I've ever read on J.D. Salinger, which first appeared in "Esquire"; along with his famous take on the underappreciated Charles Portis, which got his books back into print. Also, perceptive stuff on Martin Amis and an explanation of how the lost art of the "close reading" of the old-fashioned "New Critics" is better than post-modernism at explaining the world. Rosenbaum is definitely *not* a conspiracy theorist; his real subject is how human beings respond to mystery. He contrasts his own shifting views on the JFK asassination ("Oswald's Ghost") with the fatal paranoia that eventually overcame the late Danny Casolaro. This is an endlessly fascinating book--highly recommended for mystery lovers, history buffs, and fans of the weird and unexplained.

I have to confess being unfamiliar with Ron Rosenbaum until reading his excellent, perceptive book "Explaining Hitler." What a pleasure, then, that he has followed that book up with this collection of his magazine work extending over the past three decades. The essays collected here are a mixed bag showing Rosenbaum's extensive range, from amusing short pieces to long works in depth. Some personal favorites include his early exploration of the world of phone phreaks (in which Rosenbaum predicted, correctly, that computer hacking was the wave of the future - this in 1971!), his exposure of the Henry Lee Lucas serial killer hoax, his slightly crazed looks at TV culture via the war over canned laughter and the eminence of Mr. Whipple in toilet paper advertising, a short but incredibly horrible glimpse of early 60s teen film star Troy Donahue debauched and decrepit in the early 70s, his explorations into the world of the Kennedy assassination mythos, a brief, horrified look at Bill Gates' house, and his wonderful exposure of Yale's weird Skull and Bones fraternity. Every piece is well worth your time and several are worthy of close rereading. Rosenbaum is a fine writer, improving continuously as this collection shows (and he started at a very high level), and I'll be looking for his magazine pieces from now on.

I had never read Ron Rosenbaum before I purchased this book and while I don't love everything I've read so far, I do have a great deal of respect for Rosenbaum as a journalist. To put it simply: he's brilliant. It's so refreshing to read his work. He's one of the best journalists I've ever read and am so glad that amazon brought him to my attention.

My problem with the book was that many of his essays just didn't grab me. The synopsis described several topics which I was sure would interest me but when I actually read them I found the writing style a bit dense and bogged down. I don't ever expect to like everything I read in collections. I particularly liked "The Great Ivy League Nude Posture Photo Scandal," as well as "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer Hoax." This is the kind of compilation which I would not recommend attempting to read in one sitting. Smaller portions worked best for me. This is a wonderful collection of Rosenbaum's work, and while I haven't read them all yet, so far, so good.

A blast! A quirky and original series of reports on subjects both profound and bizarre. But with a literate eye and a graceful tone that is engaging and riviting. These are terrific essays and together, they comprise a dazzling read.
As good as it gets.

Not that Ron Rosenbaum is exactly "new": he's been one of the better US magazine journalists for 2 or 3 decades now. This is a collection of some of his best pieces from the 70's through the present. One of them, "Secrets of the Little Blue Box," changed my life profoundly when I read it in Esquire in 1973; it and the other pieces from the 70's ("Troy Donahue is what he always was," notably) paint a vivid portrait of that strange time. All of the pieces in the book, investigative and opinion alike, are well thought out and display the author's erudition and clear thinking.

Over all, the best pieces in this collection reminded me of no less than Joan Didion's "The White Album" and "Slouching Towards Bethlehem." Unlike Joan Didion, Rosenbaum has not yet (and never will, one hopes) veered off into writing schlocky Hollywood melodramas. His later pieces are as sharp as the earliest ones, and all (well, almost all) will hold your attention as well as, or better than, the latest from le Carré.

When Entrepeneur magazine reviewed this book it sounded good so I bought it. In reading it, it's nothing more than a compilation of a bunch of dated magazine articles penned by the same author of this book. Random House was obviously looking for a quickie way to bring in cash over the holiday season so decided to put together this "new" book. The only NEW in here is a couple of editorial comments at the end of the dated stories. Whoopee.

First I read the story about Robin Leach, and Rosenbaum's casual nose-tipping, as if what he's about is So Much Better than Robin. Obviously he missed the irony of the situation, and still does.

Then I read the story about Salinger. There is a name for those people who spend their lives name-dropping, and this was a classic example of a New York Elite Writer taking it up a notch. Yuck.

I skipped to the story about phreakers. After reading it, I thought "So what?" The only point I can see in including this story in the compendium is so Rosenbaum can continue to toot his own horn. (See Leach comments, above).

Finally, I gave him one more chance. I read the story about two pets, Stumpy vs. Lucille. This was the one that really did it for me. Rosenbaum's logic screams a five-year-old's syllogism: All Dogs Are Pandering Suck-Ups. You have a dog. Therefore, your dog is a Pandering Suck-Up.

It's obvious that Rosenbaum has never set foot into true dogdom, where there are All Kinds of dog personalities, including the shy, terrified puppy that has never left its tiny chickenwire puppymill cage until it's purchased, the female breeder dog who has spent her whole life cranking out litters of puppymill dogs and, when set free, her dead eyes have no CONCEPT that dogs are supposed to be suck-ups because humans are good, and there's the Mean Dog, the one who learned how to survive in the puppymill pack by beating up anything that came near him, so he'd get enough food to stay alive. I spend my life dedicated to rehabbing these dogs, and when I see the life come back into their eyes again you damn well bet I'm proud. I don't do it to feel important, I do it because puppymill dogs deserve a better life and because I have the skills and patience needed to help them overcome their pasts. Perhaps I should cut Rosenbaum some slack - it's obvious he never leaves his quaint little upscale name-dropped world of Elite Writers to actually research the true parameters of dog/cat behavior before he slaps a label on it and throws his Elite Writer weight behind it to make it stick. When Gandhi said the moral progress of a nation could be judged by how it treats its animals, he was talking about people like Rosenbaum, who can't grasp concept One about them.

The only good aspect of the book is Amazon.com's return policy.