Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life - Minutaglio & Smith

Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life by Bill Minutaglio and W. Michael Smith is reviewed in several locations around the nation.  See   Everyday Citizen: News, Opinion, & Things that Matter : review by Darrel Hamlin begins: "Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life (PublicAffairs Books, 2009) is the story of an exceptionally privileged daughter of corporate power who somehow stretched beyond the constraints of journalism to become a beloved icon of progressive ideals. Armed with a devastatingly precise wit, Ivins embraced her passionate subjectivity and fought like hell – for civil liberties, for all those who suffer the consequences of a corrupt and oligarchic public life, for liberals who needed laughter with their morning outrage."  Read more at  http://www.everydaycitizen.com/2010/01/molly_ivins_a_rebel_life.html   The Washington Post:  Review by Dennis Drabble begins: "The turning point in Molly Ivins's life, suggest the authors of this biography, may have been the motorcycle accident that killed her college boyfriend, Hank Holland. At first blush, that seems an odd claim to make about the outspoken feminist and wittily acerbic political columnist from Texas whose fearless remarks -- and the reactions to them -- led to the title of one of her books: "Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?" "  Read more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/13/AR2009111301384.html Los Angeles Times, review by Claudia Feldman begins: "My editor flipped through the new book about iconic Texas journalist Molly Ivins that I'd carried to him like a dog with a bone. /  Before her death in 2007, I was a huge Ivins fan. /  "Does anybody still care?" he asked. "And what could possibly be new?"  /  Pretty soon I was posing those same questions to Austin author Bill Minutaglio, who along with W. Michael Smith wrote "Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life."  /  "Of course I'm heavily biased," Minutaglio said, "but Molly's millions of fans do still care. She opened the door for women in journalism. She made it OK for them to be front and center on opinion pages in a provocative and funny way. Also, she made it OK for liberals to identify themselves, to come forward." "    Read more at http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-ivinsbook18-2009nov18,0,5675367.story New York Times Sunday Book Review, review by Lloyd Grove begins: "What fearful fun Molly Ivins would have had with Glenn Beck, the birthers, Sarah Palin, Representative Joe ("You lie!") Wilson and, of course, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas — he of the secessionist aspirations and wonderful hair. And how pained she would be, while never losing hope, as she showered President Obama with tough love over his policies in Afghanistan and Iraq, and his difference-splitting diffidence on health care reform."  Read more at  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/books/review/Grove-t.html   SA Current, Review by Steven G. Kellman begins: " Though she dubbed him Shrub and persistently ridiculed him as "just another upper-class white boy trying to prove he's tough," Molly Ivins and George W. Bush grew up in the same 'hood. River Oaks was Houston's toniest address, and their families mingled with other members of the petroleum plutocracy at the nearby country club. Both attended posh local prep schools — St. John's for Ivins, Kinkaid for Bush — and prestigious institutions in the Northeast — Smith and Columbia for Ivins, Yale and Harvard for Bush."   Read more at http://www.sacurrent.com/arts/story.asp?id=70608 Dallas News, review by Elizabeth Bennett begins: "When she was a child growing up in upper-crust Houston, Molly Ivins dreamed of being famous. If she didn't make it by age 25, she wrote on a note tucked in her wallet, she would commit suicide. //  That early promise to herself is a key to the intensity and drive of one of the most provocative and influential figures in modern journalism. Before Ivins died of cancer at age 62, her column was appearing in more than 300 newspapers, three of her books had become national best-sellers, and she was being offered $15,000 for speaking appearances.  //  An icon of liberalism in Texas, Ivins was a wisecracking social commentator who inspired readers to both laughter and action, write authors Bill Minutaglio and W. Michael Smith in Molly Ivins: A Rebel Life."  Read more about it at http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-bk_ivins_1108gd.ART.State.Edition1.4b4eed4.html