Six Men by Alistair Cooke

Six Men Reviews

• 
  Martin

  The book has become very dated. Think of it as 6 in-depth profiles ala Vanity Fair. These are written with an understanding that the reader will already know something about the subjects. While I'm well read, I don't think I've ever heard of H.L. Mencken or Bertrand Russell other than seeing their names on the cover of this book. If I'd been an adult at the time of the book's publication and had read it then, I'm sure it would have received a much higher rating from me.
  
  The chapters on Chaplin, Edward VIII, and Stevenson are OK. The chapters on Mencken & Russell are dull as dirt.
  
  I had to look up "catafalque."
  
  This quote from Alistair Cooke describing Vice President Henry Wallace made me think of Mrs. Clinton, "...a man who had picked up an evangelical concern for humanity but had little affection for human beings."
  
  Another Allistair Cooke quote, following the Cuban Missile Crisis, "Only I.F. Stone wondered aloud what would have happened if Khrushchev had not backed down. It is a question whose answer must await the next nuclear bluff, which may not be between two giants, but between half a dozen nations aspiring to giantism."
  
  And one more, "We went off to the train in much better spirits, settled in two dumpy elbow chairs of the parlor car, and were soon sliding under the river and out onto the Wellsian industrial nightmare of the Jersey flats."
  
  One of 8 or 10 books I received from an uncle's estate. I've been interested in Cooke ever since reading in a William F. Buckley memoir that Buckley and Cooke had lunch together in NYC every 4 or 8 weeks, and that they were good friends. I think Cooke must have had that magic power that everyone liked him.
• 
  Nanette Bulebosh

  I grew up knowing Cooke only as the "Masterpiece Theater guy" on PBS. I had no knowledge of the other fascinating things he had done in this country and his native one. He shows Bogart in an entirely new light, as a gentleman and a modest, self effacing follower of politics. His portrait of Bertrand Russell includes explanations for how Russell managed to offend just about every institution (and woman, for that matter) that welcomed him, although resurrection often followed.
  
  I like Cooke's sometimes pointed, sometimes meandering observations about both his adopted and his native country, and the indefensible ways humans often behave toward others, as well as toward themselves. His is an old fashioned style of writing. Sinking myself into his pages makes me nostalgic for a kind of prose that seems long gone. Today's writing comes across as phony and too breathless for genuine thought in comparison.
• 
  George

  INTERESTING, PERSONAL GLIMPSES
  
  “…in our century, more people have come out everywhere to catch a glimpse of Charles Chaplin than did so for any other human in history.” (Kindle location 129)
  
  Although Alistair Cooke’s collection of vignettes, Six Men: Charlie Chaplin, Edward VIII, H .L. Mencken, Humphrey Bogart, Adlai Stevenson, Bertrand Russell stands little chance of ever ranking among my favorite reads, and Cooke’s writing style leaves much to be desired, I did, overall, enjoy reading his personal vignettes of these six luminaries of the twentieth century.
  
  Recommendation: If some of these men rank among your favorite people, you should probably read this volume—else not.
  
  “(‘Life,’ he [Bertrand Russell] once wrote, ‘is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.’)” (Kindle location 2605)
  
  Open Road Media. Kindle Edition, 186 pages.
• 
  Sekhar N Banerjee

  A very tired reading
  
  I thought this will present some facts, but it is only full of words. Who cares about how you feel - I bought this book, only to see if there are some new facts which I did not know about.
  
  Utterly disappointed
• 
  Jenny Sanders

  My Dad was a big fan of Alistair Cooke's 'Letter From America' radio broadcasts on a Sunday morning. Since I borrowed this book from his shelf I discovered that the American journalist's writing style is the same as that measured, spoken word, complete with wry observations and dry wit.
  
  The six men he seeks to reveal are: Charles Chaplin (not the informal 'Charlie' here - the man not the character); Edward VIII; HL Mencken; Humphrey Bogart; Adlai Stevenson and Bertrand Russell. The most interesting to me were the abdicated king and the film tough guy legend. Numbers three and five, I had never heard of – US politicians – but still found enough compelling material to learn.
  
  My favourite quote is actually one referenced by Cooke in regard to Mr Bogart from one Alexander Woollcott who, when reviewing a poor performance wrote that it 'could be mercifully described as inadequate'. Thus the critic slices and dices but may live to change their mind...
• 
  Ruth

  I can barely remember Mr. Cooke from the early years of Masterpiece Theater on PBS. I am sure I picked up the book from seeing his picture on the book jacket and seeing Humphrey Bogart listed as one of his six men. This is a memoir about six men. They are described as "famous transatlantic figures;" three English and three American. In the author's opening note he explains the "why" choice for writing about these six. He chose six men he admired and liked and these six were the ones who most demonstrably took to him. It is probably a bit unique in the way it is constructed. The reader will gain some knowledge about the life stories of these six men.
• 
  Vincent Lombardo

  For years, I loved watching Alistair Cooke on Masterpiece Theater, but I had never read any of his books. I decided to read this book and I really wanted to like it, but I hated it. Cooke's style is discursive, and his prose is turgid. I read some of each profile and was bored with each. I do not plan to read anything else by Alistair Cooke, but I will retain my fond memories of him as host of Masterpiece!
• 
  Patrick DiJusto

  A fine (nothing special) collection of essays of six famous men, gracefully written by Alistair Cooke.
  
  One nitpick : I'm guessing that because this is a memoir of sorts, Cooke feels no need to check his facts. He writes from memory, and sometimes his memory is wrong. I guess they did things differently in the 1970s
• 
  Rex Hurst

  An interesting look at six famous men that acclaimed journalist and Masterpiece Theater host Alistair Cooke crossed paths with and, in some cases, maintained friendships. Charlie Chaplin, Edward the VIII, H.L. Mencken, Adali Stevenson, Betrand Russell and Humprey Bogart. This is a deeply personal and fascinating look at this diverse group of individuals. A must read and, now, very inexpensive.
• 
  David

  Cooke provides very intimate and surprising profiles of Bogart, Chaplin, Stevenson, Russell, Mencken and the Duke of Windsor.
• 
  Simon Taylor

  I only knew of three of them. 2.5 stars.
• 
  Robert A

  I've tried several times to read things by Alistair Cooke but I just don't like his style. Rather boring.
• 
  T Fool

  I think I began wanting to read up on Mencken, then thought better to pull myself back a bit when I came upon this Alastair Cooke volume in a physical library. The array of profiles struck me as oddly, neatly chosen.
  
  It turns out the sequence of them follows loosely upon Cooke's having met the men, some first as a student and then the later ones as a journalist. There's a taste of Cooke's own professional life, a sense of his placement in this world, his luck, but the focus is always on the subject men.
  
  As with other reviewers, I knew AC from Masterpiece Theater, largely, and from the Muppets' parody of him. Later on, I remember a docu-biography of him, likely produced under the aegis of PBS. What this book gives is what I hadn't expected: a very strong prose writer.
  
  Each of the pieces avoids both distance and flattery. Cooke's attraction to these figures varies, but whether he, on balance, admires them or finds reason to notch them down a bit, he humanizes them, locates their character as well as a novelist might.
  
  Here we might notice his older Mencken rollicking with fellow journalists at the expense of Henry Wallace-ites. Or Bertrand Russell impatient for a newsstand to open in order to buy whodunits which he, not long afterward on a commuter train, finishes in the time it takes to snap your fingers. Or Adlai Stevenson, whose wit clashes with images of his gawky hotel wear and inability to control his midriff weight.
  
  I knew about all these men, and I know a lot more about them now. What carries this book even farther in its worthiness isn't its value as 'fact', but in its value as 'style'. Our world has come to value the efficiency of engineers so much as to take binary minimalism as a metaphor for just about any activity, certainly any 'communication'.
  
  Pick a Tweet, any Tweet. Then compare with this, and see what true language can do.
  
• 
  Ronald Keeler

  William Safire, William F. Buckley, and Alistair Cooke are some of the first writers I go to when I want to be impressed and provoked by masterful English language use. Biography is one of my favorite genres. This book is a convenient combination of my favorites in that it gives me thumbnail biographies of six well-known figures presented in remarkable depth for such a compact presentation.
  
  “A Note on Fame and Friendship” is a necessary preface to the work in that it addresses criticisms of the following individual vignettes that a reader may propose. Charles Chaplin is presented in an almost schizophrenic, complete dual personality, model. But Cooke clarifies that to some extent this image was deliberately crafted by Chaplin for sanity preservation. The Edward the VIII section is scant as far as personal interaction between Cooke and the former King, but Cooke admits that while there might not have been a lot of interaction between writer and subject, the story is so important that to fail to remark on it would be inappropriate (for him—Cooke was English, after all). Sections on the two intellectuals (Russell and Mencken), a movie star (Bogart), and a politician (Stevenson) all offer personal observations that add to a general reader’s perception of the humanity of popular heroes.
  
• 
  Mike

  I picked this book up for a re-read. The "Six Men" were relevant in their day but are more historical curiosities today. However, each story takes the reader through times that should not be forgotten. The book provides context. McCarthyism, the Bay of Pigs, politics and fame are all integral to the various stories. Iif one wants a description of the British constitution then the section on Edward VIII provides an excellent short explanation. Better than Wikipedia. Also, the Edward VIII section should give rise to wonderment as to why anyone would support monarchy. It was observed that Edward VIII was at his best only when the going was good. There are lessons to be learned from this book and it is a good read, but it will resonate more with those whose life is in closer proximity to those being discussed. Clearly all six were exceptional people and worthy of remembrance. I suspect the reader will come away with a sense of deja-vu. For example, does Stevenson remind you of Al Gore? Does Brad Pitt's, or any other person of note, fame exceed that of Chaplin. Is the Partiot Act connected to McCarthyism? See section describing Chaplin. Of course stories concerning Mencken, the Sage of Baltimore, are always of interest to me.
• 
  Laura

  Mr. Cooke uses words so well... These six portraits are of men whose names are familiar us (Bertrand Russell and Adlai Stevenson, to name two) but whose lives and personalities are no longer on our radar.
  
  These aren't biographies, more sketches of the life at a certain moment with glimpses of the past and present. Each selection is rather personal, with the author interacting in some way with each person. Most of the time he's an observer, listening to the pontifications and musings (which in the case of Russell and Mencken is really quite interesting).
  
  Recommended as an entry into these six lives.
• 
  Laura Leaney

  Insightful essays on six complicated men. Alistair Cooke knew all these men - and he liked them - so I'm not sure that we get a full look at their darker sides. Nevertheless, he writes with such civility and warmth that it's a joy to read each essay. I feel like I know each figure just a bit. I love how he writes about the irascible H. L. Mencken: "Many of his victims became good friends, and he never minded if they excoriated him in kind. If they were able. The rub here was that Mencken had the advantage of weapons. They usually chose indignation. He chose the English language, delivered quietly with his blood pressure under firm control."
• 
  James

  A brief, but very engaging profile of six interesting 20th century figures. It was an audacious idea to profile men as different as Bertrand Russell and Bogart in the same book; what's most interesting is that Cooke makes it cohere wonderfully. Cooke recounts scintillating stories of his personal experiences with these men (Russell would read a murder mystery novel in fifteen minutes!) that reveal, surprising, hitherto unknown aspects of them. Cooke's essay evaluations of these figures are a convincing testament to their importance to our culture, and to Cooke's obvious talents as a reporter and prose writer. To anybody interested in these men, this elegant little book is a treat.
• 
  Susan Jo Grassi

  A very interesting read. Two of the men in this book, Meneken and Russell, I had never really heard about while Chaplin, Bogart, Adlai Stevenson and Edward VIII were all familiar to me. I enjoyed to insight into each character even though this was written in the 70s. I enjoy history so this appealed to me.
• 
  Catherine Mustread

  My favorite man of the six was Edward VIII.
• 
  Velimir Randic

  Part character study, part autobiography...
• 
  Briana

  I love "I was there and I saw this" books. When you put that together with an outstanding author writing about 20th century icons - what's not to like?
• 
  Frederick Gault

  First hand accounts of people who were household names in the 20th Century