When the Congress brought in David Addington, Cheney's Cheney, I noted elsewhere that even if it would only provide us a glance at what sort of people ran things, it would be useful. This also is a value of debates, particularly when dealing with people you might not really see much of, like Palin and Biden. Democracy Now! had Nader and the Green Party's veeps today. One debate with third party candidates, outside of C-SPAN, would also be helpful. For instance, on this bailout, the third parties were much more negative.
One Who Walked Alone: Robert E. Howard The Final Years by Novalyne Price was enjoyable because it made two historical figures come alive. If a book does little else, this is likely to make it worth a look. Some time ago, I watched the movie The Whole Wide World, starring Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones, "you had me at hello," etc.) and Vincent D'Onofrio (in one of the Law & Order sequels), and saw reference of its source material. I never did get around to getting the book, though I kept on looking at the box etc. to remember the title. After listening to a bit of the DVD commentary, finally did.
Interesting background on how it all came about, though let's remember this is but one point of view (especially regarding his mother). Anyways, the movie concerns a friendship between the author of the Conan stories (and other works) and a small town Texas school teacher who he met via a mutual friend. The fact that Miss Price (rather anachronistic to call her "Ms") was not only college educated but promoted such this as racial equality (though though homosexuality was a sin and so forth, so was not a 2008 gal all around) suggests why she was a worthwhile companion.
She also shall we say was a bit of a "pip," a strong mostly self-assured woman that Robert Howard didn't quite know how to handle at times. The whole mix provides a good voice, coming via her journal, which she used to help her dreams of becoming a writer. Long after Howard committed suicide (macho outside, very conflicted, hurt inside), Ms. Price (the title is timely now) decided to write a biography of the man, who she thought many misinterpreted. Turns out her old journal from decades earlier did the trick. It also gives us a window into the life of a small town Texas schoolteacher in the mid-1930s. Works both as fiction and non-fiction, really.
The movie was well acted and did the book justice, in part since Price was still alive at the time, and thus could add additional insights. The amusing thing is that the movie is quite loyal to the "voice" of the book as well, thus when you read it, you can almost hear Zellweger and D'Onofrio when Price and Howard talk and write. As he might say, "Girl, it's a great yarn."