Rating: 
Summary: She made a name for herself in spite of her times....
Review: If only I read more autobiographies!--then I would have a larger data base to compare this book with. As I read it, I wondered why I'd bought it, anyway: I was interested in Katharine Graham because she was the owner & publisher of the Washington Post, but it was all about the famous and rich people she'd met. It's a book about privilege and
power, too. Positives: Katharine Graham was raised not to think very highly of herself as a woman or as a person,
but when she had a chance to take control of her life and
the Post, she showed she could do it. The book isn't perfect, of course. Not everybody would agree with Mrs. Graham's view of history, for one thing. The editing errors are annoying, too. Here's an example: "However, she did keep his picture on her desk always, a handsome man." Does the world need another autobiography? I don't think so, but then, as I said earlier, I don't usually read them.
If I made a habit of reading biographies and auttobio-
phies, I would prefer less name-dropping and more life, more to show the substance of the person. Maybe because she was a woman of her time, it's impossible for Mrs. Graham's life
to be written that way.
Rating: 
Summary: History, as seen by the most powerful woman in the world
Review: Widowed, left with four children and a giant publishing
empire, including the Washington Post and Newsweek, Katharine Graham initially didn't think she could or should do much but hold the empire in trust for
her children. How did this shy, insecure woman become
the dynamo who gave the green light when Woodward & Bernstein wanted to print the Pentagon Papers, putting
her name and her business on the line?
This book is fascinating, both for Graham's story and
for the juicy tidbits--decades of official and unofficial
Washington & world history seen up-close.
Rating: 
Summary: A BUTTERFLY SPREADS HER WINGS
Review: Today I finished Personal History by Katharine Graham, longtime publisher of the Washington Post. It's interesting, because Kay Graham is such a legendary figure in Washington, lauded for having stuck it out as the only woman in a man's world (business executives in the 60s/70s/80s). But yet, she is not the steadfast person that everyone believes her to be. She has to deal with a husband with manic depression, and his eventual suicide. Her one son volunteers for Vietnam, the other gets arrested for protesting it. She basically suddenly finds herself CEO after Phil (Graham's) death, and almost drowns under the pressure, but somehow manages to stick it through. Even when she does the right thing, she often second guesses herself and is extremely sensitive to criticism. The book seems to unfold as a butterfly emerges from a cocoon; at first she can hide behind her father and then her husband, but eventually must learn to make things fly on her own. Towards the end it gets more business-y, with some CEO jargon and discussions about the Post company. I thought it was kind of boring how she seemed to name every single person she ever hired or fired. But some parts are really interesting. Especially the bits about her childhood, the Pentagon Papers, and Watergate. I would really recommend this book as a good read. Kay Graham is like Forrest Gump- she's done a little of everything.
Rating:
Summary: She gives lessons in modesty
Review: There are bizillions of books under the category "Inspirational". This one is certainly not filed under that heading, yet it is one of the most inspiring stories i have ever found. In the days of my long commute to and from work, i listened to a lot of books on tape. This was one, albeit abridged. After the recent death of Katharine Graham, i decided to read the book (unabridged). In my opinion, this is one of the all-time greatest memoirs ever written. The Pulitzer judges should receive a prize themselves for awarding the honor to this book. The TV series "Dallas" was a smashing success right off the bat. Why? I remember the first soap opera to be shown on Spain's public TV: "The Rich Also Cry". That title explains it all! Yes, the rich and famous have their share of problems and heartaches like the average Joe. Part of the incredible success Personal History has had is due to this very fact. Katharine Graham was born in a privileged family, pampered and wealthy, yet she grew up miserable. She tells about her cold mother and her indifferent father, and does it in a very matter-of-fact way, not asking for sympathy. One thing leads to another, so dull Katharine had to marry flamboyant (and manic-depressive) Phil Graham. I was very moved when listening to the audio version, because forty years after the fact, she cries when narrating the suicide of her husband. Even though he was difficult and treated her very badly, she is still in love with him. From being a "doormat wife", in her own words, she was thrown by circumstances into managing one of the most important newspapers in the world. Of course, that is today. When she came aboard The Washington Post, it was an irrelevant paper that very few people cared for. Katharine did something very important: she surrounded herself of very talented people who advised her in all aspects of the job. Thanks to that, The Washington post then reached the levels of respect and admiration that it enjoys today. Nonetheless, she was alone at the top, making the tough calls nobody else had to make. What i find most amazing about these memoirs is how she went from being a doormat to being the most powerful human being in the world. She did not have extraordinary skills. In fact, throughout the book it becomes apparent that she was shy, lacked confidence, and that's even after her successes. All those shortcomings did not prevent her from making crucial, unpopular choices. It was her decision to go ahead with the Watergate articles that brought down the presidency of the US. She knocked down the most powerful man on Earth. That takes some balls! Pretty good for a "sissy girl". In summary, poignant, very well written memoirs. Get the audio book just to enjoy her beautiful voice. Read the book for awesome insight in the world of politics and the media.
Rating:
Summary: Katharine The Great
Review: "The thing women must do to rise to power is to redefine their femininity. Once, power was considered a masculine attribute. In fact power has no sex. ", so stated Katharine Graham and who would know better? In 1998, Katharine Graham won the Pulitzer Prize for her autobiography "Personal History". She writes a riveting account of her life, and in particular her life with The Washington Post.
Katharine Graham was born to a wealthy family. Her father H Meyer was a publisher and in 1933 bought The Washington Post. Katharine or Kay as her many friends called her, was brought up to believe that she could do anything. And, as her life shows us, she became one of the most powerful women in the United States. In 1938 after college, Katharine went to work for her father at the Washington Post. She learned the ropes, and completed many jobs and found the way of the newspaper. She met a man who soon became her husband, Philip Graham. Once her children arrived, Katharine stopped working to raise her family, and Philip became the publisher and CEO of the Post. They led a fairly happy life with a family focus but still entertianed a lot with dinner parties and social events. Katharine made sure however her children were brought up with love and discipline. During this time the Post bought the Washington Times and Newsweek. In 1963, Katharine's beloved husband committed suicide; she found he had hanged himself. Bereft she and the children tried to put their lives together. Someone had to run the paper and Katharine went back to work. She learned the ways of the Washington post by observation and quick study and became it publisher, Chairman of the Board and finally CEO. Katharine Graham ran The Post.
Thus began the days of liberation. The time of the Pentagon Papers and The Watergate. Hard biting, investigative journalism was the theme of The Post. And, it was during this time that "The Post" became one of the most important papers in the United States. Kay became a well known doyenne of the city, she was a very popular figure in Washington and well liked. She was erudite and intelligent, well spoken. She ran the paper as she did her life with dedication and love. Katharine Graham's autobiography is well written and relays many truths and secrets - all is open for everyone to read. Mention the name Katharine Graham today, and she is almost as well known as she was in 2001 when she died after falling and striking her head. Katharine left a legacy for her family and for history. She left nothing to chance. She is a role model and this is a book that all women, actuallly everyone, should read. Highly recommended. prisrob
Rating:
Summary: Katharine Graham's illuminating & candid autobiography
Review: What a story! This is a revealing personal account of Katharine Graham's life. She tells about her childhood as a rich girl without much self-confidence; her marriage to the depressed but brilliant Phil Graham, who ran the Washington Post (her father's newspaper) and later committed suicide; and ultimately her leadership of the Washington Post through Watergate, the Pentagon Papers, Vietnam and an incredibly interesting time in American history. This book intertwines the history of the nation with Graham's own history, and the result is a delight. It is an honest, funny and interesting story, and her spirit and heart shine through in her writing. I learned a lot about an amazing woman while gaining a new perspective on a turbulent time in history.
Rating:
Summary: Great insight and new understanding
Review: Well...after all these reviews, there really nothing for me to critique that haven't been written already. But I'll put in my two cents worth anyway by saying that reading this book did surprised me quite a bit. Katharine Graham wrote an amazingly honest auto-biography which enabled her readers to gained a great insight into her character, her life and her accomplishments with a great deal of understanding and clarity. To be honest, she was not what I expected. Its bit ironic that she actually became her own person only after the suicide of her mentally ill husband. The book also reflects strongly on the newspaper business and how her own presence helped make changes to that industry.
The only real weakness of the book was that it didn't go into much details after the pressmen's strike. The Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton years rolled by pretty much as a blurr. Maybe her life wasn't so interesting any more during those period. Personally, I would find that hard to believed.
Still, a well deserving of a Pulitzer, one of the better autobiographies I have read in recent years.
Rating:
Summary: TOO Abridged.
Review: This abridgement contains two tapes, and runs three hours. The book is 642 pages. You do the math. This version, unfortunately, only skims the surface, and I cannot recommend it. It covers five or six major events in Ms. Graham's life, but leaves you wondering about the details. I would suggest that an abridgement of this length, even read by the author, is probably not the way to experience this story. By the way, her reading style is very flat, and not very involving. She gets emotional once (understandably), while describing the traumatic death of her husband, but by and large her reading adds nothing of value to the audiobook.
I can't comment on the longer audiobook, or the quality of the text version, but I would not recommend this version.
Rating:
Summary: A BUTTERFLY SPREADS HER WINGS
Review: This is a very personal autobiography of Katharine Graham, one of the most influential women of the Twentieth Century. Graham begins her story with the tale of how her parents met at an art exhibition, and relates the events of her early childhood. She explains how her father came to purchase the Washington Post, and how she alone amongst her siblings was truly drawn to the paper from her teenage years. She goes on to describe dating and eventually marrying Phil Graham, and how her father came to pass the management of the newspaper on to him. Later, she details Graham's descent into mental illness leading to his suicide, and how it finally fell onto her shoulders to lead the paper. Her most fascinating stories, however, come from her tenure as publisher of the Post, covering the turbulent period from the release of the Pentagon Papers, to the uncovering of the Watergate scandal and to the lengthy pressmen's strike against the Post in the 1970s. The story is indeed a personal one, in which Graham documents events from her own point of view. As I read this book, I was constantly aware that Graham may have chosen to leave out some details and emphasize others in order to show herself in the best light. But since this is an autobiography, such a subjective account is perfectly reasonable. This is history as Graham would have it told.
Rating:
Summary: She did live an amazing life
Review: I thought I would be giving 5 stars for an award winning book but after reading, it just fell short. There was too much name-dropping, one has to be very familiar with the power scene of Washington at her time to really appreciate who was who and their significance. That itself made the book very unapproachable to readers who do not move in her circle, non-American, the younger generation etc. A lot of time she just mentioned the names and expected the readers to know who they were or connect to her earlier mentions (it would really be a pain to constantly check the index and refer back to the earlier pages!) This book read like an account of achievement of her father, her husband and herself. Honestly, Katharine came across as someone fairly stupid (though kind), I couldn't help to wonder if she was who she was simply because of her birth, marriage and being there at the right time. For a personal history, it came across as fairly impersonal.
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