Royko: A Life in Print

Rating:
Summary: Good for Royko fans, probably not otherwise
Review: "Royko: A Life in Print" is a good book for fans who, like me, may not have been aware of many aspects of his personal history. As such, the book delivers the goods and is a fairly straightforward retelling of the life of "The Best Columnist of His Generation." That said, if you're not a fan, there isn't much here that would compell you to read this book. The author interviewed a lot of Royko's friends and associates, and the portrayal that comes across is one of a hardworking, fair-minded, alcoholic columnist from the old school of two-fisted journalism who had an uncanny ability to find the right tone in the over 8,000 columns that he wrote.

Unfortunately, the book doesn't really manage to get inside Royko's head, other than to show the obvious. He was a product of his relatively poor, urban ethnic upbringing, and he had insecurities that continued to plague him despite his massive success. He loathed racism in the 1960s, but also came to loathe political correctness in the 1990s. He blasted the senior Mayor Daley at every turn, but came to support his son despite having compared him to one of the three stooges. All of this Ciccone dutifully recounts, as well as Royko's troubled private life and prickly relationship with his professional colleagues.

Overall, this book benefits from having Mike Royko as its subject, but ultimately it does not transcend him.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent read
Review: Although it's long, I flew through this book while on a trip to the caribbean. I've always been a fan of Mike Royko and simply had to buy it.

Don't be turned off by the size, it is a quick read, without skimping on detail. Mike Royko's career ran for decades so there was a lot to cover. Although it touches on his early life, this book deals primarily with his writing career. Lots of coverage is given to his dislike of the Late Mayor Daley, love of softball, as well as a few embarrassing drunken escapades. All in all, it gives you a complete picture of Mr. Royko, warts and all. I recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Everything You Wanted to Know and More
Review: I haven't read any of the other reviews for opinions, but author Richard Ciccone covers the life of Chicago icon Mike Royko in a lengthy 439 pages from his years of writing for the Chicago Daily News, the Chicago Sun Times, and the Chicago Tribune. Unlike columnists of other newspapers who wrote one or two columns a week, Mike Royko wrote five columns a week before finally cutting down to four per week near the end of his career. Mike struggled with the demons of alcohol and tobacco during his life which caused him to have health problems that may have led to the brain aneurysms that took his life in 1997, the year he was to retire. This book may tell you more than you want to know about Mike Royko, but I never found the book to be boring. He could be loving and kind, but he also could be crude and profane. Nevertheless, he could write a column that could be biting with sarcasm as well as humor. I have read both of his books on favorite columns he wrote and found them both informative and entertaining. This book by Royko friend Richard Ciccone also qualifies as informative and entertaining. Read and enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: An admirer's biography
Review: Like everything else in life, Mike Royko would have loved and hated this book. I do not dispute that Mike Royko was one of the greatest columnist of this century. I was in one of those god-forsaken journalism schools Royko despised when he passed away, and I was truly saddened his column would never appear again.

But I would have to wonder how Royko might respond to Ciccone's tribute, which is what this book was more than a biography. Like another reviewer, I was taken back by all the editing errors, particularly the many left out words. I believe Royko, a stickler for the small details, would have ranted.

This is a tribute more than a biography because the author isn't the least bit objective. I don't know how many times he lauds Royko for being the greatest and for his longevity (33 years and more than 8,000 columns).

Yet for all the slobbering, Ciccone paints an honest portrait of a gruff, hard drinking and harder working ethnic who made a mark despite a tough beginning.

I enjoyed Royko's story not because I am a journalist but becasue I am an American and nostalgic for stories that exemplify the American boots-straps mentality. But more than that, Royko became so popular because he was so human. He had his share of triumphs along with his share of problems, most notably drinking. He was the conscience of a city when it did not want to recognize its racist problems, and he eventually became the nation's straight-talking uncle who told it like it was.

Royko is a clearly a love-him-or-hate-him figure and so is this book. If you were a fan, it gives you an insight behind the byline. If not, it gives you more ammunition.

Something tells me Royko would feel both ways.

Rating:
Summary: a small column, big man
Review: most people looked at mike royko's column in the paper as sort of a commentary, much like bob greenes commenatary. however, this book gives in great detail the life behind the man whos drive was to get to the heart of the story that would touch the lives of those around him. his gift of writing touched all who read his column. I didn't even start to look at the column until recently. and it amazed me at the power that his writing had on me. When he passed on the world lost of the world's greats, some of which include bing crosby, humphrey bogart, sammy davis jr, and many others. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the life of mike royko or interested in becoming a journalist.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating book, but go back and read the columns
Review: This is a fascinating book about a fascinating man. What I liked best was how Ciccione gave the reader Royko in the context of his time and place. He also gives us a mini-course in the history of journalism in Chicago, which is also essential to gaining a better understanding of Royko.

As interesting as the biography is however, it is no substitute for reading Royko's columns (there are several collections out in books). He was a wonderful writer, observer and thinker - and very much a Chicagoan. (I was raised by two Chicagoans of Royko's era and he always sounded like home to me.) I think his words speak best for him, and they provide better memories to preserve of the man.

Rating:
Summary: Warts and All view of Royko
Review: This is a very long but well researched and well rounded biography of Royko. It shows his good and bad sides in an evenhanded fashion.
I've been a longtime Royko admirer and reader. He is the inspiration for the column that I write for the Richmond Daily Register. Having said that, I think this is one of best biographies ever written about Royko.
A complete and through study.

Don McNay
www.donmcnay.com

Rating:
Summary: Mike Royko Fans Beware
Review: When I found this biography of Mike Royko,a personal favorite, I thought I had discovered gold. I had never seen it reviewed anywhere and after reading about 70 pages it's easy to understand why. If the author is truly a journalism professor at Notre Dame I would advise his students to hit the door running.

This is one of the most poorly written,and edited messes I have ready in the past 30 years and one of only two books in approximately 1,000 that was discarded far from the end.

The book starts out promisingly but once Ciccone starts to write about the history of journalism in Chicago the book takes a decided turn for the worse. There are a long string of punctuation errors as if the editor took some time off and there are run on sentences and incomplete sentences galore.

Mike Royko fans should be warned not to buy this dreadful effort solely because of the subject matter. It would be like throwing [price] down the drain. The author and the publisher should both be ashamed of themselves.

Rating:
Summary: A good place to start
Review: You should read this book until a better one comes along.

Very few writers have ever personified their time and place like Mike Royko did Chicago. I guess the best thing about this book is that it reminds us of what we are missing. It also gave me a bit of detail in the life of a man that I had only known through his columns.

Like most of us, Mike had some serious shortcomings (what appears to have been a serious alcohol problem stands out as number one). He also had a heart and drive for perfection that made his column so great, and (probably) his private life so sad. The `daily demon,' and the inability to settle for less made him the best columnist of his generation.

This book was obviously written by an admirer. Perhaps someday there will be a more objective biography. For today if you want to understand Chicago in the last half of the twentieth century this book and a collection of Mike Royko's columns is a good place to start.