Alexander the Fabulous : The Man Who Brought the World to Its Knees

Rating:
Summary: Fun reading!
Review: Alexander the Fabulous is a tongue-in-cheek "history" of the great guy himself. The book reads like a gossip column, and is chocked full of "tell-alls", both real and imagined. Totally entertaining reading for those seeking a decidedly editorialized and glomourized "biography".

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic! At last, history is made interesting and fun!
Review: An excellent text to accompany the Oliver Stone movie, "Alexander," this book is astonishingly well-researched and written by Michael Alvear with assistance from Vicky Shecter, who is now working on a children's book about Alexander the Great.

If you laugh out loud at David Sedaris books, this book may remind you of what a serious ancient history book would be like if David Sedaris had written it. It is a laugh a minute. Yet, the basic facts provided are correct. This book just makes it FUN to learn a bit of history that most people (even in Greece!) know far too little about.

I am a public librarian, and have read at least 12 books on Alexander the Great in the past six months. What one inevitably finds when researching Alexander is that his life is hotly debated by many differing factions: Should he be called Macedonian or Greek? Should he be called bisexual or gay? Should he be hailed as a hero and liberator or condemned as a mass murderer? Was he buried in Alexandria or someplace else? Did he have a part in killing his father or not? You can forget about finding a book that makes EVERYONE happy, though the best overall book I have found is Robin Lane Fox's "Alexander the Great" published in 1986 by Penguin Books. I believe it stands head and shoulders over any other book on Alexander, and every public library MUST have that book. Oliver Stone chose Robin Lane Fox to be his historical consultant for the film "Alexander." I would avoid the new book by Paul Cartledge even though it is new; the Robin Lane Fox book simply covers so much more and does it so much better. Also, the account of Alexander's travels by Arrian is a must.

Every library needs sources on Alexander, however, for those who may not care to read the serious history texts. Mary Renault's "Persian Boy" is outstanding for fiction readers, and her other books on Alexander, especially "The Nature of Alexander," are also excellent. But for those who want to really have FUN as they learn their history, you just can't beat Michael Alvear's "Alexander the Fabulous."

Anyone who is terribly homophobic may not like this book, but then again, anyone who is terribly homophobic is not likely to be reading about Alexander the Great anyway. After Jesus Christ, Alexander may be the most influential human to ever live, and there should be as many books about his life in our libraries as possible. The fact that he was gay or bisexual should not be a reason for not providing a book about his extraordinary life.

Don't miss this great book! You will be ever so glad you found it!

Rating:
Summary: Why oh why aren't other history books like this...
Review: Finally! Someone with a sense of humor tackles one of the most amazing characters in history. I actually laughed out loud in some spots. This is the first comic biography of Alexander the Great. Being a history buff myself I was impressed with the book's historical accuracy. Most people know Alexander conquered the known world. But most don't know he was so vain "his generals had to rub Preparation H on his ego," according to the authors. My favorite example was the shaving craze Alexander started. Back then almost all warriors had beards. Alexander rationalized his shaving as a combat advantage. Hey, if the enemy couldn't grab you by the beard he'd have a harder time killing you. Here's what the authors have to say: "Historians have waved their BS detector over Alexander's reason for shaving and can't decide if it was legitimate or just another example of his vanity. Let's just say there's a whole school of thought that says Alexander didn't like hair on his face for the same reason Narcissus didn't like ripples in the water-it got in the way of the view."

Reading how the authors send up Alexander's temper tantrums, his flair for the dramatic and his marathon drinking sessions is worth the price of the book alone. One warning: the humor is a bit on the crude side. But that's half the fun.