From Publishers Weekly
Obviously a brave man and an intriguing character, Morgan was glorified in a 1944 William Wyler documentary and was the subject of a somewhat less distinguished 1990 movie starring Matthew Modine. As commander of one of WWII's heavy B-17 bombers, the Memphis Belle, Morgan led 25 missions over Europe. And Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author Powers (Flags of Our Fathers) is a proven story-teller. The problem with this abridged audio version is that McLarty reads it in a pretentious, overly dramatic manner, evincing the tedium and tenacity of a boring but unshakable travel companion. So despite the colorful details from Morgan's Depression-era childhood in Asheville, N.C., where his mother's best friend was a Vanderbilt, to his touching love affair with a flesh-and-blood Memphis belle named Margaret Polk, through his record-breaking daylight bombing missions in the Flying Fortress he named after her and on through the other wartime and peacetime activities that have filled his remarkable life this tape, disappointingly, quickens one's irritation and fatigue rather than one's heart. Simultaneous release with Dutton/Plume hardcover (Forecasts, Apr. 30).
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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Powers, coauthor of the magisterial
Flags of Our Fathers (2000), here helps the pilot of the first B-17 Flying Fortress to complete 25 missions over Europe tell his story. Morgan has had his share of ups and downs, beginning with an affluent childhood scarred by the loss of his mother. Later the publicity surrounding his European combat broke up his engagement to Margaret Polk, in whose honor the
Memphis Belle was named. He went on to distinction over Japan in the B-29,
Dauntless Dottie, and after the war endured marital discord, financial ups and downs, and alcoholism before settling into old age. Like
Flags, this book unashamedly sports a Greatest Generation aura as it sings a love song to the B-17 that aviation buffs at least should find irresistible. It also provides an invaluable participant's view of a major aspect of the U.S. experience of World War II--the strategic bombing campaign--and as such is definitely a book that needed to be written while the best man to write it still could.
Roland GreenCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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