I think I was looking and hoping for stories behind the great works of art Boorstin researched. What I got in most cases was a description of the work. Since I'm familiar with most subjects covered in this book, I kept wondering why I wasn't reading or appreciating the work itself. At times this book is too detailed, recalling too many passages from particular works or focusing too much on one work and too little on others. I suppose the last statement is a judgement call, but this is a source for my dislike of this book.

Yes, this book does bring situations and people together through excellent plot twists, but why? If all Conrad is going to do to the hopeless Croker is convert him to stoicism, I don't care. 730 pages of page turning dialogue and complex situations to have the whole book come down to some long forgotten philosophy. I also wonder why Roger White and Wes Jordan have to have a ten page conversation to let the reader know what could have been said (should have) in the previous 730 pages! Five star start, one star ending.

As someone who was a child in the 1970s, I really wasn't hip to all the news of the day concerning bands like the Eagles. This was all old news by the time I was seriously listening to The Eagles. I liked the way Eliot weaved his way through the L.A. music scene to bring together what was the original Eagle's line-up and how he progressed though all the ego trips which caused the band to change(for the better ). This could have been a five star book had Eliot researched (or written) more about the abundant talents of Joe Walsh, Don Felder, and Timothy B. Schmit. I love to find out who is, and was, connected to whom, and this book does that for the average music fan.