Your Thoughts: Street Gang – The Complete History of Sesame Street

Ilikemuppets

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I don't mind that they concentrated a lot of Cooney's background, this is the best place to do it really. Sesame Street is her baby! It may not be the part most people are interested in, but it is important. :smile:
But it's only part of the story and it comes in handy later in the book too. But if you read it out of order would would be in kind of a wild goose chase.
 

CensoredAlso

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But it's only part of the story and it comes in handy later in the book too. But if you read it out of order would would be in kind of a wild goose chase.
I'm kinda weird in that I often read books out of order, lol. I know you get more out of the story reading it from start to finish, but for some reason I have trouble doing it!
 

StreetScenes

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i finally have time to read it this weekend, so i just picked it up on my way home today, & the woman at the checkout saw the book & smiled, rang it up, gave the book a hug & and sang pinball number count :smile:
 

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i finally have time to read it this weekend, so i just picked it up on my way home today, & the woman at the checkout saw the book & smiled, rang it up, gave the book a hug & and sang pinball number count :smile:
Aw that's so sweet! When I bought it, the man at the register pointed at Oscar and said, "He was the man!" :grouchy:

He also said he didn't really watch the show anymore; I suggested learning towards the Old School DVDs, hehe.
 

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Well that's fine because the book isn't really for current viewers of the show. :wink:
Very true, hehe. Hopefully in a few years they'll be encouraged to read it, so they know there was life before Elmo, hehe.
 

Uncle Deadley

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I decided to go the audiobook route, which was, unfortunately, abridged, but nonetheless enjoyable and informative. Carroll Spinney, being so close to much of the material, adds an extra dimension in his reading. My wife has been reading the original version and has clued me in on some of the omissions. (Can anyone explain exactly why Joan Cooney referred to the estranged Jane Henson's appearance at the memorial service and taking on the title of Jim's widow as "unforgivable". I understand that the marriage was crumbling, but it still seemed an odd thing to say, but maybe it was was taken out of context.)

On the whole I rate the book as a satisfying experience even if I found some flaws in Michael Davis's writing style. The "jump around" narrative was jarring at times and there were moments where some statements deserved further explanation. (If you're going to point out that Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal were initially poorly reviewed and received it is worth noting that they went on to become cult classics.) I also found it strange that there was no passage about Roscoe Orman; I later discovered that this "bonus chapter" can be found at the book's website which I am grateful for but still would call an odd choice.

Still, a hearty thumbs up to the audiobook which also includes an segment of Michael Davis interviewing Carroll Spinney where you'll find some additional information on Spinney's older brother with cerebral palsey and how he and his second wife fell in love. In some ways the interview made up for some of the abridgements.
 

erniebert1234ss

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Just got this book today. Will give it a read-thru and post my thoughts. So far so good.

BJ
 

Ilikemuppets

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One part of the book that I thought was really sad was when Matt Robinson's daughter first saw him on TV with a different wife/mommy and holding another little girls hand and how she though as a little child and he daddy had a different family on TV and that he liked them better and wanted to be with them instead. She took it really hardly... She didn't know that is was just acting and that it was just television. That part was sad to read.
 

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One part of the book that I thought was really sad was when Matt Robinson's daughter first saw him on TV with a different wife/mommy and holding another little girls hand and how she though as a little child and he daddy had a different family on TV and that he liked them better and wanted to be with them instead. She took it really hardly... She didn't know that is was just acting and that it was just television. That part was sad to read.
I actually read a very similar story from the daughter of The Professor from Gilligan's Island. He had a scene where a woman was flirting with him and the daughter thought she was trying to steal her Daddy away!

This is a good example of how children think, which I think a lot of so called "experts" miss.
 
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