Rating: 
Summary: Davidson's book a garbled mess
Review: Let me preface this by saying I am a huge fan of science and the late Dr. Sagan. However, I'm old enough to separate reality from the publicly presented image of Dr. Sagan. Who among us would want our private lives investigated and written about?So, to find that Dr. Sagan could be arrogant, and wasn't always pleasant to be with really wasn't too much of a shock. So he didn't live up to his rhetoric. Yeah, and? Thomas Jefferson didn't either. We all frequently fall short of our ideals. It was disappointing, but that's life. HOWEVER, Mr. Davidson's narrative is disjointed and hard to follow at times because he skips around in time while telling his story. Mr. Davidson may be a fine science writer, but as a biographer, he leaves a lot to be desired. He frequently makes assumptions about motives with no way to verify what he has implied. This book feels rushed, like it was written to fill a niche. It could have used a good editor to polish the edges, and institute a higher level of intellectual integrity.
Rating: 
Summary: Overly Detailed
Review: This book is highly detailed. If you are looking for an exhaustive biography, this book is for you. Many chapters in the book tend to become monotonous when they attempt to dole out insignificant details which may not enhance your understanding of Carl Sagan.
For anyone wanting to go real deep into Sagan and his life, this book is a good choice.
Rating: 
Summary: The objectivity of parasites
Review: While the book is loaded with facts and figures, proof that the author had done a great deal of impressive research, this research then passes through the author's own "filter", one which that carries a very specific agenda. From the very first pages, it is clear that the author is trying to tarnish Sagan's image as much as possible, while pretending to be objective. The book was lavishingly generous with negative quotations about Sagan. Most of the interviewed were those who had something toxic to say, while the other side, such as the many students who loved Sagan their teacher, were ignored, or given lip-service in the briefest manner, to keep the space for those others who bore grudges, and to create the impression that the latter were the majority. This selective process is followed throughout the entire book, giving maximum space to the voices of jealous colleagues and vexed ex-wives. The author seemed to be the spokesman of everyone who was deeply jealous of Sagan's popularity, forgetting that Sagan's works, not just on TV ( for which, many colleagues apparently never forgave him ), but also his brilliant writings, speak for themselves. To add insult to injury, the author never stops to bestow his own psychoanalytical explanations on Sagan's acts, pretending to know hidden motives so well as if he were living inside Sagan's very own mind. No event escapes the attempt of the author to provide his very own interpretation of the feelings or thoughts "underlying it", all of which is not based on any quotations or confessions of Sagan to anybody, but on the author's own conjectures, constantly offered as though they were facts. The only messages that Davidson succeeded in getting through to me as a reader are these: 1- He, the author, by constantly putting his voice first, assuming the role of self-appointed shrink, and presenting his opinions as if they were facts, was in violation of the very basics of objectivity required to write a biography (whether that was motivated by a calculated effort to tarnish Sagan's image at the cost of some basic ethics, or whether he simply couldn't bring his own inflated ego out of the way in anything he does as a general rule, is something I, unlike him, would not profess to know). 2- The author seems to have been trying hard to do a big favor to someone else embittered by Sagan's success. It is so obvious that there is something personal at stake, and the reader feels taken for a ride amidst what seems like a blatant attempt to "settle scores" at the expense of the deceased Sagan, and at the expense of the readers themselves. I advise readers to check another biography, or to read Sagan's own works..Nothing is as "intellectually abusive" as a pretense of being objective that hides behind it bias and hidden agendas..any reader of average insight would see through. Davidson is as objective towards his subject as is the parasite towards the life it is feeding upon.
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