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Rating: 
Summary: Absolutely Fascinating Read
Review: For anyone that's ready to move past the historical books about the Blacklist period and is ready to hear more about the people involved this is the book to read. It contains interviews with 35 blacklisted personalities (many of them screenwriters, two of them were even in the Hollywood Ten) and deals with more than just the blacklist. This is an intimate book that gives a voice to those that are not often heard or have been forgotten. Many of these people led fascinating lives outside of Hollywood (one of them having fought in the war in Spain against the fascists), and you will hear about their own childhood, how they came to Hollywood, and all the dreams and visions they had before the Red Scare destroyed them. It is also interesting to hear these people talk about this turbulent time in their lives since it is something that can only be explained by those who were wronged. Some have moved on and forgiven the friendly witnesses while others still recall those horrible moments and refuse to forget and forgive their transgessors (which they have a reason to). Among those included are Norma and Ben Barzman, Hugo Butler, Alvah Bessie, John Bright, Ring Lardner Jr., Frank Tarloff, and Bernard Vorhaus. All in all, this book is clearly one to read.
Rating:
Summary: Image shattering
Review: I grew up midwestern 1950's, in a hotbed of Mc Carthyism. Needless to mention, my ingrained image of who and what was a communist was somewhat different from the thoroughly humanized portraits that emerge in the pages of the book. Not that the interviews with individual victims of the blacklist result in glamorized or enviable cameos. They don't. Instead, we get a glimpse of what life was like for people of strong conviction who defied the fashion of their day even when it cost them dearly. The fact that most were communists was enough to demonize them in the eyes of so many of us, who, when it comes right down to it, were victims ourselves.To those of you who have been assailed by America's peculiarly virulent strain of anti-communism, read the book. It won't make a communist of you, but it will give you second thoughts about a political culture that regularly demonizes its opposition, whoever that may be. The interviews reveal not only an America that was, but in many ways an America that still is. The individual stories themselves are fascinating. The names are ones you may have seen briefly on a late night movie credit crawl. Here they come alive in their own words; names and faces that were on the screen one day, then gone the next. Not celebrities, but the kind of people who made movies memorable because they brought more than varying degrees of talent to their work, they brought social concern. I hope the authors soon bring us a similar volume on non-Hollywood victims of the purges, of which, I gather, there were thousands. Folks without marquee names, but with their own stories to tell about how the world was made safe for democracy.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing!
Review: I love this book. Its first person accounts by the courageous men and woman who fought valiantly for social justice and economic equality for all people, and stood strong against reactionary forces are so inspiring and moving that I was often in tears. The book is also immensely informative and even quite funny at times. It vividly presents an amazing array of personalities and is arguably the most affecting, revealing and far-reaching volume about the most shameful chapter in Hollywood's history Tender Comrades is required reading. We are all indebted to Patrick McGilligan and Paul Buhle for gathering these testimonials, which are true profiles in courage.
Rating:
Summary: Mesmerizing!
Review: I love this book. Its first person accounts by the courageous men and woman who fought valiantly for social justice and economic equality for all people, and stood strong against reactionary forces are so inspiring and moving that I was often in tears. The book is also immensely informative and even quite funny at times. It vividly presents an amazing array of personalities and is arguably the most affecting, revealing and far-reaching volume about the most shameful chapter in Hollywood's history Tender Comrades is required reading. We are all indebted to Patrick McGilligan and Paul Buhle for gathering these testimonials, which are true profiles in courage.
Rating: 
Summary: They just can't get over it.
Review: It has been nearly 50 years since the Hollywood blacklist and they just can't get over what happened. The blacklist victims were hardly "tender comrades", they were dangerous people who sought to destroy the American way of life. The real enemy is not anti-communism, but communism itself. The KGB and Venona files have confirmed that everything McCarthy said was right. Why can't they get over this? Why? They need to get over this and move on.
Rating:
Summary: They just can't get over it.
Review: It has been nearly 50 years since the Hollywood blacklist and they just can't get over what happened. The blacklist victims were hardly "tender comrades", they were dangerous people who sought to destroy the American way of life. The real enemy is not anti-communism, but communism itself. The KGB and Venona files have confirmed that everything McCarthy said was right. Why can't they get over this? Why? They need to get over this and move on.
Rating: 
Summary: Good look at the the Blacklistee's story.
Review: This book is a good resource for anyone who wishes to study the Hollywood Blacklist during the 1940s through 1960s. It has excellent interviews with two of the original Hollywood Ten and proves to be a very interesting read. For further reading on the subject I suggest Naming Names by Victor Navasky.
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