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| The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty | 
 enlarge | Author: Julia Flynn Siler
Publisher: Gotham
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy Used: $4.39
You Save: $10.61 (71%)
New (41) Used (29) Collectible (2) from $4.39
Avg. Customer Rating:  60 reviews
Sales Rank: 5217
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 1592403670
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.766320092273
EAN: 9781592403677
ASIN: 1592403670
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Reads like the best fiction - but it's real! May 8, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Julia Flynn Siler's The House of Mondavi starts with everything that makes a great story: a wonderfully complex and larger-than-life character, a lush wine-country setting, a conflicted family, and a great undertaking. She brings the story to life with a journalist's eye for the telling detail and a fine fiction writer's sense of plot, pacing, and instinct for the great tragedy that so often results from excesses of pride. The result is a page-turner that leaves the reader not just with the sense of having enjoyed a satisfying story, but also with a deep knowledge of the history of the rise of California's wine industry and a better understanding of human nature. I would recommend this book to anyone.
The Mondavi Story April 2, 2008
Intriguing story -- three generations of a famous, semi-dysfunctional winemaking family. The book is easy reading, though it is a little long; but the tale itself carries the day. Recommended.
I loved this book! From a fan of nothing but literary fiction March 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I just LOVED this book. I wasn't sure I would, simply because I read almost nothing but literary fiction. But it was so readable, and had so many of the things I love about fiction - a great story, interesting characters, good writing, evocative settings - that I couldn't put it down.
There is something so epic about the story of the Mondavi family. As you read, you can't help but think of all the family dynasties that have self-imploded; there are echoes of King Lear, of Oedipus, of all the founders whose basic character flaws are the seeds of the family's undoing. To watch the Mondavi family rise so spectacularly from its' immigrant roots, and then fall from its' own weight, is so timeless, so sad, and so compelling.
One of the book's great strengths is its' perfect blend of journalism and storytelling. The Mondavi story is full of juicy facts - wild parties and love affairs and alcoholism - that a lesser author would milk for profit. Siler, however, treats them with the even-handedness of the journalist she is. At the same time, Siler elevates the book well above the dryness of much non-fiction with her skillful storytelling, and brings to vibrant life so many scenes in the lives of the Mondavi family and the Napa Valley.
Witness, for example, the masterful storytelling of the prologue, set in a wine auction in June 2005. This scene encapsulates a turning point for the Robert Mondavi Corp., the beginning of the end. The aging Robert Mondavi, in his wheelchair and bolero hat, has sold his lot of wine at a fire-sale price, while a boutique wine has just sold for a quarter-million per lot. "Robert and Timothy (Mondavi) stared up at the screen, silent in the midst of the raucous celebration of the bid. They seemed isolated, as the Hoopla Commitee and the television camera moved elsewhere. For that moment the Mondavis were no longer the center of attention. When the spotlight returned in the the months to come, it would blaze mercelessly on the dismemberment of their empire." Wow.
I highly recommend this book. It is readable, interesting, well-written, and a fascinating story. And it's fun to discuss over a glass of wine.
A heartbreaking story of ambition, lust and wine March 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"The House of Mondavi" is a quintessentially American tale. A penniless immigrant couple travels to the new world, where they become so successful they are able to send their two sons to Stanford University. The family buys a decrepit winery, turning it into a success. The patriarch dies: war erupts in the family -- leading to one of the most famous court cases in California history. Then, the cycle repeats itself, and successive generations of siblings battle again. This is a must-read for anyone interested in families, fortunes, or the wine business -- and the sensational aspects of the story that make this a true-life "Falcon Crest."
Great Reporting, Great Story February 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Julia Flynn Siler has accomplished something amazing with the House of Mondavi. It is clear the book was meticulously researched. Her experience as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal obviously guided her writing. Unlike some nonfiction books in which the author speculates where the facts end, Ms. Flynn Siler supports each element of the story with multiple sources. The book is not about Ms. Flynn Siler's opinions of what could have happened. It is about the complex, fascinating web that is the Mondavis. That said, the story reads almost like a novel, and at times is a page-turner. Some reviewers have complained about typos in the text, but any typos are due to a lapse at the copyediting stage and have little if anything to do with Ms. Flynn Siler or the quality of the story being told. The House of Mondavi is a engaging, compelling read which deserves accolades for its substance.
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