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Myth Maker: J. R. R. Tolkien | 
 enlarge | Author: Anne E. Neimark
Creator: Brad Weinman
Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books
Category: Book
List Price: $23.00
Buy Used: $0.57
You Save: $22.43 (98%)
New (13) Used (17) Collectible (2) from $0.57
Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 1306757
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Reading Level: Young Adult
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 128
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.6
ISBN: 0152988475
Dewey Decimal Number: 828.91209
EAN: 9780152988470
ASIN: 0152988475
Publication Date: September 30, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: books that we sell may or may not have notes,underlines,ding on covers,shelfwear,missing dust on cover onh hardbacks,etc.
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Product Description
A philologist of world renown, a professor at Oxford, and the author of academic treatises, J. R. R. Tolkien was far more than a fantasy book writer. His lifelong fascination with medieval texts and languages gave him a unique vision and endless inspiration for his tales. His broad interests made possible his creation of faery worlds and entire races of beings, as well as the languages, cultures, and characters that make his books as engaging today as they were fifty years ago. This clear and thoroughly researched biography of the creator of The Hobbit is accompanied by magical illustrations that recall the mystery of Tolkien’s imaginary worlds.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Very Good for Its INTENDED AUDIENCE August 4, 2004
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'm amazed that the previous reviewer could say the things that he/she says -- criticizing the book as simplistic, etc. -- as the book is obviously not written for an adult audience (as the book's jacket spells out!), and therefore should be evaluated as such. As a book for young Tolkien fans or would-be Tolkien readers, it is a good basic introduction to Tolkien's life without the detail of an adult-level biography like Carpenter's.
Writing a fair review is much easier if you have some notion of a book's intended readership.
 Watered-down biography September 22, 2001
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Neimark's "Myth Maker: J.R.R. Tolkien" is a biography of Tolkien the man, and makes no serious attempt at literary criticism or interpretation. That's fine, of course-- but the problem is that it's not a very *good* biography by any measure. Certainly, Neimark makes no points, raises no issues, and consults no sources that haven't been used in the much more insightful biographies by Daniel Grotta-Kurska (an unauthorized biography and Humphrey Carpenter (the Tolkien estate approved bio). Really, this seems seems to be a watered-down version of those biographies (more Carpenter's than Grotta-Kurska's, actually), briefly summarizing Tolkien's life and writings and doing so in fairly simplistic language. The low level of the prose, the simplistic presentation of Tolkien's life, and the presence of several illustrations inclines to be believe that this is a book intended for children (I'd say it was aimed at kids between 10-14... those who are old enough to read the Hobbit and Tolkien's other fiction on their own.). I'm not really sure what even Tolkien fans of this age will get out of this book though-- and I think any kids who are seriouslyinterested in Tolkien enough to want to read about him as a man would much prefer to find out *real information* in one of more substantive biographies.
Watered-down biography September 22, 2001
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Neimark's "Myth Maker: J.R.R. Tolkien" is a biography of Tolkien the man, and makes no serious attempt at literary criticism or interpretation. That's fine, of course-- but the problem is that it's not a very *good* biography by any measure. Certainly, Neimark makes no points, raises no issues, and consults no sources that haven't been used in the much more insightful biographies by Daniel Grotta-Kurska (an unauthorized biography and Humphrey Carpenter (the Tolkien estate approved bio). Really, this seems seems to be a watered-down version of those biographies (more Carpenter's than Grotta-Kurska's, actually), briefly summarizing Tolkien's life and writings and doing so in fairly simplistic language. The low level of the prose, the simplistic presentation of Tolkien's life, and the presence of several illustrations inclines to be believe that this is a book intended for children (I'd say it was aimed at kids between 10-14... those who are old enough to read the Hobbit and Tolkien's other fiction on their own.). I'm not really sure what even Tolkien fans of this age will get out of this book though-- and I think any kids who are seriouslyinterested in Tolkien enough to want to read about him as a man would much prefer to find out *real information* in one of more substantive biographies.
 A venerable book! April 19, 2000
0 out of 7 found this review helpful
Tolkien's life was great and this shows how he spent his free time. It shows his life from beginning to end with hardly anything missing.
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