Book Description
In this moving and compelling memoir about parent and child, father and daughter, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lucinda Franks discovers that the remote, nearly impassive man she grew up with had in fact been a daring spy behind enemy lines in World War II. Sworn to secrecy, he began revealing details of his wartime activities only in the last years of his life as he became afflicted with Alzheimer's. His exploits revealed a man of remarkable bravado -- posing as a Nazi guard, slipping behind enemy lines to blow up ammunition dumps, and being flown to one of the first concentration camps liberated by the Allies to report on the atrocities found there.My Father's Secret War is an intimate account of Franks coming to know her own father after years of estrangement. Looking back at letters he had written her mother in the early days of WWII, Franks glimpses a loving man full of warmth. But after the grimmest assignments of the war his tone shifts, settling into an all-too-familiar distance. Franks learns about him -- beyond the alcoholism and adultery -- and comes to know the man he once was.Her story is haunting, and beautifully told, even as the tragedy becomes clear: Franks finally comes to know her father, but only as he is slipping further into his illness. Lucinda Franks understands her father as the disease claims him. My Father's Secret War is a triumph of love over secrets, and a tribute to the power of the connection of family.
Customer Reviews:
My Father's Secret War.......2007-10-18
The book was received very promptly, and was a very good depiction of her experiences in trying to understand WWII from her father's perspective. So many of us "baby boomers" have a difficult time getting our parents to open up and tell us of their experiences during that time. This is a very good book to read.
A Book You Just Can Put Down.......2007-10-04
After all the hype and with the authors oh-so-impressive cred, one expects a book that you just can't put down. She delivers a nice, warm story, but by all means, you CAN put it down.
Slow start.......2007-09-10
As I read the other reviews, I realized they are all true. In many ways this is a poignant and touching story. But Franks takes so long describing their disfunctional family and getting to the interesting part -- her father's war experiences and the process of finding the information -- that I almost put it down without finishing it. I'm glad I stayed with it, as Lucinda finally gets to the real story and redeems herself. (I didn't like her at all at the beginning of the story but I forgave her for her honesty at the end.)
Disappointment.......2007-06-16
You asked me for comments. Perhaps I was expecting more focus on the father. If one enjoys home videos of other families, this book might be of interest.
Buried secrets.......2007-06-13
I almost wish Lucinda Franks chose not to write this book.It was fairly obvious from the start that her father didn't want to remember his role in war..at one point she even asks him if he was a nazi sympathizer.definitely not.My goodness Ms. Frank,leave the poor old guy alone.The book tells a lot about her father and a lot about his daughter.When one of his old buddies phones her and said her dad needs living expenses, some extra cash, she responds that she and her husband have to maintain 3 houses, she can't send dad a few extra dollars..she visits , sees a pile of rancid leftovers in the refrigerator and proceeds to reheat the freshest one for her dad's meal..Golly Lucinda, buy and roast a chicken, peel a few potatoes, buy some canned vegetables.. how hard can that be? Poor dad wears K-mart clothes, so order something for him from Lands'End, you don't even have to go to a store. Again, this is a book that didn't need to be written.
Amazon.com
Written in the present tense, First They Killed My Father will put you right in the midst of the action--action you'll wish had never happened. It's a tough read, but definitely a worthwhile one, and the author's personality and strength shine through on every page. Covering the years from 1975 to 1979, the story moves from the deaths of multiple family members to the forced separation of the survivors, leading ultimately to the reuniting of much of the family, followed by marriages and immigrations. The brutality seems unending--beatings, starvation, attempted rape, mental cruelty--and yet the narrator (a young girl) never stops fighting for escape and survival. Sad and courageous, her life and the lives of her young siblings provide quite a powerful example of how war can so deeply affect children--especially a war in which they are trained to be an integral part of the armed forces. For anyone interested in Cambodia's recent history, this book shares a valuable personal view of events. --Jill Lightner
Book Description
One of seven children of a high-ranking government official, Loung Ung lived a privileged life in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh until the age of five. Then, in April 1975, Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Ung's family to flee and, eventually, to disperse. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans, her siblings were sent to labor camps, and those who survived the horrors would not be reunited until the Khmer Rouge was destroyed.
Harrowing yet hopeful, Loung's powerful story is an unforgettable account of a family shaken and shattered, yet miraculously sustained by courage and love in the face of unspeakable brutality.
Customer Reviews:
Everyone should make time for this book.......2007-10-08
We need this type of literature to remind us of the horror we are capable of inflicting, and the delight we are capable of inspiring. Here we have the opportunity to learn about the history of other countries and cultures and the effects of war and violence. By reading Ung's story, Americans can learn to appreciate that some immigrants and refugees to the United States have endured far more than we can even imagine.
Ung's story is told with the innocence and honesty of a child, even though her reality is riddled with hurt, grief, and despair. How is she able to survive the destruction and devastation of war? What makes her want to go on living? The chaos and randomness of life will make the reader see that each gift is a blessing.
Ung has learned to accept the responsibility that comes with survival. Why me...? What not me...? She states that by writing her book she was able to come to terms with many of the haunting details of her past. By writing about her fear and rage, she was able to face the "monsters" of her childhood as an adult. Telling her story was not about the money or the recognition, but about making people aware of what life was like for one family, for one little girl who grew up during the hell years of 1975-1979 in Cambodia. Though there is much anger and pain, it is the love of family and love of oneself that sees Ung through the trauma of war.
Captivating.......2007-10-05
With a story as tragic as this it is no wonder how the details are so vividly portrayed by Loung Ung. Her story captivates in essence the cruel and communist actions of the Khmer Rouge. As one of the few surviving family members, Loung proves how a love for her father helped her endure such a tragedy. However, she was not excluded from being subjected to the endless amount of pain, which created numerous psychological road blocks such as hatred and vengeance. This is clearly a story of heroism through endurance.
Breathtaking.......2007-08-31
I was interested in reading a book about the Cambodian Civil War, and this book gave me insights about the author's life story. The author Ung went through many emotional times with her family that had to do with survival. It made me cry many times... touched my heart. I recommend this to readers who are interested in the Cambodian war and would like to know what it's like to be in Loung Ung position during the time of chaos.
Read it with caution.......2007-08-18
The author was too young and her memories were not always reliable. Read it with caution. For instance, Ung wrote about a family trip to Angkor Wat, which took place in 1973 or 1974 when she "was only three or four years old" (p. 109). I had a discussion with a former Lon Nol soldier who was in Siem Reap at that time and he was adamant that Angkor Wat was not accessible because the Khmer Rouge was in full control of the area.
Cambodia had been fighting a civil war since 1970, so it is hard to believe that there were people vacationing at that time, especially in a region that was controlled by the Khmer Rouge. But the book contains a picture of the family trip to "Angkor Wat," which was taken at Wat Phnom, a temple in Phnom Penh.
Exaggerated stories of surviving atrocities are not unknown. It even exists within the Jewish community; for example, the story of Deli Strummer, which has been written in the Washington Post. I would compare "First They Killed My Father" to that of Holocaust survivor's Deli Strummer. If you want to read something poignant like that of Anne Frank, get Chanrithy Him's "When Broken Glass Floats."
She remembers for us to remember..........2007-05-15
In the epilogue, Loung thanks her editor, because she's says without the editing, we'd all be reading a much longer book. In this case, I would love to read "the much longer book".... I can't say enough positive about the book, even though I know it has received criticism. It's a first hand account of the same stories I've heard first hand over.. Stories that deserve to be retold so that hopefully they never have to be experienced again. Whether you are an academic with an interest in Cambodia / Southeast Asia or the casual reader, you will be haunted a young girl's life.. in " First They Killed My Father".[...]
Amazon.com
For Sinatra fans, 2000 was a very good year. First came the discography Put Your Dreams Away; then, the newsy exposé of the Chairman's FBI dossier, The Sinatra Files; and now, his life story as seen by his younger daughter Tina. Besides inside family stuff, Tina knows about Frank's life from having produced the CBS miniseries about him. The most publicized item in the book concerns Frank's kind words with the Mafia on behalf of JFK's campaign. But, beware the common belief that the Mafia stole the election for JFK--this is dubious--and don't miss out on all of the more interesting stories in the book. There's irony: JFK personally persuaded United Artists to make Sinatra's best film, that classic of Presidential-assassination conspiracy, The Manchurian Candidate. There's squalor: Before the Mafia helped him through his career slump, Frank walked past an Eddie Fisher movie marquee and promptly attempted suicide. There's poignance: "I'm not home much, but I'm a pretty damned good father," Frank unconvincingly claimed. Nancy Barbato Sinatra--the mother of Tina, Nancy, and Frank Jr.--comes off as saintly. Ava Gardner was nice to the kids, but a comparably neurotic brawler with Frank. Mia Farrow, Tina's schoolmate, was delightful, inclined to intense relationships with father figures (Salvador Dalì, Yul Brynner), eccentric, and not as frail and malleable as she looked and Frank probably hoped: "She was just as career-driven as Ava, and probably more independent," writes Tina. "Mia was more of a day person, while the only dawns my father saw were on the back end of a hard day's night." Barbara Marx Sinatra, according to embittered Tina, made Frank's last 12 years a living hell. (Barbara has declined to comment on Tina's charges.)
In straightforward prose that's studded with interesting facts (did you know Frank would tip $200 if you parked his car?) and 86 photos, Tina Sinatra paints a lively portrait of her inconsolably lonely pop-star pop. And she did it her way. Deal with it. --Tim Appelo
Book Description
A startling, compelling, yet affectionate portrait of an American entertainment legend by his youngest daughter, who for the first time writes about the man, his life, the accusations, and about the many people who surrounded him -- wives, friends, lovers, users, and sycophants -- from his Hoboken childhood through the notorious "Rat Pack," and beyond.
Complete with many never before seen photographs taken directly from family albums, and placing special emphasis on his later years and his marriage to Barbara Marx Sinatra, Tina's personal exploration of this difficult final period in her father's career will solidify our image of Sinatra as a great performer and reinforce him as something even greater: as a father, and as man.
Customer Reviews:
A Poignant, Tender Tribute To A Remarkable Man.......2007-08-31
I thought I'd read it all, seen it all and heard everything there was hear or know about F.S. but, curiously enough, I never bought this book! It was given to me at a time in my life when I had stopped reading about all the celebrities I had ever wanted to. The day before yesterday I found this book in the place I had put it years ago, next to all the other books about F.S. that I had read through the years. The books fill the space between Ava Gardner's, "Ava, My Story" and Mia Farrow's, "What Falls Away." I cannot thank Tina Sinatra enough for sharing her world with her father with us and Jeff Coplon for co-writing. This is the definitive book on Frank Sinatra, the man. Tina takes you on her journey and journal of loving memories about her relationship with her father over many years. From his final months as the husband of Nancy Barbato Sinatra until his death at age 82, Tina rode the F.S. rollercoaster which was her father's life. Through it all, the highs, the lows, the failed marriages F.S. remained loyal, respectful, loving, caring and protective of his first and only family. Then came Barbara Marx. If Leona Helmsley was the "Queen of Mean" this, then, was her adoring protege. How Tina, Nancy Frankie, Jr. or Nancy, Sr. tolerated this wretched individual is beyond comprehension, however, they respected her as the wife of their father. Respect was absolute in the real Sinatra family and he taught his family well. It was because of Barbara that Tina, Nancy or Frankie, Jr. did not have the opportunity of being with him in the final moments of his life. His children were everything to him and he garnered their esteem by never smothering them, never being judgmental and by always trying to be there when any of them needed him. As complex as he was, he was a pretty darned good father. To see him through Tina's eyes is to know who he really was when the glitz and the glitter were stripped away. This is a must read for any true Sinatra fan.
My father's daughter.......2007-02-07
Really enjoyed this book! Tina did a great job of giving us some insights into her father and some of his actions.
I can't imagine that any Sinatra fan would not enjoy this book.
Karen Eitel
A LONELY MAN.......2006-02-23
Of all the "Sinatra" books I have read over the years this one gives the greatest insight into how lonely the genius Sinatra really was. Throughout her childhood she watched. She watched and took in the tantrums, the frustration, the misery, the elation and the more sinister aspects of the mans life.
A frank account of Sinatra, (excuse the pun) from a daughter born in the first success period of Sinatra's life.
An Excellent Book.......2004-04-29
I have been exposed to Frank Sinatra's music all my life, and been a fan of his since I was 9. However, after reading this book, I feel I know him in a way like never before, in a more detailed, intimate way. I truly understand the kind of man and person he was. Tina does an outstanding and thorough job explaining the man her father was, from all points. She describes what he was like as a father, husband, friend, performer, etc. She leaves nothing out, nor does she sugar-coat the story. She tells the truth, in an honest, loving, respectful way. I am proud to say I own this book, and have enjoyed it very much. It's a must for all fellow Sinatra fans. My hats off to her- great job, Tina!
Interesting & fast read!.......2003-07-01
Good Read!!!
I have read several other books about Frank Sinatra which chronicle his childhood, the bobbysox years, the Rat Pack years, the Mia years, etc. However, this is the first book I have come across that goes into detail regarding his years of marriage to Barbara Marx & the last years of his life. That alone makes the book fascinating as it fills in missing gaps.
Furthermore, the fact that the book is written from an insider's perspective helps in making it a riveting read. The book flows smoothly and quickly and I don't feel like Tina tries to sugarcoat her father' life (which is how I felt when I read a book written by Nancy Sinatra Jr.). Tina mentions both his good and bad sides and she is very candid in her feelings and emotions regarding her family and father.
The only thing I really wonder is why did Frank stay married to a money-grubbing, social climber for so long? He could have had his pick of beautiful woman, so why her? I would love to know what was really going on in his mind regarding his last marriage, but as he is dead and gone we may never know.
Book Description
As president, he oversaw the end of the Cold War and helpedliberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's forces. As the U.S. Liaison to China,he held tenure during communist rule under Mao, and as Ambassador to theUnited Nations, he forged relations around the world. From his days as ayoung Texas congressman to witnessing his son become the current president,George H. W. Bush has played a major role on the world stage for decadesand continues to as elder statesman. Now, using events from his life, theformer president's only daughter examines how her father confrontedchallenges, how he responded to crises, and how he kept his humor andpersonality through it all.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic! .......2007-09-30
With the 2008 presidential elections coming up, I took it upon myself to learn about our future president ("Living History") and VP ("Dreams of my Father") and past ones. I just finished reading "My Father, My President". It's a candid "inside" look into the life of a former president. Talk about an absolutely wonderful book abt George HW Bush! "41" strikes me as a fun, loving, intelligent, family oriented stateman with emphasis on duty, honor, family and faith. In plain words, a good citizen worthy of admiration! (Need I mention I am a Democrat!)
From his days as a WWII veteran to his brief work career at the UN, to his successful career as a director at the USLO, CIA, then later as a Chairman for the NRC then later as the head of state, it is extremely difficult not to fall in love with GHWB! His wit, charm and affection is just simply contagious... "41" is brilliant! I hope people will get a chance to read it and enjoy it as much as I did. God only knows how much we need more genuine heroes like him.
Fantastic.......2007-05-12
Learned many things about George H W Bush that I never knew. Very enjoyable book and easy to read.
A good and decent man.......2007-03-11
This book provides more insight into the essential goodness of George H.W. Bush. Aside from the facts and figures of his early career, vice-presidency and Presidency, the book gives us a fascinating look at how someone so prominent can still adhere to the Golden Rule. I found the stories told by Secret Service agents and staff about his common courtesy, concern and humor to be the most interesting. He never felt he was better or more important than anyone else, although I think history will ultimately say otherwise.
An easy read.......2007-02-21
What a wonderful tribute to her father! This is a great read and gives us an insight into what makes this man tick.
Heartwarming........2007-02-08
This was a very informative book. It is refreshing to hear good things about such public figures. Mr. Bush is thought of in endearing ways by many people and loved dearly by his family.
Book Description
Anna Cypra Oliver's strikingly original memoir offers both a moving story of self-discovery and a vividly depicted record of a turbulent era. In the late 1960s, Anna's fathera charismatic man from an affluent and cultivated Jewish backgroundand her mother joined a countercultural enclave in Taos, New Mexico. There, while they raised two children amid the chaos of hippie life, the marriage foundered. Within a few years, Anna's mother converted to fundamental Christianity and her father committed suicide. Twenty years later, the discovery of some old photos suddenly sparked Oliver's obsession to learn more about her father. She gathered photographs, journal entries, even doodles, and interviewed all those who knew him. The act of reconstructing a life would not only change her perceptions about her father and the turmoil of her childhood but ultimately would also expand her understanding of herself.
Customer Reviews:
Unique and totally engaging.......2007-08-22
This book is fascinating--it says it's a detective story, and it is, but with a twist--it's a detective story about people, and why they do what they do. It's a mystery where the writer tries to unravel how choices and fate and relationships and everything else all twist together to make and change lives, sometimes in sad ways. To me, it is the most interesting sort of mystery ever.
Which is why reading this book was such a total delight. It's like spending time with a really intelligent, engaging person dissecting events and following shreds of evidence, and there's this sense of loss when it's all over--you kind of want to stay engaged. A most excellent read!!
Provides a moving personal history which will also inspire any conducting their own family history search........2006-10-15
In the late 1960s the author's father and mother joined a countercultural enclave in New Mexico, where their marriage floundered and Anna's father committed suicide. Anna was five years old at the time. Twenty years later the discovery of some old photos sends her on a journey to learn more about her father: her reconstruction of her past is charted in ASSEMBLING MY FATHER: A MEMOIR and provides a moving personal history which will also inspire any conducting their own family history search.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
May bog you down and make you tired.......2005-05-04
I can see I'm in the minority of reviewers of this book here. I had high hopes for this memoir that haven't panned out.
The story is simple on it's surface- a woman grows up in an off kilter family and realises as a young adult that she is adrift because she doesn't "know" her father. Of course, she can't because he committed suicide, but what she doesn't have are his stories. Slowly- and it felt slooow- she sets out to discover what she can about him.
She talks to whomever she can locate who knew him, including his childhood friends, and she gets what she can out of her mother who often refuses to talk about any part of her past. She collects what photographs she can- a task made more difficult because her father was usually the photographer. She reads his journal and tries to obtain copies of college work, including his undergraduate thesis and tapes of a "college bowl" contest which "put Rennsalaer Polytechnic Institute" on the map as a better school than people had previously thought.
She experiments with different formats in her writing- including some lists of things he would never know about her, and how she feels that he will always be a man who died at the age of 35.
Be forewarned though- it's not an easy book. It's boggy and uncomfortable. It very well may be intended to be that way- after all, the subject is a young father and the events leading up to his suicide. I kept returning to the photo montage in the front, contemplating this beautiful man and wondering what could have caused him to pull the trigger. of course, only he really knows, no matter what anyone else can say about him.
Here's my confession- I haven't finished it. At 2/3 through, I feel like I know what he did, but his daughter, like all of us, will never really know why. And he'll stay dead for her- sad as it is. If I do finish, I wonder if my feelings about the memoir will change.
Excellent.......2004-10-26
I often randomly choose books to read, without reading reviews or recommendations. Sometimes that method backfires and I'm stuck with a stinker, but not in this case - I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. Perhaps it was the writing, perhaps it was the loss of my own father when I was very young (probably a combination of both) - this book touched me in a personal way that no other book has for some time.
An excellent memoir and first book.......2004-10-06
Prior to reading "Assembling My Father" I was lucky enough to attend a writer's workshop with Anna Oliver in Boise, Idaho, and I must say she is an incredible woman. She is not only intelligent and insightful, but also extremely well read- all of which show up in her writing. In "Assembling My Father," she experiments with style and form, including extensive primary records such as pictures, news articles and writings from her father's journal which add to the overall theme of a "detective story." The inclusion of Anna's own tale of personal growth alongside her discoveries of her father's untimely demise create a depth of emotion and a unique poignancy. This is a must-read for anyone interested in writing memoir, especially family history, or for anyone who is interested in the counterculture of the 60's and 70's. I cannot reccommend it enough.
Book Description
After 64 years, Mezzabotte Coletta, a retired truck driver for a Toronto macaroni factory, is retuning to his native Italia. In the village of Supino, said to take its name from the crossroads where Christ rested, supine, en route from Rome to Naples, is a rundown villa bought sight unseen by Mezzabotte's daughter Maria - an olive branch after years of family struggle. While she and her husband Bob breathe in the chatter of local tradesmen, the fragrant offerings of well-wishing neighbors, and the aroma of fine wine, her father awaits in Canada, anticipating the day he will again touch Italian soil. Hoping to avoid the wounds of his difficult marriage and the onset of senility, father and daughter retrace footsteps that yield from the Saint of Special Favors a miraculous recovery.
Customer Reviews:
Touching and enchanting.......2007-07-11
I agree with the previous reviewer. This is decidedly NOT another Under the Tuscan Sun, which seems to have an "I'm used to being spoiled" attitude. I bought this book for my mother-in-law because her father did come from Italy (Sicily). I found it on her bookshelf this weekend and decided to read it myself. I was touched by the relationship between Maria and her father, both of whom are appreciative of the way the townspeople embrace them. Her father might have left the town 64 years ago, but you'd never know it by how he and his Canadian-born daughter/son-in-law/grand daughter are scooped up into the fabric of the life in Supino. I smiled and decided that one sentence kind of summed up the aura of the place when the neighbor, Joe, says to Maria on several occasions: "Maria, why do you worry so much?" The Italian focus on family, helping and respecting each other, and getting together over coffee to discuss the day's events made me want to retire and try it here, but wistful that it probably can't be duplicated.
The Library Journal review is full of Merda............2002-01-29
This is not a glamorous, yuppie-audienced "Bella Tuscany." It is not a me-too account of Italy from an yet-another-New-World Italian's eyes.
It's wonderful account of a relationship between a daughter and father, and Old and New World, and a people with its extended "family." It is written totally from the heart and sings of a place and time so unnoticed it now demands attention. Yes, my roots are from the same village, and Ms. Coletta has found a way to write that speaks for and to many of us descended from those brave immigrants who left Italy with nothing, and built something in the New World. She speaks of this town and its people as if they moved her arm and pen themselves.
It is charmingly brief, a short story more than a novel, yet encapsules a soul that is indeed different. This town has its own dialect, and mannerisms different from surrounding parts of Lazio. There are enough happy and sad moments to take the readers heart and make them feel the change of emotion in one sitting, like an amusement park ride.
Read it, and pass it on. If you've never been to the place where "there's nothing to do but always something to eat," then don't knock it because you're just not able to grasp it all.
Average customer rating:
- This book is an awesome read!
- A Fascinating Book For Our Times
- Discovering Secrets Kept Hidden In the Past.
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The Book of Telling: Tracing the Secrets of My Father's Lives
Sharona Muir
Manufacturer: Schocken
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0805242341
Release Date: 2005-06-14 |
Book Description
After her father died, Sharona Muir learned by chance that he had invented Israel’s first rocket.
Muir’s parents divorced when she was very young, but she adored the father she saw on Saturday outings. She knew him as Invention-a-Minute Ben,” a freelancer who designed gadgets and created surgical equipment that saved lives. Itzhak Bentov occasionally told stories of his early days in Israel, but it was only after he died that Muir accidentally learned he had been a member of a top-secret group of scientists called Hemmed, which made weapons for Israel’s War of Independence.
Amazed by this discovery, Muir traveled to Israel to meet her father’s colleagues, a group of idealists–many of them refugees from Europe–who had been summoned by David Ben-Gurion to create weapons for a new nation. With the equivalent of $3,000, these young scientists set up shop in a rooftop shed in Tel Aviv, working day and night, falling asleep at their desks while still holding their pencils.
Through the memories they share, Muir comes to know the brilliant, impassioned, and creative young Bentov. She weaves her own memories of him into their stories: demonstrating his latest invention for her, taking her canoeing, sharing his wilder thoughts about consciousness and the cosmos. As the truths she seeks emerge, Muir elegantly evokes the hubbub of Jerusalem streets, the uncommon lives of her hosts, and the land and skyscapes of the Negev. The result–a story of invention and self-invention, of Israel’s founding generation, and of a deep, abiding love between father and daughter–is an incandescent memoir.
Customer Reviews:
This book is an awesome read!.......2006-12-09
Muir's style is incredibly striking and her characters and stories are interesting and unique as is the way she weaves everything together. Not only is book relevant historically, but touching as father/daughter relationship is described. Pulls at the heart of anyone who has loved and lost her daddy. This is a great book to read and discuss with friends.
A Fascinating Book For Our Times.......2006-11-27
With rockets attacking Israel, there's no better book to read than
this lovely, fascinating memoir/history, recently rave-reviewed in the
"Times Literary Supplement" and "The Jerusalem Post." There is so much
to think about in this rich book, and the prose stands up to many
readings. It's billed as a memoir but is so much more than that.
Muir, the only child of an enigmatic, divorced father who kept her a
secret from his friends, discovered after his death that he had
invented Israel's first rocket, in a top-secret group of weaspons
scientists during Israel's '48 war. These scientists later became rthe
creators of everything from Israel's nukes to her national water
system, but their '48 story was untold. By contrast, Muir's father,
Itzhak Bentov, left Israel for the US where, as a freelance inventor in
the basement of his house, he created the world's first remote-operated
cardiac catheter, still in use. Bentov also gained acclaim as the
author of the New Age bestseller Stalking The Wild Pendulum: On the
Mechanics of Consciousness. Muir's book weaves together her memories
of a "mad scientist" father, who was her inspiration and her
heartbreak, as well as the wartime stories of his comrades, and her
personal search for the meanings of these histories. A family tale in
its personal complexity, the book is also timely because of the image
of the rocket: you can't help comparing Hezbollah's 10,000-odd rockets
with Israel's first rocket (Bentov's brainchild) which was 15 inches
long and improvised out of a water-pipe. It symbolized a newly-born
Israel's desperate creativity. Bentov's assistant on the rocket
project tells us: "It was like, sort of, a miniature Manhattan
Project. True, we didn't have the time or the resources to develop
anything new. We barely had the time to copy what already existed to
save ourselves. But that rocket, I can't tell you how exciting it
was. Because it meant we had a future." The group's executive
commander, a refugee from Russia, revealed that the scientists'
creativity began within, by having to invent new selves after their
roots were erased by the Holocaust. In his words: "I had no past, no
family. I was no one. I could do anything." The former head of
Israel's missile programme sums it up: "Instead of tradition, we had
improvisation." Beyond the timeliness of the book, however, is a
universal and timeless theme: the nature of invention itself. A poet
who loves science, Muir lovingly and brilliantly depicts the passion of
inventors and gives each of their inventions poetic resonance. The
"invisible mine," produced by one Israeli scientist, becomes a metaphor
for the destructive potential of scientific creativity when applied to
military uses. The recoilless cannon, which seemingly violates Newton'
s law of action and reaction, accompanies her father's, and Israel's,
urge to move forward without reacting to the devastation of the past.
In a brilliant and touching chapter near the end, Muir, reading her
father's laboratory notebooks, stumbles across gynecological devices
intended to keep women from pain and injury - and discovers a
tenderness and love in her father that had been hidden from her during
his lifetime. As Muir tells her story, the "Telling" itself changes
her, teaching us that a story is also an invention, and, like others,
has the power to change its inventor.
Discovering Secrets Kept Hidden In the Past........2005-10-05
This memoir traces the secret life of the author's father in Israel (in its early days), the coming to terms with her father's past, and the background of the founding of Israel and all it entailed. She enjoyed hearing her father's 'stories' of his life in Israel, where he had been a member of scientists and idealists, summoned by David Ben-Gurion to develop weapons for defense.
Bentov had jokingly called himself "Invention-a-Minute Ben" but she had no idea how important his invention of the first rocket launcher was to the war of Independence, and why he left that new state and came to United States of America. During the Arab-Israeli conflict, there were five invading armies, and the team of men and women who had to come up with the alternative to death worked around the clock. It was her father, in fact, who came up with the weapon called Loretta; another was developed with a two-inch-bore, but Ben's had only a one-inch-bore.
"While challenging the David-and-Goliath myth, historians agree on the hardships of the first round of the invasion, before the truce on June 11, 1948. A movie was made, 'Exodus,' and Pat Boone wrote the words to the song used in that docudrama. She looks on the photograph of this group of the brightest and bravest, many of them refugees from Europe, she seems to have a jaded eye on the group which was called Hemmed.
For the book, she traveled to Israel and interview many of the scientists. All admired and liked her jolly father, he was at the center of the picture, as he must have been in all of the plans to save his people. I wonder who that is pretending to be Hitler on the left with mustache, hat and raincoat. No one else was dressed in that fashion. It reminds me of the way Mrs. Keys described Julius Rosenberg when she might accidentally run into him on the elevator of the apartment house where they both lived in New York. He always wore a trench coat and hat as if he had something to hide, she'd related.
She began her search for the truth about her father in his basement laboratory. The 'telling' is to tell the truth as she lived it, later discovered it, and believes it to be. This was a self-discovery voyage into the past and the future of Israel.
Happy New Year, Rabbi.
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- Another FBI Girl
- Heartwarming Memoir of a 60s-era Childhood
- Growing up fifties-style in the seventies
- touching and unforgettable
- Dysfunction personified
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FBI Girl: How I Learned to Crack My Father's Code
Maura Conlon-McIvor
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0446533106 |
Book Description
From an evocative new voice comes the touching childhood memoir of an Irish Catholic girl struggling to connect with her enigmatic FBI agent father. Young Maura Conlon's dad is a secret agent. And Maura knows what that means: chasing cars, jumping over buildings, handcuffing bad guys, just like on The FBI, her favorite TV show. But no matter how many times Maura asks her father about his work, he never says anything. So Maura decides to become an FBI girl-in-training. Balancing the rigors of Catholic school with reading the latest Nancy Drew mysteries, keeping track of license plates on the neighborhood cars, and jotting down observations in her special FBI girl notebook is a lot of work, but Maura is determined to infiltrate her dad's silent world. However, it will take the birth of a Down's syndrome baby and a family tragedy before she has the courage to confront him using real words instead of cryptic code. A heartwarming tale of a father/daughter relationship, FBI GIRL is about family bonds, the trials that test them, and the triumphs that make them stronger.
Download Description
Young Maura Conlonís dad is a secret agent. And Maura knows what that means: chasing cars, jumping over buildings, handcuffing bad guys, just like on The FBI, her favorite TV show. But no matter how many times Maura asks her father about his work, he never says anything. So Maura decides to become an FBI girl-in-training. Balancing the rigors of Catholic school with reading the latest Nancy Drew mysteries, keeping track of license plates on the neighborhood cars, and jotting down observations in her special FBI girl notebook is a lot of work, but Maura is determined to infiltrate her dadís silent world. However, it will take the birth of a Downís syndrome baby and a family tragedy before she has the courage to confront him using real words instead of cryptic code. A heartwarming tale of a father/daughter relationship, FBI GIRL is about family bonds, the trials that test them, and the triumphs that make them stronger.
Customer Reviews:
Another FBI Girl.......2005-07-20
This is a great story! Being the daughter of an agent myself, I could relate. The author does a terrific story of bringing you back into time and seeing events occur through a child's eyes.
I stayed up to read this book in one night. I truly recommend this book.
Heartwarming Memoir of a 60s-era Childhood.......2005-04-17
"FBI Girl" is not about the FBI. Nor is it, really, about Maura Conlon-McIvor's father in his role as an FBI agent. It is, instead, a memoir of the childhold of an Irish-American girl attempting to understand her non-communicative, somewhat dysfunctional father, and loving and caring for her Down's Syndrome brother. This brother, Joey, and Maura's exceptionally warm mother, are the glue that holds this family together.
It is a testament to Maura's parents that when their severely-retarded son Joey was born, they did not put him into an institution, which would have been common in the mid-1960s. Maura herself is fiercely protective of Joey, and believes that anyone without a Down's syndrome child in the family is missing something. This is an attitude shared by her father, who believes that the developmentally disabled are really the smart ones and the so-called "normal" people are ignorant. When you read about some of the reactions of the Conlon's neighbors (which range from shock, to avoidance, to guilty stares, to embarrassment and, occasionally, caring and compassion), you don't doubt that this is true.
Maura has a bigger problem, however, communicating with her father who, in her eyes, speaks in some sort of code. Joe Conlon obviously loves his five children, and his love is demonstrated by doing things, rather than talking (whenever Conlon does not want to answer a question, he changes the subject entirely.) Maura believes, incorrectly, that Joe Conlon's job as an FBI special agent precludes him from talking about anything substantive. In fact, as Maura discovers, Conlon's behavior was nothing learned at Quantico or ordered by J. Edgar Hoover.
The story warmly evokes 1960s Los Angeles. Maura Conlon lived with with her parents, sister and three brothers in an unidentified suburb of Los Angeles (20 minutes from Disneyland and 40 minutes from Hollywood.) The name of the suburb doesn't matter -- whether it's Downey or Fullerton or Los Alamitos or West Covina or Azusa, or any one of the other suburbs that run into one another in this part of the world, the story would be the same. It is hilarious, however, to read about young Maura playing Nancy Drew, writing down license plate numbers and desperately looking for high intrigue in this bland world of tract homes.
What is also relevant is Maura's religious Catholic upbringing, which provides Maura with a strong faith, a strict way to live, and more than a few interesting stories. A less salutory aspect is that Maura grows up strictly differentiating between "Catholics" and "publics," believing, among other things, that public school kids put drugs in the mustard and ketchup bottles. This belief is proven false when Maura herself goes to public school, with the backing of her former teacher, a nun.
Above all, this is the story of a painfully shy, highly imaginative girl who finally finds her own voice. Maura Conlon-McIvor has a compelling story to tell, which is well worth reading. As a contemporary of the author, I enjoyed the 1960s references, which took me back to my youth. Yet Maura Conlon-McIvor's story is unique. I think it gives a greater understanding of living with and loving the disabled than anything I've read thus far. Although it is somewhat less satisfying in addressing the author's father, it is definitely a worthwhile read.
Growing up fifties-style in the seventies.......2004-11-03
FBI father, Catholic school nuns, big family, sixties-seventies, Downs-syndrome child...I expected yet another story of growing up stifled in the suburbs, with some illicit sex and scandal.
In fact, Conlon-McIver describes a remarkably functional family, bound together by an amazing generosity of spirit. Fascinated by her father's career and her Nancy Drew books, she remembers keeping a log that includes every neighbor's license plate. She wants her father to bring home stories of exciting crimes he solved.
Reviewers have focused Maura's father, Joe, who refused to talk about his work and in fact didn't talk much at all. However, linguist Deborah Tannen has written about the differences in male and female communication styles and John Gray reminds us that men are from Mars. Men just don't want to talk about "my day at work." Like Joe Conlon, they communicate through action.
Reading between the lines, Joe was trained as a lawyer. Although he carried a gun and badge, he probably worked in offices, pushing paper rather than chasing bad guys. He might have been assigned to white collar crime. Here's a clue: he came home regularly for supper nearly every day. So there probably weren't a whole lot of exciting stories to tell.
And we should note that he didn't brush off Maura's questions with ridicule: he just changed the subject. Once he even shared a "trick" of looking out the rear view mirror, probably acquired from another agent who was more active in actual criminal pursuit.
Joe took his kids out to play baseball on Saturday afternoons (another clue: bad guys don't work nine to five weekdays). He even built a ball field. He did chores around the house, apparently without complaint, everything from changing diapers to folding laundry and mowing lawns.
Most significantly, he didn't withdraw when his last child, Joey, was born with Down's syndrome. Joe not only remained a caring father, but also raised significant funds for a group home for other developmentally disabled children.
Maura's mother, a former beauty queen, never seems too tired or impatient to spend time with her five children. She's creative and playful, sensitive to Maura's need to attend public school rather than continue to an all-girls Catholic high school.
However, the mother's ideas seem more progressive than her cooking. The family dinner table seems more fifties than sixties. I have to admit I admired the way they managed to stay slim and healthy while eating endless servings of processed, high-carbohydrate food.
And the children seem remarkably unselfish, as they pitch in to care for Joey resisting stares and embarrassment. This family learned the joy of living with a developmentally disabled child in a time, place and social environment where those attitudes were hardly commonplace.
Even the nuns are remarkably benevolent; one fussy teacher who complains about Maura's E's in handwriting class, but she melts as she learns more about Maura.
Because the book focuses so intently on family, it's hard to get a sense of the role of friends in Maura's early life. She mentions being neglected by the popular girls but we don't get episodes of real meanness or of the close friendships young girls typically develop.
Now comes the challenge: How does Maura Conlon-McIver keep the pages turning while describing a happy childhood? She's not sticky or sentimental. She tells the story with crisp sentences, studded with original metaphors. Most importantly, Conlon-McIvor paces the story as if she were writing a novel, no easy task when writing a memoir.
Toward the end, she reports a tragedy that scars what should have been a happy climax to her grade school years. And she ends on a bittersweet note, growing aware of her talents but also her family's unspoken conflicts.
I once heard a psychologist speak about families on the basis of real research rather than myths. He claimed that families held together based on what they didn't say, rather than on openness. Perhaps it is the unrealistic expectation of free-flowing communication that harms families, rather than the actual silence. And maybe the Conlon household wasn't perfect, but I bet a lot of people would have gladly traded places with any member of that family.
touching and unforgettable.......2004-10-22
I found FBI Girl to be both touching and unforgettable. Conlon-McIvor's adeptness at describing the details of her youth will resonate with anyone who grew up in "suburbia" in the '60's and '70's. I felt like I was at the dinner table, in the FBI car and in the classroom along with young Maura as she navigated her way through her quiet childhood. Her book reminds us that sometimes the quietest amongst us have the most to say. How lucky for us that she found her "voice" and shares it with us through this loving memoir to her family. This story will stay with you for a long time.
Dysfunction personified.......2004-10-20
A poignant, often funny look at the efforts of a loving, wildly imaginative daughter trying to invent an acceptable personna for her uncommunicative father. An FBI agent with a gun in his dresser drawer and a car trunk littered with spent bullet casings, she decides his job is responsible for his excessively secretive nature. It takes years for her to understand even J. Edgar Hoover doesn't demand such unflinching secrecy about every aspect of his agents' private lives. A moving and well-written view of a complicated family.
Book Description
Five nights a week, María Elena Salinas looks into a television camera and delivers the news to millions of television viewers. But when the newscast is over, she is like so many other women across the country: a wife and a mother, struggling to find balance between her personal and professional life. When María Elena accidentally discovers her recently deceased father had once been a Catholic priest, all she knew was suddenly thrown into question. Turning her investigative eye on herself for the first time, she begins a long, arduous journey for answers.
In I Am My Father's Daughter, María Elena tells the amazing story of her journey to the top amid her struggle to come to terms with family secrets. From her childhood in a poverty-stricken neighborhood of Los Angeles and her adolescent years spent working in a sweatshop, to her astonishing break into network television, along with her coverage of some of the world's major events and disasters, Salinas frames her life behind the camera in the same warm and straightforward tone that is her on-air trademark.
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A Daughter's Love: Remembering my Father, my Teacher and my Friend (s)
Caroline A. O. Thompson
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0595802346 |
Book Description
Since we must all face grief someday, this book can be of great help. It is an additional comfort for anyone seeking material on consolation and strength from the pain of loss due to death or divorce. I highly recommend it.—E. S. Etuk, Ph.D., author Recipe For Success: The 21 Indispensable Things That Can Help You Succeed in Life A Daughter's Love is a must-read for anyone going through grief due to the loss of a loved one. Author Caroline Thompson uses the unexpected and unfortunate circumstances of her father's death to embark on a bold journey of self-discovery and introspection. Along the way, she triumphs over the sorrows of death and entices the reader to examine the notion of “life” and what it means to be alive from a spiritual point of view. The very situation that caused her to be overwhelmed and on the “brink”, she transforms into a message of hope, courage and healing. The presence of God in her experience is ever present throughout this book.—Dwight N. Nimblett, Coordinator, University Learning Center, Florida International University, Miami, Florida
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