Average customer rating:
- Nice man, wandering story...
- ****LOVED IT****
- MEASURE OF A MAN does not measure up
- SPIRITUAL "Of, Relating to, Consisting of, or Affecting the Spirit" MERRIAM-WEBSTER
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The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah's Book Club)
Sidney Poitier
Manufacturer: HarperSanFrancisco
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0061357901
Release Date: 2007-01-26 |
Book Description
"I have no wish to play the pontificating fool, pretending that I've suddenly come up with the answers to all life's questions. Quite that contrary, I began this book as an exploration, an exercise in self-questing. In other words, I wanted to find out, as I looked back at a long and complicated life, with many twists and turns, how well I've done at measuring up to the values I myself have set."
—Sidney Poitier
In this luminous memoir, a true American icon looks back on his celebrated life and career. His body of work is arguably the most morally significant in cinematic history, and the power and influence of that work are indicative of the character of the man behind the many storied roles. Sidney Poitier here explores these elements of character and personal values to take his own measure—as a man, as a husband and a father, and as an actor.
Poitier credits his parents and his childhood on tiny Cat Island in the Bahamas for equipping him with the unflinching sense of right and wrong and of self-worth that he has never surrendered and that have dramatically shaped his world. "In the kind of place where I grew up," recalls Poitier, "what's coming at you is the sound of the sea and the smell of the wind and momma's voice and the voice of your dad and the craziness of your brothers and sisters...and that's it." Without television, radio, and material distractions to obscure what matters most, he could enjoy the simple things, endure the long commitments, and find true meaning in his life.
Poitier was uncompromising as he pursued a personal and public life that would honor his upbringing and the invaluable legacy of his parents. Just a few years after his introduction to indoor plumbing and the automobile, Poitier broke racial barrier after racial barrier to launch a pioneering acting career. Committed to the notion that what one does for a living articulates to who one is, Poitier played only forceful and affecting characters who said something positive, useful, and lasting about the human condition.
Here is Poitier's own introspective look at what has informed his performances and his life. Poitier explores the nature of sacrifice and commitment, price and humility, rage and forgiveness, and paying the price for artistic integrity. What emerges is a picture of a man in the face of limits—his own and the world's. A triumph of the spirit, The Measure of a Man captures the essential Poitier.
Customer Reviews:
Nice man, wandering story..........2007-10-04
I had to force myself to finish this book, simply because I didn't want to waste my money by leaving it when I was tempted to. It was interesting to realize that an actor whose work I had appreciated came from such a spare beginning, but by halfway through the book, the continuous wandering asides and disclaimers of the author so overwhelmed the narrative that I could barely tolerate it. It seems to me that the story could have been told to greater effect with half the words!
****LOVED IT****.......2007-09-24
Kept me interested...I really enjoyed this book...I couldn't put the book down until I finished reading it!!!!
MEASURE OF A MAN does not measure up.......2007-09-21
Wow, a book about Sidney Poitier. An outstanding actor with a book that just does not give him true justice. The reading tends to be dry and lacks substance. His life struggles could have been the story of any man or woman, black or white. The writing and editing are weak in some sections.
You should rent or buy one of Poitier's movies instead. His movie roles show his true skills.
SPIRITUAL "Of, Relating to, Consisting of, or Affecting the Spirit" MERRIAM-WEBSTER.......2007-08-30
I've always been smitten with Poitier's voice--his diction and control on film, the flow of his words as they travel in and around ideas during interviews--so I read THE MEASURE OF A MAN with an ear for his voice. I wondered, Is it translatable to print? It is, but that means allowing Poitier's thoughts to meander until they find their point, and that his thoughts are less formulated (or formal) and more "in his own words," than they might be if they were written by a biographer. (I read just enough "You know?"s "You hear me when I tell you?"s and "You follow?"s to feel like he was talking to me, but not too many to be annoyed.) I read to imagine what it might be like to have a conversation with Poitier. The book reinforced what I already knew--I'd be as intimidated as heck--but it also gave me the courage to think I'd be able to speak my mind.
As an editor, I read Poitier's book because I wanted to know how he defines a "spiritual" autobiography. Is it a I-Was-A-Sinner-But-I-Found-Jesus-And-Now-I'm-Saved chronology? Is it about how Christianity or another faith influenced his life? Neither. Poitier examines the people, events, circumstances, beliefs, and so on, which have related to, consisted of, or affected his "spirit," and, in doing so, he writes about childhood experiences in the Bahamas, his changing perceptions of his parents, how he adapts to living in the United States, his approach to acting and filmmaking, and his attitude toward fatherhood. He also shares a debate a friend and he had about the Basic Truth of Nature, a debate worth every second of reading it takes to get to.
Is THE MEASURE OF A MAN going to satisfy readers interested only in Poitier's film career? No, but I urge them to read it anyway, if for no other reason than to find out how his "spirit" influenced the films he starred in.
Books.......2007-08-21
I purchased this book for my daughter and she loved it!
She is a teacher and plans to teach this story in her English class fall 2007.
A great story with a great moral.
Book Description
My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life.
“Why did you leave Sierra Leone?”
“Because there is a war.”
“You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?”
“Yes, all the time.”
“Cool.”
I smile a little.
“You should tell us about it sometime.”
“Yes, sometime.”
This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.
What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.
In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.
This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.
Customer Reviews:
A powerful and eloquent voice..........2007-10-22
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah is a moving, tortured yet uplifting story of Beah's involvement in war.
Living in Sierra Leone, Beah was a typical 12-year old, playing soccer, dancing, singing rap music, reciting Shakespeare and hanging out with his friends. Beah and a bunch of his buddies ventured to another town when civil war came to their village. Not being able to make it back home, they were forced to flee--trying to find somewhere safe as well as a source of food. Their goal was to avoid being captured or killed by the rebels. Instead, they were discovered by the government army and turned into soldiers. Some of these boys were so slight that they couldn't even hold the AK-47s they were given as weapons. They were also given prodigious amounts of illegal drugs. For three years, Beah served with the army until UNICEF removed him from military service. During those three years, he was shot a number of times and escaped death repeatedly.
While Beah's physical injuries healed, the psychological scars from the war tortured him for years. He especially suffered from nightmares and migraines. With the help of the staff of UNICEF and NGO, he not only healed enough to be "repatriated," but he was also chosen as a representative to the United Nations First International Children's Parliament. It was here that he met the woman who would become his surrogate mother, and arrange for his eventual escape from Sierra Leone.
Ishmael Beah is a powerful, eloquent voice for the many children who were forced to become soldiers. These children were robbed of their families, their limbs, their childhoods, and often, their lives. After a nightmare, "I would try desperately to think about my childhood, but I couldn't. The war memories had formed a barrier that I had to break in order to think about any moment in my life before the war."
I wish that Beah had gone into more detail about his journey to the United States. Perhaps he's saving it for another book. But even without this information, A Long Way Gone is an excellent book by a very young author.
a long way gone.......2007-10-20
This is an incredible account of Ishmael Beah's life thus far. How a boy could endure such hell on earth is beyond comprehension, however this young author awakens his readers, and with his words shows us the wide spectrum of love and hate that we humans are capable of inflicting upon each other. A truly enlightening memoir.
Everyone needs to read this book.......2007-10-19
Amazing, horrifying, well-written, and a book that every American should read in order to better understand the conflicts of Africa. What strikes me most about this boy's story is the fact that he was in the governmental army, not the rebel army. But many times there was no difference between the two. Such facts certainly make me doubt that any African or UN "peacekeeping" force will be able to change anything in that region.
Excellent.......2007-10-18
What an interesting story. Having lived all over the world, it is very interesting how stories of civil strife always seem to include child soldiers whether Palestinian, Lebanese, Iranian, Liberian or Somalian.
I recommend this book for those interested in the world around them.
Heartbreaking!.......2007-10-18
This was one of my Book Club's selections for this fall. I thought it was easy to read and I am glad I saw the movie "Blood Diamond" before reading this. It's a difficult subject matter but worth reading.
Book Description
In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of The Caged Virgin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West.
One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist's murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie Submission.
Infidel is the eagerly awaited story of the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished -- and sometimes reviled -- political superstar and champion of free speech. With a gimlet eye and measured, often ironic, voice, Hirsi Ali recounts the evolution of her beliefs, her ironclad will, and her extraordinary resolve to fight injustice done in the name of religion. Raised in a strict Muslim family and extended clan, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries largely ruled by despots. In her early twenties, she escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Even though she is under constant threat -- demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from her family and clan -- she refuses to be silenced.
Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright little girl evolved out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no story could be timelier or more significant.
Customer Reviews:
Gripping.......2007-10-21
A window into another world. I cried,grimaced,cringed, and could not put it down. Ali writes of a courageous and tenacious spirit that gives hope to all humanity. If you want a peek into the lives of women in the Muslim faith then open the cover and begin.
Infidel.......2007-10-17
I am a native of the Netherlands. The book was informative to me.
I ordered the book as it would give me a current idea of the political/social landscape of the Netherlands, including especially the immigration issues over there.
An Argument for Illiteracy .......2007-10-16
Ayaan Hirsi Ali's parents should blame themselves for her leaving Islam: they allowed her to learn to read and attend school with nonbelievers. Any first-rate fundamentalist knows the quickest way to open a mind is to expose it to an outside influence--in Ali's case, "trashy" novels brought to school. If her parents had home schooled her, she would have become a mother's, father's, brother's, and husband's dream--a good, submissive (hollow) Somali woman.
Ali beautifully traces her conversion, with all its stops and starts, which is the way it happens with most "thinking" people. It's important to note that she does not want to leave her faith; in fact, she struggles to hold on to it. Her life would have been easier, as in predictable (albeit more painful) if she'd succeeded.
INFIDEL is an influence that will be hard to shake free of, and I'm glad of it.
One of the Saviors of Civilization!.......2007-10-15
In "Infidel," the brilliant and beautiful freethinker Ayaan Hirsi Ali cuts through the irrational rationalization of the world's most brutal and oppressive ideology: Not "radical Islam," but ISLAM, period. And Hirsi Ali should know, because, as she explains in her autobiography, she was for many years a VERY DEVOUT MUSLIM. As an outward expression of her ardent devotion to Islam and its god Allah - even before it became more "fashionable" where she lived in Africa - Hirsi Ali covered herself from head to toe in a baggy cloak so that her femaleness would not be revealed and endanger her to the ubiquitous perils for women in her culture. As we should already recognize from seeing the abuse with our own eyes, the fervent claim that Islam does NOT oppress women - frequently quite violently - represents one of the biggest deceits in the world today, and those who constantly put forth this palpably false assertion dismissing gender-apartheid within Islam should be loudly denounced. But the highly important work of Hirsi Ali goes much farther than simply denouncing the incredibly hideous treatment of women within Islam, as Ayaan undoubtedly represents one of the greatest voices of reason of all time in a battle for the very existence of human civilization.
Horribly mutilated at the age of five at the harsh hands of her stern grandmother and a local barber with a pair of scissors who cut off her genitals like a slab of meat, Ayaan Hirsi Ali speaks out loudly and clearly that such atrocities in her native Somalia are done not only to virtually EVERY female of a certain age, but also IN THE NAME OF ISLAM. In fact, it was surprising for her to discover that there are claims - many quite frantic and unconvincing - that Islam does NOT call for female genital mutilation or "circumcision," as this despicable "cultural tradition" is euphemistically and flaccidly termed. Of course, not only Muslims practice this heinous savagery, but the majority of women and girls with disfigured genitals - an estimated 140 MILLION worldwide at the time of this writing - ARE Muslims, and such oppressive barbarism goes hand in hand with an ideology that without a doubt considers women as second-class subhumans designed mostly for sexual release, baby making and household slavery.
Needless to say, someone with such intelligence and wisdom as Ayaan Hirsi Ali was not content to spend her precious life merely as a piece of meat and slave. Hirsi Ali escaped this oppressive and dreadful future - and found a liberating and exquisite non-Muslim world that she could barely have imagined, based on the virulent infidel-hating dogma she had been taught since childhood. Although she would likely not opine that the non-Muslim world is perfect by any means, Hirsi Ali's vivid and disturbing descriptions of the contrast between what she left behind and what she discovered must give serious pause to the myriad and often trivial complaints against Western civilization. As she has said in interviews, YOU may spit upon the freedoms you were born with, but she cannot be so unappreciative and disrespectul, because she has literally experienced and witnessed REAL hell on Earth, and she is extremely grateful to have gotten out. By contrast, Western values at this current time seem like paradise - this notion is precisely what Hirsi Ali has attempted to impart over and over again in her writings and interviews. In other words, we've got it not just good but GREAT. And this greatness is well worth fighting for - nay, it is ESSENTIAL we fight for it.
Despite the denials and justifications by those who cannot or will not face the horrible truth, the threat against the very survival of Western civilization is real, large and growing. If we do not wake up to this threat quickly, we will very likely find ourselves living in a world of submission and enslavement that we cannot even conceive. Hirsi Ali knows these facts to be true, as she has already lived through such a nightmare - and SHE DOES NOT WANT TO GO BACK. We who are enlightened cannot blame her at all, as we absolutely do not wish such a future for our own children - a perfectly dreadful thought straight out of our worst fears.
Do yourself and the world a favor - buy this book, read it, digest it, pass it along and support the efforts of the handful of individuals such as Ayaan Hirsi Ali in saving human civilization.
Acharya S
Author, "The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold," "Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled," and "Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of The Christ"
Fascinating Story--Live.......2007-10-15
I found that when I read this book, I kept on going back to the latest book by Christopher Hitchens _God is not Great_. I'm glad I read his book first, as Ali's book epitomizes what can be so wrong with religious fundamentalism that has gone astray or been misinterpreted.
This book was fascinating from cover to cover. The author's voice was loud and her storytelling was vivid. Each of the sections shed light on different periods and aspects of her life. I was repeatedly struck with how she was able to overcome her circumstances and be so incredibly brave to start her life anew on the run from a mismatched arranged marriage.
I also appreciated her social commentary about her life and the life around her that she witnessed. She wasn't judgemental in a negative or overbearing manner, but she did comment forcefully at times about what she didn't like or didn't fully understand.
This book is worth reading and will help dispel cultural ignorance and eurocentricism. The audience for this is wide--lay audience and academic.
Book Description
Do you know the real Paula Deen? You may think you know the butter-loving, finger-licking, joke-cracking queen of melt-in-your-mouth Southern cuisine. You may have even visited The Lady & Sons to taste for yourself the down-home delicacies that made her famous and even heard some version of her Cinderella story (a single mom with two teenage sons started a brown-bag lunch business with $200 and wound up with a thriving restaurant, a fairy-tale second marriage, and wildly popular television shows), but you have never heard the intimate details of her often bumpy road to fame and fortune.
Courageously honest, downright inspiring, and just a little bit saucy, Paula shares the highs and lows of her life in the inimitable charming and irreverent style that you know from her television shows and personal appearances. She talks about long childhood summers spent in a bathing suit and roller skates and hard years living in the back of her father's gas station; a buzzing high school social life of sleepovers, parties, cheerleading, and boys; and a difficult marriage. The death of her beloved parents precipitated a debilitating agoraphobia that crippled her for years. But even when the going got tough, Paula never lost the good grace and sense of humor that would eventually help carry her to success and stardom. Of course, you can't get by on charm alone: as Paula has learned, you need plenty of willpower, hard work, and, above all, the love and support of family and friends to finance, sustain, and run a successful restaurant.
In each chapter, Paula shares new recipes: there's serious comfort food like her momma's Chocolate-Dippy Doughnuts, Courage Chili for when you know life's going to get tough, Sexy Oxtails for seducing that special someone, and the recipe for her new mother-in-law's Banana Nut Delight Cake that Paula finally got just right. And you'll love the never-before-seen photos of her family.
In this memoir, Paula Deen speaks as frankly and intimately as few women in the public eye have ever dared. Whether she's telling tales of good times or bad, her story is proof that the old-fashioned American dream is alive and kicking, and there still is such a thing as a real-life happy ending.
Customer Reviews:
Inspiring ... A Woman of Substance!.......2007-10-20
Loved, loved, LOVED this book! Just when you think you've reached the end of your rope, Paula comes along to remind you of what she's overcome (paralyzing agoraphobia, the early deaths of both of her parents, abusive relationships) and proves it's never too late to achieve your dreams. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll bring out the butter and start whipping up your own specialties.
Wife's B'day.......2007-10-18
My wife asked for the Paula Deen book. I ordered it; paid for it; and received it promptly and safely. She is reading it now, and was pleased with it. She was also pleased with the calendar which was my idea (an impulse purchase).
Authentic Paula.......2007-10-14
What I think most readers will enjoy most about this one is that it is written in Paula's lovely southern twang. It's really her; people. It seems like she recorded her words and someone typed it all up nicely for her. I am intrigued by her ups and downs, and so glad that she ended up on top of her game. You will learn some things about Paula that you didn't know (and maybe didn't want to) but come away from this book loving her just the same.
I loved this book!!!.......2007-09-19
I loved Paula Deen from the first time I watched her show on "Food TV". However there was so much about her life that I did not know. Reading this book really brought me in to her personal life--what is important to her, her battle with agoraphobia, and even some of her mistakes. I read this book while I was on vacation--could'nt put it down!!!! She has such a funny way of telling you about her life--her usual Paula Deen craziness!!!! LOVED IT!!
Paula's book is cookin'.......2007-09-12
This book was so easy and fun to read. Paula's writes like she talks. I admired her courage in starting a business. She never allowed herself have the option of giving up.
Book Description
This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls “Anne Lamott's hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister”) is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.
Customer Reviews:
If an amazingly detailed, lovely travelogue fell in love with a syrupy, dramatic self-help book.......2007-10-22
I, like other reviewers, almost gave up on this one before i reached the middle. This author has a penchant for corny mellowdrama and, as one reviewer said, you'll probably be rolling your eyes at some details of her self-imposed drama. However, recommended to me by a friend, I pressed on and found the pearl.
Like one reviewer noted, reviews are strangely polarized between glowing and disgusted. I completely understand this though: those with a cynical, straight-forward nature will feel sea-sick reading all her cotton-candy perspective, over-the-top, and woe-is-me pleas; those with a sensitive nature will be completely loyal to her intimate details, vulnerbility, and personal insights. If you are thrown-off by her self-pity and drama, keep reading... you'll likely get in to the increasingly interesting storyline. And, after the first third in America and Italy, it gets far less syrupy.
I have to give this book a good rating though, because, in the end, it is a remarably detailed, winding journey that gets more addictive the deeper it gets. It is filled with gold nuggets of personal insight and-- the part I found most redeeming-- paints such a detailed vivid picture of life travelling and encounters with different cultures. Many treasures unfold to reward the patient and persevering reader.
I would recommend this book to anyone thirsty for detailed and vivid travelogues, and those with sensitive, introspective perspectives on their life.
Eat, Pray, Love.......2007-10-22
The beginning and the end of the book was interesting and was a fast read. The middle of the book, when she was in India was way too slow to read and did not hold my interest.
An inspiration........2007-10-22
This book was wonderful, and an easy read. There are so many wonderful gems through out the book regarding life philosophies. The story made me laugh and cry, and inspired me to look beyond as to what I need to change in my life in order to keep my life fresh, fun, and moving forward. I recommend this book to all women!
Wonderful Read!.......2007-10-22
I was mezmerized by this book before I even received it in the mail. I'm not easily influenced by some of Oprah's choices in books, but this one was different. Enjoying food is one of my favorite past times, and this writer describes her love of food so well. I am still reading it, and just loving every minute of it.
Brilliant!.......2007-10-22
What a brilliant communicator, marvelous, entertaining, fresh, thought provoking! It is amazing how a person can be so original in expression, and at the same time be such a stereotypical example of the breed!! The book is an adventure in information binging, born of an affirmation deficit. Very helpful in understanding the type, a veritable SUPER WAL-MART of coping mechanisms. So well worth the read. Sure hope she finally got fixed!
Amazon.com
Jeannette Walls's father always called her "Mountain Goat" and there's perhaps no more apt nickname for a girl who navigated a sheer and towering cliff of childhood both daily and stoically. In The Glass Castle, Walls chronicles her upbringing at the hands of eccentric, nomadic parents--Rose Mary, her frustrated-artist mother, and Rex, her brilliant, alcoholic father. To call the elder Walls's childrearing style laissez faire would be putting it mildly. As Rose Mary and Rex, motivated by whims and paranoia, uprooted their kids time and again, the youngsters (Walls, her brother and two sisters) were left largely to their own devices. But while Rex and Rose Mary firmly believed children learned best from their own mistakes, they themselves never seemed to do so, repeating the same disastrous patterns that eventually landed them on the streets. Walls describes in fascinating detail what it was to be a child in this family, from the embarrassing (wearing shoes held together with safety pins; using markers to color her skin in an effort to camouflage holes in her pants) to the horrific (being told, after a creepy uncle pleasured himself in close proximity, that sexual assault is a crime of perception; and being pimped by her father at a bar). Though Walls has well earned the right to complain, at no point does she play the victim. In fact, Walls' removed, nonjudgmental stance is initially startling, since many of the circumstances she describes could be categorized as abusive (and unquestioningly neglectful). But on the contrary, Walls respects her parents' knack for making hardships feel like adventures, and her love for them--despite their overwhelming self-absorption--resonates from cover to cover. --Brangien Davis
Book Description
Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.
Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town -- and the family -- Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.
What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.
For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story. A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, she lives in New York and Long Island and is married to the writer John Taylor.
TO INQUIRE ABOUT SCHEDULING JEANNETTE WALLS FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS PLEASE CONTACT:
Keppler Speakers
Dustin L. Jones
Associate, College & University Division
703.516.4000 (P)
703.516.4819 (F)
Customer Reviews:
Eye-Opening.......2007-10-22
Besides the fact that this is beautifully written, it gives tremendous insight into the world of the dysfunctional. Counselors, social agency employees, teachers, etc., could benefit from looking inside the mind of people who can never "pull it together" and yet have a self-righteous attitude about what is wrong with the rest of us. Even if you've simply wondered if the quarter you throw in the cup is justified, you'll love what this story throws your way.
Fascinating Memoir.......2007-10-21
As I read the book at the suggestion of the author's parents-in law (who are friends of my mine), I had no idea of what the book was about nor whether or not I would like it. But I was captivated from the first line and found it hard to put down. I alternated between being fascinated by Ms. Walls' family and wishing I could have had such an interesting, bohemian childhood, to being horrified by what the children had to suffer because of their partent' chosen lifestyle. It's an honest, absorbing memoir, unlike anything I've read before.
Great Memoir.......2007-10-21
I thought this book was an excellent recall of an unbelievable life. I thought about (and still am) this book long after I read the last page. It is quite a testament to the resilience of children, and to how many little heroes we have running around in our midst. The author, and her sibling's, bravery to survive is stunning. A quick read, I couldn't put it down.
The Glass Castle.......2007-10-18
This is an amazing book. The life experiences of the author and her siblings really makes you wonder how they turned out as well as they did. It also raises the question of whether the parents suffered from mental illness, were criminally neglectful of their chilren or just truly outside of the box thinkers.
Courageous But Sad.......2007-10-18
Wow...this book is just amazing, i cant believe all the stuff this woman had to go threw as a child...and I'm glad i do not have Rex & Rosemary as my parents....Truly great book and made me cry half of the time.
If I hadn't read this book I would not have thought of what its like to those who hardly eat and are with no money.
This story is amazing and took an impact on me...and I will always remember this amazingly courageous sad story...
Average customer rating:
- Funny and profound
- Grace (Eventually) thoughts on Faith
- Not her best, but still brilliant
- No thank you, no good.
- She's the Best
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Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith
Anne Lamott
Manufacturer: Riverhead Hardcover
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Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
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Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
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Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
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Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
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Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
ASIN: 1594489424
Release Date: 2007-03-20 |
Amazon.com
Through Anne Lamott's many books (including six novels, her bestselling parenting memoir, Operating Instructions, and her popular guide to writing, Bird by Bird) the subject she keeps returning to is her faith, her deeply personal--"erratic," she says--journey in Christianity. Her latest book, Grace (Eventually), is her third collection of her "thoughts on faith," and she took the time to answer a few of our questions.
Questions for Anne Lamott
Amazon.com: This is your third book on faith. How has your perspective changed since you wrote your first one?
Lamott: I wrote my first book on faith when Bill Clinton was president, and I was in a much better mood. I wrote Plan B during the run-up to war in Iraq, and the ensuing catastrophe, so I was very angry, but trying to reconcile that pain and hostility to Jesus's insistence that we are made of love, to love, and be loved, to forgive and be forgiven. Some days went better than others. Also, my son Sam was in his early teens, and that was a LOT easier than when he turned 16 and 17, his ages when I was writing the pieces in Grace (Eventually).
In general, I think Grace (Eventually) is a less angry book. I like how I'm aging, except that my back hurts more often, my knees crack like twigs when I squat, and my memory fails more frequently, in more public and therefore humiliating ways. But I think I complain less. As my best friend said when she was dying, and I was obsessing about my butt, "You just don't have that kind of time."
Amazon.com: What does grace mean for you? How can we better communicate it to each other?
Lamott: Grace is that extra bit of help when you think you are really doomed; also, not coincidentally, when you have finally run out of good ideas on how to proceed, and on how better to control the people or circumstances that are frustrating or defeating you. I experience Grace as a cool ribbon of fresh air when I feel spiritually claustrophobic. Sometimes I experience it as water-wings, something holding me up when I am afraid that I'm going down, or the tide is carrying me away. I know that Grace meets us whereever we are, but does not leave us where it found us. Sometimes it is so small--a couple of seconds relief here, several extra inches there. I wish it were big and obvious, like sky-writing. Oh, well. Grace is not something I DO, or can chase down; but it is something I can receive, when I stop trying to be in charge.
We communicate grace to one another by holding space for people when they are hurt or terrified, instead of trying to fix them, or manage their emotions for them. We offer ourselves as silent companionship, or gentle listening when someone feels very alone. We get people glasses of water when they are thirsty.
Amazon.com: Many of the essays in Grace (Eventually) first appeared in Salon, the online magazine, and that's the way that many readers first found you. How do you see the Internet changing the way people read and write?
Lamott: The Internet makes everything so immediate and spontaneous, which I totally love--UNLESS it has to do with the immediacy of people's negative response to me. Several of the Salon pieces in Grace--for instance, the story about the horrible fight with my son, and the piece about turning the other cheek while being ripped off by The Carpet Guy--generated a couple hundred letters, many of them extremely hostile. Perhaps "spewy" would be a better description. I also sometimes get knee-jerk responses to my mentions of Jesus in my Salon pieces that seem to lump me in the same tradition as Jerry Falwell. But for the most part, I love the populism and egalitarian nature of the Internet: everyone counts the same.
Amazon.com: What stories do people tell you, when they've read your books or know you are a writer?
Lamott: People tell me how relieved they are that I try to tell the truth about how hard it can be to be a mother, or a daughter, or an American in these times. They tell me stories about how awful their own teenagers can be, or how awful they themselves behaved towards their kids or parents; how hard it was to finally be able to adore their mothers, or to forgive their fathers. They tell me their sobriety dates. They whisper to me that they are Christians, too.
Also, they ask if I am able to read their manuscripts, and the name of my agent, and my e-mail address. They ask if we are going to survive the current political difficulties--and I promise them we are. They ask how old my son is now--17 and a half--and how he is doing, which is fantastically, after some of the hard months I wrote about in Grace.
Amazon.com:What lessons do you think you can pass on to others: to your readers, to your son? What lessons does it seem like people have to learn for themselves?
Lamott: All I have to offer is my own truth, my own experience, strength and hope. I can pass on the tool of a God Box, and how for 20 years I have been putting tiny notes in mine and promising God I will keep my sticky fingers off the controls until I hear God's wisdom: sometimes I get an answer because the phone rings, or the mail comes, but at any rate, during every single terrible problem and tragedy, I have been given enough guidance and stamina and even humor to bear up, and be transformed, for the good. I always tell Sam that if you want to make God laugh, tell Her your plans. I tell Sam that if he listens to his best thinking, he will suffer: and to listen to his heart instead, to listen in the silence, and to seek wise counsel.
Amazon.com: You've written nearly a dozen books (including an incredibly popular guide to writing): does writing get any easier? Does it get harder?
Lamott: In a very important way, writing gets easier, because I've been doing it full time now for thirty-plus years, and just as you would get better and better if you practiced your scales on a piano, I've gotten better, and can try harder and harder pieces. But writing is always hard. It does not come naturally to me at all. I sit down at the same time every day, which lets my subconscious realize it's time to get to work. I give myself very short assignments, and let myself write really terrible first drafts. But I grapple with the exact same problems every writer does, which is having equal proportions of self-loathing and grandiosity. I sort of live by the Nike ads: Just Do It. So I sit down. I show up. I do it by pre-arrangement with myself, because I know I'll feel sad and terrible if I shirk on that days writing. I do it as a debt of honor, to myself, and to whatever it is that has given me this gift of being able to tell stories, and to make people laugh. Laughter is carbonated holiness. Other people's good writing is medicine for me, and I hope mine is too, for my readers.
Book Description
The sharp, funny, and heartfelt follow-up to her bestselling Plan B, Anne Lamott's newest collection is a personal exploration of the faith and grace all around us.
In Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, Lamott examines the ways we're caught in life's most daunting predicaments: love, mothering, work, politics, and maybe toughest of all, evolving from who we are to who we were meant to be. This is a complicated process for most of us, and Lamott turns her wit and honesty inward to describe her own intimate, bumpy, and unconventional road to grace and faith.
"I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things," she writes in one of her essays, "that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace's arrival. But no, it's clog and slog and scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark."
Whether she's writing about her unsuccessful efforts to get her money back from an obstinate carpet salesman, grappling with the tectonic shifts in her relationship with her son as he matures, trying to maintain her faith and humor during politically challenging times, or helping a close friend die with dignity, Lamott seeks out both the divinity and the humanity in herself and everything around her. Throughout these essays, she writes of her struggle to find the essence of her faith, which she uncovers in the unlikeliest places. By turns insightful and hilarious, pointed and poignant, Grace (Eventually) is Anne Lamott at her perceptive and irreverent best.
Customer Reviews:
Funny and profound.......2007-08-12
Anne Lamott is honest and engaging. This book is a beautiful testament to a real life lived in faith and hope in the midst of inevitable disappointments and hardships.
Grace (Eventually) thoughts on Faith.......2007-08-08
I bought this book thinking I would get an inspiritial read. Instead I found that the title totally misrepresented the book. This is nothing but a self-centered, self-indulgent, whiny bunch of writings from a drug user/alcoholic, over age hippy, feeling (what?). Certainaly not faith!
Title should read "Poor Me, I can't Think Straight"
Not her best, but still brilliant.......2007-08-01
One of the most popular voices in contemporary spirituality, Anne Lamott has a remarkable gift at handling serious and unfunny topics - religion, motherhood, eating disorders, death - in a witty and disarming way.
Lamott's new book, "Grace Eventually: Further Thoughts On Faith," is a collection of essays, many of which Lamott wrote as a columnist for Salon.com. If you haven't read anything by Lamott before, the best places to start would be "Traveling Mercies" (her bestselling memoir), and "Bird by Bird," (one of the best guide to writing anywhere, another bestseller). But the two things you should know before reading Anne Lamott is that 1) she is an incredible prose artist, quirky and profound, with a style that seems all her own. And 2) she is almost completely neurotic.
"Grace Eventually," is a special book in that Lamott's description of ordinary events make them feel sacred. She is a writer with an ability to make the reader pay attention, feel present, and tune in to the story taking place around them. Although she refers to Jesus consistently, there is little that seems orthodox about Lamott's spiritual journey, and perhaps that is one of the reasons she has such a wide readership.
You'd have to be made out of granite not to find something that moves you in this unique collection of essays. You would also need to adhere to Lamott's precise and strident political positions not to find at least one portion of this book infuriating. Either way, "Grace Eventually" is a provocative and unique read, and any avid reader owes it to themselves to become familiar with one of the country's top writers.
No thank you, no good........2007-07-25
I read another one of Anne's books. The first one I did not like much, and really did not want to read this one, but when you already own it, you feel you must with 16 dollars into the book. It was some repeating of stories I really did not like in the first place, there were a few highlights or good moments, but not enough. I still feel bad for her, but most times I was like "get over it." Now I loved Donald Miller's book, which was along the same mindset, but he seemed deep or maybe just a man. Sorry Anne, you are twice if not more the writer that I am, but I was just not into the book.
She's the Best.......2007-07-25
Her words are equivalent to the phrase "A sight for sore eyes." My copy now has so many underlines and dog ears that I just don't know where to start with quotable quotes--
"IT FEELS AS IF SOMEONE FINALLY CRACKED OPEN A WINDOW THAT HAD BEEN JAMMED."
"...taught me a willingness to help clean up the mess we've made is a crucial part of adult living; that our scary, selfish, damging behavior litters the planet."
"...we get mad at each other, over and over, then we apologize, become friends again: I see how each time this is redemption. How amazing it is to share that."
"Joy is the best makeup."
"Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine."
I use this like a Bible when I need to be called to a higher place. It soothes me, calms me down, and calls me to a (much) higher place. Buy this, Bird By Bird, and the other two from this series. They are GIFTS.
Amazon.com
As a scientist, Albert Einstein is undoubtedly the most epic among 20th-century thinkers. Albert Einstein as a man, however, has been a much harder portrait to paint, and what we know of him as a husband, father, and friend is fragmentary at best. With Einstein: His Life and Universe, Walter Isaacson (author of the bestselling biographies Benjamin Franklin and Kissinger) brings Einstein's experience of life, love, and intellectual discovery into brilliant focus. The book is the first biography to tackle Einstein's enormous volume of personal correspondence that heretofore had been sealed from the public, and it's hard to imagine another book that could do such a richly textured and complicated life as Einstein's the same thoughtful justice. Isaacson is a master of the form and this latest opus is at once arresting and wonderfully revelatory. --Anne Bartholomew
Read "The Light-Beam Rider," the first chapter of Walter Isaacson's Einstein: His Life and Universe.
Five Questions for Walter Isaacson
Amazon.com: What kind of scientific education did you have to give yourself to be able to understand and explain Einstein's ideas?
Isaacson: I've always loved science, and I had a group of great physicists--such as Brian Greene, Lawrence Krauss, and Murray Gell-Mann--who tutored me, helped me learn the physics, and checked various versions of my book. I also learned the tensor calculus underlying general relativity, but tried to avoid spending too much time on it in the book. I wanted to capture the imaginative beauty of Einstein's scientific leaps, but I hope folks who want to delve more deeply into the science will read Einstein books by such scientists as Abraham Pais, Jeremy Bernstein, Brian Greene, and others.
Amazon.com: That Einstein was a clerk in the Swiss Patent Office when he revolutionized our understanding of the physical world has often been treated as ironic or even absurd. But you argue that in many ways his time there fostered his discoveries. Could you explain?
Isaacson: I think he was lucky to be at the patent office rather than serving as an acolyte in the academy trying to please senior professors and teach the conventional wisdom. As a patent examiner, he got to visualize the physical realities underlying scientific concepts. He had a boss who told him to question every premise and assumption. And as Peter Galison shows in Einstein's Clocks, Poincare's Maps, many of the patent applications involved synchronizing clocks using signals that traveled at the speed of light. So with his office-mate Michele Besso as a sounding board, he was primed to make the leap to special relativity.
Amazon.com: That time in the patent office makes him sound far more like a practical scientist and tinkerer than the usual image of the wild-haired professor, and more like your previous biographical subject, the multitalented but eminently earthly Benjamin Franklin. Did you see connections between them?
Isaacson: I like writing about creativity, and that's what Franklin and Einstein shared. They also had great curiosity and imagination. But Franklin was a more practical man who was not very theoretical, and Einstein was the opposite in that regard.
Amazon.com: Of the many legends that have accumulated around Einstein, what did you find to be least true? Most true?
Isaacson: The least true legend is that he failed math as a schoolboy. He was actually great in math, because he could visualize equations. He knew they were nature's brushstrokes for painting her wonders. For example, he could look at Maxwell's equations and marvel at what it would be like to ride alongside a light wave, and he could look at Max Planck's equations about radiation and realize that Planck's constant meant that light was a particle as well as a wave. The most true legend is how rebellious and defiant of authority he was. You see it in his politics, his personal life, and his science.
Amazon.com: At Time and CNN and the Aspen Institute, you've worked with many of the leading thinkers and leaders of the day. Now that you've had the chance to get to know Einstein so well, did he remind you of anyone from our day who shares at least some of his remarkable qualities?
Isaacson: There are many creative scientists, most notably Stephen Hawking, who wrote the essay on Einstein as "Person of the Century" when I was editor of Time. In the world of technology, Steve Jobs has the same creative imagination and ability to think differently that distinguished Einstein, and Bill Gates has the same intellectual intensity. I wish I knew politicians who had the creativity and human instincts of Einstein, or for that matter the wise feel for our common values of Benjamin Franklin.
More to Explore
Book Description
By the author of the acclaimed bestseller Benjamin Franklin, this is the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available.
How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson's biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom.
Based on newly released personal letters of Einstein, this book explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk -- a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate -- became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits, and free individuals.
These traits are just as vital for this new century of globalization, in which our success will depend on our creativity, as they were for the beginning of the last century, when Einstein helped usher in the modern age.
Customer Reviews:
Couldn't put it down!.......2007-10-18
This was one of our Book Club's selections. I looked at its size and procrastinated opening it. But, when I began reading this book, I couldn't put it down. The author makes his life seem very interesting and the science is put in laymans terms. I loved this book!
Amazing.......2007-10-10
The book combines insights into Einstein's family sphere, scientific endeavors , and internal life that end up providing an entertaining an insightful view o his life that turns out to be more than the sum of its parts. A great view into the life of the greatest man of the twentieth century.
A well orchestrated mix of personal history and revolutionary scientific discovery.......2007-10-09
A story of amazing power of reason in Einstein's early years but in the later years a sad story of his reason being foiled by of all things, scientific observations ("spooky" ones to be sure). When he died Einstein was still struggling with the idea that..."The reasonable thing just doesn't work.".
Excellent!.......2007-10-09
Excellently written and researched book. Very fascinating and engaging.
Even the scientific discussions were easy to understand.
I highly recommend this book.
A Must Read.......2007-10-07
A wonderful book which gives full and equal weight to both the man and the ideas which made him great, as well as the lasting place of those ideas in the history of scientific thought, if not of human thought itself. And on that latter point, the reader's debt to Isaacson is undoubtedly primarily for his continuing emphasis on Einstein's modus operandi: thought experiments, by which through the exercise merely of pure thought and a perspective unhampered by received wisdoms, a man was able to change millennia-old views of how we viewed the universe, and by extension, changed the universe itself. Whose thinking could remain uninfluenced by such a display of the power of thought?
Book Description
The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban's backyard
Anyone who despairs of the individual's power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan's treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson's quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.
Customer Reviews:
Nobel Quality.......2007-10-22
Greg Mortensen represents my America and he does so in vivid contrast to the politician's America that tolerates the corruption and misuse of foreign aid. This story is a must read for anyone who will ever pretend to have an opinion about how the United States of America should use its resources to make the world a better place to live.
Excellent Read.......2007-10-21
OK, so I'm an ex-Peace Corps Volunteer from the sixties; and I could be a trifle prejudiced. Regardless, this is an engrossing book. Greg Mortensen is, in many respects, Everyman. If it CAN be screwed up, ... he screws it up; but he "hangs in there" in extraordinary fashion - and works miracles. I think the guy is a perfect candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. I thoroughly enjoyed this book - and was inspired enough to contribute to his foundation.
Three Cups of Tea.......2007-10-21
I haven't heard a story this inspiring--ever! I have found my Christmas present for everyone high school age or over.
Three Cups of Tea Review.......2007-10-20
The account described in "Three Cups of Tea" was very effectively presented. The reader truly experiences the passion Mr. Mortenson feels about educating young people in remote areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The narrative is convincing in its argument that only through education will we have a true opportunity to experience peace.
READ THIS BOOK TODAY!.......2007-10-20
As a little girl, my dad used to tell me there were only two things that I needed to do in this world. I needed to save my soul and I needed to make the world a better place for others to live. To this date i've been struggling with what this means and how I am to go about applying these principles in my day to day life. After reading this book I have never felt more inspired to take action. Greg Mortenson's story shows us how with vision and perseverance one can make a difference. It has the power to encourage you to do more, to question how little you've done to date and urges you to think globally and act now. This book should be mandatory reading and I will go above and beyond in recommending it to every single person I know. Without a doubt, the key to peace is sound education, in providing the opportunity of knowledge and encouraging children to think for themselves. There couldn't be a better book on the shelf today. READ THIS.
Average customer rating:
- Comfort for the Grieving
- The Anatomy of Grieving
- Just Okay
- A Journal of Grief
- Loss
|
The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1400078431
Release Date: 2007-02-13 |
Book Description
From one of America’s iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage--and a life, in good times and bad--that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.
Customer Reviews:
Comfort for the Grieving.......2007-10-22
Didion gracefully and movingly describes the surreal "magical" thinking that is part of the early grieving process. This includes the strange games of denial we play in our minds and the obsessions (what Didion calls the "vortex") that memory of the dead lead us to. She is at her best in describing the suddeness of death, the disruptions it causes, and the painfully strange mental life lived by the newly grief-stricken.
The book is highly intellectual. While this is not surprising given the nature of the writer, I do think that more needs to be said about the heart rather than the mind. Given the terrible tragedies suffered by Didion, it's understandable that she's only ready to let us into her mind and not her heart. The book is good to that extent, but the lack of more emotional depth is a major flaw.
It is also difficult at times to relate to the author, who is part of a high social and intellectual circle. The milieu is interesting and makes the book more interesting for me, but it can be distracting, and Didion at times comes off as a bit snobbish. Not that I want to rip her too much for it -- my heart does to out to her.
In the the end, this is a worthwhile book and potentially a great source of comfort for the grieving.
The Anatomy of Grieving.......2007-10-14
Joan Didion's husband of 40 years, the writer John Gregory Dunne, died of a sudden heart attack during a quiet evening in their Manhattan apartment in 2003. They'd just returned from visiting their only daughter, Quintana, in a coma and septic shock at Beth Israel North Hospital.
As the doctor delivers the news of her husband's death, he characterizes Joan Didion as a "pretty cool customer"-and it's clear throughout this book that she characterizes herself that way, too. In her memoir chronicalling the year following his death, Didion grapples to maintain this sense of self-identity amidst the inclement emotions of grief, anger, and loss. Using her graceful and level-headed prose, she dismantles her emotions: consulting texts ranging from Freud to Emily Post, she looks at grief objectively in order to understand it, and perhaps, exorcise it. She reads medical books and the autopsy report, employing the "magical thinking" of the title to see what she can do to fix them and make life as it was.
When this method fails, readers experience her sense of marvel at her lack of control over memories and sorrow. She describes it as a "vortex" when one stray thought leads her through a tunnel of memories. She carefully tries to avoid these, but, of course, can't. Readers learn about their wedding, places they lived, trips they took-all peppered with refrains like incantations against remembering.
The book captures her constant struggle between remembering and letting go (recognizing that her husband won't need his running shoes when he comes back, for example). She avoids characterizations and descriptions of her husband and daughter, and rather focuses on her very personal memories. Magical Thinking is a personal process for Didion, and readers are witness to her method of maintaining control-one that is heartbreaking, and characteristically elegant.
Just Okay.......2007-10-12
With a topic like death, you almost have a sure winner. There will always be readers who react strongly (and sympathetically) about death.
Although there are parts in the book I felt were poignant and written well, overall I felt the book was egotistical and self-serving. In more than one instance, there are allusions to the many accolades and milestones the author has garnered. There are allusions to celebrities and her involvement in elite social circles. This, I felt, detracted from the topic of death and grief.
I don't regret reading the book and would recommend it to someone who has recently lost a loved one. But there are many more books worth reading other than this one.
A Journal of Grief.......2007-10-09
I probably don't need to write a review for this book, but I did want to put my opinion out there.
I wanted to read Joan Didion because of her reputation and this was the most readily available book. I have read a few of her individual essays but this was first exposure to a full length work by Ms. Didion. The writing in all of her work is strong. This book, however, seems almost to be missing something.
With that being said, what a terribly hard topic to write about and still write well? I would still recommend this to anyone dealing with the loss of someone close to you, but I think there is other work by Joan Didion that is a better example of her expertise.
Loss.......2007-10-06
I have just finished reading, "The Year of Magical Thinking". I was unable to put the book down, once I started it. I have been a health care professional for 30 years. I have dealt with personal experiences of death and loss, and have also had the privilege of observing people, dying patients, and their grieving families, who have undergone the same experiences. The author was able to convey the tremendous sense of loss that a person goes through when a close family member, or friend, dies.
It is almost as if an arm or a leg, or, even, a heart has been excised from the person who has been left to cope. I have found that the only thing that really alleviates the pain, is time. There are people who are so afraid of losing a loved one that they live their entire lives without being open to love because they fear the inevitable loss. I would recommend this book to everyone because, in a lifetime, we will all be called upon to cope with death, loss, and grief. When we experience our own "magical thinking", we will at least be able to understand that we are not alone. There are others who have felt the same way we do and have reacted in the same ways as we have.
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- The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere, 2 Vol. Set (Comstock Books in Herpetology)
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- The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World
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- Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs: Official Companion Book to the Exhibition sponsored by National Geographic
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