5 comments about The Greatest Generation.

1. Tom Brokaw did a great job of showing how ordinary people faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges became extraodinary.



2. I think Tom Brokaw should be applauded for writing this book. A lot of reviewers have commented the contents, which I will not say much.
   
   This is not a book that I can read in one-shot as it is a collate of several stories. Some people have complained about the book for lacking in substance. But, I think the beauty of the book is the "awareness" or appreciation created by these short stories. If people are intersted WWII history, they can always consult their history text books or some of non-fiction books devoted exclusively on the topics. I think the theme of this book is very different from those "well-researched" book. And, I think it will probably reach a wider audience as the book is an easy reading without some details that you will probably not remember after reading them.
   
   So, I will say, for someone who look for poetic writing, go to Shakespear. If someone look for exact facts/figures in WWII, go to their history text book. For those, who want to have a picture what the previous generation, it's a nice starting point.



3. Not a lot here, but really, how hard would it have been to compile some couple-page biographies of heroes who served in WW2?



4. I wanted to love this book and place it on a pedestal. The concept of young adults (such as my father) steeled during the Great Depression, rising to the occasion in World War II to do what needed to be done and often more, and then coming home to better themselves, their families, communities, and country is a wonderful story. If not the Greatest Generation of all, they were among the best that our country can produce. In fact, while the era was tainted by injustice at home, the men and women of this generation were the ones that really led the post-war battles for social equality. Being a baby-boomer myself, Brokaw's book adds a lot of substance and meaning to the adults around during my childhood. I wonder how many of the often distant and stern and sometimes opaque men of my neighborhood and elsewhere were heroes with stories as inspiring as those told by Brokaw. My father never talked much about the War and I wonder what he could tell me of his time in Europe.
   
   In the sense of being a tribute to its subject, "The Greatest Generating" is a success. Unfortunately there is a big "however." Basically, "The Greatest Generation" is a 5 Star concept that fell short in execution. The book consists of many profiles that are several pages in length. Each one generally tells the story of where the person came from, his or her service during World War II, re-entry into civilian society, and how the whole process affected one's life, ambitions, and ideals. Most of these are interesting to read and Brokaw does convey his message that they were people to be admired with something to teach younger generations. However as I progressed through the book, the individual parts of it seemed stronger than the whole. The problem is that the profiles appeared more and more repetitive and superficial as the book went on (I recently read Brokaw's "Boom" and had similar criticisms). Often, just as a subject person became very interesting and his story moving, the book would go on to somebody else. Perhaps Brokaw should have covered few people in more detail, but I am sure he felt overwhelmed by the number of stories to tell. This book is good, just not up to my expectations. Based on a 5 star concept and 3 star execution, I give it 4 Stars.



5. The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw is what I would call a "pop" book. It's written to be a bestseller but not what I would consider a literary heavyweight. While the premise of The Greatest Generation is very noble, the writing was too simplistic.
   
   Tom Brokaw traveled to Normandy, France for both the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the D-Day Invasion. He was especially touched by the stories of the returning veterans, which gave him the idea for this book. Each chapter is devoted to a different person or persons. Most were soldiers, some were famous and some not. He also highlights people who had support roles during World War II. Many opportunities opened up for women as so many men were in uniform. Brokaw also covers the shameful aspects of this period including discrimination of blacks and women by the military as well as the Japanese Internment Camps.
   
   I do believe that the people who lived through World War II are the greatest generation. My parents are included in this group. Having barely survived the Depression, they were then forced to deal with the realities of war. According to Brokaw, they were all honorable, courageous, spiritual, dependable, hardworking, loyal and modest. Although these are noble attributes, Brokaw showcases the best and the brightest. What about the soldiers who returned home with psychological scars? I'm sure many became alcoholics or drug addicts. Other veterans were not easy to live with as they bottled up all their memories and emotions from the war. I just think that in trying to be a cheerleader for this generation, Brokaw is not providing a true picture. It also seems as if The Greatest Generation is written on a 5th grade reading level.
   
   I did learn a few facts by reading The Greatest Generation and many of Brokaw's profiles are interesting. But do not think that this book is a major literary work.

5 comments about My Friend Leonard.

1. I loved this book! It was just as good as James first book. The story is very compelling and I read it in a weekend, could barely put it down.



2. AWESOME BOOK! It's entertaining, touching and a beautiful sequel to one of my all time favorite books. I don't care what Oprah says, this author is amazing. His style is relatable, and the content makes every book a page turner. If you're looking for a raw, gripping novel, I highly suggest picking up a copy.



3. I read this on the heels of A Million Little Pieces, which I loved. If you read it without reading a Million Little Pieces I think it falls flat. It's an okay book, but not one that I find even slightly credible. Even if everything Leonard said and did is for real, or if everything is fiction, it's still not much of a story and not terribly interesting.



4. Utterly outrageous. A treacly, horrible work containing no more literary substance than a pork rind does nutritional value.



5. This might just be the best book I have ever read. It's a great story, a great 'sequel' to "A Million Little Pieces". I definitely recommend this book to anyone!

5 comments about Roasting in Hell's Kitchen: Temper Tantrums, F Words, and the Pursuit of Perfection.

1. There's a kind of breathlessness about this wonderful autobiography, a sort of "I gotta tell this story, get it all out, and say it right." that carried me almost non-stop through it. This is no polished work edited to smithereens, it's raw, real, moving, and a lesson in how one climbs over the debris of a rotten childhood one step at a time and makes it thru commitment and hard work and dedication to a chosen profession.
   
   I first saw Ramsay in his "Kitchen Nightmares" on BBC America. Having cut my teeth on Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential", I had the advantage of not being all that shocked at the ghastly mess some of these professional restaurant kitchens are in and could focus on his approach to trying to help the restaurant of the moment start to get back on its feet. It was his passion and skill and kindness to the youngest employees and selected others of the staff and the frequent humour around his eyes that grabbed me. The cussing and the yelling were just a reflection of his passion, and I could have cared less if they were appropriate.
   
   And "The F-Word" reveals other aspects of his character that start to share a fuller picture of who this man is - the jokester (e.g.,the wine-tasting test with the guy who couldn't even identify his own wines), the boss in his own kitchen, the father of those marvelously smart, funny, giggly, balanced little children, the cook with those wonderfully simple elegant recipes that we can indeed make at home, etc. etc. etc.
   
   So buy the book and settle in for a good read - there's still a lot of Ramsay one can learn about by doing so. He may not particularly care for being an example (I read it as "Quit yer whinin' and dig in and get to work.") but he's stuck with it now. Thanks, Mr. Ramsay.
   
   :)
   
   
   



2. This is a very quick read from Gordon Ramsey. I think the media exaggerates and feeds preconceived ideas into people's minds about what this man is about. The book really hits some high notes about where Gordon Ramsey is coming from. When he appears on tv yelling and pissed off at someone, it is usually because he sees their potential and that is his way of bringing it out of the person. Surprisingly easy to read, the book gives insight on his past and just what makes him the man he is today. Definitely worth a read. I read through it pretty much through 2 sittings and found new respect for this man.



3. The book itself is a breeze to read on the Kindle. It is fairly short but doesn't come across that way on the Kindle. The pictures that he included in his book were definately a nice touch, 95% of them came out perfectly fine. The remaining 5% either came out pretty horribly or didn't come out at all. I am a big fan of his show and have had to explain to people in the past that he is doing some of the things that he does in part because he is looking out for the participants themselves. The only way to learn sometimes is to have a lesson become implanted because their is an unpleasant memory that is attached to it. His own personal history is so rough that I can see where he gets his drive to succeed in life. Anyone can make it in life we just have to not give up. And that lesson is worth infinetly more then the price of this book.



4. This book grabs you from page 1. Anyone who thinks they know Gordon Ramsay -- even after watching him on TV -- will be taken aback by what they read. Here is a climb from despair, through mine fields of restaurant kitchens, to the heights of fame and fortune.



5. I found this book to be well written and entertaining. It gives a different perspective of Gordon Ramsay than what most people think. I found it hard to put down, I wanted to keep finding out more about his journey to become such an outstanding chef.

5 comments about A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Penguin Classics).

1. Joyce lives up to his reputation for being a brilliant yet exceedingly difficult author. In Portrait he gave us a semi-biographical subjective peek into the development of his own thought through the creation of his alter-ego Stephen Dedalus.
   Short on plot but full of incredibly beautiful phrasing that makes the reader stop and read certain passages a second or even third time to make sure it's fully absorbed, Portrait follows the intellectual, spiritual and social development of young Stephen as he manuevers through family, church, school and friends relying entirely on his own point of view at the time.
   The most intense section of the novel deals with his spiritual struggle and personally, I've never read a more gripping description of a young soul grappling with these questions.
   Joyce evolves the style of writing to reflect the subjects growing maturity and the choice of language and the pacing at the end of the book are markedly different from at the beginning.
   All in all a bit of a tough read but I felt rewarded in the end and am feeling ready to tackle Ulyses next.



2. "marooned"--an utterly wrenching and boundlessly suggestive term to describe the situation of the young artist.



3. As many do, I read this in preparation for tackling Ulysses, in which Stephen Dedalus makes a return appearance. This has been called Joyce's most accessible work, however I found Dubliners faster paced reading personally.
   
   The style of the book changes as the title character matures from a young child to a young man. The part that affected me most was the episode at school where, after he has fallen to immoral ways, a speech is given on Hell that is as riveting and detailed as Dante's Inferno. The fiery pits are described as an abomination across all the senses, where not just pain from sensory touch is there but in smell, sight, taste, hearing - and quite effectively described.
   
   Stephen's subsequent change after confession and struggle to achieve harmony with God is inspiring even given the eventual outcome of that attempt.
   
   The latter part of the book bogs down considerably as it falls into philosophical debates on questions that many a young (and old) person ponders. The ending is hopeful but uncertain.



4. I don't know where to start. It's pretty difficult to review a book in which nothing takes place. This book lacks... well, just about everything. It lacks half a sentence of substance. Nothing in the story is connected; I read the book and wondered, "What is this about? What was the story?" Actually, I have a confession to make: I didn't actually read the book in its entirety; I read the first half and was so disgusted by it that I had to read the summaries for the rest of the chapters online. It is that bad.
   
   Normally I listen to other people's opinions but I am making it a fact in my mind that this book is the worst book I have ever read. If you disagree, you are wrong. That is how terrible this book was. It was a complete waste of my money. It was required reading for school. I always read the books regardless of whether I like them or not, only reading summaries after finishing to make sure I understood the whole story. This is the first book I have ever relied on reviews to finish. My teacher worhips this book but there is nothing good about it. If anybody can explain to me what this book is about in a way that makes sense, I will give them ten dollars.
   
   So far, everyone in my school has failed to explain it to me. This book is everything Flowers for Algernon tries to be (that's not a good thing).



5. After having just finished reading Ulysses (and loving it) I decided it would be rewarding if I read 'A Portrait' next in order to delve further into Stephen Dedalus' character. (Moreover, I had also just finished reading Ellmann's famous biography of Joyce and felt inspired to read Joyce's own semi-autobiography). Unfortunately I was extremely disappointed with the dry, tedious narrative tone that Joyce adopted in writing his novel, especially within the overdrawn third chapter in which we learn the terrors of hell and damnation. Yes, I know the sermon sequence had great significance in Stephen's development from the primordial muck of biological existence to the more rarefied air of the soul, of human conscience and (above all) of the powers of artistic creativity. Nevertheless I found my thoughts wandering elsewhere when I was reading this book and many times I had to re-read whole pages because I had realized I was just reading the words without absorbing their content. While Ulysses drew me immediately into the consciousness of Bloom and Dedalus, 'A Portrait' was bland, cold and uninviting. I felt by the end of "A Portrait" that I was solely reading the book because it was Joyce and because it was deemed a classic. Perhaps I ruined A Portrait by reading Joyce's masterpiece first. Even if Ulysses can seem (at times) even more glacially abstract and opaque to the reader than A Portrait, Ulysses at least challenges you in such a way that you want to understand more about the text (its various allusions, its satire, its narrative experimentation, ect). I do not feel compelled to read A Portrait again, in fact (in the process of writing this review) I now feel compelled to re-read Ulysses and perhaps even Finnegan's Wake.

5 comments about The Pact.

1. The Pact is about three young men who lived in the projects around drugs and peer pressure from old friends who did not want anything out of life. So George and Sam and Rameck made a pact to go to college. The young men had positive people in their lives, like a teacher, a friend's father, and a dentist. I would recommend this book to other people because the book tells how three young men made a pact with one another not to let peer presure rule their lives. They went to college and gave back to the neighborhood. They are all doctors and a dentist. They had some disappointments in their lives, but they made it. This is a true story.



2. I give these young men 10 stars if I could. This story is for the young as well as the old. Everyone has a story and this story needed to be told, it doesn't matter what happened or where u have been, it's what your doing now and where u r going. It's an inspirational story and I am proud of them. For the reviewers that's being negative (get a life) maybe in today's world this story will inspire more children to go to college instead of being on the streets. I'm glad this story was written and told and they r an inspiration to all.



3. This is a great book to read. Being originally raised in Jersey City and Newark at the same time the writers were; it just proves that if young people put their mind to it, they can accomplish great things!



4. This book is a must read for every African-American male, no, not only Africian-American males, but any young man that has felt that the odds were stacked up against him. The message is: all things are possible if you keep striving.



5. I picked up this book after my wife and I started a group reading with my son of the book; "We Beat the Streets." "We Beat the Streets" book was written by the same authors but geared toward a younger crowd (suggested ages 9 to 15y/o). The pact was a great book as a source of inspiration. Being an African American male near the same age range, I was able to relate to at least one aspect of each of the three guys. At points where Rameck had a chip on his shoulder and struggle to put the anger behind him I related to that anger when confronted by unfair situations and judgmental people throughout college. Times when set backs occurred related to bad choices, an ill family member, or failing to pass a critical exam on the first try reminded me how as a young black male you feel like you're on the edge of falling of track at any given moment. Regardless of race and sex when you spear-headed the family into a new level of educational/professional success you will feel the weight of a lot of dreams and hopes placed on your shoulders daily. Often as a young man I felt times where I just didn't want to deal with that kind of pressure.
   
   This story reminded me that it is important to stay focused and move through the rough periods in order to be in a position to help friends and loved ones. By example let them know that they can achieve there goals/dreams.
   
   Two key factors in this story will continue to give me the courage to move forward. Never forget the 3 D's; Discipline, Determination, and Dedication. Always remember that choosing the right friends may mean the difference between success and failure in my life's goals. Friends are crucial when faced with situations in life that are difficult. I am proud to say that my wife is my best friend with an ear to listen. As I pursue my second master's degree my thoughts turn to adding to my list of goals a doctorate. Thank you Doctors Davis, Jenkins, and Hunt for this wonderful gift of brotherly love!
   
   I give this book a, 5 out of 5 stars. If you're a Dad it's a must read with your son or daughter. All they see is the man you are now; let them know that God, Faith, and loving relationships got you where you are today!!

5 comments about Kirby: King of Comics.

1. Let me preface this review by saying the hard core Jack Kirby fan may not be that impressed with this book; if you have more than a handful of the Jack Kirby Collector issues, you may be familiar with most of the text and images that this book presents.
   
   For the neophyte or moderate Kirby fan, this is really an outstanding book. The 2 page spread of pencils for "Street Code" that begins on page 28 is jaw dropping and worth the price of admission. There are a lot of scans of Kirby's original penciled pages; you can see where he erased and touched up lines and it provided me with more than a few "wow" moments as someone who draws and likes to study others' work.
   
   The text of Kirby's history can be a bit depressing and it is presented in detail here:
   
   - (un)steady work in the 40s and 50s that doesn't bring steady finances.
   
   - Break through characters, art and comics with Marvel in the 60s that do not bring recognition to Kirby among the public at that time.
   
   - Editors liking Kirby's page layouts, but bringing in other artists to change faces of prominent characters with before and after illustrative examples.
   
   Finally in 1978, Kirby got some animation jobs with "young artists who'd grown up on his work and old-timers who valued the hell out of him." Combined with the popularity of comic book conventions and demand for artists' work (though Kirby had to hire lawyers to get pages back from Marvel) finally brought him some well deserved recognition and finances.
   
   Have you read this far? I'll close by saying that this is an amazing book if you aren't already well immersed with Jack Kirby's history.



2. More has been said and written about Jack Kirby, the true King Of Comics, than any comic book artist I can think of. Perhaps only Will Eisner has more "ink".
   I have every Jack Kirby Collector. I have everything about Kirby I could get my hands on.
   This is a good book. But I think "Tales To Astonish", is a better book.
   In fact "Tales To Astonish" is a great book.
   Here is what I learned from Jack Kirby's life and this book and the book "Tales To Astonish". Kirby was a genius at art/comic book storytelling. He was awesome. He was not a victim.
   After I read "Tales To Astonish" and I read that Martin Goodman, an accountant working for DC (At that time is was not called DC)and noticed HOW well Superman sold, then started his own company (that became Marvel). He started his own company selling comics. He could not even draw.
   At any point in his life, Jack Kirby could have CHOSEN TO BE MORE than just a paid "worker". Kirby and his fans should not BLAME MArvel, Martin Goodwin, Stan Lee, or anyone, for hiring Jack, and for taking the risk (of being in the publishing business) and printing the comics Jack drew. They could have failed and Martin Goodman could have LOST ALL HIS money.
   
   They think Jack was taken advantage of. He was not. All of Marvels checks "cashed".
   They offered to pay him to make comics, he accepted. That was a fair deal for both of them.
   Jack could have started HIS OWN comics, written his own books, drawn one extra page a week and that would be 50 pages a year-- ALL HIS OWN.
   Jack at any time, could have OPENED HIS OWN COMPANY and been his own boss. AT ANY TIME. He never CHOSE it.
   He never wrote books in his "free" time and published them. He should have. But for whatever reason, Jack was not 1/100 the business man, let's say Will Eisner was, and that is okay. Jack was an artist. Not a business man. And I say that with no ill intent.
   Martin Goodman was a business man and not an artist. Was it his fault he hired Jack Kirby? Steve Ditco? His nephew (Stan Lee). Who should Martin have hired. Thanks to Martin Goodman, we have the Marvel universe. He paid Jack Kirby to create it. Do you see how that works? Without the business man the artist is washing dishes (or waiting tables).
   Now, as it turns out in life, some people are great artists and some are great business people. Jack WAS NOT A BUSINESS MAN. But many of Jack's fans are angry (and so was I for years) in the way Marvel "treated" Jack. But now that I am older I think it was UP TO JACK to make his own destiny.
   He had the talent. He lacked the business mind.
   Most artist "lack" a business mind. It's the way God wired us all.
   After I read "Tales to Astonish" I copied Martin Goodman's formula. I wrote several books on very popular subjects (late at night after my 12 hour work days). In less than 2 years those 2 books brought in about 300 thousands dollars..and changed my life.
   I followed the Martic Goodman formula and it works!
   This PROVES TO ME, that if Kirby (Who has more talent in on finger than I have in my entire body) had gone out and done what I had done, printed his OWN work and sold it, he would have made money. He never tried.
   I have been a WAITER, (at restaurants) for most of my life. (17 years).
   After I read "Tales to Astonish" I felt that Jack missed his oppurtunities. He had the chance, like Will Eisner did, do have his "OWN" thing. Even if her had to do it part time at night (till it got off the ground).
   The business men at MArvel, did not cheat Jack. They HIRED HIM and paid him. It was up to Jack to take his talent and DO MORE WITH IT, than just work FOR OTHERS.
   JAck was not a victim. He was not cheated.
   He was a brilliant, hard working, artistic genius. Thank GOD SOME business man HIRED him and GOT HIS WORK out there. If not for MARVEL, there would be NO Jack Kirby as WE know him.
   I wonder how many Jack Kirby's are waiting tables or selling car insurance because no one like MARTIN GOODMAN, hire them to draw.
   
   God bless Jack. He was the man. But he was no victim. HE chose to do what he did. He was not "forced" or cheated, in anyway.
   I never heard Jack say "The marvel paychecks did not cash!"
   If you work for someone thay are not "cheating" you by hiring you. They are risking their money on your ideas or work. You an artist always have the option of risking YOUR OWN MONEY--on your projects.
   Jack worked for other people--because he chose to.



3. I highly recommend this book for anyone who appreciates Kirby art or has a passing interest in the history of comic books. The book's large format provides for great representations of Kirby's artwork and Evanier does a wonderful job of telling the King's story.



4. Read this in an evening. Well-researched (the author was an assistant of Kirby's in the late '60s and early '70s), well-organized and well-illustrated. This isn't a comprehensive biography of Jack Kirby, but it's an exceptionally well-done overview of his career. Only complaint: I would have enjoyed seeing more examples of Kirby's non-comics projects, such as his production designs for the never-produced adaptation of "Lord of Light".



5. Mark Evanier does a fantastic job paying tribute to the king of comic books.This would make an excellent coffee table book for any Kirby afficianado!The illustrations and uses of Kirby's sketches are also effective.
   But the book does have a sad note.Evanier writes of the injustices suffered by Kirby and his widow.This man essentially,except for Spiderman,was responsible for creating Marvel's Silver Age.Yet Marvel begrudgingly paid Kirby's widow a MEAGER pension after his death in 1994.
   The book is not only decorative but informative and with Kirby's work being so vast I look forward to a "sequel" by Mr.Evanier.Kudos!Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Captain America Comics 1

5 comments about Hollywood Babylon--It's Back.

1. I really enjoyed this book! It was a great follow-up to Hollywood Babylon. There are lots of secrets revealed. I recommend it to everyone.



2. I definitely enjoyed KENNETH ANGER's two books that this book is riding the coattails of. I also enjoy gossipy tell-alls, and have no problem with a tall tale. However, HOLLYWOOD BABYLON IT'S BACK is dubious trashy tidbits, obsessed with celebrity endowments, apparently written over many years, and poorly cobbled together with no real editor's discerning eye. Stars of yesteryear are "quoted" amusingly and then the same "quotes" are retooled with the essential tidbits changed to suit another chapter. NICK ADAMS' reputation is mercilessly trashed, and inaccurately (uhm... how could he have been servicing ELVIS when THE KING was watching the moon landing? ADAMS had been dead nearly a year and a half, as the book itself reports!!) Every stupid, groundless rumor you've ever heard about dead stars is offered as fact, though not a single principal is left to defend themselves. Half of Hollywood is gay and the other half bisexual, and the authors enjoy pointing out who did NOT have an affair with who as if that is intended to lend credibility to the incredible. Over 350 pages, by page 126, I was appalled! Here's a quote: "In 1951 (HARRY) COHN offered (LUCILLE BALL) a trashy part in The Magic Carpet...With her commitments at Columbia finished, LUCILLE landed at RKO in 1935." So LUCILLE BALL finished up at Columbia in the early 1950s and "landed" at RKO in 1935...? Huh? I don't think these authors or their editor went over this book very well to at least cleanup the contradictions and obvious errors. This could have been better, but instead, HOLLYWOOD BABYLON IT'S BACK makes BOZE HADLEIGH appear reliable.



3. I enloyed this book because I could relate to all of the people discussed. I have been a movie fan (films of the 20', 30's and 40's) for over 60 years I was shocked to read how most of my favorite stars acted. Hollywood, during that peroid, was nothing but a glamorized whorehouse. Stars, no matter how famous or unknown, had to sleep with director, producers or anyone else connected with the making of a film, to get parts.
   
   The most shocking, to me anyway, was how Lucille Ball said "She never met a man she didn't sleep with. And her husband Desie Arnes was no better. I enjoyed the many photographs, nudes included, of the stars and other people involved in the picture business. I really couldn't put the book down.............



4. I would like to apologize to the trees who gave their lives for this piece of trash. The pictures are either dark, blurry or worse, obviously photoshopped. There are items written as fact, which were proved to be false years before this piece of trash was thrown together. Some stories are so completely made up it's embarrassingly obvious no thought was given to making them even appear to be honest or true. This "book" is quite simply, nothing but trash. Save your money and buy Globe Magazine or the National Enquirer. You'll get alot more honesty in journalism from either of these supermarket rags. I was looking for reliable, well researched, entertainment history. Instead I received a book with obvious mistakes, pictures clearly "put together" and essenitally stories without any credible references at all. Hollywood Babylon -- It's Back is a long and nasty tabloid, in the worst sense of the word. What a waste of money!



5. Honestly didnt like this book too much, almost sent it back. Just flipped through it, bit too gory for me.

5 comments about The Education of Little Tree.

1. I am amused by the negative reviews this touching book has received. As a "real Indian" with Sioux and Osage grandparents, I found "Little Tree" charming. The fact that the author was not Indian and had serious social issues does not change the fact that he wrote an entertaining read. My only regret is that the author did not write several sequels. I find myself missing Little Tree and his tales of growing up with his loving grandparents.
   
   Moreover, I do not subscribe to the idea that only Indians can write about Indians anymore than I say only extra-terrestrials can write about aliens. The author may not known about what he was writing; regardless what he wrote is fun entertainment.
   
   If the ethical standards being exposed in these reviews were imposed on all authors our books store shelves would be very empty. The fact is most non-fiction books are full of fabrication, or at least tainted by the author's point of view. Artists without issues; I'm not sure such a thing exists.



2. I first read this 20 years ago, before I "knew" the author's history. I loved it. I just re-read it with my 10-year-old. (Beware, adult language and material. We probably should have waited a year or two.) Now I know about the author. And I still love this book. The author may have been a drunk and may have done some awful things, but this is a beautful and wonderful book and I can't find any racism or anti-semitism in it. I'm Jewish and appreciated the author's head-on confrontation of a common sterotype. Perhaps in his writing he tried to make up for what he did in his public life? Who knows, but I believe your life will be enriched by reading this book.



3. A 5-year old orphan named Little Tree is raised by his Cherokee Grandma and Grandpa in a small mountain home during the days of the Depression. Little Tree learns about the Cherokee tribe and history. He also learns about the importance of love and respect for the land. His grandparents struggle to survive under difficult conditions however they show incredible compassion and love as they raise Little Tree. There is considerable debate over whether this book is fiction or non-fiction. Whatever it happens to be, this is good heartwarming story that is worth reading and having your children read.



4. Some of the reviewers here seem unfamiliar with Cherokee History. Forrest Carter was of Cherokee ancestry and was a fiery Southerner with racist views. These facts are not so mutually exclusive as one would assume. The Cherokee nation was allied with the Confederate States during the war. Colonel(later General) Stand Watie led the Cherokee Mounted Rifles. Aside from the Cherokee, there were Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Seminole tribes fighting with the Confederates as well. So you see, Forrest Carter (or Asa if you like) was more than likely a product of his times. Not an evil man, just wrong. But he did write a great book.



5. Nutshell review - Not withstanding the controversy surrounding the authenticity of the story and author, there are two ways to read this story; (1) with your mind, or (2) with your heart. The first way will gain you little. The second way will truly touch you.

5 comments about The Wishing Year: A House, a Man, My Soul A Memoir of Fulfilled Desire.

1. There's a lot going for this book, and a lot gone wrong. One gets the sense here of an author interested in wishing and desire, an academic whose editor said, "Noelle, nobody will read it like this. Rewrite it as ~Eat, Pray, Love~!" since memoir sells a lot better than academic treatises these days. This book invites comparisons to Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia, but they are vastly different in tone, revelation, and outcome.
   
   The first part of the book is contrived, as if the author constructed a selective past to support the thesis, working toward a breakthrough revelation and transformation at the end: see, I couldn't wish, I couldn't accept happiness, my gold coins turned to mud under my pillow, but now I have what I asked for!
   
   And yet, for a reader like myself (the target audience, I assume), it's excruciating to follow such a sad trajectory. This could be me. In slightly different circumstances, this has been me, living on "liquids and canned peaches" for months after a slaughtering heartbreak.
   
   The author enjoys research and facts and the academic life, and those are her strong suits. She shines when she's making historical and literary connections, working her fast-moving mind and researching answers. The thick-skinned self-revelation necessary for convincing memoir, however, is notably lacking.
   
   ~Eat, Pray, Love~was breezy, self-deprecating, and funny, while this book takes itself quite seriously and, worse, is uncomfortable with significant personal revelation. I hope this book doesn't hurt the author more than it helps. She starts and ends with sensitive vulnerability and often meets her helpers when she is crying or otherwise in public emotional distress.
   
   Some of the most interesting questions raised are left frustratingly unanswered. In a Book of Days format, each chapter a month in the wishing year, the author describes the trajectory of her experiment, from doubt to testing to fulfillment. But those questions become the elephant in the living room. What was the story of the now-defunct spiritual community? She describes the unraveling of her spiritual group in half a dozen deliberately vague and short sentences. Similarly, in a prefatory note, she explains that she overexposed her daughter in a previous book and has agreed to mention her only in passing in this one; again, an important character noticeably missing.
   
   As a reluctant memoirist, she does not reveal the most essential things. Here's a mother who won't write about her daughter, a professor who doesn't write about her work, a spiritual seeker wounded by an undescribed cult - this certainly isn't Elizabeth Gilbert's year off.
   
   I don't blame her, but perhaps memoir is not her best medium. Elizabeth Gilbert made the reader believe that she wasn't withholding anything essential, that the details of her messy divorce were just boring mind chatter, but in The Wishing Year: A House, a Man, My Soul A Memoir of Fulfilled Desire, the intensity behind those secrets sinks the authenticity of the rest of the book, especially since one of the three wishes - the most noble, the most devastating, the wish for spiritual healing - goes unanswered, and the lack of answer glossed over, or perhaps not noticed. (Sitting in an empty temple for an afternoon doth not constitute spiritual healing, and the book itself confirms that.)



2. The Wishing Year:A House, a Man, My soul: A Memoir of Fulfilled Desire absolutedly delighted me. I am Noelle Oxenhandler's target audience. Filled with my own spiritual misgivings about the rightness (not the efficacy) of wishing, this book spoke to me. It wasn't the question of whether it was possible to change the course of the universe by wishing, but what would I become if I started believing in the power of wishing. How flaky, how new age! I've always backed away from this sort of attempt to manipulate the course of events (even if I could be convinced it were possible), but Noelle took me on a journey that surprised even me--that the act of wishing may not change events, but it can change us. And, yes, I did once make a very serious wish for the kind of man to appear in my life and not a month later he appeared--cleaving to my wish in every detail. I didn't become a believer in wishing, but I did realize that until I'd made that wish, I'd no idea what sort of man I wanted. From then on, I did start to try to understand my desires (which are not the same as wishes). And, I'm actually glad Noelle didn't wallow too much and let the book get icky, as so many memoirs do. I liked her restraint, her sense of humor, her intelligence and her courage.



3. "The Wishing Year," by Noelle Oxenhandler, is the kind of book that I am always wishing for--absorbing and lovely to read, and at the same time provocative and intellectually engaging. Along the lines of literary non-fiction like Jonathan Franzen's "How to Be Alone" and Rebecca Solnit's "A Fieldguide to Getting Lost," this memoir stages the existential predicament of how to approach one's own longings and ambitions, with grace and authenticity, while also acknowledging the pressures and realities of our consumer-based society. The comedic pace of the narrative is note-on, populated with wide-ranging geographical adventures, winsome characters, and deeply funny everyday moments. Waking up one January morning, Oxenhandler confronts several absences in her life and decides to embark upon a yearlong quest for very specific objects. Halfway through the book, she refers to her quest as an "experiment in desire," and this phrase seems to embody the underlying ambition of the book itself--to enter into the terrifying quandaries that genuine passion brings with it, while at the same time relishing the wonderful angst, even dread, of wishing. Oxenhandler's experiment gives rise to profound and timeless questions: what do our desires reveal about ourselves? Is it possible to seek spiritual wholeness, or romance, or even financial prosperity, and still retain skepticism towards superficial success, pop psychology, and ego-based desires? Like books by Franzen and Solnit, Oxenhandler's memoir demonstrates what, in my experience, the best kinds of texts ask of their reader--to share in the spiritually intense comedy of human life and to take real risks in the questions that we pose and the desires that we wish for.



4. In this wonderful book, The Wishing Year, Noelle Oxenhandler leads readers on an engaging and enlightening journey through her yearlong experiment with wishing. Oxenhandler is not one to easily embrace New Age ideas or magical thinking, and wishing does not come naturally to her. In order to begin making shrines and sending messages to the universe about what she most wants in her life, Oxenhandler must confront what she calls her "skeptical bent and...tilt toward a certain pessimistic melancholy," along with a Jewish-Catholic upbringing and many years as a practicing Buddhist. But as she begins her first tentative steps toward manifesting three deep desires -- to buy a house of her own, to find a man to love, and to gain spiritual healing -- and the universe starts sending pieces of those desires her way, she is hooked.
   
   Oxenhandler is remarkably well read, and she gracefully weaves myth, religion, anthropology, and psychology into the story of her own experiences. Equally at home with Zen Buddhist principles, the philosophy of magic, and the archetypal meaning of Aunt Jemima, Oxenhandler draws readers along on an inner and outer voyage whose landscape includes her own resistance and bouts of despair, the hot springs of Northern California, and healing encounters in Hawaii, Mexico and France.
   
   I found Oxenhandler's writing beautifully lyrical, filled with passages of luminous intelligence and moments of impish humor. Her story made me think about my own travels away from skepticism, which began 22 years ago when I left the East Coast -- where I'd spent many years studying philosophy in Ivy League universities -- to settle in Northern California, where the world seemed so much wider and filled with so many more possibilities than I'd previously imagined. After finishing Oxenhandler's book, though, I can tell I haven't ranged far enough. I think I may need to go out and buy some joint compound and balsa wood, to start building a few shrines of my own!
   
   One caveat: I suspect that some readers may wish for a deeper level of personal revelation, may want to know the gory details behind crises that Oxenhandler refers to almost in passing -- the ending of her marriage or the collapse of her spiritual community that bring the author to the book's jumping off point. On my reading, the book is not about what brought her there, but about the journey she makes from that point on. The story begins when Oxenhandler becomes ready to suspend disbelief and give herself over to the project of wishing for her heart's desire. And that is where the gifts of this lovely book lie -- in the story of how your life can change, once you let yourself believe that just maybe, wishing can make it so.



5. Jump in and meet Oxenhandler's unique friends while she excavates the power of wishing. Follow her across oceans and into the past and see how her logic (applied to a broad and deep exploration of the role of wishing over centuries) creates a wonderful counterpoint to her precise point of view and wry humor. Masterful and engaging, this book is much more than a light summer read. Questions arise we all seek to answer, and in the end answers appear that create an opening that may not have been affected through any other means. Bravo to Oxenhandler, I recommend this book to all thinking readers and have sent it to many friends.

5 comments about Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project.

1. wonderful! can't wait for another to read! opens your eyes to the great people in the U.S.-their challenges, hopes, and happy times



2. These are great stories from everyday people. If our legacy is the stories of our lives that we share with others, then this CD is what we should all be recording for our family and friends. I only wish there were more than the 20 included.



3. StoryCorps is America's largest oral history project and was begun in 2003 by Dave Isay.
   
   I became aware of this book while listening to the StoryCorps excerpts that air on NPR Friday mornings. One morning in particular I heard the story of the unofficial spokes people for StoryCorps, Annie and Danny.
   
   Their love affair is told in the final pages of the book, the chapter entitled "The Story of StoryCorps." When my daughter and I heard their segment on NPR that morning on our way to the coffee shop, we were held mesmerized until it came to an end. It was one of those "transfixed in the parking lot" moments. We sat there, tears streaming down our faces until the end. We didn't go inside for our time of coffee and conversation until we could compose ourselves. That was the day I heard about and decided I had to have this book.
   
   There are two versions, one which comes with a CD and one without. I made the mistake of saving a buck and going without. I recommend getting the CD. I suspect it makes the experience all the more enjoyable. Don't get me wrong, the book is fabulous and full of stories that fill your heart with light and love.
   
   Every section of the book has heart-wrenching pieces. Stories that will define the American experience. The section entitled Fire and Water is particularly emotional as it deals with stories from the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001 and Hurricane Katrina.
   
   I will recommend this book, and give it as gifts to my parents and others.



4. I had never heard of the StoryCorps Project until recently. Since I am facilitating a memoir writing group, I ordered Listening Is an Act of Love.
   I loved it! Every page was a gentle focus on real people's lives. I highly recommend this book. Don't miss it!



5. This was a great purchase. I haven't finished it, but wish I would of known about this sooner.