1 comments about Flash of Genius: And Other True Stories of Invention.

1. I love books like these that show how regular people can create amazing gadgets. I grew up seeing my Dad fashion problem solving devices from junk in the basement. I can't get enough of books like these. I already bought and read Gadget Nation Gadget Nation: A Journey Through the Eccentric World of Invention a similar book, but a little funnier because it showcased quirky gadgets. I ended up buying a couple from the store at http://GadgetNation.net/store. Hope that helps. ;)

5 comments about Tools for Teaching Content Literacy.

1. This small book, in a flipchart format, provides 33 strategies for teachers to use to improve students' content area reading. Directions are succint and clear. The strategies listed are invaluable in helping the teacher create varied activities geared towards improving students' reading comprehension. I use this flipchart every week when preparing my lessons.



2. This is a flip book style book with literacy activities briefly explained and color coded/grouped into before/during/after activities. The back of this book has some blackline masters. This is a BARGAIN! Buy this if you want to mix up some reading activities in your content area classroom.



3. Good tips and games for readers workshops. I enjoyed it. My college professor introduced this to us.



4. I have always used Amazon to buy my school books, but man...a few years out of the game, and everything is just a little more complicated. I bought 4 books and all of them were the wrong editions. Man was I bummed, but I got what I ordered. Next time I will pay more attention.



5. Janet Allen's Tools for Teaching Content Literacy is a fantastic tool for all teachers. It is a flipbook with various instructional strategies that can be used to help students access information effectively while increasing student engagement and understanding. Not only does it provide information about the strategy, but it also includes examples and organizes them into before, during, and after reading. Keep this handy when planning lessons! It is a tool teachers will come to rely on.

5 comments about Illusions.

1. This is seriously the best book ever written. Even after you've read it and put it on your shelf for a few years and bring it back out, it is like re-discovering an old friend. Awesome...



2. For all those beginning this quest, this book is a great place to start. It summarizes well all the salient points in a succinct little package. If you're still feeling adventurous after this book, I recommend The Education Of Oversoul Seven by Jane Roberts.



3. I have reads parts of the book and know the story. This isn't a review of the book itself, so much as a very abbreviated cautionary tale. At age 19, my old roommate read this book while he was suffering from a newly-developed and undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Read during a prolonged manic stage, he took the book too literally. Suffice it to say that it did not end well. We are not all possible messiahs, and we cannot perform "miracles" to alter the reality around us. If you want to attempt to prove otherwise, do so in a safe place, and with respect for those who care about you.



4. Richard Bach has created an Illusion for all of us to investigate. Is it real or is the Reluctant Messiah our hope? Might we find the meaning of our life and discover that it is all an illusion? The questions are engrossing and the book thought provoking.



5. This book happily holds the title of my favorite book of all time. I first read it 15 years ago, and it's still held strong as the best. It's inspirational, adventurous, and deep. It's an easy read, yet you'll never forget it. If you're anything like me, your copy will end up highlighted, bent, wrinkled, broken, and beautiful.

5 comments about Confessions of a Video Vixen.

1. After hearing all the hype of Karrine Steffins book Confessions i had to read it, i had to know who was going to be outed and how her experiences changed her life. To my sadness and my dismay i must say that this is a novel i refer to as a "fake" book. I finish the 250 page book in two hours. The book told me exactly what i wanted to know but in many interviews she told that this was the biography of her life and she couldn't tell her life story worth out mentioning names of the people that played a part in her life i feel the purpose of the book was not to teach young girls to think better of themselves but to put money in her pocket simply because she didn't mention any normal average Joe Blow she was with no the only mention of any men in the book other than her father and the boy who raped her were famous powerful most of them married with children i can not be told that the only men Karrine ever slept with were the rich and famous. I am highly disappointed with her book and will not be purchasing the Vixen Diaries I can simply read the "tell-all" parts in a blog somewhere since that is the only reason worth reading this excuse of a book.



2. I must lift my hat to KS who had the guts to paper her life as a whore among hip hops' unfinest. This book is obviously a best seller not because of the writing skills of the author but because of the telling revelations so candily splattered from across the not too many pages. Honestly, I would have loved to hear a lot more of what she has to say.
   
   The saying that all men are dogs seems indeed true. Married or not, these men were having their cake and eating it and paying dearly for it.
   KS did good, she brought these scumbags out in the open for all the young girls to see that yes, it is true, you are just being used.
   I wish KS all the best. She is indeed a troubled woman, rich but troubled nonetheless.
   
   Bottomline is, if you are naive like I was about what goes on in the hip hop circles, this book will have your eyes wide open. I read it in one day.



3. This was a good read but not a lot of information like you might think.



4. I lived the same life in my early twenties, but instead of rappers, my life revolved around rock stars & Dj's, so I definitely was able to relate. It's just sad that this book got so many negative reviews commenting on how she's just "exploiting the black community" and "making money off of exposing people" and "blah blah blah". I'd bet that over half of these negative reviews are given by other black women. Here's a story of a young woman trying to find herself as well as her self-esteem & is looking for it in all the wrong people & places and finally gets the courage to write a book & make a little money by telling all. And instead of praising her for it, all of you other black woman have to hate on it and give it a bad review, so typical for another black girl to hate on another fellow black girl. It's so much easier for you to hate on her than give her the benefit of the doubt. Be happy that she found her way and made a couple of dollars to top it off. Nope can't do that can you?



5. I am not sure where to start on this one. This book was a recommendation from a friend and as an avid reader I tried it on for size. Well, It took me one day to read it becasue I refused to waste another. I can never start a book and then stop, so I had to finish it, but believe me when I tell you, it had nothing to do with the story. I think that Ms. Steffans has some soul searching to do. I was hoping (praying) that redemption was somewhere between the covers, but I was disappointed. I think that Ms. Steffans is a master hustler. I don't hate the player, nor do I hate the game in this case. What I hate is the story and the fact that she simply took the oldest profession in the world and tried to sell it to readers as though it was something new. Karrine, I'm not mad at you girl. If those men let you use them like that then they each deserve what they got. I can't believe that men as innovative and successful as Jay-Z and Puffy would even have anything to do with the likes of you, but then again; they are men, so it is what it is.

5 comments about The Last American Man.

1. I have purchased approx. 10 copies of this book-- I find it entertaining, amusing and cannot decide if I liked this man at the end or not. As I live in North Carolina; not far from the subject- guests often think it would be fun to meet him and see how he as aged. Great gift book for -mostly the men in ones life.



2. I really enjoyed this book. It gave an unbiased account of a man, who even in his best intentions, falls short of what he wants to be. Contrary to some of the negative reviews, Gilbert DOES see all that is not right about this man, and she tells us about it.
   This book is a journey through the mind and heart of a troubled man and those people who were raptured by his personality and then inevitably disappointed. I loved it!



3. I enjoyed reading this book and I have often dreamed of living the type of lifestyle that Eustace Conway lives, though not quite so harsh. It seems to me that his many hang-ups have created a personal "river" that no one is able to cross and join him. He seems to be a carbon copy of his father, with just enough minor differences to convince himself that he is nothing like him. Sadly, he has decided to turn away from the only source that could give him true happiness, a relationship with Jesus Christ. I think the old saying, "no one is as blind as he who refuses to see" fits Eustace well. His desire for acceptance from his father has blinded him to the joys of life. The disatisfaction that his apprentises experience and which Eustace cannot understand appears to stem largely from his use of them as slave labor. The expectations of those who come to work on Turtle Island are not the expectations of Eustace himself, which seems to be based on a phylosophy of, " hey, I dug a one hundred foot long ditch, three feet deep through solid rock! It took me two months and nearly killed me, and though I didn't really learn anything about living off the land, by golly I know I can dig a ditch through solid rock and knowing that gives me a warm feeling about who I am." No. The book gives the impression that the apprentises thought they were there to learn how to live off the land but Eustace failed to tell them that they were there to find out what he himself had always practised, "I will do one thing no matter how hard or how impossible it may seem until it kills me or I master it. Then I can stand straight and in my mind know that I am worth something if to no one but myself."
   This is somewhat of a harsh review of a book about a man I've never met but it is based on the impression I got from the book. I wish you eventual happiness Mr. Conway. You've certainly strived for it.
   I recommend this book.



4. This is the biography of a man who has spent his whole life in the woods, living off the land. The difference between him and the many others who live off the land? He has flourished. Plus, he does it partially to convince others to give up the trap of luxury and return to a simple nature-centric lifestyle. The author gives us a solid background then weaves interesting tales about the "last american man" and how hardworking and different he is compared to an average man. A well-written book that drags a little in the end reiterating the same dogma that keeping up with the joneses is futile. However Elizabeth Gilbert hadn't quite polished off her writing style as she does in Eat, Pray, Love. A worthy read for anyone disinterested in suburban sprawl along with Into The Wild.



5. This book really made me think. It wasn't the best written book. I liked her other book, Eat Pray Love better, however even though I'm not thrilled with her style of writing I love the content she presents and what she writes about. This book has seriously made me look at the purpose and quality of my own life and the changes I want to make.

5 comments about Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America.

1. While I would recommend "Polk" to all fans of the period I would caution that it seems to lack a little in the life of the man. While I doubt that this is the fault of the biographer since outside of his presidential diary - Polk did not leave a large written record. Borneman deicated less than 20 pages to Polk's early life, and hardly mentions his times growing up in Pineville, N.C. - my question is this because there is little known or was it left out to help the book flow?
   
   Having mentioned this fault, I do find the book to be both readable and entertaining. In fact, Broneman has written one of the best political accounts of the turmaoil that lasted between the end of Jackson's term and the end of Polk's.
   
   My final tally - if you are looking for a biography that is an equal of "John Adams" you may be disappoined, but if you are looking for an interesting overview of the 1830's and 1840's.. you probably have found the very best possible book!
   
   Score "B+"



2. James K. Polk always shows up on the best Presidents' list along with the obvious Washingtons, Jeffersons, Lincolns, etc. Mr. Borneman delineates why this is the case, in a clear, concise writing style, and illuminates both Polk's personal and political life. This book is a must-read, not only for would-be historians, but also for people like me, who had never had a complete understanding about this important period in American history.



3. As the book's subtitle suggests, this is an account of a President who had an enormous impact on the contiguous 48 states. He was a brilliant visionary and leader. The author has done an excellent job of research and tied it all together into an enjoyable, fascinating account of a critical period in US history.



4. This book was well-written and easy to read. The subject was engrossing, so it was hard to put down. He did this all without demonstrating political prejudice, too. I will read it again.



5. James K Polk was barely a generation removed from our Founding Fathers when it is taken into account that he was mentored by Andrew Jackson and had John Quincy Adams in the House of Representatives during his Presidency.
   
   When one considers that Abraham Lincoln also served in the House during his Presidency, and Ulysses S. Grant served in his army, the shadow that Polk cast over 19th century politics becomes huge.
   
   Conventional wisdom has been that between Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln, there was a tremendous vacuum of Presidential leadership. This book moves a long way toward debunking this notion. In fact, James Polk is arguably the greatest one-term President this country has seen.
   
   Rarely has a President moved into this position with such a clear and well defined set of objectives and stayed so focused on carrying them out.
   
   Polk's continuation of Manifest Destiny, and his no holds barred tactics of achieving land expansion puts him in a pantheon and league with the few Presidents who have achieved greatness in their tenures. When we now look at our map, it has Polk's clear stamp on it.
   
   This book must have been difficult for the author to write, in that there was little written about Polk, in light of the Civil War, and his story has been lost to obscurity. In that he has been deceased for 160 years, there are few sources to get an accurate gauge of his personality, or his actions, other than what is recorded.
   
   Still, this book brings him to life, and paints a clear picture of the political times.
   
   For the afficionado of the Presidency, and its inhabitants, it is a must read story.

3 comments about Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka.

1. As the mother of four boys (and a child of the 70s), I adore what Jon Sciezska has done for male-accessible literature. My sons are reading again and again the adventures of Jon and his brothers who "don't know" how mischief happens. Perhaps my favorite part of this book is his description of how the term "knucklehead" changed from being a deragatory term to a phrase of endearment. My boys love the funny stories of what happens when you get a pack of boys together.
   
   We also love the book he edited, Guys Write for Guys Read, full of great authors that boys/men and the women who love them like to read.



2. This is an awesome funny book. My husband was raised in Michigan and has a sweet routine of telling my two boys ages 6 and 11 stories of his childhood at bedtime every night. He found this book and bought it for our 11 year old. He loves it. Last night he read it outloud to me and we both laughed so hard my faced hurt! Awesome book.



3. To adults that don't normally wander through the shelves of children's literature the notion of the autobiography for kids is a pretty odd beast. You write a book about yourself, sure. But why would you make the primary audience for that book people who think that boogers and farts are the height of wit and sophistication? Fact of the matter is an autobiography written with a child audience in mind needs a hook. Your life, particularly your life as a kid, has to have had something interesting about it. Many of us probably look back on those years only to sigh and determine that absolutely nuthin' interesting went on back then that would sufficiently engage a ten-year-old. Not Jon Scieszka. You want a hook? Try five brothers. Five brothers and Catholic school. Five brothers and Catholic school and a mess of stories involving bodily functions and super cool (and not so cool) toys. Mr. Scieszka proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that when it comes to recounting your youth, there's nothing like a plethora of XX chromosomes to keep the readers reading.
   
   He was born the second Scieszka, after Jim, before Tom, Gregg, Brian, or Jeff. You want to know where the author of books like The Stinky Cheese Man gets his ideas? This book provides the answer. Using bite sized chapters rarely more than two to three pages in length we get a firsthand account of what it's like to grow up as a child of the fifties and sixties alongside five other bros where being a guy takes up all of your time. The book is written in such a way that readers are almost encouraged to flip back and forth through it to get all the good stuff, but in the order they prefer. So if you happened to skip Chapter 13 about Gregg's broken collarbone and you get to Chapter 19 which references the incident in passing, never fear. It's easy to take Knucklehead as it comes to you. There are thirty-eight chapters in total and each one's a heckuva lot of fun.
   
   Read enough of these authorial auto-bios and after a while you start seeing similarities. That section about peeing on the heater in the bedroom? Well that's mighty similar to the peeing on the heater section in Chris Crutcher's book King of the Mild Frontier. Not because one was cribbed from the other or anything. It just seems that peeing on heaters is one of those universal things boys like to do, and it sure does make for great reading. As I read Scieszka's book I also started flashing back to some talks I've heard fellow author Eoin Colfer give about his own years with a big family, and the disgusting hijinks he and his siblings engaged in. When the candid and the funny are one and the same, you've got the makings of a hit on your hands.
   
   Actually, maybe I shouldn't use the word "candid". Since the subtitle of this book says that it involves "tall tales and mostly true stories" then the readers should have some fun trying to figure out where Jon exaggerates. It's tough. A lot of these are so weird you can't help but think they're true. That story about how Jon would faux call the Bad Boys' Home while brother sitting? Sounds about right. The one about breaking Gregg's collarbone? Jon has the photographic proof right there (and even a picture where Gregg looks like he's a "third-grade pro football player"). No, I think my doubting Thomas nature came into play more along the lines of the chapter called "Car Trip" which involves brothers, a cat, and an unfortunate pecan nut log in a vomit-fest that certainly strains at the tensile threats of my credulity. And maybe the dry cleaning bag incident. I mean it's just too cool.
   
   The design of this book is groovy, keen, awesome, neato no question. From the faux ads on the back to the sheer overwhelming swath of photographs, graphs, x-rays, pictures, and clip art peppered throughout, this puppy's a visual humdinger. The kind of thing that makes you scratch your head and say, "I wonder if he would have gotten this much cool art design help if he wasn't our National Ambassador of Children's Literature?" Which is an uncharitable thought, perhaps, so you'd have to banish it from your brain forthwith and just enjoy the pictures instead. It's clear that Mr. Scieszka, creator of the Guys Read movement that encourages boys to read, knows how to make an autobiography that reluctant readers will dig. Everything about this book is tailor made for the kid who thinks that they don't like books. The chapters are very short and the text continually broken up by the visuals.
   
   In New York anyway the go-to autobiography assigned by teachers over and over again is Jerry Spinelli's Knots in My Yo-Yo String. Now at long last it looks as if Jerry will finally see a challenger to his throne. I've heard Mr. Scieszka present one or two of the chapters of this book live and since he has a tendency to go off-script (particularly when he's discussing his own life) there are things he has mentioned live that didn't quite make it into Knucklehead. That's okay. I don't think anyone's going to accuse the man of not including enough information. As a reluctant reader pick and the kind of autobiography kids are going to fight to read first, this book is definitely a must-add title for any library's shelves. Good clean stuff. Without the "clean" part so much.

5 comments about I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie.

1. Okay, so I'm a late bloomer! I wanted to read this book *years* ago, but never got the chance. Now I'm older and couldn't get backstage if I wanted to- so I can't exactly use the book for 'helpful tips and hints' as I would have as a teenager. *smirk*
   
   Anyway, it's a great read and very tasteful. If there are any nay sayers about that, they need to stop and think about what the subject matter is about. Considering what Ms. Des Barres is writing about I think she did so very eloquently.
   
   After all, how tactfully *can* you write about Mick Jagger's testicles?



2. I was disappointed with this book by Pamela Des Barres. It was predictable and quite boring. I managed halfway through the novel already and have lost interest.
   Even though she was able to meet many famous musicians throughout her life, you already knew she would use sex to get attention from them and then they would just move on to the next groupie. Nothing new.



3. I got this book for Christmas from my mother, who knows that I have a great love for classic rock and roll. I couldn't wait to read it, and it did not disappoint in the least. This book wasn't a tell all, but a look into what it was like to be part of the "scene".
   There were parts I would have liked to have heard a little more about...she seems to skim over being on the road with a simple, "I spent the next five days on the road with Zeppelin." Kind of would liked to have heard a little more about that. But the stories that she does share are amazing.
   She gives us great insight into some of the most amazing artists of our time. This is a must read for anyone with a love of rock and roll and the 60's. I can't wait to read her other books.



4. Reading this book reminded me of that enervating feeling I once felt, circa 1979 or so, during a midnight viewing of Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same." It was a flash of horror in which my excitement over the rock n' roll life (I was in a band at that time, my head filled with ambitions and pretensions) gave way to a feeling of aimlessness: What is with all this cheesy medeival imagery? How come these guys don't look cool, but just scrawny and strung-out? Do I really need to hear an eight-minute drum solo? What the hell have I been doing wasting my time with all this?
   
   Des Barres' book left me with a similar feeling of the blahs: some books make it seem like there was more to the 1960s-70s rock culture than previously realized. This book makes one feel like there was a lot less.
   
   I picked up the book hoping that it would bring the sights, sounds, and philosophy of a unique time back to life. It didn't. Despite having had dalliances with titanic figures ranging from Mick Jagger to Jimmy Page to Gram Parsons to Don Johnson, the author conveys very little of their artistry. In fact, she rarely tries to discuss or describe their music at all: passages on what makes a Mick Jagger or a Jim Morrison sexy sound as though they could have been written about any high school bad boy, musician or no.
   
   And indeed, that adolescent attitude pervades this book. The book begins with the author entering a boy-crazy period in high school, and is related largely through excerpts from her diary, replete with CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation marks(!!!!!!) about how COOL this guy is and how WHEN HE KISSED ME I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO FAINT!! Blecch. Most of the remainder of the book has a similar tone, merely transplanted to a larger stage.
   
   The effect is more trivializing than anything else. I had hoped this book would reveal something about this woman and her ability to connect with these creative figures. Instead, this book made it sound like her life was nothing more than a series of hedonistic distractions, draped over a nothingness. The book makes the reader feel not as though her generation was liberated from the hidebound ways of the previous ones, having moved on to higher, more exciting pleasures, but rather that no more original ideas existed in her life or in her head than finding the next naughty guy to sleep with.
   
   That's perhaps a bit harsh: she does deliver a couple of winning passages in the book, one on the excitement of a Led Zeppelin performance, another on her less-than-stellar acting debut. She also managed to convince me that she had an aesthetic value or two, specifically in advocating for the Burrito Brothers' injection of folk/country influences into the psychadelic scene.
   
   But the lingering images of the book are the downers: the poor three-year-old son of irresponsible substance-abusing-party-addicts who let him plummet to his death through a skylight -- barely interrupting their partying lifestyle for a few months. The look of scorn and contempt on John Lennon's face, when witnessing the author's pathetic attempts to put meaning in her life by flinging herself at the band. I didn't find myself judging the author so much as feeling badly for her. Well, I *did* judge her writing, I suppose, and not favorably.
   
   It's not a terrible book; it's too light a read to be that. But if you are looking for a book to make you feel that the 1960s were a time fraught with meaning and revolutionary philosophy, you'd be well advised to avoid this one.



5. I last read this almost if not 20 years ago so I would be hard pressed to recall specific details. I need a new copy!
   
   A truly wild and fascinating adventure about something I can never get enough of hearing about: dirty sex with rock legends!? Amazing. She was so lucky to be around and in the scene when the music and culture was so pure and incredible. I always thought I was born too late, missing out on the good years.
   
   Pamela's got a great sense of humaor and she's a true music fanatic. I also think it's a great testimonial to women taking control of their own lives and desires. Why shouldn't she have been seeking out her idols? Look who they were, why not!? Good for her.
   
   Very recommended, total fun.

5 comments about Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia.

1. I read Princess the first time many years ago and was very intriged by it. It also made me look into Islam and I can say today I am a Muslim. I read the book again recently and did not find it as good. What must be said is that a lot of horrible things that happened in that book were culture and *not* Islam. (I will also say that Saudi is not a good example of a Islamic country.)
   
   Other than that issue I think it's a good read. Just don't read too much into it. If you really want to get a look into life in Saudi there are Saudi feminist bloggers on the net. That would give you a better view than this book.



2. I read this when I was high school and was shocked and appalled at how those poor Middle Eastern women live. Now grown, I have Middle Eastern female friends who laugh their head off at this book. Perhaps some of the incidents that are related happened, but I highly doubt they happened to the same person. It's like if someone from Saudi Arabia came here and wrote a book, "Senator's Daughter" or something. The girl was sexually abused starting at age 3, starved by her mother so she wouldn't get fat, pressured into sexually servicing the football team. The father has affairs with both women and men, is a pedophile, and likes to torture cats. The mother is a beaten-down woman who undergoes dozens of plastic surgery procedures and ends up locked in an insane asylum. Have these incidents, separately, happened to American females? Yes. Are they representative of American women, or senator's daughters? Nope. I suspect Jean Sasson did something similar, and it completely destroys any argument she was trying to make! A fun read, but don't take it as gospel.



3. I read this book without regard to ethnicity or political belief. I read it as a woman -- as a human being who suffered at the thought of what other women are enduring in the name of "religion" or "culture."
   
   There is no explanation possible to make this palatable to anyone with a conscience. To let it pass without mention is an abomination, akin to denying the Holocaust. There is no justification possible in the eyes of God.
   
   To the perpetrators of this inhumanity to women, I can only promise you that God is watching. Any other comment on these perpetrators is superfluous.



4. I first read this book when I was 16, and I loved it. It is a work of non-fiction, and based on a true story of a Saudi Arabian princess and her family. She opens up about the injustices the women of Saudi suffer (sexism, FGM, favoritism, not having a say in one's marriage, how society turns a blind eye to abusive husbands, and how she supports a woman's right to freedom.) It is an empowering read, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.
   
   It also has 2 sequels, "Daughters of Arabia" and "Desert Royal" which are equally stirring and totally worth the buy if you like "Princess". The sequels are tough to find at a library, though.



5. The author relates the story of Sultana, a Princess of Saudi Arabia, from childhood to adulthood. We see Sultana's life of unimaginable luxury with palaces, servants, and jewels but, alas, being a female she is a prisoner in her home, subject to the iron will of her father and brother.
   
   This is a good story, but I took it as a fictional story. I never once believed that Sultana was real and that she told these stories. I know the cruelties described in the book exist, but I think "Sultana" is a combination of many nameless Saudi women. Had the author not tried to present this as a memoir but just factually reported the officially-sanctioned abominations that women endure there, I would have liked it better. She tried to manipulate me into feeling pity for the poor little rich girl with tedious and amateurish fiction. None of it rang true.
   
   The author lived in Saudi Arabia for ten years; I would have rather read an account of her experiences than this phony-sounding autobiography. It's right to expose these injustices but the truth is enough; there's no need to embellish it with trumped-up characters.
   
   For a moving and much better-written story of women behind the veil, I recommend A Thousand Splendid Suns.

5 comments about Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return.

1. This is the only book that I have manged to read the entire of it in one day!
   It is a comic book, supper easy read and very educational in terms of knowing different culture.
   I like Persepolis 2 better than 1.
   U may wanna watch the movie, as well. It won and nominated for many awards in 2007.



2. I call myself a history buff but in reality I really only know American history with a little knowledge of King Henry VIII. I was 18 when Iranian crisis started. This book gave me a better insight to the overall issues behind this area than any other reading I had done, which I admit is not vast. The difference here was this book laid things out in such an engaging way I was totally engrossed. The author was both straight foward and insightful, along with quite humorous.



3. The first novel in this series succeeded because its childlike graphics and gee-whiz storytelling matched perfectly with this subject matter. We could imagine the infant/child author telling her story in exactly these terms.
   This sequel fails because the issues of growing up and dealing with the disillusionment with one's own culture are much more subtle. The story and the graphics remind us constantly of the nuances that are left out, of the issues of women's rights and humanity that are sentimentalized, of the real conflicts that this child/woman is undergoing that are completely unexplored.
   There are a few quibbles to be explored: the view of vienna is odd and the little vignette of the narrator peeing standing up seems forced. But most importantly, the mismatch between the story and the way in which it is told ends up making for a read that turns boring quickly.



4. I loved Persepolis, so when I realized there was a Persepolis 2, I quickly bought a used copy from Amazon. When I received it, I was very disappointed to learn that I had already read it! Although my first book was entitled Persepolis, it contained both stories. Check your copy of Persepolis before you buy the sequel; you may have read it!



5. Graphic novel comes of age. This is the first novel I have seen by a writer trained as a graphic artist. It is wonderful!