5 comments about Two Years Before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea (Penguin Classics).

1. This is a good read for anyone who loves adventure and a great read for anyone interested in Californian history. More to the point, this book was *THE* book on California for Americans living between 1840 and 1860. Dana's insights into the culture, customs, and early history of California are fantastic, as are his predictions (one of which is that California would one day become an economic powerhouse).
   
   This book was listed by National Geographic as one of the 100 best adventure books written. The adventure portions are definitely interesting (clinging to life ropes 100 feet above deck during a blizzard at Cape Horn is hard to beat for a real-life experience), but the nautical jargon is a bit pedantic at times. It is the small pauses between the sailing that hold the most interest, at least to this reader. And the final, bittersweet return to California in 1859 holds perhaps the most interesting passages. It is here we see Dana come to grips with a common theme - the reconciliation of nostalgia with progress. (And what a quick progress it is - from a single shanty in 1835 to 100,000 citizens in San Fransisco in 1859!)
   
   My personal favorite passage is a comment that is probably as true today as it was in his time - the difficulty in understanding a life other than your own if you fail to adventure once in a while. "His is one of those cases which are more numerous than those suppose who have never lived anywhere but in their own homes and never walked but in one line from their cradles to their graves."



2. It took me quite a while to read this book; I wouldn't call it a page turner. But I'm quite sure I will remember it as vividly as almost any book I've ever read. It is a very detailed, true description of an exceptional, very-well-educated young man's two year stint on a trading ship which sailed from Boston around Cape Horn to a very primitive, pre-Gold-Rush, California and back. There isn't a whole lot of suspense because we know, since it's a true story, that the author makes it back. And there isn't a great deal of concern about his shipmates and the other people he meets in his amazing travels, because their characters are never consistently developed. Rather, Dana may spend a page on a specific person and then never refer much to that person again. But I believe that this is the way Dana intended it -- as a story of the sea, and merchant seamen as a class of people, and the incredible dangers and hardships they face on a daily basis. In that regard, the main character of the story becomes this universal seaman, sometimes Dana, sometimes an unnamed or named crew member (but often named just as Mr. S______ or the like), sometimes spoken of as a composite ("Jack"). This gives the tale a transcendent, universal feel and makes it all the more powerful -- rather than the typical bad-guy, good-guy approach. The details of how the ship and crew function and the operation of the sails, etc. are explained in great and loving detail in nautical/technical terms that were, in the beginning, often incomprehensible and boring to me -- but for which I gained a taste for reading as the story progressed, even if I still didn't know quite what was actually happening or what exactly he was describing. Especially memorable was his ship's return trip around unpredictable, fierce Cape Horn with an exhausted, ailing, too-small crew. The afterword that was written 24 years later when Dana returned to a post-Gold-Rush California and reviews the places where he had his adventure as a young man, including reacquaintance with some of the characters of the main story, was one of the best parts of the book; quite poignant. If you want to experience a completely different way of life in a very different time, this may be the book for you...



3. 1. "The first half of the book was great" makes the book worth three stars, not one. "If for whatever reason, you wish to find out exactly how a sailor lived, then go ahead, its a great book." makes it a 4 star book.
   
   2. The second half is even better than the first. It's the ONLY account of Mexican California by an American, but the descriptions couldn't be better written or more interesting, and not just because I'm a "Californico" (Spanish for resident of old California). I'm also a history and geography buff. History and geography doesn't get better than this, with wonderful action and extraordinary description of the locations and people in Mexican California. Both halves together make this a 5 star book.
   
   3. Did you miss that he switched ships (unheard of at the time)? His first ship, "The Pilgrim" was a coastal trader. A replica is at Dana Harbor in Orange County, CA, well worth visiting.
   
   4. Dana's descriptions of the terrible floggings and other abuse of sailors by a brutish Captain and mate of the Pilgrim are totally not boring. Did you miss that Dana became a lawyer on his return to New England? He defended seamen in court pro bono for his entire long career, and was instrumental in getting the first laws passed giving merchant seamen legal rights and protections.
   
   "Two Years" is must reading for anybody who loves a good story, true adventure, good narrative writing, or who loves California and America and wants to know more about who we are and how we got this way.



4. This book has two distinct appeals--it is a compelling account of "the sailor's life" in 19th Century America as well as a historical account of 19th Century California. At the same time, this book is a classic and a thoroughly interesting narrative--one that influenced Herman Melville. It is also amazing to read the accounts of California before it was settled and became a state. It's pretty ironic that although the California coast is considered today to be one of the most beautiful parts of the country, the author and his crew thought of California as a wholly undesirable place. For those with an interest in the days of sail and/or the early history of California, you can't go wrong with this book.



5. I ordered this book in large part because the library copy, also a paperback, had diagrams dipicting sailing ships and the names of each sail, rope, mast, etc. I presumed the original book had these diagrams and each copy as well. It is still a great story but it uses a lot of nautical terminology and without the diagram, I cannot fathom what is a stud sail, what is a ship, what is a brig.

1 comments about Louise Arner Boyd: Arctic Explorer (Notable Americans).

1. When she was 32, Boyd inherited millions in 1920, but became bored with a life of leisure and decided to achieve her dream of becoming an Arctic explorer. A little over a hundred pages of detail provides middle school grade levels with insights on her life and her many explorations.

No comments about Snake Charmer: A Life and Death in Pursuit of Knowledge.

5 comments about Diary Of A Lost Girl.

1. I hadn't heard of Kola Boof until a few weeks ago, when the news came out that bin Laden had a "thing" for Whitney Houston-- according to his former mistress/sex slave. Always interested in the subject matter of Islamic terrorism, I ordered this book. I am so glad I did, too.
   
   Kola Boof is a wonderful and HONEST writer. This is really one of the most passionate and honest memoirs I have read. She writes of her childhood growing up Muslim in Sudan-- the child of a Sudanese and an Egyptian. She shares her memories of her parents' love and her parents' murder. She shares her pain at being subsequently abandoned by her grandmother. Of the horrors she saw perpetuated by Muslim Arabs.
   
   It's really an incredible book. Kola Boof's story is more of a testament to her life and her life's calling-- which is to educate the public about Islam and Islam's aim for Islamic rule and a return to the Caliphate. The author has seen unbelievable evil including rape, murder, beatings, theft. She talks about the slaves that the Muslims kept (her father was unhappy about this and spoke out-- that's why he was killed). She shares all of this with the reader eloquently and passionately. She will not be silenced.
   
   Kola has denounced Islam and considers herself an African Woman and believes in "the Goddess". She is a feminist. However, because she criticizes Islam, she has been virtually ignored by the press and ignored by the Democratic party, although she is definitely a liberal democrat herself. The author points out the hypocrisy today within the Democratic party and the party's hypocritical tolerance for those who are intolerant of all, while being intolerant of those who just wish to speak the truth, share their stories, and share their information. This book is for EVERYONE, however. Please don't dismiss it because of your political leanings. This book is too important.
   
   Some might find Kola a bit strong. This is her strength, though. She will not be silenced in the face of injustice. Her past could have cowered her, instead it gave her unbelievable strength. She is definitely a woman to be admired and listened to.



2. I never cared much for Kola Boof's story until I stumbled upon the massive details that the media has deliberatley not reported as they've tried to portray this woman, and to a lesser degree Ayan Hirsi Ali, as "crazed agenda-driven reactionaries", "liars" and "nutcases". There's tons of stuff that I've since found on the internet about Kola Boof, but this book is heartbreaking, its gut-wrenching and I have to say that it absolutely rings very true.
   
   In fact, I'm convinced Kola Boof's autobiography is so truthful and honest that "certain people" with their own political agendas simply can't take it, and like so many courageous black women before her, Kola is getting a mixture of stereotypical racist and sexist reactions because the plight calls into question the status of black females worldwide as well as African versus Arab relations and to cap it off she's not a sympathizer of Palestinians (after reading the book you'll understand why) and has supported Israel, which is very unpopular with both liberal white democrats and the Pro-Muslim Black community in America.
   
   As a black woman, I cursed, laughed and cried reading this book. It really meant something to me and I thank Kola Boof for being the bold "mentally unhinged" firebrand that she is. I don't ever review books on AMAZON but I had to review this one. Deserves a 10 plus.



3. The most essential element of the Kola Boof story is her claim to have been Osama Bin Laden's mistress. Despite relentless self-promotion, her first three books garnered little notice. It was her 2006 autobiography, with its bizarre portrayal of Bin Laden as a sexual predator who digs the B-52s and lusts for Whitney Houston, that propelled Kola Boof's name into the news and onto tens of thousands of websites. The less-than-discriminating decision last year by editors at Harper's magazine to run excerpts from "Diary of a Lost Girl" triggered a spasm of news coverage in the United States and Europe. Media interest in Boof has all but died out now, but without Osama, she never would have had the ride that peaked with cable-news interviews on Fox and MSNBC.
   
   No one, of course, has been able to interview Bin Ladin to confirm Boof's intimate portrait, and her account of the rest of her life before she launched her Internet career in 2002 is similarly devoid of factual claims that can be verified. In one telling area, however -- the alleged Bin Ladin interlude -- "Diary" is actually quite explicit about real names, places, and dates. That particular information, it turns out, is surprisingly easy to check...and debunk.
   
   Boof sets her months-long encounter with Bin Ladin at La Maison Arabe, a very real luxury hotel in Marrakesh. Boof relates how he installed her at the hotel and lived there with her off and on for months. She names the proprietors, Fabrizio Ruspoli and Philippe Cluzel, as "wonderful, friendly people." When her relationship with Bin Ladin was publicized a year after 9-11, Boof writes, Ruspoli saved her from being stripped of her American citizenship by assuring government officials that Bin Ladin had held her against her will. While she was at La Maison Arabe, Boof writes, the managers would tell other guests she was an American celebrity, and so she would overhear her fellow lodgers mistaking her for Whoopi Goldberg, or alternatively, Naomi Campbell. Her stay at La Maison Arabe ended, she says, when Bin Ladin abruptly kicked her out of their suite in June of 1996.
   
   Those who are intrigued by these specifics might, quite naturally, google La Maison Arabe. And at the hotel's website they would find, on a page dedicated to reviews by the international travel press, that La Maison Arabe did not welcome its first guest until January of 1998.
   
   For those still having trouble deciding what to make of the Kola Boof story, this is a highly relevant point: she states unequivocably in her "autobiography" that Bin Ladin checked her in to La Maison Arabe almost two years before there was any hotel to check in to.
   
   It's not a question of a true story and a misremembered year, either. In early 1998, Bin Ladin was hiding out in Afghanistan and issuing his fatwa against America. At the same time, Boof writes, she was traveling the world as a spy for Sudanese anti-government rebels.
   
   Osama is a double-edged sword for Boof. She succeeded in getting noticed by building her public persona around him, but as simple inquiry reveals, that also makes her story a transparently phony one.
   
   www.lamaisonarabe.com



4. I'm so sad for Kola Boof.
   
   The "stalkers" who go around posting lies about her book on the internet have invented a new one only this time it's about LA MAISON ARABE, the hotel-restaurant where Kola Boof lived with Osama Bin Laden in 1996.
   
   The stalkers don't know much about the restaurant or its owner Prince Fabrizzio Ruspoli, and they must be related to Peter Bergen, as they're posting more misinformation such as claiming that Kola Boof referred to the estate being a "hotel" back in 1996. SHE DID NOT.
   
   Kola Boof's autobiography states two things--that LaMaison Arabe was being "renovated to become a hotel" in 1996 when she was there and that while she was there--it was a "bed and breakfast" for the elite. Those are factual statements and Prince Fabrizzio Ruspoli himself appears in Ms. Boof's autobiography and has not sued her, but in fact has spoken to the U.S. State Department on her behalf, so once again the San Francisco Tag Team is off the mark.
   
   Kola Boof's autobiography is a CLASSIC. It's full of spirited truth and she tells her truth from the guts as well as the heart.
   
   Haters fail to mention that La Maison Arabe was a restaurant in the 1940's and CLOSED in 1983. It then became a Private Estate providing "Bed and Breakfast" for the guests of Prince Fabrizzio Ruspoli.
   
   Ms. Boof's representation of the hotel is accurate and her autobiography is a gem.
   
   



5. beautifully written bio by poet and author kola boof. she tells of the details of her life in unflinching honesty. from the brutal murder of her parents she witnessed as a small child to her scary yet exciting encounter with osama bin laden. she tells of a side to him no one knows--a sensitive romantic flip side to his public persona. her views as a womanist are also insightful and enlightening. she brings to light the color caste systems nobody talks about today. nonficfan

5 comments about The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel: A Biography of the Explorer of Tibet and Its Forbidden Practices.

1. Little known crossdressing Victorian Frenchwoman undertakes a dangerous journey of discovery in forbidden country disguised as a monk and lives to tell her tale to the world. Thoroughly well researched,and well crafted The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel is the biography of a remarkable woman. A woman born to the mannered and circumscribed Victorian era who chose to strike out on her own initiative to explore the spiritual secrets and she was among the first Europeans to report about it from inside to the rest of the world.
   I found it a fascinating read about a remarkable woman of whom I knew nothing, a woman who accomplished amazing things in her life. I recommend this biography by Barbara and Michael Foster to anyone interested in tales of high adventure in exploration, in the golden age of exploration and of unknown exotic lands. If the story of resolutely fearless woman pursuing her dream of exploring Forbidden Tibet whets your appetite I recommned you read this well crafted biography. I can recommend it without reservation. ZaneMason



2. Little known crossdressing Victorian Frenchwoman undertakes a dangerous journey of discovery in forbidden country disguised as a monk and lives to tell her tale to the world. Thoroughly well researched,and well crafted The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel is the biography of a remarkable woman. A woman born to the mannered and circumscribed Victorian era who chose to strike out on her own initiative to explore the spiritual secrets and she was among the first Europeans to report about it from inside to the rest of the world.
   I found it a fascinating read about a remarkable woman of whom I knew nothing, a woman who accomplished amazing things in her life. I recommend this biography by Barbara and Michael Foster to anyone interested in tales of high adventure in exploration, in the golden age of exploration and of unknown exotic lands. If the story of resolutely fearless woman pursuing her dream of exploring Forbidden Tibet whets your appetite I recommned you read this well crafted biography. I can recommend it without reservation. ZaneMason



3. It is my great pleasure to let Amazon readers know about the exploits of Alexandra David-Neel, the explorer of Tibet, which the Fosters chronicle so vividly in the biography, THE SECRET LIVES OF ALEXANDRA DAVID-NEEL. This bio reads more like a novel or adventure tale due to the wonderfully-detailed scenes with such authentic touches I felt as if I were truly there, and often worried about David-Neel's ability to survive. Obviously the Fosters have done their research incredibly well and write graceful,lucid prose; I was captivated from the first sentence and actually resented having to put down the book to take care of chores. This is is one of the best biographies I have ever read. The story cries out to be told visually on the big screen.



4. The best chapters of 'The Secret Lives of Alexandra David-Neel:'
   owe much to Alexandra's own account of her journey to Lhasa. Her own books are wonderful to read, all of them , but in particular her 'My Journey to Lhasa' Beacon Press republished it as a paperback in 1993, ISBN 0-8070-5903-X
   I can guarantee you will have a most enjoyable read.



5. Alexandra David-Neel is reputed to be the first Western woman to reach the forbidden city of Lhasa, Tibet. She did so in 1924, a small woman in her mid-50s, disguised as a beggar and accompanied only by her adopted Tibetan son. This was the highlight of a life that lasted until 1969 when she died at age 100.
   
   As the authors point out, however, practically nothing can be said with surety about Mme. David-Neel. One biographer has even claimed that she fabricated the whole story of visiting Lhasa. Probably not -- although she fabricated a lot and was hardly of unimpeachable character. As a matter of fact, although the authors are very respectful of her, she seems a thoroughly selfish, self-centered and repellent person.
   
   David-Neel was a serious student of Buddhism and wrote many books on the subject. One of the juiciest parts of the book concerns the question of whether she participated in group Tantric sex rituals. The authors conclude she probably did.
   David-Neel's religion had nothing to do with morality, and it seems unlikely that she ever found inner peace from her Buddhist rituals as she suffered from an endless variety of mental and physical ills. Still, living to be 100 is quite an accomplishment...
   
   Alexandra David-Neel was an opera singer, a hardy and determined traveler, a student of religion, a writer, and a public figure of some note. Some of her papers are still unreleased so the final word about her character and achievements is still to be said. In the meantime this is an entertaining and well-researched biography.
   
   Smallchief

1 comments about Captain Cook's World: Maps of the Life and Voyages of James Cook R. N..

1. This book caught my eye at Pearl Harbor on my first significant visit to Hawaii a few weeks ago. Had to order it as soon as I got home. Outstanding digest of Cook's lifetime of exploration. Excellent format with its mixture of concise narrative and outstanding maps. Fascinating "read", I couldn't put it down. Excellent level of detail -- enough to be truly educational -- not so much as to overload. Emotionally moving to recall standing on Hawaiian soil and try to imagine the worlds meeting in the explorations of Cook's time. This book helped stitch my own experience to the history of the explorations.

5 comments about Skylark: The Life, Lies, and Inventions of Harry Atwood.

1. Harry Atwood is a character for the ages! If you want to see how to push new technology in a technologically naive age, with all of its outrageous successes and failures, this is the book to read. Harry is a consumate inventor along the lines and times of Edison and Ford, inventing some ingeneous laminate materials and an airplane for the rest of us. However he is also hardheaded, an expert in flim-flam, and an absolute failure in business. Yet despite his failures, he is ultimately a success! Good reading--save an afternoon to read it through.



2. The story of Harry Atwood is a fascinating one. Mansfield tells tales of Atwoods adventures during the early days of aviation in a way that really takes you back to a different time. The meticulous research Mansfield did to write this book really shows in his liberal use of reports from local newspapers, living relatives, etc. If you enjoy flying, inventors or learning about interesting and eccentric people, read this book...you won't be disappointed!



3. A tour de force of research and provocative writing. This how history should read and be taught. Among the supposed saints and heroes there is plenty room for the occasional showman and rogue. That's what Harry Atwood was. Thanks Mr. Mansfield for a real pleasure of a biography.



4. Mansfield does a great job on this book and since Harry Atwood was my grandfather I have some knowledge of Harry's background. A well done, informative publication.



5. I would have given 5 stars if only..........the Author had given us even more details about Atwood's flying, inventions and more documentation (patent records, court records, stock market records, etc.) to support his research. It is anyway a great book considering also how difficult it must have been to find material about such an interesting and "slippery" character. Being an aircraft builder myself, I would have also liked to learn more about the process he used in the construction of his "composite" airplanes and if any artifact has survived the inventor. Buy the book, you won't regret it.

5 comments about Madam, Have You Ever Really Been Happy?: An Intimate Journey through Africa and Asia.

1. Meeting Meg Peterson as she explores Africa, Asia and her own feelings about herself with a perceptive eye and a thoughtful upbeat spirit made me happy to think that at 75 there still is a lot for me to see and do in this world, and there is nothing that needs to hold me back. Thanks Meg.



2. I just finished reading Meg Peterson's wonderful book, Madam, Have You Ever Really Been Happy? I feel like I just got home from an around the world trip. Every page is full of information and so descriptive. I felt I was with her every step of the way. So well written. Such an adventurer.



3. I loved this book. I read it cover to cover in less than two days. My hat is off to Meg, travelling alone to all those exotic places. We need to have more books about intelligent, capable, kind and independent women leading challenging and interesting lives.



4. Meg Peterson has written a truly fascinating book. It documents her adventures backpacking, solo, through portions of Africa and Asia, with a determination to rediscover herself. I greatly admire her courage and endurance.
   Meg spent most of her time among the local people, away from the safety of the tourist venue, observing and appreciating a wide variety of cultures. Her descriptive passages of the scenic beauty she discovered are exquisitely painted in layers, as with a fine brush, detailed and poetic.
   I would highly recomment this book to anyone who needs the inspiration to get out and see the world, or to someone, like me, who enjoys traveling from the comfort of a favorite easy chair. I had difficulty putting this book down, until the end.



5. A 58-yr-old mother of 5 grown children, a writer, inveterate hiker, traveller, well-educated daughter of a Methodist preacher, Meg Peterson is not simply a skilled travel writer, she is also a gifted observer of the human condition. This is easy, fluent reading at its best.
   
   Having reached the point of realizing she can longer live the way she has been, she determines to make a life of her own choosing, not dominated by men. She divorces her alcoholic husband, opts to spend eight months travelling alone through Africa and Asia with only a backpack, passport, travellers' checks and her camera. She can describe the history and breathtaking beauty of the Taj Mahal, and in the next sentence painfully examine with great empathy the lives of the deprived children. That Meg loves people, and is loved in return, is evident in the joy and excitement of meeting new and old friends. She writes of these things in a natural, open, honest manner that made me feel I was accompanying her, watching her develop a new emotional life. A romantic episode in Nepal challenges her resolve, but she holds true to her new ideals.
   
   Her personal magnetism and versatility are clear. As one of her acquaintances remarks, "Meg, you are some woman." And this is some book, a real joy.

No comments about Sir Peter Blake: An Amazing Life.

No comments about The Sad Story of Burton, Speke, and the Nile; or, Was John Hanning Speke a Cad: Looking at the Evidence.