5 comments about The Stones Applaud: How Cystic Fibrosis Shaped My Childhood.

1. Teresa's words are filled with insight, purpose, and pure honesty. The Stones Applaud offers the healthy an eye-opening account of life as we've constructed it, and offers the chronically-ill a champion for their cause. Highly recommended.



2. The book is full of brio, and evinces an emotional maturity that may come only from an early intimacy with one's own mortality. Teresa comes alive again on the pages, with a rare, first-hand account of life with cystic fibrosis that will earn her immortality among her readers.



3. Teresa's book about her life is excellent. She's a strong-willed, brilliant person who conveys her experiences without a hint of self-pity. She's articulate and honest, and she opened my eyes to the shortcomings of preventative medicine and its neglect of those who are already living with disease. She also reminded me that you can't take a break from fighting injustice. Every day she fought it, through exhaustion and other people's ignorance. Teresa seems to have had a tireless spirit, and I hope this book helps people remember to continue Teresa's fight against medical complacency and the marginalization of chronically ill people.



4. I think Teresa Mullin achieved her goals in writing this book. It's a truly eye-opening account of what it's like to grow up with a severe chronic illness---how much she had to fight to be able to even be given a chance to do things we all take for granted. I was especially horrified by the account of the sadistic sounding head nurse at her prep school, who seemed to enjoy making her feel out of place. It was sad but telling to read about her delight in very ordinary things like pulling an all-nighter with friends studying and then going very early to Dunkin Donuts---something most of us would not count among life's big events.
   
   I also realized how the emphasis on finding the genes for genetic diseases might distract those who would otherwise work to make everyday life for people with the diseases better. Mullin felt it might have been not that hard to find a way to better fight lung infections and loosen secretions, but so much of the time and money went into finding a cure, and not into finding new treatments. That must be a huge dilemma.
   
   I don't know anyone personally with CF, but I do know quite a few children at my sons' inclusive school that are living with severe chronic conditions, and this book will affect how I see them. I wish the best for Mullin's family. I think her parents should also write a book. They would have much to tell about their life with two children with CF---their younger daughter Susan's story is overshadowed here, naturally, as Teresa was away from home so much, but I would love to know more about her, and about how the parents decided to have more children, and about their work on the behalf of CF. I want to thank them for having this book published.



5. I really enjoyed this book, and read it in 2 sittings. The author was a courageous young woman and I'm amazed what she accomplished in such a short life. It is written in a pleasant conversational way that I felt like I knew her a bit when I finished.
   
   The one thing I wish it had was a more in depth study of the authors family (Theresa also had a sister who had CF, and died a few years after she did). Her family went on to have a few more children (were her parents aware of the risk?) after her and her sister were diagnosed. I was also curious to how it affected them emotionally, I wish maybe her parents could have touched on this a bit more, just because it was so interesting I would have loved to know more, particularly how her sister struggled as well.
   
   I also recommend Breathing for a Living by Laura Rothenburg, my favorite book.

5 comments about Josephine: A Life of the Empress.

1. This was my first read of Carolly Erickson, and I was enthralled by her writing style. Yes, the book reads like a novel, but I don't find this detrimental. One of the biggest problems with historical biographies are they are often heavy and dull, and I don't think this should be the case when describing extraordinary times and events. I felt like I was transplanted "into the period;" and while Josephine had qualities pro and con, I found her to be accessible and human. A lot of times with biographies, I ended hating the subject by the time I am done, because the author relishes revealing the subject's tarnished persona in such an unflattering light. Ms. Erickson's Josephine I liked, despite her evident flaws.

   My only complaint would be overindulgence in trivial detail, e.g., her "rotten teeth" and "fading beauty." No one really likes aging, do they?




2. This was my first read of Carolly Erickson, and I was enthralled by her writing style. Yes, the book reads like a novel, but I don't find this detrimental. One of the biggest problems with historical biographies are they are often heavy and dull, and I don't think this should be the case when describing extraordinary times and events. I felt like I was transplanted "into the period;" and while Josephine had qualities pro and con, I found her to be accessible and human. A lot of times with biographies, I ended hating the subject by the time I am done, because the author relishes revealing the subject's tarnished persona in such an unflattering light. Ms. Erickson's Josephine I liked, despite her evident flaws.

   My only complaint would be overindulgence in trivial detail, e.g., her "rotten teeth" and "fading beauty." No one really likes aging, do they?




3. This was my first read of Carolly Erickson, and I was enthralled by her writing style. Yes, the book reads like a novel, but I don't find this detrimental. One of the biggest problems with historical biographies are they are often heavy and dull, and I don't think this should be the case when describing extraordinary times and events. I felt like I was transplanted "into the period;" and while Josephine had qualities pro and con, I found her to be accessible and human. A lot of times with biographies, I ended hating the subject by the time I am done, because the author relishes revealing the subject's tarnished persona in such an unflattering light. Ms. Erickson's Josephine I liked, despite her evident flaws.

   My only complaint would be overindulgence in trivial detail, e.g., her "rotten teeth" and "fading beauty." No one really likes aging, do they?




4. This is a very well written book, and the author keeps the reader captivated as she tells the life story of Josephine, better known as Napoleon's first wife.
   
   For avid history buffs of the Napoleonic era, this book will offer scant new insights. If, however, you are only beginning to learn about the movers and shakers in imperial France, this may be a good jumping off point for you. Bear in mind that everyone is a secondary player to Josephine, so every one presented is colored by how they interacted with her-- and the author's mostly sympathetic portrayal of the woman.
   
   Josephine is not presented as a saint by anymeans in this book. She is, however, given a back story that allows us to have a greater understanding at how she could be both kind and charming while attempting to amass a fortune as a war profiteer.
   
   Ultimately this book is like cotton candy. Sweet and charming but leaving the reader wanting for more. I find that to be a good thing in this case, I'll be reading more about Josephine and her contemporaries in an attempt to gain an even larger understanding of her and the times she lived in.



5. Josephine (1763-1814) was born Rose Tascher on the French colonial island of Dominique. Her father raised her on a failing sugar plantation she wed a disssolute French aristocrat (who wa
   executed during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution)
   and had two children by him: Hortense and Eugene.
   Josephine met the young Corsican Napoleon and wed him. Napoleon knew she had connections in the government and married her for politcal reasons as well as to satisfy his lustful longings for the fetching Creole.
   Josephine was five feet tall, had rotting teeth and was unfaithful to Napoleon (as he was as well!). She could not produce a male heir and the Emperor divorced her to marry Marie Louise of Austria.
   Her life was one of glamour, love, rejection by her husband and dissolute living. Josephine was no saint but she was known
   for her loving kindness.
   Erickson has written a good biography of Josephine which introduces the reader to a fascinating woman living in amazing times.

5 comments about Slackjaw.

1. Slackjaw is an entertaining memoir about the author's past. Jim writes with raw honesty and the book has a contagious personal quality that makes it hard to stop reading. Even though people may go through different hardships than the author, he writes in a way in which all people can relate. Through all the hard times, Jim takes the time to look at the ironic, hilarious details that make life, life.
   This book is highly recommended...



2. I like this book. I like Jim Knipfel's writing in general. He's quite good, and seems to be a naturally gifted author who's learned the ropes from his years as a columnist. In a strange sort of way, I consider him to be yet another link in the line of writers first described in the 1950s as the Beats. He measures up to many of those great truthsayers, and I always look forward to more work from Mr. Knipfel.

   Long may he linger.




3. Jim Knipfel is an idiot, truly. He's the type of person that delivers stories on characters like Werner Herzog and Ed Gein, very self-aggrandising, and, most significant to his idiot status, fails to understand anything at all. Want to be like Jim Knipfel? Quickly read a story in the newspaper, spend the next ten years watching The Nanny, then write a story based on what you read in the newspaper, and then assume the role of expert on the whole thing.



4. The book is most interesting. Knipfel knows how to tell a story; he tells in a sarcastic way the story of his life. Very important book for rehabilitation teachers for the blind and social workers.



5. This memoir is funny,clever and engaging. Knipfel is an interesting guy to say the least. If "Slackjaw" hadn't come highly recomended to me, there's no way I would have read a book about a mentally-ill, guy who tried to kill himself several times before going blind. However, since I did, it was rewarding, humorous, proud and never depressing.

5 comments about Kitchen Privileges : A Memoir.

1. I have been a fan of Mary Higgins Clark since junior high school when I first read, "A Cry in the Night". As a 31-year old working mother of two, I barely have time to read anything leisurely anymore! Over the years I have read many of her books, but I have found this one the most entertaining to date. This book brought me to tears on more than one occasion. This is a truly inspiring human story of love and loss that many people will relate to. I applaud her determination in making all of her dreams come true. I have forwarded the book to a dear aunt who writes short stories to give her some encouragement. I hope this review has been helpful.



2. A member of my church loaned me this book and to be frank, I wasn't all that interested in it. I had never read anything by Mary Higgins Clark before, and why did a writer name her book after a kitchen anyway? I was also intent on reading the Elsie Dinsmore books, and so put this book down, thinking that I'll return it after a week or so.
   
   Two weeks passed and I finally realized that I should at least make a seventy-something woman happy by reading it and so I began reading it after reading another borrowed book, "The Secret Life of Bees" (see my review on that superb novel). From Chapter One, I was hooked.
   
   Mary Higgins Clark writes her story with charm, wit and detail. She tells us the story of her childhood in the 1940s, the death of her father, her first jobs, her marriage and the births of her five children. She discusses her dream of becoming a writer and I can relate to this. I love to write, but my work is either rubbish or incomplete or both.
   
   However, the book was very short and left me asking some questions. She's written a lot of books, but only goes into detail about writing two of them-one of which was a failure. The epilogue leaves you asking questions that she doesn't answer, especially since she devotes an entire sentence to her second, failed marriage. Wow...
   
   Despite these flaws, I am going to read Mary Higgins Clark's fictional works and see if they are as well-written as this book is. I encourage any aspiring writer to read this book.



3. My Mother has been suffering from memory issues. We recently lucked out and found a prescription drug that has helped her focus more than she has in years. We couldn't believe it when she told us she read a book (the only book she's read in several years) that she borrowed from a friend at her Assisted Living facility. Apparently it was in large print and she loved it. I personally haven't read it, but she did pass it on to her older sister (83) and youger sister (77) and my sister 50) who all read it and said it was great. So, probably good gift idea for those form the depression era.



4. This memoir is truly a great example of what a special person Mary Higgins Clark is.
   
   This woman was born under a special star and her mother had the wonderful insight to recognize it and encourage it to blossom.
   
   As I read this I actually felt as if I were one of those neighbors who were privileged [but didn't know it at the time] enough to be allowed to came and sit and chat at the kitchen table and listen in to the wonderful stories.
   
   Mary Higgens Clark has had her share of grief and yet she is humble enough to share those private moments with us and to managed to rise above the pain to become the wonderful sister, daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, and writer that she truly is.
   
   I really felt honored to be allowed to share in her life story and was sadden when the book ended.
   
   You won't regret reading this one!
   I read it in one sitting and one day--I couldn't put it down. Trust me--you won't be able to either.
   A-Must-Read for those who love Mary Higgens Clark and Memoirs.



5. I read this book when it first came out and was not disappointed in the slightest. I've read every Mary Higgins Clark book ever written. They're page turners, pure and simple, with often riveting plots and always nice, dignified characters. In an increasingly nastier world, I LIKE nice :). A lovely book about how a very lovely lady came to be one of the top fiction writers, triumphing over many odds.

3 comments about Tryin' To Get To You: The Story of Elvis Presley.

1. In the fall of 1954 I was 14 and living in the very small town Stamford, Texas, where Elvis came to sing, accompanied by Scotty and Bill. Elvis had just recorded "That's All Right, Mama" and Sun Records would produce four more in quick succession, as Elvis toured around in his pink Cadillac. The night he appeared in our high school auditorium (tickets $.25), he wore ivory shirt, slacks and shoes. I had never been to a "concert" before but I was totally crazy about him from the start. A couple of my friends and I rushed backstage and got his autograph. We stayed up late that night gushing about his music, smile, and unusual Adonis-like appearance. In the early morning we heard where the guys were eating breakfast, and we rushed over. He invited us to join them.

   As Elvis toured Texas that year, we went too and always were invited backstage. I got to know what Elvis was like then and was even kissed by him. In between stops we had energy to burn and the local disc jockey (wisely) suggested we start a fan club. Elvis gave us photos, signed cards, and read letters that came to me.

   This book was first published after Elvis' death and is now restored to print by a special program of the Authors Guild. That's me in the cover photo standing to Elvis' right.




2. I read this book when I was in 7th grade, which was.... oh, let's see... I'm 30 now... so that means I read this book approximately seven billion years ago. Or so it seems. Anyway, I also wrote a report on this book for English class. The book was okay, but to this day I remember one glaring error: the author named Elvis' first post-army film "G.I. Joe." Of course, that title should be "G.I. Blues." Hopefully that error has been corrected in this new edition.



3. Renaissance came at the end of 1968. Elvis did a Comeback Special for television. He sat in the round with friends and performed the early hits. At the show's end, he appeared in a white suit and sang If I Can Dream. It was his first relevant song in awhile. It fit the rough period of the late 1960s with its Vietnam War, Civil Rights and Counter Culture. Elvis came off as a preacher with a message in this third and final incarnation. Suspicious Minds was his first number in 7 years. He played the International Hotel in Las Vegas, gave up movies and went back to the road. He donned jump suits and bell bottoms. Legendary guitarist James Burton joined his band. Burning Love went to number 2. Then, things began to slide. Divorce was a factor. Elvis was fooling around, and Priscilla left with her karate instructor. Aloha from Hawaii in 1973 was the last big hurrah. Elvis had a special relationship with Hawaii, and his passion was evident. American Trilogy reeks with pathos.

1 comments about Pulling Down the Barn: Memories of a Rural Childhood (Great Lakes Books).

1. 
   Anne-Marie Oomen takes you to a place to be, to be yourself, to be with a world that is endangered, to be where love for what is given us is real and deserved. There is nothing shallow or sappy here; this is the real thing written by the hushed and precise sensibility of a artist/master artisan.
   
   Jack Ridl

4 comments about Greenbelt : A Nostalgic Return to a Texas Childhood.

1. Here we have Jim Man's portrait of a summerful of visits to a lake house in north Texas of 1972 (age 12). The outstanding quality of Man's writing is its credibility: on a topic almost hand-crafted as a foundation for tall tales, I'm darned if I don't believe just about everything he says.

   I too grew up in the 1970s in the West, and we did in fact use to shoot at one another with BB guns, dig through any half-ruined building available to us, and gad about on any wheeled vehicle we could scrounge up. While Jim's story is one of a lot of fun--some better and cleaner than others--it is a story of lessons learned about himself and others. Jim's friend Dwight is an especially compelling character, the kind you can't invent; they either are authentic or they are not. (His accent, by the way, is authentic. He sounds precisely like my very rural, very Texan father-in-law.) By the end of the book--which I wish had been longer--I really wanted to know what ever became of the boys in the book.

   As a book for young people, I'd rate it PG-13: the author could have easily pushed it toward R-17, but a visible effort was made to take the edges off the language and content; this effort might not get the credit it deserves, but parents buying books for their children will appreciate it. If you're raising kids today, _Greenbelt_ will encourage you to pose the question: how come we turned out all right in spite of the fact that we behaved like Jim and his cohorts? It will appeal especially to anyone who likes motorcycles, fishing/boating, and modern-day Tom Sawyer hijinks. For anyone who grew up in rural Texas, naturally, the appeal will be even stronger. I came away liking the genuinely warm, adventuresome Man family, and I reckon a lot of readers will too.




2. I picked up the book on a Friday night. I was skeptical at best, but everybody leaves the bookstore with a book; and besides, the author was at the bookstore doing the dog and pony show trying to sell some of his books. Politely, I bought the book, came home and was mesmerized for the next four hours (I am a slow reader). I liked the size of the book, it wasn't real intimidating and I thought I would give it at least three chapters. That was all it took and I was hooked. A NOSTALGIC RETURN is exactly what I got. Mr. Man's book took me back to my own childhood and the amazement that I (and he)lived through it. Chapter after chapter was adventure, exploit, and just good ole' childhood mischief. I finished the book that night (to my wife's dislike). Several times she woke up and hit me with the pillow because the bed was shaking from my laughter. I honestly couldn't put the book down. Anyway, for what it is worth, I wish I had the book to look forward to. Write on Mr. Man, Bart boxwell



3. Released just in time for for summer reading, I heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure. Jim Man's style is easygoing, and at the same time compelling. I kept reading "just one more chapter" to find out what would happen next to Jim, Dwight, and the other colorful characters. This book truly is a return to a simpler time in the not too distant past. A time when kids explored the outside world on their own, and a Mother's parting words were "Be home in time for supper".



4. Greenbelt brought back childhood memories of a Texas lake and the antics one can get away with as a young kid. It reminded me of times that I had not considered in ages. Times when I was invincible.

   The stories in this book transcend a regional area, they could have occurred on a Texas Panhandle lake, a California beach or on a Iowa farm.

   Read this book to remind you of your own childhood or to remind you of a childhood you wish you had lived!!

5 comments about Soldier: A Poet's Childhood.

1. June Jordan is not a victim. She shows us that difficult childhoods aren't as straightfoward as that. Her violent father may have taught her to solve problems with violence, but he also taught her to be observant. The best part of this book is that we hear the words and see places that influenced Jordan's writing style: her father, her Uncle Teddy, New York of the 30's and 40's.



2. Over the past 40 years civil rights has come a long way and progress has been made in areas that makes life easier. But imagine if you had to struggle with poor education, terrible living conditions, and even segregation. Now imagine trying to get ahead in a world and society that was making all this an impossible task.

   June Jordan takes you on a twelve year journey through the eyes of one person who life was given these circumstances and somehow managed to succeed and become one of the most successful people, her own. June Jordan tells a story through words and poems that has you stopping and thinking throughout the entire 260 pages.

   The book is one of the first I have read that makes a clear representation of how a child caught up in turmoil can block out what they see and find something good in the life they have been given. Jordan's ability to capture the reader makes this book one of the most impressive I have read so far this year.

   After reading this book and seeing how the tough and often overbearing father along with the serine and religious mother were at odds, I gained a deeper understating of how difficult it must have been for any African American to try to make and succeed in the white man's world.

   Jordan has written several other books and has won a number of prestigious awards over the years. I found this book enjoyable and easy to read. Take time out and follow through the 12 years with a child who I found dealt with the same things I did as a child, only Jordan had them magnified. An excellent book!




3. Sure to be a classic. A wonderfully charming and moving series of memories, observations, and poetic passages about a childhood at turns sweet, innocent, and difficult. Sometimes children make the most clear-eyed and wise observers, and it is the rare adult, such as June Jordan, who can recapture and communicate the experience of childhood in both its wonder and bewilderment. Although the elements of Jordan's childhood are specific - 19302/1940s, brusque, occaisionally-violent immigrant father, Harlem and Brooklyn neighborhoods, racial and social inequity - the themes are universal. Wonderful!



4. June Jordan, African American Studies professor at UC Berkeley, has written a moving testament to her chaotic, challenging, and bittersweet childhood. This memoir written in a poetic manner is reminiscent of Sandra Cisneros' "House on Mango Street". The daughter of West Indian immigrants who revered education and hard work, she endured almost daily verbal assaults on her gender and physical abuse from her father. He was on one hand a supporter of Marcus Garvey and on the other hand felt the need to put down the American black at every turn. Her mother was a submissive, silent woman who realized that her daughter was her husband's son. Jordan's memories of the people who made an impact on her life and character, her Nanny, her Uncle Teddy, her camp friend, Jodi along with tales of childhood death-defying accidents, academic excellence, and first crushes are just bits and parts that serve to make this memoir a compelling read.



5. I don't read autobiographies because they're usually self-serving. I wait until someone with distance does justice to a life.

   Soldier, though, is the exception to my rule. June Jordan is able to look back over what seems a chaotic and sometimes cold, cruel childhood, and put it into the context of her life.

   The style is many times lyrical and poetic. The words draw you in and keep you reading. The story works back and forth between what's actually happening to June, the child, and what she's thinking about as it unfolds. It's quite different from most autobiographies.

   While I understand her father's quest to make sure his child is never a victim, his methods seem too brutal for words. It was a different time, and reality for an African-American is different, too, but reading about it is grueling.

   I did have a problem with the fact that June's memories seem much too clear. I may be missing the point, but I don't know anyone who can remember her childhood with such clarity and from the age of six months. Perhaps this is literacy license. If so, fine. The problem, then, is mine.

   No matter, this book is a fabulous read. I whipped through it in two hours.

5 comments about The Growing Seasons: An American Boyhood Before the War.

1. This is a prequel to the author's great war memoir, Flights of Passage, which I read with much appreciation 23 May 2001. If you have not read that book, by all means read this one first, then read it. This book is an account of a not extraordinary boyhood, but it is told in a poignant, if a bit mocking, way. When I finished it, I found myself much impressed by the way he told the story. It maybe helped that Hynes is only a few years older than I am, and that his account of a single summer doing farm work in Minnesota was filled with things I remember from my youth on an Iowa farm. It was another world and a time now irretrievably past, and I think this is an elegantly told growing up story I enjoyed as much as I did Russell Baker's memorable classic (Growing Up, read 11 Apr 1986) and Jimmy Carter's An Hour Before Daylight (read 11 Mar 2001).



2. One of the keys to this charming book is how many BAD things Sam and his friends do, that prove to be so interesting to read about! His style is understated, self-effacing. Flat, almost, but in a good way, all the cards on the table. I spent four years in Iowa and at the time someone told me that the adjective for Midwesterners wasn't "innocent" or anything like that, but "uncomplicated." You're used to seeing everything around you, all the way to the horizon. So maybe you lack a layer of artifice.

   I'll illustrate. His mother dies when Sam is a young boy, and his father (a stern but wonderfully forgiving fellow) remarries. Sam never figures out what to call his stepmother, so he avoids the issue completely. Permanently! This is remarkable. My wife had the same problem vis-à-vis my parents. It was kind of comical and kind of embarrassing on all fronts, but she figured it out a few days into our first extended visit with them. Sam never manages, yet seems to think nothing of it. Apart from remarking on the fact, he just goes on with things. Some readers may find this lack of navel-gazing a flaw, but I kind of liked it. It's more neutral, one might say scientific, and draws you in to the story. You can interpret things for yourself. He may answer that question of mine in his other books, or he may not, but with his winning style I know it will be fine reading right through it and around it.

   Another example comes near the end, pages 241-242, springtime of Sam's senior year in high school, World War Two looming, when he ponders the nature of women, and convertible automobiles, and describes how a guy a year or two older reveals to him and his friends an important secret about women, and sex. I read this long passage to my wife, and Hynes's wonderful deadpan style had us convulsing in laughter.

   Hynes is my parents' generation (and J.D. Salinger's), so I read it through that prism. My father and I grew up in suburban New York, my mother in El Paso (but I think maybe this is a guys' book), whereas Hynes is from Minneapolis (with a memorable summer on a farm). But it all connects. The eternal summertime of youth.




3. The now storied "Greatest Generation" did not come full-blown into glory. It evolved from childhood, and Samuel Hynes' gentle, understated and illuminating memoir, "The Growing Seasons," assists in our understanding of how the generation that fought and won World War II came to be. Fiercely independent, perpetually inquisitive and unabashedly self-conscious, Samuel Hynes comes of age in America's heartland during the Great Depression. His story, crafted with gentle humor and exquisite detail, gains transcendence and slowly emerges as a representation of millions of youngsters grappling with the age-old obligation of developing an identity, but doing so in an era of frayed innocence and material dispossession.

   Loss and impermanence permeate Hynes' childhood. His father stoically accepts the death of his wife, unemployment as a result of a contracting economy and his own inability to serve the nation he so deeply loves. This unspoken patriotism and sense of place nurture the young Hynes, who never overcomes the gaping wound of losing his mother to a premature death. Motherloss uproots the Hynes' family; the father swallows prejudice and remarries a Catholic and Samuel begins the process of healing and carrying on with life.

   While his father settles into his second family, Hynes spends a summer on a farm. The city boy discovers new cadences to life, a different pattern to work. Most importantly, Samuel gains a sense of his own past. "For one season I had been one, like my father...and all those other country people in our family." With solemn pride, Hynes announces, "I had been my ancestors." With this knowledge of self, Hynes is better able to comprehend the modernizing influences besetting his altered family in Minneapolis during the 1930s.

   There, he observes his father's deep ambivalence over labor violence. A Shell oil salesman, the father is a rock-ribbed Republican who extols the virtue of independence and responsibility. Yet, the father "despised the upper-class ways" of the elite. Samuel watches his father's despair increase. "Whoever won this war, something he believed in would lose. It was sad, losing like that, and I felt his sadness."

   Tempering Samuel's growing awareness of the world is his evolving relationship with his step-mother. Hynes respects, admires and even likes her -- her purposeful energy, her zeal for order, her enthusiasm for life and work -- but never loves her. Even his thirteen-year-old autobiography excludes mention of her, and when his father coerces Samuel to include her, Samuel does so with a "chilled heart." Frugal and despeate to keep her family afloat, his step-mother sells a forgotten but cherished model train set. Awash in the economic misery of the Great Depression, where even wanting something unneeded is considered unworthy, the sale reminds the still-growing Samuel of the transitory nature of life, that "anything could be taken."

   Yet, "The Growing Seasons" is far from grim. Warmth abounds in the memoir, ranging from an excused absence from school due to a housekeeper's inability to close her mouth to the supreme satisfaction to Hynes' deep satisfaction at being able to finally don long pants to school instead of the dreaded knickers. The evolution to adulthood, the absoption of what it means to be a man, the quiet knowledge of the necessity of standing alone -- these benchmarks of maturation -- bespeak a person truly in touch with his own personality and his own potential.

   As Hynes becomes a man, with his attendant alienation from public school and his fascination with sex, he carries with him the formative experiences of childhood. Chafing at his relative youth, longing to experience the formative fires of war, Hynes' restlessness symbolizes an American energy, a robust transformative power that rings true in this instructive and engaging memoir.




4. First of all, this is a very enjoyable book. I wanted to read this because my Father grew up in the Midwest during this time frame in a similar city. While he did grow up under very different financial circumstances, I was interested in exploring the every day experiences that a young boy would live through.
   The book is excellently written and vividly tracks a boys life in a world few can ever understand if you did not live during the Depression Era of the '30's. This being said, the book left me with many questions.
   
   His brother Chuck is hardly mentioned at all. Why? Dr. Hynes does not really go into how well, or badly he did at school. That would have been interesting. What happend to the boy that ran the girl over with his car. His friends were not the kind of kids I would want my children hanging around with. It is amazing he did not do some time in reform school. I also would have liked to have known at the end, what happened to his Father and Stepmother as well as his Stepsisters.
   
   Anyway, it was fun to read and I surely learned more about this time than I ever did in History classes.
   
   I hope that you will enjoy it.



5. I was hooked from line one of this book. Hynes' simple and direct style of writing quickly whisks you back 70-plus years and tells you -shows you - how it was. And it wasn't easy for Sam Hynes either, orphaned at an early age and moving from place to place, being farmed out and coping with a step-mother. But in spite of all this, you also get a sense of the fun of being a boy in the midwest during the depression. Kids don't always know when they're poor; they're too busy learning and experiencing things and trying to get the most out of every day. The sequel to The Growing Seasons is equally good: Flights of Passage. I wish Sam would continue his personal story and tell us what happened after he came home from the war. I do know from talking with him that he was back in the Marines during Korea. There's gotta be another great story in there somewhere. If you're from the midwest and love good storytelling, read this book. Hell, you don't have to be midwestern. It's just darn good writing. - Tim Bazzett, author of Soldier Boy: At Play in the ASA

5 comments about Tarzan, My Father.

1. It was a very fascinating read and gave a great insight to the life of Johnny Weissmuller and how the studios treated stars then.
   I would recommend it to anybody that liked the Tarzan movies.
   
   A Great Read



2. I have gone about 1/3 of the way through this book and have been very disappointed. The events are told unevenly and there is little insight to this potentially great story or stories behind the man. I thought I would get greater insight from his son but so far very little is revealed. The writing is very choppy and I am surprised that the professional writers helping JR couldn't write more fluently. It is like they took all the notes and forgot how to put them into words. the book is extremely short and is more like a magazine article. There seemed to be so much waiting to be told. Amazon should send half my money back because all I got was half a story.



3. Excellent book, told me more about the man than i ever knew. my own father is a johnny fan of his era, a swimmer too. I grew up to know the legend of what he was. After reading the book he is more of a man then i could of imagined. What a great read.



4. In the thirties and forties there was something big film wise to look forward to nearly every year, bigger than the anticipation of the next Star Wars, Bond or Potter film. It was Tarzan and most of those years there was only one Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller. To many today he is still the only Tarzan.
   
   Tarzan fans in our generation actually embraced a parallel universe in the jungle man's world. There was the long time favorite given us by author Edgar Rice Burroughs, an articulate educated Lord Greystoke who could stow away his tux, put on a loin cloth to lead Tantor and his herd of elephants. Then there was the bigger than life Johnny Weissmuller on the screen who portrayed a Tarzan of few words, gave a battle cry that is more familiar today than most any other sound byte and whose biggest vocabulary word was "Umgawa!" Whether we were first introduced to the book Tarzan or film Tarzan, we could love both. Weissmuller himself was familiar with the concern Burroughs had about the portrayal that first MGM and then RKO required and wished also that he could have a bigger speaking role. However, the money was good and he couldn't object too much. When Burroughs himself made Tarzan films and hand picked Bill Brix with his well spoken vocabulary the films bombed.
   
   In "Tarzan My Father" the author Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. gives a portrayal unlike others in the past. It is not an apology or a "daddy dearest". Johnny Jr. loved his father and admits there were both good and bad things that can be related. However, even in the bad, Johnny Weissmuller is more the innocent taken in by business managers, partying big name friends and two of his five wives, especially the last one who did all she could to trash his name and memorial while making money off of interviews. There is also a rebuttal against Esther Williams's recent book with interviews that reveal she has lied about Johnny Weissmuller as she did other legendary Hollywood heroes.
   
   Johnny Jr. covers the myths behind the legend and uses documentation when needed. When stories conflict he gives both sides as would a true historian. I found myself looking at older books I have on the father and find that in general the son has been forthright in his handling of events. There is also detailed information about his father's sports career which makes him also legendary in that world as well. I had an opportunity to meet Johnny Weismuller briefly in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia and the man I saw was the man described by his son. It was a moment I will always remember. He was both generous and kind.
   
   The book covers the father's friends and cronies, people like Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Red Skelton and others who are icons today. In his own case the author knew well Robert Mitchum, Ricky Nelson, Burt Reynolds and Elvis. There are great pictures in the book that will delight any and all film fans.
   
   Yes, the book is very personal and unlike some, the author does it not to exploit his name but to give honor to one of the great film heroes of the 20th century. The book itself is endorsed by Danton Burroughs, secretary of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. This is a tribute and it shows us a man bigger than life who greatly influenced more than one generation.
   
   Johnny Weissmuller had what some might call a simplistic philosophy that his son paraphrases as "A man should stand where God places him-jungle trails or Hollywood streets-and fight for those things he believes."



5. I've loved and admired the great Johnny Weissmuller since I was a tiny tot. The Weissmuller Tarzans were a major component of my childhood and had a profound impact on my development; Tarzan's jungle ethics and code of "right triumphs over wrong, good over evil" have always made more sense to me than today's gray-area mish-mosh and the Tarzan series, 50 years later in my case, is still tops for entertainment value. Given my near-fatuousness (which has actually caused jealousy in some of my male colleagues), I'm delighted to have discovered so much recent material that acquaints fans with the man behind the loincloth.
   The author of this contribution, due to his mother's vitriol, wasn't allowed contact with his father after his parents separated, and was only permitted to pick up the pieces as a young adult. On that basis, he explains that his purpose in writing this book is to introduce readers to the man he came to know, as well as to correct misconceptions and errors that have appeared in previous biographies. He succeeds in spades on both counts and we learn that Johnny was a kind, (too) trusting, uncomplicated man who, unfortunately, endured much sadness in his life, much of it due to his refusal to believe that others aren't always what they seem. Johnny Jr. provides a very even-handed account of his father's life from his perspective, and we learn a lot about him and the other Weissmuller children as well.
   Contrary to some naysayers, this is a very nicely written account; there are a few errors (some of them real bloopers) that should have been caught by fact-checkers while it was in the galleys (identifying Laurel and Hardy as each other comes to mind), otherwise it's stylistically very sound.
   Readers are also treated to a bit of Hollywood dishing; I don't think I can look at Red Skelton in quite the same ever again! And we learn that Esther Williams greatly exaggerated events associated with their introduction and subsequent relationship. Fun stuff, and it's also gratifying to learn that Johnny Jr. and his wife found so much happiness with each other. Sadly, I only recently learned that he died of cancer in 2006. My heartfelt condolences to his survivors.
   I've always regretted that I was unable to meet my hero and this book confirms what I've always known in my heart: that he was a great guy. Bottom line, read David Fury's mostly excellent biography and chase it with this one to correct misinformation Mr. Fury was fed by the last Mrs. Weissmuller, Sr., Maria.
   (Woo hoo PATRIK LEMBERG (and baby bro?)--another review to vote on! How EXCITING! Is "smelly" (your description) Kenneth part of the voting block?)