5 comments about Man Bites Log: The Unlikely Adventures of a City Guy in the Woods.

1. Max Alexander ran a big risk with his book "Man Bites Log". Having recently moved to Maine from "Outastate", his comments on the locals and their scene could have alienated him beyond the pale.
   
   As one of his subjects in this work, I was apprehensive, to say the least, when the book came out. Instead, I found a totally honest and somewhat funny approach to the life up here in the woods. Max captured the flavor and feel of our community, warts and all, and as a good reporter, he got it right. His comments on the actual events surrounding our neighbors are refreshing and honest. Even if you don't agree with his political views, he lays it all out as it is, and none of this is made up. Life can be hard but the humor he finds in these events is precious to those of us who lived through it all.
   
   I look forward to the sequel!
   
   I highly recommend this book, especially if you are contemplating moving to the woods.



2. What a total disapointment. I too, as another said, was very excited when this book came, only to be horribly disapointed at the arrogance of the author and constant insults about Maine rural folk. Yes, he does say some nice things about a few people, but I felt it was over shadowed by his constant disrespectful comments and uninteresting babble about his work, name dropping, and oddly at the end of a few chapters...dates people die. Was this an attempt at drama? Weak!
   
   If you're looking for a descriptive detail of a city person's move to rural Maine to live off the land, this isn't it! Mostly whining, and small mentions of farm work (dealing with snow, two greenhouse panels take to the wind in a storm, burning brush, and small thoughts chickens which leads to further babble on meat eating vs. vegetarianism. He poo poo's vegetarianism with false facts. Interesting to note, his wife is supposed to teach at a Waldorf School, and I guess isn't familiar with the fact that Rudolph Steiner highly recommended a vegetarian diet, though the Alexander's kid inhales burgers. Go figure.) He drones on for pages about giving up a family dog...the scratches on the wood floors apparently bother him enough to give the dog to friends. *YAWN* He loves to mention the health problems, bad diet, and lack of dentist visits of Maine Natives which is beyond irritating. I'm certain most locals would love to see him take his pompous attitude right back to Manhattan along with the rest of him.
   
   I'm not sure what the point of writing this piece of trash was. ??? Adventures of a city guy in the woods? Does he mean his whining to get DSL, his search for a good snow blower, efforts to get vehicles unstuck from the snow/mud, or the blather about his writing articles?
   
   This book was a waste of money and time. Boooooo!



3. I loved this book. Alexander is a great writer. His descriptions of the characters were so vivid that I actually felt like I could see them. Like the french carpentaire - I could just see him running circles around Alexander in a whirlwind of sawing, bracing, hefting, hammering, and chainsawing. And a lot of the stories were so funny, I laughed outloud many times - to the annoyance of my husband (who is now reading the book by the way.)
   
   The other thing I liked about this book is that Alexander manages to get a little social commentary in - his thoughts about the horribleness of trailers and why there couldn't be a nicer looking, less toxic way for people to get a low cost home or the ludicriousness of asking people to go into debt for the sake of patriotism are questions I would like to see asked more often.
   
   I can't say that every single story in this book was a gem - but most of them were really great. I highly recommend this book.



4. Max Alexander is an insightful writer. And "Man Bites Log" is an intelligent book. It is not a how-to book for anyone interested in looking for a country house. The book offers first hand experiences of adapting to country life, and social conflicts between newcomers and farmers who have been living in Maines for generations. I thoroughly enjoyed the reading.



5. I love this book. I started reading it on a Friday evening and finished it Saturday. Alexander sets out to tell the truth about his move from Manhattan to Maine, and he succeeds. The book's narrative skips along, propelled by wonderful renderings of men and women and their moods, as well as animals, places and objects. Alexander also offers a moving view of his own ethical and emotional landscape. I thought of Man Bites Log the other day when I read something by Martin Amis, who writes the following in a footnote somewhere: "When I read someone's prose, I reckon to get a sense of their moral life." Alexander offers us a sense of his moral life, and a sense of the lives of his neighbors. It's not always a pretty picture, but it's a beautiful story.

1 comments about Boys Will Be Boys: A Daughter's Elegy.

1. This is the first of Dr Suleri's books that I have read and while I'm clearly in awe of the felicity with which she writes, there is a rather disagreeable tone to her observations that sours the whole reading experience. As much as I enjoy the humor which colors the whole book - a humor, which I dare say, is intrinsic to Lahore and its people - there is an attitude of undisguised prejudice that doesn't befit a writer of her stature, not to mention a Professor at Yale. The unconcealed derision with which she refers to Muslims and Islam needs to be pointed out and deplored. She may not agree with the religious sentiments but that does not justify the kind of mockery she makes of the faith. Also, her attitude to certain relatives, in particular a step-sister from Kasur, is rather disappointing given their differences in education and upbringing. Whatever grief the latter may have visited upon the family, it certainly does not justify ridiculing her in public. It is wrong to insult someone who is not in a position to insult you back.

   There are certain passages in the book however that leave you deeply moved, one being the incident of her sister's death. She who wore the rings and punched strangers careless enough to brush against her wards. "How dare you touch my sister?" There is a great poignancy Dr Suleri brings to her reminiscences and it is truly a shame that it is offset by an otherwise malicious attitude to the people and objects that are out of favor with the author. A writer of her calibre is capable of so much more.

2 comments about A Life In Letters: Ann Landers' Letters to Her Only Child.

1. Growing up I regularly read Ann Landers' column. I can even remember my favorite ones --- the one with the meatloaf recipe and the one about how to hang a roll of toilet paper. Living in a small town in New Jersey, I got a new perspective on the world from letters signed by people with signatures like Desperate in Dallas and Confused in Cincinnati. Sometimes I would howl at what people were asking while other times I was shocked at the depths of the problems that people shared.

   Reading the column each day I formed a picture of Landers. When she passed away in 2002, I read the tributes to her and realized this was the end of an era.

   A LIFE IN LETTERS: Ann Landers Letters to Her Only Child showed me another side of Landers. For here were the letters that personally defined her ---- those she wrote to her daughter Margo over forty-four years. Broken up into four sections, the book tells the story of a close mother/daughter relationship. Here, again in her own words, we come to know Esther "Eppie" Lederer (Landers' real name).

   Whether she was giving Margo advice, checking in to see how she was or lavishing praise, Landers wrote with the tone of a well-meaning friend. The excitement that Landers felt in sharing her life with Margo is touchingly evident. Many of her notes to Margo were hurried pieces while others were long and leisurely, but all were personal and laced with love.

   Margo has said, "I loved putting this collection together. And strange as it may sound, reading them all, together, was an entirely different experience than seeing them one at a time. A LIFE IN LETTERS - even for me - is like watching two lives unfolding."

   The book is punctuated with notes from Margo that give background to the letters. At one point in her introduction she was astounded to learn that her mom had saved all of her letters, just as she had saved her mom's. It's clear that this writing ---and their relationship --- meant a lot to them both.

   Readers also get a look at another side of Landers. We see a woman who was politically active and had a strong business sense. She had access to the powerful and the famous because of who she was --- people such as Walter Cronkite, Hubert Humphery and Cardinal Joseph Bernadin. She also believed in many causes and supported them with her time and her opinions.

   There is enough reference to the feud between Landers and her twin sister, who penned the Dear Abby column for years, to be honest, but Landers takes the high road and remains a real lady.

   Right after Landers' death, I clipped her meatloaf recipe from the paper and made it. After closing Margo's book I vowed to write more letters to my sons. Last week I was passing my older son's room and saw a recent IM session between us printed and tacked onto the wall. Sure instant communication like that is wonderful, but the preservation of letters like those in this book reminds me how much history we lose when we do not write.

   Whether you are a Landers fan or just relish the chance to voyeur a very special relationship as it grows over the years, A LIFE IN LETTERS is a wonderful read.

   --- Reviewed by Carol Fitzgerald




2. Unless you worship Ann Landers for years and know her background to some degree, this book may be quite anecdotal and a gathered pieces of personal events.

1 comments about Laura's Rose: The Story of Rose Wilder Lane.

1. Laura's Rose is a really great overview of the life of Rose Wilder Lane. Of course it is more of a booklet, so you don't get a great wealth of information, but still it brings up lots of details things that dedicated Little House fans will find interesting.

5 comments about That Mean Old Yesterday: A Memoir.

1. Stacey Patton writes with the power of a Claude Brown, and her story of her childhood as a ward of the New Jersey foster care system is just as wrenching, and ultimately hopeful, as Manchild in the Promised Land. Ms. Patton has a remarkable gift in being able to step aside of her own brutal treatment and place it in a much larger, historical context -- the legacy of slavery. It is quite brilliant the manner in which she moves the story from the beatings she suffered at the hands of an adoptive mother, who was not poor at all, but the wife of a Christian minister. Whippings, supposedly intended to raise a good child, physically and emotionally scarred Stacey, but they could not destroy her amazing resiliency,spunk and vision. Her escape from a cruel and violent housefold was accomplished despite the bumblings of agents of the State's foster care agency. It is fair to ask how far can the thesis of a link between slavery and the everyday violence of some families and communities be carried. And one can also fairly ask, how can we get this book into the hands of every public servant who has to serve as the last protector and intermediary for children who become wards of the state?



2. In slavery times, the master would beat slaves into submission. Their whippings discouraged slaves from running, rebelling and slothful. In turn, slaves beat their own children so the master would not have to. Whippings and beatings are a learned behavior. One that should have ended with slavery, but someone became the punishment of choice for Africian Americans. When Stacey Patton penned her memoir, of her life as the adoptive child of Myrtle and G. Patton in That Mean Old Yesterday, she compared those turbulent eight years to the life of a slave. Stacey was the slave who endured beatings, displacement and abandonment and who eventually runs away from the abusive massa.
   
   At age five, Stacey's short life is changed with just a visit from the social worker. She is informed by the only mother she knows that she is a foster child and she is just a temporary visitor in the only home she knows. She is eventually placed in the adoptive home of Myrtle and G. Patton, a couple who by all appearances are loving people who cannot have their own biological child. With so much love to give they chose Stacey. And they were the perfect family until the adoption was complete. Then, the first slap, then beatings with a belt, extension cord, shoe, hands and fist began by this loving adoptive mother. In Myrtle eyes, this was done in love, after all, it would be better for her to beat Stacey than the police and the Bible says "The blueness of a wound cleans away evil" and "Spare the rod, spoil the child." So for eight years Stacey endured the beatings for simple infractions such as her shoes being crooked in the closet, saying "yep" instead of yes. Until at the age of 13, she could not take it anymore. Rather than sit passively and wait for Myrtle, her massa to beat her to death, Stacey ran.
   
   I sat with my mouth wide open in horror reading Ms Patton's story. Not because of the abuse she suffered, because as a former Child Protective Services worker I had seen it before, but because Ms Patton was so horribly wronged by those who were supposed to protect her. G and other family members knew what was happening and condoned Myrtle's behavior. School teachers and administrators saw the bruises and did not report it; doctors and nurses treated her injuries and did not report them, and the police placed the blame on her and sent her back to her abusers. Through all of this, Ms. Patton had an inner strength and a strong will that could not be broken. When she got tired of the abuse, she ran away and steadfastly refused to return to her adoptive parents' home. Where many would have thought that life ina group home or the system would have been her demise, she excelled in school and sports. She received a full scholarship to a prestigious boarding school, despite the naysayers. She was one of the kids who beat the system. She refused to let the title "Ward of the State of New Jersey" hold her back. She had dreams and she did not let her dreams be deferred.
   
   That Old Mean Yesterday is not an easy read and I would not recommend it to everybody. Those who read the Darkest Child by Delores Phillips, Neecy's Lullaby by Cris Burke, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, Somebody's Someone by Regina Louise or A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown might be able to relate to this novel. It is hard to believe a child could overcome all the obstacles placed in front of them, but Ms. Patton did and is to be congratulated for her tenacity and accomplishments.
   
   Jeanette
   APOOO BookClub



3. Stacey Patton is a remarkable and inspirational person who endured years of physical and verbal abuse by her adoptive mother, Myrtle. Ms. Patton was placed in the foster care system at the age of two by her biological mother as a way to escape her dysfunctional biological family. Only to be adopted by equally dysfunctional people. After seven or eight years of living with abuse, Ms. Patton demanded that her adoptive parents contact DYFS so she could leave their home.
   
   Ms. Patton sets her life on a path to rid herself of the stigma associated with being a ward of the State of New Jersey. With no encouragement from her house masters, she applies and is accepted into a prestigious prep school with a full scholarship. While at school, she is united with her biological family.
   
   Ms. Patton does an excellent job of displaying the similarities between slavery and her childhood. Slave children were beaten into submission. Ms. Patton was beaten for the most trivial mishaps. Slave children were taught to be emotionless. Ms. Patton did not know how to be angry.
   
   Thanks to Ms. Patton for sharing details of her childhood. This novel should be read by everyone as well as used as a training guide for social workers. Ms. Patton is a survivor, who did not let hurtful and mean spirited words and actions limit or shape her destiny.



4. Part I of this book is slow and contains entirely too much introductory material. It seems like Stacey is four years old for the entire first part of the book. In fact,you're halfway through the book before you get to the real meat of the book and realize that she was abused. Initially, I didn't think I'd make it to the end, but I persevered for the sake of the book club.
   
   Part II picked up considerably and at that point, 'That Mean Old Yesterday" became an interesting read. I didn't want to put it down as the author talks about her life after she was able to leave her abusive foster parents who thought they were helping her only to suffer more abuse in foster care. All the while Stacey describes how she was able to use education as a way out. There are some touching and sad moments as she finds her blood relatives and they end up disappointing her yet again. Stacey's raw anger and pain is evident chapter after chapter.
   
   Throughout the book, the author parallels her abuse to the history of slavery. There are direct contrasts between her abuse to the whippings that slaves suffered. I do understand the link between slavery and modern day abuse and think it was definitely a unique and interesting touch. However, at times history thesis on the legacy of slavery did not mesh well with memoir of abuse and it got melodramatic.
   
   Finally, the book opens with a very dramatic scene that seems like it was pivotal in the character's development. I read the entire book waiting to see what led to that scene and what happened after. Well, I read the book cover to cover and I'm still no closer to knowing.



5. I enjoyed this book immensely. The author's use of words and references to slavery and the description of the abuse she suffered was clever and well contrasted. to present her points. This is a must read.

3 comments about Camelia: Save Yourself by Telling the Truth-a Memoir of Iran.

1. "Camelia" is the vivid, moving, and candid memoir of Camelia Entekhabi-fard, a young Iranian journalist intimately familiar with the social and political turmoil of Iran under the Islamic Republic. Ms Entekhabi-fard's story takes us from her childhood and adolescence, to her career as a journalist and active participant in the Iranian reform movement, through encounters with famous and infamous personalities, to her imprisonment, release, and exile. Her keen observations and deep sympathy illuminate the complex cultural and political problems of Iran, particularly its young women, and bring to life some of the key events of the past thirty years. But what makes "Camelia" stand out among contemporary Middle East memoirs is Ms Entekhabi-fard's brutal honesty, particularly towards the moral dilemmas and personal choices she made in her struggle to succeed and survive. Her fierce candor will undoubtedly shock some readers, but it makes "Camelia" a refreshingly frank, lively, and moving memoir.



2. Camelia was six years old when the Shah of Iran was overthrown in her country: her family chose to stay in Tehran and saw two decades of violent change which affected their family. CAMELIA is for any who would understand the culture and politics of Iran: its autobiography recounts the author's life in the country, where she was a nationally celebrated poet as a teen, one of the youngest reformist journalists in Tehran by eighteen, and imprisoned eight years later. Her relationship with brutal interrogators, her ultimate survival and her struggle coping with freedom makes for a haunting document of repression which is a top pick for any general-interest or college-level collection strong in Middle East culture and history.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



3. I knew this lady back home ,the only ambiyious she had was to get out of iran ,and she did not care how .most of her writings are nothing new ,but again average americans like to read this self glorifiying fantasy .she was not known for her self piety ,and was not a poet at the age of 16 ,she used to teach bally dncing at her home ,and had a terrible reputation for using her .....to get to different places .

1 comments about Over the Top With Jim.

1. This book was a great read, especially for an Aussie, and provided a great look at 50's Australia. This book is autobiographical, and Hugh Lunn really know how to let us into his head, and he definitely isn't afraid to pull any punches. It is amazing to see how far we have come. With plenty of historical info, as well as a few good laughs, I recommend this book.

5 comments about The Journalist And The Murderer.

1. In 1970, a respected army physician named Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald claimed that four strangers broke into his home in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and killed his wife and two daughters. Although an army tribunal tried Dr. MacDonald and cleared him, years later the case was reopened. This time, MacDonald was convicted and sent to prison, where he still is today.
   
   Janet Malcolm does not reopen the MacDonald case in her book, "The Journalist and the Murderer." Rather, she examines the issues behind a libel suit that MacDonald brought in 1984 against his supposed friend, Joe McGinnis, author of "Fatal Vision." Joe McGinniss posed as an ally of Jeffrey MacDonald for years. McGinnis lived with MacDonald for a while and even joined his defense team. McGinniss sent MacDonald sympathetic letters in support of his cause. In these letters, he frequently expressed his belief in MacDonald's innocence.
   
   It was only after "Fatal Vision" was published that MacDonald discovered the truth. McGinniss did not believe in MacDonald's innocence; on the contrary, he portrays MacDonald as a psychopathic murderer. The author posed as a friend for the sole purpose of keeping MacDonald in the dark so that McGinniss would continue to have access to his subject. "Fatal Vision" became a huge bestseller and it eventually became a miniseries.
   
   Malcolm's book, written in 1990, takes on added significance in 2003, when the ethics of journalists are under fire as never before. Time and again, a small number of journalists have been accused of plagiarizing and fabricating stories. The public is beginning to recongnize that reporters are fallible people who suffer from the same pressures, ambitions, and even psychological disorders as other ordinary mortals.
   
   Malcolm's book is not merely a condemnation of McGinniss's behavior towards MacDonald. Her premise is that the journalist's relationship to his subject is, in its very essence, a perilous one. The gullible subject babbles away to his "sympathetic" listener, revealing more of himself than he realizes. When all is said and done, only the journalist and his editors have control over the final product. They are sometimes tempted to distort the facts to make the piece more interesting.
   
   Malcolm asserts that certain journalists are con men who prey on people's loneliness, credibility, and narcissism to get a good story. Journalists have their own agendas and the "truth," which is elusive at best, is not always their top priority. Malcolm's book is a warning not to believe everything that is printed in a newspaper or a magazine, since each story is only one version of reality.



2. I'd have a bit more respect for Ms. Malcolm if:

   a) she had actually attended MacDonald vs. McGinniss, so that she could write from an informed viewpoint instead of relying on second- and third-hand accounts;

   b) she had spent less time oohing and ahhing over MacDonald's personal magnetism, and stuck to the facts of the case at hand;

   c) she had bothered to read the literary releases to McGinniss's publishing company, SIGNED BY MACDONALD HIMSELF, that gave McGinniss license to write any type of book he wished (including, one presumes, a book that might actually say that McGinniss himself had concluded that MacDonald was guilty, despite the friendship the Journalist may have felt for the Murderer);

   d) she hadn't stated - repeatedly - the total fiction that the jury hung 5-1 in MacDonald's favor. The fact is, the jury hung on ONE QUESTION OUT OF THIRTY-SEVEN, never actually voting on the other 36, because one juror believed that MacDonald had violated his agreements with McGinniss by cultivating other journalists and by ignoring his agreement not to sue McGinniss.

   Or is MacDonald next going to sue Malcolm, because in her very title, she herself calls him a murderer?

   Let's call an egg an egg, Dr. Jeff. You killed them. Pay the price. Be done with it.




3. Ms. Malcolm slices off the hand that feeds her
   
   With regard to item "a)" from "...pointless exercise," MacDonald v. McGuiness was over when Ms. Malcolm got involved. According to Fatal Justice by Palmer & Bost, McGuiness's lawyers threw a post-trial press conference for the court of public opinion: only Ms. Malcolm showed up.
   
   Otherwise, Journalist & Murderer is mainly about journalistic ethics, if there are any. Here, McGuiness insinuated himself into the defense team (he was privy to trial strategy) of Jeffrey MacDonald, with the promise presenting him in the best possible light. When McGuiness sours on MacDonald, he puts up a cheery front & presses on. After Fatal Vision, MacDonald felt betrayed.
   
   Of course, in our Cartesian-dualist society, since it's always either-or, we ask why he should feel betrayed? Guys convicted of killing their families have no reason to feel betrayed. They're bad guys; they deserve betrayal.
   
   However, when McGuiness concluded that MacDonald was guilty, trial evidence just wouldn't do. McGuiness shamefully proved himself a member of the old Star Chamber (maybe Joe expected some votes as Cheney's heir @Halliburton?) by trundling out Cleckley's (1941) old psychopathology checklist & diagnosing Dr. MacDonald an incurable, speed-fueled sociopath. Dr. Phil's forbearer: super!
   
   Ms. Malcolm is my favorite contemporary writer: she is foremost literate & like my favorite noncontemporary writer Mencken, she can be vicious without being vengeful. However, when you read, say, 1999's Sheila McGough, you may well wonder what sort of journalistic ruse Ms. Malcolm might cook up while slicing vegetables in the McGough kitchen. The Journalist & the Murderer is a blueprint for any such ruse. Better news is that after reading J&M, you can laugh without a twinge of guilt @gaudily & nightly paraded notions like "journalistic integrity."



4. Joe McGinniss put himself on the map writing the classic 1969 book, THE SELLING OF A PRESIDENT. That book detailed how Richard Nixon was sold to the public like any other consumer product. It's worth reading if you can find a copy. The Nixon book was such a hit and McGinniss was so young he couldn't find material good enough to follow it up and his next few books were mediocre.
   
   Determined to find another worthy subject, he tackled the case of Dr. Jeffrey McDonald, a man accused of killing his wife and children. That story became the bestselling FATAL VISION and this book, THE JOURNALIST AND THE MURDERER, chronicles the techniques that McGinniss used to get close to McDonald, and how he pretended to support McDonald through the years of legal proceedings although he always thought him to be guilty and wanted a guilty verdict for a better book. McGinniss' technique led to unfettered access to legal files, evidence, but most importantly access to McDonald. They'd drink together, strategize together and were pals during the experience.
   
   The central question is how far can a journalist go to get the story? Although a jury found McDonald guilty of murder, a later jury found in favor of McDonald in his suit against McGuinniss because they felt that his techniques were so underhanded and self-serving that even a murderer deserved better. The book shows the divide between the win-at-any-cost media and the public that grows weary of the techniques used against people to create news. Does the public have the right to know enough that journalists can lie to subjects to bring the story to press?
   
   This short book makes you question a number of journalistic techniques and it doesn't hurt either that McDonald has strong supporters and could possibly be innocent of the murders, at least in the context of this book.



5. This is another book I read because it is on the Modern Library's Top 100 non-fiction list. The overall topic of the book is the journalist/subject relationship, which was interesting, but I thought Malcolm could've gone a lot more in depth on the issues. She stuck only to one particular case and seemed to have been discussing more of the innocence or guilt of the subject, Macdonald, rather than fully delving into the broader issues. I thought the book would've been much more powerful if she had worked more on proving her thesis, rather than detailing the accounts of the murder trial.
   She seems to barely touch on the ideas of the original thesis, therefore ending on a very weak note.
   The only reason I would suggest this to anyone is if you are itching for a quick and somewhat-interesting, and definitely thought-provoking read.

5 comments about Behind Russian Lines: An Afghan Journal.

1. Sandy Gall does it again. Not only a fine journalist, anchorman, and reporter, but a unbelievable nack for interpreting difficult and complex material and making it understandable!!! THANKS SANDY!!



2. I have to commend Mr. Gall for a fine, well written account of a reporter's travels throughout Afghanistan during the war. I enjoyed this book very much.



3. A great book from the eyes of reporter....this is some of the best reading I have come across in a while.



4. I just kept reading...right until the end. Mr. Gall made something so complex...sound so interesting. I couldn't have found this book more enjoyable.



5. In a way, I shouldn't be surprised, as this is a well-written and very readable account of a journalist's time behind rebel lines in the way, but I'm amazed by the level of the positive response. It's 2-dimensional, not very perceptive and treads ground too often trodden rather more effectively by others.

No comments about Palestine: A Personal History.