5 comments about Still Waters.

1. This book was given to me as a gift, and I was pleasantly surprised. It pulled me in immediately and kept me on the edge of my seat. I would highly recommend this one to get lost in for a little while. I can relate to so many of the descriptions. A great read!



2. I will be honest ~~ this book did not move me to tears like "Blackbird" did ~~ but it did make me angry ~~ really angry and disgusted with human beings, especially those who are in charge of taking care of the children who need them. I was so relieved when I read the ending of "Blackbird" that Jennifer was going to be rescued by her father's family (though I was really confused as to why Aunt Georgia and Uncle Charles didn't pick her up at the bus stop since they were the ones that went looking for the Lauck kids in L.A.). Then I picked this book up, the sequel to "Blackbird" and finished it in two days.
   
   This is a fast paced book ~~ it skims a lot of Jennifer's growing up years but it dealt with her anger and frustrations. She was separated from her brother, Bryan, as he "chose" to live with Uncle Leonard and Aunt Sylvia. Jennifer didn't get to choose ~~ after spending several weeks with her grandparents, her father's parents, (a few weeks where she began her healing process and started to feel safe) she was sent to live with Peggy and Dick, her father's youngest sister and husband. From the very beginning, Dick made her feel like that she was never welcomed. Peggy was inconsistent with her behavior and gradually became meaner to her over the years, in spite of the fact that she loved Jennifer's mother and was one of her closest friends. Jennifer grew up in various places in the Northwest, confused, lonely and gradually getting angrier. Shuffled among different relatives, enduring sexual abuse, emotional abuse, basically being her aunt and uncle's (though they eventually adopted her) housekeeper/cook and on and on. The dishonesty of her relatives boils me ~~ and no wonder why Jennifer was so angry and bitter by the time she made her escape at the age of 18.
   
   Then her brother committed suicide. Bryan was never close to Jennifer and she mistakenly thought he had the "better" life since he was an all A student, and so handsome. When Jennifer finally went on a journey to discover peace and the truth of what happened to her family and how it impacted her, she discovered so much more about Bryan that the reader ends up grieving for him too. By the end of the book, Jennifer has faced her demons and rediscovered the youth she missed out on by enjoying her son's life. She was able to find peace again.
   
   This book is about surviving. This book is about finding peace in the worst that life can offer you. This book is an inspiration to all people ~~ regardless of how they live their lives. This book is just a wonderful sequel to the first one and for once, it shows that someone can have a happy ending in spite of it all. It shows how some people can survive neglect and abuse and how some people can't. It shows the power of forgiveness and the power of letting go.
   
   This is one that I will definitely recommend to my book club to read ~~ it provides so much fodder for conversation just by reading these alone! It is not easy reading but sometimes, readers just need to be reminded that life isn't always easy and reading about someone else's struggles can affirm our sense of survival. At least Jennifer's story did.
   
   7-10-07



3. This is a sequel to her book Blackbird. Both novels are so very interesting. You won't believe everything this girl has been through, and how she not only survives, but goes on to live a sucessful life. Both novels are hard to put down as you cannot wait to read what happens next.



4. I now know what author to avoid..she does have a third memoir out but I won't be reading her again!!



5. All I can say is, Wow. I picked up Lauck's first book, "Blackbird" at the library and loved it. So right after I finished it I bought Still Waters. I read it in about 2 days.
   
   A lot happens in her life. A lot happens in many of our lives. But the way Lauck sees things that go on in her life and in the world, are special. Her books opened my mind and my heart.
   
   Saying this is a memoir about a dysfunctional family does not do this book justice. Yes, her family is dysfunctional, but her attitude and experiences and how she draws these into her world view, are all woven through her book in a way that I wanted it to never end.
   
   Another thing, many sequels re-hash much of what happened in the first book. And for those of us who have read the first book, it's a bore to read about all this re-hashing. "Still Waters" does not do this. I really appreciated the fluidity with which Jennifer Lauck wrote her sequel.
   
   I look forward to more from this gifted writer.

5 comments about Another Day of Life.

1. This fast paced book taught me so much about Angola's history and
   > current dispute. It made me want to learn more about this country's history and
   > its people. I enjoyed the book because it was more than just a history and an
   > account of war. It was an in-depth look at the people and their culture. It is
   > the story of struggle for a whole civilization after gaining their independence
   > from the ruthless European nation of Portugal. Kapuscinski didn't try to confuse
   > you with numerous names, groups, and organizations. He gave you the basic and
   > made the past easy to understand. Characters were brought to life through his
   > detail, which made you feel for them when they left or were even killed. In the
   > front of the book, a map of Angola is provided allowing you to flip back many
   > times while reading this book. You know at all times what part of the country
   > you are in and what is going on. A detailed history of the events leading up to
   > independence and civil war is also provided in the back of the book. It explains
   > what occurred during the war also.
   Excerpt of A.K. winning book review! Good Job A.K. Mrs. Arthur



2. This is a fine, fine piece of tightly written war reportage. From the first page the heat, tension, cruelty and fear of the Angola civil war following Portugese decolonisation is brought to life by Kapuscinski's biscuit dry prose. He was not one of these sit back and learn of events from a distance whilst sipping fine malt whisky journalists. He bore right into the heart of the action, frequently risking his life. Some of the stories in here are highly strung in terms of tension, wit and emotion. Take the encounter with the security post, where you have a choice of two greetings to shout to the guards, the wrong one will result in death, and garbling a half sounding equivocation doesn't cut it. Also the heartbreaking sacrifice by a Mulatto girl who stays behind and is killed after Kapuscinski's truck leaves.
   
   Kapuscinski died very recently, he was one of those rare and brave Europeans who finds the intellectual life of Western Europe (though he was actually Polish) lax, self satisfied and bland, and sought to find places where life really was lived with every emotional and sensory dial turned up high. Another Day of Life is a very apt title.



3. Nothing more need be said. It probably isn't as compelling as Shadow of the Sun, or Shah of Shah's, but it certainly is a fine book.



4. Anything goes when it comes to the raw greed and clan warfare that characterizes human behavior. Kapuscinsky's reportage is brilliant, relentless and focused. He describes the roots of the human condition in Angola at eye level. You can draw your own moral conclusions - and in case you are left wondering, this scenario is applicable wherever Western and/or European cultures operate in Africa...it's cynical exploitation in the name of Mamon all the way to the bank. Read this and ponder about the future of mankind. Thank you Ryszard, you deserve a Pulitzer prize for your reportage!



5. Kapuscinski was the only journalist in Angola during that time. He arrived there in september, I left that country (my country) in august. Besides being the only witness of a "word's forgotten war" he was able to accurately catch what was going on there at the time.

5 comments about Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence.

1. From buying it (i think) 2 days early and reading over a very nice summer weekend in june 1995, i knew this book was - just- different. Amazing use of the language, probably the best crip biography to date (and it's well over a decade now. Based my Honors Thesis in College on what Hockenberry wrote in this book, traveled miles and miles to see his off broadway play, speaking dates across the country, and even got to know myself - and him, better as well, he ain't on nbc anymore, but this still stands as probably one of the must reads in disability studies or crip liberation.



2. I want to keep my review short because, if you have not read this book, reading my review will take up some of the time in which you could be reading the real book. When "Moving Violations" was first published, I heard a review of it on NPR. John Hockenberry is an NPR alum so I expected the book to be almost as good as the review led me to believe. I ordered it from Amazon and devoured it in almost no time. It was actually better than the radio review had led me to expect. A month later, I got a call from Seattle that delivered horrific news. My 21-year-old son had been in a contest with gravity and gravity had won. Although he had just had 18 hours of surgery, there was no way to know if he would ever walk again. Through the years since that time, I have read "Moving Violations" many times. It initially gave me entrance to a new world and was much more helpful to both my son and I than all the rehab publications combined. I knew, from the moment I answered that phone call that both my son and I had crossed into the Twilight Zone and nothing would ever be the same again. The Twilight Zone, however, had at least one map. My son's journey was, and continues to be, unique (as all such journeys are). I did feel, from the very beginning, that we had a preview of some of the directional signposts and even some of the scenic overlooks. I cannot help but think that our family has been living and learning about this new life in a richer way than would never have been possible if we had not read this book. As soon as my son came home from rehab it became clear that he had lost his will to live. I had a captive audience and started reading "M V" aloud. It is well written and mirrors many of the dilemmas in the life of a young male with spinal cord damage. I think it only took two days for my son to get interested enough that he started reading it himself. This book was truly one of the first things that helped him recover his will to live. Living with a catastrophic spinal cord injury is not even at the bottom of the list of interesting travel sites, and while I cannot believe that anyone would take that path voluntarily, "M V" is proof that, along with the horror, there can be adventure and possibilities in life; possibilities that could be so easily missed. So...READ IT! While spinal cord injury may never be a part of your personal life, sooner or later something awful could be. As the Eagles remind us, "The wolf is always at the door." In whatever guise the wolf presents itself, you will have learned something useful about what to do when or if the wolf appears.



3. John Hockenberry has a declaration to make, and he does it in an incredibly moving and entertaining manner. I highly recommend this book. It is poignant, very funny, and educational--about Middle Eastern geography and politics and about life from the perspective of those in a wheelchair.



4. I bought this book immediately after a close relative was injured in a car accident. It seemed different than the others (Although some of the others have been a great help in other ways). I know NPR and I had seen Hockenberry on NBC. The book was over the top better than I could have hoped. It is unique because it is written with such a clear voice in language that really grips you and takes you for a ride, it is funny--even laugh out loud funny and I'm a cynical person, it is witty, it has a political edge (which is why he and I would have some loud arguments at the dinner table), and it is not sugar-coated so while you are interested and amused you do get an education about what it's like to be a "crip." The best part is that when it was done, and I read it pretty passionately, I knew for a fact that I probably would not like him as a person, but I do respect him. Interesting take on "crips" for a newbie to that world. Thank you so much for this and I do hope that my dear cousin will be up to reading it one day.



5. I'll be brief. My mom told me about this book years and years ago. I finally read it a few years ago.
   
   Style-wise, I thought it was a bit melodramatic and I thought the author was stretching for words for emotional impact. Thus, I deduct a star for that.
   
   What this guy's been through and what he's accomplished? Five stars isn't enough. I'd give him a million if I could on this site.
   
   His journalistic travels to the middle east, especially his ride up the mountain on the back of a donkey, leaving his wheelchair behind - intense and beautiful.
   
   I look up to John Hockenberry. I have a travel site, Wheel Adventure, and I am a paraplegic in a wheelchair. I think about this guy when I travel alone. If he can do it, I can travel solo as well. And I have and continue to do so.
   
   Glad mom suggested this. One of the best reads ever and I was an English major and have read a slew of books.

5 comments about Eleni.

1. This book is written well, but it is a hard read. I didn't think it really grabbed me until about 244 pages in. It is worth it in the end, but you have to want to finish it (or in my case, be required to) in order to enjoy.



2. This is a very good book written by the son of a woman murdered while trying to escape to freedom with her children from a corrupt government. He wrote about it as an adult investigating what happened and including his memories. He is forgiving as his mother was desiring to do as she would have wished with no retaliating to those who had part in persecuting her.



3. Author Nicholas Gage tells the story of the Greek civil war and how it personally affected him and his family. Most notably this book describes how politics, fear, greed, and desperation combined to culminate in the brutal torture and execution of his mother, Eleni, for the crime of merely saving her children from starvation or forced separation.
   
   My brother highly recommended this book to me. I was a little put off by its length and the obscurity of its subject (I had never even heard about the Greek civil war), but as the story unfolded I found myself completely engrossed in it. The first 100 or so pages were just a little difficult absorb because of the necessary build-up of the scenario and the characters. I also struggled throughout the book to get a grasp of the numerous greek names of people and places. However, these were minor inconveniences to pay for the huge reward of learning about this incredible and disturbing experience.
   
   Nicholas Gage very eloquently describes the cruelty and injustice that war tends to inflict on so many innocent victims. Everyone could benefit from learning about this story that he has so vividly portrayed in Eleni.



4. I have owned this book for over 10 years. Every time I read it I thought of my maternal grandmother (that was her generation) and all the other brave Greek mothers before her and cried like a baby. I passed it onto my second husband who is not of Greek descent. He loved it and really liked the name Eleni. That was about 5 years ago (we've been together over 6).
   Our second daughter was just baptised Eleni in the Greek Orthodox church. It was the only name we could agree upon. My aunt & uncle came from Greece and told me a story of when my uncle was a little boy. He was injured by an unexploded bomb and was taken to a hospital in Athens. His grandmother went to visit him. She had been born and raised in Athens, although now living about an hour outside of the city, so she knew the short-cuts to the hospital. On her way to see her beloved grandson she was shot dead, mistaken for a man in disguise. This was at the beginning of the civil war. I had not heard this story before, and had no idea who my paternal grandmother was. Apparently, her name was Eleni. I wonder if this is why I was steered to this book and so moved by it? Ain't life funny?



5. There are few books on the Greek Civil war that erupted after 1945 between Communists and the rest of Greece. During the war some 158,000 or more people died, many at the hands of the Communists. Yet most books on the subject in English are still sympathetic to the Communists (seeRed Acropolis, Black Terror: The Greek Civil War And The Origins Of The Soviet-american Rivalry,1943-1949) and refuse to condemn the red terror and the mass killings. This book goes a slight way towards setting the record strait if only because it shows the story of one peasant woman in a small village known as Lia in the mountans of northern Greece. But the story of how the vilagers were used as slave labourers by the COmmunists, starved and finally tortured and murdered is a story of what befel all northern Greeks during the Communist insurgency. Westerners present this insurgency as 'romantic' as only westerners can present genocide as 'romantic'. But this sad and disgusting train of thought is finally shattered by this excellent and daring book that tells the story not only of Lia but of the peasants who lived there and Eleni and of course her son who survived and who has lived to return to Greece to tell the story.
   
   Seth J. Frantzman

5 comments about The Joke's Over: Bruised Memories: Gonzo, Hunter S. Thompson, and Me.

1. Don't get me wrong, I am no author. In fact, I am no astronaut either. Some things should be left to the pros. 'Don't write, Ralph. You'll bring shame on your family.' A pro said that and he was right.
   
   I bought this book hoping to gain some insight into the life of a great journalist, author and legend. What I got instead was a book written by a man desperate to remind us that, without him, there would be no journalist, author or legend. 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas would be nothing without its illustrations.' Balderdash. Reading this book is kind of like going to a family reunion and watching the less coordinated, less handsome, younger brother of the captain of the football team try to catch one of his passes. We all know he has no chance, and we try to be kind as he repeatedly falls on his face. Children are entitled to kindness. Ralph isn't a child so, in this case, let's be honest. This book is poorly written. It is particularly poorly written from a grammatical standpoint (and yeah, the fact that he's Welsh is no excuse). There are times when it is nearly impossible to figure out what the hell he is talking about! Better writing and better editing would have helped a lot.
   
   Of course this book wasn't all bad. In between patting himself on the back, or unnecessarily sounding off on his take on events like Watergate, there are some nuggets of worthwhile information in here. Too bad those nuggets aren't representative of the book as a whole.
   
   So, in the end, do buy this book but buy it used.



2. Ralph isn't the greatest writer ever born, but I've always enjoyed his books. This books is a great read. I gives a Ralph's eye view of Hunter. I would recommend it to anyone that has read at least 4 Thompson books... If you just read Vegas once because you liked the movie you might want to pass.



3. I'm going to miss the good doctor. Hunter S. Thompson, with his faithful English mad man gave us the ultimate in gonzo journalism. This is Ralph's side of the love/hate partnership they shared. For the most part, he does a good job. There are some rants and he pulls off some of his own scabs from life with Hunter. The artwork is first rate and of course, that is what Ralph does best. Still, all in all, it was a good read and I recommend it for anyone who has ever been the sidekick of a huge ego or savagely bludgeoned by the wierd that has gone pro.



4. Ralph Steadman gives and honest, insightful and funny glimps into the work he and Hunter S. Thompson did over the years.



5. If your a fan of Hunter I highly recommend this book. I'ts written by his best friend, not some second hand source of filtered information,
   so it's told how it is, how it was, and what really wend down on their adventures on the job.
   The book is also full of Ralph's Gonzo Art - some of the very pictures Hunter requested him to draw.
   I feel like I'm on Reading Rainbow right now, but this is a book I'm happy to have added to my collection.
   My prop's to Amazon for the best deal I could find on the internet, Thanks.
   So if you want to hear about Hunter from the man that was with him on his mission's and how that man was influenced and likewise, than this book is for you, I'ts well writted also. Peace.

5 comments about Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey from Down Under to All Over.

1. I read this book in one day - it is beautifully, intelligently written with well developed characters and a true story that reads like fiction. It is a rare gem of literature that provides insight into the dreams of a young girl that many people can identify with - male or female. I have read a lot of books lately, but this was one of the finest books I've come across in a while.



2. Australian born Geraldine Brooks spent many years as a foreign correspondent covering the Middle East. I loved her book, "Nine Parts of Desire" which was about Muslim women, and I have followed her life somewhat as she is often mentioned by her husband, Tony Horwitz, in his books "Confederates in the Attic", "Baghdad Without a Map," and "One for the Road." I find her an excellent reporter and in this memoir, "Foreign Correspondence," she turns the spotlight on herself.

   As a child growing up in a lower middle class neighborhood on a street actually called "Bland Street", she yearned for a larger world. And so she developed pen pals. There was a girl from New Jersey, another one from France, and even one from an upper class neighborhood just a few towns away. And then there were two Israeli boys, one an Arab and one a Jew. As an adult, she found these old letters in her father's basement and, now more than twenty years later, she decided to look up each of these people. What follows is the result of her quest and some wonderful insights into world events from a personal one-on-one perspective. It was fascinating.

   As a teenager in the early seventies she was aware of the new consciousness developing, even reaching her in her protective Catholic school. She had an active imagination and the gift of using words well. It's not surprising that she developed pen pals and that they influenced her life so much. Her gift of words certainly reached me too. I shared her sense of wonder and enthusiasm as she looked forward to each letter. I felt her straining to break the bonds of her loving but restrictive world. I felt her hopes and dreams and frustrations. And then, later, I shared her discoveries as she searched out the people who had meant so much to her early life. She writes with a clear voice, painting a picture with details, taking me on her quest to discover the world and eventually to discover herself. The book is short, a mere 210 pages but she sure does pack a lot into it. It's a wonderful read. Highly recommended.




3. I bought this as an "airplane read" but couldn't put it down. Geraldine Brooks has done us a great favor by not only illuminating the process of finding one's long lost penpals, but also by educating many folks about Australia in the process. It's fascinating to see her perceptions of the world, and particularly America, based on the letters that come in her mailbox each month.

   While I read this one on my own, I have since leant this book to several friends and we've engaged in some interesting discussions about our own penpal experiences, so I recommend it for book clubs.




4. I have read several of Brooks' books (both her non-fiction and fiction) and I was excited to rec'e and read Foreign Correspondance. Unfortunately, I was deeply disappointed.

   The book has an outstanding premise---as a child growing up in Australia during the 1960s, Brooks was eager to experience the outside world. An avid letter writer, she found pen-pals in the U.S., Israel and France. As an adult, Brooks set off to meet and re-discover these people. So far so good. But the book peters out---with the exception of the American pen-pal (to whom she was closest), the characters lack enough detail to be interesting.

   Her meeting with her French pen-pal was especially disappointing. This was a girl who chose to remain in her native village (while Brooks became a world-traveler and global correspondant). I hoped for more insights and more discussion of the contrast and why they chose such radically different paths---despite coming from somewhat similar backgrounds (Brooks saw herself as living in a giant provincial village---the village of Australia). But there was little discussion and the meeting simply sounded painful. Her trip to Israel to meet her non-Jewish Israeli pen-pal would also have benefitted from a deeper discussion about one's choices and opportunities (there was some discussion of this but I wanted to know more).

   Had I not read Brooks' other books, I probably would have thought this was a fairly good book. But I know she can write such a better book!




5. Geraldine Brooks has written a book that I can empathise with. I think of how I might have had that life in Australia had my parents not returned to England in the 1930's. I wanted, and still do, very much to talk to the author and ask her questions as she is such a good writer with a warm personality.

5 comments about The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food.

1. As with the offering of good food, presentation is everything. Judith Jones has had a life rich with possibility and opportunity, and has made the most of it. In this lovely memoir she has accomplished the difficult task of presenting these facts without sounding pretentious or self-serving, despite what some reviewers on these pages have said. It is a generous book, culminating with many personal recipes from her own kitchen. I particularly loved the section dealing with passing this love of good food and careful preparation onto several new generations, and indirectly through her, we can be thankful that we can routinely purchase organic vegetables and helpful gadgets easily.



2. My book club reads only food-related titles. We read this one for February. I am such a big Julia Child fan, and I had very much wanted to read this since it came out.
   
   Overall, our club thought this was underwhelming. It is just not a very interesting or insightful memoir. It felt like she was still holding people very much at an arm's length and didn't reveal very much.
   
   We did a "pop quiz" among us about the various authors mentioned in her text, and as a group of nine 35- to 42-year-old women, we blanked on several of them. As another reviewer noted, she didn't explain who they were, why they were important, etc. She just "name dropped" them as if everyone knew who they were and that was very frustrating -- especially to a group of readers made up of women who collect cookbooks and books about food!
   
   I just think this could have been a truly compelling read, and it just missed the mark by a pretty long way. It lacked the spice, insight and narrative conflict that make so many books in the "food memoir" category so readable.



3. `The Tenth Muse' by book editor extraordinaire, Judith Jones is a memoir of her experiences with food and with writers about food, lead by virtually every luminary in that field in the latter half of the 20th century, including Julia Child, James Beard, Craig Claiborne, Marcella Hazan, Madhur Jaffrey, Lydia Bastianich, Marian Cunningham,Alice Waters, and Edna Lewis. I'm just a bit surprised that Penelope Casas, a major Knopf culinary author is not mentioned and I'm torn between believing that the muse of the title is `food' or `editing', especially since Ms. Jones' publishing house, Alfred A. Knopf, was the publishing home of another, even more prominent literary editor, H. L. Mencken. The original nine muses of Greek mythology primarily cover the subjects of music, poetry, drama, and rhetoric, so I suspect `editing' was covered. Thus, Ms. Jones can dedicate her book to the culinary deities.
   This is clearly a charming and finely written memoir, which I am almost ashamed to find any fault whatsoever. But, if you are willing to plunk down your $24.95 retail, you are entitled to know what you are getting, and what you are not getting.
   For starters, Ms. Jones enters a field filled with lots of fine exemplars of good, interesting culinary memoirs. Leading the pack is that hoary classic by George Orwell, `Down and Out in Paris and London'. Following closely behind and even more relevant, are the several memoirs written by M. F. K. Fisher about her travels in France. More recently, there are the three excellent volumes from `Gourmet' magazine editor in chief, Ruth Reichl, including `Garlic and Sapphires', `Tender at the Bone', and `Comfort Me With Apples'. Then, there is Jacques Pepin's `The Apprentice', Amanda Hesser's `Cooking for Mr. Latte' and the risqué `Insatiable', a collection of anecdotal memoirs by Ms. Gael Greene. Last, but certainly not least is Julia Child's own posthumous memoir, `My Life in France'. All of these books are thoroughly enjoyable for the foodie reader, and most are seem to be just a bit more substantial or more informative than Ms. Jones' book.
   I was expecting far more detail on the inside story about how she came to publish the seminal `Mastering the Art of French Cooking', but there was practically nothing here I did not read in Ms. Child's biography and other writings on this episode. I was especially interested in the dealings with Alfred and Blanche Knopf, two giant figures in American publishing, who were initially a bit reluctant to get Knopf into the cookbook publishing business.
   The framework on which the culinary stories are arranged is Ms. Jones early experiences in France and her marriage to journalist, Evan Jones and their lives in Europe and New England. There is nothing approaching the intimate interpersonal details we get from both Reichl and Greene. There is not even the sense of warmth felt between Julia and Paul Child in her memoir and biography.
   The last quarter of the book is devoted to recipes and stories surrounding those recipes, collected from the many culinary / literary luminaries who Ms. Jones edited or simply corresponded or befriended. I usually discount recipes in memoirs, as this is the last place one is likely to look when in search of a particular recipe, even if you remember that this work contained recipes. I will make a major exception in the case of this book, as I find the comments among some of the most writing in the book. I was especially attracted to the recipe I tried for sauce gribiche, a superb condiment to enliven leftover roasted meats, specifically my favorite lamb. And, the fact that the book contained eight other recipes for lamb warmed me to these recipes.
   Thus, if one has read many of the books I mentioned above, especially those telling the story of Julia Child, one may not find anything too exciting here. And, if you own several cookbooks you know and love, the recipes will be nice to read, but you may not find anything dramatic enough to lure you away from your favorites. It's a very nice read, but not as informative, titillating, or illuminating as some of its contemporary works.



4. Initially I found this memoir a disappointment. Ms. Jones has done as much as anyone alive to give us access to new culinary ideas, and it is fair to say that she championed the books that shaped our current gastronomic thinking, as well as editing them. Nonetheless, her account of all this can come across as superficial and chilly; the prose is well crafted, but it sounds as though she's talking about someone else, and not someone that she knows personally or cares about all that much. The book begins to sound more like a personal memoir when she introduces her country home, where there was emphasis on growing their own food as much as possible, and it comes alive when she talks about the loss of he husband of 50+ years, and how impossible it seemed to go on with something as simple as cooking dinner bcause they had always done it together. Her account of her grief and slow recovery is marvelous. She is never overly revealing but shows her humanity in a way that's both sympathetic and elegant. Her story of eating a beaver's tail, and how her account of it shocked and horrified readers, provides a fascinating counterpoint to her own gradual coming to life again after a loss that seemed catastrophic. As a fan of her late husband's food writing, I found myself thinking "Evan would have loved that story."



5. I received this book as a Christmas present. The author is a young American who falls in love with French cooking while living abroad. She finds a great guy in the last throes of his first marriage, and marries him for life (until he dies some decades later). They relocate from Paris to New England, and she goes on to a life in publishing--the first to discover Julia Child. Her memoir is laden with the great chefs of her time and the sumptuous meals they ate together. She and her husband also entertained often, both of them being adept in the kitchen. Recipes blend with her story, but remember that French cooking is her specialty. She writes this as a senior citizen, and her long and complex history with food shines through.

3 comments about Israel Through My Lens: Sixty Years As a Photojournalist.

1. As a photographer, I loved this book. As good as the photographs are, the writing is even better. Great stories about working as a Time photographer in the Mid East, growing up in Europe during WWII, and wonderful vignettes about Israeli leaders. Highly recommended.



2. David Rubinger has laid it out as he saw it and lived it. This is a VERY personal book with little if anything held back. From his youth to the present, Rubinger gives a verbal as well as photographic picture of himself and the Sate of Israel growing up, maturing and "getting on". From his time in the British army to the horrific death of a woman he cared for deeply, this book tells it all. It is easy reading yet compelling. I was carried into a very personal environment and felt as if I were at each event, meeting each person, taking part in each "adventure". David Rubinger's life appears to be a string of wonderful and not-so-wonderful experiences. And you are right there. The country comes alive through the eyes and life of this exceptional man. I have read it twice and have given it as gifts to friends. Oh, yes, I highly recommend this book!!



3. I am an advanced amateur photographer who has been photographing for almost fifty years. On reading "Israel Through My Lens" there is an immediate connection between Mr. Rubingers experiences and those of any serious photographer/photojournalist. Through his remembrances the reader not only relives the history of Israel and the Middle East in the 20th century but also the very simple joy of being a photographer, getting the good shot. This is a simple story of his life and his relationships that have led to a brilliant career as a photojournalist. I enjoyed the book because I am able to feel his excitement in getting the picture. Rubinger is not a 'god' of photography, he is simply a talented photographer who clearly describes for the rest of us the fun and excitement of photography and photojournalism. All this while telling a wonderful personal story and national history.

5 comments about Kill the Messenger: How the CIA's Crack-Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb.

1. This book should have received far more publicity than it's had since publication. It is essential reading for every American. Decades later, the aftereffects of crack's explosion are still with us: prisons overflowing with low-level drug operatives, destroyed inner-cities and families. Nick Schou should be commended for trying to keep this issue in the public's eye. And, Gary Webb should one day receive the accolades that eluded him in his lifetime.



2. As the editor of the Applegator Newspaper, I have many books crossed my desk. I was captivated from the beginning to the end. And the story confirmed many of my fears. If one has any interest on the CIA, I highly recommend this book.
   
   J.D. Rogers
   Editor of the Applegator Newspaper



3. Schou refers throughout this book to Gary Webb winning the Pulitzer Prize. There's one little problem with this -- it never happened. It would have taken 30 seconds to check the Pulitzer's web site and discover this.



4. Technically, Schou's biography squeaked off the press at the end of 2006, but it was 2007 before it garnered much attention in the jubilant crowing of the alternative media and a few mea culpas from the mainstream newspapers who shunned Gary Webb (ending his career and eventually driving his 2004 suicide), after he broke the story of CIA-backed Nicaraguans who funneled crack cocaine into Los Angeles to fund the Contras. Despite the widespread denouncement of Webb by most of the press, the CIA inspector general confirmed most of his story two years after it first appeared in the San Jose Mercury News in 1996. "We now live in a country where reporters dread becoming Gary Webb," notes the introduction, "God help us."



5. The previous reviewer caused me to check out Pulitzer Prizes. I have followed many stories by the author and have found him to be an excellent reporter and I couldn't believe he would make such a mistake. The reviewer is wrong, Schou is right. Webb was indeed awarded a Pulitzer. It was as part of a team, but he had one none the less. Do ball players have any less stake in a championship win because they are on a team?
   
   Officially:
   (1990) Pulitzer Prize, in General News Reporting, awarded to the Staff of the San Jose Mercury News for its detailed coverage of the October 17, 1989, Bay Area earthquake and its aftermath. Webb worked with a team of 6 reporters including himself, on the Loma Prieta earthquake.
   
   The take away here is that the government forced corporate media to kill this true story. They then went on to destroy Webb. There is no liberal media. Everything you see on your television or in print from corporate media has been approved by the Ministry of Truth.

5 comments about A Russian Diary: A Journalist's Final Account of Life, Corruption, and Death in Putin's Russia.

1. For those who care about Russia, it is hard to put this book down. It is a compelling read. However, one cannot help read "A Russian Diary" without an overwhelming sense of sadness. We know how the story ends. The last entry in the diary was made in August 2006, and soon thereafter Anna Politkovskaya life ends, murdered by unknown assailants in Moscow.
   
   The profound nature of this loss comes across on every page of this book, as Ms. Politkovskaya carefully and without flinching describes contemporary Russian society, warts and all, as perhaps no other journalist left living can. This book brings the reader a first-hand look into the tragedies of Dubrovka Theater and the school siege at Beslan. And also chronicles the seemingly endless war in Chechnya. She asks hard questions of the Russian government and its apparent failure to manage these matters.
   
   As great of a loss as the death of Anna Politkovskaya is, her dairy is a reminder of perhaps the greatest tragedy and missed opportunity in the last quarter of a century. With the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia had the opportunity once and forever to move into the family of democratic states. This book documents that although there are elections, this has not really happened, not even close. What we have now is a tightly controlled state governed by an intelligence oligarchy with a fondness for the Soviet past, which has restricted rather than expanded civil liberties and workers' rights. These restrictions have been justified in the name of protecting national security and the promotion of state controlled capitalism. "A Russian Diary" documents how the Russian people are languishing with a government seemingly disinclined to tackle the serious social welfare problems that are besetting the country.
   
   This book is commentary on the Russian government, but it also asks tough questions of Americans and Western Europeans. What could they have done differently to nudge Russia toward a democratic direction? Is it too late? Are we destined to regress into a more perverse version of the Cold War, with a Russian government mistrusting the West once again, but now empowered by oil and gas revenues?
   
   I hope that is not the case both for Russia and the West. However, without Anna Politkoyskaya alive to point out the deficiencies in the Russian government and the shortcomings of the West, the unthinkable becomes possible.



2. This is a riveting account of a life constantly in peril. The translation is equally outstanding, conveying both the "conversationalism" of a "diary" and the formality of the more essential elements.



3. Anna Politkovskaya's "Russian Diary" is a gold mine of information and provides unparalleled insights into Putin's Neo-Soviet Russia.
   
   Many believe that Politkovskaya was murdered for her indepth investigative reporting into all aspects of Putin's regime. In this book she makes it clear that Russia is rapidly sliding into a dark and deep abyss.
   
   Politkovskaya reveals the rampant corruption prevalent in the Russian government and its total disregard for the Russian population, human rights, and basic democratic principles.
   
   "Russian Diary" is a first-hand account of the growing power of Russia's criminal community and its alliance with Vladimir Putin, the rampant greed and lawlessness of the new Russian business elite, the unbridled brutality of the Russian security services, and the gross incompetence of the Russian military.
   
   Politkovskaya believed that Russia was headed for another major war in the Caucasus against the mountain peoples it has been terrorizing and murdering for the last decade.
   
   This is a sad and depressing story that is all too familiar to those with firsthand knowledge of the Soviet Union and Russia.



4. A must read for anyone who wants to understand the "new" Russia. One hopes others will have the courage to take up Ms. Politkovskaya's crusade in exposing the corruption so rampant in Putin's (and now Medvedev's)Russia.



5. the forward starts off "(she) could have left russia--remember that as you read these journals." what comes across initially as anna's relentless account of putin's rise to autocratic dominance is more of an alarming and disheartening account of russia's systematic devolution where democracy, freedom of press and the semblance of a worthy society were fleetingly promised as they were taken away. incredible heart-wrenching accounts of the moscow theater and beslan school massacres as well as the two chechen wars.