5 comments about Confessions of an English Opium Eater (Penguin English Library).

1. De Quincey is an exceptionally honest writer. Yet, while remaining honest, he manages to express his thoughts and emotions in beautiful words. While reading this book, one feels as if they're having a personal conversation with De Quincey(no doubt, a one-way conversation), and it becomes easy to develop a love and admiration for the guy. Moreover, it is interesting to hear a first hand account of what life was like in the early 19th century. It is not hard to see why this book is a classic. Read it, its short.



2. When I first heard of this book, I thought that it was a work of fiction. Given my basic knowledge of the Victorian era, I didn't think anyone, much less a writer, would stand up and talk about addiction. Alas, I was wrong, but do not regret reading this in the least.

   Although this book is short, about 70 pages for this edition, it is not as quick a read as you would think. His vocabulary can be quite extensive and to fully understand him, you have to have his background in Greek (the language and mythology) to understand his allusions. His writing seems to approximate a conversation with a very intelligent, but distracted, person. Many of these sentences (especially in the beginning) are quite long and filled with commas and colons. It is like the intelligent person trying to tell you something important, but as he speaks, he is not sure that he is being clear, so he adds little phrases to try to illustrate his point more effectively as he leans forward earnestly in hopes of adequately trying to prove his point.

   Within this piece, he talks of his background and why he started taking opium. He debunks many commentaries on opium use and explains why. DeQuincey also mentions other famous people who took opium (or laudanum). Lastly, he tells of some of his dreams which were "enhanced" by his opium taking. After reading these descriptions, I find myself looking at the work of Coleridge in a new light, and even the fictional character Sherlock Holmes.

   I would recommend this piece to any wanting a better understanding of DeQuincey and his time.




3. Confessions of an Opium Eater, almost entirely autobiographical, has a great many words of text but fails to say much of anything. Worse yet, it suffers form the greatest of literary afflictions....want of interesting writing.

   Confessions has the appeal of listening to the incoherent, unorganized ramblings of a thoroughly bland speechgiver. He gives fits of lucidity to his story, in the form of making a point, only to derail it into some meaningless anecdote or philosophical pondering that leaves you wondering what his original point was to begin with.

   The sum of his story is he began taking opium to alleviate the pain from a stomach malady and through increased use and increasing dosage became an addict. Little insight is given that would be relevant to understanding modern day drug abuse. However, much of the physical effects of opium abuse related by the author are common to the hell of chemical abuse suffered by today's addict.

   I cannot remember the last time I fell asleep reading a novel but I did so 4 times while reading Confessions from sheer boredom. The unimaginative use of his obviously well developed vocabulary coupled with a story that ultimately goes nowhere made reading this book a most unbearable, tediuos chore.




4. Thomas De Quincey was a contemporary of Wordsworth and more importantly in terms of comparison, Coleridge. He writes that Coleridge and he met several times and in one instance they perused some Parnesi prints together. Whether on not they were both high at the time, De Quincey doesn't reveal. However, given the tenor of the tangent upon which De Quincey expounds, it is certain that at least he was using, and given Coleridge's history, he probably was a well. Why do I cite this incident? Because it is one of the few points in the narrative that is memorable. As someone interested in literary figures, the image of two 19th century literary hop-heads grooving-out whilst staring at Parnesi prints (you should look up Parnesi on the web - a definite precursor to M.C. Escher)is just plain marvelous.

   Unfortunately, that, and a few paragraphs depicting some truly macabre nightmares are the only noteworthy incidents in this book. Too often, De Quicey's labarynthine riffs doen't really lead anywhere. His writing style in some ways can be compared to another of his more illustrious contemporaries, Thomas Carlyle's. Both go in for elongated Latinate constructions, with modifier upon modifier and dependent and independent clauses ad infinitum. Carlyle, however, can pull it off. His great wit and energy of mind holds the center of the thought together, even as the rest of his sentence veers off into Baroque space. De Quincey is not an adept enough magician to perform this trick.
   
   De Quincey's subject is himself. His mode of writing in this instance is primarily that of a diarist. This leads to comparisons with some other English diarists of note. Two that come immediately to mind are Defoe (A Journal of the Plague Year) and Pepys (the most famous of all). De Quincey doesn't hold up well in comparision. Defoe's journal is interesting because his subject matter is compelling, he's a great journalist (conveying to our mind's eye the events he depicts), and he gets to the point. Pepys is wonderful because he provides us a full panorama of life in London in the latter half of the 17th century. De Quincey is so absorbed in his solipsistic self-examination, that we as readers aren't even allowed to come up for air, much less see anything around us. That would even be permissable if the narrator were like Proust's Swann, who is at least likeable and self-effacing. Not so De Quincey. He interupts his own narrative on countless occasions to tell us what a splendid scholar he is and (to borrow a phrase from Ophelia) "what a great mind is here o'erthrown." He peppers the text with words like "heautontimoroumenos" to indicate that he is learned in Greek. Throughout the narrative, he is in way to big a hurry to impress these points upon the reader, instead of allowing the reader to judge for him/herself.

   If you want to know what it's like to be a junkie, read Burroughs. If you want to read some painfully constructed English prose, give this one a go.
   BK




5. I recently learned that Thomas De Quincey attended my school, although this is a fact that is not prominent in its promotional literature (having the distinction of being the alma mater of one of history's most famous drug addicts not being high on the list of items deemed likely to attract the attention of well-heeled parents seeking a school for their precocious ten-year olds). This is a drug memoir of sorts, but it is washed in a romantic aestheticism that distinguishes it from the familiar gritty and sordid morality plays of more recent times. De Quincy sometimes comes off as an erudite version of the charcher played by Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting. Entertaining stuff, if a little dry in places.

5 comments about The Best Seat in the House: How I Woke Up One Tuesday and Was Paralyzed for Life.

1. This book doesn't belong with all the somber "coping with illness" type of books. Allen Rucker's experience of the indignity and struggle of working in Hollywood alone is worth reading. After you commiserate with the dilemma that befalls Allen, and recognize how easily it could happen to any of us, anytime - we could take a nap one Tuesday and "wake up paralyzed for life" - the part that sticks with you is gratitude for the profound wake-up call you have received. It was hard to run after reading this book without thinking of Allen. Anyone who doesn't fully appreciate their body, or sees only the imperfections, will find that invaluable.
   
   After the book came out, Allen Rucker spoke at a Writers Guild press conference on diversity, responding to a UCLA study showing the low employment of minorities in film and TV. He reminded them that the disabled are by far the largest minority in America - 56 million - yet are invisible both on TV and in the report. Allen's book is paving the way for those over 50 who are feeling increasingly invisible and are waking up to the fact that unexpected things will happen to our bodies as we age, not many of them good, and provides an inspired blueprint for dealing with it.



2. Allen carries us through the deep interiors of emotional exhaustions, redemptions, and explorations of wrestling with a life-affirming, physical alteration. For this reason, the book and the man are close to my heart. He is clear with his words, direct in his perspective and his narrative. This story is an uncompromised one.
   
   Allen broadcasts his investigations of the more difficult and frustrating moments of his adult life. In the same breadth, he reveals the liberating ones, reminding us that our own personal narratives may not always progress linearly. Not everyone welcomes introspection with both repose and vigor. Allen does here, and in doing so, he proves that achievement is not necessarily charted with self-awareness, but with self-discovery.



3. Allen Rucker's book is an entertaining read, a poignant portrait of a man who learns life's most important and hard-to-face lessons in a brand-new body in his 50s, and a spot-on social commentary about the way people with disabilities are treated in this culture. The most compelling and memorable aspect of this book is the way it reveals, through wit, at times scathing sarcasm, clear observation, and a healthy dose of compassion, the way a man navigates a new life in a new body. At turns poignant, revealing, terrifying, and hysterically funny, the book has no false notes and reminds disabled and non-disabled readers alike that we are given one body and we don't know what its future in this world will be, despite our most carefully crafted plans. The scenes and insights in this book will resonate when you read them and stay with you long after you've finished the book. Bravo!



4. A truly amazing book - very well written. Allen Rucker's account of overcoming adversity is a great story of courage, bravery and perseverance. A must read for everyone!



5. Having just recently been told I will have to be in a wheelchair to save what is left of my legs due to polio, I was really interested in what this book had to say. I had read a review in the New Mobility magazine and it got my curiosity aroused. I ended up getting it from our local library and read it in almost one sitting! It seemed to strike a "nerve" with me - I just turned 53, having had a very busy and enjoyable life - built my own house, was a scuba diver, kayaker, bicyclist, raised two active boys, etc - then, as polio caught up to me, I am finding that I need to use more and more "help" to just get through the day. That was a very disturbing and somewhat depressing thought, to me. But, if I was going to make what I had left last for many more years, I knew I had to do it. So, I am moving into a wheelchair, using hand controls on my van, using a crutch all the time, etc. It was a bummer, in my mind. Then, along comes Allen's book and my mind was turned upside down! I found a kindred spirit in Allen, and just loved his sense of humor, his somewhat acerbic wit, and his learning to look beyond the terrible things that his body had done to him and focus on the positive things. Yes, it is not always positive, and he made that very clear, but there are ways to look at just about everything that make it easier or funnier or reflective. I found myself cheering for him when he made those "steps" of discovery - dealing with his work, his house, his wife, his mother-in-law (I was crying laughing!), his kids, his bitterness, his anger. I bought this book because I know that I will read it again and I have recommended it to many of my walking friends, as well - we all have disabilities, in one way or another, and learning to live with them is a great lesson. Allen Rucker has done that and has described a way that worked for him and will work for many others -

1 comments about Movie Stars and Sensuous Scars: Essays on the Journey from Disability Shame to Disability Pride.

1. As an author and PhD student I take seriously the area of disability studies. This thought provoking book is an excellent way to consider those whom society deems different and the limitations we place which blocks an individual more than any physical disability could. I found the writing exemplary and the content utterly compelling.
   I would recommend this book not only to educators but to authors and writers who wish to add depth to their characterizations and develop an understanding of disability culture.

5 comments about Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D.

1. I picked up this book about 1 1/2 years ago thinking that I'd find something that I could relate to, as I'm a 30 bipolar woman. Unfortunately, I could not relate to Lizzie Simon. She is elitist and she is very self-congratulatory. It is so embarrassing to read about her relationship with Nicholas, and somehow she thinks that she's the only one who could understand him. He can't understand himself!!! Needless to say, I don't understand what all the hype is when reading this book. I think there are plenty of people out there who have written excellent books on their struggles with mental illness (i.e Kay Redfield Jamison, William Styron). This book, though entertaining, is very base.



2. I thought that I would be able to relate to Simon's book as I have a few things in common with her. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at nineteen after experiencing a manic episode induced by antidepressants. I too have felt quite lonely at times; I've found myself wishing I had a friend who could relate to my experiences with bipolar disorder. I thought the book would be encouraging, and in a way it is. After reading it you remember that you aren't alone, that other teenagers and young adults have struggled with this disorder and they've survived.
   
   I think that memoirs of this type can be misleading. I've read Jamison's book and Patty Duke's book to name a few and I have the same problem with these books as well. Anybody reading these books might think that the answer to bipolar disorder is simple enough, you need to take Lithium. Don't get me wrong, Lithium is an amazing medication; it brought me out of a manic high in about a week. And I took it for about two years and then it lost its effectiveness. Lithium can save lives but it isn't always the answer and it definitely isn't a perfect solution.
   
   I finished the book feeling that medications are the answer to bipolar. But what about people like me who don't respond to Lithium or who can't tolerate the horrendous side-effects of the other mood stabilizers and antidepressants? There is no answer to this question in her book. And that's fine, I suppose, that isn't what she wanted her book to be about but she doesn't need to put down people who go the alternative route. In one section she is at a support group looking for "successful" bipolars and they are going around the circle describing their personal situations. Simon writes: "Next is this crackpot bipolar nutritionist lady who says that at the Parsons Institute they taught her how to change her diet and do eight million behavioral adjustments so she doesn't need so much medicine. She is fifty-nine, not young enough for my purposes." After I read that I wasn't at all convinced that it was the woman's age that deterred Simon from interviewing her but rather it was her "crackpot" nutrition.
   
   In the same section she describes a woman whose son has bipolar schizoaffective disorder; the woman is there trying to gather information about treatment. Simons writes: "She has no clinical diagnosis herself, but I identify her immediately as a real nut.'. The woman says that her son gets put on all types of different medications and he isn't getting any better, he just sits in his room and does nothing. Simon doesn't verbalize her opinion in the group but thinks to herself: "Maybe he just hates you".
   
   Simon seems quite conflicted. On the one hand she does a good job at expressing her disgust with the stigma surrounding bipolar disorder. On the other hand she is quick to use derogatory language. It's as if by using such language she is contributing to the very stigma that she is trying to fight. I found this particular aspect of the book unsettling.
   
   Anyway, despite my criticisms of the book I would still recommend that you give it a try, it's interesting enough. But here's my warning: please don't feel bad if you find that you don't fit into Simon's definition of a "successful bipolar", she's a hard marker.



3. Detour provides another perspective for those who are bipolar or have a loved one who is bipolar. There are other books out there that cover the science and case studies of the disorder. This is a much more personal book. I certainly don't think it is the only book you should read on the subject. Beware that the focus is on the under 35, college educated, relatively recently diagnosed bipolar person. If you are that person you need to read this book. It is a very quick read and well worth the effort.



4. I've re-read this book twice since discovering it. I continued to admire its emotional authenticity and intellectual clarity, which wind up allowing the reader to get beyond the wealth of misconceptions that surround bipolarity. This book goes way deeper and further than most personal-experience books on medical/emotional conditions.



5. I admire the courage Lizzie Simon has to peel away- everything- and show us all the inside of her brain!
   
   This is the memoir of her journey to find other young successful people like herself who suffer from bipolar disorder. She interviews seven different people who have similar stories to tell.
   
   "Everybody has stories about being misdiagnosed, mistreated, misunderstood and disrespected by the medical community.
   
   Everybody has spent long stretches of time as zombies waiting for medicine to work. Most of us have been good sports about humiliating side effects like weight gain, bed-wetting and drooling.
   
   Everybody experienced a time when it didn't look as if they were gonna make it. Everybody did make it."
   
   How brave of her to write this honest and eye opening memoir about the struggle and the stigma associated with mental illness.
   
   I was so impressed by her ability to communicate the sadness but especially the mania. She was so unflinchingly direct with not one word of psychiatric jargon. This was a very real and often raw account of her cross-country adventure.
   
   This was not a scientific study, this is the story of Lizzie's experience, it's a hopefully story. I feel the people she interviewed were very fortunate most of them had good parents who educated themselves and helped their children through their crisis.
   
   Of course this could have been a very different story if Lizzie had chosen to write an objective scientific study about people suffering from bipolar disorder in America. I most likely wouldn't have read that book. I'm thankful she wrote this story, I found it very insightful.

5 comments about Whiskey's Children.

1. Whiskey's Children is a great book, period. While it chronicled the casual horrors and quiet heartbreak of a family damaged by alcohol better than any book I've read, it also tells a universal story of human frailty and persistance. It is shocking, depressing...and funny. Read it for any reason, and then read 'A Bar on Every Corner' by the same author.



2. An unusal accounting of a whole bunch of ingested liquor. Happily with a happy ending. Sadly, though, a between-the-lines documentary of a beat poet who coulda been a contendah. Then again, he's still here now, and b.p. can be thought of as re-manifest in such pubs as McSweeney's where Mr. Erdmann (via Mr. Kearney) might consider submitting manuscript.



3. Jack Erdmann's story of his long struggle back from the strangling grip that alcoholism held on his life, as well as over members of his family for four generations, is a tour de force. This book is not just for alcoholics, or for drinkers who feel that they "don't have a problem," it is for everyone who is willing to accompany Erdmann on a harrowing journey.

   For those readers with alcoholics in the family, they--we--find ourselves nodding with recognition, and ultimately uplifted by the knowledge that there's a way up from the bottom. They will find assistance from now-sober alcoholics "with kind eyes, offering hot cups of bad coffee," in the words of Anne Lamott, a recovering alcoholic herself, who wrote the foreword.

   You want an "easy, feel-good" book--well, there are plenty of THOSE. You want one that will change your life, or that of someone whom you love, or that will give breathtaking insights into the lives of the alcoholics you know, "Whiskey's Children" is the best effort I've found. There are pathos, self-degradation, guilt, self-loathing, and even a quiet humor in these pages.

   If Amazon offered more than five stars, Erdmann and his co-author Larry Kearney would have earned them many times over. Not just for writing, but from their phoenix-life resurrection from the ashes of an alcoholic life.

   This is a wonderful book.




4. Alcoholism is not an emotional disorder per se, but it does sometimes have emotional triggers. When my dad started drinking in beer joints, he was in his thirties and had buried two wives and five children. I suffered inconsqentially as a result of his stopping at the nearest joint from our house on the way back for Saturday movies on the town, and I would have to hide in the backseat of the car. Since we had to traverse many curves for the few miles to get home, I remember praying all the way there for God to let us live.
   
   You can tell the children whose dad drinks alcohol, because he carries a load of guilt and pain, thinking he caused the abuse he would later reap by, looking at families who walk by and look at the young ones' faces. It is devastating.
   
   This town has a long history going back to bootlegger days before prohibition of brewing their own 'spirits' openly and for a long time on the main street of town (which they do again in this modern, accepting age), and the men are proud to be drinkers. They look down on those who are not addicted to alcohol. They are the dummies. One local writer told me recently, "You think I am just a drunk." I replied, "If I did that, why would I ask you to show me how to drink?" which he refused to do as I have liver disease. He was his usual 'confused' self and asked "Why did you choose me?" My honest answer, "I trust you because I know you won't touch me" and I thought he might feel enough responsibility to not let any of the other drunks take advantage if I started acting silly. But he told me that he can't control his own drinking, so he ended up not even offering me a drink of water. Ever! Now, I know water is not going to cause this hemangioma to burst, but it seems that something else did. Probably the pain pills I have taken for a chronic nerve pain I have had since 1994. Feeling sorry for me yet, Arthur Hardaway.
   
   Jack Daniels' Whiskey from right here in Tennessee is internationally known and sought after; people come from all over the United States looking for Lynchburg, Tennessee, as if they were seeking the Holy Grail. I heard a bigoted preacher get all emotional about the difference in immersion vs. sprinkling. He said that sprinkling is like scattering a little dirt on top of a dead person instead of burying him in a grave. Since I am a Methodist, I told him that he 'hit below the belt.' He also proclaimed that only immersed Baptists will enter Heaven. For years, I thought it was Seventh Day Adventists who preached that. My sister Evelyn belonged to that group for awhile until they betrayed her.
   
   Jack Erdmann has written othre books because I have reviewed one or more. He was the son of a jazz musician and an ex-chorus dancer in St. Louis. His reminiscing starts in 1934 when, as an altar boy, he drank the communion wine. Then, like this local writer, he drank because of loneliness. He even thinks his son should be allowed to buy beer when he is old enough to 'serve his country' in war but not yet old enough to vote. How dumb can you be!
   
   Co-writer Larry Kearney, a poet who settled in San Francisco (where Jack lives), was born in Brooklyn in 1943. Both are recovering alcoholics.



5. Think of all the good things you wish for your children -- health, happiness, safety and love must surely be on the list -- and then realize, if you are an alcoholic, what you may in truth pass on: fear, grief, rage, an inability to love or be loved, and the terminal disease of alcoholism itself. Mr. Erdmann explores his heritage of alcoholism, passed down from his grandfather to his father to him, and the legacy he gave his children. Burdens too big and confusing for their small trembling shoulders, fear, confusion -- so so sad, and so so common. If you are or think you are an alcoholic, do yourself and the people you love a favor and read this. And even if you don't want to quit drinking, find an AA meeting, shut your mouth and open your ears; give your children a chance, even if you never got one.

5 comments about Nothing Is Impossible.

1. Christopher Reeve died almost 3 months ago i am researching him and he fell off the horse and still survived and even though he was real hurt alot he cared of other people he was a good athlete and especially actor.He was a huge survivor.
   In Memoriam,
   Christopher Reeve



2. I picked up this book at my school's library and started glancing through it. It's possibly one of the most motivational and inspirational books I've seen! Reeve recounts all of his trials and how he learned to function again. Throughout it all, he stayed strong with his wife Dana, who supported him through everything. A must read!



3. In this little book, Christopher Reeve principally seeks to show the value of hope. He talks about the surprising progress he made in recovering as a quadriplegic after a terrible accident. (Long after doctors believed recovery was possible, Reeve began to show improved movement.) He also talks at length about the politicization of stem cell research and how that has likely stymied further progress on relieving many human disabilities. Despite his clear feelings on the issue, Reeve is sympathetic to people with deep religious reasons for opposing stem cell research, just not those who do so as political posturing.
   
   Along the way, Reeve talks about his brush with Scientology (a fascinating glimpse of a religion that's been so much in the news), his other religious searchings, his initial thoughts of ending his life after his accident, how he and his family have dealt with his quadriplegia, and his work as an advocate for health research.
   
   This is a quick and enjoyable read. Reeve's insights on the nature and role of hope will be strengthening to people who struggle with any of a range of issues from physical to emotional to spiritual. Reeve himself reads the unabridged audio CD version; I recommend it.



4. I just reread this book, and it brought back how much I admired Mr. Reeve and his bride. I really think this should be required reading to anyone that has had a spinal injury, or an amputation, just to show them that they are NOT the first to feel all these negitive feelings.
   
   A wonderful tribute to the Reeves in general.



5. Christopher Reeves will continue to be an inspirtion to all of us, and will influence other genertions with his insight, and courge, of trying to make the public more aware of Spinal Cord Injuries.
   He was indeed, a 'real Superman!'
   God Bless his family for allowing us all to know him better.
   Fran & Dean Johnson

5 comments about A Mind Apart: Travels in a Neurodiverse World.

1. I am 54 years old, and have thought about evolution and those of us with different ways of thinking for several years; I was amazed that others think about these things, much more deeply than I ever did. A joy to read.



2. Susanne Antonetta explores the lives and abilities of those who are considered by society to be different. The thought processes of those with multiple personality and bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, autism, and various other neurological conditions can be mystifying to those on the outside, including family and friends. Suffering from manic depression for many years, Antonetta utilizes her own experiences to paint a detailed and often personal portrait of the beautiful contributions made by these individuals, and the potential consequences of eradicating such conditions.Advancements in technology are presenting man with many options that were at one time unthinkable. Today, with genetic manipulation and engineering the eradication of many of these disorders must be considered carefully. Diversity is necessary for society to thrive and continue to grow. Many creative, inventive and forward thinking individuals suffered from mental illness... Georgia O'Keefe, Van Gogh, Churchill, and their contributions to society are immeasurable. Had such genetic manipulation been available our society would never have known the beauty of some of the world's most sought after art.Antonetta makes a strong and impressive argument that although technological advancements may make it possible to rid ourselves of undesirable traits today, doing so could prove disastrous in the future. While an important and complex issue, the book often appears unorganized and confusing, making it a very difficult read, even for the most interested reader.
   
   The concepts and thought provoking, controversial issues brought forth in this book may one day (soon) present themselves and force the public and society to face that which would have been considered purely science fiction a mere decade ago. However, such topics need to be thoroughly fleshed out, utilizing every available means. I found it very difficult to read, many important facets were left incomplete and this left me feeling more than bit unsatisfied, confused and let down. I would love to see these issues covered again - thoroughly. Worth a look, but make sure you have lots of patience, as this is not a fast read and check it out from library!
   
   Happy Reading!



3. WHAT I APPRECIATE MOST about Susanne Antonetta's prose is the multiplicity of her voice. Here's a prose writer who appreciates more than one kind of music. Antonetta's work is aptly described as a mosaic hybrid, because of the ways she mingles the confessional, the mental, the lyric and also the scholarly and journalistic report. The music of this writer's literary intelligence is in the impact of montage, the shock of hybrid collision.
   
   In Antonetta's A Mind Apart, bodies, minds and reports from the world collide. A Pacific Northwest community gathers to view a dead whale on the beach. A teenager kills a neighbor boy as a kind of science experiment. The husband of the narrator's cousin has a seeming-sorority of female characters living the mosaic of his multiple personalities, all of whom send her email. The intellectual pleasures of this work occur in the questions it asks about how a culture defines "normal" and what we might lose if genetic engineering succeeds in clarifying the borderline of acceptable human brain process.
   
   The literary pleasures of this work alight out of the layering of many aspects and approaches, the content coming to the page through the voice of a poet, diarist, essayist and reporter who has told us from the start that her skin is too thin to enable her to stave off much of what she finds urgently stacked up in the world.
   
   Antonetta is a writer to whose work I am particularly attuned, because of the ways her narrator is relatively unmasked, her structures metaphorical and lyrically innovative, her interests multiple and surprisingly connected, her aims to layer her own life with that of the larger questions of the world palpable and original. I can't think of many writers who hit all those notes.
   
   I've long told students that my understanding of the "writer's voice" is as a kind of blueprint of the writer's body and mind, translated into language. For the lyric sensibility, the body with too few shields, the mind that experiences the atmosphere of life as stacked and layered and splintered and broken, while at the same time hears human existence as a mad and varied song, may have little choice but to write in such forms. This beautiful book is to my ear is an essential contribution to creative nonfiction form.
   
   Barrie Jean Borich
   author of My Lesbian Husband



4. We're all weird. Just because we have the hubris to put our oddities to paper and offer them to the world doesn't make them worthy of attention.
   
   Antonetta (a.k.a highly functioning university professor Paola) is a mediocre imitation of much more authentic writers--Anne Lamott, Kay Redfield Jamison.
   
   I hate that memoirs have become dumping grounds for neuroses. Don't be fooled into thinking this book has any merits--there are much better ones out there.



5. Although the content of this book isn't quite what one would expect given the description on the dust jacket, it is nevertheless an interesting read. It is a book I would recommend to anyone looking for artistic inspiration and struggling with writer's block, based on the language it is written in and the numerous perspectives being offered on the human mind. While it gives the reader something to ponder, it is not by any means what would be considered in the realm of a medical text or an authority on neurology. The entire book is written in the context of the memoir of a middle aged woman observing the growth of her adopted son, in a search for the answers to existential questions no one can truly answer. Interesting tidbits of more scientific information are thrown in, ranging everywhere from the intelligence of whales and their sophisticated means of communication to theories on the workings of autistic minds and multiple personality disorder.
   
   What's interesting is that in a book dedicated to neurodiversity, which in itself conveys the notion of humanity itself being an incredibly diverse species, the author approaches both her writing and her life as someone living with a mind she perceives to be abnormal and as a result her own self being damaged. She is bipolar and throughout the book addresses her fear that with the progresses of genetic engineering, people like her will gradually cease to exist, and so too will the creativity that drives our culture. If I could offer one suggestion to Susanne Antonetta, it would be that she try, if only for a brief period of time, to view herself and her own mind as being not so much apart from the rest of humanity, but as unique and as diverse as any other and as one treasured piece ingrained within the whole.

3 comments about My Sister's Keeper: Learning to Cope with a Sibling's Mental Illness.

1. This true-story book tells of a woman's experiences in dealing with a sister with bipolar disorder. Throughout her life, her sister's illness has impacted her own life in a variety of ways, and after the mother dies and she is the only one responsible for her sister, the situation intensifies. While on medication, the bipolar sister can function reasonably well, but she goes off meds from time to time and then the sister eventually has a mess to sort out.

   The ambivalence of the relationship (the two sisters both love and resent each other) is perfectly captured in this book. It rings true. Although there was sufficient money left by the mother and social services available to assist, so that this was not the "worst case" scenario that some families experience, still, the family-wide devastation of mental illness was well captured in this book.

   I couldn't put it down.




2. I read this book coming from the outlook of being a mom of a schizophrenic 14-year-old daughter. By the time I finished the book, I was sorry I read it. Although it was a brutally frank and honest account, Ms. Moorman not sugar-coating her feelings for her sister and making it into some kind of overcomer's tale with a happy ending, I found myself mired in sadness through the course of the story. There were so few hopeful moments that I found myself wondering why she wrote it in the first place, and how would this book give comfort or hope to other siblings of the mentally ill?
   
   I had to continually remind myself that for a young person in this day and age dealing with any kind of mental illness, there are so many more effective therapies and medications available with a greater chance of improving their quality of life. Sally seemed to go for so many long stretches without being medicated that I don't know how she did as well as she did (which wasn't that great most of the time).
   
   This book did leave me with a goal of working on bringing my ill daughter closer to her younger brother and sister.



3. "This beautifully crafted novel will grab readers with a stunning topic."
   This book shows different perspectives of this situation.
   
   -PV, Ashburn,VA

5 comments about MY LEFT FOOT.

1. The book my left foot is very interesting because it deals with a child born with a disease that gives him no control over his body
   but he, at a young age learned to use his left foot to write, eat, actually do anything a normal person can do with there hands. christy shows in this book how any person of any race, or even with any disease has the same feelings and are capable of almost anything.



2. This book was a book because it tells how christy over came his disibality and acomplished his goals in life. Not every person with a disibality can acomplish things like that in their life.I think christy is a very amazing person for doing the things that he has done.



3. The book "My Left Foot", was one of the best books I have read. It tells the life story of Christy Brown and how he still lived his life while his little body was twisted with a disease. I found it very touching at times and it made me happy to when he would over come bumps in his life. When he first made the letter "A" I was smiling from ear to ear.

   I would recommend this book to for anyone to read, especially to a mother with a disabled child. It really proves that no matter who you are, you can do anything you put your mind to.

   I can't wait to see the movie!




4. The book My Left Foot by Christy Brown was an inspiring novel about a young boy yearning to live a life full of communication. The story began with doctors giving his parents no hope for the future for this boy with cerebral palsy. Life takes an unexpected turn when his left foot comes alive. Over time challenges arise. Some obstacles are over come while other hurdles are left for him to face. With his mother by his side they were determined to struggle through poverty and his severe disability.



5. This is the story of a young man who was born in Ireland in 1932, after a difficult birth and with a severe disability that the doctors of the time were unable to name. They urged his parents to disavow him, as he was, they believed, an imbecile with a severely spastic body. Moreover, his parents then had five other children, all healthy. Christy's mother, however, refused to institutionalize him, keeping him at home and treating him as she would her other children. It would not be until years later that she would learn that Christy's affliction was severe cerebral palsy.

   Imprisoned in a world all his own and seeming without means to communicate, Christy, at the age of five, made an attempt that was to change his life forever. Rather than being imbecilic, Christy was actually highly intelligent. He took a piece of chalk with his left foot and, having captured the attention of his family, proceeded to scrawl on the floor a reasonable facsimile of the letter "A", astounding his loving family in the process.

   By breaking the communications barrier, Christy demonstrated that he could learn and understand. From then on, his capacity for learning was prodigious. Who would have thought that within his severely contorted and convulsed body lay a razor sharp mind and a thirst for knowledge? Certainly not the medical community, which had been so willing to consign him to institutional living. Armed with his left foot, the only part of his body over which he seemed to have some control, Christy Brown would demonstrate to the world who he really was. He was, after all, not the imbecile that the medical community had originally thought but an intelligent and sentient human being.

   This is Christy Brown's triumphant and inspirational story of his battle to learn to read, write, and paint, all with the aid of his left foot. It is an inspirational story of his quest for fulfillment. His yearning to be as others are is palpable, and his struggle for acceptance beyond the borders of his home and his physical limitations are well articulated. Christy Brown gives the reader a birds-eye view of what it is like to be a person with severe cerebral palsy. First published in Great Britain in 1954, when Christy Brown was twenty-two, this book, written with his left foot, is a testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.

5 comments about The Music of Silence: A Memoir.

1. Actually, I found the child-like manner in which this is written to be a stumbling block. Perhaps in Italian it would flow better, but I didn't find it an easy read in English. Sometimes I felt like I was stealing a look into a teen's private diary.
   
   That said, I greatly admire Bocelli's voice and his struggle to share his beautiful gift with the world. I would love to meet this humble but sincere man and hope one day to have the privilege of hearing him in person.



2. I Love Andrea Bocelli.His voice is so Beautiful.Anyone who feels like I do should read this book.It is absolutely Wonderful.It shows no matter what the obstacles are that you face that you can become what God desires you to be.



3. This book was well interpreted and gives beautiful and interesting insight into the upbringing of my favorite performer.



4. I love Andrea Bocelli's music. So I was excited to read about his life. The book was disappointing. It is not well written, and failed to hold my attention. I would only recommend it for true Bocelli fans who want to know more about this talented singer. A biography by someone else would likely be more interesting than this autobiography told in the third person (Andrea refers to himself by another name). Overall, an odd book.



5. This was an incredible book. From laughter to tears, and all of the emotions in between. Most inspiring read and very touching.