No comments about The Confessions of a Drug Addicted Daughter: Society's Child.

3 comments about Loving Rachel: A Family's Journey from Grief.

1. I have a child who also has this disorder. Loving Rachel was important for me to read because there are no other books written which address Optic Nerve Hypoplasia or Septo Optic Dysplasia, but I want everyone to know who considers reading this that Loving Rachel is not a guide for you or your child and that no two people are affected in exactly the same way by this disorder. I could relate with some of the things Ms. Bernstein wrote about but mainly I walked away from this book feeling sad for this family and for Rachel.



2. I thought this was a wonderful book. It manages to be not only about what it's like to give birth to a disabled child, but about the particular nuances and responses of a family, about a marriage, an older child's attempts to navigate these waters, the narrator's complex, ambivalent but ultimately loving and couragous response to the child she has borne. Nothing is simple in this book--not Rachels' progress, not her family's response to her, not the medical world that sometimes seems to hurt her as much as it helps her, not the waiting and waiting to see what Rachel will become. Nonetheless, this is a story not only about endurance, but also about the complicated, powerful workings of maternal love.



3. Jane Bernstein has done an amazing job describing the heartbreak of the initial diagnosis and the ensuing challenges of raising a child with special needs. Having been in this same position with my own daughter, I felt like Jane was sitting in my kitchen watching the struggles we were having and the ones we faced with each passing day. I have recommended this book to colleagues and other families with similar circumstances.

2 comments about Cracked: Recovering After Traumatic Brain Injury.

1. Why is this book important? Many reasons - but one is that it's by and about disability, and it proves beyond doubt that people generally considered 'crackers' have much to say, and much to offer.

   More than that, it's a cracking story - full of pain, courage sadness, and hilarious moments of comedy.

   The author tells her story in broken bits of narrative, fragments of memory, and simple heartfelt poems (that get more complex and sophisticated as time passes) Like Humpty Dumpty she has to pick up the broken pieces of her mind as the kings' horses - psychiatry, education and state 'care' - try to trample her into the ground.

   It's an internal and an external journey that should shatter all our beliefs, if we have them, that there's anyone out there to help if the same thing happened to us.

   Not just an interesting autobiography, but the first work by a major new author, Cracked will have your brain reeling.




2. This book was difficult to read because it is so disjointed and un-clear. It has some good experience information, but is more like her personal discombobulated diary than a clear story.

2 comments about All of Us Together: The Story of Inclusion at Kinzie School.

1. Hi I love thsi book. I was in a clas like thsi. I like it it but it can be hard. It is a neat book. I am 12 years old. Email Kellego05@aol.com

   Also i have been a class like thsi. It has not work out with me too much. read and enjoy. Bye




2. I graduated from Kinzie Elementary school (Chicago, IL) in 1990 and for one year/one class, I had Jeri Banks for a teacher. Sometime after graduating in 1990, Banks became the principal.

   She created an environment where deaf students and hearing students interacted with each other even to the point of having hearing students take sign language classes.

   Though I haven't read this book yet I was a part of the experience. I was intrigued to find this book!

No comments about Letters to Henrietta.

5 comments about If I Get to Five: What Children Can Teach Us About Courage and Character.

1. I read alot but I don't write that many reviews. This one has to have one. I was ok for the first one hundred pages but on page 108 something happened and I read the rest in tears. This is a great lesson for parents of sick children and parents of seemingly well children. After all we as parents are not given any promises. I checked this copy out from the library but I want my own copy to make notes in and keep on my own shelf. I plan on letting my friends and family in on this little gem.



2. Fred Epstein is some sort of folk-hero of a man: Moved by righteous anger to battle against the evil cancers that threaten the lives of innocents, he performs miracles, curing "inoperable" tumours in his bespoke Neverneverland kids hospital.
   
   Whilst parents of a sick child may find solace or interest here, this book (and I appreciate that this view will be unpopular) did nothing for me.
   
   The narrative reads across between a religio-medical manifesto and a self-help book. For every hundred words of anecdote about a child who fought cancer, there's another hundred of pop-philosophising. There are glimpses of the children's brilliance, and one can appreciate the resilience that Epstein is trying to convey, but there is just too little detail here to do more than produce a colour-wash of feeling. It is this that fails to portray the depth of the situation, as any parent could easily empathise and little more understanding is offered by this book. Rather than giving a true insight into the life of a paediatric neurosurgeon, or any more than a superficial glimpse into the lives of his patients and their parents, this comes across as a pseudo-religious pick and mix of ideas, faith and assertions set against a candy-floss coated spiel about the courage, pluck and strength of children.
   
   Whilst there are undoubtedly some amazing stories here - not least Epstein's own as he struggles to recover from a brain haemorrhage with the distant hope of operating again - they are glossed over and whilst any individual's story would be fascinating, these soundbite snippets and clichés form an insubstantial whole that fails to do justice to Epstein or his charges.
   
   Epstein is clearly writing from the heart and to not enjoy his book is not to denigrate the fantastic work he has done for these children and their parents. For parents of children facing surgery, this may be a valuable support and readers who appreciate this tale might also like Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie. For other readers interested in the processes of treatment and recovery, but not fans of the self-help platform, I recommend instead McCrum's My Year Off, Diamond's C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too and Vertosick's When the Air Hits the Brain.
   
   
   dr_sasp



3. During the summer or 2004, I was at a junction in my professional path where I found myself in desperate need of encouraging words. I went into the hospital bookstore and found this. The book is simple, the narrative is not as flamboyant as John Stone's "In the Country of Hearts", but it strikes a chord, confirming a fact that we already know to be true: children are much more capable of opening their hearts and minds than adults. To capture the stories of these patients requires a man of courage and character, and I get the feeling that it's exactly what makes Fred Epstein a very special man, and physician.
   
   On a side note, this book was instrumental in finding a neurosurgeon for my niece's classmate. I had just read the book, and gave it to my mother to read. Just two weeks after she got the book, we heard that this little girl had a tumor and had been flown to see some specialists in Miami. After communicating with that family, they were able to get a consult from Dr. Epstein, and she is now recovering, although her prognosis still remains uncertain.



4. your heart feels every emotion. You can read this book in one day you will not want to put it down. Page to page you want to know what is going to happen to Dr. Fred. Not often can learn of someones struggles, and ask the hard qusetions to yourself. The "whys" in this man's life are hard to understand. Until you know that to him living is enough. This book will make you laugh, cry, never want to give up.



5. I had to read this for a class. Thing is, I went in thinking it was too fluffy and idealistic. But for some reason I couldn't stop reading, and when I was half way through it I realized that I was actually being affected by the readings. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys inspirational stories, who are going through hard times with a medically fragile child, or who need to be reminded why they got into the health profession in the first place. He writes about many of his patients, the lessons each one taught him about life, how he deals with pain and loss, and explains medical jargon. I enjoyed this book and would gladly recommend it to anyone who asked about it.

5 comments about A Different Kind of Perfect: The Story of Parents' Choices and a Special Child's Blessings.

1. "A Different Kind of Perfect is composed in the style of
   a memoir, and as such should be very compelling to the reader. It is
   written in a heartfelt manner. Mr. Lane presents a rare and sobering
   picture of the intense struggle and pain some spouses and families
   encounter as they seek to make choices in accord with the Culture of
   Life. Additionally, the text conveys the power of conversion and
   transformation wrought through prayerful determination in union with
   the grace offered in and through the Church. It is my opinion that the
   author's overall message can make a significant contribution to the
   Pro-Life witness of the Church."



2. George Lane is an inspirational writer and "A Different Kind of Perfect" is a true love story. George "connects the dots" of life. He obviously has successfully dealt with life issues with an honest and sincere effort in doing the right thing. George and his family are to be admired and in addition, George is a credit to Red Sox Nation!
   
   
   Stanley Straube
   President
   Straube Associates
   Executive Search
   North Andover, MA



3. A Different Kind of Perfect has validated my recent conversion to accept the Anti-Abortion credo of "Life begins at conception". I am married to an Obstetrician who abstains from performing abortions in her practice, instead counseling patients that placing the baby up for adoption was a more humane option and one God's blessings would adorn. George and Thea (I feel comfortable in calling them by their first names after getting to know them so well through the book) faced a truly difficult decision. Why complicate what appeared to be a normal, active and wholesome life by having a child certain to tax their patience and resources, and ultimately their marital and family harmony.
   
   Early on, the book's agonizing account of the mental and spiritual torment confronting the couple to knowingly have a child with Down Syndrome forced me to better understand the complexity of the choice by partners I sensed were ordinary people. George writes with clarity of purpose in telling the story of Amy, revealing a passion for doing what's best for his special child and family, and displaying an unabashed fervor for his beloved Red Sox. The juxtaposition of following a Baseball World Series with the thinking behind one of life's most difficult decisions was an artful touch.
   
   I literally could not put the book down as it was important for me to know that the special blessings involved in facing a travail many couples would eschew brought such great rewards to the entire Lane clan. What a delight it would be to happen upon George, Thea and Amy one day, perhaps at a Peter, Paul & Mary concert!
   
   Of course, I'm sure Amy would be smiling and George and Thea enthralled by their little "sweetie".



4. This book is a beautiful memoir full of love and faith. George Lane's honesty is heartwarming and inspiring. The struggle that George and Thea endured in their decision making process is humbling to the reader, as are the challenges that their family has endured. But the most powerful thing about this book is that the Lanes don't dwell on the challenges, they embrace their daughter and sister and love her for all that she is.



5. What a Great book. I couldn't put it down till I finished it. It is a Great true story that is full of love and faith in God. If this book doesn't move you there is something wrong. I loved the way the author draw in the connection of baseball. What a great title for this book, it truly fits the book. You could really feel the love that George has for his wife, daughter, family and God. Boy, did George and his wife make the right decision. George Lane is a talented author, I would love to read more. I highly recomend this book and be ready to not be able to put it down.

No comments about One of a Kind, Should We Tell?.

5 comments about The Magic of the Mask.

1. Thank you "Forgettable Memoir" for helping me get past the guilt and understand why I felt so put off by this vampirically egotistical book! "Ordinary" as well as humility is key here-that of which is what drew me into Central Park Jogger: Patricia Meili never toots her own horn, despite significant and exceptional achievements in her professional life; yet Ashby open up with "I have an attractively symmetrical face."!!
   This emotional mastrubation is all about using technology to refuse to grow past her own superficial self-involved and honestly unpromising "career" when the accident would otherwise force her to be more than a mask. It's about suing for millions to badger and even emotionally blackmail doctors-despite all odds and realities-to build another mask. Hence her refusal to learn to do anything other than act to support herself. THIS is NOT growth-(evident in even her fathers pulling away when he can't fulfill her endless and insatiable needs for validation and "look at me look at me" attention-well many believe this egotism is why people get into acting anyway. As well as his clear discomfort & irritation w/her prompts to make him talk even more about HER for her book!) If trials, shock and disappointments catch us off balance to show us who we really are-then her essence and potential prove small and stunted indeed.
   I suppose I shouldn't even dignify discussing the dustjacket! I don't mean to be cruel. But if I didn't know her mother had died, (Even when she talks about this-it's about her mother not giving HER enough attention and support!) I would wonder if said mother had written the blurb. I'd never heard of Louise Ashby (and I'm an anglophile!) "One of the most beautiful women"? In drama that's an impossible order! Even someone like Angelina Jolie who defies all anatomical odds and looks like a CGI fantasy, can joke about being a funny "moppet"! Again Ashby looks fairly "ordinary" (a word for her which is like water to the wicked witch!) before and after the accident. An ordinarily healthy girl on the street you wouldn't pick out of the crowd or remember. Something which in a memoir of this nature should be an EXTRAORDINARY asset not anathema. Hey Louise: Humility is what makes you strong, exceptional, and for the superficial like you, beautiful!



2. Thank you "Forgettable Memoir" for helping me get past the guilt and understand why I felt so put off by this vampirically egotistical book! "Ordinary" as well as humility is key here-that of which is what drew me into Central Park Jogger: Patricia Meili never toots her own horn, despite significant and exceptional achievements in her professional life; yet Ashby open up with "I have an attractively symmetrical face."!!
   This emotional mastrubation is all about using technology to refuse to grow past her own superficial self-involved and honestly unpromising "career" when the accident would otherwise force her to be more than a mask. It's about suing for millions to badger and even emotionally blackmail doctors-despite all odds and realities-to build another mask. Hence her refusal to learn to do anything other than act to support herself. THIS is NOT growth-(evident in even her fathers pulling away when he can't fulfill her endless and insatiable needs for validation and "look at me look at me" attention-well many believe this egotism is why people get into acting anyway. As well as his clear discomfort & irritation w/her prompts to make him talk even more about HER for her book!) If trials, shock and disappointments catch us off balance to show us who we really are-then her essence and potential prove small and stunted indeed.
   I suppose I shouldn't even dignify discussing the dustjacket! I don't mean to be cruel. But if I didn't know her mother had died, (Even when she talks about this-it's about her mother not giving HER enough attention and support!) I would wonder if said mother had written the blurb. I'd never heard of Louise Ashby (and I'm an anglophile!) "One of the most beautiful women"? In drama that's an impossible order! Even someone like Angelina Jolie who defies all anatomical odds and looks like a CGI fantasy, can joke about being a funny "moppet"! Again Ashby looks fairly "ordinary" (a word for her which is like water to the wicked witch!) before and after the accident. An ordinarily healthy girl on the street you wouldn't pick out of the crowd or remember. Something which in a memoir of this nature should be an EXTRAORDINARY asset not anathema. Hey Louise: Humility is what makes you strong, exceptional, and for the superficial like you, beautiful!



3. After reading one of the reviews on amazon which seemed a personal attack on the author as opposed to simply critiquing the book, my interest was piqued. I found it to be a very encouraging book and was pleased to have bought it. I was initially buying the Michael J Fox memoir which was linked to this. I think Louise is couragous and the book was very well written. To me this book was about making others realize the possibities we can over come when having a positive attitude. This book isn't about her mother or her father as the past review led me to believe, it is about so much more so if you want something uplifting this is a must-read.



4. After checking this book out at the library (thankfully I didn't waste my money on it) I read...and read...and read. Is it only me, or could I just not feel any sympathy for this woman? What pure fluff (I never made it through the entire book)! While her tragedy is one nobody would ever want to experience, it doesn't seemed to have changed her; all that remains is a rather large ego, and shallowness.

   One reviewer mentioned the book 'I Am the Central Park Jogger'. Now there's a woman who the reader comes away respecting and loving!!!




5. I'm so saddened that people would write such reviews.
   I read Louise' book and i doubt that any of the other reviewers actually have suffered from a trauma as extensive as Louise's- because if they had of they'd of been able to relate better and appreciate this book for what it truely is.. a gift.
   I was shopping in a supermarket a few weeks ago and i saw Louise. Feeling a bit embarassed i watched her from a distance. I watched a women run over to Louise- moving closer i heard what was going on. The women visably had had a major accident - her face arm and legs showed extensive scaring. The women's family where standing around her as she hugged Louise and she said "I read you book, thank you. It made such a difference to my recovery, someone else had been through it and survived, your feelings, the detail - it helped all of us" The women was crying as was Louise. I am sure that Louise is someone you could hate, she has worked so darn hard to get a life together, shes a survivor and people find that threatening. What courage it must of taken to exercise the demons out in this book - she turned what was a tragic accident in to an honest working tool to help others.. i wonder if any of the other reviews have had the courage to do something like that in their own lives? One thing is for sure thou, Louise's story is a hard one. Read the book if you need to know that someone else out there is suffering, someone else out there cares. Louise's life isnt a bed of roses, i doubt that it has all turned out perfect- on going surgery will be required, extensive trauma therapy, she'll never be a big actress, her dream wont come true. She will struggle all her life as a result of this accident. Hear her voice, read her story and remember that it takes Louise's kind of honestly and courage to survive sometimes.

5 comments about On Pilgrimage.

1. Just finished the book and found it very poetic in some parts and kind of confusing in others. There were two errors that I found, and maybe it is nit-picking, but it made me wonder about other information that was given. First, Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitaine in the cathedral at Poitiers, not in Lisieux, and Abelard is buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetary in Paris with Heloise, not in Cluny. Well worth reading, tho, especially if you've been to some of the places mentioned, or plan to visit others. I found it fascinating that she most always found a room wherever she stopped whatever the time. Obviously she spoke French well.



2. Jennifer Lash, who appears to be the mother of the actors Ralph and Joseph Fiennes, made a solo trip of pilgrimage through France in l993 after winning a battle with cancer (for awhile). As a non-practising Catholic in late middle age, she knew her theological territory when traveling from convent to monastery to basilica to pilgrimage camp; but she approached her visits in a determined spirit of not-knowing. I found that intellectually or maybe morally refreshing; it served as a Carlos-Castaneda-like bridge role which helped me, the reader, someone else who does "not know". Her experience of moving on repeatedly reminded her that travel brings us back up against our selves. She feels strongly and works transparently to understand her feelings; the sorting-out process which the pilgrimage crystallizes for this writer can illuminate whatever journey her reader is on.
   
   Her writing is both erudite and humble. She was a sophisticated Briton who had spent much of her life raising her very large family. From miracle site to miracle site on the French trains, carrying her baggage on an injured back, she tells us the stories of the saints whose cults have given rise to these sites, and describes the religious communities which maintain them. In between, she tells us about the people she meets and re-meets. She is often wry, but never sarcastic; describes ridiculousness sharply but never cruelly. She learns as she goes, and as she learns she teaches, in the kindest way. She is a LADY - decent and sincere, and also funny and engaged.
   Her descriptions make the feel of each place most vivid - the baroque, fully alive Santiago de Compostela, the gloomy, cold Rocamadour, the wild emotional Gypsy pilgrimage in the Camargue are all made quite visible, audible, smellable, each entirely different from the others - and there are about fifteen of these places in the book.
   The book is horribly proofread - the commas are in the wrong places, so that Ms. Lash reads like a rather bizarre speaker - a peculiar pauser for breath in funny places. There are outright mistakes that no one caught - the word "paramount" is confused with "tantamount", for example, and a priest is described as wearing a "scapula", the shoulder blade, when she meant "scapular", a liturgical garment. We know what she means, but we have to wade along doing our own corrections.
   This strange aberration makes reading the book feel like chatting with a deeply imaginative, thoughtful, unselfconsciously wacky human being, rather than "a writer". But what a writer, and what a significant story this journey is when told in her voice.



3. It was too wordy and because I don't know much about the Catholic Saints it was very confusing. This was not fun or enjoyable to read. It was more like an assignment than for pleasure, which is why I didn't bother finishing it. There are too many other good books out there to read than to waste my time finishing this one. My book club read this and all of us found it very blah. If you do decide to read it I hope you find it as interesting as the other reviewers did -- but notice that they even found a lot of problems with the prose and editing.



4. My motivation for reading this book was to gain insight into the astounding acting talent and integrity of one of Jennifer Lash's sons, Joseph Fiennes.She was the formative influence in his life and I was curious as to what is was about her that could produce such results.
   She took her pilgrimage as a result of having survived cancer and now questioned some of the beliefs on which she had heretofore based her life, namely her Catholic faith. Non catholics may have a difficult time understanding the significance of the holy sites that she visits on her pilgrimage. However, this is not a syrupy, God is Love kind of tome. She does not necessarily believe in God and is objective about the arcane practises that have grown up around these "holy" places. Women, particularly, will identify with her need to go off on a solo journey at midlife. They also will understand that as she attempts to find answers she only comes up with more questions.



5. ...so comforting. Her tone is so easy to relate with, her writing is prosaic and full of feeling, totally uncontrived. She goes to all these Catholic shrines seeking something she's not quite sure of and in the end we're fairly sure she has found an elusive truce with her God. The characters we meet on the journey range from heartwarming to simply disgusting (like [...]priest and the freak on the train to Spain (just read the book). This book made me very glad to be a Jew. We don't have to traipse all over the globe seeking out Marian apparitions or mythical magical global Christian Hot Spots, all we need is Israel. Anyway, my favorite piece is where she's feeling disconsolate and alone in a café and suddenly she sees an apparition of her husband walk in and she's flooded with peace.
   Here's hoping we get a re-release of Jini's older work an perhaps a new edition of On Pilgrimage with proper copyediting.