5 comments about Dreams Of Trespass: Tales Of A Harem Girlhood.

1. I found this book to be entertaining, educational, inspirational and thought provoking all at once. I personally and Americans in general are largely confused and misinformed about the concept of the harem and how the women in them lived; and it is no wonder or surprise that we are! It seems that even within the high walls and locked gates of the harem the residents cannot agree on the subject! What is a harem? Is it a den of iniquity? A commune? A brothel? A prison? An extended family? A refuge?
   
   Told from the perspective of a 6-9 year old girl growing up in a domestic harem in Morocco in the late 1940s, this book has a freshness and naiveté that only a child can muster as she ponders her place in her home, society, and the world at large.
   
   Her observations of the world around her are uncensored, and guide the reader to a greater understanding not only of other cultures and other women, but of our relationships and ourselves. Only a child has the innocent courage to stand up and say, "The Emperor has no clothes!"
   
   As I learned about another world, I began also to draw parallels to may own life and current times. Changing laws does not grant freedom to individuals. Here in America we have all the freedoms that these women were deprived of and fought for, and yet in many cases we remain trapped- prisoners of our fears, our habits, our insecurities, and our weaknesses.
   
   In this book I found lots of hope and inspiration, reminding me of many ways to experience freedom inwardly- without the necessity of changing outward circumstances.
   © 2006 Shahina



2. The book was great and interesting. Amazon sent it very quick.



3. I couldn't help but fall asleep whilst reading this book. I only was able to go through about a little over a half, mostly because I was required to read it. Generally, the book is about a middle eastern girl living in a Harem and surrounded by the conflicting Western Power, the French Army. Lots of battles with tradition and western cultures, and primarily about the rift between men and women. So you're in for a subtle yet quite obvious gender conflict, which was in my opinion awfully sexist (I know it's from the view of a woman but that doesn't take away from the fact that she explicitly tries to write as if she were a child again with "innocence" yet fails because of her mature agenda). The author, Mernissi, spends about 10-15 pages per chapter driveling on about the most useless facts or coincidences. Just when you think she's reaching her point and finally bear fruit, it's the start of a new chapter and another take on a topic or segment of her life that is completely irrelevant.



4. I read this after returning from Morocco. The insight into what life used to be like for most women enriched my understanding of the culture which I found fascinating. I'd spoken with several women while in the country who are "liberated" but heard none of the story of the lives of women who adhere to the old traditions. I saw many others who still live behind closed walls. This is the story of the latter group's growing up years that I couldn't have gotten otherwise.



5. Ms. Mernissi states that "The frontier is in the mind of the powerful", and that "...looking for the frontier has become my life's occupation. Anxiety eats at me whenever I cannot situate the geometric line organizing my powerlessness." This book is a very moving first-hand account of the secluded life of a young girl, born into a prosperous family in Fez in the 1940s. She is confined in a harem, which in this case consists of the women and children of an extended family, imprisoned behind walls and a guarded gate for their own protection in an occupied city. "When Allah created the earth, said Father, he separated men from women, and put a sea between Muslims and Christians for a reason. Harmony exists when each group respects the prescribed limits of the other. Trespassing leads only to sorrow and unhappiness. But women dreamed of trespassing all the time. The world beyond the gate was their obsession."
   
   Throughout the book she illustrates the ongoing attempts of her mother and grandmother to discover the outside world, establish their individual identity, and exercise some tiny bit of control over their own lives. Her mother listens to radio Cairo when the men are out of the house, and despite her mother-in-law's disapproval, embroiders birds on her clothes instead of traditional patterns. Although her mother is barred from attending literacy classes by a vote of the leading men of the family, Fatima and her cousins are allowed to attend public school when the country's religious leaders vote to support women's education and schools are opened to female students. Suddenly the outside world is open to her, but she still feels powerless. Her Aunt Habiba provides liberating advice: "It is not enough to reject this courtyard - you need to have a vision of the meadows with which you want to replace it." Fatima must now discover her unique, personal dream, the vision that would give her direction and light. This is a radical change: she is not just a daughter and future wife and mother, she is also an individual with unique and valuable gifts to share with the world.

5 comments about The Dance of the Dissident Daughter: A Woman's Journey from Christian Tradition to the Sacred Feminine (Plus).

1. Finally, a book about the female goddess written by a woman with great knowledge and wisdom AND amazing research. The research allows us to believe that we are NOT being duped by a woman...like we've been duped by all the men.
   
   This is an excellent book with such profound insight into a woman's soul. Every woman should read this. Sue should write another book filled with even more research!!!



2. Sue Monk Kidd expertly and openly shares her most intimate experience in finding the Divine in this well written and referenced personal account.



3. Sue Monk Kidd's journey resonates for me as I have long struggled with the way we tend to ignore or excuse the masculine priority that surrounds women's lives. Ms. Monk explores and ennunciates the "stacked deck" of everything from language and religion to the ingrained assumptions of women's secondary status in the world. True the balance has shifted somewhat, but as long as there are places where men have a "right" to beat their wives, where it is against the law for women to be educated, where it's a BIG DEAL to have a woman run for president, where we criticize a woman for being today's connotation of the word FEMINIST for speaking simple truths; we have a problem. Not one to be trivialized or ignored. Can you imagine the hue and cry that would erupt were we to refer to all humanity as "whitekind"? Ms. Monk is shining a light on the endemic prejudice women live with every day of their lives by sharing her journey, her questions, her fears, and confusion with us. I am grateful to her. I don't feel so alone.



4. Sue Monk Kidd captures the reader with her openness about how she became a feminist, almost by accident. This is a very personal account describing her experience of moving from accepted Christianity to feminism. I found the story fascinating and finished it in only 3 days. For the most part, the author simply told her story and how she interpreted the events she faced along the way. However, at various places in the book she began to generalize her experiences to all women, which made me agree with the reviewer who said her journey is not my journey.
   
   What I found a bit disconcerting is that the author states that she made a living as a writer for Christian and inspirational magazines and yet on page 83 says that she suddenly realized that the Bible focuses primarily on masculine rather than feminine attributes of God. Actually, the primary message throughout the Bible is that the God who created the universe wants to have a personal relationship with his creatures, both female and male, and how that is achieved. Even the author would classify relationships as a domain which is more in the feminine rather than mascuine realm. Likewise, the majority of the 10 Commandments deal with relationships and in Matthew 22:36-39 Jesus said the 2 most important commands were loving God and loving your neighbor. I don't see how anyone can miss these more feminine qualities of God.
   
   Maybe the fact that America is a much more egalitarian society than when the book was written in 1996, and maybe some of the recent books that I've read, like The Female Brain, which highlights some of the hormonal and internal changes that women undergo explain why I disagree with the author and don't view the elements of patriarchy in society as something that needs to be attacked. Also, Kidd identifies many identity issues as struggles for girls and women, which I believe are universal struggles regardless of one's gender.
   
   However, even with these complaints I believe the book is important to read if one wants to understand and interact knowledgably with a feminist.



5. I have read many of the reviews of this book, and I noticed the variety of opinions Dance of the Dissident Daughter has inspired.
   
   Each of us has an opinion of this story based on our personal experiences, and my spiritual experience is quite similar to Kidd's.
   
   I can relate to the phases she had to go through in order to find peace with her path; I honor and respect her journey.
   
   Read this book with an open heart. I did not believe that she was bashing men or Christianity; she had to set the programming of the church aside and find her own truth. This is what she inspires all women to do for themselves.
   
   We all search for our individual spirituality...our meaning...and I feel that this book gives a beautiful example of one woman's search for her truth.
   
   May you find yours as well.

5 comments about My Dearest Friend: Letters of Abigail and John Adams.

1. If you are a history buff or just a little interested in the history of our nation you will love this book. The letters exchanged between John and Abigail Adams are wonderful. Abigail was definitely John's rock. She kept him focused and steady. John was a very passionate man in his beliefs and at times would become a tyrant trying to convince people that his way of thnking was the only way to think. Thank goodness he had Abigail as he ran everything by her to see how she thought the people would react to his perception. Abigail would let him know when he needed to press an issue or just be quiet and let it happen on its own. Besides being lovers as husband and wife they were truly best friends. An inspirational read.



2. I must shamefully admit that prior to the renewed interest in John Adams with the recent miniseries, I really had only a general knowledge of his role and importance in the founding of our country. This book gives a private, personal and wonderful view of the strength,deep,abiding love of this first family. I could not put it down & would highly recommend it to anyone.



3. A beautiful book as I was sure it would be. Now in the possession of another John Adams admirer who happens to be a resident of Cornwall, England.



4. A collection of authentic letters between a man and his wife documenting the actual events as they occur from their first meeting, the beginning of the revolutionary war, the first meeting of Congress to negotiaing a system of government through freedom of our liberties through the written and signed Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. Although early years were spent much apart, this extraordinary couple persevered a deep love, an emotional partnership and friendship while enduring personal tragedies of early Colonial life in the 1700's. These letters are Historical Documents. This was the life of Abigail and John Adams. A story that aided this reader in understanding a period of History so unassuming, so important in acknowledging the birth of our nation.



5. I am very pleased with the quality of this book. I watched the John Adams series on HBO and this makes a nice companion piece to that miniseries.

5 comments about I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie.

1. Okay, so I'm a late bloomer! I wanted to read this book *years* ago, but never got the chance. Now I'm older and couldn't get backstage if I wanted to- so I can't exactly use the book for 'helpful tips and hints' as I would have as a teenager. *smirk*
   
   Anyway, it's a great read and very tasteful. If there are any nay sayers about that, they need to stop and think about what the subject matter is about. Considering what Ms. Des Barres is writing about I think she did so very eloquently.
   
   After all, how tactfully *can* you write about Mick Jagger's testicles?



2. I was disappointed with this book by Pamela Des Barres. It was predictable and quite boring. I managed halfway through the novel already and have lost interest.
   Even though she was able to meet many famous musicians throughout her life, you already knew she would use sex to get attention from them and then they would just move on to the next groupie. Nothing new.



3. I got this book for Christmas from my mother, who knows that I have a great love for classic rock and roll. I couldn't wait to read it, and it did not disappoint in the least. This book wasn't a tell all, but a look into what it was like to be part of the "scene".
   There were parts I would have liked to have heard a little more about...she seems to skim over being on the road with a simple, "I spent the next five days on the road with Zeppelin." Kind of would liked to have heard a little more about that. But the stories that she does share are amazing.
   She gives us great insight into some of the most amazing artists of our time. This is a must read for anyone with a love of rock and roll and the 60's. I can't wait to read her other books.



4. Reading this book reminded me of that enervating feeling I once felt, circa 1979 or so, during a midnight viewing of Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same." It was a flash of horror in which my excitement over the rock n' roll life (I was in a band at that time, my head filled with ambitions and pretensions) gave way to a feeling of aimlessness: What is with all this cheesy medeival imagery? How come these guys don't look cool, but just scrawny and strung-out? Do I really need to hear an eight-minute drum solo? What the hell have I been doing wasting my time with all this?
   
   Des Barres' book left me with a similar feeling of the blahs: some books make it seem like there was more to the 1960s-70s rock culture than previously realized. This book makes one feel like there was a lot less.
   
   I picked up the book hoping that it would bring the sights, sounds, and philosophy of a unique time back to life. It didn't. Despite having had dalliances with titanic figures ranging from Mick Jagger to Jimmy Page to Gram Parsons to Don Johnson, the author conveys very little of their artistry. In fact, she rarely tries to discuss or describe their music at all: passages on what makes a Mick Jagger or a Jim Morrison sexy sound as though they could have been written about any high school bad boy, musician or no.
   
   And indeed, that adolescent attitude pervades this book. The book begins with the author entering a boy-crazy period in high school, and is related largely through excerpts from her diary, replete with CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation marks(!!!!!!) about how COOL this guy is and how WHEN HE KISSED ME I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO FAINT!! Blecch. Most of the remainder of the book has a similar tone, merely transplanted to a larger stage.
   
   The effect is more trivializing than anything else. I had hoped this book would reveal something about this woman and her ability to connect with these creative figures. Instead, this book made it sound like her life was nothing more than a series of hedonistic distractions, draped over a nothingness. The book makes the reader feel not as though her generation was liberated from the hidebound ways of the previous ones, having moved on to higher, more exciting pleasures, but rather that no more original ideas existed in her life or in her head than finding the next naughty guy to sleep with.
   
   That's perhaps a bit harsh: she does deliver a couple of winning passages in the book, one on the excitement of a Led Zeppelin performance, another on her less-than-stellar acting debut. She also managed to convince me that she had an aesthetic value or two, specifically in advocating for the Burrito Brothers' injection of folk/country influences into the psychadelic scene.
   
   But the lingering images of the book are the downers: the poor three-year-old son of irresponsible substance-abusing-party-addicts who let him plummet to his death through a skylight -- barely interrupting their partying lifestyle for a few months. The look of scorn and contempt on John Lennon's face, when witnessing the author's pathetic attempts to put meaning in her life by flinging herself at the band. I didn't find myself judging the author so much as feeling badly for her. Well, I *did* judge her writing, I suppose, and not favorably.
   
   It's not a terrible book; it's too light a read to be that. But if you are looking for a book to make you feel that the 1960s were a time fraught with meaning and revolutionary philosophy, you'd be well advised to avoid this one.



5. I last read this almost if not 20 years ago so I would be hard pressed to recall specific details. I need a new copy!
   
   A truly wild and fascinating adventure about something I can never get enough of hearing about: dirty sex with rock legends!? Amazing. She was so lucky to be around and in the scene when the music and culture was so pure and incredible. I always thought I was born too late, missing out on the good years.
   
   Pamela's got a great sense of humaor and she's a true music fanatic. I also think it's a great testimonial to women taking control of their own lives and desires. Why shouldn't she have been seeking out her idols? Look who they were, why not!? Good for her.
   
   Very recommended, total fun.

5 comments about Life and Death in Shanghai.

1. A true life personal account of the experiences suffered by Nieng Cheng, during the horrors of the Cultural Revolution in Communist China in the 1960s.
   It gives us some scope on the total madness and cruel destruction of the Maoist regime which was responsible in 27 years for the death of over 50 million people and the destruction of countless lives.
   
   The type of speech railing against "reactionaries", "counter-revolutionaries" and "running dogs of imperialism" is chillingly close to the rhetoric still used today left wing regimes today, and on left wing university campuses around the world.
   The same mass hysterical hate rampages described during the Cultural Revolution remind me of the hysterical "anti-war" rallies (in truth pro-Saddam Hussein rallies) that gripped world when the USA liberated Iraq from Saddam Hussein in 2003.
   
   Nien Cheng was a cultured and educated lady who had worked in Shell's international offices in shanghai after the death of her husband from cancer in 1957.
   In 1966 the Maoist Red Guards who held China in their grip of terror, swept into her house and destroyed all she had, before she was thrown into a Chinese prison, tortured and beaten and starved for six and a half years, by the Maoist authorities who tried to force her to confess to being 'an imperialist spy'.
   She refused to relent and maintained her innocence until her release in 1973, and her rehabilitation in 1976.
   When she was released from prison she discovered that her daughter had been beaten to death by Revolutionary Guards.
   Ultimately her struggle to survive allowed her to alert the world to the horrors of Communist China, through this true life classic, "Life and Death in Shanghai", a must for anybody who is interested in human rights or in the indestructibility of the human spirit.
   Millions of innocent people were forced into "cowsheds"- gulags where they would be dehumanized and often die, by the hands of the Chinese Communists.
   Note both the destruction of human life and of China's ancient culture, where all that was good and beautiful was destroyed in a campaign to correct the "four olds"- old culture, old customs, old habits and old ways of thinking.
   Today despite the economic liberalization that has taken place, Red China still remains one of the greatest tyrannies on earth, with no sign of political liberalization, and in which thousands of political and religious dissidents still languish and die in laogai prisons, where today there organs are harvested in a sick and evil industry directed by the Chinese Communist Party.



2. Nien Cheng's admirable book, with its lucid and objective account of her dreadful ordeal during the Cultural Revolution, deserves to be widely read. This brutal and destructive period of Chinese history began more than forty years ago, but many of its tormenters and their victims are still alive; people like the "militant female guard," who makes Cheng's life so miserable, must be senior citizens today, watching, or even participating in, the victory of the "capitalist-roaders." Other readers have already bestowed every form of praise on "Life and Death in Shanghai," so I'll merely offer this additional insight. To more fully understand the scope of the Cultural Revolution, I think it's useful to read other accounts of it as well. Cheng's account is from the perspective of a well-born, highly educated, affluent woman, one who chose, with her husband, to return to Shanghai in 1949 because they felt that the Communists had the capacity to reform and restructure Chinese society. In short, they were patriots. An interesting and very different perspective is presented in Anchee Min's "Red Azalea," as it is the account of a young woman whose family has little money and no connections. As a result, she is buffeted by forces she often cannot control, and she grasps at opportunities for release from the collective farm and for an education as if she were being swept down a powerful river, occasionally grasping at a branch that pulls her out of the current. Then there is Jung Chang's "Wild Swans," which is quite different. To my mind, the most interesting story in her memoir is that of her parents, true believers in the communist revolution. Their gradual fall and bitter disillusionment is the central story of "Wild Swans." Read "Life and Death in Shanghai," then read the others, and you'll gain a complex and complicated picture of life during the Cultural Revolution.



3. This book is a good Focused Look at Detainment in Cultural Revolution. Most of the book is told while she is in a detainment camp (not prison, she never actually was sentenced to anything). Basically, all her problems were owing to the leftists in the communist party lead by Jiang Qin and the gang of four, who wanted to elicit a confession from her that she was a spy, which in turn would have to the downfall of several of their political opponents (zhou enlai if i am not mistaken). I most admire her persistence in never admitting fault even after 6 years and some mild torture. It reminds me a lot of Joseph Smith who persisted in claiming that he had spoken with God in person, even when many many people called him a liar or a false prophet. I have always admired those who are true to themselves and don't give into the social pressure to change just because they face persecution.



4. Nien Chang's account of her encounter with the Cultural Revolution is the best book of this kind that I recall. Many others have written about their experiences, some in memoir form, others in fictionalized form. NC's is the most accessible to the Western reader, she can relate to our expectations better than some of the others, and she writes more specifically for a Western audience. Her personal background made that easier for her than for many others, she had this working history with a large foreign corporation (no product placements in my reviews!).
   The sad fact is that the subject interests non-Chinese or 'Overseas Chinese' substantially more than the population of the People's Republic. Books like NC's are often talked down because they are successfull in the West. That fact seems to be a negative mark. This applies also to Jun Chang's Wild Swans, while her later bio of the great helmsman is taboo.
   The desire to forget about the past is so overwhelming, that many shut their eyes and minds to the recent past. (Actually not that recent any more.) With this strong wish to close the chapter, and in a situation of overwhelming success and progress for the country as a whole, the ruling elites find it very easy to put the Cultural Revolution into a kind of frozen state of taboo: it is not denied, but it is not visited with the purpose of understanding and digesting it. The man who provoked it is sacrosanct, he can not be touched by criticism. The negative things are assigned to others, like the Gang of Four.
   (Who was it who wrote here recently that history does not change?)



5. Nein Cheng lived a comfortable middle class existance...in Shanghai during the height of the Cultural Revolution. Big mistake. Her comfortable lifestyle and connections to the West (via Shell Oil, her former employer) make her a target of the Red Brigade. Imagine if you will, waking up one morning to find a bunch of politically jacked up teenagers suddenly given the freedom to ransack your home, determine whether or not you are a danger to society, and beat you, arrest you, humiliate you and arrest you. Ms. Cheng is imprisoned and everything she has is taken away...rare works of art, priceless porcelains. This irreplacable beauty is, for the most part, destroyed by the loutish thugs -- the 14 and 15 year olds who ran amok, brandishing their political clout -- who made up the bulk of the Mao Cult that was the Red Brigade. Cheng is arrested and sent to a hellacious prison. Beaten, starved, subjected to brutal interrogation, Chen is indomitable. She does not confess, she does not kowtow, she sticks to her guns and even dares to lecture her captors and, in the process, drive them crazy. She lives this nightmare year after year, never budging from her declaration of innocence, never seeing or hearing from her beloved daughter. But no matter what they do to her, Cheng does not give in. Give in? She doesn't give an inch. We learn, though her, fascinating lessons in the political subtlties that fomented chaos and laws during this period. Through hints and reading between the lines of the official propoganda that the prisoners were forced to listen to, she pieces together much of the political climate and events. Her tenacity, stubborn contrariness and refusal to make any concessions to her captors is inspirational, astounding and, frankly, almost unbelievable. Even when the political climate changes and she is given her release, she insists that the prison "confess" its error. This is not a lady to trifle with. Upon her release, she immediately begins to search for her daughter, and for the restoration of whatever of her property has survived the Red Guard. The second half of the book -- Ms. Cheng's "rehabilitation" is as compelling as the first part. It's a book that is impossible to put down and certainly the best of a spate of first-hand accounts of this horrible "Through the Looking Glass" period of China's history. Nien Cheng is one hell of a tough lady, her book is moving, thought-provoking and compelling.

1 comments about The Duchess.

1. "The Duchess" is the movie tie in version of Amanda Foreman's excellent 1998 biography "Georgiana". Except for the cover depicting Keira Knightley as Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, it is essentially the same book.
   
   Georgiana Spencer Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, was born in the eighteenth century and died in the early nineteenth century, but her life was very modern in many ways. She was an open activist at a time when women were supposed to stay behind the scenes, a bold and flamboyant hostess who used her social prestige to advance her political agenda, and a beautiful but ultimately self-destructive woman whose emotions helped shape British history.
   
   Georgiana was born into one wealthy and powerful aristocratic family and married into an even wealthier and more powerful one. The Cavendishes were bastions of the Whig oligarchy, which governed Britain almost continuously through the eighteenth century until the 1760s, when King George III forced them out of power. In opposition the Whigs became the progressives or liberals of the day, calling for curbs on the King's powers, protection for the liberties of the people, and for progress and social reform (with the ultimate aim of regaining power for themselves, of course). Georgiana was married to the Duke of Devonshire, who was retiring where she was outgoing, far more interested in living a quiet life with various mistresses than in helping to advance the Whig cause. Georgiana, frustrated with a husband who did not appreciate her, threw herself into politics, becoming a friend of Whig leaders like Charles James Fox and campaigning openly for him and others.
   
   Georgiana's private life was complicated. She and her husband were involved in a years long menage a trois with Lady Elizabeth Foster, who was simultaneously Georgiana's best friend and the Duke's mistress and mother of his illegitimate children. Georgiana was addicted to gambling and lost enormous sums which she feared to reveal to the Duke. Eventually Georgiana herself had a love affair which nearly caused her marriage to end and forced her temporarily out of sight. Although she returned to political life after some years, her health broke down and her influence remained diminished.
   
   Amanda Foreman has produced a work of great scholarship which reads like a novel. Georgiana's life is so fascinating that I've read this biography several times just to see what she would get up to next and how she would get out of one scrape after another. Foreman makes the good point that Georgiana epitomized many women of the eighteenth century, who were far more active and involved in politics than is generally supposed, as well as being a harbinger of the kind of power base to which women in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries still aspire.

5 comments about The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life.

1. Laurie Notaro is the Queen of Toilet Humor. She makes "doody" fun! In The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club, the chapters entitled "Suckers" and "The Useless black Bra and the Stinkin' Drunk Twelve-Step Program" make me laugh out loud every time I read them. As soon as I read this book, I recognized Laurie Notaro as a kindred spirit and I wanted to be her friend.



2. This author tries WAY TO HARD to be funny! I did not laugh out loud once. I guess I was too busy rolling my eyes! Not impressed.



3. Laurie Notaro has become my favorite author. She talks about her life with such honesty and humor. Sometimes you laugh and sometimes you shake your head thinking "been there, done that". I would love to have coffee with her sometime and just chat!! A must read.



4. "I don't pay attention to funny noises [on my car]. I just turn the radio up louder and pretend it's someone else's car."
   
   Laurie Notaro's first book of her collected adventures (dating, jury duty, living in an apartment, parents on the internet, dealing with the exterminator, grandparents on exercise equipment) that are all too familiar, but told in such hilarious hyperbole and witty style that I was chuckling to myself all day at the beach. This is chick lit for girls with tattoos. Wonderful, though not as strong as her later works. Grade: A.



5. I'm a fan of Notaro's memoirs, and my favorite is her chapter on bathroom etiquette for the workplace. :)
   
   Enough said.

5 comments about The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life through the Pages of a Lost Journal.

1. I absolutely adored The Red Leather Diary!! Lily Koppel takes you with her right into the dumpster where she finds the steamer trunks with the flapper dresses, coats, telegrams and photos that surround a small red leather diary from the 1930s.
   
   You then follow along on the journey of the young Florence as if you are her favorite pair of glasses that she would never be without as her deepest thoughts and desires are revealed day in and day out for 5 years.
   
   Lily's style transcends the written word in a picturesque way that aid as you visualize Florence's journey through the streets of an exciting NYC. And I LOVED the addition of photos throughout the book, which continually validate Lily's words.
   
   What a dream to have been Lily -- finding all these items AND finding a teenage Florence as a 90 year-old woman. This is the stuff of the best films come true to life. I hope they make a film together. It would be exquisite; I have no doubt.
   
   Pick this up to journey back to a seemingly simpler way of life. And pick up your own diary and start recording your own thoughts and desires!!
   
   BRAVO Lily and Florence!!!! Being the curious snoop that I am, I would LOVE to see the full manuscript of the diary exactly as Florence wrote it. Now That would be a fun and different way to read a book!!



2. The writing in this book is uneven and some of it made me question whether Ms. Koppel has an actual writing job at the Times. However, combining Florence's diary and interviews, with research on NYC of the 1930s wasn't easy, and was sometimes awkward. I'm just glad Ms. Koppel chose the non-fiction route and didn't try to turn this into a novel. That would have been painful.
   
   Some reviewers here suggest Florence could have written a better book, but she didn't, and at 92, wasn't about to.
   
   I really enjoyed reading about a Jewish, 1930s life in NYC that wasn't about the experiences of a poor immigrant. Refreshing. I enjoyed all the NYC details. A delightful summer read, overall.



3. I expected this book to be diary excerpts but never expected to read about a lifestyle in the 30's that is more open today. I was very surprised. I wouldn't pay full price for this book, wait for it to go on sale or go to the library.



4. As a teenager (1929 - 1934), Florence Wolfson kept a diary. She began writing (4) lines a day on her fourteenth birthday, and for (5) years she did not miss a single day. For more than a century, the red leather diary sat in a trunk, its worn cover crumbling. The diary was rescued from a dumpster on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, by a young writer, Lily Koppel from the NY Times. The discarded diary brings to life the glamorous, forgotten world of an extraordinary young woman of privilege. A woman of tremendous energy, imagination and intelligence. She was sexually adventurous, loving both men and women.
   
   The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal was structured with the introduction and ending written in the author's voice, where she explains finding the diary and then the writer, Florence Wolfson, in 2006. Florence Wolfson is still living and is now 93 years old. The middle section is meat of the book which contains the entries in italics, and also background and photos of Florence and friends.
   
   I loved the first half of the book, however, I soon found I could no longer relate to the life of Florence, and the book lost it's punch with me.



5. I really enjoyed reading this book. This is the true story of the discovery of a long-forgotten diary. The diary of Florence Wolfson lay undiscovered for over half a century until the author, Lily Koppel, finds it in a dumpster. Koppel is a writer for the New York Times and was naturally curious about the content of the diary. She searched for the diary's author, and 90 year-old Florence told her all about her life in 1920s and 1930s New York. Florence as a teenager had been full of energy and had a zest for life and the arts. Her story is an amazing one. Lily Koppel brings the pages of the diary to life brilliantly.

5 comments about Couldn't Keep It to Myself: Wally Lamb and the Women of York Correctional Institution (Testimonies from our Imprisoned Sisters).

1. I was completely captivated by this book. As you read, you feel so many emotions and become absorbed by each inmate's story and experiences. Most of all, I loved the books humanistic perspective. The stories allow you to see these women for more than just crimes they committed. They are woman, mothers, and sisters who were shaped by abusive childhoods/relationships, drug/alcohol addiction, poverty, racism, self esteem issues, pain, etc. I loved the photographs that were in the book of each inmate. Most were baby pictures, so you get to see them in their innocence, before society and societal pressures took hold of their lives. I felt a deep connection to this book and highly recommend it to others.



2. I purchased this book on a whim and after reading the reviews of others, and after reading it I would recommend the book as well.
   
   This is a compilation of a number of different stories written by women at the York Correctional Institution (and one teacher). What I found most interesting was what each woman chose to write about. Some wrote about their childhood or other history, others wrote about their time in prison. Those that wrote about their childhood gave us a glimpse into what "went wrong" that led to their crimes. Others that wrote about prison, opened our eyes to what these women must endure now. In some cases, prison was a safer place for them.
   
   The only thing that I thought lacked from the book was the crimes and what made the women commit them. Lamb explains why these aren't included in the book, but still it left me wondering. For the women that killed their husbands, what one thing set them off the edge?



3. GREAT. I thought Couldn't Keep It To Myself was the best book I have ever read. The second greatest is Correctional Institution.... I am sure that I have read nearly 10,000 books in my life but this is best author and I lend my book out and then call people to see where they are and I keep reminding them to not lend it to anyone else without my permission. So good that I bought a second copy just to make sure that if the first one gets lost, that I will always have a copy.



4. Can't put it down since it arrived. already on the waiting list for the follow- up. Great stories written without excuses , just explanations about how and why they got to this point . If you've never felt any sympathy about someone being incarcerated , this might make you feel differently.



5. I was honored to hear the voices of these women. The book was filled with turmoil, pain, hopelessness, redemption, and everything in between. The women should be commended for their courage to tell their stories so candidly to the public. Much thanks to Wally Lamb for assisting in the making of this book.

5 comments about Teach With Your Heart: Lessons I Learned from The Freedom Writers.

1. I've seen the movie, read the book. The Freedom Writers Diary, that is.
   
   I found Erin Gruwell to be a touching and inspirational woman and have visited the Freedom Writers website to see what she and her students have been up to since the time of the book's publication. She ran for congress--and, sadly, lost. We'd have done well with someone like her in public office, someone with a love for and sincere concern for today's youth and education.
   
   Since leaving the high school classroom, Gruwell has had her share of changes and obstacles and also, as one would expect, great successes. The book retreads a lot of the information gleaned from the book/movie, but I care about Erin now...I want good things for her. And her students. This was a way to catch up.
   
   If you feel the same way, the book is worth your while, but if you are trying to learn more about educational techniques, this isn't the book you're looking for.



2. Many others have written detailed reviews. This is merely an attempt to throw mine in the ring. I will begin by saying that I do not believe this book was ever intended to be a "How To" manual, but rather it is Erin telling us her story. One reviewer's title stated it was "Difficult to Replicate." I would take that one further and state that it is IMPOSSIBLE to replicate (it is HER story!) and we would miss the point if we tried.
   
   Her ability to take these kids to screenings, and meet screenwriters, and dine at the Marriott, and meet Miep Gies, and attend the Holocaust Museum was due in part to their geographical location. Granted, all of these resources were available to other teachers in the area -- but my understanding is that no one was taking "those kids." So her willingness to take these students to these places was a large part of what changed their lives. However, depending on where you live, some of these things just are not an option!
   
   The bigger lesson is not to replicate (we would all try & fail!) -- but rather to figure out what is it that I can do, where I am, with the resources I have in front of me. Otherwise, we could excuse our inaction for lack of resources. For me this book served as a means of self-evaluation -- and I came away deciding that someone raised the bar, and it's time to step-up.



3. I was assigned this memoir for a graduate Teaching in America course. Although I found the story touching and inspiring to a degree, I also found things missing from the book. The setting was in the 1990s (before No Child Left Behind), but were there others California standards? What happened to the rest of her students (other than those that have done appearances with Gruwell)? In any book such as this, you must not only pay attention to what is being said but what is not being said.



4. Such an inspiring story for future educators. A must read for anyone thinking about the teaching profession!



5. Erin Gruwell is an amazing person. She was able to reach her tough students and make connections with them that "the system" had written off. Much as people would like to deny it, there is racism in our schools. My brother and I experienced it firsthand in my small Colorado community that I grew up in. Although we did not live in a war zone, "The system" did try to "track" us (Spanish was our first (and only) language until we were 5 - he was 6)- but we weren't stupid and they finally had to admit it. If given a chance, I think that all kids can succeed. It's the stereotypes and told that you're stupid that brings a lot of these kids down. Poverty and their domestic situations don't help in the least either. Erin saw through everything and at such a young age! I believe it's people like her that truly change the world for the better.