No comments about The Diary of Virginia Woolf, Vol. 2: 1920-1924.

No comments about Kinfolks: Falling Off the Family Tree.

4 comments about Rage for Fame: The Ascent of Clare Boothe Luce.

1. This book is a shame; Mrs. Luce deserves and, elsewhere, has received far more serious treatment. The work does, however, say a great deal about the exceptionally small Ms. Morris.



2. Clare Booth Luce makes a goals list of what she wished to accomplish before age 35 including owning a yacht and fine roadster then appended the list to include "a few worthwhile things" including becoming conversant in four languages, writing plays and "earning $10,000 on my own!!". While the list partially trivializes Clare Booth Luce's assent upon society and politics - so does the author-Morris. Her rip-roaring saga is a little over-breathless - even Morris can't subdue the incredible versatility of a woman who overcame illegitimate circumstances, got what she set out to do - mostly, and wrote for Broadway before running for office. Nice work if you can get it! Clare is nobody's bimbo astutely observing everything fine chefs, authors, to politics many times better than her escorts. She notes that Hitler's brownshirts were quite similar to the KuKluxKlan which was outspoken for her time. If you enjoyed George Sand, the Algonquin Table and Dorothy Parker - this may be for you!



3. I liked this book a lot for the great sweep of famous people and events. It was very easy interesting reading and my husband and I both read it on vacation. Reminded me a lot of Life of the Party, the book about Pamela Harriman. When is the next volume due? We're eager to buy it!



4. This is simply a wonderfully entertaining, well-researched, and delightful read. The author has done a tremendous job fleshing out the multifaceted career and personality of the complex Clare Boothe Luce, showing us what an exceptionally driven individual she is. One cannot help conclude that a childhood really does have enormous influence upon the adult, and Luce's drama-filled and chaotic background will resonate with all those who have had similar dysfunctional upbringings. The book draws almost by accident the remarkable similarity between mother and daughter: in a nutshell, Clare could not have become who she was without her mother, Ann, in her own right an extraordinary woman. I would recommend this book to all readers, but especially female readers, for its beautifully delineated outline of what one woman is capable of achieving.

4 comments about Orlean Puckett: The Life of a Mountain Midwife, 1844-1939.

1. Orlean Puckett: The Life Of A Mountain Midwife by Karen Cecil Smith provides the reader with an exemplary life story of a strong and determined mountain woman. Orlean Puckett (1844-1939) was a bride by age 16, gave birth to 24 babies, and survived the Civil War (during which she was harassed and besieged by Home Guard troops). Becoming a midwife at age 45, Orlean Puckett successfully delivered over a thousand babies. This superbly documented, painstakingly researched, very highly recommended biography offers a clear glimpse into a truly remarkable turn-of-the-century life and would make an excellent addition to Women's Studies reading lists and American History biography collections.



2. This is a delightful book informing one of the past times when a midwife was an important part of the mountain community. Karen has done a wonderful job of getting interviews from those who knew Aunt Orlean and imparting that information to us. A picture of the past is brought to us, and one cannot help but feel admiration for such a strong woman. Thank you, Karen, for such a picture!



3. This book presents a picture of a strong mountain woman who, after giving birth to and losing 24 babies, decided to become a midwife in southwestern Virginia. It was not so much the midwifery that drew me to this book, but the account of the mountain men's role in the Civil War and the Home Guard Troops that reeked havoc on the women and children left behind. Interviews of men who helped construct the Blue Ridge Parkway and accounts of the old mountain ways of doing things like sheep shearing, making soap, bartering chestnuts, etc. made this an interesting read. In Orlean Puckett's time, neighbor helped neighbor. Puckett was a strong woman with a good attitude and a quick humor. If she were living today, she's the kind of woman I'd want to spend lots of time with. The author did an excellent job of capturing the essence of mountain life from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. Times and people have certainly changed but fortunately, because of this book, we have a recording that will endure for future generations to read, learn, enjoy, and appreciate.



4. an absolutely amazing story. To be able to go back in time and learn what it was like then can only give you food for thought and prayers of thanksgiving

1 comments about Prophetess of Health: Ellen G. White and the Origins of the Seventh-day Adventist Hearl Reform, 30th Anniversary Edition (Library of Religious Biography).

1. As a former SDA myself who was educated in that church's school system through the first year of college, this book had a huge impact on my life. Ron Numbers is not just a disgruntled former SDA, he was SDA "royalty", related to some of the top names in Adventist leadership. He started the book with the intention of simply providing a historical context for the writings of Ellen White, and his connections within the church gave him unusually broad access to her writings and writings of her contemporary church leadership. He strikes a balanced, academic tone throughout the book and does not stoop to the axe-grinding of many former SDAs. It is my understanding in talking with several SDA friends of mine, that Ron Numbers will be invited to an Adventist History conference as a speaker. I believe anyone interested in a balanced view of SDA history needs to read this book.

5 comments about Who Was Jesus?.

1. At first glance, this seems a rather odd book. What is a first-class historian like N. T. Wright doing, refuting the likes of Spong and Thiering? Does one need a bulldozer to squash ants? (Wilson, I personally find more intelligent, and thus perhaps rising to the dignity of being run over.) Yet Wright gives their arguments a fair hearing, then a fair and gentle hanging.
   
   But there seems to be method to Wright's mildness. As an alternative to the fumbling and bumbling of his protagonists, he offers a simple and readable description of who he has found the historical Jesus to be. Their errors prove a useful foil for explaining the methods and conclusions of legitimate New Testament scholarship. Wright's critiques of those with whom he disagrees are always a delight -- he shows a sincere appreciation for what is worthwhile, then refutes errors with wit and the gentle precision that comes of great intellectual power matched to thorough knowledge of the subject.
   
   The subject here is Jesus, a fox in pursuit of whom academic hounds have banged their heads on many trees. Wright rightly follows him to the cross. "The Christian doctrine is all about a different kind of God -- a God who was so different to normal expectations that he could, completely appropriately, become human . . . To say that Jesus is in some sense God is of course to make a startling statement about Jesus. It is also to make a stupendous claim about God."
   
   I think Wright over-emphasizes the genius of Biblical scholarship. He tends to give the impression that nobody knew anything worth knowing about Jesus, until the question was brought to the attention of modern academics. Having read many "Jesus Seminar" books, I think credentialed scholars like Crossan, Borg, Mack, and Pagels, are often as foolish as Wilson -- and less truly knowledgeable about the historical Jesus than the average Pentacostal grandmother.

   Wright also knocks C. S. Lewis for his "odd" criticism of the "quest for Jesus" as "the work of the devil," in the Screwtape Letters. Aside from the unfairness of ignoring the humor in a satire, I think the substance of Lewis' arguments, made more seriously in Fernseed and Elephants, is entirely sound, and makes an excellent critique of many recent historical Jesus reconstructions. I think Wright's historical reconstruction, and Lewis' literary critique of shoddy skeptical arguments, complement one another nicely.

   In sum, I recommend this book both for people who have been bamboozled by the particular works it refutes, and also as an antidote to recent works of a similar nature, like the Da Vinci Code, Jesus Mysteries, The Jesus Puzzle, or perhaps Elaine Pagel's new book, Beyond Belief. I am working on a book that will combine Wright and Lewis' approaches, to answer recent attacks on the Gospels.
   
   author, Jesus and the Religions of Man /

   christthetao@msn.com




2. Let's be clear that in this book evangelical Anglican theologian N.T. Wright exposes the absurd concocted fantasies of three writers who in 1992 published works on Jesus. The common thread in all three writers is their willingness to invent fantastical portraits of Jesus with no basis in history or Scripture. In the process of his devastating critique of these bogus writers, Wright gives us telling theological insights, especially concerning the relation of first century Jewish monotheism and the emerging Christian belief in the divinity of Jesus and concerning the proper perspective with which to approach the question of the virginal conception of Jesus. In addition, Wright provides an initial chapter that gives the general reader an historical overview of Jesus scholarship and a final chapter that ties Wright's insights together. Reading this small book is like being treated to lunch or dinner with an insightful and witty professor who is generously willing to share his best insights.



3. Jesus set an example no one else could duplicate, as he was one in a hundred million, the Son of God. This character almost made it in the modern day era as a Christ-like figure. Auburn is a small hamlet in this ficitonal parable about a man of God, or one who was close to it. There were six churches in that small place, predominately Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian, which you will find everywhere and anywhere. It was a tightly knit community which did not accept strangers in their midst. Most had been there since childhood and had nice relationships with each other. You had to have lived there more than fifteen years not be to classified as a stranger.
   
   Thus, this unassuming man named Joshua moved into a small cottage on the outskirts of the town and was the focus of everyone's opinion and the talk of the village. The mailman was the first to enter the workshop to see the exquisite wood carvings and statues which Joshua mastered. He mad a wood statue of Moses for a synagogue. His carvings of the apostel Peter for the Episcopal and Pentecostal churches were admired, and made him an icon of sorts. Joshua made a lot of people happy with his good sense of humor, and that was a wonderful thing. He kept to himself with his work; everyone has a right to live in peace. Until, he tried to be a modern Christ but did not succeed. He tried to unify the different congregations including the Catholic and Lutheran, which anyone with any sense knows is impossible. He didn't put on airs or act like a snob, just an ordinary person who seemed to have miraculous powers like the Joshua in the Bible.
   
   It was well known that Joshua frequented the liquor store, which caused some consternation. He seemed religious but why the need for spirits of that sort to create his magic religious symbols and to keep on an even keel. Joshu was told that his attitude lacked the docility and humanity which befits a Christian layman, that in the future he would do well to cultivate virtues for the benefit of the soul and the edification of his fellow Christians. Word spread of the final days of Joshua and the hearts of many were soothed or grieved at the end of that summer he spent among them.
   
   Joshua's memory would linger in their lives as a marvelous messenger of God. Though this novel is fictional, it is moving and feels very Biblical. He went as he came as a mystery who'd touched all of their lives in one way or another. We need more "real" Joshuas in our world of constant turmoil. There are such people in our lives who are truly compassionate and hold no grudges, but we should all strive to follow their example as much as we can. We're all different, with different beliefs, religious and otherwise, but need to learn to live in peace -- not just in Auburn. Nothing can match this first and most important introduction to a modern apostle.



4. I cannot praise this little book highly enough. Do not be put off by its brevity. Though short - about 100 pages - it contains more substance than many a larger volume, and though written in popular style, never compromises on the quality of content. After summarising the Jesus Quests of the past, Wright brings his discussion into the contemporary scene, brilliantly demonstrating how unlikely are the reconstructions of Jesus by the likes of A. N. Wilson, Barbara Thiering and Bishop John Shelby Spong. He ends by sketching a more plausible picture of Jesus, based on the new appreciation of Jesus' essential Jewishness. Thank you N. T. Wright, this is a gem.



5. N.T. Wright has a marvelous way of sifting through the many dissonant voices in the debate about the historical Jesus. In his book, "Who Was Jesus?"... Wright dispels of the outrageous claims that have been made about Jesus, while at the same time, he is able to give credit where honest historical work has been done.
   
   With a bit of humor, this respected scholar is able to point out the flaws in the historical and not so historical works done by several popular authors. From Schweitzer's quest, to the Jesus Seminar (Burton Mack, Dominic Crossan, etc.), to the Third Quest (Vermes, Brandon, E.P. Sanders, etc.), to the downright absurd (Barbara Thiering and the DaVinci Code)... N.T. Wright cuts away and cleans up the mess that has been prematurely dubbed as 'scholarship.' He quickly dissects the arguments and brings our focus back to a genuinely historical Jesus that has been revealed to us in the context of the New Testament.
   
   You will appreciate and benefit from Wright's insights and contributions to the discussion of the historical Jesus of Nazareth. His work on first-century Palastinian Judaism and his overall commitment to the context of the New Testament challenges much of the work that has been done on Jesus. You cannot say you have done honest, historical, intellectual, and academic study... until you have read the works of N.T. Wright. "Who Was Jesus?" is a great book to start with for those who are caught up in the many contradicting voices of the quest for the historical Jesus.
   
   "'Jesus' is either the flesh-and-blood individual who walked and talked, and lived and died, in first-century Palastine, or he is merely a creature of our own imagination, able to be manipulated this way and that." (Wright, p. 18)
   
   I also recommend reading:
   Paul: In Fresh Perspective
   Jesus and Empire: The Kingdom of God and the New World Disorder
   The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?

2 comments about Bombay Anna: The Real Story and Remarkable Adventures of the <i>King and I</i> Governess.

1. What a wonderful book! So full of information, so well-written and easy to read, I couldn't put it down. Author Susan Morgan not only brings Anna Leonowens's remarkable life to life, she makes the reader see why Leonowens made up so much of her "official" life story, and why the (false) image of blond Anna (a lie) dancing with King Monghut (played by Yul Brynner) in The King and I, has had such a powerful grip on our imaginations. Anna Leonowens could do a lot more than dance, and Susan Morgan can really tell a story.



2. We all know the story of Anna and the king of Siam through the books, Broadway play and movie. But that romanticized version is more fiction than fact. What a shock to learn that Anna, the British governess to the king, really came from India! The daughter of an Englishman and a woman of mixed Indian and Anglo descent, she grew up in crowded military barracks, far from the ideal fantasy that she created. She married Corporal Thomas Leon Owens when she was eighteen, and had four children. After the deaths of her husband and two of her children, Anna took her remaining children to Singapore, arriving with the fantastic story that has clung to her all these years: that she was a British gentlewoman from Wales, widow of Major Thomas Leonowens, with two children born in England. But the true story is much more compelling.
   
   Anna had a photographic memory. She was multilingual and tolerant of all cultures through her association with the people in India--Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus. She learned Sanskrit and traveled extensively lecturing and teaching after her position ended in Siam.
   
   Anna was the only Western person allowed in the king's harem of over sixty children, their mothers, and servants. Since they could not leave the harem, she viewed them as being incarcerated, and she worked diligently for their release. As researcher and author Susan Morgan writes, "Her critiques of Siam were not about how the West should treat the East. They were about how men should treat women, about the immense potential women have if only allowed to develop it freely, and about the equalities that should exist between people everywhere as a natural and spiritual right."
   
   Morgan's extensive and careful research provides the reader with the facts of Anna's life and shows how this amazing woman truly lived and fought for women's rights by exemplifying the principles she espoused in her own life. Throughout the book, pictures of Anna at various ages add to the narrative. The only drawback is the repetition that makes some of the chapters sound as if they may have been written as stand-alone articles. Recommended for women's and multicultural collections.
   
   by Susan Andrus
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women

5 comments about Alex: The Life of a Child.

1. My daughter was diagnosed with CF 4 months ago at the age of 2.5 yrs. I was immediately drawn to books written from the parent perspective (it seems most are written by young adults who have it), and I first read "From a Taste of Salt" and then "Alex".
   
   I mostly loved this book; I love how well Deford delves into the psychological aspects (of ALL the family) of having a child in the house with this disease. I can easily picture in my dealings with my own daughter many of the conversations with Alex he relates.
   
   There are two things I disliked. One is that he really over-makes Alex to be a saint. Everyone says my daughter is so sweet and so good at taking her medicines and therapy and yadda yadda, but would you ever say the OPPOSITE to a parent with a sick child? My daughter is still a toddler and no saint, but Deford leaves out most of the day-to-day "normal" parts of her life that would show her regular humanity instead of her sainthood.
   
   Secondly, It became obvious at times that Deford was, unfortunately, projecting some of his own thoughts, feelings, and memories onto Alex's actions. I do not blame him for this one bit, considering the great devistation it is to lose a child and then try to write about it. But for some reason it really annoyed me.
   
   Overall an excellent book, and I recommend it to any parent with a newly diagnosed child struggling through the emotional and psychological steps of accepting CF. You find out that you are not alone in your many confusing thoughts. I only wish he had perhaps been a more religious man, and touched on the acceptance of this disease from God.



2. After supporting Cystic Fibrosis as one of my personal charities for many years, I saw this book in a used book store and bought it. I didn't read it for some time. In fact, it was after I met a family who had a son with CF. I became friends with him - and only a few months later, close to his 21st birthday, he was gone. Then I read the book.. I must say, this is a heartbreaker - but Alex is such an amazing young girl! Written from the experiences of a father watching this terrible disease take his little girl. I strongly recommend reading - and then reaching out to your local Cystic Fibrosis Chapter.



3. As the father of an 8 year old daughter with CF (who even sorta looks like Alex), you can imagine that this is not an easy read for me. I read it once 8 years ago, when she was diagnosed, and it was bad....I have tried to re-read it again 8 years later and it's even harder to get through. Not a day goes by where I don't think about that I most likely will have to go thru what Frank did.
   I"m not sure i'll be able to handle it. My optimism that there will be a cure in time has dwindled to stark reality that it's not likely to happen soon enough. Thank you Frank for writing this, at least I know i'm not alone.



4. excellent service. book received in excellent condition, just as described. would definitely order through bookrescue again.



5. I watched the excellent TV movie made of this book when I was around 8 and then read the book over and over, until it fell apart. It absolutely broke my heart. When I was in high school and I met my first husband, I found out that he had lost a stepbrother to cystic fibrosis, who made it to the age of 18 before he died. Years later, my first husband still had the things Scotty willed to him, a poster and all of his Weird Al tapes (the Make a Wish Foundation helped Scotty to meet Weird Al at a concert and got to go backstage, shortly before he died). His remaining stepbrother, shortly after we married, married a woman with three children. Her youngest, a daughter, had severe CF. We loved her dearly, and was devastated when she died, like Alex, at the age of 8.
   This is a heartbreaking book, but it's worth it. After you're done reading the book, donate money to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
   Another heartbreaking story on their site explains why they use roses on a lot of their promotional materials. A mother on the Board of Directors who had several kids with cystic fibrosis, was overheard by her toddler son on a phone call. He was too young to understand what she was saying, and too young to know he had a fatal disease, so he asked his mother what "sixty-five roses" meant. Many children now call CF "sixty five roses" and that's why the CF Foundation uses rose imagery.

3 comments about Whipped: 20 Erotic Stories of Female Dominance.

1. The quality of the stories is really astonishingly good - this is some of the best erotica I've read in recent years, in quality of writing and sheer hotness. This collection has a wide variety of stories, from formal encounters with professional dominatrixes to the first-time dominant, to lush fantasies and D/s relationships, and all in between; it also is thankfully inclusive of many genders. For those who have a taste for good erotica, you're in for a treat.



2. The stories in this collection are hit or miss; the book's author, Carol Queen, has a tale that I found to be fascinating. I must gratefully say that the author's collection of stories won't be found in Penthouse Forum. Whew! The book does come with a DVD which may not play on all machines; don't let this stop anyone from exploring this book.



3. Far too many girl-on-girl stories, which interest me not at all. I would not have bought this book had I known.

5 comments about Behind the Scenes: or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House (Penguin Classics).

1. In 1868, three years after the War Between the States ended and Abraham Lincoln was murdered, Elizabeth Keckley sat down to write a partial history of her life as a slave and modiste (dressmaker) for Mary Todd Lincoln at the White House. If readers judge "Behind the Scenes" by the standards of modern biographies, they won't do the book justice.
   
   "Lizzie" Keckley was a slave who insisted on buying her freedom, even after being offered it for nothing. In modern terms, she was an "Aunt Tom" for validating the notion that any human being can be bought and sold for a price. By her own standards, she was affirming her value to society. It's impossible to judge such a person in contemporary terms.
   
   Lizzie's dressmaking skill attracted the attention of Mary Todd Lincoln in 1861. Mrs. Lincoln was quite addicted to clothes, and hired "Dear Lizzie" as her private modiste. Their association solidified into a deep friendship after the death in 1862 of Willie Lincoln (in the White House); Lizzie offered warmth and solicitude, badly needed by an erratic First Lady whose intemperate ways and harsh tongue had made her perhaps the most disliked person in Washington. The friendship persisted after Lincoln's assassination, when Lizzie aided Mrs. Lincoln in purging her monstrous debts (she owed $70,000 to department stores) by trying to sell off old dresses and jewelry.
   
   "Behind the Scenes" ended the friendship. After its publication Mary Lincoln, her pride wounded, dropped "Dear Lizzie" and referred to Mrs. Keckley as "that colored historian."
   
   For students of the assassination Mrs. Keckley's reminiscences are especially helpful. Several weeks after April 14, 1865, while Mrs. Lincoln was still in mourning inside the White House, Lizzie told her "the new messenger" (not identified by name in the book, unfortunately) was on watch, he being the same man who had abandoned his post outside Lincoln's box at Ford's Theater. Mrs. Lincoln excoriated the "new messenger" and accused him of complicity in the assassination. The messenger admitted his carelessness but denied complicity, insisting he had simply taken a seat where he could better watch the play.
   
   Except for the ambiguous word "messenger," this account conforms precisely to the convential wisdom that prevailed until about 25 years ago, i.e. that John F. Parker, a Metropolitan Police officer assigned to White House duty, was responsible for guarding Lincoln's box on the night of the assassination, but left his post and allowed John Wilkes Booth clear entry (and how would Booth have known the coast would be clear?). Post-modern historians, possibly seizing on Keckley's use of "messenger" to describe Parker, contrived a theory that Parker's duties never included protecting Lincoln...which idea begs the obvious question, "Why would Mrs. Lincoln have been so angry at someone who wasn't responsible in the first place?" And, since Parker supposedly went on trial for negligence (the records were mysteriously destroyed), "Why would anyone have been put on trial for neglecting Lincoln at Ford's Theater if he had been only a White House functionary all along?"



2. I got this little book so that I could learn more about the Lincolns and their home life at the White House. It does an excellent job of telling the story of Elizabeth and Mary's friendship, which I wish could have continued, but alas, it didn't. I would recommend this book to all readers interested in US history, not matter what their age or gender, so that they can get an intimate view of the Lincoln's family life. Elizabeth was a strong and proud woman with a high moral and ethical character...if she were alive today, she would be swamped with interview requests and book deals!



3. Although this volume comes from the memories of someone familiar with the Lincoln White House and who became a close friend of Mary Todd Lincoln, it must be read cautiously. For example, despite the book's basic authenticity I find its account of Stephen Douglas's love for young Mary Todd and her jilting of Lincoln implausible despite Keckley's claim that she got the story directly from Mary Todd Lincoln and Anson Henry (a close friend of Abraham and Mary, who was a matchmaker encouraging their romance). Possibly some errors might be attributed to one or more literary assistants who helped compile the book. If a reader needs to be certain a about a particular statement, comparison with other sources is wise. Still, the volume will be valuable to anyone interested in firsthand impressions of the Lincoln White House.



4. This book was wonderful! I read it straight through on a recent trip. Hated to put it down. Very, very interesting to see another side of some great historic happenings. I felt as if I were a there, watching and developed a better understanding of several historic events. I think everyone should read it. As a background for American histroy. I am buying another copy for my daughter, as I do not want to part with mine.



5. This book gives you a lot of insight into the relationship of Mary and Abe. The writing is very poetic. Enjoyed a lot.