5 comments about Anything We Love Can Be Saved.

1. This is a very interesting book. One of the things that I enjoy most about Walker's writing is her ability to convey her perspective of the world. I esspecially liked the first two essay's, and the essay on her cat. I don't agree with absolutly all of Walker's points (Though I do agree with most of them), but this does nothing to undermine the power of the book. The book is sub-titled "A Writer's Activism" and it left me thinking about the place of activism in my own life. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone with an open mind, especially when read in conjunction with Walker's book of short stories, "You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down".



2. I want to be Alice Walker when I grow up, too bad that job has already been taken.



3. I am a lonely and sad person regularly. I would not describe myself as depressed, because depression too often has a meaning that the person is down due to misunderstanding. My sadness is borne out of knowing that worthwhile ideas, methods, and interactions exist, and knowing I am no longer able to participate with them. (Which ironically is an underestimated and underdiagnosed cause of real, clinical depression.)
   
   When I get too sad, I pick up a book like this one by an author who has an insightful & challenging voice. When I feel an absence of someone challenging me with new & good ideas, I pretend that instead of just reading Ms. Walker's books - I pretend she is in the room with me discussing her radical ideas and intent on keeping me company with her arousing ideals. I imagine she appreciates attentive feedback, and a willingness to thoroughly consider all her ideas, even when she is angry.
   
   And when I pause between ideas, I dream of a world that doesn't exist. I dream that most people would choose to act in ways similar to Ms. Walker. I allow myself to fantasize that most parents might choose to be less hypocritical and would agree to say for the sake of their daughters, "all I can promise her is not to lie" even if it "is painful to her, I believe nonetheless it is better than a lie. Surely better than the lies I was told - 'for my own good' - only to sniff them out eventually and become entangled in them."
   
   Then I get a peaceful, easy feeling and like a mad one, I choose to live as if "love is best expressed through truth," "Because to me, it is precisely our personal memories of joy and delight in each other and our present passions and loves that sustain us." p. 66
   
   And like Ms. Walker, I stubbornly refuse to forget or to pretend those memories never occured. It is a lonely refusal. It may be an unwise refusal. But it is a less unhealthy refusal for me than hypocrisy. It is not a raging refusal (as Ms. Walker indicates it is in her at times). And it is not a depressed refusal. It is a clear, conscious, chosen & sad refusal. And in that existence, I thank Ms. Walker for her ideas, her stubborn voice, her words against likely failures, and in my imaginary world - her companionship.



4. Alice Walker writes ideas I don't already know, and she gives me new ways of interpreting people. She is worth considering, especially when you think you disagree with her. It is better to engage her in thoughtful debate than to not listen to what she has to say. Ms. Walker did not title this book "Anything I Love Can Be Saved." Importantly, she chose "Anything WE Love Can Be Saved." The book discusses pursuits she has shared with others.
   
   "Now I know that . . .activism is often my muse . . . All we own, at least for the short time we have it, is our life . . . Whenever I experience evil, and it is not, unfortunately, uncommon to experience it in these times, my deepest feeling is disappointment. I have learned to accept the fact that we risk disappointment, disillusionment, even despair, every time we act. Every time we decide to believe the world can be better. Every time we decide to trust others to be as noble as we think they are. And that there might be years during which our grief is equal to, or even greater than, our hope. The alternative, however, not to act, and therefore to miss experiencing other people at their best, reaching toward their fullness, has never appealed to me." pp. xxiv-xxv.
   
   I've spent a good deal of time researching concepts of love. Many people are familiar with Paul's description of love's attributes from 1 Corinthians 13. Alice Walker highlights the next chapter's oppression of women in the verses of 1 Corinthians 14:33-35. "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church." I have to agree with Ms. Walker's assertion that the Bible was written by men. And I doubt any intelligent "god" would seek any "peace" that silences women or dictates they become intellectual subordinates to their husbands. As I have grown older, I've found more community and guidance from the voices of women.
   
   "If the women of the world were comfortable, this would be a comfortable world."
   
   To understand what the title of this book might be saying, a person must interpret how Alice Walker is using the word "saved." "Saved" is a word I have trouble with because I grew up in a religious community where a person could only be "saved" by choosing one being and one way. Seeking additional voices or additional community was "fallen" or "depraved." Alice Walker does not appear to be primarily be using the word "saved" in the commonly connotated evangelical "conversion to more enlightened path" sense. She is also not primarily using the word "saved" to promote "possession or acquisition of" another human being.
   
   Ms. Walker emphasizes "saved" in the sense that any person, idea, or object of good character can be remembered, preserved, nourished, grown, and sheltered by love. She says "love and justice and truth are the only monuments that generate everwidening circles of energy and life . . . though trashed and trampled, generation after generation."
   
   She discusses principles of preserving and sharing past loves in relation to recounting how written word efforts and community acknowledgement have honored Zora Neale Hurston, a woman who herself wrote in order to honor and preserve the often concealed, but discretely passed down, African American culture that survived hundreds of years of slavery and discriminatory religious & cultural practices.
   
   Zora also wrote to preserve the memory of specific loves from her personal history. In Zora's work, Alice found a character named Shug, Alice's "outside" grandmother, her grandfather's lover, whose descendant Alice was named after. And if you've read or watched The Color Purple, you are familiar with Shug. There are real people behind most great literary characters.
   
   Alice believes in preserving and sharing the good qualities of those who were unjustly dishonored and have passed from view. Her essay "Anything We Love Can Be Saved" was an address she gave at the the First Annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival in 1990, a festival bringing attention to and honoring the writings of Zora Neal Hurston. Injustice is not overcome through silence. As the subtitle of this book "A Writer's Activism" emphasizes, love is active, notorious, and publicized. The act of love may start "First in their own hearts," but it must be communicated to and shared with "the hearts of others. They have only to make their love inseparable from their belief. And both inseparable from hard work . . . Paying homage to her, memorializing her light, her struggle . . . brought us peace."



5. This is one of the most wonderful books I have ever read. Anybody who wants to know anything about the soul of Paganism should burn all of their "So You Want to be A Wiccan" trash and read Anything We Love Can Be Saved. Walker's connection to the land, to Mother Earth, and to Spirit is as Pagan as it gets. This book is profoundly beautiful, profoundly Pagan. She understands that we belong to this wonderful planet, and that real worship of deity is not possible unless we're free, including free to explore and revel in our sexuality. She understands our connectedness to other animals, the nonhuman ones, and espouses their humane treatment as well.

5 comments about 1185 Park Avenue: A Memoir.

1. As with all of Anne Roiphe's books, 1185 PARK AVENUE is powerfully written. The title refers to the address of the apartment building in which she was raised.

   Still, as beautiful as her prose is to read, this is a difficult book. Her family was not a happy one, to say the least. And her personal history will not be of universal interest, appealing mostly to people of similar Jewish ancestry.

   Yet there is no question but, that on a broader basis, 1185 PARK AVENUE offers a singular examination of a particular population. Inescapably, Roiphe had a sad childhood.




2. I noticed this book on a friend's bookshelf in his 1185 Park Avenue apartment. Interested in the the building, its neighborhood, and its original milieu, I began to read. To my dismay, I found that Roiphe's book is primarily a recounting of a series of embarrassing and painful episodes from the author's privileged past: foolish and unlikable people hurting themselves and each other, again and again. Except perhaps as catharsis for the author, the point of the exercise is unclear: there are no insights to be found here.



3. I don't understand the negative reviews posted about this book. Granted, the author's style is a bit overblown at times, but the story and aspecially the characters were fascinating and honestly portrayed. The author has a wonderful eye for detail and captured a lot of the sense of assimilated Jewry with which I am familiar. This book deserves to be read, and I will be passing my copy around to my extended family.



4. Anne Roiphe wrote a brillant memoir that I can't stop thinking about, and a very interesting psychological portrait of her very disturbed family and odd upbringing.



5. Beneath the glamour of New York's Upper East Side in the mid-twentieth century lies a world filled with psychoanalysts, infidelity and lack of affection within families. Anne Roiphe poignantly tells her memoir in 1185 Park Avenue. Young Anne is the granddaughter of the Jewish immigrant who created the Van Heusen shirt company, who grows up on the privileged Park Avenue, her life filled with her mother's bridge games, her brother's asthma, two unloving parents and a nanny named Greta.
   
   Raised mainly by the nanny, Anne and her brother shared a bathroom yet were never close. Johnny, the terminally allergic and more serious sibling, often pushed Anne away, frequently expressing his resentment at her existence. Anne turns to each of her parents individually for love and acknowledgement but is consistently shut out. Her mother spends her days laying in bed or playing canasta with her Park Avenue confidants, while her father practically lives at the club, taking up company with various women.
   
   As Anne grows up and begins to experience life on her own, away from Park Avenue, she resents her former lifestyle and longs to live in a loft in Brooklyn. Throughout her life, she continues to cling desperately to men who cheat on her, men who steal her mother's money and emotionally abusive men, in her desperate attempt at love.
   
   A recurring theme of this memoir is Anne's desire to feel affection and her desire for true love. Despite never feeling these emotions from anyone close to her, Anne continues to speak affectionately of her mother, hugging her father when he shoved her away and laughing at her brother's jokes as he constantly insulted her. She is almost delusional in her perception on relationships, leading the reader to sympathize with her pitiful existence.
   
   The characters in Anne's family became well-developed, though quite unlikable, including her father, mother and brother, Johnny. However, her extended family played an important role in hers and her family's lives, but their characters were only described briefly. This could be indicative of her attitude towards her extended family; they were involved in her life solely because they were family, but she was completely apathetic to their existence.
   
   Overall, Anne Roiphe's memoir was insightful into the upper class life of Manhattan, but her lack of any meaningful relationships was disconcerting and leaves readers wanting more, wanting her to finally be loved. The memoir was engaging, grabbing hold of the readers' emotions, dragging them into the other side of the nation's upper crust.

3 comments about Recollections of a Handcart Pioneer of 1860 (Second Edition): A Woman's Life on the Mormon Frontier.

1. I must admit that I am a bit biased, since Mary was my wife's great grandmother. A touching book, and does not white wash the trials experienced.



2. A fascinating peep into the everyday life of one woman who, along with many others, braved the trail west. Her story is told simply and factually - it has the feel of sitting down with an old friend you haven't seen for a long time and catching up on the news. Whether you're of the Mormon faith or not (I'm not, but enjoyed the book for its historical content), you can't help but admire the hardy spirit of this pioneer woman in the face of death and hardship and rejoice with her in the simple delights that come along just often enough to make it all worthwhile. Though the title sounds like the book focuses mostly on the trail experience, it actually tells her story through the rest of her life.



3. Recollections of a Handcart Pioneer of 1860 (Second Edition): A Woman's Life on the Mormon Frontier
   
   As a Gr Granddaughter of handcart pioneers, I've wondered what could have driven them to such extreme efforts, but my ancestors left very little in writing. This book was a small window into a culture that is difficult to understand. I only wish she had gone into more detail. Her calm acceptance of polygamy, and her courage in raising 7 children in such a desolate place, almost single-handedly, leaves much unsaid.

5 comments about The Roosevelt Women.

1. This book is so good, I can't put it down. It should be on the reading list of every college student doing Women's Studies, as well as regular history courses. Thanks to Book Notes for interviewing this author on C-span, I can continue my education with these wonderfully insightful books.



2. This was a pretty well written biography of the women of the Roosevelt family. It includes TR's mother and sisters and a few others you don't ordinarily read about, such as his second daughter, a niece, his second wife. The author does not go into any great depth for any of these women, but she gives a good overview of the lives of each. Well worth reading.



3. This book really held my attention. While I must admit that I still get a little confused with the Roosevelt family tree, this book gave me just enough information about the Roosevelt women. It's refreshing to read about the women behind the men!



4. In The Roosevelt Women by Betty Boyd Caroli, the author gives us a fascinating look at the Roosevelt women from primarily the Oyster Bay branch of this venerable family. Most of us have a general knowledge of presidents Theodore Roosevelt (TR) and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). We also have some idea of the contributions of Eleanor Roosevelt to the world stage. The story of Eleanor Roosevelt and her female kin (grandmother, aunts and cousins) is in some respects even more remarkable than that of the Roosevelt men.
   
   The book starts with Martha "Mittie" Bulloch Roosevelt, TR's mother. This beautiful Southern Belle married the senior Theodore Roosevelt. While often times spoiled, fragile and frivolous, she was also a caring mother and patient teacher to her children. According to Caroli, she withdrew from "family competition" in order that her plain daughters would "feel superior to her, to develop both wit and charm sufficient to outshine her inordinately good looks." Though she never lived to see her four granddaughters, they all credited her for her contributions to the Roosevelt family.
   
   Mittie's daughters, Anna Roosevelt Cowles and Corinne Roosevelt Robinson, provide the most engrossing characters in The Roosevelt Women. While not well schooled, they were both bright, articulate and politically astute women. They surrounded themselves with powerful, witty and intelligent men and their houses were the center of lively and sparkling conversation. In later life, Corinne became a published poet and a public speaker. While these sisters were trailblazers in many ways, they were content to stay in the shadow of their more famous brother, TR, and never flaunted their relationship with him. Yet, they did everything in their power to help TR reach his political goals. It has been said that if Anna, Corinne and Teddy were all alive today, the women would make better presidential material.
   
   Subsequent chapters cover the lives of Mittie's daughter-in-law, Edith (TR's second wife), Eleanor Roosevelt, Corinne Robinson Alsop (Corinne's daughter), Alice Longworth (TR's oldest daughter), and Ethel Derby (TR's youngest daughter). "Princess Alice" is probably the most colorful of the group and was considered the "other Washington Monument." TR once said of his wayward and headstrong daughter "I can run the country, or I can control Alice. I cannot possibly do both."
   
   The Roosevelt Women is a very readable book, and often seems more like a novel than a work of nonfiction. But this is by no means the complete story of all the Roosevelt women, as there is very little on the Hyde Park side of the family (Eleanor Roosevelt was an Oyster Bay Roosevelt before she married her 5th cousin, Franklin) Sara Delano Roosevelt (FDR's mom) does not rate her own chapter. Also, there are no women covered in depth after the generation of Mittie's granddaughters. Still, these criticisms aside, this is a book not to be missed by any true Roosevelt fan.



5. This is a simply wonderful book for what it tells us both about the women of the Roosevelt clan and the men. Caroli's story lends great insight to both Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and the relationship between the two.
   
   The book is set up as a series of smaller books, each one on a particular Roosevelt woman. The great thing is how Caroli connects these women to each other and to the politics of the time. It is interesting to see how different these women were as well as similar. For many of them, their most important relationships with men (outside their brothers/fathers) were not their husbands. Bamie, Corinne and Alice's husbands all take a backseat to other men - often the political magnets of the day. Not that scandal haunted any of these women (except Alice, who courted it). There were some genuine love matches - Edith and Theodore really had a strong, passionate marriage.
   
   Caroli begins with Theodore Roosevelt's mother, Mittie. Mittie is often an overlooked figure and this book brings out who she was and why. It also gives great insight to the childhood of TR and how the Civil War affected him quite differently than you'd expect. Mittie's sister, Anna Gracie, is also a huge force in the life of the young Roosevelts and we see this chapter.
   
   Then Caroli covers TR's sisters: Bamie Roosevelt Cowles and Corrine Roosevelt Robinson. Both these women played down their role in their brother's political life, but this book shows how involved they actually were. Both these women contributed greatly to the political future of the US. These women were also the models for the next generation and where they went for advice and help.
   
   The fourth "book" talks about Edith Roosevelt (TR's wife) and Sara Delano Roosevelt (Franklin's mother). What is interesting here is the comparisons that Caroli draws between these two women. Edith was seen as the perfect wife and companion while Sara was vilified as the evil mother-in-law. Yet Caroli manages to show them as real women, beyond that basic stereotype. I especially find it interesting how involved Sara was in creating the woman we know as Eleanor Roosevelt. Eleanor, in the beginning of her marriage, needed the advice and guidance of the older woman, although she would later outgrow it, hence the later picture of Sara.
   
   Then Caroli covers Eleanor Roosevelt, but here it is interesting to see the background to the political life we know so well. Eleanor, although Franklin's wife, is also Theodore's niece (the daughter of his brother, Elliot) and connected to both sides of the family. With this generation we see the split between the "Theodores" and "Franklins" politically and then moreorless socially (although there is never a complete severing of ties). Theodore's family had always been staunch Republicans, but Franklin was going to be the golden boy of the Democratic party, which would rub hard on the "Theodores."
   
   Next we see another niece of TR's, Corinney Alsop [her name is Corinne, but the family called her Corinney and to distinguish mother and daughter, Caroli does as well], the daughter of his sister Corinne. Corinney followed in her mother's shoes as a political speaker and activist, even serving in political office herself (one of the few to do so and the only of this generation). Corinney also kept some of the best relationships with the "Franklins" and even voted for him at one point.
   
   Finally we cover TR's daughters: Alice and Ethel in the last two sections. Ethel's life revolved around family and her activities more confined than some of her cousins. Alice, while not an activist in any sense, was one of the best known figures of Washington for her outrageous behavior and tongue. Alice would literally say anything. The stark contrast between these two sisters is brought out as we see Ethel as the more dutiful and responsible and Alice as the butterfly, always seeking attention, yet these two were constant friends throughout their long lives.
   
   This book is definitely worth your attention for several reasons. First, it showcases these oft-overlooked political figures of the Roosevelt clan. Second, it gives new insight to the men who rose to political heights on the shoulders of these women. Lastly, it is just plain entertaining and well-written - a completely enjoyable read.

5 comments about The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady.

1. I bought this book years ago and foolishly gave it away. I recently repurchased it and am glad to have it back. I give it four stars instead of five because I figure five stars should be reserved for John James Audubon.

   For the most part I like the older edition (ISBN 0-03-021026-7) better. It is printed on yellowish paper with darkened edges, purposely made to look a bit aged. The colors are darker and the detail on the illustrations shows up better. But this 2001 edition has its good points too. It's printed on pure white paper so even though some of the pictures look a little washed out, the colors look clearer and brighter, not so muddy. So some people might prefer this new edition.

   There's a biography of Edith Holden, out of print, that I'd be interested to read. (Edwardian Lady: The Story of Edith Holden, by Ina Taylor.)




2. When i found out that the Country diary of an Edwardian Lady was to come back in print after more than five years in the wilderness, i remembered feeling elated, why, because Ms Holden and her talents was the best thing ever to have happened to the book world,and this new edition showing what the diary looked like at the time it was written is the best ever, she put rural warwickshire on the map in a way no other author could have or will do, the book is not only a teaching of nature (remembering that Edith was a teacher) but also a portable art gallery of in my opinion some of the best surviving examples of her artwork, i have long been a holden devotee (the word fan is reserved for rowdy pop stars)i have and always will treasure this beautiful book and its sister publication the nature notes of an edwardian lady, we love this book perhaps for its nostalgic charm for all things turn of the century, but more importantly because most of ediths beloved nature trails around her home in Olton Hollow, solihull now no longer exist, so my advice, buy this book and give it pride of place in the cabinet



3. I became drawn to the work and life of Edith Holden after I saw the TV series that was made of her life. I became very intrigued and even bought and read the Ina Taylor biography. Her bizarre and mysterious death intrigued me almost as much as her life. Although there was no sign of struggle, and the inquest ruled her death an accident, I'm not entirely convinced that Edith died accidentally. I'm somewhat convinced that she may have committed suicide. Even if she couldn't swim, it's hard to believe that a woman can drown in 4 feet of water that close to shore unless she did it intentionally.

   This is an enchanting book full of nature illustrations by Edith Holden, with excerpts of poetry by great poets, and nature diary entries and observations by Edith, about about birds, insects, flowers, rural places she visited, that sort of thing. Very appealing for those with a nastalgia for country surroundings and the country life.

   David Rehak
   author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"




4. I borrowed this book from the library and fell in love with the delicate watercolors of plant and animal life, the occasional quotes from poetry, and the rare observations about the weather, etc. Then the book went out of print but it has returned and remains a treasure on my bookshelf, a book I will not lend out to anyone lest it not come home again. A resonant reminder that there is so much going on if only the train would break down and leave us free to walk a while.



5. I have the 1977 version and I think it is far better than the recent one. It's lovely to follow the months day by day, learning facts about trees, flowers, insecs. The artwork she drew is enchanting.....
   
   A precious not much heard of book....

5 comments about Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison.

1. The author is supposed to be a human rights activist. But she sure doesn't seem that way to me. This book does make me want to become a human rights activist, however, if only to try to counter some of the damage people like Kathy Kelly are doing.
   
   I think it is a good question to ask if we Americans are behaving properly in Iraq. Especially from the standpoint of human rights. We surely could use some sensible advice. But Kelly is not the one to provide it.
   
   One test I give Kelly is what she says about the Israeli attack on the terrorists in Jenin in April, 2002. Israel went out of its way to use ground troops, incurring more casualties in an effort to reduce the number of civilian casualties. The Israeli doves were successful in convincing Israel to take this approach. And that makes this a true test: if Kelly can't find a way to praise this, she's no supporter of human rights.
   
   Anyway, the author flunks this test completely, writing dishonestly about Jenin and even going so far as to blast America for permitting Israel to defend itself against terrorism. If she's going to cheer for anti-American terrorists and mislead us about what is happening, I think we have little reason to trust her advice.



2. Kathy Kelly is a true American hero. Not only is she willing to put her life on the line for her ideals, she's also a genuine voice of peace in a time of conflict and war. I think it would be hard for anyone to walk away from this book and not feel empathy for those that have suffered at the hands of US foreign policy. The right-wing doesn't like the Kellys of the world. They'd rather sit back and breath in the smoke of propaganda puffed out by Republican spin machines. But Kelly doesn't inhale. She's articulate and honest. She's hopeful, but realistic. If there were more Americans like Kelly out there, willing to sacrifice it all for a better tomorrow, the United States would not be as hated or despised as it is today. Indeed Kelly truly is the anti-terrorist. Buy this book and take it home.



3. From Letters from Iraq, 4/15/03, Other Hearts
   "We joked that he could direct the telephone exchange as he tinkered with our satellite phone's solar powered battery. I told Majid we has some sheet music and a guitar for him. 'What are notes?' he said, 'We don't even remember.'"...
   
   "'Please, ' Majid said, 'we will give you the instruments, give you the furniture, but don't destroy the music, the records, the history.' 'No, ' the armed men said. 'Baghdad is finished.' They ransacked the school, broke many instruments, burnt the music and the records."....
   
   "'Here,'Hisham said,'listen to this. This is all we have left.' He handed me headphones borrowed from a Norwegian television correspondent. The taped orchestra was playing "O Finlandia". Listening to the children craft their music, I softly sang the words: "This is my song, O God of all the nations. A song of peace for lands afar and mine. This is my home, the country where my heart is. Here are my dreams,my hopes, my holy shrine. But other hearts in other lands are beating, with hopes and dreams as deep and true as mine." Then I stopped. Hisham had begun to cry."
   
   (Joan Baez's newest CD begins with this song. It's truly beautiful.)
   
   Kathy Kelly and other members of Voices in the Wilderness are listening to the hopes and dreams of other lands as they stand in witness with the people whose lives have been severely impacted by our country's policies and actions.
   
   Kathy Kelly writes with an easy style without accusations or stridency about inaction to the injustice she has witnessed. She tells her experiences in Iraq and in prison and shares the stories of the people she has met in her journey.
   
   She tells her story and waits for the numbers of the Voices in the Wilderness to grow, and grow.



4. Kathy Kelly, a two-time nominee for the Nobel Peace prize, powerfully documents the horrific effects of US military and economic intervention in the Middle East and Latin America. Like all the CounterPunch titles being published by AK Press, this is a necessary read. Kelly's compassion and commitment to peace and social justice shine through on every page. It's a shame that Kelly has not yet won the Nobel Peace prize, when such right-wing nutcases like Kissinger, Rabin and Mother Teresa have. (To learn more about Mother Teresa, read Christopher Hitchen's wonderful book, "The Missionary Position", written when he was still somewhat of a leftist.) It's a shame too that Kelly, who exemplifies the true gospel message, is relatively unknown outside of the peace movement, unlike Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, who instead of preaching peace, preach war, who instead of preaching love, preach homophobia, racism and sexism. (Just look at the connections between evangelical Christians and the Israeli war machine and the efforts of Christian fundamentalists to undermine the Chavez administration in Venezuela!) While I am not myself religious, I nevertheless honor Kelly's courage and solidarity with the poor, as I honor also the thousands of radical nuns and priests who've been tortured and disappeared in Latin America. Like Jesus said, "Blessed be the peacemakers." Anyone interested in 21st century liberation theology, the Catholic Worker movement, and post-1960s' peace and justice activism, look no further. With humility and deep concern for the weakest, poorest, and most oppressed of our sisters and brothers, Kelly speaks like a modern day reincarnation of Dorothy Day.



5. Kathy Kelly and her fellow volunteers at VitW have shown that pacifism is not passive. With bravery and selflessness, they have shown compassion for all human beings, and worked hard to sound the cry for justice from the poor and the ignored.
   
   I firmly believe that Kelly and the rest of the tireless workers at Voices in the Wilderness deserve recognition for their heroism and dedication.
   
   While corporate elitists and politicians waiver to special interest constantly lie to the world and stir the public towards violent and belligerent action, Kelly is a modern-day David bravely confronting Goliath despite the threat of (and actual sentencing to) prison time.
   
   Her book infuriated me, and made me see with clarity that I am in the wrong fight, and fighting it the wrong way. One question that I have for myself after reading this: "Do I have the guts to stand up for human dignity and justice despite the threat of abuse and imprisonment?".
   
   Whether its the Military Industrial Complex that Eisenhower warned us against, or the Industrial Prison Complex that steals lives and money while only making the situation worse instead of being a productive solution to any problem, Kathy Kelly has seen first hand that our nation is and has been treading down the wrong path at a high rate of speed.
   
   Will you open your eyes to reality? Education and awareness can do wonders for society.

4 comments about Nan: The Life of an Irish Travelling Woman.

1. This books gives an excellent insight in the life-style of the Irish travellers, as well as it is an enjoyable read. The main character, Nan, is a woman from a travelling family, living like nomads in the developping Ireland that is becoming more and more modern around them. Her life is very harsh, and harsher than the normal life of a travelling person, as the author points out. Nonetheless, or maybe just because of that, it is a gripping story and its contains are very interesting. You don't only get a good read, you also get a good and interesting lesson in the subsociety of the Irish travellers, a group that to a large extent maintains their nomadic lifestyle up to this day.



2. I have used this book several times in anthropology classes I teach and this coming fall I am going to use it again. I think of it as a classic because it addresses so many important aspects of a good life history. First, it represents the everyday life of a person living in poverty, an area worthy of academic study. It is also a close study of how women are sometimes, and in some societal situations, subject to abuse and have little recourse. Then, this study is also an interesting look at how historical changes influence the lives of people, in this case the travellers who used to make their living as tin smiths and horse traders and are now forced to adapt to an urban and highly technical world. The book is beautifully written and has always been well received by students



3. Sharon Gmelch's work, published originally in 1986, emerged from her anthropological doctoral studies conducted along with her husband George's concurrent work into the urbanisation of the travellers. She enters Nan's tales delicately, bringing you as a reader in and out of Nan's anecdotes occasionally before taking again the thread of her long and detailed recollections of a life spent largely outside the confines of city life, but, it is to be noted, increasingly becoming settled within the urban life that takes over for millions of Irish in the latter part of the 20th c., from whatever rural background or tradition.
   
   The highlights of this account I found were in her service for Major Evans at Gretton House in Northants. In this quintessentially British country home, she worked her way up from being a kitchen maid, and her vignettes capture movingly her ability to, being illiterate, to live by her wits. Her subsequent return to Ireland, one senses, was not wished for, even though it brought her back to her traveller lifestyle. For her childhood, as with too many of her own 18 children, she shows how elastic the bonds are between parents and offspring (despite the often asserted claim that for travellers family ties come first), as some of her own children found themselves sent off to institutions to be raised.
   
   The most intriguing section next was how she met her match in trying to survive as a totally untutored fortune-teller in 1940s Conamara, since she could only barter her wares rather than be paid for them from women as poor as she was! After that, the weariness of surviving wears her down into a much older-looking woman than she was when Gmelch met her in the 1970s. Abusive husbands, unending pregnancies, exhausting hustles, and life spent on the road or in substandard housing left her wiped out.
   Drink and violence--at one point she casually gives as an aside the fact her husband broke her nose--belie the carefree proto-hippie romanticism that rose-tinted a harsh, gray, and lonely life. (No index and a lack of detailed notes cut this book down a star, however).
   
   A good follow-up is Gmelch's 1976 general account, Tinkers and Travellers, which documents Nan's testimony and that of others, often camped at Holylands near Dublin. George Gmelch wrote a more theoretical, less engaging study of the Travellers, and Jane Helleiner offers more recent scholarly work from 2001.



4. A very interesting and heartrending book. While as an Irish person I regularly saw Tinkers, as they were called, their lives were somewhat remote from mine. Through this book, and Nan's experience, I was taken into the heart of their lives and and was able to view with compassion their struggle to survive. In the days when villages were isolated, they provided a needed service to communities such as sweeping chimneys. However, with modern communications, the Tinker's services and wares were no longer needed. They gravitated to the cities in search of work and became scrap merchants, fortune tellers, and beggers, becoming a nuisance to residents, and they were largely ostricized. Yet, while the older Travelling People yearn for the open skies and freedom from the confines of the cities and a settled life, but this is no longer a viable lifestyle. Nan preferred her children to have a settled life.

3 comments about Portia: The World of Abigail Adams.

1. Gelles presents for us Abigail Adams in a new light...the domestic woman. By telling her story thematically (one chapter devoted to her and her sisters, one devoted to her daughter and Abigail jrs fight with breast cancer) we meet a new Abigail...one who is not weighed down by proto-feminist thought, nor is she trying to dominate the home. Abigail was an unusual woman in a few ways, but keep in mind that she kept a family togehter by herself for the many years when John Adams was in Philadephia or England or France. She acted within social norms as a "deputy husband" (to use the language of the times). Although at times I question if Gelles isn't slightly underestimating the second first lady of the US...she presents a new counterpoint to the large body of Abigail Adams scholarship out there. For those scholars of Abigail Adams, her first chapter basically presents in a historiographical manner the various types of Abigail scholarship out there, offering a critique of many of the well-known authors. It is a bit dry at times, but is not at all painful to read.



2. In our post Hilary-Clinton world, we assume that the First Lady will influence the President to some degree or another.

   John and Abigail Adams, however, were a couple like no other. Their partnership was amazing and John could not have been the man he was (revolutionary, founding father, statesman, president, friend, husband and father), without Abigail. She helped balance him, shared her intelligent and insightful views with him in ways that were supportive and helpful, gave up much of the life she probably envisioned with him so that he could serve his country in a variety of ways, managed his domestic and financial life alone for much of their marriage, and truly loved down to her core this sometimes difficult man.

   This book is a great addition to our knowledge of this complex woman. It is worth reading just to understand her better, aside from her well-biographied husband.




3. I think Abigail Adams is one the greatest and most interesting women in American history.

   This book gives us a picture of her as a young woman, as the wife and confidant of John, as a mother, as a manager of farms and homes, and as a friend to many.

   It also gives us a window into her life as a woman with a rich and interesting life of the mind and the heart.

   A great read!

1 comments about The Living Tradition of Maria Martinez.

1. SOME OF SHE WORKS IN CERAMIC

5 comments about Iran Awakening: A Memoir of Revolution and Hope.

1. This book is the perfect book for people looking to read inspirational stories. I would recomend this book to anyone with an open mind.



2. Here is a woman who is trying her hardest to be islamic and make excuses for her religion which is a bad one to start with. Very few mulims seem able to look at Mohammed and his life. However, this is a brave woman in the limits of Islam.



3. This is a concise book on how the society is affected by revolution and its vagaries in Iran. Written by the venerable Nobel Laureate, it showcases many brutalities done by the regime in the name of tradition and religion. This also shows a woman's struggle to cope with the human rights in such regime. Although written very briefly and possibly in a haste, meaning that scenes jump to one another suddenly and there is no in depth explanation why the society is behaving like this, this book is a primer in civil movement in Iran. I had a long-time suspicion that Iranian law is very messy, making its people hate the regime and it turn Islam itself. This book proves it, which shows how Iranian penal code uses extreme means in the name of Islam, whereas the same laws are very different in other muslim countries.



4. Shirin Ebadi ([...]) is trying to be loyal to Iran's cultural and religious traditions as well as universal values of human rights. Unlike many Iranians, whom she chides (perhaps unfairly!) for abandoning Iran and Islam, she has chosen not to abandon this heritage to the forces of darkness and intolerance. She has taken her life in her hands to protect what is left.
   I am not a Muslim and I have left Iran (although I have family which has stayed behind), but I can only be moved by her example of steadfastness and courage.
   This book is not without flaws. Its coauthor, or at least its editor, should have been familiar with Persian. And some of her reasoning about the compatibility of Islamic dogma with human rights struck me as weak. But otherwise, I heartily commend this book to anyone who cares about Iran.
   One question: How come this book is so hard to find in American bookstores? Just wondering...
   For a more detailed review, please visit my blog at
   [...]and leave a comment.



5. I join those admirers who have called Nobel Peace prize winner Shirin Ebadi a woman of steel. Her intelligence, tenacity, and courage to bring justice to women, children, and dissidents over the years is amazing!
   
   She used her creative juices to organize a public funeral for one little girl who'd been left in the custody of her abusive father, after his divorce from her mother. In divorce cases, the law automatically gave custody to the father, no matter if he had an abusive history and/or was a drug abuser. Ebadi helped to bring change in that unfair law with the help of friends/colleagues through that public event as it stirred the public to speak up, and even one man came forward with another child that had been left to the whims of his abusive father, though the boy had wanted desperately to live with his mother. That was just one of many cases where she tried to effect change in unjust laws and bring justice to victims and their families, most of whom had been severely abused by their country's legal system. Or more precisely perhaps, by whoever's whims they happened to be dealing with at the moment. She has written articles that brave editors published, thereby raising the ire of government hard-liners. And she has exhaustively researched through musty old religious texts, to better argue her cases; she hasn't always won, but when she's in the courtroom, she seems to the reader to be steadfast and unafraid of any religious hard-liner, and not afraid to speak up if she thinks they said something totally unrelated to the case (which often appears to be a condescending reprimand to her).
   
   Her belief and hope in Iran is truly admirable, though I think she comes down rather harshly on her friends and colleagues who fled the country over the years, especially during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
   
   Her recollections of clients and friends who were abused by the powers that be are heart-wrenching. Some cases kept me on the edge of my seat, such as when a writer friend of hers was en route to attending a literary conference in Armenia and the bus driver twice abandoned the bus full of 20 or so writers on the high, winding mountains of northern Iran. The second time he abandoned it, the nose of the bus had just slipped over a mountain cliff (he jumped out in time, of course). Or when a classmate who was a judge was travelling with her fiance and two male friends to visit her mother--and was stopped by the "morality police"; they were held and interrogated for three days. It is painful to learn what little freedom of expression the Iranian people have, and the extent of intolerance the hard-line members of their government harbor towards women's rights, dissidents, and activists like Ebadi.
   
   As Ebadi herself writes, this isn't a political memoir or political analysis of how and why events came to pass. It's her personal story and how events in the last half century have affected her life. Her strength radiates throughout the book, especially when she recounts her time in jail. Before she reported to the judge, she left a note to her family:
   
   "My dear ones, By the time you read this, I will already be in prison. I want to assure you that I will be fine. I will be released and unharmed because _I have done nothing wrong_ (italicized in book). Can you please do something for me? I want you to imagine for a moment that I've suffered a heart attack and have been rushed to the hospital. Wouldn't that be terrible? It would be much, much worse than my arrest. So please keep all of this in perspective. Love to all..." (pp. 161-162)
   
   Shirin Ebadi had open-minded parents, who treated her, her sisters and brother equally. What a fortunate beginning, as well as having an open-minded husband who "let me be myself from the beginning, and encouraged my work as part of me, rather than a hobby or indulgence" (p. 29)! She maintained her domestic responsibilites at home, while managing her writing and legal work. I can only marvel at how she stayed focus as mom, wife, judge, and then as human rights lawyer/activist! Her memoir will surely be an inspiration to human rights activists everywhere.