5 comments about Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter.

1. What i really want to say is that someone who is brave enough (not afraid of being blacked-balled in the restaraunt world), needs to write what restaraunt workers are really like.
   
   You get a glimpse of the truth in Bourdain's writings....but the place for the misfits, the addicts, the alcoholics, the nearly homeless: your favorite restaraunt. Doesn't matter what or where it is. That waiter who looks so dapper and well-schooled at 9pm.....will be a buzzed and boozed wreck at 3am.
   
   I know this. Family members are the real eavesdroppers.



2. I really wanted to like this book--and this author. But what started out promisingly ultimately fell flat into a heap of 'who cares about your personal relationship with the sommelier?'. The insight gleaned didn't feel revealing (as the book was so hyped to do) and I ended up actually _disliking_ the author by the end, who, in turns, came across as smug, condescending and even small. I wanted this to be a book I was glad to have in hardcover. Instead I'm just left regretting I dropped the cash and didn't read the Amazon reviews beforehand (instead of just the critics'). At the risk of being cast out of some community, I FAR preferred Amanda Hesser's book about her latte-loving boyfriend to this one, which ended up being, in my mind, a book about Phoebe Damrosch's wine-loving one.



3. I couldn't even make it as far as the romantic part. I suspect the problem lay with the nature of her restaurant; rich people overpaying "to be seen" doesn't do it for me.



4. ok i got this book becauce of the place the author worked and the chef she worked for. What I got was a book more about here personal love life which in the brief time she worked there was sev diff coworkers including a secret relationship with a managerial level employee. SO the amount of the book devoted to the chef and the restaurant itself was less than I desired. Her employer Per Se also is one of the first places in the States to charge a service charge on all purchases which the author's tale ends just before its implemented which is also something I wanted to see details on in the book. Sadly the author quits to avoid the loss of income this would entail. It was interesting to learn the chef did this to equalize the kitchen pay to the servers wages. Personally I assumed a place of such caliber would pay well above the standard wages but mind you the servers were probably clearing low 5 figures when they were being tipped.



5. Billed as a front of the house "kitchen confidential" but sadly it was not at all. Mildy interesting but without any of the juice that was promised. Not recommended by me.

5 comments about The Writing Life.

1. While this book is sometimes inspiration, as I would hope it to be, it also wanders off subject in ways that are only distracting. Any book on the craft of writing is liable to have lofty portions that make great analogies between the craft and other things, but Dillard stretches things much too far while spending much too much time on it. Hearing the details of a writer's life, their quirks and struggles, is heartening and it is in this that Dillard enlightens, but I also expect a book on craft to spend more time on craft. While I want to hear how hard it was to find time to write and how priorities shift when in the throes of creative vision, but I also want to consider the details. I want to hear what other writers think about the use of first person, on whether or not one must like or at least sympathize with a protagonist. The Writing Life did none of these things. It left me feeling pretty hollow. At least it is a thin little book.



2. This is a charming little book--honest, somewhat lucid, and, at times, helpful. "The Writing Life" is Dillard's reflections on her writing life, written in a way that is quite conversational. For those of you who are finding your way through your own writing life, and, as I do, often need a little encouragement, then this is a neat little book to have on your nightstand. Relax, pour yourself a cup of tea, and read a chapter or two; perhaps then take a little nap--you'll feel better in no time.
   
   My only caution is that this 'genre' of writing is growing in strength, summoning forth both astute and sophomoric writers to join its ranks. You'll find yourself spending more and more precious time reading about the 'theory' of writing, rather than working through the pain of your own creative process. Hence, I'd suggest only engaging in this type of writing once in a while; and perhaps have only two or so of these books in your library. I recommend both this one, and a little gem by the great Canadian writer, Margaret Atwood, entitled, "Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing".



3. The 'Paris Review Interviews' which were started by George Plimpton interviewed over at least two decades scores of writers on questions of their writing habits and practices. Hemingway sharpened dozens of pencils before beginning the day's work, and Faulkner told us about how he read no contemporary authors but only returned again and again to the eternal favorites to Shakespeare and Cervantes. In her essay here Annie Dillard discusses her own unique habits as a writer, and tells how she thinks about it, and practices her craft. She discusses the difficulties for her of the writing life, and the intense and painful practice of bringing work to the level she finds right. A longtime reader and interpreter of Thoreau she has something of his devotion to nature, and his solitary reflectiveness. She hears her own drummer and has beaten a path to the heart of many readers.
   But every writer has of course to find their own way. So not the whole of the story but some hint or suggestion along the way might well prove useful to the many aspiring writers who might read this work.



4. I recently received this book in the mail.
   
   I opened the package and sat at my desk in my college dorm room; I had no idea what was about to happen.
   
   The clock read 11:46 pm as I started into this short read, and I seemingly did not take a breath until I was finished with the last page over an hour later. Annie Dillard once again captured every exciting aspect of writing in one of her works, and she managed to contain it all in little over a hundred pages.
   
   Dillard is one of the best American writers of our time, and this book proves it. It is worth ten times what you will pay for it.
   
   If you have any passion for writing, you will love this book.
   If you would like to get inside the head of the great Annie Dillard, you will love this book.
   
   Buy it, check it out, borrow it; read it somehow.



5. This book is a gem - the best book I have yet had the privilege of reading about the craft of writing. When finished, you are left with a sense of many aspects of being a writer - the mystery, the satisfaction, the needed humility, the sublimity... and most of all, the work and the waiting.
   
   Though it may seem at times that Dillard makes the craft of writing too ethereal, too abstract, this is counterbalanced by austere sensibility. Her voice, though exceptionally beautiful and intelligent, is surprisingly conversational. One feels as though she is not writing artificially.
   
   My favorite quote from The Writing Life has to be, "Write as if you were dying. At the same time, assume you write for an audience consisting solely of terminal patients. That is, after all, the case" (68). Though Dillard does not write from a noticeably Christian perspective, this rings true for me in so many ways, including spiritually. She says, "Why are we reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed?" (72).
   
   And just when you think she is becoming too sublime, she says something like, "It is no less difficult to write sentences in a recipe than sentences in Moby-Dick. So you might as well write Moby-Dick" (71). She has an enviable power to say things in simple, precise, but imaginative terms. Her analogies are strong and brilliant - biting at one moment, dazzling at the next. She is a master at showing instead of telling.
   
   Full of personal anecdotes, colorful imagery, and striking insights, The Writing Life is the perfect companion for anyone who cares about giving voice to his or her way of looking at the world.

5 comments about Pressure is a Privilege: Lessons I've Learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes (Billie Jean King Library).

1. I'VE BEEN A BJK FAN FOR OVER 45 YEARS...I WATCHED HER GROW FROM A GIDDY TEENAGER INTO THE WONDERFUL WOMEN SHE IS NOW..
   I HAD THE PLEASURE OF MEETING HER 4 YEARS AGO...SHE IS WHAT SHE BELIEVES..
   SHE GIVES HER FANS HER FULL ATTENTION AND SINCERELY ENJOYED MEETING US AND EVEN GAVE US FOREHAND LESSONS..RIGHT THEN AND THERE..
   THIS BOOK IS JUST LIKE HAVING A PERSONAL CONVERSATION WITH HER..
   IT'S ALSO A LOVING TRIBUTE TO HER PARENTS WHO INSTILLED IN HER SUCH WONDERFUL LIFE VALUES...
   IT'S A GREAT READ FOR ANYONE...IT TRULY PUTS LIFE INTO PERSPECTIVE.



2. Where is Billie Jean?
   
   I was delighted to get an ARC for Billie Jean King's book, since I think of her as an extraordinary woman, one who has not only been a #1-ranked tennis player, but a woman of integrity, who championed the Title IX for equal disbursement of Federal funding for male and female sports in schools, World Team Tennis, the Virginia Slims Tournament, equal pay for women's tournaments, women's liberation and for non-discrimination in life style choices. I have always admired her for her willingness to take a position, albeit unpopular ones, because it was the right thing to do.
   
   That being said, I am sorely disappointed in her book. It's not that the book isn't well written, as prose goes, it's just fine. And, actually, her subtitle does indicate that her book is about lessons she has learned and The Battle of the Sexes. I was hoping that the book was about more than the subtitle. My mistake.
   
   She does list and discuss these lessons and her set of life principles with great enthusiasm, and I agree with them all.
   The problem is that these lessons and principles are not new ones; certainly lots of champions and even everyday people live by these same principles. They are good principles to live by, and it isn't a bad thing to be reminded of how powerful they can be in your life. But she could have talked about all of these things in one chapter, as a prelude to telling us about herself. Instead this book is about stating and then restating (in large boxes at the end of each chapter) her principles and life lessons.
   
   Secondarily, most of the rest of the book is about the tennis match for the ages - The Battle of the Sexes - with Bobby Riggs. Billie Jean would chat about other events in her life in a vague sort of way, but they always let back to some more conversation about the Bobby Riggs match. The book has 187 pages of text. She begins on Page 20 (following a preface and an intro) mentioning Bobby Riggs and the match. The story continues with him, ad nauseum, up to page 97, when Billie Jean states that she wants to make a "final observation" about Bobby Riggs. I thought - whew! - Enough already, we're going to get to the story of Billie Jean. Except, that promise of release from Bobby inanities was broken and Bobby continued to be discussed throughout the book and was last cited on page 186.
   
   I agree that, in retrospect, that tennis match was more than just the entertainment, more than the spectacle. At the time a statement about women in sports, women as champions and equal rights was being promoted. But enough already! It was also just a tennis match. In equal retrospect, any number of other important events could be cited in that same vein - we just don't need 187 pages of it, couched in between lots of not-new lessons of life.
   
   In reading this book, I relearned one of my own life lessons. Never let your expectations exceed a reasonable payoff -- you're bound to be disappointed. I went looking for Billie Jean and got Bobby Riggs and platitudes instead.
   
   I think that Billie Jean is worth much more, that her life story would be profoundly more interesting that this rather trite and ultimately uninteresting account. Too bad she didn't write that book.



3. GREAT READ! GREAT GIFT! I am going back to buy 10 more copies as gifts for my mother, father and other family and friends!
   
   As a former college athlete - one of the millions of women who benefited from the hard work of and changes created by Billie Jean King, I was thrilled to read personal thoughts, memories, and advice - straight from Billie Jean King herself!! This is a quick, entertaining, and informative read that gave me countless tools to better deal with personal and professional life challenges. I HIGHLY recommend it! I'm giving it as a Christmas gift to everyone I know!!!



4. Billie Jean King is one of my heroes. She is from my generation, and as an amateur tennis player, she is "the greatest" to me.
   
   This is an advice book, full of ideas useful on and off the court. There is no greater advocate of women's sports and tennis in general than this lady.
   
   The book relates the impact of her famous match against Bobby Riggs, her preparation for the match and realization of what it meant to all women. How proud we all were when she "beat the socks off of him."
   
   While she has achieved equal pay for women at the major tournaments, she herself played the best of five sets against Riggs, something women still do not do in pro tennis. Some critics say that women should play the longer matches to earn equal pay.
   
   Regardless of one's opinions about tennis tournaments, this is an excellent compendium of advice for facing all sorts of challenges in life. Those who excel at something certainly earn the higher level pressures they face, hence pressure is indeed a privilege.
   
   It is a small, short book, well worth the time to read and expenditure of the low Amazon price.



5. One upping a man in tennis thirty five years ago has given Tennis star Billie Jean King much to think about. "Pressure is a Privilege: Lessons I've Learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes" is her autobiography of her life as a figure for feminists and a model for gender relations. With a good dose of common sense and wisdom, "Pressure is a Privilege" is a memoir worth reading for a look into a mind of an everyday woman who did wonderful things.

5 comments about Assata: An Autobiography (Lawrence Hill & Co.).

1. Wow...When you read this book you feel in another era , in another world but the sad part is that is not, it is our world and what hapened to this woman was real.I recommended to everyone regarding your ethnic gropu, but specially to blacks and whites in this country.



2. This is by far the best autobiography I have read so far. It was an easy read and extremely expressive. In many ways it is disturbing if you think of what the character goes through. The explicit racism, abuse, pain that Assata had to endure is decribed really well. You get to in fact life in her era, in her life when you read this book. I literally could not put it down and read it in 2 days.
   
   It pretty much gives you and idea of how things were in the 70's, what black people went through especially women, what the black panther party was really all about, the dirty system we call law, explicit racial comments and treatment etc. If you like stuff like that, then you'll love this book.



3. This book is a must have for revolutionary minds of the next generation. Assata illustrates the life and times of the struggle. She also reveals what black women had to go through and endure. This book is worth the purchase. Young brothers and sisters need to feed their brains with this one.



4. Even if you have never heard of Assata you should pick up this book. It's the autobiography of a woman who now lives in exile in Cuba, telling her story of how she was arrested in the U.S. and charged with murder. When you pick up this book you can easily read it cover to cover. You will love her style; the book reads as if she is speaking to you one on one and telling you what happened. Her story is something that will show readers a view of society and government that they may have not seen or heard of before - the other side of the Black Power movement in the 1960s-1970s. The book speaks out on the corruption of the justice system and the government. Follow up after the book with materials and resources on her website for more information. Assata's few published books are difficult to find but well worth the read. She is a strong figure that is still active in making change in our society today. As a person who had not know much about the Black Power movement I was absolutely blown away by Assata's book, her work, and her continued vigilance and courage.



5. I'd only heard her story in snippets; she was a Panther, a revolutionary and a wanted woman. She has been lauded and lambasted and I believed that she was someone that I needed to learn more about. My education started by reading her biography.
   
   From a literary standpoint, the book is beautiful. Well written, easy to follow and interspersed with her own poetry. For it's beauty however it is still a difficult story to read. Because it is a story of a woman whose eyes, mind and heart were wide open to the possibilities of freedom and equality but was faced repeatedly with inequality, injustice, persecution and racism. Most times her story was horrifying, particularly her imprisonment, sometimes she kept it light, when speaking of her childhood, her friendships, etc. But through all times, I would suggest that her story remains relevant and inspiring and makes the reader thirst for more knowledge of her and the movement for which she sacrificed so much for.

5 comments about Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity.

1. I was disappointed by this book. It read like a catalog of sexual experiences with little insight or flair in the telling. The ending was abrupt and contrived.



2. For a memoir about promiscuity, there is surprisingly very little about sex. Loose Girl is so much more than a tale about a promiscuous girl. It is a gripping and courageous account of one woman's prolonged struggle with shame and insatiable need.
   
   There is a certain element of seduction buried in the way that author Kerry Cohen frames her poignant story. Only a few pages in, I found myself hopelessly seduced by her impressive ability to captivate the attention of her readers. She is undoubtedly an extremely talented writer and a woman who has clearly mastered a tremendous amount of emotional and psychological growth. Luckily for her audience, she was brave enough to share the painful lessons of her own evolution so that others might learn from her mistakes. It's no surprise that this book has its fair share of critics, but hopefully readers will be wise enough to judge for themselves.
   
   In my opinion, Loose Girl is worth well more than its entertainment value alone. It exposes not only the author's painful past but also the fundamental cracks within the human condition, by which we are all afflicted in some way. It acknowledges the realities of our frailties and dissects the incessant agony of our need, not necessarily in a sexual manner but in a human way. Anyone who has ever felt unworthy, unloved or unsatisfied in any way should definitely pick up a copy of this book.



3. Not about sex but a girl's journey into understanding the double standard game that is out there between girls and guys. It's heartfelt writing and I really felt compassion for the charachter.



4. I was fortunate enough to read a review copy. A MUST READ. Not to be missed. compelling, frightening, heart wrenching, fast paced, horrifying, the sorrowful mysteries. The hollowness of her life makes me vomit. Sadly she can't give, but only take. In the last few pages there is redemption.
   
   I would be curious if young women think this is a typical experience for girls of the writer's age. Her escapades seem to begin in the very early teen years and end perhaps in her mid-twenties. What surprised me also was the unwillingness of some of the young men to jump into bed quickly with her.



5. Most of this book was written with such unflinching honesty, that the poor ending and lack of self-examination or understanding was that much more of a disappointment and shock.
   
   While the author traces her history of longing for physical attention, I felt for the uncertain teenager who believed her worth came solely from males. I believe this is a trap that is easy for any young woman to fall into, but Cohen did so with a vengeance, sleeping her way through high school, college, and beyond.
   
   While I appreciate her bare-bones honesty, I found the book lacking in any sort of self-analysis. I never got the sense that Cohen understood why she felt so undeserving of love, nor why she stayed in unfulfilling, dysfunctional relationships.
   
   Suddenly, she seems "recovered," though I wonder if she truly has made her way out of the abyss. Instead, I think she just replaced one relationship with another. The book ends on a high note, but I think it will be just a matter of time before her insecurities suck her back into her black hole.

5 comments about Really Bad Girls of the Bible: More Lessons from Less-Than-Perfect Women.

1. I have to say Liz Curtis Higgs sheds new light, at least for me, on a lot of those women in the Bible. You know, I've read about all these women in Ms. Curtis's book before, but somehow when I read my bible I missed a whole heck of a lot. I don't know how, because when I read this book I wanted to slap myself upside the head plenty of times. Duh, I'd mudder, how come I didn't see that? How come I didn't get it? Well I'm getting a lot of it now. As a Bible teacher, Ms. Curtis really excells and she makes it oh so interesting. I highly recommend this book.



2. Our church's women's ministry used this book for our Bible study and enjoyed it tremendously. I could relate to so many of the characters and was so horrified by some of the others! I enjoyed reading about the many relatively obscure Biblical women. We had several elderly ladies in our group who were surprised to read stories they'd never remembered reading before. I liked that Higgs focuses on Biblical women who were strong leaders, even if they were bad for a season.
   
   We laughed, blushed, cried, and enjoyed every minute of discussing this book and how it related to our lives. Her message of grace for bad girls is one we all need to hear. I look forward to reading and sharing more of Higgs' books.



3. I had reservations about it when my small group decided to give this book a whirl, and although I was game and tried to like it, I just couldn't.
   
   Liz's overfamiliar style, her judgemental tone, and pandering to churchy already-good-girls reads like a book that reinforces smugness among the churched.
   
   I especially did not like the way she glossed over the difference in 21st Century standards for women, and instead just judged them against today's free-er women's options and opportunities.
   
   I will say that we had many good conversations because we read the book, but in the end, we were all severely disappointed in the book itself.
   
   Examples of what I mean: some of the "bad girl" scenarios seemed like she was stretching to fill pages, "bad for a good reason" - what?, or nattering on and on about David's sin with Bathsheba - wait, he's not a girl!



4. Finally all the 25 books arrived. They came from many different vendors. They will be much appreciated by our church woman's group.



5. Liz Higgs books make a very good Bible study reference. The adult Sunday Bible Study group that my wife and I attend at church have recently finished using "Really Bad Girls of the Bible" as the basis of our classes. The group leader has both the book and the study guide. We had previously used "Bad Girls of the Bible", and have justly started on "Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible". My wife especially enjoys reading Liz Higgins books.

5 comments about The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness.

1. This is a remarkably personal and insightful journey which takes us through the loss of hope and faith and then back to a higher realm of love and understanding. Here are my personal thoughts about this book:
   
   1. By the end of the book, I felt a bond with her that is similar to something I have felt for some of my best professors and teachers who helped me understand complex things. Karen is extremely honest and open and able to describe emotions and reactions which many thoughtful people must have to orthodox religious training and dogma. She works so hard to do the right thing and yet she is unable to feel the connection to God and make the decision to accept things as they are. She is the opposite of the normal rebellious person who bolts. She is the long suffering special person who will follow the rules, sacrifice and do the right things over and over again to come up with the expected result of obedience and conformity. And yet, that brilliant and analytical mind of hers cannot allow herself to be tricked or cajoled into compliance. I feel that this is because she is brutally honest and pure.
   
   2. She lets us into her very private and sometimes sad life. We know her every fear and understand that she is shy, awkward socially, and backward, and as she heals and moves to the next level of understanding in her life, we root for her and admire the things she is trying to do. Her accomplishments are huge and she has done it virtually all alone with extreme patience and many setbacks as well as thousands of days carefully studying the history of religion, various poets and other important writers. The ultra close relationship we have with her every day struggles helps us comprehend her conclusions and remarks about spirituality, religion and life. She has taken the time to do what many of us would like to do but can't do because of other more pressing obligations and, perhaps, addiction to regular shallow life things.
   
   3. She is imprisoned by her unknown health problems, her religious obligations, fear and shyness, and yet we see her determination get her to a level of freedom experienced by very few people. She loses her faith, gains a cause to help others understand how religion at a certain level can be damaging, and as she reads and studies each of the three major religions, she gradually moves back to a spiritual understanding that gives her a new freedom and love of everyone. Along the way, she teaches us some of the basics about each of the religions and why we need to understand them before we assume that all others are incorrect and horrible. This gives us hope and makes us want to reexamine and study others and then move to that higher level that is taught by all of them. Certainly, it makes me want to study more about Judaism and the prophet Mohammed's teaching.
   
   I finished the book with a great and positive feeling that there may be hope in the world if we could take the time to truly understand each other. It's a great book. Thanks, Karen.



2. Written with much sensitivity (and courage), it induced much empathy with the author. A good read.
   
   I was less than impressed with some of her books on history of religion, but this autobiography shows where she was coming from, and helped me better appreciate what she was trying to convey in those other books.
   
   I look forward to the next installment in this autobio series. :-)



3. So Karen is dysfuntional? No, like me, she has temporal lobe epilepsy, a condition from which the world and society prefer to turn away and pretend it doesn't exist. It's exceptionally hard to describe, since it has literally hundreds of forms and does leave one doubting one's sanity at times. Then we doubt the world's mental balance. I was once dismissed from work by someone who feared I'd bite colleagues. And Karen is an apologist for Muslim extremists? Oh, for pity's sake, grow up! Read what she says, not what your prejudice tells you. Does she perhaps wear a Paisley scarf too (originally a Scottish design, by the way)? There's no trusting these people, is there, if they don't think just like you? Open the window and look outside. There's a world out there, bigger than even your prejudices and bigotry.
   And a note to Mr Benanchou: the Greeks didn't believe the world was flat. In the centuries BCE, the circumference of the world was calculated to a high degree of accuracy, with two sticks, sunlight and basic trigonometry (subtended angles - look it up.) We rely on very pricy satellites, not garden canes, which cost so much less.
   I applaud Karen Armstrong. It can still be problematical - I know well from experience - to assert one has epilepsy. Fears of evil spirits crop up, even now. And it can lead to social and career disaster. I was forced to retire, with two degrees, at only 42.



4. As a memoir, Armstrong's "The Spiral Staircase" succeeds in the first half. She documents her life in a Catholic convent, her physical challenges and her mental state of mind. Readers wonder, Why would she do this to herself when she was so miserable most of the time? Answer: Her goal was to find God.
   
   Her obsessive journey leads me, and I suppose many other readers, to conclude that she tried too hard. But it's a fascinating story.
   
   The last half of her memoir solves the puzzle of her physical (misinterpreted early in her life as mental) disability. Success follows her discovery, but the book gets tedious with her sometimes repetitious account of daily life and re-learning how to cope with job loss. She eventually finds her niche as a writer by publishing "A History of God," a thoughtful review of many religious cultures.
   
   Armstrong realizes that the study of God does not have to include belief in all the dictates of a specific religion. In fact it need not include belief in God at all. She finds out that the journey is more important than the goal.



5. This book is a beautiful act of compassion for other women and men who, like Karen Armstrong, have struggled with doubts, conforming to religions, and other related "failures." The book provides alternate, thoughtful, and understandable means of interpreting and expressing hopes and faiths. Thank you Karen for writing down your thoughts and helping many of us who have struggled with so many of the same issues you have studied.

5 comments about Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood.

1. I read Smashed while stuck at an airport half the night due to a tornado in the area and managed to finish it on the airplane on my way back home. While I have to admit the book kept me distracted from my situation, I didn't particularly care for her writing style. The absurd amount of metaphors she used were a bit distracting.
   
   My main problem with the book is that she seems to be glorifying what she went through. She insists she is not an alcoholic and I simply cannot understand that. I am speaking as a person who has much knowledge in alcoholism. There are two forms:
   
   1. Heredity (born addicted)
   2. Alcohol abuse that becomes addicting over a period of time.
   
   The author of this book had her stomach pumped and continued to drink. She experienced black outs, lost her best friend and believes she was possibly date-raped. A person who simply abuses alcohol for pleasure would stop when drinking stops becoming pleasurable. Koren Zailckas did not stop.
   
   I also find it highly doubtful that a therapist on-line would diagnose her condition without ever meeting her. This is extremely unprofessional and unethical. A true and liscenced psychiatrist / counselor / physician would have her schedule an appointment and get her screened. The doctor would also have to run tests and a medical check-up to make sure her health has not deteriorated after a decade of binge drinking (liver damage).
   
   I gave the book two stars because I did find the book mildly entertaining. Her book has a nostalgic tone to it and I did find myself almost reliving my adolescence in certain chapters. My annoyances in the book mostly stemmed from the obviously inexperienced writing style and the obvious lack of maturity from the author.



2. 
   
   I read this in conjunction with 'Blackout Girl'. Both books suffer from the same disease...that the authors think the facts of their life story are interesting in and of themselves. But they are not. Tales of dysfunctional parents and wild debauchery may make for a good hour on the Jerry Springer Show, they do not necessarily make interesting reading.
   
   The other issue is that most of the writing is cliched and trite to the point of exhaustion. It did get to the point where I could not finish this book....it no longer seemed worth the investment of time.



3. When I first picked up the book I thought it was fiction. I got into bed and at first was disappointed to find out it was not. However I decided to give it a chance. I was hooked right away. My breath was stolen while I connected to the writer. At my age now I look at my adolescence and young adulthood as if it was someone else but while reading that book it brought back so much emotion. I encouraged my friends and sister to read it because I felt we all could relate and everyone has loved this book. The stories may be shocking, sad, and/or appalling but it happens. It is very real.



4. This book isn't about alcohol abuse, really. It's about a girl from a priviledged family who grows up with lots of friends, becomes a college cheerleader/sorority sister, interns in New York, makes and maintains friendships along the way, and should be an all-around productive, happy citizen. But this girl, from an early age, wants to be a writer. She is especially awestruck by tortured female writers, like Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf. I think she assumed that to be a great writer/poet, suffering is essential. Her driving force isn't alchohol, it's the pretense of alcohol abuse because it makes her appear to be tortured. She thinks misery drives creativity. Many great writers/artists are and were indeed lost souls, many with mental health problems. But the author's problems are all self-inflicted. "Look at how much I drink...I'm so tortured! Feel sorry for me!"
   The more I read this book, the more I got the feeling that she had created a character in her own mind and was living it out. Maybe she should have gone into dramatic performance instead of writing. I wonder if the feminists she so hopelessly wants to impress with her smug treatment of men, are indeed impressed by her? She is certainly impressed enough with herself, blaming her actions on everyone around her.
   I got the impression that once she felt that she had suffered enough, she had a book to write. If you continually choose to place yourself in stupid situations, that just makes you stupid, not deep. If you continually remain emotionally and physically detached from "boys," and play mind games with them, guess what, they're not going to stick around. It doesn't make you smarter than them, just more pathetic. This story is like a whiny love letter the author wrote to herself--"See, you are so tortured and filled with angst, you have suffered so greatly, you are a writer!" Making stupid choices and employing the overuse of simile and metaphor doesn't create a great writer...just an annoying story that is written in an annoying manner.



5. I definitely had my party years and some of Koren's life experiences seem to match my own. She doesn't hold back anything and her honesty about the Greek system is accurate. I feel a little less guilty now that I know someone else had the same thoughts running through their head that I did during these less than virtuous moments. I enjoyed this book, but there is a constant sadness in her writing that makes you want to hug yourself and say, "It will be better tomorrow." If you like reading about Greek Life,then you should also read COLLEGE LIFE EXTREME: Lies, Sex, Drugs and Violenceand Pledged: The Secret Life of Sororities. Thanks Koren for sharing so much about your life with us! Your book will always have a special place on my bookshelf.

5 comments about Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father.

1. A well writen biography of one of the 19th. Centuries least famous literary families...The Alcotts father Bronson, mother Abba and daughters Elizabeth "Lizzy", Lousia May, Anna and May...This is a book without training wheels Professor Matterson leaves it to the reader to be familuar with Transdentialism, Godwinism, American Putitainism the lives of Hawthorne, Thoreau (Brothers), Enerson, the Lake District Poets, Wordsworth, Carisle etc. he doesn't take the time to inform the reader how they fit in to the Alcotts story...The heart of the book deals with the relationships bewteen Bronson Alcott and disgruntled Puritain turn Emerson transdentalist (Americas first hippie)and his cast of daughters who were as individual and different from each other as they could be...Louisa May the number two daughter is the focus of that relationship but her three sidters play strong supporting roles...If 19th. Century American Literature is of interest to you and you have done the prerequsites this will be an enjoyable read that will advance your knowledge of a most interesting if disfunctional family that played an inportant role in both literature and philosophy.



2. This is an engaging work of nonfiction. Matteson delivers a well written, fact driven, story about the interwoven lives of Bronson and Louisa May Alcott. Wonderfully rendered, it's never boring. Definitely worth a read if you're interested in 19th century women, writers, or history in general.



3. The author manages to do justice to both his subjects, Louisa May Alcott and her father. He also creates an excellent picture of the time and explains the transcendtalist movement. Besides L.M. Alcott and B. Alcott one learns a lot about Emerson, Thoreau, Elizabeth Peabody and other luminaries of the time. The book is fact driven, there are often long quotations from original material and it is very well written. A most enlightening book, bringing its subjects and their surroundings to life. I originally bought this book becasue of my interst in L.M. Alcott but by the end I found her father at least as interesting.
   I read this book like a thriller, finishing it in three days.



4. I agree with all the other reviewers, this is an outstanding biography. It is also something of a cautionary tale of the utopian urge that occasionally effects intellectuals. Never able to support his family, Bronson Alcott persisted in searching for a heaven on earth. His actions to actually create such a place are very sad.



5. 
   
   Thank you to Jim Matteson for reading every scrap the Alcotts left behind and digesting it into this wonderful dual biography.
   
   I was a young reader of Little Women (maybe 10 times) and the rest of the series. Later as an adult, I never quite put together the pieces the family. Now I know how the Alcotts fit in with Emerson and Thoreau, the role of Fruitlands in the life of the Alcotts and how it was the Amy came to marry Laurie.
   
   The above paragraph could sound flip without the understanding of how Louisa's fiction was a byproduct of both her father's idealism and his inability to support his family. Louisa would be his standard bearer, but she would at all costs, support the family.
   
   Bronson's philosophy of education was ahead of his time. While it can be debated whether his career ending publications served the cause, it is clear, it did not serve the family well. Followed by a second public humiliation in the touted but failed Fruitlands experiment, you can imagine the grief of a former idealist with a young family to feed.
   
   How many father's careers have been rescued by their children... and in the 19th century... any by their daughters? In the case of the Alcotts, it is more than a career redeemed, it is also values and virtues.
   
   Matteson gives a wonderfully readable dual biography. He sticks with his thesis. It's good that he resisted the temptation to delve into the other interesting personalities of the time. Just like when I first read Little Women, I didn't want this book to end.

5 comments about Gaining: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders.

1. 'Gaining' is the best book I've read related to eating disorders. So many books out there get bogged down in the details of anorexia and/or bulimia. This is the first I have read that tells about life after all that. I'm in recovery after 15 years of bulimia, and this book was a catalyst in helping to push me into that next step of recovery. 'Gaining' explains that there is no prescribed path to health; while we are alike in many ways, we may need different things along the way to make it. Liu and the women she writes about show that reaching wellness is possible AND worth it.



2. When I started reading this book, just a quarter of the way into it, I was very excited and hopeful that this could be one of the best books out there on EDs because it focused a lot on recovery, and using real life examples. Reading about solutions instead of just epidemics and hopeless stats was refreshing.
   
   The insight into people's personality traits was especially helpful. I bookmarked many passages with little post-it flags because so many things were right on.
   
   I had to knock off two stars for one reason only--the height and weight stats of most the women she interviewed. At first I didn't notice but the more into the book I read, it became very distracting. First of all, height and weight does NOT paint an instant mental picture of what someone looks like to me, anyway. I am not one of those carnival game workers who is trained to know what that looks like. I didn't understand why she couldn't have just described them as "underweight" or used adjectives instead of stats, or whatever.
   
   I couldn't believe it when she ACTUALLY listed the height and weight of the DAUGHTER of a woman with ED and inserted the following commentary--"far from excessive". You could almost hear the subtext after that, "but, could still stand to lose a few pounds." Instead, she lets the quote of the mother's opinion to speak what the author is thinking. And I'm thinking, how many girls who happen to weigh MORE than that and are SHORTER are going to feel when they read that? Never mind that she goes on to say how our bodies are functional and don't define who we are and how fathers can help daughters feel good about themselves--the seed of self-doubt could be planted somewhere.
   
   I noticed she also talked a lot about her own weight numbers throughout her various life stories, as though this says something on its own. It obviously does to the author, since she had an eating disorder and weight represents what was going on in her life at that point, but it doesn't mean a whole lot to the general audience. If she said, I was at X weight at that point I would think, so? I'm sorry, I forgot to memorize your height and I don't know what that means and how that adds to the story. All I needed to know was how healthy she was, really. And it was triggering to start thinking about my own height and how it compared, and I had to consciously tell myself to stop doing that.
   
   It was disappointing that for all the self-awareness and sensitivity the author brings to the subject, this detail escaped her attention. I don't think she meant anything malicious about it, of course, just a sad side effect of how an ED mind operates, unfortunately, even after the harmful behaviors have ceased.
   
   (if the author had any input in the ironic cover art--a photo of a bone-thin model in a joyous leap in a sheer dress on the beach--this would get two stars, especially because there is a whole chapter devoted to how media images equate thin women to success, health, and happiness)



3. As someone working towards recovery from an ED, this book is an amazing read. I can relate to the experiences of the author. Beyond that, the information (some scientific, some observational, all GOOD) she presents and her retrospective look at her previous book from the '70's, is golden information. Considering how uncertain people feel about the future after an ED, a window into what it could be like instills hope! Thanks!



4. I recommend this book to anyone with a history of anorexia or bulimia nervosa. It is well written and promotes healthy insights about one's condition, psychological predisposition and family context. I have read Caroline Knapp's book - Appetites, which I found to be excellent too. I also recommend Sensing the Self. All the others I have seen are not worth the time... This one, if not the best, is among them... Aimee Liu intertwines stories, including her own, in a way that holds you close, helping us also 'connect the dots' while reading the book. It helps us be more open in finding out about our own stories and how it matches this growing population of people with eating disorders. I found extremely useful!



5. This was a fantastic and inspiring book. Aimee gives a good mix about real stories from the women she knew growing up with eating disorders as well as some new research in the field of eating disorders. Brilliant writing, and for people who feel lost like I do, this book gives a glimpse that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I will definitely read this one again.