No comments about Searching for Mrs. Oswald Chambers: One Woman's Quest to Uncover the Truth about the Woman behind the Most Celebrated Devotional of ....

4 comments about Harriet Tubman: Imagining a Life.

1. After any number of biographies about Harriet Tubman (1822-1913) aimed at adolescents, Beverly Lowry's new work takes its place among two other recent efforts: Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom (2004), by Catherine Clinton, and Kate Larsen's Bound for the Promised Land; Harriet Tubman, Portrait of an American Hero (2004). Tubman looms large as one of our country's greatest and most inspirational heroes. She's also a biographer's nightmare. Tubman was born as one of nine siblings into a Maryland slave family, she never learned to read or write, and reliable documents about her, especially her early years, are sketchy to non-existent. Thus in her author's note Lowry describes her work as "the story of a life as I have reimagined it." She tries to avoid "weasily qualifiers" about Tubman, rather unsuccessfully in my opinion, but one can hardly fault her given her subject.
   
   Born Araminta Ross, Tubman was rented out as slave labor when she was about six years old. She later escaped to the north at age 27, then, defying all odds, made as many as nineteen return trips back into slave-holding territories in order to rescue as many as 300 other slaves. She also served in the Civil War as a spy, nurse, and armed soldier. About a year after her death, in 1914 a bronze tablet was laid at her home in the central New York town of Auburn where she lived for forty years, which includes her own description of her life work: "On my Underground Railroad I nebber run off de track and I nebber los' a passenger." Stubborn and stoic, dignified and determined, it's hard to fathom the bravery and brilliance it must have taken to do what she did. Tubman saw visions, heard the voice of God, and dreamed dreams as a truly fearless woman of faith. She also suffered from acute narcolepsy. By the time she died she was famous, which left me wondering why Lowry ends her biography in 1868, when Tubman still had another 45 years to live. Her book includes 62 photos, illustrations, and maps, along with extensive bibliographical sources for further study.



2. Wonderful and inspiring read. The author explores Tubman's spirituality as she herself used it to live a truly outstanding life.
   
   In a 12-step program or love someone who is? This book exemplifies how to "live in constant contact with the higher power of your personal choosing (Alcoholic Anonymous Big Book)" and what an extraordinary and fulfilling life that can result. Case in point - Harriet's mom is not grateful to be saved from slavery and moved up north where it is cold all the time and never lets Harriet forget it. Yet she responds with serenity even as she hides in a closet to get away from her nagging. She then asks for and takes direction from her higher power. Bill W. could not have written it better.



3. Very insightful - brings history to reality; I'm at Amazon now looking for other books by this author. She has fit so many details found from so many places to truly work a story. The author, like "the General" herself, is an excellent story teller. I couldn't wait to read more each night! Too, I liked that the author used third person to tell the story in an artful way, allowing me to both enjoy the saga as well as to know fact from conjecture. A tremendous telling of an amazing woman - the likes of which our generation has not known! Enjoy!



4. This book is part research document, part biography, and part interview woven into a touching story about one of America's bravest women. Harriet Tubman, Imagining a Life, by Beverly Lowry is a patchwork combining subtle hues of Tubman's enslaved childhood and the shadowy escapes and rescues of fellow captives, finely finished with her lifelong efforts on improving the lives of others.
   
   Glimpse into her life as a unique and amazing trailblazer. Our heroine Harriet was born into slavery in 1821and named Araminta Ross (Minty). A bright and hard-working child, at six years of age she was hired out to care for children not much younger than herself. She preferred physically demanding outdoor work to cooking and childcare, but always made the most of every situation.
   
   Slaves changed their names once free. This made it more difficult for the slave hunters to find them. One night Minty made her way out of bondage, safe house by safe house, night after night, on foot, by boat, step by arduous step. This is where a life of freedom begins for Harriet Tubman.
   
   Harriet returned numerous times to aid the flight of her enslaved family and friends. She sang songs in the night the others recognized. Codes were embedded in the lyrics so they would know if it was safe to begin the journey from a life of oppression.
   
   Lowry states, "... she had great instincts and a natural head for logistics, unusual peripheral vision, an irresistibly engaging manner, a great sense of humor, a fearless and single-focus temperament." Many believed Harriet had psychic powers because of her keen intuition. All of these attributes coupled with her physical strength and good sense equipped her for what she believed was God's work.
   
   Proof that one person can make a difference; I found the retelling of a familiar life inspirational. Harriet was not born into a family of great renown, yet she seized every new day with vigor and unselfishness, even until the very end.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: Powerful story.

5 comments about Carole Lombard, the Hoosier Tornado (Indiana Biography Series).

1. I'm giving this 3 stars just for existing. Actually writing and publishing a book on Carole Lombard, a great comedienne unfortunately best remembered today for being the blonde half of "Gable and Lombard"(if you asked most people under 50 to identify her picture-or conversely, tell you what she looked like, they probably couldn't, unlike Bette Davis, Ginger Rogers or any number of other 1930's greats), gets the author points from me. Also commendable is the lack of breathless, over-the-top language "movie star" bios are so often filled with, being more "fan fiction" than fact. Too bad, then, that this book is so slim, as it's unlikely another publisher will put out anything else on her for some time; this one only made it into print on the basis of Lombard's being born in Indiana-and this is apparently one of a proposed series of "Hoosier"-film-related biographies to come. That said, while the author has done some research, there's not nearly enough here, either biographically or contexually and critically, to justify owning this for any but the most die-hard Lombard fans...of which I'm one. The photograph selection is particularly sparse and uninspired, criminal when writing about such a beautiful, photogenic woman as Lombard was.
   There are almost NO candid shots, there's exactly ONE, often-printed "personal" photo of Lombard when she was 8 years old...many films are passed over, and there are a few glaring mistakes(note to Mr. Gehring: sir, any casual viewing of Carole's films will show that her famous scar (received in an auto accident in her teens, almost preempting her film career before it started) was on the LEFT, NOT the right side, of her face. What a weird error for a man to make who claims to have "lived surrounded" by Lombard memorabilia for years!). In sum, I'm disappointed that this book, which had the chance of being so much more, amounts to a long magazine article rather than a complete and definitive biography. The author does, however, have a deep affection for his subject, and does offer a few new insights-a few.
   My recommendation for best-to-date stories and reflections on this great, great performer would be David Chierichetti's "Mitchell Leisen: Hollywood Director", an oral history of one of Carole's best directors, who also was an intimate friend of hers. Go for that one instead. if you must choose. And certainly check out "Nothing Sacred", "My Man Godfrey", "Hands Across the Table", and "To Be Or Not To Be", to name a few of her peerless films.



2. The book was poorly written. It started with her death, but shed no new light to what the average movie fan already knew. It seemed that the writer went on the internet, found some old articles and put them together and called it a book. I read it in one hour and just finished it simply because I started it.



3. ... but, as some reviewers have noted, it's not for the die-hard fan. That's because the book is basically a rehash of well-known anecdotes and draws heavily upon other biographies and articles. As for the lack of photos/thin volume, one must keep in mind that this was published by the Indiana Historical Society. It's very expensive to get the rights for photos, not to mention print them on high quality, glossy paper. Like another reader however, I give high marks just for getting a book on Lombard published - and that can be attributed to the Indiana Historical Society. I've published books and I have been pitching a biography of Carole Lombard for YEARS. I even have a complete outline and have chalked up years and years of research ... but publishers don't want to touch it. They just don't think she'd sell. There needs to be an angle, etc.

   So this is the first book in a long time to be devoted solely to Lombard. In fact, it's been over 30 years since there has been any great interest in her. In the early and mid-70s there were a rash of books: Frederick Ott published 'The Films of Carole Lombard', Warren Harris published 'Gable and Lombard' - a poor film adaptation was made with Jill Clayburgh and James Brolin. Joe Morella published, 'Gable & Lombard & Powell & Harlow' and Leonard Maltin published 'Carole Lombard'. Then Larry Swindell published 'Screwball' - the only true biography of Lombard, which was also published during a time when so many of her peers were still around to be interviewed. Lyn Tornabene's bio of Clark Gable, 'Long Live the King' was published during this time and contains perhaps the best descriptions of Carole Lombard ever - sort of a bio within a bio. Several years ago, there was a glimmer of hope when Robert Matzen published a bio-bibliography of Carole Lombard. It was a rather dry read and suffered from odd print - but it was afterall, a bio-bibliography and so it was good in that respect. So, Gehring's book is really the first of its kind since Swindell's 'Screwball.'

   I agree that Carole Lombard deserves so much more - and she should be able to stand alone (not just as the star-crossed, glamorous appendage of Clark Gable). I haven't given up hope yet! Although this book is not the best read, having it out there is very important and fans must keep in mind that the author was probably limited to the publishing house's resources. If you enjoy Lombard's movies and don't know much about her, this book is a good starting point.




4. Reviewed for H-Indiana by Randy Roberts (rroberts@sla.purdue.edu), Department of History, Purdue University

   Nobody did it better. She did not invent the type, the scatterbrained blond who spoke faster than she thought, but Carole Lombard made it her own. When I think of her my mind wanders first to My Man Godfrey (1936), a film that without Lombard would be forgotten today. Except for a few fine character performances, and a couple patches of nice writing, it is not really that good of a film. But her breathless charm, her inability to finish a sentence without gasping for air or mouth a sentence that seems to contain a period, carries the entire production. Five minutes into the film the viewer is hooked. How could William Powell, or anyone else, resist her? I cannot imagine another actress in the role without wincing, nor can I picture anyone but Lombard being able to carry Ernst Lubitsch's brilliant, sardonic, and poignant To Be or Not To Be (1942). The two films illuminate another vital aspect of Lombard: She brought out the best in her leading men. William Powell and, particularly, Jack Benny were never better. Although Lombard lacked the range of Barbara Stanwyck, she is like Stanwyck in the respect that their finest films are ageless, as fresh today as they were in the 1930s and 1940s.

   Wes D. Gehring's Carole Lombard: The Hoosier Tornado is a brief, valuable examination of Lombard's life and films. Part of the recently inaugurated Indiana Biography Series, it reminds us that she was born Jane Alice Peters on October 6, 1908, in Fort Wayne, though Indiana only played the part of bookends in her life. Her mother relocated the family--sans husband--to California when the future star was still a young girl, and, of course, Lombard was returning from Indianapolis to Los Angeles after a war bond drive appearance when the plane she was in crashed west of Las Vegas. She died on January 17, 1942, three months after her thirty-third birthday. What was most important about her life, the films she dominated as an actress in the years between 1934 and 1942, had almost nothing to do with Indiana.

   Gehring, a professor of film, does not take a fashionable academic approach to Lombard's career. Today, more than ever before, writing about movies is divided between two poles: the theoretically oriented and the biographically inclined. Gehring largely goes the biographical route. He traces Lombard's early career, her automobile accident that scarred her face (never very noticeable) and changed her conception of herself, her marriages to William Powell and Clark Gable, and her salty language and fine sense of humor. But most of his biography is devoted to her films, her relationships with cast members and directors. What emerges is the portrait of an actress caught between worlds. We use the word "Hollywood" with exquisite imprecision. Is it a place, an industry, a product, or a state of mind? It is all these things--and more. It is worlds inside worlds--worlds of agents and producers, directors and stars, the Cocoanut Grove circle and the Ronald Colman clique. Lombard maneuvered through these various worlds, attempting to define herself when everyone else (mostly powerful men) wanted to control her. It all makes for an interesting story--a Hollywood story about Hollywood.




5. This book read as if the author just accumulated facts from other writers and listed them in a sterile "here are the facts and only the facts" type of way. Not fun. Not very interesting. Very little insight into Carole Lombard.
   
   Really a disappointment.

5 comments about I Married the Klondike.

1. I read this book during a travel threw canada in 1985 especially Atlin in the yukon. I like all biographics books which are the witnness of the story of the world.



2. This is the true story of a woman who moved to the Yukon in the days of the Gold Rush - she went to be a schoolteacher for a couple of years, married a prospector, and wound up raising a family in one of the most spectacular - and harshest - places and times in North America. Laura Berton writes with humor and insight, and has produced a most entertaining book which is interesting as biography, as history, and as just a fun read! Laura also produced one of the most prolific authors in Canada today - Pierre Berton, author of FLAMES ACROSS THE BORDER and THE DIONNE YEARS. This is a book that deserves to be more widely read!



3. If you ever plan to come up to Dawson City, Yukon you will want to read this book. Mrs. Berton gives an insight to the Goldrush town of Dawson City. I can say that you will still find the house she lived in and some of the houses that she describes in her book. As a resident of Dawson City it is nice to have read a book that is truly about what life was and is in Dawson City.



4. Ms. Berton's account of life in Dawson from 1907 to the 1920's is too late to tell the story of the Klondike gold rush. Instead it tells of life in a small northern community that has seen its hey-day come and go, describing it's traditions and lifestyle in such detail you soon feel as though you've lived there too.

   The descriptive passages are excellent and the book contains several colorful tales of individual struggles, her own and others'. I was a bit put off by the enormous number of names of people she met in the Yukon but didn't find I needed to remember them all to enjoy the book. If you have read the history of Dawson during the gold rush in other books, this is a great afterword that describes many notable figures' lives following the rush, answering several 'whatever happened to so-and-so' questions.

   I remember our elementary school library encouraging children to read it, but given its richness of detail and adult perspective it's anything but a kid's book. Despite her matter-of-fact writing style, Ms. Berton's story is emotionally engaging and a great portrait of life in northern Canada.




5. Like most people my age, I've seen old movies depicting the Gold Rush, but they were nothing compared to this delightful account of the author's experiences in Dawson and Whitehorse, in the Yukon. From page one to the end, I FELT the cold of the North, learned about the vegetation and moreso, shared in the life of the pioneers AFTER the Gold Rush. Such hearty men and women gave of themselves in the search for gold, few, very feew becoming rich. Yet, they all seem to have enrichened my life thanks to their determination and stamina despite all odds. To read of the social differences that the citizens upheld in Dawson gives one a thoughtful look at the upper classes, who brought their prejudices with them to Dawson. Yet, with time, as the gold became more and more rare, the population dwindled and with it the many differences, which had segretated the classes. Abandoned homes, run-down shacks, empty stores finally gave way to social values, which brought the remaining residents together. As the author mentions, one could not walk down the street of Dawson without saying "hello" to everyone since the life of one touched the life of the others. With only 800 persons left in town, all knew one another and social standing gave way to familial attitudes. It was no longer necessary to give the telephone operator a number, only the name of the person to whom one wanted to speak need be mentioned and the phone rang at the other end. Tragedy and hardships took hold of the life of everyone, but friendship and helpfulness prevailed as their numbers dwindled. A beautiful read, which has opened my mind and heart to these pioneers, who are our ancestors.

5 comments about The Other Side of Ethel Mertz: The Life Story of Vivian Vance.

1. When I ran across a softback edition of this book, I was floored. I had no idea a book had been written about Vivian Vance. Where had I been? I bought it thinking ,well, it'll be superficial at best. Boy, was I wrong. This is an excellent, in depth and very revealing life story of one of television's best loved ladies. Alvin Walker and Frank Castelluccio have written one of the best biographies on a legend I've ever read. And Vivian Vance is a legend, if an often overlooked one. From her humble showbiz beginnings, to a Broadway career, to her fateful reading with Lucille Ball for the part of Ethel Mertz---I could not put this book down. Vivian Vance came to life on those pages and I learned that there's a lot more to a "second banana" than just the character they play. Vance never escaped her role as Ethel, but she lived a full and complete life worthy of this book and was a more accomplished actress than given credit for. Her years of baffling mental problems, the estrangement with her mother, her extensive stage work, her often rocky relationship with Lucille Ball (not to overlook William Frawley) are all here as well as the huge amount of humanitarian work she did for mental health later in life. This is a highly recommended read for anyone who loved watching Ethel as well as Lucy. It reveals the fascinating woman behind the "mask" of Ethel Mertz, a landmark television icon and an American showbiz legend known as Vivian Vance.



2. Glad I got a chance to check this book out...it was very interesting as I'd heard about some of the tiffs between them but never really got into it. While I am sure a few different takes on her life/their lives could also fill in the missing pieces..its a good read and provides the rest of the story to the generally heroic and sweentened up picture often given about Ms. Ball and the whole show in general. They were all each and as a group irreplacable and perhaps may have never really understood their "fate" or "destiny" in the place of American life at the time. What a wonderfully talented, funny, and brillant pair and team of actress/actors they were. While all was not well on the show or in that era as with any...to this day they can make you laugh your head off without the crudeness so many comdieans and shows resort to today. The effort and work put into such show outdoes shows today by far. They were great at what they did for the time that they did it. It was also very sobering to read a human real or truer side to them as the pollyannaness of television lives can sometimes rub off on the viewers. Reading it though I could not help feel a sort of sadness ; Ms. Vance..never really being happy. Perhaps its just the way it was told or written. I would like to read other books about her/them to get a more indepth idea. In any case..I recommend taking a spin with this book.



3. Book was in very good shape. I would buy another book from this vendor. The only thing I had trouble with was that it took a little longer then I expected to receive in mail.



4. I loved this book. I've read several books on Lucille Ball and this was a very cool opportunity to read about her famous sidekick. I have to say, I have a whole new view on Ethel now!



5. A great little book on a woman we never heard much about. I've always wondered about her personal life - WOW - more painful than I imagined. Wish she got her Hollywood Star before she died. She worked really hard only to be a second banana, but we loved her, and boy - was she good!!!

5 comments about Breaking Into the Current: Boatwomen of the Grand Canyon.

1. I recently travelled a rafting trip of the canyon and was totally enthralled by the experience. In many ways it changed my life. Reading this book brings back so many memories of what the trip there is really about. I felt a true connection with the women that travelled it before me. The descriptions are so beautiful. This book crosses genders and is simply about a wonderful place and some extrodinary women that have travelled there.



2. A few years back on my first trip through the Grand Canyon I was lucky enough to be in a group that included Louise Teal as one of the guides. I bought this book after the trip and read it on the drive home. I was blown away. Her love of the canyon, the river, the people...it all glows from every page. Rafting the Grand is a life-changing experience; and the elements that make it so are all here--captured and expressed by a woman who has become part of the river and vice versa. She tells the stories of the women who 'broke into the current' with humor, sensitivity, respect and love. On top of all that, she is a very talented writer and this book works purely on that basis. If you've ever run the canyon, buy this book. If you have ever wanted to run it, buy this book. If you've got no interest in the canyon or the Colordo river but enjoy good writing about real stuff, buy this book.



3. A friend told me about this book several years ago when I was raft guiding on the Colorado River a little north of the Grand Canyon. I bought the book, and absolutely loved it. As one of the rare breed of female white water rafting guides, it was amazing to read about other women who shared my passion for the river and for the wild places around us. Breaking into the Current is NOT a male-bashing book; it filled with stories that are waiting to be told--stories by and about interesting women who went into a career that few women would consider entering. I loved reading the stories about Lava Falls, the making of Crystal Rapid, and all the others. Each time I return to the book it makes me ache to be on the river yet again.



4. A friend who is a river guide gave me this book. I never really understood the fasination with rafting until I read this. The writing leaves a little to be desired, but the subject matter and the information is very moving.



5. These boatwomen are indeed remarkable, and superb ambassadors of the Grand Canyon Colorado River corridor. Sure, I'm biased: my first commercial river trip featured two of the profiled women plus another guide noted in the Acknowledgments. All were consummate storytellers, and gender was never an issue. Ms. Teal has an unfortunate habit of occasionally padding her descriptions with platitudes, but these lapses do not significantly diminish the value of this book.

1 comments about During My Time: Florence Edenshaw Davidson : A Haida Woman.

1. I found this book to be very interesting.
   Arranged Marriages, lots of children, lots of
   pain. It seems like she worked 18 hours a day
   7 days a week.
   I like when she painted the Haida boat. Meeting
   Pierre Trudeau and the Queen of England.

   I would like to have lived in that era, except for
   the health issues.

   I didnt know the earlier Indians were so superstitous!

5 comments about Atlas of the Human Heart: A Memoir.

1. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was quite inspirational and I definitely admire the author's stength and independence. However, I found the summary a little misleading as it makes it sound more like it's a book of not only her travels but her trials as being a young mother. She did not even find out she was pregnant until the book was nearly over. It was a really easy read that made me think, but if you're interested in reading more about motherhood I wouldn't recommend this book.



2. In this memoir Ariel Gore (aka Ghost Girl, aka Hip Mama) tells of her wanderings around the globe in her teen years. The memoir is bittersweet and leads up to the birth of her daughter. Inspiring and intelligent any mama/poet/wanderer/questioner will love Ghost Girl's crisp prose and moving metaphors.



3. Since when did apathy become brave and stoned self absorption become enlightenment. This book is about a woman who made one interesting decision (to travel at a young age rather than complete high school in a California suburb) and then spends the rest of the journey/book making poor and predictable decisions with the occasional foray into no decision making whatsoever. This author is extremely invested in her own image of herself as a ground breaking too-cool-for-you darling of the backpack traveling set. More like a bratty, lost, vain child.



4. Ariel Gore has as unique voice or feel to this memoir, which is refreshing, searching, and magnetic.
   Before I read this, I had my doubts. How would I, a sixty-seven year old man, get through the story of a wondering young teenage girl?
   Her story was like a magnet, it it I found my own life-long seeking of purpose, inner peace and God.
   The only distraction to me, mentioned by other reviewers, was the overly detailed recounting of drug and alcohold usage.



5. This is exactly the kind of book I love: Adventure, travel to exotic places, a gutsy individual overcoming obstacles and finding her own way in life. I also recommend another Ariel Gore book: The Traveling Death and Resurrection Show.

5 comments about The Kitchen Congregation: A Daughter's Story of Wives and Women Friends.

1. I have recommended this book to my friends who love reading and find joy in the perfect phrase. As soon as I finished reading this book, I started it again. The descriptions of friendship, raising children, cooking and best of all mothers are gifts to the reader. I hope I am able to find Nora Seton's first book.



2. I read much of it on an airplane, and cried (discretely) throughout. The guy sitting next to me thought I had a stinking cold. This is a chicken soup for the soul book. Filled with warm textural stories within stories. I am a "hard sell" when it comes to books like these...don't like to be told how I should be feeling, and I think Nora did a good job of leaving us to decide for ourselves. Not a lot of the common childhood "let me drivel about what happened to me when I was a kid" trauma-shocker type stuff that I run across a lot in contemporary novels like this, and I appreciate that Nora chose not to go there with this book. It is a very finely CRAFTED book. I noticed how carefully every word was selected - much like picking just the right peaches for your Mom's peach pie recipe. -A wonderful tribute to her own mother, and a clear sign of good things to come from Nora.



3. We (women) recreate our childhoods in our kitchens. We bring to it everything we remember as good, pushing the bad and unhappy aside. It is where we gather, not to cook like the "little hommaker" but to nuture and to nourish. Nora Seton has drawn together some remarkable memories of her mother, intertwined with stories of friendships and insights gleaned during time in other kitchens, as well as her own. Friendship with Senta, the older woman who invokes angels to assist her, and who accompanies the author through one of life's most difficult journeys. Ida, sharing hard won insight into the precarious balances struck by women and men. Seton writes of a good friend contemplating divorce. Much of what is important in life is discussed as she moves through the comforting, numbing, sustaining work in her kitchen. Friends gather at the table, gaining physical sustanance. More importantly, they sustain one another, continuing a thread established by others long ago....women gathered in the kitchen. Meals are prepared,regrets expressed,dreams unfurl and unravel, recepies for food and life are shared, husbands analysed, lives discussed, children intrude and are gathered in, we tend to rehearse amd inspect what is most precious in tandem with the mundane. Never is Seton more elequent, then when writing about loss. The loss of a parent, a child, the bloom of love, the tolerence of marriage,the dreams of youth, all these are brought to the table in distilled form, after simmering over a low flame, stirring and tending, until the clarity remains. Nora Seton has crafted a remarkable book of her continuing journey in the kitchen, seeking sustanance. I was moved and comforted by what the book brought to me (it also sent me looking for the novels her mother wrote, a wonderful tribute).



4. This evocatively written book is a meditation on life, cooking, kitchens and relationships. I was touched by the author's honesty and her discerning and reflective eye. It's the kind of book that becomes, like a good friend, someone who is not afraid to speak the truth and share their vision of life, warts, joys and all.

   The book does not read like a linear story but is rather like a poem where the ebb and flow of images and reflections transports the reader into the author's memory. That place where stories, sensations and the touchstones of experience are lodged. What is wonderful about this book is that the author's approach triggers memories in the reader so that the reader feels they're a member of an extended 'Kitchen Congregation'.

   I enjoyed meeting Ida, Senta, Cynthia, Molly, Laura, Dr Rodgers, visitors in Seton's kitchen. Because Seton generously shares her memories, the reader feels that they have known these visitors too.

   Whereas speed and convenience reign in this modern age, Seton's book reasserts the importance of the kitchen as a place to prepare, nurture, reflect upon, and experiment with, not only the cooking of meals but also,life's journey. My only criticism of the book is that I found the author's use of imagery and metaphor a little overdone at times. But all in all, a book to be savoured and experienced many times over. Beautiful!




5. This is the overwhelming feeling that you will get from this book! How many times have I sat at my grandmother's table, my mother's, a friend's? Just as much as they have sat at mine! And there is aways something to share, to learn. Nora, thank you for sharing the wisdom you've gathered from others.

5 comments about Intimate Politics: How I Grew Up Red, Fought for Free Speech, and Became a Feminist Rebel.

1. Bettina reviews a very important period; her growth, both personal and political, make for fascinating reading. I know her, and many of the persons and events in the book, and her "take" on them is very insightful. Events in her family, which took/take up so much of the reviewers time, are treated, I think, with respect and love, and don't detract from what is a wonderful story. Bravo to her.



2. There are two distinct and fascinating stories interwoven here.
   Ms. Aptheker was part of the inner circle wherever boomers spontaneously manned the barricades for social change. She gives us a meticulous (perhaps too meticulous) first-hand account of the people she knew and the events she lived during the free-speech, civil rights, anti-war, and feminist revolutions. Hence, the word 'politics' in the title.
   
   Then she tells another, much more interesting story. The 'intimate' passages introduce us to a very, very bright, traumatized young girl, one who is eager to please and desperate to fit in. So she steps out bravely -- her courage is astounding (especially her courage to change course in pursuit of integrity)-- but every bold action she takes also exposes her to very real dangers from the powers-that-be. A more sensible person might have withdrawn and conformed, but Ms. Aptheker staggers defiantly on. This is a story about secrets, injuries, shame, stubbornness, self-destruction, self-discovery, healing, and the courage to keep following your star, despite it all.



3. I was one of Bettina's students when she taught at SJSU thirty years ago. Her classes were always packed. She is an amazing lecturer and scholar. She had a tremendous impact on all of her young students.
   
   Even thirty years later, I am impressed by her will, determination, and her sense of self. I read an excerpt of this book published in a local news magazine, but even before I read the excerpt I knew I would buy her book.
   
   Most individuals at some point in their lives reflect on their childhood and how it formed who they are today. Bettina's book does this and more...she examines why she makes the choices she did in a manner that is honest. She does not go for the "easy out", but then she never did.
   
   Her lessons and her ability to bear witness to her own life can easily be internalized and applied to your own experiences. You don't have to agree with her politics...you just have to recognize her unique humanity and in doing that you will grow yourself.



4. Her weaving of personal narrative and political context makes this book a must read for feminists of all genres and anyone interested in learning more about the real lives of activists, women and daughters. Making real the complexity of family, relationships and love is a journey for the rest of us too.



5. Like many others involved in the struggles of the Sixties and thereafter, I was aware of Bettina Aptheker: plaintiff in the famous lawsuit that finally validated the legality of the CPUSA; "red diaper baby" of the famous Herbert Aptheker; and participant in many organizations and campaigns. Also like many others, I had no idea at all about the interior person, the feeling individual who was Bettina Aptheker. The revelations of this book were a bit of a shock to me, though not so much as once they might have been, largely due to the feminist movement's success in raising consciousness about the too-common dysfunction of American families.
   
   What makes this book powerful is the way in which the author weaves in her personal experience, the dimension of feeling, with events of the time and all in the context of relationships both comradely and familial. It seems almost a cliche to say it took great courage for her to live life as she did--shattering the conventions that bound her from sexual awareness and recognition of the crimes committed against her by her famous father. Add to this the tension and very real danger implicit in being a high-profile, public Communist in the US, and we can see her as a very strong person indeed.
   
   This book is a gift to those who may be stunted by any form of "correct" conformism, especially that generated within traditional patriarchal families. It is also of value to those who cared about the efforts against war and racism...and who still care about these issues. Finally, it is a gift to see how she and her beloved partner have distilled the essential values of their lives into a spiritual practice. Thus, Ms. Aptheker completes a familiar circle from personal anguish to struggle for social justice to personal transformation. For those who consciously walk this circle, Intimate Politics will be a deepening and worthwhile book to read.