3 comments about For Freedom's Sake: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer (Women in American History).

1. Chana Kai Lee makes a crucial contribution to our understanding of the civil rights movement with this stirring and important biography of Fanny Lou Hamer. Mrs. Hamer, an icon in the movement and a force unto herself, was one of the strongest and most influential voices in the African American struggle for freedom. Thanks to Professor Lee, that voice echoes for the ages in the pages of For Freedom's Sake. This is a book that all Americans should read and that students and general readers alike will enjoy. Like its subject, this well-crafted book will be a beacon for freedom for many years to come.



2. I have read and heard so much about men in the Civil Rights Movement, and I have read so little about women. This book for me filled a gap.It told an exciting story with great eloquence. It portrayed the life of a heroine of the Civil Rights Movement, and described the times. And it was at the same time rich and intellectually sophisticated. I cannot recommend this book enough to all readers, and I hope these comments motivate others to get this wonderful book and read it.



3. Fannie Lou Hamer was a remarkable person who may not have received the publicity and accolades of other Civil Rights personalities, but she certainly accomplished as much as anyone in the movement. Lee does a very solid job of taking the reader through Hamer's life. The only criticism I have is that Lee on occasion editorializes about contradictory things that Hamer said, as well as speculates as to what motivated Hamer in certain instances. It would have been more effective to simply let the reader think about such things and make up their own mind. This is a minor quibble, however, because Lee has contributed to the small body of work on Hamer in a substantive manner. I had a hard time putting this book down even though I already knew all the details of Hamer's life from reading other books. Lee synthesizes her information nicely which makes this book a coherent read. The reader gets a vivid picture of the ups and downs Mrs. Hamer encountered in her brilliant life. Fannie Lou Hamer's life was a testament to the human spirit and will to fight for justice. The Civil Rights Movement cannot be fully understood without knowing about the contributions of Hamer. You need to read this book.

5 comments about Uncommon Arrangements: Seven Marriages.

1. The author does a good job of quickly relating the situations of a series of interrelated couples in early twentieth-century Britain. She manages, without judgement, to consider their marital and extra-marital relationships and pose questions about how these individuals may fit into a larger context of social changes that continue now. It's well written and moves along quickly.



2. This book is a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain of seven relationships. Not just what happened but what motivated. If you're a feminist you'll need to put that aside and read as an objective bystander. It's hard to do!
   
   The author does a brilliant job of making the people and their stories come to life. I felt like I got to know these fascinating characters. I found it very difficult to put the book down. I appreciate that the author doesn't judge her characters - this relationship or action was 'good' and this was 'bad - but tries to understand and relate to the reader why the characters did what they did.
   
   We are often led to believe that previous eras were more honest, true, chaste. This book shows that that just isn't true. Each generation has to find its own way in the world.



3. This book is written in short chapters that describe the atypical marriage relationships of wealthy, well-known writers and their friends in post-Victorian England. There is a great deal of overlap in the stories about the various couples, so one person's spouse will show up as the friend, lover, or confidant in another story about a different marriage. It's all rather incestuous, and the resultant homogeneity of the milieu studied by the author paradoxically makes more mundane the seeming differences she wishes to stress.
   
   It's well to keep in mind that the time and place under study was one characterized by very rigid social roles, especially for women; still, one wonders whether a study across cultures might not have proven more meaningful. As it is, the book seems almost the story of an extended family, rather than a review of disparate marriage arrangements.



4. "Some of the hand-wringing about marriage in the twenties remains eerily relevant to today's marriages." So says Katie Roiphe, the author of this most intriguing literary biography. She explores the marriages of seven of the most luminous writers and artists of the twenties -- including H.G. Wells, Katherine Mansfield and Elizabeth Von Arnim (who penned "Enchanted April".) Each vignette is centered around a moment of crisis that creates a need for a creative and unorthodox solution.
   
   Katherine Manfield develops a "child-love" with her husband, who is not able to rise to challenge of helping her through the tuberculosis that kills her at age 34. H.G. Wells "creates" his wife Jane -- even giving her a new name -- and then indulges in no-responsibility affairs with Rebecca West, among others. Ottoline Morrell gives herself over totally to nurturing rising artistes, only to be stabbed in the back by those she most befriended. And then there's Radclyffe Hall -- otherwise known as John -- who is surprisingly Victorian, despite her long-time relationship with her "wife" Una Trobridge and her lover, Evguenia Souline.
   
   As the author says: "One cannot fall into 'meagre repetitions', one cannot live automatically, one cannot simply live the way everyone else is living: one has to have the constant energy, the constant imagination, the constant refueling affection, because one is making up a life as one goes along."
   
   This book is highly recommended for everyone who is navigating a marriage and who is curious about how others handled their own, and how they confronted domesticity and long-term emotional involvement. It's particularly recommended for anyone with a literary bend; it's downright fascinating to see how those famous literary individuals from 1910 to World War II lived their lives. And, as an extra plus, it's compulsively readable and "dishy."



5. I am not sure how I became aware of this book in the first place or why I ended up buying it, but I am so glad I did. I hated for it to end and I savored every page.
   
   It's so well written that you almost feel like you know these subjects better than their spouses did - and maybe you do.
   
   In short, it's an insightful and well-researched look into the private worlds, thoughts, and marriages of some very interesting people - and also proof that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

5 comments about When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge.

1. When Broken Glass Floats is the author's journey to find the magic of a world lost as a result of the Khmer Rouge. This book, as a personal account of the Khmer Rouge regime, is also my personal journey as a reader and a Khmer person. Through this magical journey, my own forgotten memories are awakened and many traditional beliefs that I have pushed to the back of my mind resurface.
   
   I was too young to have memories of the Killing Fields, but I have heard enough stories to feel connected to it. There were gaps missing in my memory and this book filled those gaps. When Broken Glass Floats is poetic and touching, a book rooted in the author's desire to let the world know about the tragic death of her family. It begins when her memories are awakened as a result of her work as an interpreter and interviewer for the Khmer Adolescent Project, studying post-traumatic stress disorder among Cambodian survivors. This is a story of triumph, survival, and hope written from the Khmer soul of a Cambodian-American woman.
   
   When Broken Glass Floats is a book with two moving and powerful purposes: one, as a therapeutic tool for the author, and, two, as a reminder of an event that should never have occurred. The author describes her book as a way "to use the power of words to caution the world, and in the process to heal myself" (p. 23). The process of writing the book became a trek to the Himalayas, "a search to recapture the long-lost magic in [her] life" (p. 23). My travels have taken me to the Himalayas. I have been seeking magic for my own healing like the author of When Broken Glass Floats. The process of reading her book and other autobiographies has provided much healing. I recommend this book for everyone who is interested in this subject, but in particular to Cambodian-Americans, because this book can take you on a journey into yourself, your soul, memories, and past.



2. This was an entirely good read. One of the amazing things I kept realizing as I read is Chanrithy Him has condensed a number of harrowing years of into just ~300 pages, so the reader only hears about some of her experiences - there's probably much more that didn't make it to the pages of this memoir. Also, Him's story is only one out of myriad others . . . thousands of thousands of Cambodian people who could tell a story even more devastating than Him's.
   
   When Broken Glass Floats kept me interested from cover to cover, and I enjoyed Him's writing style. It's likely I can't say anything positive that hasn't already been said, so I'll pick out a couple of things I wonder if other readers noticed.
   
   For one, the black and white family photos included in the book did not resemble the images I had of disease-stricken, starving children Him described. For instance - granted he is wearing a shirt in the photos, none of the pictures show Map (Him's youngest sibling) with a protruding belly - although towards the end of the book Him tells her readers Map fails to lose this effect of starvation even after his diet improves. Similarly, the photo of Ra on her wedding day shows a young woman who looks healthy (nice complexion, full cheeks, hair in an up-do, clean floral shirt), so I couldn't help but feel confused because this is far from how Him described her physically weak, skinny sister who was barely recognize at times. I realize the photo was taken during better times, but do people so sick and hungry recover to that degree so quickly? Also, the memoir chronicles countless dizzying days, months, and years of walking, working, and barely surviving from severe dehydration, starvation, infection, diarrhea, disease, and depression; personal belongings (books, valuables, etc.) were stolen, taken by the Khmer Rouge, and lost along the way. Under those conditions, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of doubt as I read about the photos Him had "managed to keep safe during the Khmer Rouge time" (p. 330) and the "cream lace blouse from Phnom Penh, which she (Ra) managed to keep safe during the Khmer Rouge time" (p.286). Given the circumstances described, this just didn't seem plausible. But who knows . . . not a major problem for me, it just caught my attention - as did the typographical errors I found from time to time.
   
   Great book . . . would have enjoyed a bit more of a history lesson. If that's what you're seeking you might look elsewhere, because this is a tale focused on a very strong and intelligent young girl's survival.



3. A great book. A very sad account of a young girl that reflect the experiences of million Cambodian refugees. Also showed what perseverance and setting goals can achieve. If Miss Him can survive and succeed, so should everyone.
   Highly recommend this book.



4. When Boken Glass Floats tells the story of a young girl and her experiences and life as she lives in Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge. It is very emotional as she weaves the story of her family in the labor camps and then the periods spent in the refugee camps in Cambodia and Thailand. I recommend it as a five star book.



5. After reading this I somehow felt changed. Written so well that you feel her emotions immensely throughout the book. I didn't want to put it down.

5 comments about The Other Woman: Twenty-one Wives, Lovers, and Others Talk Openly About Sex, Deception, Love, and Betrayal.

1. This is a fabulous book of personal essays. It gives every point of view on being the other woman, from being the betrayer to being betrayed, as well as offering interesting takes on the subject. One writer's story of incest and the reality of being the "other woman" to her aunt was incredibly poignant. Other stories are very funny, some quite sad. The range of writers, their writing styles, and their stories make this a great read on a timeless topic. I'm looking forward to seeing more collections like this one.



2. Though I usually go more for erotic-type fiction of this sort, such as Playtime, the title intrigued me. After reading these twenty-one beautifully writter and insightful essays/stories, I have to say I am so glad I did! It's really opended my eyes and really made me think about a few things. Don't pass this one up!!!!!



3. Sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, and often times both, this terrific collection of essays is to be savored. Among my favorite reads here: Pam Houston's "Not Istanbul" (do read this is you need a good laugh!), Jane Smiley's "Iowa was Never Like This," and Lynn Freed's "Running the Smalls Through."



4. This is an amazing book I read it in a weekend I read the book because I was the other woman my husband was married and had two kids I was married and had 3 kids we meet feel in love and broke up 2 families my ex husband has moved on and has forgiven but his ex wife even though married to a doctor (my husband is a lawyer her ex husband) is extremly bitter and is hateful and everything imbetween. I got this book in order to read it and somehow get an idea of where she is coming from so we can stop the hate we have for each other. I often compare us to Mary Jo and Tori Spelling that is our story we meet and new we were soulmates from the second we saw each other. I have no regrets I love my husband and am glad we found each other but I can move on from hating her for not accepting responsibility for her part in the break up of her marriage This is AMAZING I would recommend it for anyone who is the other woman, thinking about being the other woman, or has another woman in their lives.



5. "The Other Woman" presents an eye-opening look at extra-marital affairs and the devastation such affairs can wreak on all parties involved.
   
   I don't usually gravitate towards non-fiction but I read an excerpt of Mary Jo Eustace's essay, "Palm Springs," in People Magazine and was completely hooked. I ordered the book the next day and found it to be a quick and enjoyable read that offered interesting and varied points of view. I expected to read the book and find myself disgusted with the "other" woman but instead found myself empathizing with each woman's feelings and conflicts.
   
   Of particular note is Dani Shapiro's essay "The Mistress" and Mary Jo Eustace's essay (which I mentioned above). Mary Jo's account is incredibly touching and full of strength and humor. I do hope she has been able to reclaim love since the Tori Spelling debacle!

5 comments about Brother, I'm Dying (Vintage Contemporaries).

1. This narrative has all the ingredient necessary to produce a ...say...corny story. However, thanks to Danticat's honesty and brilliance, it turned out been a great book, a painful narrative.
   
   The worst thing on it? It's that it's all true, no fiction at all, unfortunately.



2. Edwidge Danticat is a talented writer. In Brother, I'm Dying, she weaves a family story in with the history of Haiti with wonderful results. The book is touching on both counts; with Danticat dealing with the illness of her father and with the turbulence in Haiti where several members of her family still live. Heartbreaking and powerful. Highly recommended.



3. Edwidge Danticat is possibly the best American fiction writer of the younger generation. Her novels and story collections have cut a broad swath through the history of 20th century Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. Their virtues include lyric and narrative pleasures, a plainspoken and elegant voice, intelligence and intelligibility, and the bridging of two cultures separated by language and mutual misunderstanding.
   
   With Brother, I'm Dying, Danticat expands upon the gift for nonfiction she first demonstrated in her book about carnival in Jacmel. This time, she tackles memoir by way of family history, a private story that stands in for hundreds of thousands of other private stories and has deep public policy implications. Through the Dantica and Danticat families, we get an up-close-and-personal look at the terrors of Haitian history from Papa Doc to the present, alongside the beauties of place and people too often underexplored in newspaper accounts of Haiti.
   
   The book's velocity increases toward the end, when Danticat's uncle is run out of Port-au-Prince by street gangs, only to encounter the surprisingly deadlier American immigration system. This part of the story is the most deeply felt section of a deeply felt book, and the reader wants to scream with outrage and the indignities Danticat's uncle suffers, and especially at the unwillingness of the immigration authorities to respond humanely to his illness, his difficulties in communicating, or his family's quite reasonable requests that he receive proper medical and legal attention.
   
   I find myself grieving now, after finishing this book, and I want to know what I can do to make my country more compassionate. Certainly, Haitians receive shabbier treatment than almost any other ethnicity in our immigration and legal system, and, like Danticat, I find myself wondering why, and suspecting that it might be a manifestation of the worst prejudices we have not yet laid to rest.
   
   It is true that books can be about virtuous things without being very good, but the urgency the reader feels about the book's subject owes much to the extraordinary power of the writing. If Danticat were a writer who chose subject matter of a lesser intensity, I believe that more critics would write about the sentences, the structural choices, the wise management of information in her books. That they do not is a testament to the power of the stories she chooses to tell, and her ability to get out of the way and give character and story center stage rather than the pyrotechnics of language which she is certainly capable of exhibiting.



4. This is a heart wrenching true tale of a Haitian family whose members experience of various ups and downs come together to make a dreadfully sad yet inspiring story. This family goes through so many dire situations, in which their lives seem so close to being over numerous times throughout the story, that you begin to have more belief in them surviving . The author, Edwidge Danticat, who is telling the story of her family, is a truly wonderful writer. Instead of showing too many of her emotions, she lets the reader learn about her family and create their own emotions regarding the story. This memoir is an unforgettable tale of a loving family who support each other in every way possible, but still seems to always be going through tragic times.
   
   This novel mainly focuses on Edwidges' uncle, Joseph, and father, Mira. Both of them suffer severely, but at the same time prove to be very strong willed people who want nothing more then to get better. Edwidges father, Mira, has pulmonary fibrosis which gives him a dreadful cough. This disease also affects the appetite, so he is rarely able to eat. As a result, he becomes extremely skinny. One day while Edwidge, her mother, and father are in their house, Mira requests to have some plain rice and a glass of cold water. This gets both Edwidge and her mother very excited because her father had not been voluntarily eating since the beginning of his illness. When the food was prepared, Edwidge carried it in to her father on a tray. As she was setting the tray down on her fathers lap, she accidentally spilled the cold water all over him, triggering a fit of loud moaning because of the very cold water on his thin body. After that, he was in too much pain to eat. Edwidge felt terrible about putting him through so much pain and making him upset but when she apologized he said "It is not as much that I wanted it that I wanted to want it." That statement shows a lot about her father's strength and will to survive.
   
   Danticat also touches upon issues with immigration services in America. The uncle who has lived in Haiti his whole life decides to leave once gang and war issues become apparent near his house. Unfortunately, after traveling to America, he is not allowed into the country even though he has a Visa and has previously visited America numerous times. He is held at Krome, a prison for immigrants to stay at until getting deported. There, Immigrant Services are harsh to him and do not allow him to take his medication. They don't understand his medical needs and think that he is taking a voodoo potion. This leads him to a dire situation. This book sheds light on problems that immigrants face in America.
   
   This book has the power to make you rejoice or cry. It has good insight into immigrants problems in America and is written in amazing detail. The authors story is overflowing with her love and affection for her family. It is a wonderful book that I would recommend to anybody.



5. Edwidge Danticat has made a name for herself chronicling the lives of Haitian immigrants in the States as well as in the home country. In this autobiographical book, she writes eloquently of her own life. In 2004, she finds out she is pregnant while at the same time she gets the news that her father Andre is dying of cancer. Danticat's parents emigrated to the US on their own initially, leaving Edwidge and her younger brother in the care of Andre's brother Joseph and his wife. Danticat thus has deep and enduring ties to two sets of parents. During the duration of her pregnancy, her uncle is fighting his own battles in Haiti, targeted by the regime for his outspokenness as a pastor.
   
   On hearing of his brother's illness, Joseph Dantica travels to United States, only to be held at the point of entry in the States when he innocently and honestly lets the immigration officials know that he requests political asylum. In post 9/11 America, anyone and everyone with a less than stellar past is fair game, and Joseph becomes a victim of the heightened security situation in the States.
   
   The author weaves her life story beautifully with those of her father and uncle - one in which birth and death, loss and gain, the personal and the political intertwine. If immigration is one of the compelling narratives of the 20th century, this book shows us the human costs of that narrative.

5 comments about The Road from Coorain.

1. I related to and thoroughly enjoyed this book. Conway's descriptions of Australia are beautiful. She has written a follow-up book which I would like to read also. And on second reading, I feel more and more that perhaps her mother had some chemical imbalance, because she changed so drastically. Either that, or her repressed emotions after the deaths of her husband and her oldest son in the space of five years, led her to the bitter old woman she became.



2. The wonderful autobiography entitled, The Road From Coorain, written by Jill Ker Conway is a must-read! Her engaging and rich detail gives an enchanting description of the Australian life-style from a very unique perspective.
   Beginning in the 1930's, young Jill Ker lived with her tightly-knit family on a ranch called Coorain, Australia. Isolated in the desert and located far from Sydney, Coorain, has created an unordinary life-style for not only Jill but for her two brothers, Barry and Bob. Maintaining the remote Coorain is the family's only way to ensure stability and in the eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Ker; the significance of Coorain is considered more important than a formal education. Though, when the dreadful droughts of the arid terrain continue to spontaneously appear, life becomes awfully challenging and difficult for the Ker family. Suffering from famine because of the lack of crops and animals, Coorain becomes involved in a downward spiral. As a result, Jill as well as other family members, encounter the enormous struggle of overcoming the concept of death and sorrow. As Jill grows into a young woman, she faces unfortunate events that set her back, creating various obstacles as she journeys down the unpredictable road of life. Faced with challenges romantically, intellectually, and within the family ultimately affects her career and talents, though somehow Jill miraculously manages to succeed.
   Choosing an academic career as a historian, Jill faced the constant struggle of chauvinism living as a young woman during the 1950's. Her passion and remarkable academic achievements clearly demonstrated her natural talent as a student. Unfortunately, the unfair privileges men had in contrast to women was a constant obstacle. Jill had potential and unlike some other women, had the possibility of attaining her high hopes and dreams. Her brilliance and intellectual capability distinguished her as an individual, though she was unfortunately not recognized with equality because she was woman. "But I received a blandly courteous letter thanking me for my interest. I was dumfounded. Milton and I had ranked first in our class and were to be awarded the University Medal jointly for our academic achievements. I could scarcely believe that my refusal was because I was a woman...I knew I was no more and no less intellectually aggressive than Milton and Rob. That left my sex and my appearance." Though Jill Ker faced multiple obstacles throughout her life, she clearly proves that hard work and perseverance is a powerful way to achieve one's goals.
   This engaging autobiography is filled with compelling and descriptive prose. Beautifully written, Mrs. Conway eloquently yet succinctly expresses the many conflicts one can be presented in life. Given her natural gravitation towards the subject of history, she enlightens the reader with interesting historical backgrounds of the many places she has traveled. Her simplistic, yet thought-provoking perspectives maintain one's fascination throughout the course of the book. Every moment I spend reading it was enjoyable. Mrs. Conway's, informative yet concise style of writing kept me actively involved. Her marvelously written descriptions, gave me an excellent understanding of the rural Australian life-style: "On the western side the mountains' gentler hills sloped down to rolling countryside; valleys covered with rich black soil sheltered streams winding westward. The gentle slopes rising from each watercourse were crowned with orchards in blossom, while below the contoured patterns of spring crops burst in brilliant green from the dark earth. I liked looking at this scenery with the dew still on it, well before the heat of the day." This autobiography filled with endless drama, love, and the hardships of life, is a definite must-read!



3. This beautiful book tells the story of one girl's childhood on an isolated sheep farm in Australia; that girl would eventually end up as the first woman president of Smith College, one of the finest universities in the United States (part of the Seven Sisters). Before that, she studied at the University of Sydney, moving on to Harvard University in the States. Much like the movie, "My Brilliant Career," the story follows the harsh living conditions of her youth and her meteoric rise to success.
   
   The part of the story that will speak to you most clearly, however, is that of the young girl with golden dreams who faces so much adversity and such little chance of escaping her isolating circumstances. Her father owned 30,000 arid acres in Australia and when the land succumbed to drought, he committed suicide; shortly thereafter, her brother was in an auto accident that resulted in his death. Faced with these tragedies, Conway's mother was overcome with depression and unable to help her daughter succeed. That Jill Ker Conway lets none of that prevent her from reaching a pinnacle of success that no one in her family or community in Australia could ever have imagined for her is the stuff of dreams.



4. Jill Ker was born in 1934 in the west of New South Wales, Australia.She grew up on a sheep ranch.She had her share of troubles: her father drowned, possibly it was a suicide, when she was 11. At age 14 her charismatic elder brother died in a car crash. In her 20s her mother began to lose her mental balance. Jill studied history at the University of Sydney and at 25 went to Harvard.Her childhood on a sheep station has some interest, but the details of her unremarkable academic studies are tedious.She comes across as an introverted person who found it difficult to make friends.She had little fun in life: no jolly japes, no humorous anecdotes.Her self-centeredness and lack of humor make for dull reading.



5. Not very interesting.
   
   There's not much else I can say. Everybody has a story, including author Jill Conway. Her life began in western New South Wales, Australia:
   
   "My father was elated as he surveyed the realization of his dream to own land and to raise his own flocks of sheep and cattle. For my mother, not born to the bush, my father's long-dreamed-of property was a nightmare of desolation" (p. 18).
   
   Conway describes her memories growing up on a 32,000 acre station they called Coorain. She learned from watching the land and its processes:
   
   "Why did God allow the crows to pick out the eyes of newborn lambs, I asked [my father], as we passed a bloody carcass?" (p. 82).
   
   Alas, her father drowned in a stock pond, the drought wrought hardship, and her older brother died in a car accident. But Conway's interactions with other schoolchildren at boarding school was problematic:
   
   "There was more than my appearance to worry about. My family and school friends agreed that I was 'brainy'" (p. 146).
   
   "My appearance didn't give me many opportunities to be bored by young men" (p. 145).
   
   "The causes of my shyness were complex. I didn't look right and couldn't blend with the crowd" (p. 156).
   
   As you can see, there was constant, constant reference to how she didn't fit in, and that she was considered by many to be "too intellectual." When she applied for a post with the Australian Department of External Affairs (their state department), her male friends got positions and she didn't. "It was all prejudice, blind prejudice. For the first time, I felt kinship with black people" (p. 191). Awkwardly, her interactions with the native people of Australia were obvious by their absence in her story. So life is fairly good until a socially awkward and "intellectual" person doesn't get a position with the state department, which causes the development of a kinship with the native peoples.
   
   What?
   
   This was a hard book to read. The first chapter was a long diatribe of landscape conditions in western New South Wales. Then there was a third of the book on life on a cattle station. Then there was the rest of the book, on life as an adolescent, traveling with her mother to other countries, and applying to graduate school in history in America.
   
   This really read as a book of very selective memories. Granted, they are Conway's memories, and she owns them. They are just not very... enlightening and illuminating.
   
   'Nuff said.

5 comments about This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor.

1. This is a brave book by a courageous woman. As an Australian, I am not surprised by what she describes as I have become aware of the shameless and gutless tactics used by anti-abortion activists in the US. If it is their faith which drives them to make Susan's life hell, then they are certainly not Christians. The very encouraging thing about this book is Susan's determination not to be cowed by them and the little ways in which she discovers the latent support for her around her eg the man on the plane. As a man I find the over the top zealousness by the male anti-abortion activists almost laughable as they can have no concept of the pressures that may make a woman undertake an abortion.



2. I was engrossed with reading this book. It is well written and the story is powerful. Also, the details match the details of my life when I worked at an abortion clinic; it is accurate.
   
   Many thanks to Susan Wicklund for telling the world how her life was effected by her work.



3. This book is simply excellent. No matter your feelings on the subject matter, the memoir is well-written, with a compelling story. Dr. Wicklund makes an excellent heroine for the 21st century--we see her plodding on with resolve, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. But we also see moments of doubt, of reflection, that let us know that she is human. This is a very good book.
   
   Dr. Wicklund focuses her memoir on herself, but also on her patients. The many, many women that she has served over the years play a huge role in this book. However, what was most interesting and eye-opening to me was her recounting of various tactics used by anti-choice protesters, and what she had to do to keep herself safe and to keep working. I had heard of doctors being killed, but I truly had no clue about the everyday lengths to which the "antis" would go in their self-righteousness.
   
   
   Dr. Wicklund, I don't know if you read your book reviews on Amazon.com, but thank you. Thank you for writing this book, and for doing what you have done and what you do. Thank you for never giving up. You are an inspiration, as is your daughter, and everyone who supported you.



4. This is a wonderful, well written, book about a heroic figure who has endured much intimidation by anti-choice thugs who want to control women's bodies. It's a book I would recommend especially to young woman as they have a 50% chance of finding themselves in need of a save and legal abortion sometime in their life and if things keep going the way they are, they may be unable to obtain one. The stories Dr. Wicklund relates about herself and her patients would be unheard of in other developed Western nations so you get an indication of how out of step the U.S. is with respect to women's health. The book contained interesting medical facts about abortion procedures so you'll get factual information about an issue that has been clouded by a great deal of misinformation courtesy of the anti-choice folks. I was surprised not to see more endorsements on the book jacket from well known feminists other than Barbara Erenreich but that may be an indication of their own fear of being targeted. This is an inspiring story of a courageous woman who followed her passion and sacrificed much to serve women in need.



5. This is a remarkable story about a courageous woman who - despite ongoing threats to her self, family, practice, and property- vigilantly protects a woman's right to choose.
   
   Dr. Wicklund's stories about her patients are both inspirational and heartbreaking; her interactions with abortion stalkers/protesters - who violated her privacy and terrorized her family - are absolutely chilling. Before I read this book, I thought I understood the risks that doctors assumed when they worked at a facility that performed abortions. I didn't have a clue.
   
   God bless you, Dr. Wicklund, for your eloquence, grace, and devotion to woman's health. You are an inspiration.

5 comments about Riding the Bus with My Sister: A True Life Journey.

1. Okay, so maybe not the most original title in the world, but the story sure is. The author decides to spend some quality time with her mildly retarded sister, Beth, (whom she never fully understood). Simons basically takes a very long leave of absence from work and totally immerses herself in Beth's world - which consists mainly of riding the bus system in an unnamed Pennsylvania city. But this is not just a simple journey. She experiences how Beth has carved out a life for herself, the people she has connected with, the joyful outlook she has on life, and realizes that maybe Beth's life is fulfilling in its own way. This is also a journey through her childhood as she
   reflects on her memories, her relationship with her family as well as her sister. By slowing down her fast-paced existence and taking the time to experience a year with her sister, Simons certainly discovers a lot about herself, and comes away with a different, more appreciative view of her life. Hopefully you will too. I know I did.



2. This book isn't for everyone, but anyone who lives with a mildy retarded family member will see this book as an eye-opening and touching memoir of the highs and lows of living and coping and dealing with a person such as Beth, the author's sister, with whom she agrees to ride the city buses with over the course of a year.
   
   The chapters are beautifully interweaved with flashbacks to the author's childhood with Beth, who is 18 months younger than the author. The parents' coping with Beth, and how the rest of the family deals with this headstrong and independent girl without once ever mentioning the words "mild retardation" and yet determined to keep together as a family in the early 1960s bring this book to life for many Babyboomers. Rachel did a lot of research on the subject to write for this book, and inserts statistics at logical moments without ever tiring the reader.
   
   Along with the encounters on the bus are small vignettes of the various and varied drivers who deal with Beth on a daily basis. Bus drivers are profiled coming from all aspects of society. Some like Beth, others do not, and many came forward to talk about Beth and her incessant chats while sitting in the front of crowded buses with strangers all around her. Bus drivers are her friends, are her mentors, are her romantic interests and Beth at times reminds us of our girlish teenage crushes...and she is 39 years old while the story takes place.
   
   Although this book mostly deals with Beth and her daily bus rides around town, the author also talks about her own failings; her recent break-up, her move to a new apartment, and we see how dealing with Beth, and talking with bus drivers, help Rachel find the answers for her own troubles.
   
   This book may not be for everyone. One must have a close experience with a person such as Beth to understand the many detailed and sometimes long-drawn-out episodes of city bus travel to truly appreciate this book. Beth is beautifully portrayed in this book, and with all her flaws and handicaps we can see a bit our ourselves through her daily bus journeys.
   
   Read this book with patience and understanding for the mildy retarded people in our society. We all know and have dealt with our own Cools Beths.



3. I found this book to be very interesting and moving. It has really made a mark on my heart. I have a special needs child who unlike "Cool Beth" is not treated differently by many, yet sees some of the same prejudices. It was nice to read a book that shows how a person can live on their own and have the same things that so called "normal" people can. I appreciated that Beth knew right from wrong and is not afraid to express that to the world around her. We can all learn from that. The annoyance that Rachel gets from Beth is such a tough feeling for a sibling/parent, but a genuine one and written with such truth. This will not be enjoyed by all, but all can learn from it.



4. This is not a book I would have chosen, but I read it for my book club and was pleasantly surprised. When I saw an endorsement from Rosie O'Donnell on the front cover of this book, I was expecting something more sentimental, along the lines of a Lifetime Channel movie, to lie within the pages. Instead, I found a powerful tribute to people on society's fringe and a meaningfully insightful story.
   
   The story centers around a workaholic writer/teacher, Rachel Simon, who runs out of ideas for her newspaper work and decides to spend a year shadowing her mildly mentally retarded sister, Beth. Beth has chucked working and living in a group home for a hedonistic life in her own apartment, filling her days happily riding the city's busses. Simon takes what could be a boring or sappy story and makes something marvelous out of Beth's mundane, repetitive life by her keen observation and analysis of the details of this routine. She does an excellent job of looking at life through Beth's eyes and of showing how the mentally challenged are at times similar to the rest of us and yet at other times vastly different and difficult to comprehend.
   
   Naturally Beth's efforts to live independently in the manner she desires create enormous frustration for her family and even the professionals involved in her "case." How to help someone in Beth's situation is complicated. How much help can family and professionals give versus how much help should they give? How many decisions can she safely, competently make on her own? Simon shows us that there are no easy answers, as she attempts to establish her own place in her sister's life.
   
   The book is beautifully written, hard to put down, and filled with insights and wisdom that would make Irma Bombeck proud. The author was surprised at how much she learned from Beth's limitations and her world, and you will be too.



5. This book is an engaging, fast read. I was especially interested in Rachel Simon's flashbacks. We learn what caused her mental retardation, we see her experiences and Rachel's, we also suffer with the children as mom continues in a downward spiral. All of these flashbacks, distinguished by italic font, are worthy of a book all their own.
   
   Beth Simon is hard to like. She is loud, immature, unhygenic, and self-centered. She is also capable of holding down a job- she just chooses not to. What makes it worse is that she tells her fellow passengers that she doesn't work because she doesn't want to- always reminding them of her disability check. What type of endurance would you need, if you were riding the bus with Beth, heading to your job? Many people can't handle it. And Beth is oblivious to the reasons why people dislike her- she's a capable woman who won't better herself.
   
   In Rachel's relationship with Beth, the story is not sugar-coated. Rachel gets very annoyed with Beth: ' Damn it Beth, shut up! my dark voice erupts. Look at you- same expression, same seat, same stupefying conversation.
   and
   "When I started riding the buses, I remember, I thought of the people who didn't like Beth as insensitive and narrow-minded. Now I find myself more sympathetic to their point of view. Yes, some of them are coarse and offensively vocal. But she is so loud. And she talks all the time. About nothing. I know many of us babble on about nothing, too, but she does it over and over and over- and over and over and over- and it's really eroding the limits of my endurance. Dad used to tell us he came to dread their car rides to work for precisely the same reasons. That was twenty years ago."
   
   However, Rachel's interaction with every bus driver are so profound. She always seems to be learning something from them. And it's always about how they changed their philosophies so they could lead happier lives. Ugh, it was too corny and simplistic for me!
   
   Further, I was uninterested in how Rachel changed in relations to men and other people. I only wanted to see her relationship with Beth. Yes, Rachel Simon gives Beth and the bus rides credit for changing her life- but I really have no desire to know anything else about Rachel Simon in the late 90s (when the story takes place). Tell me more about Beth, including more altercations with drives and passengers, more about her obsessions with the drivers, more about her self-centered domination of every bus ride.
   
   " Beth is ignoring the parade of costumes in the street and gazing adoringly at Cliff- and with a jolt, I know what scares me.
   It's not just the same old crush with a new face, or the same olf song with the same wrong words. It's not just the pattern she doesn't see, or care about, and therefore cannot or will not change.
   It's that Beth seems to need a cataclysmic event for her to change in any way- an event like our mother's complete abdication of her responsibility to protect her own child, Juanita's rejection, or Rodolpho's abandonment. This seems true whether she's being called upon to develop resorucefulness, assertiveness, or just basic self-restraint. I look at her and feel a clutch in my throat. What will it take now?
   Is this all there will ever be to her life? "

5 comments about His Bright Light: The Story of Nick Traina.

1. A heart warming story of a stuggle of the heart. This mother and son had a bond so deep it was like they were one. Excellent reading and praise to the author for sharing her life!



2. This was my first Danielle Steel book. I am not a lover of fiction, so that is one reason that this was my first experience with Danielle Steel. I enjoyed this book. It was slow in spots, and a bit difficult to follow, but overall a good story. I wish that every person that suffered from mental illness had the ability to have the funding to live a more independent life. As an individual that has had a career working with children and adults with mental illness, I hope that this story will help try to find more resources for individuals with bipolar disorder.



3. I have read this book in curiosity as to what Bipolar might look like in infants and young children. It is very interesting to read about Nick's personality and high unusual intelligence. If I remember correctly, he was using full sentences at age 15 months old and was arguing with his mom about what he was going to wear at 15 months old, so this is like reading about one child who was eventually diagnosed as Bipolar, but in looking back, there were many signs, so if you are concerned about a young child who might show signs this book is a good read, not a diagnosis, but has many interesting scenes of the young Bipolar child.



4. I give five stars plus to Nick's soul and one star, at best, to the book itself. By Ms Steel's own admission throughout the book, she recognized Nick had problems from a very young age. Perhaps if the author had spent more time doling out love and attention to her young child, and less time pumping out volumes of romantic fiction with a vain desire to increase her wealth, this book would never have been written. Money does not buy happiness; a son's smile does.
   
   The book is sad and heartbreaking, but so was Nick's life. In my opinion, the book came across as a vain attempt by the author to relieve her own guilt, as opposed to a tribute to her troubled son. Much of our adult life and who we become is formed within the first six years following birth. It is too easy for society to simply "blame the drugs" for many of today's wrongs. If a child, from a very young age, is nutured, loved, disciplined in a fair and loving manner, instilled with self-worth and self-esteem, the chances of that child turning to negative solutions to find happiness or whatever is missing in his/her life is greatly diminished.
   
   The book comes across as if the author is suffering from a "poor me" symdrome. Of course, she has a right to grieve, she lost a son, but what were the contributing factors? What was missing from Nick's life? The only one who truly knows the answers is Nick and, unfortately, he is not here to tell us or write his side of the story. Ms Steele will have the opportunity to continue on with her life, turn out best-selling novels faster than bees produce honey and make millions of dollars in the process. Unfortunately, Nick will not have that same opportunity.



5. This really is the greatest nonfiction story I ever read with such a tragic ending. His life was so troubled, but it is truly inspiring. It makes you look inside yourself and those you love, and realize that there are some things we can not change. Those things that we can change, however, are often overlooked when the cries for help are accidentally ignored. This happened to Nick Traina. I do agree with other users that it seems that his mother, although full of love, does feel a lot of guilt. No one could have told his story better than himself, of course, but it seems unlikely that anyone else knew him better than his mother. Very touching, and I am happy that his legacy continues to inspire and live on. R.I.P. Nick.

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.