5 comments about Diane Arbus: A Biography.

1. Diane Arbus as a photographer is linked to Walker Evans and Robert Frank. She believed a photograph is a secret about a secret. David Nemerov, her father, was a creative spirit, an enterprising retailer. He expanded the family-owned Russek fur business. He knew fashion was theater, ephemeral. Both Diane and her brother Howard were gifted. A friend felt that Diane and others grew up in an emotional desert of shame, not affirmation, as they received training to become accomplished in the various cultured disciplines. Diane came to believe her circumstances were irrational. She complained that throughout her upbringing of Ethical Culture schools and summer camps she had never felt adversity. Diane met and fell in love with Allan Arbus when she was fourteen. At Fieldston School in Elbert Lenrow's Great Books class, Diane wrote essays on Flaubert and Sophocles, preoccupied with ambiguity, with contradictions. Diane told her friends she was not going to apply to college, she was going to marry Allan Arbus. Her talent set her apart from others; it frightened her.
   
   During World War II Howard joined the Canadian Air Force and Allan the Army Signal Corps. When Allan was sent to photography school at Fort Monmouth, Diane moved to Red Bank. Daughter Doon was born in 1945. For a time Diane studied with Berenice Abbott. Allan and Diane worked closely together as a husband and wife fashion photography team. They were creative and perfectionists. In 1951 Allan, Diane, and Doon went to Europe. The sights were a revelation to Diane. All of her experiences were sensory. Another child, Amy, was born in 1954. Allan and Diane were successful, they were 'comers', but they hated the fast-paced trendy world of commercial photography. Howard Nemerov felt the couple was living an unreal but glittering life. NYC was a mecca for photographers. Diane's younger sister Renee was a sculptor. Her husband was a magazine writer. All of the Nemerovs had depressive illnesses, but Diane's were deeper and longer-lasting.
   
   It was felt fashion photography, the artifice and the monotony, contributed to Diane's depression, and so she stopped. Allan continued the business. Diane took a course at the New School with Lisette Model. Under Model she began documenting fearsome persons and places. She went to Coney Island. Diane drifted into downtown Bohemia. She developed a friendship with many artists including Mary Frank. Allan and Diane moved their studio to Washington Place. The couple became estranged. Diane and the two girls moved to Charles Street. Silence, cunning, and exile were emblematic of Diane's work according to Emile de Antonio, using a Joycean formulation. During the summer of 1959 Diane photographed circuses. At sideshows she felt shame and awe.
   
   Diane acquired a mentor, Marvin Israel, who believed she was an original talent who needed to be pushed. Her snap-shot style and subject matter were perfect for ESQUIRE. On assignment, photography for Diane became contemporary anthropology. When Marvin Israel went to HARPER'S BAZAAR, Diane had another outlet for her work. Walker Evans was impressed with Diane's work. Diane was awarded a Guggenheim to explore American rites and customs. When Howard published JOURNAL OF THE FICTIVE LIFE, Diane realized that she and Howard had the same family memories and the same lexicon.
   
   In the mid sixties Diane seemed to be at every spectacle, every parade in NYC. She taught at Parsons in 1965. Her students said she was a terrific teacher. Her photographs appeared in the 'New Documents' show at the Museum of Modern Art, 1967. Later her use of a square format with direct flash was copied widely. Friends tried to tell her not to take the neagative comments to heart, that all original work was irritating at first, (Gertrude Stein). Diane revered the photography of August Sander, Weegee, and Lewis Hine. In 1969 Allan and Diane were divorced. Their studio was closed. Allan moved to Hollywood. In 1970 Diane moved to Westbeth. She taught a photography class at Westbeth to raise money to purchase a Pentax camera. In the end Diane felt her work was being noticed for the wrong reasons. Friends ignored Diane's allusions to suicide.
   
   Patricia Bosworth has done a smashingly successful job of capturing the essence of the life and work of this photography pioneer. Readers of the book feel compelled to follow-up every name and every work mentioned.



2. After watching the movie "Fur" which is a fictionalized biography, I wanted to know more about this artist. The book is fascinating, but sometimes dreary as the author relates the severe depression that pervades many of the artists who were associated with Diane Arbus, as well as Diane herself. Full of famous names and families of $$ in the NY and New England.



3. I found this book on my shelf. Someone may have recommended it to me but I forgot who. I thought, "Oh, another book about some unknown person who is probably a very boring person and this book will be boring, I'm sure." Several times during the hearing (on tape) of this book I thought, "Well, that's enough about this Diane Arbus person." But, the book is so well written and finally I descerned that the subject of the book, Diane Arbus, is so "worth reading" that I did finish the book. And, it was "worth the time". I mean, here's this "little unknown lady" making "immortal" all these "unknown" people who now are "known" and "will be known forever" thanks to her! I wish I had met Diane Arbus and had MY picture taken by her! After you read this perhaps order "Monograph" or "Magazine Photos" to see "what the fuss is all about". You won't be disappointed! Recommended! boland7214@aol



4. I can't say I really liked this book. In the early stages of the biography I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Diane's childhood, but the author does too much fawning over Diane and repeatedly talks about how gifted she was. Yes, I think we all appreciate that fact, now let's move on and get to the core of who she was. ...Except I don't necessarily feel that this book ever truly did that. There were some interesting insights, but I constantly felt far too removed from the real Diane. Each piece of information I felt I could really sink my teeth into was buried between pages and pages of repetitive or useless (to me, anyway) information.
   
   Throughout the book I felt Bosworth also spent too much time detailing a large number of Diane's friends and acquaintances. Family, close friends and mentors are certainly key in any biography, but the deeper I got into the book, the more I found myself skimming over chunks of text, searching for what (if much of anything) these relationships MEANT to her life rather than tedious details about a person she only met a couple of times.
   
   I was also disappointed in the lack of reflection on Arbus's death at the end of the book. I had expected many more thoughts on that, or maybe even a bit of discussion on her legacy, and how her work is now received. Instead, the book ends with her death.
   
   In short: If you want to know more about Arbus, read the book, but be prepared to skim.



5. Not only could I not put this book down, it made me miss Diane Arbus terribly once I had finished it and so sad that she must have despaired at the end. Not an easy feat for a book, so I would highly recommend it to anyone who is moved/intrigued/awed/interested by her photography.

5 comments about Too Close to the Falls.

1. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and my only complaint is that it ended too soon. I am hoping that there will be a sequel. This is an unconventional memoir, a very unusual childhood and just so funny and also deeply moving, I couldn't put it down! Everyone I know who has read it loves it. This book will take you through every emotion. If you hate to cook, know a gifted child or were one yourself, had a Catholic school education, this book will be particularly amusing. Worth the read and make sure to pass it along to a friend or two!



2. I really liked this memoir..and I wish the author would continue where she left off. It ends well in this memoir but I was really sorry when it did end. I felt like I was experiencing the life of the author as a young girl into early adulthood--with all her adventures!



3. I'm not certain exactly which years Cathy attended "Hennepin Hall" in Lewiston -- but my memories definitely differ from hers! I did find many familiar characters and locations. Generally well written, and it really did make me a little homesick... they call it "Lewiston By The River" now as a way to draw tourist traffic, and this book took me back to a simpler time when Lewiston had exactly one blinking stoplight.
   
   Worth reading.



4. I found the book to be excellent. I am from the area and as I read I found myself at the locations in the book. It took me on a strange and wonderful tour of my "back yard." I would recommend this to anyone from the area. To those outside the area, you will get a feel for the wonderful little town of Lewiston, that hasn't changed much over the years.



5. I'm not sure that I would have loved this so much if I wasn't familiar with everything that the author was writing about. I grew up not far from her and it was fun reading about all of the local things, but I don't know if I would have been able to enjoy it as much as I did if I wasn't familiar with what she was talking about.

5 comments about Switching Time: A Doctor's Harrowing Story of Treating a Woman with 17 Personalities.

1. This is a remarkable story of the truly awful abuse suffered by Karen and the subsequent splitting of her personality, an act that saved her. Her long journey with Dr Baer is equally remarkable and immediately it is apparent how important the therapeutic relationship is. Without such a relationship all that followed would not be possible.
   There is so much to say about this book and I would recommend it to therapists, psychology students, and to anyone who is interested in the mind and the effects of severe long term abuse or those who want to read a moving story. I would have liked a little more theory in the book about DID and how exactly Karen's alters formed and maybe some theoretical musings on the abusers as their behaviour was truly abhorent. The alters did a good job of explaining the function of each but I am left wondering if perhaps we all have aspects of multiplicity? The book, 'Multiplicity' by Rita Carter does suggest that.
   Yesterday I spotted a book review by Karen as she has started reading books on DID, and this prompted my review. This is a book that will long stay in my mind, and I admire Dr Baer for his dedication to Karen. If he had stuck to rigid boundaries, Karen might not be around today. Finally, how can I finish without a few words for Karen? To have suffered such abuse and then to have faced it over 18 years of therapy, shows a woman who despite the worst the world could throw at her, has incredible bravery and resilience. I am sure that readers of this book wish you well on your continued journey.......I certainly do. Your words will help many people. Lastly, a final word on the alters, in that you have many beautiful parts within you and they are all you.



2. I just finished this book and it was fascinating, troubling, thought-provoking and intense. I have never wanted to write a review until now. I hope this book does well when it comes out in paperback. As you read it, you start to realize different parts of your own inner self and how they make up your own distinct personality. To imagine anyone suffering the abuse she endured is horrific.
   Dr Baer's account of his treatment is not too technical yet definitely not written for a "fiction lover". Awesome read.



3. I've always been interested in cases of multiple personality, and SWITCHING TIME is the mother of them all.
   
   I found myself immersed in the story of both the doctor and patient and cringing at the horrors this poor woman suffered (although I will admit that I'm not quite sure, even after reading the book, how many of the events she mentioned actually, truly happened).
   
   This book is disturbing at times, but also immensely interesting. For fans of the subject, this is definitely a must-read!



4. Would you like to ask me, Karen Overhill, a question? Log onto "Switching Time" website www.switchingtime.wordpress.com and I will answer you.



5. I loved this book. I felt connected to each personality and wanted to know about them and their complicated "house". I couldn't put the book down and read it in 2 days. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the human mind, effects of childhood abuse and books that keep you wondering what will happen next. Very good read!

5 comments about Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon.

1. Let's start with the lovely cover image: thanks to the research behind Lucia, this previously unknown work by the widely acclaimed Swiss painter, Angelica Kauffmann, came to light. And thanks to the owner's permission, its appearance on the cover allows us all to enjoy it. This is our first meeting with the blossoming young Lucia. Her glowing complexion, full bosom and that chestnut tendril that curls downward along her neck bespeak an innocent yet eager anticipation of life's sweetnesses. But this is not a love story. Lucia's life is much larger than her courtship and marriage with Alvise Mocenigo, and emphatically disproves what we think of as the bounds for a woman then.
   From the start, Lucia's story shows her caught in the middle of things, from local power struggles in Venice to empires rising and falling and the devastating wars they brought about. Political events determine one challenge after another for her, as daughter, fiancée, wife, mother, woman on her own.
   Accounts of political moves, diplomatic dealings, warfare strategy might not seem the stuff of a woman's life story, and yet they make perfect sense here, are fundamental, illuminating and intriguing. As these combine with finely wrought details of the everyday, the past truly comes to life. Di Robilant's style, as in A Venetian Affair, draws the reader in. When you read Lucia, you feel welcome and respected. And at once you are involved.
   Di Robilant works with some very special material, unearthed not only among family papers but also in archives around Europe. In the end, he did not write the story exactly as he had set out to, for his research uncovered unexpected turns in what he knew as his family's history. He never makes an issue of this, but leaves it tacitly to his readers to imagine what it must be like to see a family legacy twisted into a different shape and to discover fundamental family ties you never knew existed. Di Robilant set out to bond with his past, which in the end he did, but not with the past as he knew it when he set out.
   I highly recommend this book to readers with a passion for Venice, the Napoleonic years and memoirs about women who rise to unexpected challenges; to readers curious to have an insider view of life at court (Paris, Vienna, Milan) in the nineteenth century or a landlady's perspective on the scandalously libertine Lord Byron; to readers simply fond of books where biography and history elegantly merge with great merit to both genres.



2. In this book Venice at the end of the eighteenth century comes to life. Lucia was only a young girl when she returned to her native city from Rome, where her father was Venetian Ambassador, to be married to a much older man. She lived in many of the great courts of Europe, travelled extensively, witnessed the fall of the Venetian Republic to Napoleon, and as an impecunious widow was the landlady who rented out her fabulous family palazzo to no other than Lord Byron. It was in the attic of Palazzo Mocenigo on the Grand Canal that her correspondence, recounting every minute detail of her long and fascinating life, was preserved and handed down through the generations until it came into the hands of the author, who is her descendant. A wonderful book. Highly recommended.



3. Lucia: A Venetian Life in the Age of Napoleon begins where Andrea Di Robilant's A Venetian Affair left off. Lucia Mocenigo was the eldest daughter of Andrea Memmo, and she married at seventeen into one of the best-known patrician families in Venice. When the Republic fell in 1797 to Napoleon, Lucia went to Vienna, where she became friends with Josephine Bonaparte. Later, Lucia moved back to Venice, where she became Byron's landlord. She died in the 1850s, when she was in her 80s.
   
   Lucia is a compelling look into the life of an intriguing woman. She was at the heart of European political change, as her letters to her husband and sister show. What Di Robilant does successfully in this book, as he did in A Venetian Affair, is bring the event s and people to life. Everything Lucia, her husband Alvise, and her son Alvisetto, do is documented here with precision. Sometimes with too much precision: when her son was a teenager, Lucia obsessively worried over his progress in school. But in all, Lucia was an impressive woman who rose to the challenges she faced with courage.



4. I just finished reading this sequel to A Venetian Affair. Lucia is quite different from Giustiniana (the main character in the previous book) but this true story leaves you with the same mixture of fascination and melancholy. Unlike Giustiniana, Lucia immediately marries her first love, Alvise, and despite also being the protagonist of a scandal, her life is not as thrilling as Giustiniana's. Like Giustiniana, Lucia lives first hand through the European aristocracy, from Venice to Vienna and to Paris. But while in A Venetian Affair the source of dismay is the missed happy ending for Giustiniana and Memmo (her lover), in Lucia it's another demise that characterizes the book: the fall of her beloved Venice.
   Through her detailed correspondence to her sister we learn of Alvise and Lucia's efforts to keep their status once orphans of the Most Serene Republic. This is what I believe defines this book. It's the story of a power couple who in their prime loses their motherland, and that helplessly witness a millennium of history being crushed between the French and Austrian power struggle. Alvise and Lucia, they really try. When Napoleon has the upper hand they get back on their feet and are actively involved in being part of the new world order. But as soon as the Austrians take control they have to start from square one, and we find Lucia mingling with the Viennese aristocracy while living in the Hasburgic capital. But then Napoleon is back, and off to Paris they go. These are not merely social ladder moves. There are estates to save, and the underlying theme is the slow but inevitable decadence due to unfortunate geopolitical circumstances that this otherwise very capable and visionary couple is subject to. Of course the book is packed with affairs and loaded with illegitimate children, but the force of this book is its historical value. It's the first hand account of how a historical European nation was phagocytized and of why its resurgence has been suffocated in the following decades.



5. 
   Some people embroider their family trees on samplers, others create momentos and books for the family. Fortunately Di Robilant went further than this, making his great-great-great-great grandmother a research subject and having Knopf publish it for the general market. This ancestor was witness to and active in a critical time in the life of Venice and through her story we get an idea as to how the nobility coped during the Napoleonic years.
   
   We are introduced to Lucia when she is 15 and her father is involved in extended and stressful marriage negotiations. At this time the Venetian elite are leading la dolce vita. Soon, Venetians and their republic will be jolted into new and uncharted territory.
   
   Through the Mommo and Mocenigo families we see how the nobility adapted. Many fled. Others chose to work with the French, the Austrians, the French again and again the Austrians. Marriage and family scenes are just as striking as those of the famous events.
   
   Lucia is resiliant. From an entralled young bride, she becomes realistic about her marriage that will only end when death due them part. There is infidelity, child birth and death, long separations, primitive medicine, fine entertaining, perilous travel and fiscal constraint.
   
   Lucia learns to set up and manage households and farmsteads and to "wait" on a Princess who is half her age. Despite the many problems of her son and his education, she is a successful parent. She gets herself recognized in the Austrian court, educates herself in Paris, becomes a friend of Napoleon's Josephine, manages the family assets and has famous tenents in Venice. This woman is amazing for any age, but for her time, totally impressive.
   
   There are two problems with the book, neither serious enough to take away stars. There are two maps but others are needed, one showing the various estates and others showing the travel routes to Vienna and Paris. The other problem may not be addressable. Lucia, while running what seems to be a large farmstead, refurbishes the main house. Then she raises, for sale, a small number of animals (are there not a lot of other animals on this farm?). Similarly, as a lady in waiting she raised two head of cattle. The economics/practicality of this husbandry doesn't compute for me.
   
   What is wonderful about this book is that it makes history alive. It shows how larger events effect people's lives. The writer draws portraits of people whom we tend to care about and of the turmoil of Europe at the time.

5 comments about Emma's War.

1. An amazingly well-researched book on the politics of modern Sudan. Written as part biography, part history lesson, part autobiography, these elements make the story flow along. I learned SO much about Sudan; I'm astounded at the amount of research and interviewing that went into this book. The author's personal reflections, especially how she thinks back to time she spent among the refugees as she's putting her own child to bed, are really poignant. Loved the book because it's so full of information, but feel really, really sad for the people of Sudan and their seemingly hopeless situation. A must-read for anyone going to Sudan.



2. The best thing "Emma's War" by Deborah Scroggins accomplishes is to highlight the often overlooked tragedy and strife that grips Sudan in particular and Africa in general. That's it though, and is the only reason this book deserves more than one star.
   
   Emma herself, based on Scroggins' testimony, is an otherwise forgettable, if not pitiable, person. She had a lot of sex, did a lot of drugs, and reveled in the attention that her exploits attracted. She and her "safari companions" competed to outdo one another with their wild pursuits, and you get the sense that marrying a warlord was simply her ultimate one-upping of her friends. "Top that!" you can almost hear her say. As one prominent tribal chief put it, "If she were in a European setting, she would never even have been noticed." Nevertheless, there is a good story in Emma's adventure, captured in the book's compelling subtitle: "An aid worker, a warlord, radical Islam, and the politics of oil - a true story of love and death in Sudan." How could such a story not be a hit?
   
   The real problem with "Emma's War" is Scroggins' unbelievably poor writing. From what should have been a page-turning adventure, she rendered a laborious manuscript rife with typos, suffering from dreadful research and incoherent structure, and displaying a general misunderstanding of the English language. For example, she puts the date of Charles Gordon's death at both January 25th and January 26th in consecutive paragraphs (even if the details are murky, such inconsistency is inexcusable). She will use an opening parenthesis but have no corresponding closing parenthesis. She routinely jumbles several disconnected topics into a single, long paragraph. Meanwhile she jumps forward and backward in the story with no warning or explanation. And she repeatedly refers to the list of passengers on an airplane flight as the "airplane's manifesto." Overall, "Emma's War" reads like a long, disjointed, carelessly written e-mail.
   
   Fortunately, there are alternatives to this book. For instance, there is the upcoming movie starring (possibly) Nicole Kidman as Emma. More seriously, "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder is an excellent story of true humanitarian activism.



3. Having lived in Sudan for almost two years I can say that the book was a perfect introduction to the issues and the life in Sudan with an eye on the North/South conflict. Riek Macchar, one of the characters in the book, is still an important figure in the country. Of course, John Garang has died in a helicopter accident.
   
   The book reads like a novel and pulls you along on the strength of the "plot" which is the life of Emma and her work in Sudan's South. Additional information about Sudan and its history is supplied liberally. Scoggins is a reporter with an eye for detail and a penchant for making the story interesting.
   
   Anyone who asks me for something to read about Sudan gets told, "Emma's War." Even if you are interested in learning about the Darfur conflict, this is a good place to start, since a) there is a lot of background material about this part of the world, and b) there are North/South elements in the Darfur situation which will probably continue to grow, even though the origins of the Darfur disaster are not based on North/South conflict.
   
   This is very readable and filled with interesting characters, most of whom are still important to this area.
   
   By the way, Philip Caputo's novel "Acts of Faith" deals with the same issues as Emma's war, but in an extremely fictionalized way.



4. "Sudan's 26 million people were 2 thirds Muslim, but only a little over 1 third Arab. Muslim or not, most Sudanese were dark skinned Africans. Yet the country's wealth was concentrated in the hands of the descendants of a handful of Arabs (...) Meanwhile, this Arab elite kept the black African majority divided and fighting among themselves." The background in a nutshell.
   
   It's the brief comments out of the blue like this one that make the book well worth reading. In the first half of the book we have the settings, and a summary of Emma's life up to her final journey to Africa. The author's gift for synthesizing a lot of history regarding Emma and Sudan is truly laudable. But in the second part of the book, when it comes to the more day by day activities of the different tribes warfare and of Emma herself, it becomes boring, entangled and messy.
   
   The most interesting and revealing passages come unexpectedly. The conversations with Arab characters candidly reveal their racism towards blacks, and their intolerance towards other religions other than Muslim (see p.103 for a clear example).
   
   The issue of the European aid workers is always a intriguing psychological mystery: "It was against the unspoken rule of aid to admit that all one really wanted was to get away from home" (p.70) regarding Emma. You can make your own ideas about Emma and other aid workers, although intriguing, my own interest remained on the cultural issues at hand.
   
   There are more stories that are not dealt with here. We see African aristocracy, tribal high-class studying in nice English universities, going back to Africa to use their education to make war and impose their law on the rest of the people. This is a class worth taking a look at. The aid workers are also a class in itself, their motivations for being there, their personal stories, are all very interesting. All these peoples are interesting. The book should have continued to be like in the first part, more analyses, more summarizing, and less he-said-she-said and soap-opera.



5. Nearly a score of years after the events so intimately revealed in this book, the war in the Sudan continues. (It's all about oil stupid.) The author brings Emma alive as the very best fiction would (in the 20's, she would have lived among the fast crowd in Paris, in the reality of the '80's she went from Oxfram to wife of a Sudanese warlord) and brings the sad history of Sudan in the 1980's alive at the same time.
   
   A fictional account of the same period, What is the What, would make an excellent companion to this book.

5 comments about Sophie Scholl and the White Rose.

1. SOPHIE SCHOLL & THE WHITE ROSE is, essentially, about the finest aspects of human nature. The White Rose members' integrity and their compassion for their fellow Germans and, more surprisingly, for the Jewish population who had endured years of prejudice and oppression followed by vicious persecution is very impressive.
   
   To mount a secret campaign against the Third Reich, a totalitarian regime of insidious oppression and unbelievable brutality against both the German people and its conquered populations, takes amazing courage.
   
   But to face up to that regime on an intensely personal level, without hesitation or - apparently - regret, fully aware of the consequences, is simply awesome. And it awes me that most of the White Rose members were students like myself! This is a very memorable book with a powerful message.



2. It is quite impossible to do an adequate job of reviewing this book.
   Knowing that these young German students really lived, daring to risk their young lives and, indeed, losing them, for their distribution of their printed words challenging German people to act against Hitler, is unbelievably humbling and cause for great hope for mankind. Passive resistence worked. Life triumphed over death. Good was stronger than evil.
   The authors, Annette Dumbach and Jud Newborn, became accomplished talents with the publication of this book alone.
   Their ability to combine the biographies of Sophie, her brother and their compatriots in the making and distrubtion of the White Rose and the requisite history and analysis of the political climate in Germany during The Holcaust is masterful.
   The book reads like a suspense thriller one could read in a few hours. However, their thoughtful, detailed insights into the minds and hearts of the protagonists, compel the reader to read and then reread many passages before being emotionally able to read on. This is a must read for young and old students of the human condition, a truly unforgettable book.



3. I bought this for research and it is terrific. It really gets into the mindset and political background of the story of the White Rose and helps the reader to understand the 'why' of the story. Not as personal as other accounts, it nevertheless is a wonderful background that will help you see Nazi Germany in a whole new light while telling the moving and touching story of Sophie Scholl.



4. This book was definitely a must-read, not only for those that are interested in this time period of study, but for anyone who wants to have a better understanding of world history. It's amazing, simply put. It reads so quickly. You are definitely drawn in from the very first page to the last.



5. If you have a restless conscience then you will better understand the members of the White Rose. Like most kids in Germany in the 30's Hans and Sophie Scholl joined the Nazi youth movement and bought into National Socialism. However through their father who opposed National Socialism and a God instilled restless conscience they soon saw National Socialism for the evil it was and is. The author does a good job of making you feel the tension and stress as the story unfolds. Their dileama was how do you mount a meaningful opposition to a totalitarian state from within. Who can you trust? Gestapo everywhere and all opposition to the State outlawed.By 1940 most of the 500 or so pastors who would not bow down to Hitler were in jail or executed. By the time the White Rose decided to take action in 1942 most Germans were scarred to death of the police state they had allowed to enslave them. But there was sporadic uprising against Hitler. One interesting story in the book was when the gov't banned all the crucifixes from the public schools in Bavaria in 1941. The parents signed protest letters and petitions and even threw the mandatory picture of Hitler out of classroom windows. The protest was so strong that Hitler backed down. Its scary to think that our gov't has taken Christianity out of the classroom but Hitler couldn't. As you read the book you feel that they felt they were going to get caught but their restless conscience would not let them turn from the course of action that would lead to their deaths. As we see our own freedoms of privacy (Patriot Act), speech (Hate Crime Bills) and other constitutional rights being taken from us by an ever growing central gov't we can learn a lot from this book. At her trial Sophie Scholl said "Somebody had to make a start". They certainly did and their pamphlets and death had a lasting effect on the German people. Hans Scholl's last words were "Long live Freedom". The essence of freedom is the limitation of gov't and requires eternal vigilance. The German people allowed Hitler to much power and he enslaved them. We still have the time and ability to limit the power of our gov't but it will take a lot of work and most importantly a restless conscience. 5 stars for this book.

4 comments about Landscape for a Good Woman: A Story.

1. This book tells the story of Carolyn Steedman's childhood and her mother's refusal to mother. Taking as her starting off point three forms of narrative, the fairy tale, the psychoanalytical case study and the Working Class (auto)biography Steedman creates a narrative that is unlike any I have read. It is at time incredibly difficult and engaging. She challenges assumptions of class, especially the relationship between gender and class, throughout the text. Her childhood, and the childhoods she draws from other working class narratives are thrown into relief against Freud and Marxism. At the same time she uses these tools to examine herself and the world she grew up in.



2. 'Landscape for a Good Woman' marks a turning point in how history is written. In the start of the book, Steedman acknowledges that she is not writing a history for everyone (she even denies that her book is a work of history). Instead, through what she says is an act of 'particularizing', Steedman has demonstrated the importance of acknowledging the individual histories of 'lower class' or 'working class' people and families that are often over looked due to an array of social, economic, political, and psychological confines that dominate discourse in each of these areas.

   Whether being read as a feminist critique of male dominated society, a working class critique of upper class dominated society, or a critique of the discipline of history, this book offers a world of information and ideas. It is short and very dense but excellently written. Each sentence is worth rereading as the reader will quickly discover that multiple lessons can be gleamed from each thought Steedman presents.

   Through being told from the perspective of Steedman as her mother's daughter, the book demonstrates how the past shapes the present and how the two seemingly separate regions are actually tangled and inseparable. This book is worth every second it takes to read, and the time you'll spend thinking it over well after it has found its place on your shelf.




3. An absorbing memoir of the author's childhood in post WWII London. Steedman's mother was a chronically dissatisfied working-class woman angry about her life of material deprivation. She was, in Steedman's words, part of a "subterranean culture of longing for what one can never have." Her anger extended to her two daughters--she told them, "If it wasn't for you two, I'd be off somewhere else."
   
   Steedman uses fairy tales, psychoanalytic theory and working class biographies to try to make sense of her mother's malaise. Her mother's unmet needs were personified in her desire for enough fabric to sew herself dresses in the fabric-intensive "New Look" style introduced by Dior in 1947--a style that compensated for the deprivations of wartime clothing rations. Naturally, she blamed her daughters for the fact that she didn't have the money. This lead to Steedman having a recurring (and fascinating) childhood dream about a woman in a flowing New Look coat trapped in a revolving door. It's a Hitchcockian dream image, one of visual complexity and psychological truth. Steedman's mother stubbornly resists her daughter's painful attempts to come to terms with her maternal indifference and the odd sense of class rebellion that led her to join the Conservative Party.
   
   In the end, Steedman is left going in circles, not unlike the chic woman of her persistent dream. But she creates an unforgettable portrait of her mother, an unknowable woman who yearned for a life of luxury and respectability that defied both political and psychological stereotypes about how poor women "should" behave.



4. As I was comprising a reading list for my graduate students, I was suddenly reminded of Steedman's slim historical-novella-theory book that towers over so many other creative and academic achievements. Steedman offers one of the most nuanced readings of marxism's link with psychoanalysis into an incredibly personal memoir. Beyond categorization, Steedman's work is absolutely essential reading. In particular, she brilliantly highlights the way in which class is effaced within the academy: "I read a woman's book, meet such a woman at a party (a woman now, like me) and think quite deliberately as we talk: we are divided: a hundred years ago I'd have been cleaning your shoes. I know this and you don't."

5 comments about Heroes: From Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and de Gaulle.

1. Paul Johnson, the well known historian, writes a less weighty book that looks at heroes through the lens of history and these peoples contributions to politics, culture, religion, and yes, entertainment. All of these things are often intermix, yet, they can also be studied in isolation if needed.
   
   Johnson starts off with the Hebrew (or Jewish) heroes. It must be of some interest that Moses is briefly mention and is Judaism's greatest heroes and prophet, Johnson spends more time on Deborah and Judith, Samson and probably rightly so, David. His analysis of Samson is interesting and it goes beyond the Sunday School version or the solely negative critical and sees Samson as a hero with great strength and "tantalizing weakness."
   
   The next Chapter, "Earthsakers" is tied for one of the best in the book. Foibles and greatest are revealed when the reader is once again acquainted with Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar. Johnson provides a quick bio, yet, highlights enough "heroism" and "villainy" to make this more than an encyclopedia version of these two men and make them leap of the page. Hopefully, it will spark others to read more on these two, arguably great and fallen figures.
   
   I have always liked the story of Joan of Arc. Every movie has failed in bringing her to life, although many have tried. Johnson briefly reminds me why she is so spectacular a heroine. She is the proto-Wonder Women, except she was real, alive, fighting for France. Yet, she may have been a proto-Protestant, yet, in many ways still distinctly Catholic. She was such an enormous figure that today many English Churches are named after this French heroine.
   
   There is more of course such as interesting work on Churchill (whom Johnson met in 1946) and Reagan, Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II. Lincoln was necessary for this book, but Johnson here didn't bring anything really engaging in a way I hadn't read before. I found, however, the chapter with Mae West and Maryland Monroe to be a bore - I just didn't care. Maybe it is because, there are better "Hollywood" heroes such as Audrey Hepburn, Sean Connery, Alec Guinness, or Bruce Lee not too mention possibly Cary Grant, Charleston Heston, Angelina Jolie, or Christopher Reeves.
   
   In total, this is a great book. It is difficult to provide so many stories on so many figures on 300 pages; but, Johnson does a pretty good job of it.



2. This is the first book I read of Paul Johnson and I really enjoyed it. In this book, we are introduced to well-known figures in history who are regarded as heroes. But a hero to one might be a villain to another. Genghis Khan was a hero to many, but a murderer to many others as well. Paul Johnson uses the example of Samson. Samson is a heroic figure in old Judaic scriptures. He was a Nazirite, and God had blessed him with extraordinary strength. However, in order to keep his superhuman strength, he had to make sure he never cut his hair. One day, however, he admits to Delilah that the secret to his strength is his hair. She then lulled him to sleep on her knees and called a barber to shave off his hair. The Philistines then seized him, gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. There they bound him with bronze fetters. Eventually his hair grows again, unnoticed by his enemies, and his strength returns. When the Philistines take him to their great feast in the Temple of Dagon to taunt him, he gets a little boy to guide him to the central pillars. Calling on God to give him the power, he pushes aside the pillars from their bases and brings the entire temple down, killing all the people who were in it. According to the author, this ruthlessness in heroism makes Samson the first suicide-martyr-mass killer, adumbrating the suicide bombers of today's Middle East. Samson's act was a brutal unconcern for human life, whether guilty or innocent. Samson kills all the Philistines, including the innocent child who had befriended him and many of those in the crowd who had nothing to do with his capture or blinding. Nonetheless, Samson was honored, and became a hero in the teeming biblical pantheon. The Jews loved Samson, and still do. (p. 18-20). The author says, "Anyone is a hero who has been widely, persistently over long periods, and enthusiastically regarded as heroic by a reasonable person, or even an unreasonable one."
   
   A hero is also created by our own perception of him, and might not be at all the way we perceive him to be. The author gives as an example President Ronald Reagan. Reagan gave back to the United States the self-confidence it had lost, and at the same time tested Soviet power to destruction. He is credited with ending the cold war. He cut taxes, freed Americans from unnecessary burdens, and enlarged freedom whenever consistent with safety and justice. He had a great sense of humor, his smiles were genuine, and he was a charismatic leader. He was viewed as a hero by the American people and the rest of the world. However, according to the author, Reagan was superficially, and also profoundly, ignorant. He did not seem to know how bills were put together or passed through Congress, or how the entire budget process took place. He had little education, and no desire to acquire much more in a general sense, at any rate through books. He was intellectually lazy, and he did not read one word of the carefully prepared briefing book on the eve of the world economic summit in 1983. During his presidency he spent more time watching movies than doing anything else. Sometimes he believed in fantasies, such as that the United States really had much larger hidden oil reserves than the whole of the Middle East. At other times he appeared incapable of speaking coherently about the simplest matters without reference to the cue cards in his left pocket. In some ways he was ill-equipped to run anything, let alone the mightiest nation on earth. He was deaf and sometimes could not hear what his staff was telling him, even with the volume of his hearing aid switched right up. He confused names and faces. He thought his own secretary of commerce was a visiting mayor. He believed Denis Healey was the British ambassador. He addressed the Liberian president Samuel K. Doe as "Chairman Moe." (p. 256-258). Yet despite these deficiencies, he is viewed as an American hero.
   
   This is a really fascinating book that will show you a different side to well-known heroes. The author discusses the human flaws of such heroes as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Henry V, Joan of Arc, Thomas Moore, Lady Jane Grey, Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, Walter Raleigh, George Washington, The Duke of Wellington, Lord Nelson, Emily Dickinson, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Mae West, Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II.
   
   I really liked the chapter on Mae West, and feel encouraged to read more of her books. Mae is really a fascinating character study. I was surprised though that the author included Marilyn Monroe as a hero. I learnt things I never knew about her, like the fact that she suffered from Syphilis and severe depression.
   
   One beautiful quote from this book will be stuck in my head for the rest of my life. Henry Ford once said, "It is a disgrace for anyone to die rich." I truly believe in giving, and being a philanthropist. For this reason, I view Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, among many others, as true heroes. Here's the irony: Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, among just a few, are viewed today as heroes, despite the fact that they killed millions of people. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, among a few, are also viewed as heroes, but for different reasons: they save the lives of millions!
   
   I recommend this book to all readers who are fascinated by the lives of great people (and some not that great but still viewed as heroes).



3. Paul Johnson remains one of the few serious writers who combines an immensely accessable prose style with an intellect rarely encountered in contemporary non-fiction. In his vivid snapshots he compresses larger-than-live historical figures into human beings while simultaneously making the case as to why they are "heroic". Many of these insights are cleanly fresh and restorative to a reader like myself who has read biographies of them all. Johnson explains his criteria for judging who and why he chose who he did as a hero. And in the process makes a powerful case for each individual, even those who are frankly a little tough to swallow. Among them deGaulle.
   From other works (Malraux's "Felled Oaks" for example) and lengthy biographies, my own assesement of deGaulle never changed. I'd always considered him a mostrously egotistical chauvanist who'se WW2 credentials mainly lay in his lucky proximity to true greats like Churchill, Roosevelt and Eisenhower, who in one way or another tolerated his insufferable ego and pretentions.
   Louis X1V presumably said, "c'estate ce moi" I am the state. In a seventeenth century king it's one kind of conceit, but in a 20th century military and politcal leader of a free democracy, it is a disgrace. Or so was my conclusion. However, Johnson's book brought me a new veiwpoint. I didn't conclude I'd been totally wrong, but Johhnson made me see that had deGaulle not existed, he probably would have had too be invented. And in a way, it wasd probably on balance, more fortunate for France that he was the invention, rather than some of the absurd French leaders who preceeded and
   succeeded him. Johnson made me see that. And in that respect and in all the other sketches, ever new lights went on.
   Paul Johnson is one great writer, historian, thinker. And to me, in this age when so much garbage flows from the media.
   Strongly recommend it and all his other books.



4. If you're feeling in need of a hero, Paul Johnson has a few on offer. The 30 mini-portraits presented here cover Western Culture from Ancient Greece to the end of the Cold War. Bookending these are two essays pondering the nature and future of heroism. But be forewarned: in the tradition of his groundbreaking and highly entertaining The Intellectuals, Mr. Johnson has his opinions and isn't in the least afraid to offend the delicate reader.
   
   In fact, I'll wager that Paul Johnson would be sorely disappointed if he learned that scores of people were reading his books and coming away unoffended. Johnson is an intellectual provocateur dedicated to questioning widely-held opinions and the status quo. Like his frequent feuding partner Christopher Hitchens part of the pleasure in reading Paul Johnson is not simply to enjoy his erudition, it's to enjoy the fierce contrariness of his opinions. I don't agree with all their views but I enjoy how they make their cases. Other reviewers here have already noted the vignette about thoughts of Lady Jane Grey helping Nancy Mitford achieve a "satisfactory orgasm" (how on EARTH does that pop up in conversation?) but there are other Johnsonian gems here. John Knox as "the fierce Protestant ayatollah of Edinburgh"? 16th Century Scotland as a "tartan version of Afghanistan"? This is not meant to soothe but incite.
   
   The scope of the portraits is impressive - Jane Austen, Boadicea and Charles de Gaulle in the same book - as is Johnson's take on heroism. His heroes are not paragons of virtue. They tend to be the right person at the right time that does one very necessary thing well, often in the face of significant opposition. A simple, ephemeral definition that encompasses surprisingly few. In the 20th century portraits Johnson occasionally draws on personal experience and it's fascinating to see how he can admire the heroism without particularly liking the person. You won't find complete biographies of any of these people but you will find what is essential to their unique heroism according to Johnson.
   
   This is a perfect book for travel as the mini-portraits can easily be digested on a daily commute or all of them can keep you company on a long flight. If you've read and enjoy Paul Johnson's work before, you'll enjoy this book. If you haven't read Johnson yet but you enjoy lively prose and uncommon opinions this is a good place to start.



5. Paul Johnson is a gifted writer. He writes with wit, elegance and clarity. He has the ability to portray people and events in such a deft manner that you seem to be viewing them in person. Unfortunately, he is not only incredibly uneven in his output, but, the closer his writing gets to the events of the XXth century, the more his opinions become skewed by his peculiar world view.
   
   Occasional flashes of his old talents shine through in this meretricious little pot-boiler, but it is mainly just an embarrassment. Where his former writings had trenchant observations, now peculiarities abound. e.g.
   
   p.34 "He [Alexander the Great] invented the Blitzkrieg." Liddell-Hart and Guderian would be surprised at that claim.
   
   p.47 "He [Julius Caesar] was stabbed to death in a Mafia-style killing in the Senate" Twenty-three aristocratic Senators each stabbing their leader once is somewhat different from an ice pick in the base of the skull.
   
   p.178 "Lee's success [at Gettysburg] on the first day was overwhelming, but on the second he did not make it clear to General James Longstreet that he wanted Culp's Hill and Cemetery Ridge taken at all costs. Longstreet provided too little artillery support to Pickett's famous charge." How many factual errors of commission and omission can you find in those two short statements?
   
   One could say that these examples are just "nit-picking" unimportant details. Consider:
   
   In the chapter devoted to Alexander's life and career, neither Hephaestion nor his death, is mentioned once - let alone discussed! There is no analogy of another historic pair with a similar symbiosis that I can think of - Sherman and Grant were not so close, Octavian and (M. Vipsanius) Agrippa were not as equal, Bill and Hillary are too trivial for comparison. If you don't know of the importance of Hephaestion and his death to Alexander, you should read up on it.
   
   His choices of the slutty (but clever) Mae West and the slutty (and confused) Marilyn Monroe as heroes is bizarre enough. Crediting the implosion of the long-crumbling Soviet Union to the fearsome trio of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II is just loony right wing fantasy (see Wolkenkuckucksheim).
   
   If you would like to read a great book by Paul Johnson try "The Birth of the Modern". If you would like to read a good book about heroes and their place in history, read Lucy Hughes-Hallett's "Heroes, a History of Hero Worship".

5 comments about Learning to Fly: The Autobiography: The Autobiography.

1. Victoria Beckham's masterpiece... although in the beginning, it is a little "slow," it was still NOT a let down. i absoluetly thought this book was fantastic. even though i just found out about her, i was thrilled to read all about her. she is a wonderful inspriration to me. for those who are unsure of buying this book, don't slack... buy it immediatly. you won't regret it because you see, i don't really enjoy reading. however, i love this autobiography by victoria as well as her awesome music. i can't wait to finish this book!



2. This book on the surface seems to be just another quickly rushed, put together autobiography for monetary reasons alone...which is Victoria Beckham all over. This book is now a few years old and you'd be surprised that since it's publication the amount of contraditions that have been exposed about this talentless, insecure, attention hungry, mean to the bone so called "entertainer" is hilarious. If you want to be sucked into this con game then go ahead but lies, lies, lies will be all you'll be reading. A big fat 0/10 for this one.



3. The book was amazing. Victoria talks to you like you are her best friend and she's just letting it all out. I have always been a huge fan and after reading this I respect her even more.



4. This book is great. Victoria is truly open about her life. It makes you see a different side of the person you see in all the tabloids. She allows you to peak into her world. It is heartbreakingly honest. She doesn't try to skip the hard parts of her life. We can see how the Spice Girls developed and how the girls got along. Victoria allows the reader to take a peak into a marriage (and romance) that has overcome many obstacles to raise 3 kids and lead a happy life. She even reveals how it felt when people accused David of cheating on her.
   
   I didn't know what to expect when I started the book but I couldn't put it down. I read the entire book in one night (staying up until 4:00 in the morning). I have a new respect for Victoria Beckham that I wouldn't have had otherwise. I have always admired her fashion sense but I have a new respect for the person behind all the photographs. It is a must read for anyone who wants to learn more about Victoria Beckham.



5. i first decided to get this book because i'm a fan of victoria beckham. when i read the book i was really pleased with it. it was well structured and it gives you a better idea of what victoria beckham is really like. supposedly there's all these speculations about her being a diva, but after reading this book i really don't believe those stories anymore. by reading the book, it seems as though your listening to a long time friend's life story. i really like this book and reccomend it. i seriously didn't want it to end and wish she came out with another autobiography.

5 comments about Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited.

1. What a GRIPPING book! My husband and I listened to this book on CD on a long road trip. It was a fascinating story, well told -- I almost regretted having to stop the CD at rest stops. I pushed the "on" button again the minute we got into the car. I usually have the bad habit of nodding off while my husband is driving, but I was wide awake every minute on this trip, caught up in the story of twins separated at birth.
   
   Alas, the trip was shorter than the recorded book, so we literally sat in the car in the motel parking lot for an hour in order to finish the book. We HAD to know how the twins' search for their birth-mother turned out.
   
   I highly recommend "Identical Strangers."



2. I loved this book. I love reading about twins and their similarities. This is a fun and interesting story about twins who were separated at birth.
   Great summer reading.



3. I could not stop reading this book -- devoured it in a weekend. This is not just an analysis of the twin relationship or of adoption practice. Nor is it a typical narrative. It is a riveting personal story, like a diary, honestly told by two people suddenly faced with a stunningly unique challenge to their notions of what it means to be "me." The personal nature of the storytelling is what gripped me -- at times a bit ragged, at times emotionally inconsistent, and with twists and turns no novelist would dare invent. It's very real, and I often found myself wishing i could just go have coffee with Paula and Elyse to hear their latest. They are remarkably introspective people who question rather than just accept.



4. The bare outline of the story is captivating: twin girls are separated at birth, neither knows that the other exists, nor do the adoptive parents know, and then they not only find each other, they also find out that they were separated as part of a failed psychology study, and that mental illness is behind some of the experiments that were done.
   
   But despite the intrinsic interest in such a tale, the resulting book is less well-done than one might expect, especially since both twins are writers. Each event in their journey to discover the truth about themselves is told twice, in the voice of each woman, and there is a great deal more repetition than even this somewhat awkward device would entail. Again and again they discuss with each other and with us whether they're glad they found each other or not, how it feels to see one's own mannerisms in another person, and whether or not they really want to find their birth mother. Their soul-searching doesn't seem to go very deep, it just seems repetitive.
   
   And one of the oddly annoying things about their story is that in their photos on the back cover, they don't look like identical twins. In fact, they look more like mother and daughter. It's not quite clear how they even know that they *are* identical.
   
   I read this in a couple of days, and once I got straight who was who and which voice belonged to which sister, I enjoyed the suspense of what they would learn. But this does seem like it would have made a better magazine article than book.



5. Unless you're adopted, you cannot possibly truly understand the feelings all the secrets and lies generated by the archaic adoption system have fostered in the adoptee. This book offers invaluable insight, is well written, and most compelling. Ten years older than the twins, and involved in adoption searches for NYC adoptees, the Louise Wise process is a familiar one to me; interesting that when they closed, Spence-Chapin (Spence baby here) took over their mess. Agencies may have changed their tune over the years and through changing times, but only when all parties realize that truth is the best partner in adoption will any adoptee have a chance. Elyse and Paula have done well to shine a light on a terrible system that has harmed a multitude of victims.