5 comments about Gift of the Red Bird: The Story of a Divine Encounter.

1. A very good book. It was an excellent testamonial. It is well written. I plan to use it to finish our year end Bible Study/



2. Gift of the Red Bird, a Spiritual Encounter, reads like a journal from Paula D'Arcy's life. On August 18, 1975, on a return trip home to Connecticut, Paula's car was struck by a drunk motorist. Her daughter, Sarah, died of head injuries on August 20, and her husband died three days later from a ruptured spleen. Paula was alive and three months pregnant with her second baby daughter, Beth. For this reason, she went on living.
   
   Gift of the Red Bird tells of a story of extreme loss and ache, of searching for answers, of making sense out of the pain, and of looking for some light in the darkness.
   
   This is Paula's journey, and when she goes on a wilderness retreat -- where it's just her, God, and nature -- she begins to get some comfort for her wounds.
   
   A deeply moving narrative, this book may be short, but the message is deep and lasting. It's a journey well worth taking for anyone who has ever had a tragedy hit their lives where they've had the same questions.



3. Very inspirational. I was totally filled with the Holy Spirit. I think I would like to go on a retreat like that. We have so much to learn. Please try it.



4. This book was exactly what I had hoped for in that it was an individual description of a personal spirtual quest and the finding of the divine on this earth. A very uplifting, down-to-earth story that reads amazingly quickly



5. I ordered the Gift of the Red Bird by Paula D'Arcy. The book was mailed on June 13, 2007 via US Postal Service. Unfortunately the item has yet to arrive. I have a tracking number but no way of contacting Amazon.

5 comments about Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death.

1. You know I really don't follow any of the tabloids or the television shows devoted to celebrity culture, but when I saw Rita Crosby interviewed on Fox I thought I'd give Blond Ambition a leafing. Somewhat comically, the anchor said to Crosby during the segment, "I saw the title and thought it was about you." In a way he was right because this is a most subjective account of Anna Nicole Smith and her death. I usually don't mention much about an author's style as I'm no Hemingway myself, but I found the writing here to be quite poor. It was a brief text but I kept putting it down due to how ponderous it was. I don't see Smith as having been a bad person so much as I consider her as an individual who could not control her impulses. Oh, I do think that charade with Mr. Marshall was reprehensible but I would never expect honor from a Hollywood star.
   
   The narrator seems to have a high amount of respect for Smith which amazed me. The corresponding vilification of Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead also made no sense. Personally, I would not want to associate with either of those two guys, but they strike me as being no different in their qualities from Smith. They are scammers and societal free-riders who associate who other scammers and societal free-riders. Isn't this to be anticipated? Should this discombobulate us? Further, Crosby's take on her subject's addictions was absurd. She blamed Stern for the drugs Smith did which is fallacious. Smith was an independent, autonomous human being who was responsible for her own actions. Even if Stern obtained them for her (and whether he did or not I have no way of knowing) she still had a choice before taking them. Being addicted to a substance is both debilitating and a challenge, but even low will-power fellows like me managed to quit smoking. It was not easy but preserving your life is worth the suffering it entails. Of course, survival was a priority for me, but, as we see here, it isn't for everyone. The thing that puzzles me most is why anybody admires celebrities in the first place. I'd be no more likely to look up to them than I would a grouper or a mockingbird. I'll never comprehend the allure these rich folks have but this book will not add to anyone else's collective understanding of that phenomenon either.



2. Excellent condition, everything you say is true. I will be purchasing more. Prompt and courteous service. Thanks :) Jan



3. I am a firm believer that Larry Birkhead is a good Dad to this baby.
   I somehow have doubts in the "sex act" that supposedly took place with Larry and Howard. The obvious disdain that the two men have/had for one another make this unbelievable.
   I believe it to be true that Howard is sneaky, dangerous man who liked to control and manipulate, and not to be trusted. He very well could have been the one to take the lives of Daniel and Ana Nichole. Sad for this baby who now has no Mother to grow up with, nor Brother.
   Sad Book, Too bad they could not have had the intervention that they needed to save their lives.
   I think Rita did a good job writing this book. It does hold the readers interest, and moves pretty smoothly and quickly.



4. If you are a Anna Nicole Smith fan this is a book for you. I read the book in one sitting. This is a book that you can't put down. You will definitely enjoy it. It's worth the money



5. This book was a dreadful read, confusing, bias and with no cited sources to back up startling allegations. I was disappointed and turned off!

5 comments about The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods.

1. First the book was inspiring having been out of the "Environmental Movement" for 15 years, it was a breath of fresh air on a personal level. This is motivation to do more, to put action to the rhetoric. It brought into focus the simple fact that we are all connected to this living planet via creation.
   
   As I read I was left wanting more details. More information about the people in the book. I would like to see a daily journal. It was a little disjointed in places... jumping from one thought to the next with out clear transitions.
   
   It still is a great book and worth the money and time to read. I read it in 2 days... quick read.



2. Julia Butterfly Hill's father taught her a good lesson early in her life. The lesson was to stand up for what you believe in and not to give up. Julia obviously took this to heart. In her mid twenties she was looking for a meaning in her life. So she sold many of her valuables, "hit the road", and came into contact with an organization that was involved in the fight to save the redwoods. One of their main actions against the chopping of these trees is to put people up in a tree on a small platform for about a week.
   Soon after meeting people in the "Earth First" organization, Julia managed to sign up and sit in a tree. After a week she was more than willing to come down, but she was back up not too long after. But she became very sick and needed a long time to recover after her trip back down. When she found out that the association was having a hard time finding people to stay in the tree, she saw a solution: she would stay up in Luna (the tree she had spent time in before and was going to spend a lot more time in) for an extended period. The longer she stayed in Luna the harder it got: the weather worsened, the Pacific Lumber corporation which was targeting cutting down Luna started pressing harder and harder for her to come down, and even the corporation she supposedly was signed up with started to turn their back on her and beg her to come down. But with the lesson from her dad, her faith, and the friends she had made inside the corporation, she stayed up for longer, and longer, and longer.
   After her one hundred day mark in Luna, she started to become a very popular news target. Pretty much all day and night she was part of interviews, meetings and the growing struggle to save the redwoods. The people of Pacific Lumber really started to get ticked and did all they could to get her down. There were bills and pressure so they could finally have Luna in their own hands. But then an employee of this company started to treat her as a person and give her respect. John Campbell was the person who finally started to negotiate with Julia and respected her. They finally came to an agreement about a year and a half into her sit, but when she was supposed to come down, things got messed up with the agreement, so she still had to wait and sit and interview. But then came the fateful day about sixth months later in which she got a call that informed her that Luna and a buffer zone around her were safe. After two years in the tree, she had done her job, Luna was safe. So on December 18, 1999, Julia Butterfly Hill descended Luna and touched ground in the first time in two years.
   The Legacy of Luna was an enjoyable read with a good message, but I did have mixed feelings about it. While reading this book, you see that Julia is a unique person. She has a very broad faith and is very extreme in her love for Luna. At some times she would pray to Luna, and I found that to be a little weird, but then again I wasn't with this tree for 24/4 for 730 days. Also the book does get a little confusing when it starts to talk about the political essence of the tree sit. I don't know if it was just me, a high school student with little experience in this area, or if it was poorly explained, but I did get lost easily. I would recommend this book to someone who was excited in the environment and in the saving of the forest, but probably not for a Sunday afternoon read.



3. I had seen the documentary and was interested to read the book. It was enjoyable, well written and an interesting report of a woman's total belief in what she was doing, along with her lessons in dealing with the very personal issues and fears that arose in her. An easy read and worthwhile.



4. I read this in one day, it's almost as if reading a letter from a friend. I had heard about the woman who sat in a Redwood Tree in California, and after seeing the documentary about it, I had to read the book. The writing isn't outstanding, but I got everything I'd hoped for: A detailed description of life in Luna, which is amazing to say the least, and a much better insight on the activism to preserve old growth forests. I couldn't put it down. Read it for another perspective on life, and to learn more about Julia Butterfly Hill: A truly amazing activist.



5. A wonderful book about environmental activism that left my inspired to do more to save our great forests and outraged by what the major timber companies are doing to our old growth forests and the environment. I particulary felt disgust and sadness for the disregard by Pacific Timber Corp for trees that were centuries old and using diesel fuel, napalm and other harmful chemicals/substances on pristine areas. Profit at any cost is unfortunatley what it is about. It was refreshing to learn of Julia's stand against all odds. A great book that everyone should read.

5 comments about Storms: My Life with Lindsey Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac.

1. I was looking forward to an insider's look into the world of Fleetwood Mac and instead I got a look at my own life. Actually, I should clarify that and say it was my life of 10 years ago. I can identify with each and every phase Carol Ann Harris went through with Lindsey Buckingham. The sudden and inexplicable temper explosions resulting in physical beatings. Carol Ann endured those at the hands of Lindsey and although some of the other reviewers are doubting her truthfulness, I have to believe her when reading about all the other physical symptoms she suffered. The panic attacks, the absolute numbness to any feeling after being nearly choked to death, going back to Lindsey repeatedly because she was sure she had done something to cause the violence.
   
   It takes a tremendous amount of strength to leave a relationship where you become caught up in the cycle of abuse and reconciliation. Carol Ann was dependent on Lindsey for room and board, a fabulous lifestyle, and even love...when she could forget the torture. She got out, made her own life, never gave any interviews and has only now spoken about this. Some people may ask why she felt the need to unburden herself. I say, Lindsey should have thought of that when he was dragging her by the hair as he drove away from Christine McVie's house (a bit of violence witnessed by Christine, by the way.)
   
   The book is well written and does give some great Fleetwood Mac moments, aside from the nightmares with Lindsey.



2. Being a fan of Lindsay Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac only in the last several years, I was interested in what he was like in the band's heyday and this book delivered. He seems very much of an enigma and I learned so much about him from the author's stories. She didn't seem to have a hidden agenda for this book, which I appreciated. This book does not give much information about the band, however, which I didn't think it would, but for those of you buying it for that reason, don't. It basically told me one thing about Fleetwood Mac "back in the day." That is that they did a LOT of drugs. I haven't ever read a book written like this before, from someone so intimately connected to a celebrity that I was interested in, and finished it in just a few days. If you are a fan of Lindsay Buckingham, I say this is a "must read."



3. eeehhhhh....ummmm. I just read this book. I love Stevie Nicks- but i realize that in her heyday she was probably a coked out bitch on wheels. That said, the writing in this book is awful, and I have a hard time believing that Carol Ann was the dumbass country bumpkin that she paints herself to be. Everyone in the book "turned ghostly white" and it was ALL SO SHOCKING!!! She never misses an opportunity to talk about how beautiful and sexy she was -all the while never even realizing it! "OMG I am going to stand in the middle of these bright lights and go all marilyn monroe on this fan and convince myself that everyone in the audience stopped staring at stevie to look at little ol' me!" Puke. She tried so hard to convince herself throughout the book that Lindsey wanted nothing to do with stevie -which may have even be true-but she didn't believe it for a second. All the talk of " beautiful insanity" and whatever other terrible metaphores she came up with made me cringe-she HATES these people-I can see right through her writing. Girlfriend is bitter!



4. I suppose any literate person should have gathered this would be a "tell-all" book, which is bound to contain reams of gossip and irrelevant banter. However, there is also a great deal to be said for eye witness accounts, even if they may be a bit clouded from drug use. Carol Ann Harris introduces herself as down-home charming laced with infuriating learned helplessness in this revealing book.
   
   All evidence is delivered in a first person narrative, citing event after event that should/presumably would have made most people run for the hills. No amount of cocaine could make the horrors Ms. Harris claims bearable. After reading this book, one will probably never see the members of Fleetwood Mac the same way again, most particulalry Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The previously admiring lens which simply saw talented musicians will be shattered. The other three members maintain the personas most likely prescribed to them by most fans, but these two... wow. It's disappointing, another example of "reality" media, giving us more information than we really wanted. The writing style is also a bit disjointed, with quirky, although adorable, insertions of Ms. Harris' folksy internal thoughts ( lots of " Jeeze" and " friggin'), yet, at the same time, an attempt to strike a formal note with sentences beginning, for example, with " For I surely....", and redundent ruminations are plentiful. It is advised, however, that one plow through those moments, because Ms. Harris will plant an interesting, major detail square in the middle of one of those passages that almost puts one to sleep.
   
   If you are a Mac fan, it's worth getting for a lazy Sunday afternoon read. There is some sensational writing within, and one does have to question what motive Ms. Harris has, at this late date, for writing such a tell-all. Further, prepare yourself for a lot of forehead slapping, wondering " What was wrong with this girl! What part of this picture was so hard for her to understand!" This book does a fine job of humanizing the larger than life characters who form Fleetwood Mac.



5. As a very, very longtime fan of Fleetwood Mac, I got this book as soon as it came out. I felt sure it would be one sided, as is the nature of autobiographies, but thought any book about my favorite band would be a fun weekend read nonetheless. And it was. I don't doubt Stevie was hell on wheels or that Lindsey was abusive, I think drugs, godawful quantities of drugs at that, make you do horrible things you normally may not do. There were also some very funny stories recounted by Carol and I thought it was a very interesting look into "life on the road." But I thought the book was horribly written and she made herself out so be such an innocent little lamb, it's gag worthy. And there are so many innacuracies, it's hard to take anything she says as truth. I mean, c'mon, she says she wrote this book using her old journals and tapes she recorded, but if she did that, how the hell can she get dates wrong? Not just wrong by a few days but wrong by years! If she can't remember dates of events she says she wrote about in a journal, how did she remember all these conversations, word for word, that she wrote in such such detail in this book? And some of the things she says ar just rediculous if you know anything about this band. The first thing that caught my attention is she writes that when she met Lindsey, he was so over Stevie and could care less about losing her. But Lindsey himself has stated several times that he was devastated by the breakup, is was extremely hard for him to move on and took him a decade or more to do so. Another part I found somewhat laughable is when she writes about one time when Stevie was "mean to her" and of course, she ran straight to Lindsey to tattle. So Lindsey says he'll talk to Stevie and get her to apologize. He leaves Carol in their hotel room, goes to Stevie's room and doesn't come back for several hours. Uh, Carol dear, open your eyes! I doubt they were "talking" about you for that amount of time. From all accounts SnL were still screwing around all through the 80's, they themselves have practically admitted as much. I guess what bothers me is not so much that she didn't acknowledge in her book that Stevie and Lindsey still had strong feelings for each other for many years, I'm not sure I would if I were in her shoes either. What bothers me is that even though she didn't mention it in her book and she made it look like Lindsey was so gaga in love with her that he didn't give Stevie a second thought, BUT she had no problem laying it all out a few months after the books release. Yes, Carol gave an interview after the books release saying she knew both Stevie and Lindsey harbored feelings of pain and regret over their breakup for many years and never got over each other and she actually said she knew Lindsey was still in love with Stevie all the years he was with Carol. If it's good enought for an interview, why is it not good enough for your book? IMO, you don't write an autobiography, then contradict yourself later. That makes your entire saga much less believable.

2 comments about A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid.

1. Pumla Gobodo-Madikezela reflects on central human issues such as the nature of individual and social evil, the possibility of social reconciliation, the individual's ability to move from participation in violent evil to remorse, and the capacity to meet one another with forgiveness. As urgent at these issues are, her narrative makes compelling reading -- both her accounts of her face-to-face meetings with de Kock and her reflections on her personal story. She raises important questions. How are we to achieve reconciliation in an environment of domonization and divisiveness? Is the Nuremburg model of seeking justice for crimes against humanity actually a way of moving towards reconciliation? While she does not come to clear and definitive conclusions, her experiences and reflections raise some of the most urgent questions facing us as a human community.



2. Expedient is one word I can use to describe this transaction. I got the book within one week of purchase. The book was in as good a state as the seller had said it would be. Totally satisfied with the purchase.

5 comments about Wife No. 19.

1. This is an amazing book about the founders of a new faith in a new world. It's no wonder that the Mormon church tried to destroy these. My mother found a first edition copy of this book at an estate sale, and so we bought it here because we were afraid to read the old one (it might fall apart). It's a well told story by a brave woman who speaks with clarity and force about the beginnings of the Mormon church in Utah.

   Mormons will not like this book. Non-mormons with open minds probably will.




2. Ann Eliza was brave to leave and expose what she lived and witnessed. Ann takes you into the world of polygamy and you live it with her. Many women were victims to the abusive "highest principle" of the Mormon faith.
   
   I have trouble reading some of the negative reviews from people calling this victim "disgruntled" or expecting too much from her marriage. Here is a woman who was born & raised in a polygamous family and indoctrinated into a religion that teaches she will be damned to hell if she leaves the church, but is brave enough to escape, risking her life.
   
   How sad that a victim of religious coerced polygamy has her story labeled as fiction and lies by some reviewers. Would these same mainstream LDS label women who leave the FLDS church (Fundamentalist Mormons) TODAY the same way?
   
   What I found fascinating was her steadfast faith in God, despite the indoctrination she was forced to deprogram herself from. She spent the rest of her life educating the public about the horrors of living in the culture of 19th century Mormon polygamy.
   
   I did notice some of her accounts of Joseph Smith were not precisely correct with other accounts I read in polygamy books but she is telling the story in her own words. She was not a historian and some of her accounts were from her mother's memory so they may not be perfectly accurate.
   
   This is not a book for exact historical dates or statements but an excellent book for what polygamy was really like for the women behind closed doors. The messages they gave in public forums were for the church and encouraged by the leaders. Having a first hand account of living "the principle" in 19th century Mormonism makes this book very unique.
   
   I highly recommend the books "Mormon Polygamy" by Richard Van Wagoner or "In Sacred Loneliness" by Todd Compton for excellent research/history of Mormon Polygamy.



3. If I ever had any warm and fuzzy feelings about the Mormon Church and especially its founders and early disciples, this very credible eyewitness account sent those feelings into the dustbin of history.
   
   Though the writing is not perfect by today's standards, Ann Eliza Young's personal story is very believable (I believe it is authentic) and yet incomprehensible (I am astounded that so many people put up with the religion she describes) at the same time.
   
   This is the quite detailed personal memoir of a girl who grew up in a Mormon family and became the 19th polygamous wife of Brigham Young. She finally became so disillusioned that she took the very dangerous and rare step of leaving him and divorcing him. Even more astounding for her day and age, she went on the lecture tour and exposed the Mormons and polygamy for what it was (from her point of view at least).
   
   Anybody looking for details of the sex lives of polygamous spouses will be disappointed, as there is no information on that matter whatsoever. (At the very end of the book she hints that there were gross injustices and humiliations of a personal and private nature that she would not reveal.)
   
   I enjoyed reading the book though I was appalled at the story it told. Any student of the history of the Latter-day Saints should read this book. I bet it isn't to be found in the bookstore of Brigham Young University.



4. I just ordered this book to add to my shelf of primary source materials of nineteenth century Mormon polygamy. It is a classic work. Ann Young made alot of money off of this book, as did she touring the united states on the same pulpit. For that it deserves five stars. It had a profound effect upon how non-Mormon AMericans perceived Utah Mormons. With that said, i was disappointed to see so many reviews tout this as "true" or valuable history in and of itself. Such reviewers need to step back and take some courses in both AMerican history and critical thinking and theory. You read this book to know what nineteenth-century Americans were being told about Utah polygamy, not as accurate history of what really happened. Such is identical and equally intellectually naive and embarrassing as saying Maria Monk's expose (written in the 1830s) of catholic convents was also true history. For literature on the historical placements of such nineteenth century novels and exposes see Terryl Givens, Viper on the Hearth; Sarah Gordon, The Mormon Question; Ann Douglass, The Feminization of American culture, and Franchot, Roads to Rome.



5. Ann Eliza Young was a 19th century LDS woman who was born into the second generation of Mormon polygamy. One of the most heart-wrenching parts of the book recounts how her mother heartbrokenly went from being her father's only wife for years before polygamy was introduced, to being only one of his wives, after church leaders pushed polygamy on their congregation.
   
   Mrs. Young (she was married to Brigham Young himself) finally decided to escape and speak out against the polygamist lifestyle she and so many other women in her community found devastating. Although the book was written well over a century ago, it exposes many of the same problems as contemporary polygamy memoirs (such as Escape, Shattered Dreams and His Favorite Wife, all of which I recommend). These are:
   
   1. The lower status of women in polygamist society;
   
   2. Men (even wealthy men) who do not provide financially for their huge plural families;
   
   3. Lack of education, and children pressured to quit school early and work to support and care for their father's plural families;
   
   4. Pressure on women to marry against their will;
   
   5. Physically and/or emotionally abusive behavior of husbands whose religion and community give them total power over their wives;
   
   6. Husbands who dote on favorite wives while neglecting the others;
   
   7. Unhappy households that feature intense jealousy and competition among plural wives;
   
   8. Most of all, the profound and lasting pain felt by good, loving women whose religion and community compel them to share their husbands (they are told there is no way to heaven except through polygamy).
   
   This is an excellent primary source about early Mormonism in general (it contains a first-generation family narrative that describes the church's history) and polygamy in particular. Highly recommended to anyone interested in either subject.

5 comments about The Pope's Daughter: The Extraordinary Life of Felice della Rovere.

1. Caroline Murphy has sketched an extraordinary life. Felice della Rovere's worlds -- personal and political -- were complicated ones, and she seems to have been amazing in how she negotiated them. I say "seems" because it's very often difficult to tell whether the author is basing a statement on solid evidence or whether she is taking a leap -- about an action, about a motivation, about an emotion -- a sort of best guess based on the evidence. That's often frustrating and often downright irritating, but all in all it's worth it to see the shape, if not the real substance, of the life.



2. For the reader familiar with early sixteenth-century Rome, Caroline Murphy's book is a carefully compiled compendium of images and priceless facts, albeit some treading on familiar ground, for example the horrific Sack of Rome or the sexual anarchy in the Vatican during the reign of the infamous Borgia pope. Yet, there is so much new material on a fascinating woman, that even general readers interested in history should be mesmerized by it. The lives of numerous old baronial families form a foundation for the story of the Della Rovere and Orsini clans, of the militant Pope Julius, Felice's father, and the lords of Bracciano, the stronghold of the Orsini's. Minute details of everyday life in Rome enclose the broader picture of a papal daughter who governed her family with a suprisingly strong hand, long after her papal father died. Images of lavish feasts, rebuilding of St. Peter's, and perpetual enminity between the ruling clans are just minute details of an elaborate and very enjoyable reading. Although a page-turner, be prepared to move slowly, because the thousands of facts will demand time to savor them! Definitely not a quick read for most. Highly recommended.



3. Tightly written with loads of details that goes a long way in explaining how she developed and became successful. I now have a better understanding of the 'Medevial Rome" area that I visited.



4. An interesting book,detailing events in Rome c.1500. Easy to read and well told,I would recommend it if you like history.Is cheap for such a scolarly work. Not prejudiced and fairly told.No complaints except I got confused sometimes by "who"the person that was mentioned. That's my fault,maybe,but a caracter guide would have been welcome.I would like to read more of this type of history book,the period is so interesting. Padraic O Cinneide. Kildare,Ireland



5. 
   This is the second book I've read by this author. I hope Caroline Murphy keeps researching Renaissance women and writing books.
   
   In both this book and Murder of a Medici Princess the author assembles a lot of information and presents it in a way the lay reader can really enjoy. Chapters in both books are chronological which helps the lay reader understand the complexity of the historical setting. Some chapters describe the episodes of the subjects' lives, in others there are lifestyle descriptions. The famous persons of the time are covered as they relate to the principle, and not used as a crutch to fill in a story.
   
   While the books are chronological, my reading of them wasn't. Felice della Rovere is the grandmother to the spouse of Isabella de Medici, the subject of the newer book.
   
   Both books appear to be the only full length biographies that exist for these women, which, beyond rescuing these women from obscurity, makes this an achievement for the author. Both of Murphy's subjects were important women of their times. While they led lives that transcended contemporary gender roles, their stories, as presented by Murphy, help the modern reader to better understand the social structure of Renaissance Italy.
   
   If you, like me, know little about this period, the Murphy biographies give you the context to understand the times through the people. Being the only full bios on these women, there is also plenty for those who are more knowledgeable about this period.

5 comments about Queen of the Oil Club: The Intrepid Wanda Jablonski and the Power of Information.

1. Anna Rubino was a brilliant scholar of history at Yale as she pursued her PhD. Now she has written a brilliant historical study, impeccable in scholarship but also timely and exciting. Five stars all around.
   --William Lilley III, a Yale history faculty member when the author was a graduate student.



2. Review for "The Queen of the Oil Club"
   Anna Rubino takes us into the world of oil in the 1950's through the eyes of a remarkable woman, Wanda Jablonski. In this clearly readable book the reader is exposed to the personalities of the industry leaders, the look and feel of the Middle Eastern cities and the customs and concerns of its people. Filled with high drama, this book tells a fascinating and timely story, perhaps even more relevant in view of today's oil crisis.
   Donald and Kathie Eppert



3. The seeds of today's oil crisis were sown during the five decades that Wanda Jablonski reported on industry events and, through that reporting, influenced their outcome. To understand the current surge of oil nationalism on the part of both producer and consumer nations that will determine the future of hydrocarbons for years to come, we need to go back to the earlier rise of oil nationalism that led to the creation of OPEC. This book takes us there through the life of an extraordinary woman. Wanda, her first name sufficed to identify her whether in the court of the King of Saudi Arabia or the Exxon executive offices, had access to the boardrooms and bedouins that created the oil machine. She spoke the truth to their faces and told her readers what went on behind the curtain. In an all-male oil world, she earned respect and fear for the power she wielded as a journalist who knew as much or more about this crucial industry than the men who ran it. Anna Rubino captures Wanda, a strangely reclusive woman who quietly re-wrote the rules of business journalism and influenced the world we live in today.



4. While I expected to find Queen of the Oil Club to be an educational read, I wasn't prepared for the page turner I found. Rubino's first person and you are there approach to Wanda's amazing life was riveting. So far,I've recommended it to friends looking for a lively summer read, writer friends, my graduate student niece who is pursuing Women's Studies and a friend who grew up in Saudi Arabia in the 1960's. There's something there for each of them.



5. Oil affects us all more and more financially, environmentally and geopolitically as time passes. This engaging biography provides wonderful insight into the incubation of our current oil markets. Rubino also gives us a memorable image of a unique brave pacesetter for investigative business journalism, her uniqueness amplified by the fact that she was a woman. You will never read another article about this vital resource in the same way after being impacted by this book.

5 comments about The Sorcerer's Crossing: A Woman's Journey (Arkana).

1. Breathtaking! A journey into, or maybe I should say OUT of this world! We all need to consider Taisha Abelar's story as reality, because who are we to say/judge what is real and what's not?
   Astonishing statements, I was only able to read a chapter at the time, to be able to actually absorb and understand the assertions.



2. For anyone who has followed the legendary exploits of Carlos Castaneda, whether you judge them to be fact or fiction, the personal account of Taisha Ablelar's induction into Castaneda's realm is an experience not to be missed. If anything, her accounts offer the reader a level of clarity and easy understanding of Castaneda's concepts that surpass even her infamous mentor.
   
   However, in the interest of providing a modicum of balance, the reader may also want to peruse another work by one of her longtime comrades-in-arms. I speak here of "Sorcerer's Apprentice," author, well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace. While this work offers little corroboration of either Castaneda's or Abelar's claimed experiences in the realm of sorcery, since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when their relationships with don Juan were alleged to have occurred, it does provide a troubling look inside Castaneda's, Abelar's and Wallace's final years together, a picture of descent into sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda's entire circle may have been just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.
   
   On a personal note, many have asked me why I put any stock whatsoever in the tall tales of Castaneda and his associates, Abelar included. A story from my own autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.
   
   For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their response was cordial beyond anything I had ever experienced from them, and convinced me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I had completely forgotten to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.
   
   Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually we experience a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity are no longer possible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.
   
   This one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."
   
   Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma



3. Good book. Talks about the recap as per her experience and an interesting read. Was part of my interests for sometime. Highly recommended.



4. This book was my first introdction to the Castenada books. Abelar is one of 16 female members of carlos' clan. Her journey from insecure artist to competant "sorceress" was fascinating and informative. It was easy to get lost in the world of her magic apprenticeship. Great reading!



5. I loved this book! The author is descriptive and clear bringing the reader into the story and making them really care about the characters and their feelings. The theories and practices that are described and interesting and easy to follow if one desires to do them. I loved this book and found myself wanting more at the end.

1 comments about Wu Zhao: China's Only Female Emperor (Library of World Biography).

1. Behind this fabulous tale of the rise of the daughter of a lumber merchant to the first and only female emperor of China is a probing study of power, politics, and gender. I was particularly enthralled by Rothschild's explanation of Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism in the Tang Dynasty and the ways in which they were variously used to invent a new language of symbols--indeed, to create a new political reality. This book is a tour de force filled with gruesome lore worthy of a historical novella by Tanizaki.