5 comments about Women of the Beat Generation: The Writers, Artists and Muses at the Heart of a Revolution.

1. For a group that is now remembered as a progressive voice in the ultra-conformist wilderness of the 1950s, the Beats were a surprisingly chauvinistic bunch of guys, all too ordinary for their time. That unfortunate fact helps explain the relative obscurity of most of the women who ran with, influenced and, in some cases, loved them. (You probably know that William S. Burroughs accidentally murdered his common-law wife while playing William Tell, but do you know her name?) This wonderful volume goes a long way towards correcting that oversight. Featuring previously unpublished letters, rare pictures and - best of all - a generous sampling of creative works, it's a near-perfect survey of the Beats' female contemporaries, lovers and even a few of their precursors.

   Although most of the women profiled here published at least one work in their own right at some point, many of those are not currently in print anywhere else. Additionally, some of the poems and stories here are previously unpublished, and in the case of many of the wives and lovers (referred to as "The Muses"), the works presented here are by far the most intimate look at their lives published thus far. In short, there's something here for everyone: a good starting point for newcomers to the Beats as well as a good supplementary piece for even the most serious students of women's literature.




2. Yes, there were women writing as well, and doing all the other cool stuff at the time. Many of them are still writing or continued to write long after their affair with the "beat" generation. This book is a great introduction to these writers. It's very informative, has just enough of the good gossip and lots of really great writing.



3. Any interested in the history of the beat era must have WOMEN OF THE BEAT GENERATION: THE WRITERS, ARTISTS AND MUSES AT THE HEART OF A REVOLUTION. Much has been written on famous beat men but comparatively little on the women who also made their mark during the time: long overdue but better late than never is an exploration of the histories of these women, from Barbara Guest and Diane DiPrima to Jan Kerouac and Anne Waldman. A literary and social history which should not be missed.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch



4. Denise Levertov never was, and never will be, a so-called "Beat" writer: she could actually write. (Which means she knew that the most basic rule of writing is: rewriting.) Any more than she will be diminished and narrowed by the so-called "feminists" who insist she was a "woman writer" therefore only suitable for women readers (to which ideological morons she delivered swift kicks to the teeth).
   
   And no amount of effort to drag her, kicking and screaming, into the "Beat" "canon," will succeed, or succeed in giving that "canon" a "class" and credibility it mostly didn't earn and doesn't deserve. Kerouac might have been able to write -- if, that is, he'd tried the language- and reader-respecting work of rewriting. But nothing will cure Ginsberg of the reality that he was 99 per cent vapid masturbatory windbag.



5. This book was recommended to me when I worked for William Burroughs Communication. Oh, how I could relate, having been around artist junkies and wandering poets and moody, irrational alcoholic geniuses - and not being recognized as one myself (although much healthier by this time of my life). These women write about the life of US, the women who were also in those circles of creative insanity, putting up with violent, lazy, thieving, cheating men who said they loved us. Throughout history the lives of women in powerful movements wre hidden. They paid the rent, made sure there was food, made carbon copies of their lovers' work. But they also WROTE, beautifully, from the point of view of women who love their lovers, love their friends, and love finding their strength. These women grow as they age, becoming more compassionate and critical. After reading this, I was led to Jan Kerouac, Joyce Johnson, Diane di Prima, etc. - voices who wrote like mine, affirmed my life story. I read so much of the male Beats writing, and loved it, but didn't feel I was really in the story. Who were the women? They were us.

5 comments about Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady.

1. I am truly a southerner, and Ms. King's irreverant approach to the traditions and ways of the south in the mid-twentieth century are so on target that it will startle the reader who is not from the south, and will sound all to familiar to the southern reader.
   
   I found her covert feminism during this time in her life very interesting and educational. It almost seemed like the fact that she was a feminist during this time in her life was unknown to even herself.
   
   Her honest talk about her sexual life I found startling.
   
   The way she challenged the cultural norms of that time is educational for anyone who is living under a cloud of opression, real or just real to you.
   
   it's a great read!



2. King's book features a quirky mish mash of mismatched family members who, at first glance, seem not to belong together at all. This book examines the various relationships of those characters while simultaneously being a coming of age story regarding young Florence King as she ages throughout this books and faces the many trials and tribulations of her various ages. I've read this book several times and it never fails to get a laugh out of me as Florence moves through her childhood and young adulthood with her brash, tomboy mother who smokes and screams at baseball games on the radio, her father a proper British bartender who works nights and her granny who defines all Southern women as having either problems "down below" or else "in the head." This book will have you holding your side in stitches in places as you laugh yourself silly. A truly great reaad.



3. A friend shared this book with me. King's wit is unsurpassed in this day and age. Having found myself being an "honorary southerner" - relocated from the midwest to the deep south - her question throughout the book ("just what IS a lady?") could only have been explored with such humor and insight as this writer. I found myself laughing openly numerous times - not in a Bridget-Jones-Diary-Outrageous way, but in the One-Couldn't-MAKE-THIS-STUFF-Up kind of way.
   
   Having born witness to many similar smelling-salt-scenarios King describes, I found myself fully entwined in this book. Poignant, observant, honest, intelligent, this is one writer you need to have on your bookshelf.



4. I was born and bred in Virginia. I didn't like this book. I identified with only about 25 percent of it. For example, all of the women in my family are good housekeepers. Also, for the prospective buyer, there is foul language in it and a pornographic description of a lesbian affair.
   
   It is interesting that most of the reviews that rave over this book are from northerners.



5. No one on this earth can write a story (or a book review) like Florence King can! The fluidity of her writing never ceases and I felt like I was there watching this story of her life unfold. She is a brave, strong, independant woman with amazing talent! Although any people will clump her with "feminists", she is not.

5 comments about The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade.

1. I bought this book for a friend who had been sent away. I could not quit reading the stories. Thanks to this author for brining out these stories. They have a healing element for the women who went away and for their families. If you think your mother didn't want you, read this book.



2. An interesting but limited account of mother's from a small geographic region. Assusmes a revisionist/deconstructionalist version of history. The tales range from sad to tragic, but never takes on the issue of individuals personal responsibility and accountability for actions and hence the whine, woe, victim status. Complete with the common anti-male slant. As an adoptee from 1967 reunited with my mother, we both agree, this is the trite Hollywood version trumped for a Lifetime Channel audience that paints these mothers as helpless controlled victims forced to be dimwitted- not on this side of the Mississippi. My birth mother made a tough choice for her own interests, own's up to that choice and like actual women from the era would have kicked the teeth in of anyone who challenged that decision.



3. I am a 36 year old adoptee who was reunited with my birth mother in my early twenties. Although we enjoy a wonderful, close relationship, the topic of my birth is still exquisitely painful for her to discuss. Reading this book gave me a better appreciation for how hard the decision to relinquish me must have been. I would like to thank Ann Fessler for her work.



4. Being a birthmom myself, and being reunited with my daughter for a little over a year, has been such a new experience for us all. I am so grateful she is alive and well, though we have a long ways to go for healing. I am fine with this, as I understand her view point, as she is healing too.
   
   I read this book in one sitting, was so drawn to this, and was amazed by the other bmom's experiences, it is a must read for anyone involved in the adoption triad.
   
   We bmom's feel the pain, and as birthmoms' should have a voice, not to bury the lost of their own child, voluntarily or not. Quite a few people still in today's world accept the amother and the achild, but the bmom, still shunned by today. I know this, because I am still being judged. Even though I am telling quite a few of my daughter. Just now I don't care what other people think, where before I was so ashamed on so many levels, and was never allowed to grieve.
   
   This book helped heal my heart with the compelling stories that birthmoms' do have a voice, and the pain of relinquishment voluntarily or not, and living with the loss. Thank you for publishing this book and for these brave Bmom's for sharing their stories



5. This book opened up so much for me. It really showcases what being pregnant and young/unwed meant in my mothers generation. In my generation I saw pregnant girls by the dozen walk through the halls of my high school, thinking why would they keep there babies they are 16 and 17 years old. I recongize now just how huge it is that are allowed to stay in school. Now I am so thankful that sex was talked about in my health class, and while contraception wasn't a big point in the syllabus, it was there. I think this book showcases just what we can improve on as a society.
   
   This book is really a must read for all poeple.

5 comments about Canícula: Snapshots of a Girlhood en la Frontera.

1. This is a beautifully written memoir by one of our best Chicana writers. Seizing upon Roland Barthes's writings on photography, Cantu reconstructs her childhood on the U.S./Mexican border, teaching us that the border itself is an artificial barrier. This is a moving story of an American family that has worked hard and sacrificed much. We can only hope that the rest of America will recognize sooner than later the enormous contributions to U.S. history made by Mexican Americans.



2. Cantu addresses the harsh realities of racism, poverty and Viet Nam without bashing you over the head with strident platitudes. The framework structure coupled with family album snaphots make the book fascinating and truly accessible for a variety of readers. One need not have grown up in los dos Laredos or along the U.S.--Mexican border to identify with this work; one need only be aware of the variety of borders constructed or imposed upon our lives.



3. When I was forced to read Ms. Cantu's book for her class I opened it with an open mind and was at the beginning interested in what she had to write about. Boy was I mistaken and regretful when I wasted 3 hours of my life reading this. She jumps around from different points in her life and adds fiction when it gets to boring. Save yourself time and money and don't buy her book while in turn supporting anymore of this nonsense called "Chicano literature".



4. Chicano/a Literature is here to stay, my xenophobic friend, so get used to it.



5. I'm not a fan of CHICANA literature, MEXICAN AMERICAN literature, and other related genres. However, I had to read this for one of Professor Cantu's classes and I actually enjoyed the book. I finished it in one evening. It's an interesting and dramatic fictionalized memoir the has earned a spot on my bookshelf as one of my top books.

5 comments about The Best of Friends: Two Women, Two Continents, and One Enduring Friendship.

1. It's a great read - the intertwining lives of two childhood friends and how they have cleaved together over the decades. What's rare about this book is that each woman has her say and tells her own story - yet the sum is much more powerful than the two parts. Wonderful to see how these two young girls evolve into women as they nurture each other along the way. I loved it.



2. Usually, I'm not a non-fiction reader, but the story of Sarah and Ginger's enduring friendship kept me glued to the book. I'd suggest this to anyone who has a friend of any length of time. Loved it!



3. How refreshing to read about two loving, smart, independent women and how they realize the need for loving interdependence between friends! The idea of writing a book together over time and many miles is a perfect illustration of their connection. Their stories of being there for each other -- in spirit and when possible in person -- through the best and worst of times are inspiring. They remind us that the realities of adult life are best viewed through loving eyes -- our own and those of our friends and families. I have read it and shared it with friends with joy and confidence that they will enjoy it as well. Definitely add it to your summer must read list.



4. I read this book because these authors went to school with my daughters. As I read, my interest went far beyond my connection. The candid sharing of both triumphs and let-downs of each woman was unique and interesting.
   The lessons learned, the sacrifices and wisdom gained from following their dreams was fascinating. I highly recommend this book and hope they will continue writing.



5. Do you need to know how people cope with immigration, or do you want to understand the strength and power of woman? Do you need inspiration to realize your dreams or do you want to see the wonder of the animal instinct humans have in friendship?
   Do you know anybody that immigrated? Then if you value that friendship, read this book now. It does not matter how wonderful the country is to which one immigrates, your longing for your original home, family and friends can never be alleviated. It becomes part of who you are. One does not need to be depressed or wingy about the matter, but it is always there. Pulling at the very strings of your heart. And one try to justify it on a daily basis.
   Ginger and Sara lives this globalization. Sara's office is the world. While she has a family at home. Her friend and support system is at least 3 long haul flights away. Ditto with her in laws.
   Ginger lives the dream, finds the love of her life at a price. Though her office is confined to one country, she is vulnerable to the excruciating elements of this desert.
   My admiration of these two woman knows no bounds, and on top of all of that, they can write!
   Best gift ever for your best friend.

5 comments about My Father's Secret War.

1. My father rarely talked about his experience in World War II and I never really asked him about it. Now that he's gone, I wish I had. Lucinda Franks asked her father, and he often demurred; but she persevered and was able to piece together a revealing story about the real horrors of war and the effect it has on its participants.
   
   Franks is an insightful observer and a talented writer: I was caught up in her quest to understand her father as he slipped away into old age. This is a very personal look at family dynamics in "The Greatest Generation." I found it captivating.



2. I was lucky enough to hear Lucinda Franks speak on a recent book tour in Lowell, Mass, and was immediately drawn to her story. In reading the book, I recalled Milton's line, "They also serve who only stand and wait." The war in which her father served so heroically never really ended for him. It took a psychic toll on Tom Franks that was later to affect Lucinda and his entire family. They all paid the price for his service to his country. For many years, his paranoid behavior, the guns hidden all around the house, and his secretiveness was a mystery to the author. With the skill of a world class reporter who risked her own life in Northern Ireland in the worst days of "The Troubles," Lucinda Franks begins to unravel her father's story. With war records from The National Archives spread all over the floor before her, she pieces the facts together. Gradually, her father gives up the details of his secret war. His presence at the liberation of the first concentration camp at Ordruf is detailed, a scene of such horror that it alone would explain the nightmares that wracked her father and that woke her as a young girl to his voice in the next room shouting "No! No!" Later, he gives up his darkest secret to her,one that has haunted him since 1945. The fact that he did his duty was never enough to console him, and he lived with the burden of guilt.
   
   A friend of my father's died recently, and it was not until I read his obituary that I discovered he had been at Iwo Jima. So many of these veterans carried their wars to their graves, especially those who served the OSS. Lucinda Franks has done those veterans, and all of us, a service by rescuing her father's story, and by illustrating in beautiful prose the cost of war to all of us.



3. This is an excelling read and I would recommend it to anyone interested in American experiences in WWII, as well as father-daughter relationships. IT is a very personal book, and the author paints a revealing portrait of both her father and herself. The writing is strong and crisp, with occasionally lovely turns of phrases. The story itself is moving and concerns the author's memories of her father and her own growth as she came to better understand various forces that shaped his life. As she uncovers her father's activities as a spy in WWII, she gradually coming to a more mature understanding of his limitations. I enjoyed the book, and felt I learned some new things about WWII in the process.



4. This is a fascinating story of a journey into the past-- a journalist's attempt to recreate the history of her mysterious and troubled father. Lucinda Franks struggles to understand her father's history and her own complex feelings about this fascinating man. She learns about his extraordinary experiences during World War II and begins to understand the ways in which the war changed and marked him-- how he continued to carry the war inside him long after he returned home to wife and family. A moving and nuanced memoir.



5. Reading "My Father's Secret War" one can't quite accept that daddy was an agent of the OSS. His daughter decided he was and with leading questions managed to get a confession- as he was slipping into dementia. What is interesting is that on August 14, 2008 the National Archives announced the oppening of the personnel files of all Second World War OSS agents. Thomas Franks was not listed which appears to blow her story. Perhaps the book be reclassified as "fiction."

5 comments about Lobster Chronicles, The: Life On a Very Small Island.

1. This book chronicles the life of Linda Greenlaw, the author, during a lobster fishing season. Living on a small island off the coast of Maine, the author allows us into her downeast life. We learn some great information on the lobster fishing industry, as well as the lifestyles of the residents of Isle Au Haut.
   
   Some funny anecdotes and a glimpse into life off the coast of Maine make up this short, quick read, book. Being a resident of Maine, myself, I always like to read authors from here. I have yet to be disappointed.



2. I bought and read this book because my Grandfather, Asbury Arthur [Bob] Gray, was borned in Stonington, Maine; just behind the Opera house on Highland Avenue. His Aunt Millie's stove is still on displayed in the General Store and when I walked through the town for the very first time back in 2001, there were people who looked strangely like my Grandfather all over the place. He was a dear old man, with terrific story telling capabilities, many about the sea since he, like Linda Greenlaw, come from a long line of fishermen. There were tales of exploration, and of terror (like the Great Storm of 1873 where his Grandfather, James H Gray, and the crew of the DH Webb survived by hiding out in the Bay of Chaluer, off the coast of the Prince Edward Islands), and of family (although he lost his mother when he was only 10 and was forced to move to Bath and work in the Iron Works because his Dad and his two brothers were at sea). This book is every bit as good as a conversation with Grandpa Gray, the humor and the charm shines right on through. So does the boredom and the chowder... Thank you Linda for letting us share your little island and your great big hospitality! I enjoyed it immensely.



3. I laughed alot! Anyone who has ever lived in a small town will relate to this book. If not you will wish you lived in a small town just for the comedy of it! Linda is a good writer. If you have red any of her other books you already know this! I highly recommend this book!



4. In her debut memoir, The Hungry Ocean, Greenlaw recounted a monthlong swordfishing expedition off the coast of Newfoundland and discussed what it takes to be the world's only female swordfish boat captain. In this second memoir, Greenlaw confronts the joys and perils of living at home. Over forty, with her biological clock ticking, she returns to Isle au Haut, the tiny Maine island that is her birthplace. With hopes of reaffirming ties to her parents and starting a family of her own, she invests in a lobster-fishing business because it is a much "safer" career than swordfishing. But lobsters are scarce, and eligible men are even more elusive. Greenlaw writes about island life with the same plainspoken lyricism and self- effacing humor that elevated her first book to bestselling status. In the middle of the book, she begins to address her fear of loneliness and old age without a spouse or children, as well as the loss of her mother to cancer and the quickly dwindling island population. Unfortunately, she bails out before fully developing any of these compelling themes.



5. The Lobster Chronicles by Linda Greenlaw is just the sort of work that completely captivates me. For the most part, I find my life quite interesting, do find my life quite interesting and have been fortunate enough to do a lot of the things I wanted to do, and it is turning into a relatively long run, when all is said and done. One of the pleasures I get out of life is learning of other people, their experiences; both exciting, earth shaking, and yes, mundane. Hey, I know about me; I want to know about others. Ms. Greenlaw, by any standard is an interesting person! Her accomplishments are really a bit breath taking as told in the story of her time spent as professional fisherman in her work, The Hungry Ocean.
   
   It this autobiographical work we see a more calm, less dangerous (well, sort of) aspect of here life as she introduces us to her native island, a small hunk of rock off the coast of Maine. She has stopped being a Captain of a commercial fishing boat and has taken up lobster trapping, usually with a crew of one, her father. We get a very nice insight to island life; the closeness, harshness, realities of a very hard way of making a living. We also get a close up view of a way of life that may not be with us much longer. Chronicles such as this are a wonderful way to preserve a history of life in these far reaches of our country. This is something that should not be lost to future generations, even if they can only read about them.
   
   As far as I was concerned, this work was very well written. Granted, it does not have the polish of a "professional" writer, and granted, you may find a few flaws in grammar and syntax here and there, but who really cares? Her story is told in her own words, much as you would hear it if you sat and talked with her for a bit. I find this much more pleasing to the eye, ear and mind than many of the professionally written "autobiographies as told to." Her small village is absolutely infested with interesting characters, she is quite good at descriptive writing and you get a true feel of what it is like at the place and time of which she writes. I take this work to be an oral history, if nothing more, but a wonderful history and quite well done. I cannot imagine anyone with an ounce of imagination, of curiosity of how others live, or wanting to know of things they have not done themselves, being bored with this work. I actually read it in one setting, and I am a pretty slow reader. I simply could not put the thing down.
   
   All in all it was well done. We all have a tale to tell, each of us. Thank goodness there are individuals like Ms. Greenlaw who has the ability to tell theirs. Hope to hear more from this author in the future.
   
   D. Blankenship
   The Ozarks

5 comments about The Peabody Sisters: Three Women Who Ignited American Romanticism.

1. Megan Marshall has done superb work in this carefully researched account of the amazing Peabody sisters.



2. I only get to read on the train to and from work. This book makes my daily trip a real treat. I'm only half through, but hooked from page one. Not only does Marshall make a fascinating biographical and historical account of the Peabody sisters, but she provides answers as to why strong, ambitious, smart women have been so frustrated for so long. Society supressed gifted women in the 1800's so much so that women either became outcasts because they had to find expression, which in itself was restricted to motherhood, housewife or teacher, or they retreated into themselves in the form of illness or depression. Indeed, the contributions to romanticism by the Peabody sisters came at a very high cost to them. And now I can read about them and think "How strange that society was so close-minded back then!"



3. Somehow I overlooked this book when it was released, but thank goodness I discovered it later. The author takes readers back in time to share the amazing lives of these sisters. In the process, acquaintances of the Peabody family, that readers already know as historical figures, are brought to life as real, flawed but remarkable people. Readers will identify with these women as they strive to achieve and practice their own talents in a society that shares possibilities and limitations not so different from our own.



4. The Peabody Sisters is a wonderful book. It was so interesting and fast-paced, it reads like a novel. The women of the Transcendentalist Movement have been so poorly remembered it is possible to learn something new on every page. Megan Marshall's writing style is relaxed and conversational, a good balance to the 19th century melodrama, angst, sentimentality, and lofty philosophies of the sisters and their circle. Although Marshall quotes letters, sermons, poetry, reviews, journals, reports, and literature from many sources, it is done sparingly and logically integrated.
   
   The Peabody sisters were extraordinary women living in extraordinary times. A case can be made that Elizabeth Peabody, the oldest sister, is one of the most important figures in Transcendentalism. Barred from college and commerce by poverty and sex, she still managed to be more educated than many of the men she befriended and promoted. Many of the relationships we take for granted in Boston and Concord of the era can be directly linked to Elizabeth Peabody's tireless efforts to intellectually support interesting, creative individuals, make introductions, even find people jobs and students, housing, mentors - all while she is shut out and struggling to support her parents and five younger siblings while teaching herself Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Italian, Spanish. Also: teaching children and adults, writing articles, editing and publishing, and keeping up a lively correspondence with teachers, philosophers, artists, poets of the era. Her sisters Sophia and Mary are hardly less accomplished.
   
   And yet Megan Marshall always keeps things grounded. The sisters are always real people who display very normal sibling rivalries manifested in jealousy, competition, ambition, despair, frustration and anger. There was also commitment, love, affection, support, delight and generosity.
   
   What is most amazing is the strength of the women in this group. They are creative, adaptable, intelligent, extraordinary in many ways. They are continually held back by the convention of the time that women were somehow frail and that ambition and accomplishment were unseemly in the "fairer sex." Considering what hothouse flowers many of the men in this group proved to be, it's all the more unreasonable that the inequality of the sexes persisted.
   
   Megan Marshall never harangues - the rant is purely my own. Marshall simply gives us the benefit of her prodigious research in the most straightforward and appealing manner. Don't be scared off by the length of the book: the last 100 pages or so are notes and index. The book itself speeds by and the reader is left at the point when the sisters are taking up their own separate lives.



5. The author attempts to run the three biographies in parallel but what really happens is that she jumps from one place to the other, so none of the biographies unfold properly. I found it utterly unreadable. On top of it to add to my frustration, there are generalities, like Elizabeth fought with her mother "like all adolescent girls do" or romantic creations "like on this day if you didn't watch out a dog might have showered you with water". I wanted to read a proper biography and not a society novel. I had read "Eden's Outcasts" by John Matteson before and came away with a more lively picture of Elizabeth Peabody and her involvment in the Temple School then from this book. If you are interested in the transcendentalist movement, the time, or women I highly recommend "Eden's Outcasts: The story of Louisa May Alcott and her father".

4 comments about Women of Wisdom.

1. There is a time when women shall have names. The time of consciouness rising, when the wisdom of all life perceiving will be received by humankind.
   
   This text will be recognized - by those who sense that they are called - as an entry point to the evolution of consciousness found in the divine feminine; the source of all inspiration to the Buddhas.
   
   Those who feel a hunger for echoes of the great women spiritual leaders of Buddhism will find great inspiration in this book. It is a personal, fascinating, warm, and inspirational book.
   
   The stories are translated by Tsultrim and her Tibetean associates with a tremendous respect for the meaning in the original sacred texts.
   
   I recommend this work highly to anyone who desires to connect with Buddhism's sacred center, the Prajna Paramita. I recommend it to anyone who perceives that Buddhism has misplaced its joyously empty center, and who senses a chance for a more complete knowing of their own divine spirituality.



2. This is a lovely collection of sacred biographies of Tibetan Buddhist yoginis. The author, a former Buddhist nun, provides an extensive introduction including an autobiographical account-virtually a 7th biography. She provides much valuable information about the Buddha families, biography vs. sacred biography or hagiography, and Tibetan traditions and terminology such as delogs (people who die and come back to life), Togdens (Tibetan yogis), etc. The six sacred biographies included here vary considerably in length (2 are quite long and 4 are rather short) and in nature (some include much more hyperbole and others are more historical). The author states on p. 54 that "Goodness is not necessarily truth." She also provides a prolog and extremely valuable endnotes for each chapter, suggesting that (p. 215) the reason for embedding teachings into a biography is to make them come to life.
   
   She also provides psychological explanations for a number of otherwise fantastic descriptions and activities, frequently based upon the writings of Jung's disciple Esther Harding:
   p. 147: "When we think of a demon, we generally think of an external spirit which attacks us, but Machig realized the true nature of demons is the internal functioning of the ego...all four demons are thought-processes which block a state of clear, unattached awareness."
   p. 195 note 62: "If we understand the serpentine underwater Nagas as a manifestation of Machig's unconscious, as part of her own mind, this assumption being based on the idea that our environment is a manifestation of our karma and our own projection." Other contemporary books support such a view: Loren Pederson's "Dark Hearts," George Weinberg's "Invisible Masters," & John Sanford's "Invisible Partners."
   
   Further, she also clears up the ambiguity about Tibetan Buddhist practitioners consuming meat:
   p. 194 note 54: "the Buddha did not teach strict vegetarianism, but rather that all meat one eats should have passed through at least three hands before a Buddhist should consume it...if a Tantric practitioner eats the meat of an animal with awareness and transcendent insight into the true nature of reality, this creates a connection between the animal and the yogi, and therefore the animal will have a much better chance of reaching a higher rebirth than if it had not been killed and offered to the yogi or yogini. Also...it symbolizes going beyond the limitations of vows and conventional `goodness,' and transformation of poison and dangerous substances into a means for enlightenment. Therefore a big piece of meant would be an appropriate offering for a Tantric initiation." Interestingly, this practice parallels that of Kabbalah where practitioners raise the spiritual level of animals by eating them with proper kavvanah (mystical intention).



3. There is a hunger among women practitioners for the stories of other women who have gone on before them. Often these stories have been lost or over time turned to silence.
   
   Tsultrim Allione, founder of Tara Mandala, a 600 acree retreat center in South West Colorado, sets out with this book to reclaim some of those lost voices. She was initiated on this journey with the death of her daughter from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Prior to becoming a mother to four children, Tsultrim had been one of the first American women to take vows. For four years she lived in the Himalayas as a nun devoted to in depth practice. Later she returned her vows and became a mother and with the death of one of her twins began the search for stories to sustain her during unbearable times.
   
   In Women of Wisdom she uncovers and chronicles the stories of several of the more well-known women practioners, saints, and delogues, but what is particularly compelling is her own story. She writes openly and honesty with remarkable ease.
   
   It is a must for anyone who wrestles with integrating Buddhist practice with the demands of a modern life.



4. 
   The second edition of Tsultrim Allione's Women of Wisdom features, at the request of her many readers, a much expanded spiritual autobiography, enriched by photographs not included in the first edition. This and the Introduction comprise over a third of the book, and are in a sense a resonating complement and counterpart to the biographies of female Tibetan teachers and adepts which Tsultrim Allione sought out and translated. In keeping with the Buddha's dictim that we should endorse only those things we have actually experienced as true, Allione's life has been a journey to spiritual truth underwritten and ratified by her faithfulness to her own experience-- her need to bear and rear children, to embrace but also to leave marriages, to stay true to the essence of the Tibetan teachers and teachings she sought out from her teens-- and from all of that, to create Tara Mandala, a retreat center whose wellsprings include North
   American First Peoples' teachings, families, feminine spiritualities, healing of earth and of bodies, and deep dedication to preserving and transmitting several Tibetan lineages.
   One of the threads woven into the tapestry of Allione's life is her pursuit of the life and teachings of Machig Lapdron, the 12th century teacher who first formalized the Chod ceremony for feeding rather than murdering demons. Allione's forthcoming book, Feeding Your Demons, as well as her oral teachings in the already available CD series, Cutting Through Fear, develop the ways in which this approach to personal and collective darkness contrasts with the more dualistic western myth of the hero who slays the dragon. But Allione has discovered another body of Machig's work: extensive, subtle and practical teachings on the Prajnaparamita Sutra and on the nature of mind, and in the years to come we are sure to see more teaching on this topic from this gifted scholar-practitioner.
   In 2007, Allione was recognized in Tibet as an emanation of Machig Lapdron. So, Women of Wisdom contains a book within a book of books, and tracings of a particular life within a much larger lifestream-- teachings brought forward for our times that encourage us to not be afraid! to dive directly into those things we fear most! and to join with each other in the quest to discover our own truths, and express them by art and ritual and service and fully experiencing the life of the body. This is a book to take to bed with you, to let seep into your dreams. Read it, and take heart.

5 comments about The Red Rose Crew: A True Story of Women, Winning, and the Water.

1. If Odysseus could have read Daniel J.Boyne's book `The Red Rose Crew" he would have had no reason to be tied to the mast to cox his ear-waxed crew through the Sirenum Scopuli unscathed. The Sirens would have gladly faced their un-timely end with the knowledge that women's rowing had a champion who took the time and effort to chronical a arduous voyage that will be remembered as the break though of woman's competitive rowing in the United States. In a time when story telling has been all but lost as a media to impart history or knowledge, a well-credentialed Daniel Boyne has wove a rich tapestry of facts, protocol, commentary, technical knowledge and colorful antidotes into a narrative that are easily remembered and re-called. Every sport has its legends; Babe Ruth, Billie Jean King, Pele', the utterance of each name conjures a vivid image of the particular athlete's prowess and character. US women's rowing has Ernestine Bayer, Carie Graves, Gail Pierson, and Harry Parker just to mention a few of the people Daniel J.Boyne has profiled as the "Who's Who" of US women's rowing. One of the many pearls of rowing information the author relates is how a good crew has the characteristics of a good baseball team. Rowers spend many hours debating the age-old rower's question of whether power, or technique is more important or why coaches' conduct seat races. Mr. Boyne's account of how the `The Red Rose Crew" was formulated is a wealth of information for any rower or coach looking for the literal and figurative gut wrenching answers. Rowers and coaches who have, or will have to weather the trials and travail of choosing and rowing into the seats of a boat will relate to the myriad of variables and anguish and elation. US Rowing is fortunate that Daniel J.Boyne has taken the time and energy to share his knowledge and insight of where US Women's rowing has been and the inevitable heights that it destined to rise.

   John Wall, Ancient Mariner Berkshire County, USA 6/10/01




2. Books on rowing are rare these days so it is good to see a fine account of a boat being made and coming together. All the more so as The Red Rose Crew chronicles the early days of women's rowing.
   
   Overall, this is a fine and enjoyable read, the only distractions being a number of minor but aggravating errors, preplexing because Boyne is a rower. These are minor in the context of this otherwise fine book about rowing.



3. If you love rowing, if you love sports, if you're interested in historical moments .... this book is wonderful. I have read it and re-read it. I have lent it and gifted it. This is the true story of several remarkable women athletes. It is extremely well written and takes you through the story with grace and passion. I think I'll go read it again!



4. I purchased the Red Rose Crew both as a rowing coach and coxswain. I had heard of the book before but never read it. While it was a relatively quick read, it did provide some good insight into how women's rowing has evolved since the 1970s. It gave some wonderful descriptions of the various struggles the women went through, as well as the individuals who helped them along their way.
   
   It would be really nice to see a sequel, or something similar, that documents what women's rowing has become in the past twenty or so years. There is a decent follow-up of the individuals from the team at the end of the book, but I feel like I could have easily stomached another 100+ pages of what has happened since then.
   
   All in all, a good read and a good book to have if you know anything about rowing, and specifically women's rowing at the collegiate level and beyond.



5. I am the proud parent of a stroke rower. This story, of very different women, from widely geographic and psychological backgrounds, all coming together to do something no one had done before, is mesmorizing and grabs at every heartstring I have. The forward is equally compelling. I have met one of the Yale rowers in this story, and believe me, if she did half the stuff she is credited doing, I have even more admiration for her. This book taught me a bit about rowing, some equipment nuances, and training techniques. It gave me several nights of wonderful pleasure, some laughs, some tears. Now that this sport, like most others, is so scientific, so over studied (I guess we have the east germans to thank for that), it largely selects the athletes by performance. But the 'Red Rose Crew' had that intangible: spirit and guts. That doesn't always show up on ERG scores, or height charts. I am so glad I read this, and was able to share it with my daughter. The writing is clear, concise, and both narrative and dialogue where appropriate. Great work.