5 comments about The Truth Is . . .: My Life in Love and Music.

1. This is a great book! It is an easy to read inspirational book that takes you on a tour of her life through her family, passions, traumas, setbacks and accomplishments. Sometimes it is comforting to know that we are not alone in this journey and reading about "celebrities" that had rough times too, triumphed in the end.



2. I guess I can now say that I understand why her music is so fantastic. It's raw and you can feel her emotions pouring out in each and every one. This book covers most of the basics of her life and of course details. You find out about all the heart breaking, losses, and happy moments of her life and how she came to be the person she is today.
   If your a fan of her music, you have to pick up this book to fully understand why her music touches your soul.



3. melissa life's is full of strugle ,truth and love. Please try to read the book. Is well written and full of love.



4. The title is "The TRUTH is... My Life in LOVE and Music". A lot of the reviewers seem to think that Melissa has been too honest about her relationships, or is too focused on herself, or was unfair to Julie Cypher by detailing the road to the breakup in this book instead of just writing about her music. This is Melissa's AUTObiography, and as such is the truth of her life as she sees it, not anybody else's version. For most artists their emotional life is a huge part of their creativity! For an artist this powerful, that harsh personal life IS the most important part of the songwriting, and why the songs have so much impact and resonance. The life experience and love leads to the music. I read this book a few years back, and was also appalled that Melissa could put up with so much apparent acting out from Julie, while also understanding that it takes two to make a union. Having personally dealt with the kind of crazy-making emotional game playing that it seems was going on, I will especially applaud Melissa's courage for being honest about her own part in enabling the behavior (through not understanding it, through giving up her own power, for rationalizing, for covering up and making excuses, and for desperately holding on to someone who wanted and needed to leave), and thus how destructive it was for both of them.
   This book helped open my eyes to how common this is. Abused kids turn into adults looking to heal the abuse by partnering with people who feel "like home", but who basically just further the abuse so familiar from childhood ("you looked like Father, you felt like Mother, my mind told my heart there is no other. And I gave you my soul and every ounce of control.."). Get two people with abusive childhood backgrounds together, and many people of all sexual orientations never make it out of that pattern, looking for healing and redemption in another person, when healing from abuse is an INSIDE job! They understand that something is wrong, but keep trying to placate and please the other person to "fix" the relationship that is mirroring their past, instead of realizing that one CAN'T fix anyone else, only oneself. Julie did Melissa a huge favor: she gave her the feelings that made the songs. ("I turned your dreams into lightning, ain't that enough? I held the world back for you, ain't that enough? I loved you past the point of dying, ain't that enough of me for you?!") Giving and giving and giving to the point of exhaustion only destroys the giver. ("My lover needs to seize, bring me to my knees"). It doesn't make a relationship work any better, but it gave Melissa the personal impetus to make incredible music that, in attempting to heal herself, can also help to heal others.
   By being so honest, Melissa gives readers the gift of examples of dysfunctional family abuse with which they may be able to identify, and the resultant unhealthy relationships that can't work without understanding how our past affects our present. She finally figured a lot of this out. If she can do it, so can others in similar circumstances who might never have understood how dysfunctional their own relationships are. Gay or straight, it still hurts when a relationship isn't working despite one's best efforts. "Truth Of The Heart" among other, newer songs, is an example of the spiritual growth she achieved as a result of the pain. I think the book truly is a gift to any reader, fan or otherwise, who can empathize and identify with Melissa's life and see parallels in their own, and maybe get some big AhHa s and clues to eventually healing their own pain and becoming emotionally healthy and wise. As for the voice and editing, it was collaboratively written, and needed to be accessible in tone. If I want great literature, I go elsewhere. For healing though, it's the honest story that helps the most.



5. Great book written by Melissa Etheridge! She really lets her guard down and tells all. Never knew she was so down to earth until reading her bio. Great read if you want to really know the woman who has a superb voice.

5 comments about Edith Stein: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

1. Maria Scaperlanda's book on Edith Stein provides those unfamilar with this fascinating, modern Saint with a great introduction to her life and thought. The reader will be able to follow Edith Stein on her passionate life journey, sustained by her desire to find truth, first pursued in philosophy and finally completed in her embrace of Catholicism and life as a contemplative, Carmelite religious. Although there are various books about Edith Stein on the market, Maria Scaperlanda's work is the best work to provide the reader with an introduction to Edith Stein and guide the reader on to further works on the Saint with an excellent bibliography. Edith Stein's life and work should be studied by all those who seek meaning and truth (not only Catholics), especially in our current post-modern, relativistic culture that so vehemently denies absolute truth. This book is also an excellent choice as spiritual reading for Christians desiring to study the life of a contemporary Saint.



2. I really like how this author has woven a story out of the several strands - of Edith's own writings - of others who have written about her - of the history of the Jews in Germany - and of the life and times of Adolf Hitler as it affected Edith's life and that of millions of Jews and Christians. The author has braided together some wonderful connections that set Edith's life in the context of her times and of our times. I found special joy in these connections because I have read almost all of the sources - primary and secondary - separately - and it is good to see them woven together with spiritual meanings. This book now holds a place of prominece on my Edith Stein shelf of books.



3. This is story of a simple and devoted Carmelite nun. It is a wonderful story that not only gives biographical information it also incorporates a lot of Edith Stein's (Saint Teresa Benedicta a Cruce (Latin)personal philosophy and her feelings on femininism in society. It also shares her exceptional faith and devotion to God, even in the face of death. The book tells of her life, her entry into the Carmelite cloister and then her death in the Nazi camp, Auschwitz, Poland. It is a truly inspiraional and beautifully written book of one woman's courage and devotion.



4. This book is a wonderful introduction to the life of Catholic and Jewish martyr, philosopher, professor, nun, feminist, and saint who died in the gas chambers at Auschwitz. Scaperlanda does a great job of introducing the reader to her philosophy, personality, background, and amazing faith. If you enjoy this book, I reccomend "Knowledge and Faith" and "Life in a Jewish Family", both by Edith Stein.



5. This is an easy to read beginners biography on Edith Stein: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. It tells her life story and how she freely offered herself for the conversion of others. She grew up Jewish and became Catholic after searching for the truth, and then finally coming across the truth, when she read St. Teresa of Avila's Autobiography. You will truly come to know Edith Stein and feel close to her after reading this book.

5 comments about Do They Hear You When You Cry.

1. This should be and could be on the bestseller list; Lord knows the girl deserves it. The issue I have is with the editor: had this been half the size, it would have been on the top five list. Instead, it languishes in parts that detract from the global horror women still experience on a daily basis. In the right hands, this would be on everyone's coffee table and progress, outrage and steps for human rights would catch on like the wildfire it needs. In all, still a fascinating story.



2. Fauziya Kassindja tells the reader a heartbreaking but inspiring story of her frightful journey towards freedom. Fauziya grew up in the small African town of Togo. Her family was somewhat untraditional in the sense of following some of the major muslim customs pertaining to women. Her father did not believe that his daughters should have to wear veils or be subject to prearranged marriages to name a few. Most of all he was very opposed to the tribal custom of female genital mutilation (fgm).
   
   After Fauziya's father passed away, she soon found herself in the custody of her aunt and uncle who set her up for a prearranged marriage which would also require her to suffer fgm.
   
   Fauziya soon finds herself fleeing from Africa to escape this fate. She comes to the United States to seek political asylum. Her journey is shocking, heartbreaking, and inspiring. Definitely a page turner. This young lady had a lot of courage that will help many women in similar situations. A must read.



3. When Fauziya flees the injustices of her African country to seek asylum in America, little does she know that she is jumping from the frying pan into the fire. This book details the underbelly of a prison and a justice system that treat detainees like dirt. But amidst this squalor of human indignity there are angels. Angels appear both in and out of the prison. Some give her sustenance in prison; others work tirelessly for her release, and still others use the news media to highlight the injustices meted out to her.
   What a book!



4. This is the rare type of a book that transcends age, gender, and sex. To read this book is to realise the startling realities of the way America treats immigrants attempting to apply for amnesty. One of the best books I have read this year.



5. wow! this story has really touched me words cannot express how this pains me on what's happening in these countries...this needs to stop!!!!female mulitation is a crime itself..Fauziya you are a strong woman. wanted to give up but you continued to keep going it. That itself is strenght

5 comments about Home Before Morning: The Story of an Army Nurse in Vietnam.

1. I read this book for the first time many years ago now and it touched a cord in me simply at the time I was going thru something similar myself being discharged from the military and finding that you really have no place in the world. I never experienced anything like she did and how she overcame all her obstacles only attests to the strength of the person she became because of it. I believe she has passed on now due to exposure of agent organge while serving our country. I always try to make people see just what sacrifices that our fighting men and women go thru to keep us free that we never even hear about except very rarely in such books as this one. "They" don't want this kind of information coming out to let us know just what has really gone on. This continues to be one of my favorite books and I generally wind up reading it a few times a year. It's one book that will never be let go. It is well worth reading and I guarantee you it will make you think and be appreciative of the little things that we all take for granted.



2. Based on my personal observations, Lynda was the laughing stock of the 71st Evac Hospital. And, she was also almost universally disliked. You had to tolerate her. But, you didn't have to like her. I heard alot from her other "friends" there in 1971. And, I was unfortunate enough to have to spend an afternoon, sitting in a jeep in downtown Pleiku, while she and a friend were wined and dined, so I observed her interactions firsthand. She was laughed at constantly because she was always trying to get out of doing something. But, that was Vietnam's fault. Not hers.
   
   The book is not even good fiction. About 95% of the happenings she claimed never occurred. If they occurred they occurred to someone else, someplace else. The majority of the book is nothing but flights of fancy from a woman that wouldn't know the truth if it bit her. Every problem she ever had, since 1969, was blamed on Vietnam, the people she worked with, the war, the weather, whatever. Not one time in her book did she ever take responsibility for her actions and the repercussions she got from bad decisions.
   
   My review of this book is not as fluent as others. But, my statements are based on personal experience with the subject matter of her and this book firsthand. I was there, I know.



3. I had read this book years ago and lost it after many moves. I wanted to read it again, with everything happening in Iran.
   This book helps one to really understand what our soldiers and medical staff go through during a war and for the rest of their lives. I recommend it as a must read book.



4. This is such a beautiful story; and one that needs to be told more often. It will give so much understanding to the generation born to those who came "of age" in the 1960's of what the VietNam war was all about. And, not many people knew anything about the role of the Army Nurse until now. This book is a must read!



5. Had to read it for History class. Decent book if you are a nurse or had any experience with post traumatic stress, divorce, or Vietnam. Very interesting book, check it out

5 comments about Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau.

1. Martha Ward deserves great kudos for this incredible work of love and devotion, Finally bringing the enigma of "Marie Laveau", BOTH of the Marie Laveau's to us in this day and age where she is so very much needed again to Bless her 21st Century Children now as a bona fide "Lwa"! Excellent!!! May the Good Mother Bless Martha Ward, And ALL of Us! So Be It!



2. Many people have fallen in love with the women who is known as Marie Laveau. Not much is truely known about her, but Martha Ward does an excellent job in giving it's readers an inside look at the "Spirited Life of Marie Laveau". This book is a must for anyone interested in the subject of New Orleans folklore.



3. Great book , loved it, thought it was wonderful



4. Another reviewer here has stated that the author should perhaps have written a historical fiction influenced by Leveau, like what Atwood did with Grace Marks in "Alias Grace".
   
   To be honset, I wouldn't have read the book then either. That's because I can't read this book without feeling... well... search inside and read a brief excerpt. The writing reads like a freshman comp paper. I can't take it seriously because the author's put so much fluff into it.
   
   Check it out for yourself, but read the excert before you go out and actually blow some scratch on this book. Who exactly is she qouting in that first chapter?
   
   Bah... if you're interested in Marie Leveau, a topic worthy of interest; then I recomend Long's investigation into the who Marie Leveau was. It too, has it's short-comings, but I assure you that it is more worth your time than this.



5. This book is was not written in an enjoyable format. Martha Ward jumped from person to person and date to date and back and forth and all around. She also injected her views on people and places without presenting proof of validity. They were simply her views, but the way she wrote them in, they could appear to be factual.

5 comments about You'll Never Nanny in This Town Again: The True Adventures of a Hollywood Nanny.

1. I started reading this book in Target while my kids looked at videos and couldn't leave without buying it. I like this author's style...she puts you right in the mansion with her. I could really relate to her thoughts and experiences. A good read.



2. I couldnt put the book down, I laughed so hard tears would be rolling down my face - I was not shocked by the DIVA attitude in California, but this author tells it well - highly recommend



3. I loved this book! I received it as a gift from a fellow nanny who met Suzanne at a Nanny Convention in Boston. I was a nanny for ten years and the relationships she describes in her book were very familiar to me. I may not have been in Tinseltown, but having worked with many families there were shades of each in her characters. I found her writing to be real and honest. She wasn't writing a 'tell-all' book. She was telling you about her life and the experiences she had. She had me laughing out loud with her and enjoying every minute of what felt like 'our' adventure. Two thumbs up!



4. I bought this for the airplane, and it's a perfect airplane book - light and easy to read and instantly forgettable.
   
   A 19 yo is hired to look after the Ovitz's 3 children. Unfortunately, even though she is well beyond 19 at the time of writing, her insights are that of a 19 yo and not that interesting or original. This is not a well written book, it could have been far funnier or cleverer. You never read it for the heroine, only for the far more famous/intersting people that she meets and she doesn't really have much of interest to say about them (I met Tom Cruise, I could have died!) I left it at the airport for some other traveller to read...



5. I've been around a different group of rich-and-famous (old money) and can vouch for the author's insights. Her class-consciousness (Hollywood vs. Oregon loggers) adds insight to the tale. Yes, class does exist, and she is proud of where she comes from.
   
   What is it with parents who don't parent? My only complaint is that she should have disguised the Ovitz family because they are really typical of the scene, so why personalize the story? Nannies, along with other help-for-the-wealthy, are often underpaid, under appreciated, and treated as slightly less than human. What is the State of California doing to improve their workers' rights?
   
   Being a teenager when she took the job, the author is unable to assert herself with the Ovitz employers, and that reticence adds to her troubles. She does not blame them, but recognizes her own insecurities as complicating their relationship. I really enjoyed her stories from other nannies, such as that of the family that has locks on its refrigerators. You will never envy the wealthy after reading this. (I know a woman who used her husband's firm's employees to order her underwear.)
   
   The prose is crisp, the tales well-organized. A fun and revealing read, moreso than the usual "tell-all" books. It doesn't, which adds to its veracity. Imagine not making love the way you were used to because the nanny might hear you--and no, it isn't anyone this woman worked for. Her headline chapter quotations are almost worth the price!

No comments about No Man's Land.

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 Mi Pais Inventado: Un Paseo Nostalgico por Chile.

1. La narracion es placentera y veloz para el lector. La voz es optimista a pesar de su cornucopia de penas (el golpe militar; la muerte de su hija; el destierro; divorcio; etc.) No abundan las innecesarias ornamentaciones y descifra las melancolias e inseguridades causadas por la complejidad de su pasado.
   Allende sostiene y siente el hibridismo que afecta a muchos Hispanos en los Estados Unidos. Es decir, ella logra concretar la nostalgia que sentia por su pais que ya no es suya y acepta cierta marginacion en un pais anfitrion al cual no esta totalmente acostumbrada. Esto compartimos muchos hispanos. Ni de alli ni de aca. Allende nos lleva con ella a Chile de una manera sencilla y personal. La honestidad de los alagos y de las criticas de sus paisanos es sincera y muchas de estas caracteristicas se pueden aplicar a los demas habitantes de America del Sur en gringolandia. El paralelo del Golpe Militar y el 11 de sept., es lo que empuja a Allende a encontrar cierta definicion que se universaliza para cualquier inmigrante en cualquier pais.



2. I picked up this book because I'd heard of Isabel Allende (and the late Salvador Allende), and because I thought it would be helpful in my Spanish studies. I quickly became engrossed in the book and, as they say, couldn't put it down (except to reach for my Spanish dictionary).
   
   Isabel Allende, author of numerous bestselling novels, was born in Peru, grew up in Chile, and then traveled with her parents to various diplomatic posts. Later, she was exiled permanently from Chile after the military coup of 1973. She writes about her native country as one who, having stepped outside her culture, can no longer return to it as a native, but sees it from the outside. She is a perpetual foreigner now, an outsider in every culture, and so she sees things others miss. In this book, Author Allende takes a nostalgic look back at her life, her family, her native land, its culture, its foibles and its great strengths. She also reveals a great deal of her own inner self, creaing a powerful bond of intimacy with her readers.
   
   This is a book which transcends time and place. Written in a simple, conversational style, it draws the reader in, engages, delights, and amazes. And it causes the reader to think and reflect. She is able to discuss world-shaking political events in the same intimate style, and caused this reader to reflect deeply on some of the political currents of our own time. The author has a sparkling sense of humor, and often got me to laugh, though her message is profoundly serious. I believe this book will be recognized as a classic. I recommend it highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.



3. Un libro que en lo personal me hizo descubrir la magia que puede haber en recorrer nuestras memorias mas intensas, esas que se marcan en nuestra infancia y adolescencia, cuando la memoria esta mas fresca. Esos recuerdos y nostalgias van enlazadas a la distancia y la aceptacion de una nueva tierra que nos brinda la oportunidad de estar aqui lejos de la otra y de alguna forma seguir cosechando recuerdos.
   Por supuesto que estas nuevas memorias y vivencias nunca reemplazaran los recuerdos magicos de ese pais inventado... o real del cual venimos.



4. El libro "Mi país inventado" de Isabel Allende es muchas cosas al mismo tiempo:
   
   Es un viaje a Chile: Isabel Allende nos cuenta de la geografía, de la política, de la cultura (especialmente del humor) y también de la historia reciente de este país Latinoamericano. Pero no es una guía que pretende reemplazar por ejemplo los libros de la "Lonely Planet". Si buscas una guía de ese tipo debes que comprar otro libro.
   
   "Mi país inventado" también es una autobiografía: Allende describe su infancia en Santiago de Chile. Cuenta de sus padres y parientes; especialmente nos deja saber muchas cosas sobre su abuelo. Pero al final solamente es una autobiografía muy rudimentaria (el libro de bolsillo solamente tiene aproximadamente 200 paginas).
   
   Sobretodo ese libro es una declaración de amor por "su país" (ella misma refiere varias veces a Chile como "mi país" - inclusive en su título ), por su patria. Sí, claro, escribe sobre la década del gobierno Pinochet en los anos 1970s, de las brutalidades cometidos por los militares etc. Sí, claro, nos cuenta de las características menos favorables de sus compatriotas. Y sí, claro, nos explica como a ella le gusta vivir en California con su marido y que bueno es para ella regresar "home" a San Francisco. Pero sin embargo después de leer "Mi país inventado" no hay ninguna duda donde reside su alma: en Chile.
   
   ¿Entonces, para quiénes fue escrito ese libro? Pienso que probablemente sea para los aficionados de Latino América y de Isabel Allende. Para lectores que ya conocen sus libros de ficción y que quieren saber más sobre Chile y Isabel Allende y de lo que Isabel Allende piensa de "su" país. A mi me gustó muchísimo leer "Mi país inventado".



5. This is a beautiful book. You will learn a lot about Chile and the author. Isabel Allende is a very interesting and fun writer. I was reading this book while commuting and I was often laughing alone in the train. She has that great sense of humor I some times miss from Southamerica. Great book.

5 comments about Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne.

1. First of all,as a Japanese,I will not sit here and watch as an affair of my country is terribly distorted and misunderstood.Let me start by pointing out the most important fact unbeknownst to Western people:The majority of the Japanese people DO NOT sympathize with Princess Masako any more,because we already know the truth all too well.
   
   Although we used to regard her in the early days as an efficient but "unfortunate" princess just as this book claims to be,now almost every Japanese inwardly thinks that she is just a loathesome,power-hungry upstart with gilded academic backgrounds and a seemingly remarkable diplomat's career who married into a highest and noblest family she never really belonged to.We also think that she should be deprived of her title and dismissed from the Imperial Family as soon as possible--not because she is a "modernized" woman who is alien to our society,but simply because she is not doing her duty at all.In fact,also unbeknownst to overseas media,she keeps on betraying the people's expectation for her to live up to her title by refusing to attend almost all the public functions out of faked sickness,seeking only fun,squandering the taxpayers'money without a reflection.
   
   In other words,all she ever does is to pretend that she's so "mentally ill" that she needs "a long rest" and to "shop till she drops" on the people's back as she goes on needless vacations.(For example,she immensely enjoyed her visit to Tokyo Disneyland with her husband and daughter by riding various attractions this March,and shortly after it was reported in the media,there appeared many weblog entries denouncing her act.)
   As you know,a real patient of depression or of any other mental illness is never able to go out not only to work,but also to play however hard he or she wants to.Even though there is yet no clear evidence that her illness is false,there is a revealing fact that the Princess has never undergone a thorough mental health check by a third-party doctor,nor has her doctor in charge officially held a press conference to announce the proper diagnosis to this day.With all the inappropriate behaviour of the Princess above in mind,we have come to a conclusion that she is an utterly ineligible Crown Princess,a Marie Antoinette-like tax-spender,a sheer disgrace to our nation and to "the Chrysanthemum Throne" in the true sense of the term.
   
   So the point here is as follows:She is no "prisoner" to be "liberated" at all;all we have here is one delinquent who would universally be dismissed should she be a princess of some Western country,and that Japanese traditions or "the way of the Kunaicho(the Imperial Household Agency)" has nothing to do with the so-called "unfairness" of the way she has been treated.We only think of her as we naturally do,and the Imperial Household Agency has been only doing its job.
   Suppose an agency of Royal or Imperial affairs did not try to admonish a troublemaker in the Family,or it did not try to defend their lord in the face of a malicious slander,then of what use would it be?Naturally,if it takes the above actions when needed, that would be NO "violation of human rights" or "violation of freedom of speech" as the author Ben Hills alleged regarding the treatment of Princess Masako and the Kunaicho's protest against his book.
   Therefore,all the author's accusations against the Kunaicho and the other members of the Imperial Family are groundless,because those accusations are made on an unsound premise that they should be blamed for their own unique "inhumanity" and "feudalism" that never really exist in this particular case.Needless to say,a tradition should never be judged from an insufficient research or a subjective,narrow-minded viewpoint like the author's,especially when the allegations are untrue.
   
   
   Finally,please DO NOT ever be deceived by this bogus story of some Imperial oppression of a well-intended,"liberated" individual which never took place,not only for our sake,but also for your own sake,because this is apparently a book of propaganda full of intentional errors designed to undermine Japan's and the Imperial Family's reputation.With Japan being a former Axis and a defeated nation of WWII,it is not uncommon for the rest of the world to demonize the Emperor or the Imperial system of Japan by deliberately depicting it as a thoroughly inhumane existence despite its now-pacifistic nature.So,all wise and conscientious readers out there, stay open-minded,for an ignorant,unsuspecting "good intention" misled by malice could lead to true unfairness such as racism and destruction of a culture that is different from your own.



2. the very real story of a princess who is not living happily ever after, why do all royal families seem to attempt to strip princesses-in-training, expecting them to relinquish their creative minds, goals and imagination, all attributes that would enable them to serve a royal family, as well as a country to their highest potential...did they not learn anything from the tragedy of the loss of Princess Diana, who was finally beginning to breathe again...



3. It is quite obvious that this author has little knowledge of Japanese culture and he makes many snide comments belittling the sacredness of some traditional Japanese customs. This arrogant style is used throughout the book and is highly disrespectful of Japanese traditions.
   He scoffs at the ancient Japanese religion of Shinto of which the Imperial family follows aspects of, and undermines the Shinto symbolic rites that accompany marriage. For Japanese people, Shinto represents the religious part of Japan's unique history, and many still observe Shinto practices such as visting Shinto shrines to pray etc. The author dismisses all this as archaic and antiquated and presumes it will be laughed at by "modern people such as Masako". I think only the author himself laughs as most people are able to respect the religious traditions of others.
   The author further shows his ignorance through mistaking the Japanese symbol of the crane with the Western Stork. He ignorantly translates the very traditional Japanese wedding symbol of the crane, which symbolises "celebration" to be the stork which only in the West means "Birth" and therefore as pressure on Masako to concieve.
   He also extensively quotes Yukie Kudo, who is of rather dubious repute, and the author has obviously has not conducted a background check on this source.
   I think this is worth two stars, because at least the author has collected a lot of information into one source. But it is only worth two because of the condescending tone he uses throughout the book.
   This book was translated into Japanese, but 60% of the information was deemed unsuitable for publishing and edited out of the Japanese version therefore this book is only available in English. I think part of the reason for this book not making it into Japanese print is not only because of the Japanese wanting to protect the reputation of the Royal Family, but also because this book comes off as ignorant and therefore not completely truthful.



4. Think of the word princess, and more often than not there's the image of a lovely young woman, dressed in a long flowing gown, usually with a pretty little crown or tiara on her head, and a smitten prince at her side. Rarely this romantic view ever goes on to reveal what happens when the celebrations are over and the reality of life settles in.
   
   While the monarchies of the western world have managed somewhat to balance the public's curiosity about royal life and the royal's own need for privacy, there is one monarchy that has remained firmly shuttered to prying eyes. This is the last Imperial house in the world, that of the Japanese. Australian journalist Ben Hills takes a look at one of the more tragic stories of royalty gone awry, and tells it with equal measures of compassion and anger.
   
   Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne tells the unusual story of a young woman, Masako Owada, the daughter of a diplomat who grew up in various cities around the world, and seemed to be heading for an outstanding career of her own. She had been educated at Harvard, spoke more than six languages and was a pretty, rather popular girl who was intent to be the very best. While she was certainly very different than the typical Japanese woman, no one suspected that her life would take a very dramatic turn.
   
   That would occur in 1993, when after a rather stilted courtship following a chance meeting, Crown Prince Naruhito was finally accepted by Masako and she married him in a tradition laiden ceremony in Tokyo. And suddenly, Masako found her life surrounded by protocol, religious duties and the overwhelming pressure to have a child -- specifically, a male child, something that hadn't happened in the Japanese Imperial family for more than forty years.
   
   Ben Hills delves rather far into the mystery surrounding this family, at least as far as a Western journalist can dig, given the interference that the Kunaicho, the Imperial Household Agency, a bureaucracy that controls every aspect of daily life for the Japanese royal family. Hills refers to these shadowy bureaucrats as The Men in Black, a rather sinister connotation. And as we see in the story, the pressure to conform, and not to sully the image that the Kunaicho want to project, is pretty potent.
   
   The ultimate tragedy of the story is Masako herself. It's sad to watch this vital young woman being crushed by a system that simply does not care about her, except as her role as royal broodmare and a pretty picture to wave in front of the masses. We watch her struggle to concieve a child -- and after nearly nine years of disappointment, and possibly through the use of In-Vitro Fertilization, finally gives birth to a daughter, Aiko. There is the pressure to remain silent and self-effacing, and the toll that takes on Masako's health. While rumours persist that she may be in the grip of major depression, and Hills presents convincing evidence that she is, nothing can be really certain if she is or not.
   
   Which gets right down to the criticism of this book. The Japanese publishers suddenly pulled out of various publication deals for a translation once it was announced that the Kunaicho did not approve of it, and censorship reared it's ugly little head. Hills has received death threats, and the response to the publication is detailed in the epilogue that is in the trade paperback edition. Indeed, anything that can be deemed detrimental to the Japanese government, morals, or the Imperial family is regularly censored, rewritten or whitewashed by those in power -- a situation that most Westerners won't, and don't, tolerate.
   
   And regularly Hills makes backhanded swipes at his subject. His description of the Japanese ceremonial and dress verges on the Oh, isn't that cute!, and at times his narrative goes as far as mockery. That's something that I tend to deplore in writing of any kind, showing a snobbish attitude that is downright rude. Too, he litters the story with Australian slang, which is unfamiliar to most American readers, and while there is some sympathy for Masako, there isn't much left over for anyone else caught up in the drama.
   
   Besides the story itself, there are two inserts of photos, one in black and white, the other in colour; as well as a genealogy chart, a map, a list of resources, a glossary of Japanese terms, and an index.
   
   While I was certainly very interested in this story, it comes across more as a gossipy expose rather than a serious study of Japanese court life. So much is left out that all that remains is a damning screed against a culture that seems to be firmly fixed in medieval traditions, liberally laced with restrictions and corruption. It's interesting, but surely, there must be something better than this out there on this topic.
   
   Three and a half stars, rounded up to four. Somewhat recommended, but only to those interested in modern Japanese life and celebrity.



5. Neither my wife nor I could put this book down with its fascinating description of the challenges of the royal Japanese household, also known as the "Chrysanthemum Throne".
   
   It reads almost like another Princess Diana story, but hopefully with a far better ending. At any rate, the potential is there for Princess Masako to make more of her life and position- it is now down to the royal court to allow this.