5 comments about Superstud: Or How I Became a 24-Year-Old Virgin.

1. This story sounds so much like my own adolescence that I was truly amazed. I couldn't recommend this more highly.



2. This book, as well as his first book (Kick Me), was very funny. I enjoyed it and so did everyone I have lent it to.



3. Do you laugh at awkward situations? Cringe in empathy towards another's embarrassment while enjoying it in some strange way?
   
   Feig is a great story teller.



4. Feig has done what is seemingly impossible: He has topped his first book.
   
   The relatability of Feig's experiences is again the main attraction. This book is about the "Kick Me" growing up and dealing with the problems of libido and the need for sexual satisfaction. These stories rang true, because Feig's experiences are shared ones that a lot of young adult males have. This book is about him having sex, but like most guys, he wants it to be right when it happens. For example, we have the story of his first overeager girlfriend, who he escapes only by moving to California for the summer. Feig's description of the circumstances and the actual experience of his first time is one of the most authentic accounts I have ever found in print.
   
   As in "Kick Me", Feig's way with words makes the essays in this book snappy and humorous. The turns of phrase are what can make an ordinary sentence laugh out lound funny. It is no wonder that he is a part of the team that created 'Freaks and Geeks'.
   
   I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what adolescent and young adult males' lives are really like. The book will make the reader laugh, but also cringe with recognition of things that he himself or a fellow man has done.



5. This was a very entertaining and well-written book. However, by the time Paul Feig is 24 and still a virgin, it's impossible to have any sympathy for him because he had a MILLION opportunities to get laid, all throughout the book! Girls were throwing themselves at him again and again, when he was in high school, but it was HE who refused to "go all the way" - he chickened out numerous times with different girlfriends, and he comes off as a young man who was both horny all the time, and afraid of actually having sex for some reason. It's truly baffling. It can't be blamed on a lack of social skills because he's able to get steady girlfriends, over and over, but almost all of his relationships wind up falling apart because HE refuses to have sex! It seems like he deliberately sabotages his chances to do so, repeatedly. Maybe it had something to do with his strict Christian upbringing. Or - as it is hinted at in the book, but not explicitly stated - maybe he preferred masturbation to sex with a real woman. It's a strange case. But nevertheless it's a really entertaining and well-written book, very clever and witty, and full of funny stories and anecdotes from the writer's childhood.

5 comments about Honestly.

1. I have struggled with, at times winning and at times losseing, depression since I was a small child. I am a strong full-faith Christian. Believe it or not, and a lot of people don't -- you can be both. Sheila breaks that ground and opens her heart and her soul for the good of us reading. She has hurt sooooo much; and come soooo close to the edge of darkness. This book speaks to the heart and damaged maind of every depressed reader; I have cried on each page; for her and for me. It is a great read for the non-depressed to illustrate that a real and active Christan can still be attacked. The support the book offers for fellow depression suffers is excellent. It is not a total explanation of depression, nor of "seeking help" but it is a personal journy that empowers other to walk the path. It is not all you need to read; but it is a read support.



2. A few years ago I found a new copy of this book at a used book store for a decent price. I gave it to my dad for Christmas because he's an avid reader of non-fiction, especially biographies & autobiographies. I wish I'd read it first before I gave it away. I eventually bought a copy from Amazon & read it recently (4/04). I'm glad I finally read it myself.

   Sheila Walsh got saved when she was 11 years old. On the outside, she was a successful Christian talk show host, singer, & author. But she had ghosts from her childhood that she had never dealt with properly. At what seemed like th peak of her success(age 35), she stepped down from her spot as the co-host of the 700 Club & checked herself into a Christian Psychiatric Ward in Washington, D.C. That was probably the best thing that she did for herself. From there on out, God began to work on the the things that had tormented her for so many years. Today she is happy, healthy, whole, & restored. her life is truly a testimony to what God can do if we surrender totally to him.

   Thank you, Sheila, for writing this book. My prayer is that your books, sermons, & music will continue to touch many people as they already have. God bless you, Sheila Walsh!




3. I just want to thank Sheila for writing this book. For exposing her inner life to the world. The stuff which plagues us as christians, all of the facades, masks and "Shoulds" of christians.
   
   
   Reaching out to those in pain and suffering, not turning our backs, loving one another and none of us are exempt from this.
   
   Until many of us reach our dark valleys we dont seem to get it I think in some regards. As a Christian I have walked some painful valleys of my own and God does not promise a life without trials, pain and sorrow. I have learned so much about compassion and loving my brother as myself through my own trials.



4. I have struggled with severe depression for about 15 year now. But it's something I felt I couldn't talk about until fairly recently. I have read a couple of Sheila's other books and wanted to read "Honestly" for a long time. I decided to see if the local library had it and they did. I have to admit, I was both nervous and excited to read this book. I was blown away by Sheila's vulnerablity and honesty. I could relate to much of what she wrote. It is a shame that a lot of people in evangelical churches don't know how to handle people with depression. Sheila also describes some of the hurtful things she experienced at the hands of Christians. The church should be a place of healing and restoration, but unfortunately, it is often a place of condemnation and judgement. I too have been wounded by hurtful. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has personally struggled with depression or desires to help someone with depression. Sheila's story is solidly rooted in Scripture and she gives some practical advice. She also offers encouragement to people who struggle with depression. I was especially convicted by the chapter on shame. Sheila also affirms that depression is an actual medical condition (something a lot of Christians just don't understand) and that its okay to seek help and take medication if necessary. This is a book of hope and will help you see that there is a way out of depression. Sheila emphasizes that the way out isn't quick, painless or easy. But it is worth it. I have just started on my own journey, and Sheila made me realize once again, that I am not alone.
   
   I also highly recommend "Why I Jumped" By Tina Zahn.



5. A friend recommended this book and I borrowed it from her. When I was finished, I definitely wanted one in my house! This is not just a book about depression or "religion." I was impressed with how well read Sheila Walsh is and her complete authenticity and, well, honesty. I would recommend this book for anyone that wants or has a relationship with the living God of this universe and is ready to be completely honest with themselves and others. There are many great quotes throughout the book.

5 comments about Hungry Ocean, The: A Swordboat Captain's Journey.

1. After seeing the movie and reading the book, The Perfect Storm, I became very interested in reading more about the captain of the Hannah Boden, (sister ship of the Andrea Gail) Linda Greenlaw. When I found out she was a writer, I immediately jumped on-line to get one of her books. This book is her first. She writes about a specific fishing trip she commanded and all the trials and tribulations of getting a good catch and bringing it home. Although she down plays the fact that she is a female captain of an ocean fishing boat, I think she is amazing. I have become a big fan! Highly recommend this and I can't wait to read more about her.



2. I am listening to this book. Greenlaw has made the mistake of reading it herself. She's a terrible reader. She swallows words and stops in the middle of sentences. Plus her writing ain't the greatest. I don't mean her storytelling, which is good. I mean that her sentence structure is awful and if I hear her say "lay" once more when she means "lie," I'll scream. Where was the editor?



3. Linda Greenlaw captained an American sword boat. By itself, this is an accomplishment worthy of respect. More than that, she became one of the most successful captains in the fleet. And as "The Hungry Ocean" attests, she is also an accomplished writer with a fine eye for detail. I don't say things like this often, but this is a woman who "walks the walk", AND "talks the talk." A woman to be admired.
   
   Forced by international law to fish a thousand miles from their home ports, Americans who go after swordfish need to be tough, self-reliant and resourceful. In their business, things like surface water temperature, thermoclines, currents, and the corners formed by the Gulf Stream currents as they meander, can mean the difference between a morning boatful of worthless sharks and two tons of prime swordfish. Each night, thirty miles of carefully positioned line carrying thousands of baited hooks set to just the right depth are set adrift in the warm waters of the stream - only to be hauled back aboard the next morning, foot by foot, hopefully including a good number of fish.
   
   How did Linda Greenlaw come to captain one of these vessels? As she details life aboard a sword boat, she also describes scenes from her childhood and young adult years - little things that eventually let the reader feel as if we know this woman and wish we were friends.
   
   It's the story of one trip aboard her sword boat that carries the read, however, and in her description of these events she is at her best as a writer. In rich detail, life on the fishing grounds is shown; crew problems, mechanical troubles, the potential pitfalls and snarls. There is no time off. The crew works round the clock for as long as three weeks with hardly a moment to rest.
   
   That's the business of working a sword boat, and it is a fascinating picture indeed. I'd recommend this one to everyone who loves the water.



4. I've always heard good things about Ms. Greenlaw's writings. I must admit that this story swept me right in. It does a great describe describing the pressures and personalities that would have to come together in the Grand Bank. Great stuff, looking forward to reading more by this author.



5. On the advice of a sometime sailer / daily co-worker, I read Sebastian Junger's non-fiction "The Perfect Storm" well before it became famous and a movie and enjoyed it, although I know zilch about commercial fishing. A tragic story.
   
   Linda was mentioned in Junger's book, as a fellow Captain fishing the North Atlantic's Grand Banks and I recently went looking for her book. Very well done, also much different.
   
   While Junger's introduced the reader to the general nature of the business, the weather, and the risks, Linda's focuses on the day-to-day of a trip ... the preparation, the on-board work (a lot!), the crew's interpersonal relationships (complex), the captain's role (challenging in ways you've never thought about), the fish, the ice, the other boats, the fishing strategy (more sophisticated than you expect!), the economics of when to head back, the pay, the owner, etc., etc. Linda's clearly very good at her job. Very readable, thoruoghly enjoyable, if you like nature and the outdoors, or especially the ocean, I think you'd enjoy this one!

5 comments about Silent Partner: A Memoir of My Marriage.

1. I was also deceived by a gay man disguising as straight. I met him online where he presented himself as a "marriage minded man seeking a woman." I began to get suspicious after a few weeks of dating and asked him if he was "bi" and he tearfully told me of his past. He also professed undying love and the desire to be with a woman permanently so I stuck with him for a few more months. Those months can only be described as a roller coaster ride; one I wish I never got on. I was not equipped mentally or emotionally to cope with this man's sexual confusion. Probably 1 week after we parted, he found himself an "amazing gentleman" and raved about how he had finally found love. (it sounded pathetically familiar; he used to rave about me.
   I walked away and had to deal with my anger and resentment for what he put me through. Yes, you can go through relationship problems with anyone, but these were particularly painful and confusing for me. No matter what anyone says, it's not the same. I felt used and exploited by him to test out the heterosexual waters.
   Prior to meeting him, I had a old friend who was gay. She fell in love with me when I was 17 and used to harass me to be with her. Physically and emotionally. That, too, was an awful experience.
   I used to be a tolerant person; probably too tolerant and it got me in some situations that were not good for me.
   Unfortunately this has caused me some trepidation in being with gay people. It's sad but I just have not had any positive experiences with them. I do try to keep an open mind though and hopefully healing will prevail.
   Thanks for listening.



2. I loved reading this book, about the true events in the life of a governor and his wife. She is very elegant in the way she tells of the lies and truths she find out about the life she led with her husband. It tells of the difference in what was going on and what she had missed. She tells about seeing signs after the fact and how she stepped out of the public eye after being pushed into a public scene with her cheating husband.



3. This book was personal for me because I had this experience. There is a large percentage of men who fall into the category - so ladies beware.



4. I wanted to know how could a woman be married to a man without knowing he's gay. Or rather, I wanted to know how could a gay man be married to a woman without letting her know he's gay. In this book Dina Matos comes across as a very intelligent and kind person. If she could be fooled, anyone could be fooled. I think anyone who's ever been betrayed by a loved one can relate to the feeling of trying to keep up the hope when there's a nagging feeling of something not being right. I want to read the ex-husband's side of the story but there is no way getting around the fact that Dina was deceived.



5. good read.. left alot of unanswered questions but only because i don't think she really even knew the answer herself... hard to believe someone could be that unattached to what was going on around her, don't think she wanted to see alot of it because of her own political ambitions... but good read....

5 comments about The Witch's Dream: A Healer's Way of Knowledge (Arkana).

1. I did not find the book all that appealing. I purchased it, in hopes it would be simualar to Carlos Castaneda's work. It wasn't. It was very different from the work of Castaneda. It takes you to a whole different world and way of viewing the world. I did enjoy the book but thought it was very unspecified in making the points clear. It left me with a feeling of going nowhere. That's just my personal opinion though.



2. I can't leave this marvelous book with a couple of limited reviews here at Amazon, even though it's been ten years since I last read it. Donner's story is simply a great human story; it's really about becoming more human. It's about the simple necessities in life, about the choices we are forced to make when choices are most limited, and about the life we find through that "cubic centimeter of chance." It gets outside -- thank God! -- the crime and punishment limited mentality of America....and of course that is why such a book will bore some readers and frighten others.



3. ...this book works. You don't have to believe Florinda Donner experienced or witnessed everything in this book to find something useful about her portrayal of the life of a Venezuelan healer and spiritualist (our modern, American terms). Read it like a novel that certainly feels like it was thoroughly researched. You'll find it an excellent journey to a place you've never been before.



4. Great read, kept me going. Not meant to be everyone's taste, but if it is, you will enjoy. Fiction or non-fiction... we may never know. Why do we have to classify? For about the same price as going to a bad movie, you will almost certainly get more out of it, whether you liked it or not. Go for it!



5. Didn't care for the cover on first impressions but as you read and discover the story line its a great read. The way many of the I want to say disiples of this subject matter write is alarming in resemblance to each other. Not in style or anything but in the way it flows / reads. Great book.

5 comments about All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes.

1. I thought it was a great book. It was my first ever read of Maya Angelou. I think the book has made me a fan of her. Her style of writing was mellifluous, sincere, and truthful.

   I am not a very emotional person, but the part that made my eyes water was when Maya went to the market in Kato, as the book ended. She met Ewe women who instantly confused her for an Ewe. They were sure Maya was an Ewe decendant because of her features and tone of voice. Once, she was mistaken for a Bambara, and an Ahanta as well. It was beautiful. I admire Maya for her having fortitude and being curious and passionate. She loves her people and was more than willing to come back home to America to help them by working for Malcolm X, promoting civil rights, et al. I have great respect for her. She also learnt how to speak the Fanti language, which I would guess was not easy.

   It was a great autobiography. I wonder what would have happened if she had married the Malian Fulfulde man.




2. her poems are so great. They teach great valuable lessons that we should all here.



3. From purely a literary standpoint, I find ALL GOD'S CHILDREN NEED TRAVELING SHOES perhaps the best of Angelou's series of autobiographical works that I have encountered thus far. It is the fifth "installment," having been preceded by I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS, GATHER TOGETHER IN MY NAME, SINGIN' AND SWINGIN' AND GETTIN' MERRY LIKE CHRISTMAS, and THE HEART OF A WOMAN. While I suppose that any of these could be read in isolation, to do so would be analogous to reading a single chapter from a full-length novel. One may enjoy the contents of that single chapter but will miss all the background material that explains how the characters reached that point in time and space as well as everything that follows to explain and wrap-up the story. For the same reasons, one really should read each of Angelou's books and in chronological order, too. Consequently, if one is examining reader reviews before purchasing ALL GOD'S CHILDREN, and if this is the first of Angelou's books being considered, please wait. Reading the others first will enhance significantly the reader's enjoyment of this one.
   
   Pure autobiographies tend, in my experience, to be rather dull reading for the most part. Where is the excitement in a list of events and dates? That sort of dry recitation of historical facts is the reason that most of us were likely bored to somnambulance by our high school history textbooks. Happily, this is not at all that sort of autobiography. What one finds in Angelou's books is the world seen through her eyes and interpreted by her mind, and she carries with her the filters built strand by strand by her life experiences.
   
   What "life experiences"? Being born Black into a legally, socially, culturally and thoroughly segregated country. Being abandoned by one's father. Being shipped across country by one's mother to be raised by an aging grandparent. Feeling the constant scorn and belittlement fostered by racial segregation. Bearing a child when one is still herself a child. Being duped by another into prostitution. Failing at an attempt at marriage. On the other hand, conversing with such figures as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. Touring Europe as member of a musical cast. Living in Africa. Angelou's experiences, both negative and positive, were emotionally extreme, or at least significant, events, and they created interpretative filters that are quite different from those of essentially all of her readers. This difference is what makes her books captivating to read and worthy of her readers' consideration.
   
   I suggest that the epitome of Angelou's skill as a prose author of the first five books I have mentioned above comes in the closing chapter of ALL GOD'S CHILDREN. Her encounter with the Ewe tribal women in the marketplace in Ghana's village of Keta is expressed in nearly supernatural terms. In the actual event, she is merely mistaken for another person, but, to Angelou, the encounter firmly establishes Africa as her spiritual homeland, the origin of her own ancestors who, generations earlier, were sold into slavery in a strange land across the ocean. The skill with which she describes her feelings at this encounter is one to which any writer might aspire.
   
   I must admit to another aspect of Angelou's writing that I find almost annoying, however, and that is her repeated and continuous reference to the effects of slavery. If any evil exists in the universe, if sin seeks an embodiment, if a cause for all the misery in the contemporary world must be identified, Angelou finds it in slavery. Judging solely by the attitude revealed in these five books, one could conclude only that all Caucasians are blue-eyed devils, that they alone made possible the eternal and unforgivable sin of enslavement, that no redemption is possible and that racial integration is never achievable or even desirable. If there is such a concept as "original sin," it has nothing to do with a mythological Adam or Eve in a "garden of Eden" but rather with the insufferable conceit of Whites and the horror of slavery, most particularly slavery in the United States. To judge by the attitude that pervades these five books, one would think that Angelou was herself born into slavery, exploited economically and sexually by her White masters, and denigrated to the very edge of sanity. Not to excuse or to minimize in any way the physical and emotional pain of slavery, its immorality or absence of any ethical justification whatsoever, but "methinks the lady doth protest too much." She claims for herself an understanding of the debasement of slavery that her own history does not support. She assumes a mantle as spokesperson for long dead generations that she is not qualified to wear. To what extent historical slavery and racial prejudice may bear the blame for what were her own poor choices in life I am hardly qualified to say, yet I would caution the reader to bear in mind the fact that we are seeing events through the author's intellectual filters and that no one's filters are totally objective.
   
   Having said that, I hurriedly add that my critical observation should in no way deter anyone from reading Angelou's books. On the contrary, while I may feel that she is at times presumptuous in assuming spokesperson status on the topics of slavery and contemporary racial bigotry, her perceptions provide many revelations for her readers and are worth noting. On now to the next book of this series, A SONG FLUNG UP TO HEAVEN.



4. A rather nice lady gave me this book and asked me to read it. I did. When I returned it to her I asked her why she wanted me to read it. I had never heard of Maya Angelou and unfortunately I found the book very unimpressive. The writing was done well and the phrasing was nice but as far as having something to say, I thought that it was rather shallow. I thought the author of the book to be rather mediocre, somewhat insensitive, and very much enamored with herself. This wasn't the life of Mahatma Gandhi or Desmond Tutu. She seemed to me to be a typical woman on a personal journey to success and all the people around her were stepping stones along that path.
   Since that time I have picked up tapes of poetry by Maya and I enjoyed them - not so much for the content but for the presentation. Sorry. We all have our opinions.



5. I never received my order and the company just blamed it on slow mail. I waited over a month before getting my money back.

No comments about Stealing Buddha's Dinner.

1 comments about Selected Letters of Alessandra Strozzi, Bilingual edition (Biblioteca Italiana, 9).

1. This primary source is one of the most amazing I've ever seen. Of the 72 known letters written by Alessandra Strozzi, this book collects about half and translates them in a unique side-by-side version with Italian on the left page, and the English version on the right. The letters were collected by Cesare Guasti in 1877 from originals, but the book does not include most of the annotations Guasti made. There are footnotes and also a useful (if annoyingly incomplete) index, as well as a bibliography.
   
   The translations look excellent to me (though there are some places where clothing and dye names aren't quite what I'd imagine) and show a slice of life that really does trace Alessandra's life from middle-aged exile to elderly political matriarch. It shows how she gets her daughters married off and how she pesters her two sons to get married; it talks about how her third, youngest son dies and her grief afterward; she talks extensively about her religious sentiments and how to live a good, virtuous life. Little comments about the foods she liked and how she treated her slave(s) crop up here and there, and there are all kinds of snippets in her writings about the political system and especially the various ways the exile affected her family. Famous people like the Medici weave in and out of her letters; one highlight to me was how her daughter-in-law attended Lorenzo de Medici's wedding in 1469.
   
   The real disappointment in the book was that it's not at all complete. Of the 35 or so letters, many are abridged. Some things I wish were there got snipped, like one letter wherein she advises her older son not to buy a Circassian slave even though they're beautiful, but to get a Tartar instead because they're dependable and strong. That's totally missing from this book. I really hope that Gregory releases a complete translation of the letters--and I wouldn't mind seeing Guasti's original annotations and sidenotes along with it. There's some incredible stuff here that you just won't see (like the letters written after her death wherein she gave a lot of her old clothes to charity) unless you know where to find the originals online and can translate it yourself. Overall, though, I would recommend this book vastly and do suggest it for anybody seeking to understand the period.

5 comments about Annabel: An Unconventional Life.

1. I loved this book and believe it is not to be missed. She comes across as being a very warm being, and while most people who write their autobiographies portray themselves as being good and kind people, I prefer to give Lady Annabel the benefit of the doubt. I feel the fact that she and her first husband spontaneously decamped to Austria to help Hungarian refugees in 1956 to speak for her selflessness alone. The jaded and cynical might say this was an act of fleeting youthful idealism (Lady Annabel and first husband Mark Birley were only twenty at the time, this was fifty years ago, and her autiobiography refers to no other grand acts of altruism since), but again I prefer to give her the benefit of the doubt. After all, what does it matter when and why someone does something good as long as they do it? Lady Annabel does refer to holiday homes in Spain and vacation villa's in Italy as if this something everyone can afford to do, but I think that's the point of the book, and is what makes it so interesting.



2. I absolutely adored this book. I have read it twice. Although I have little in common with Annabel Goldsmith, I feel that I learned a lot from the way she has lived her life. A few thoughts, in no particular order: Despite having a title and hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank, she comes across as a truly down-to-earth, self-deprecating, and genuine person. She identifies with all types of people, and seems to be totally at peace with her position in life (not ridden with guilt) and yet you get the feeling that she has never tried to nickel and dime her staff or deny someone a tip, because she has enough class to have an understanding for working people. Also - her perspective on fidelity and relationships is fascinating. She is a woman who has always put her family and children first, yet she is far from a boring housewife. In fact, I would love to settle down with Annabel for a cozy chat some day.



3. Annabel: An Unconventional Life
   
   A unique life shared without shame or too much regret. An exceptional example of living life fully with care and understanding and with deep unconditional love. A true women warrior of it's times and indeed timeless.



4. Reading this, I admired Annabel's easy, natural way of writing her life story. She sounds like a great person to know, too - warm and friendly, with a great heart. By no means has Annabel had a charmed life -- although she has been extremely fortunate regarding her financial situation, her various homes, and in the general good health of her children.
   
   I was a little disturbed by her dependence on men, and the importance she (I think subconsciously) has given to the men in her life, throughout her life, particularly in her involvement and eventual marriage to Jimmy Goldsmith later on. (Putting up with his constant infidelity; the importance she gave to his whims and his desires; his insistence they have children before they married, etc.) The one time, it seems, she stood up to Jimmy and put her foot down was when he tried to insist that she move their family to America, because HE was tired of being brickbatted by the media in England. (Also, apparently, because his newest mistress lived in New York!)
   
   It doesn't appear, at least to me as a reader, that JG was worth the anxiety and heartache that he undoubtedly put Annabel through -- but, I didn't know the man, and, well, Annabel's of a different generation (of women who were trained to give men the upper hand). Also, love is undoubtedly blind and dumb sometimes. There were times, reading about some of Jimmy's demands, when I wanted to tell her, "oh, just tell him to go -- himself! you'll make out fine!"
   
   I was touched when Annabel wrote about the death of her oldest son, Rupert. A real feeling of loss came through and the letter of his that she includes gives you a sense of his charm and intelligence. (He's also the one child of Annabel's who really looked a great deal like her, at least, from the photo she includes.)
   
   I admit, I'm shamelessly addicted to behind-the-scenes stories of upper-crust British society, and Annabel's life story is almost that of a heroine in one of those big, splashy novels that used to be written a few years ago: the kind that take a reader through more than a few decades of love, sex, divorce, some bad decisions, and painful loss.



5. Lady Annabel Goldsmith truly captures the essence of her existence when she titles her memoir AN UNCONVENTIONAL LIFE. She is a daughter of the Londonderry family. This family ranks so high in the British nobility that, even during her marriages to two non-titled men, she retained her own title of "Lady."
   
   Of course, high-ranking British nobles who trace their families back for centuries live different lives than ordinary folks do and, certainly, Lady Annabel is no exception.
   
   She has endured a life with more than her share of personal tragedies: The horrible death of her mother when Lady A still was a schoolgirl, a child who was mauled by a wild animal, a child who died mysteriously.
   
   Through it all, she sounds as if she is an exceedingly nice person, sane and centered.
   
   Still, reading between the lines, there is no question but that by conventional standards, she definitely has led an unconventional life.
   
   There are events and people whom she, quite reasonably, takes for granted--events and people that mere mortals cannot even imagine seeing first-hand.
   
   The Coronation of the Queen was, of course, attended by most of her family. Yet since Lady A was so young then herself, she was included instead "only" for the rehearsal. Matter-of-factly, she mentions in passing wearing the Londonderry diamonds, almost as famous as the Crown Jewels, to some gala. And, decades later, the Queen's daughter-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales, regularly came to Lady Annabel's home for Sunday lunch. And so on....
   
   Lady Annabel openly co-habitated with one man and bore him two children while married to another. She writes herself, in an aside, that she and her first husband already were enmeshed in separate lives when the second arrangement began and that, when they finally divorced, it was amicable. In the book, her sole acknowledgment that this behavior might be considered, by some, to be immoral, is to write briefly about the reaction of one of her servants to her choice.
   
   Though Lady Annabel is open about herself, the single flaw of this memoir, but a huge flaw at that, is her failure to elaborate on the energy and excitement of London in the 1960s, which was her heyday. After all, the famous club "Annabel's," which defined the era of swinging London, was named in her honor by its creator, who was her husband at the time.
   
   Lady Annabel Goldsmith has been blessed with a gilded existence, starting with her birth into one of the more important families in the world, continuing through marriages to two successful men, including a second husband who became hugely successful financially.
   
   Due to the social prominence thrust upon her by her first husband's renowned club as well as by her own elevated birth, she has known and socialized with virtually everyone who has mattered in the English-speaking world for decade after decade.
   
   Through her good times and bad, she seems to have remained a nice person. Yet in THE GREAT GATSBY, Scott Fitzgerald wrote that "the rich are different than you and me." So, too, the British nobility.

5 comments about C'est La Vie: An American Woman Begins a New Life in Paris and--Voila!--Becomes Almost French.

1. As a twenty-something, this book was a little 'old' for me. It is essentially the story of a 50-something widow who escapes her sorrows and old life in the US to start again in the city she loves - Paris. I did enjoy her descriptions of the city and it's people, but after a while, all the name-dropping and elitist activities she claims to have done gets to you ("coffee at the Ritz with Les Girls", etc). She comes across as a snob (even as she tries to say that about others around her) and experiences Paris as a cashed up socialite, even claimed through out the book about how much on a budget she is (then writes about spending thousands of dollars on flea market furniture, food, limosines, fancy restaurants, flights back and forth between the US, etc and how she isn't on the 'Forbes500 list of Richest Women' anymore?!?)
   
   She also repeats herself a few times (i.e. name someone with an small description, then does it all over again a few chapters later) which breaks up the smooth flow of the book and in my mind I could only think "bad editing". A small gripe, but still one worthy of mention.
   
   All in all, it is a story about a woman coming to terms with the death of her husband and finding a new life for herself in Paris. The description on the back cover of the book understates her husbands death as she does spend a lot of time talking about her late husband (almost every chapter right until the end) and her obsession to establish herself in French society. Don't get me wrong - This is an entertaining book for over 40's, who have a similar lifestyle (i.e. money and social standing), otherwise to everyone else, it comes across as a tad boastful and shallow by the end. I'm sure she is a lovely lady (and you do tend to sympathise during her 'dark' moments, but by the end you become a bit resentful towards her constant talk of money).
   
   As for the 'recipe tips to the perfect clafoutis' - she spends more time Americanising her food and baking from instant mixes than actually baking...and she doesn't exactly write about the perfect baking tips - it's more like how she went wrong with a packet mix and how it luckily turned out fine at the end.
   
   For people who want a more realistic (in the sense of someone living in Paris without a wad of cash funded by her husband's life insurance money) narrative about Paris life, I would probably recommend 'Almost French' by Sarah Turnbull or even 'La Vie Parisienne' by Janelle McCulloch.



2. I found this book very difficult to read. It was poorly written and very disjointed. I felt that the author would introduce topics and then never come back to the topics, ie fax machine, finances, awful relationship with her concierge. The book never flowed properly, not a great travel book or memoir.



3. 
   I bought this book, I am ashamed to say. I am also reluctant to review it as I do not really want my name associated with it. However, just to keep someone else from the painful experience of reading the book, I will write a few words.
   
   I will never be dining with Suzy Gershman, shopping with her, or visiting her in Paris. We would not run in the same social circles. Both of us are (or would be) glad that our paths will never cross. No matter where we each live, we would never understand each other, nor would we share any common interests.
   
   This is the most shallow and self-satisfied non-fiction (?) book I have ever read.
   
   Save yourself the cost of even a used copy of this book. Instead, get a few copies of "People." then imagine spending the rest of your life hanging out in stores and buying things you hope to use to impress your "friends." You will not need to read the book.
   
   The relationships with people and things described in this book make shallow seem deep. I have not read anything like this before. I kept wishing that I could hit the author in the head and I am NOT a violent person. I plan to avoid anything that is even remotely similar to this book in the future and carefully shunning all the recommendations Amazon has for books I would theoretically like if I would have liked it.
   
   "Almost French," ha! This book should be titled "Almost Human." I only wish that Amazon would allow me to give it a NEGATIVE star rating.



4. I bought this book with the anticipation that it would be a woman's personal and emotional journey in the city I have always adored. Instead, the author has a rather cold demeanor throughout and this book reads far more like a how-to for moving to Paris than an actual experience. This is not SO bad, but collective shopping trips and apartment hunting antecedotes do NOT a memoir make!
   
   I also found the author's reflection on her loss to be very callous and detached. I understand that everyone copes in their own way but the book was described in a very different light than it actually read. Definitely not worth buying or reading unless you want to move to Paris and need a game plan. More like Travel, not Travel Writing.
   
   If you want a really fun and witty memoir about Paris pick up Sarah Turnbull's "Almost French."



5. I love reading books about Paris, whether it be fiction or non-fiction, so Suzy Gershman's book caught my eye. Unfortunately, the book did not live up to my expectations. Suzy really just does not come across as likeable. First of all, she seems quite self-centered. Her husband dies and just after, she picks up her life and basically moves to Paris (she claims that it was only for a year, even though she knows it's not even before she leaves the States). She seems to ignore the fact that her son may need her. Yes, she lost her husband but he also just lost his father and maybe he needs the comfort. There's a rant of pages 210 and 211 about it. "I felt guilty but also hurt...I was the one who had inherited the life insurance,the house and the problems that went with a falling market and the failure of my husband's business. I was the one who chose to put aside a hunk of money to pay for the rest of my son's education...I didn't know what the right thing to do or whose feelings I needed to cater to-his or mine". Well, obviously she chose hers because she made the move to France.
   
   There's really nothing in the book that shows the charm about living in Paris and day to day living in Paris. It's all about buying stuff in France. Suzy is the author of Born to Shop books and apparently she felt that endless writing about what sheets to buy for a French bed was interesting to readers who thought this book was a memoir about living in Paris. Also, there are countless plugs in the book for various things. She mentions drinking Coca-Cola a lot and I couldn't figure out why it was important for me to know. That is unless, she wants some free Coke for plugging their brand so much.
   Also it's obvious that Ms. Gershman is rich because she has a tailor in Hong Kong, jets back and forth to the US a number of times, goes to London just to get her hair done, buys designer clothes from Armani, and thinks nothing of buying expensive items for her apartment that she doesn't even need. Therefore, her "tips" for living in Paris are kind of useless to the average American.
   
   Ms. Gershman shows a disdain for America, even though she will forever be American and never will be completely French. All thoughout the book, she makes comparisons that living in the US is like living in a slum compared to Paris. Now, I don't doubt Paris is very sophiscated and lovely to live in, the US isn't that terrible to live in either. However, Suzy doesn't really make the effort to learn more French-other than watching French television and she still clings to her American food. How does one become "Almost French" like that?
   
   Overall, I was really disappointed with this book. The writing was not the best. It never flowed evenly like a book should. There was nothing about Paris that I was expecting to be there. Nothing about the hidden charms of Paris. Just some desperate American wannabe talking about buying sheets and furniture. I'm just glad that I bought it at a bargain price and didn't have to waste much money on it.