5 comments about Too Close to the Falls.

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



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



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



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



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

5 comments about When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge.

1. After reading this I somehow felt changed. Written so well that you feel her emotions immensely throughout the book. I didn't want to put it down.



2. When Boken Glass Floats tells the story of a young girl and her experiences and life as she lives in Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge. It is very emotional as she weaves the story of her family in the labor camps and then the periods spent in the refugee camps in Cambodia and Thailand. I recommend it as a five star book.



3. A great book. A very sad account of a young girl that reflect the experiences of million Cambodian refugees. Also showed what perseverance and setting goals can achieve. If Miss Him can survive and succeed, so should everyone.
   Highly recommend this book.



4. This was an entirely good read. One of the amazing things I kept realizing as I read is Chanrithy Him has condensed a number of harrowing years of into just ~300 pages, so the reader only hears about some of her experiences - there's probably much more that didn't make it to the pages of this memoir. Also, Him's story is only one out of myriad others . . . thousands of thousands of Cambodian people who could tell a story even more devastating than Him's.
   
   When Broken Glass Floats kept me interested from cover to cover, and I enjoyed Him's writing style. It's likely I can't say anything positive that hasn't already been said, so I'll pick out a couple of things I wonder if other readers noticed.
   
   For one, the black and white family photos included in the book did not resemble the images I had of disease-stricken, starving children Him described. For instance - granted he is wearing a shirt in the photos, none of the pictures show Map (Him's youngest sibling) with a protruding belly - although towards the end of the book Him tells her readers Map fails to lose this effect of starvation even after his diet improves. Similarly, the photo of Ra on her wedding day shows a young woman who looks healthy (nice complexion, full cheeks, hair in an up-do, clean floral shirt), so I couldn't help but feel confused because this is far from how Him described her physically weak, skinny sister who was barely recognize at times. I realize the photo was taken during better times, but do people so sick and hungry recover to that degree so quickly? Also, the memoir chronicles countless dizzying days, months, and years of walking, working, and barely surviving from severe dehydration, starvation, infection, diarrhea, disease, and depression; personal belongings (books, valuables, etc.) were stolen, taken by the Khmer Rouge, and lost along the way. Under those conditions, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of doubt as I read about the photos Him had "managed to keep safe during the Khmer Rouge time" (p. 330) and the "cream lace blouse from Phnom Penh, which she (Ra) managed to keep safe during the Khmer Rouge time" (p.286). Given the circumstances described, this just didn't seem plausible. But who knows . . . not a major problem for me, it just caught my attention - as did the typographical errors I found from time to time.
   
   Great book . . . would have enjoyed a bit more of a history lesson. If that's what you're seeking you might look elsewhere, because this is a tale focused on a very strong and intelligent young girl's survival.



5. When Broken Glass Floats is the author's journey to find the magic of a world lost as a result of the Khmer Rouge. This book, as a personal account of the Khmer Rouge regime, is also my personal journey as a reader and a Khmer person. Through this magical journey, my own forgotten memories are awakened and many traditional beliefs that I have pushed to the back of my mind resurface.
   
   I was too young to have memories of the Killing Fields, but I have heard enough stories to feel connected to it. There were gaps missing in my memory and this book filled those gaps. When Broken Glass Floats is poetic and touching, a book rooted in the author's desire to let the world know about the tragic death of her family. It begins when her memories are awakened as a result of her work as an interpreter and interviewer for the Khmer Adolescent Project, studying post-traumatic stress disorder among Cambodian survivors. This is a story of triumph, survival, and hope written from the Khmer soul of a Cambodian-American woman.
   
   When Broken Glass Floats is a book with two moving and powerful purposes: one, as a therapeutic tool for the author, and, two, as a reminder of an event that should never have occurred. The author describes her book as a way "to use the power of words to caution the world, and in the process to heal myself" (p. 23). The process of writing the book became a trek to the Himalayas, "a search to recapture the long-lost magic in [her] life" (p. 23). My travels have taken me to the Himalayas. I have been seeking magic for my own healing like the author of When Broken Glass Floats. The process of reading her book and other autobiographies has provided much healing. I recommend this book for everyone who is interested in this subject, but in particular to Cambodian-Americans, because this book can take you on a journey into yourself, your soul, memories, and past.

5 comments about Please Stop Laughing At Me...: One Woman's Inspirational Story.

1. What a silly disappointment of a book. The writing is akin to an overly long essay submitted for extra credit by a seventh-grade student. Almost everything I read in this book was worthy of a snort of contempt--or, at the very least, an eye roll.



2. "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."
   
   Whoever thought of that saying never had to deal with bullying the way Jodee Blanco did. If you thought you had it rough in school, you'll rethink your own struggles when Blanco shares her literal horror stories of intimidation and harassment in "Please Stop Laughing at Me", a memoir that begins with her struggles in grade school all the way to her senior year in high school.
   
   Jodee's battles with bullies begin at a Catholic grammar school dubbed Holy Ascension. She gets her first taste of stigmatization in fourth grade when she volunteers to help out with the deaf program, telling on two friends who mock the deaf children and braving the ensuing backlash. Then while at Morgan Hills, she blows the whistle on a birthday party involving games of an overtly sexual nature, a moral compromise that has her in the red with several of the attendees and labeled a tattletale. Under the ruse of forgiveness, Jodee is dragged out into a parking lot where her so-called friends call her a "wuss", kick and spit on her, throw her favorite suede shoes in a urine-filled toilet and douse her brand new white angora sweater with cans of Coke. These are mere nuggets of the tribulation Jodee sustains over the next several years.
   
   In the course of the abuse, Jodee transfers schools twice and is forced by her parents to see a shrink and go on medication for anxiety. She succumbs to depression, her decreased appetite leading to subsequent rapid weight loss and one alarming case of self-mutilation with a kitchen knife that results in a trip to the emergency room. On top of Jodee's struggles to fit in, she deals with a painful deformity of her breasts which doctors are unable to correct until her seventeenth birthday. Her rattled state takes it toll on her parents as well, a restiveness settling atop their house during the school year with only a brief respite from her misery during summer break.
   
   The torture you read about gets overwhelming fairly quickly and about the only thing that will keep you reading is seeing Jodee get the last laugh at her high school reunion 20 years later as a person of prominence, the biggest success story in the room.
   
   I know I am not the first to say it after having read this moving memoir that there were times when I felt as if Blanco were writing my own story. Specific passages brought back thoughts and feelings that still haunt me to this day, either because I choose not to exorcise those demons and hold on to my anger (because I don't know how else to feel) or because the psychological damage is irreversible and the after-effects are beyond my control. Like Jodee, my anger with the individuals who teased me boiled to the point where I had fantasies of hurting people and also like Jodee, my catharsis for this pain was my writing (I still use it to cope with many different situations). It is my own cheap therapy (since I doubt my insurance would cover a real therapist) but I wonder if my own upcoming high school reunion (10 years) will be just the salve I need to remedy all those festering wounds. I also believe I have anger management issues that stem from the bottled-up rage and resentment I still experience from the teasing and taunting I endured. I did not suffer anywhere near the level Jodee did, but I still feel the scars from time to time.
   
   I realize now that people know nothing about individuality during the consequential years of grade school and high school - we are all too busy surrendering to conformity. I am guilty of it myself, due to the fact that I associated with a disreputable crowd just to belong (though I never really did - those people gave me hell too), as well as poking fun at other people to take the focus of the teasing off of me. As Jodee states, "Making fun of people, even if you didn't want to, was the new price of social acceptance by the group. The rules were simple. It was either shun or be shunned." (pg. 38)
   
   My mother offered the same advice that Jodee's did: Ignore them and they'll stop bothering you. While this is true for most people, this did not detract Jodee's torturers. Her silent indifference to their mockery only fueled their fire. To retort only gave them the reaction they wanted all along, another excuse to inflict physical damage as well as emotional. Because bullies (active and erstwhile alike) refuse to stop and think about the aftermath, they create monsters in the form of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. Who knows whether psychiatric intervention could've saved those boys (as well as the people they killed), but it does give one pause to make people think about the possible end result of what they deem to be innocent and "normal" derision for people their age. When does one grow up and realize the consequences of their actions? It's only when the damage has been done do we bother to take responsibility for the lives that we have affected with our own selfish behavior.
   
   Bottom Line: Simply put, "Please Stop Laughing At Me" is an eye-opening, inspiring (albeit depressing) memoir of Blanco's inner strength and her ability to heal and forgive despite all the physical and emotional wounds inflicted upon her (I imagine the process of writing this was purgative for her as well). I look forward to reading the sequel to this memoir ("Please Stop Laughing At Us...One Survivor's Extraordinary Quest to Prevent School Bullying) as I am an advocate for relieving the toll that bullying takes both on a minute and a grand scale. If we do not take a serious and active position on this issue, then sadly, school shootings will be in the headlines for many years to come.



3. I found the author's accounts of bullying to be interesting and dramatic enough to keep me reading but I struggled with the believability of her experiences. Being held down and punched and kicked, suffocated and thrown into traffic exceeds bullying and ventures into the realm of assault. Perhaps in her time the bullying experiences were more severe. Kids don't get away with doing things like that twice in this day and age. I also think she may be exercising a slight bias toward herself being the complete victim without any provoking or invitation on her part. It's interesting how at each new school she started in she HAD a circle of friends almost immediately and those friends were part of the popular crowd. She also had multiple instances of boys taking interest in her. This tells me that it wasn't her looks or style that caused these friends to turn on her. She did come off as having a holier-than-thou attitude and even now in the writing style you can tell she is a bit of a braggart who demands attention. Kids in junior high and high school can pick up on this pretty easily. It's fine to have good morals but some of the occurances in the book made me roll my eyes a bit. If she would have with-held a couple of things from her mother (who in turn always went right to the teachers and other parents) she may have survived a little longer at these schools. The boy/girl party scene comes to mind first. All in all, I found it interesting but not really helpful or believable.



4. This is an autobiography of Jodee's struggles all through school. She tries to stand up for what is right and gets shunned and ostracized. She keeps wanting to "fit in" but doesn't know how without being untrue to herself. Near the end she finally gets some real friends. She takes a lot of abuse from kids who once were her friends, but deals as best she can looking forward to her future at college. It was sad to hear how cruel the kids were to her, but I thought her parents should have helped her by paying for some self-defense lessons instead of taking her to a psychiatrist. They knew she was getting beat up by kids at school and just made things worse. I think teens would especially like this book.



5. If you were picked on in high school and grade school like I was, this book brings back all the painful memories that you NEVER EVER forget! I'm so sorry you had to go through all this, Jodee. I was right there with you! So glad you wrote your book. I wish I had. God bless you, Jodee. Hope you enjoy great success in your life. Can't wait to read the sequel. Jodee is right. Teachers do nothing. Parents do nothing. You are on your own! I finished this book in just two days.

5 comments about Daughter of the Saints: Growing Up In Polygamy.

1. This was a book I could not put down. I really enjoyed learning about growing up in a polygamist family - from a "middle child" point of view. I learned so much about how lonely the wives were and how they struggled to raise their children.



2. This book represents a beautiful literary memoir of growing up in polygamy. The story is told beautifully unlike other books on this topic. Her voice is strong and contains beautiful imagery that often contrasts the gorgeous southwestern scenery, with the poverty and difficulty living conditions associated with living polygamy.



3. I didn't like this book very well. It gave too much history and not enough current events. I have read the history of polygamy over & over & over and would like to read current events. There wasn't too much to read about current events in this book. If you want the history, this book's for you. She's a good writer but I've had their history crammed down by throat enough. I get it!



4. This is a good read on a subject that is very controversial at the moment. It gives great insight into the daily lives of polygamists and sheds light on their beliefs. The author talks about her childhood and her relationship with her numerous siblings and mothers. Her father is a huge influence on her life and it is clear he was an influential member of their religious group. This book is definitely worth reading.



5. This is the same book as "Predators, Prey, and Other Kinfolk: Growing up in Polgamy" by the same author. I didn't know that and bought both of them.
   
   Ms. Solomon is telling her story here and I do recommend you read it. I found the book boring and tedious in places and found myself wanting to skip ahead to get to the "meat" of the story. However, I read every page. It's good though to read her experience in polygamy.
   
   I found myself asking questions about the underpinnings of Mormonism and it's relation to polygamy, (and in a general way the notion of religious beliefs around the world.) Reading through the writings of Joseph Smith, Mormonism's founder, I got a definite idea of what he thought about polygamy. About 50 or so years later the Mormon church, under state and federal pressure, made certain declarations regarding polygamy. In light of the several (now) books on polygamy by ex-members of various splinter groups, and with events regarding the FLDS in Texas, it does make one wonder who is following the true, revealed, laws of Mormonism. If you find this an interesting question, you may wish to read some of those original writings on your own and come to your own conclusion.

5 comments about Where Rivers Change Direction.

1. These are two feelings I got from reading this memoir. Life in NW Wyoming is not easy. Days are spent with horses and one's life is taken by horses. In fact, if you love horses this is a great book.
   
   One thing that kept creeping into this book is the distance the author had toward his parents, especially his father. Little but dialogue is written about the father, but he comes across as callous and more worried of turning the boy into a real man. The boy, in turn, writes about his concerns about the man he will become. At times that dragged on too much.
   
   Still, it's wonderful prose written in a manly tone. For rugged cowboys and ranchers it's a perfect read.



2. What an unrelentingly gripping series of stories -- life, death, animals, boys, girls, men, women, horses, snakes, water, wind, earth, blood, fire and sky. Mark Spragg's style is a bit like David Hockney doing his photograph collages. He doesn't show you everything, just bits and pieces to make the whole. He lets you put some of the pieces in place. What a style. It's shot through with his own strong character and some compelling scenes of raw Wyoming life. The stories follow an amazing arc that you don't see coming until the last chapter and then you just kind of want to start all over again, and meet the boy that became the man. Beautiful stuff. Look, I'm not really out here trying to sell my book at every corner but the people who told me about Mark Spragg are readers of my book, "Antler Dust." I had three recommendations from "Antler Dust" readers to check out Mark Spragg, mostly because, I believe, of the detailed outdoors action and the fact that my book takes place in a neighboring state, Colorado. I am going to read more Mark Spragg but for others who like him, please also consider Antler Dust.



3. I'd worry about peope who don't hurt themselves laughing while reading Wapiti School. My goodness, these stories are terrific, sometimes tough and bitter, sometimes perfect poetry. Just wonderful.



4. Mark Spragg writes beautifully, even poetically, of teenage life in a Wyoming family struggling to make ends meet by catering to "dudes" come West for the seasonal fishing and hunting. His collection of stories is varied, but all are tied to the splendor of unshod love for the land and for the horses he rides through a journey that will steal your heart.



5. The author writes excellent prose with innumerable well turned phrases and descriptions. The subject matter is primarily his adolescence on a Wyoming dude ranch and hunting guide service that his family, Pennsylvania expatriates, operated in the 1960s, some vignettes from his adult life and descriptions of friends and conditions in windswept Wyoming. The chapters are actually a series of essays rather than a progressive narrative with the ones about life and work on and around his father's ranch, where he essentially lived as a hired hand in the bunkhouse with hardened wranglers from about the age of fourteen, being the most interesting.
   
   I enjoyed the book principally due to the excellent writing and colorful recounting of the author's experiences as a real "cowboy" in an era when most of us male baby boomers only experienced the same thing through ubiquitous western TV shows and movies of the 50s and 60s. It was a life in another era when so many of us grew up in boring suburbia. I recommend it for these reasons.
   
   But maybe I missed something because I never came across any explanation for the author's seeming sense of hurt, isolation, melancholy and general unhappiness that begins, for unstated reasons, during his college years.

5 comments about Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime SarajevoRevised Edition.

1. Zlata's diary is a an autobiographical representation of a young teenage girl, called Zlata Filipovi, and the daily living conditions that she experienced preceding and during military conflict in Eastern Europe - Sarajevo. In the course of her writing, Zlata described the conversion of her community from a moderate and relatively normal environment into an environment of chaos and devastation. Throughout her diary, Zlata navigated from one experience to another and along the way friends, family, foreign aid workers, and the local news helped to provide the backdrop for what life meant for those directly affected by the military conflict in Eastern Europe. Zlata's diary provided for an autobiographical translation of understanding what affects a person's life when the surrounding environment suddenly becomes unstable from conflict and the ruin of a social fabric.
   
   Written in the perspective of a child, Zlata's diary provided for a human understanding of the tangible differences that occur when important social structures of a community become broken. Here, the negative consequences that resulted from such collapse provided for the graphic portrait of the fragility of an otherwise stable economy and the real affect on individual behavior. Taken in context, Sarajevo does not stand alone as an island apart from the economic reality of a surrounding environment within Eastern Europe. Instead, as witnessed with the experience of Zlata Filipovi, the economic reality of Sarajevo and the occurrences that transpired during its crisis, one is provided with an example for the future examination of potentially destabilizing events and a better comprehension of how such events influence the opportunities for real persons who are directly affected. Lastly, personal reflections on the above mentioned issues are necessary to develop a personal connection with the meaning of economic development, prudent implementation, and the use of intervention for future events that take place around the world.
   
   Preceding the siege of Sarajevo in the spring of 1992, Sarajevo was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and a previous host to the Winter Olympic Games in 1984. Yet, with the collapse of the `iron curtain' in Western Europe, an increase in democratic influence gave rise to increasing political instability within a non-democratic Eastern European region. As the most identifiable symbols of communism began to crumble with the Berlin wall in 1989 and the Soviet Union 1991, Eastern European countries struggled to manage a cohesive national identity and political framework. Thereafter, social pressures erupted into military conflict carrying significant consequences for the diverse ethnic populations of the region all of whom wanted greater control. Ultimately, repercussions from the conflict redrew the political boundaries dissolving the Republic of Yugoslavia into several separate nations beginning in the late 1990's until 2006. (Wikipedia)
   
   A striking example of the direct affect instability has on a person's life was identified in Zlata's diary by a young teenage girl who recorded her daily experience(s) preceding and during a drawn out military conflict in Eastern Europe-Sarajevo. Before conflict arose, Zlata described herself as a normal teenage girl from a "comfortably well-off" family who regularly attended school to receive a liberal arts education. By any reasonable measure, Zlata compared to a majority of American teenage girls in her cultural and social experiences. Like many children her age Zlata reminisced upon past experiential enjoyments and eagerly awaited her upcoming challenges; writing, "Behind me - a long, hot summer and the happy days of summer holidays...[and]...ahead of me - new school year", (1). Moreover, Zlata's candid writing about her affinity towards the family vacation home in the countryside and the relationships that she had with friends and family invite the reader of her diary to share in her experiences in the first-person. By reflecting on the experiences first hand, Zlata's diary passages also served to provoke a consideration of the effect of instability on a personal level as well.
   
   Even with such similarities of a common childhood experience, the most stark determination from the effect of war on Zlata was that the military conflict not only invaded her community but had also invaded her life; later, Zlata characterized herself as having a "wartime childhood" and writing that "war is now my life" (64). The military conflict in Sarajevo began in 1992, the effects of which occupied every page in Zlata's diary. From a peaceful, organized, and hope filled beginning, through the proactive response of her family to rearrange life and survive, to a drawn out existence in desperate disarray. First, as Zlata was introduced to military conflict in a neighboring area - Dubrovnik - her innocence is exhibited with a sense of juvenile remoteness. As Zlata's father is activated for intermittent, non-combat reserve duty, the preliminary fractures in social services were evident by long lines and hours spent waiting for gasoline (10). As pressure spread across the region, Zlata disclosed more self-awareness of her surrounding environment and focused on reporting life's daily proceedings that were removed from the evolving political events and daily crisis.
   
   As conflict neared and began to engulf her community, Zlata reported more on the closing of school(s) and the loss in her life that was caused by the chaos in her community, rather than focus on the path her life would lead. From an initial erection of barricades in her town of Sarajevo, to the witnessed patrol(s) of armed civilians, Zlata's perceived innocence and universal childhood experiences are quickly transformed into a foreign abstraction. In place, scenes of mass migration and refugees escaping from sniper fire and artillery shells paint a different portrayal masking previous impressions of a community that once harbored a teenage girl who, like a majority of American children enjoyed extracurricular activities and summer engagements-Zlata Filipovi studied fashion, played piano, attended school, and could vacation with her family in the countryside. In consequence to the effects of war the society, Zlata focused more on the loss of electricity, the lack of phones, a loss of water, and the experienced familial struggle(s). In this manner, Zlata's diary demonstrated the all too real impact of attacks on the economic and social constitution that served as an underpinning to her psychological wellbeing and human development.
   
   Tragically, the transformation of one's perception of Zlata is not just a turn, by the reader, from one abstraction to another, but rather, a recognition that the familiarity of life as Zlata had known was destroyed by the conflict of her community. Zlata's frame of reference for so much in her life was absolutely demolished from conflict; with a post office "devoured by flames" ...and... "shop windows, cars, apartments, the fronts and roofs of buildings" all destroyed from the fighting (40,41). The most explicit evidence of Zlata's tragic experience was her only salvation to take shelter in a cellar. Still, here, with each emergence, a landmark or previous reference of experience would cease to exist and a demolition of previous childhood memories were reported. Regardless of one's own outlook, the evidence is overwhelmingly clear that the military conflict not only invaded her community but had also invaded her life.
   
   With the human account of Zlata Filipovi, the understanding that social structures contribute a significant influence towards an individual's life can become better defined through the experiences reported in Zlata's daily passages. Accordingly, an impression can be determined to the extent that social structures provide for the underpinning of economic development and that these social structures are fundamental for human progress. This conclusion was most evident in the review of a deterioration of an already existent social system within Zlata's community. With basic infrastructure in roads, buildings, and schools, Eastern Euriope's erosion in social cohesion resulted in a downward spiral in the quality of life which came to the doorsteps of Zalata Filipovi in Sarajevo. Accordingly, an economic perspective can identify itself with traditional social development and the pre-conditions for take-off, as described in a classical model of economic development presented by Walt W. Rostow, (Todaro, 104). While it may not necessarily be the case that all countries must follow a linear path of development - as described by Rostow, Zlata's diary provided evidence that certain social structures certainly seem necessary for the `take-off' and sustainability of economic development.
   
   Herewith, the most surprising element in Zlata's diary was the fragile nature of the social structures that underpin a national economy. The alternative perspective of a teenage girl who resided in a moderately developed country - as opposed to a well-developed economy or developing economy - gave the impression that social structures are dependent on the security, safety, and ability for social interaction. Notwithstanding the immediate flight of persons out of her community resulting in an inadequacy of resources, Zlata reported that those who stayed behind had come to band together and function as a community, saying, "the neighborhood is our life now, everything happens within that circle..." (71).
   
   Despite a report of a black-market that functioned to substitute the city's bombed central market, such a report can hardly suffice as evidence that a free-market response is working towards providing a long-term solution, and if left to its own devices, will provide for the appropriate allocation of scarce resources. On the contrary, reports that a black-market operated is evidence of a market not able to respond to, and trade with customers, that, as reported, lacked and sought basic life sustaining needs, including water, electricity, gasoline, wood, phone, etc. In such conditions with an availability of labor the inability to allocate, produce, and deliver goods and services prove the failure of the market. Instead, the fundamental confidence from psychological factors that compose the social structures of a community, enable one to seek opportunities for growth, or trade, outside their own community, and, therein, must serve to underpin the progress of economic development and normal-proper function of a free market. Moreover, if social structures do in fact provide the impetus for long-term sustainable economic development, then, the uses of traditional measurements of economic productivity, such as GDP, fail to account for such elements. Instead focus should, also, be directed towards the establishment and measurement of durable and dynamic social structures in a community.
   
   In the case of Eastern Europe and Zlata, a response to address the erosion in social capital could be addressed by a promotion of religious and cultural tolerance, greater governmental transparency, more equitable representation of diverse ethnic populations, and the promotion of basic human-civil rights (see UN declaration) for all persons without discrimination to gender, race, education, health, or age. Here recent experiments in economic development have provided for a micro-response to support women's rights to attend schools, participate in sports, contribute towards the productivity of the labor force. For example, micro-finance lending/access to credit has empowered women and small businesses to actively initiate the empowerment of women to realize and create opportunity. Hence, the establishment of durable and dynamic social structures will not only require an improvement in the quality of life and standards of living of a community, but also require improvements in the volunteer nature of social contracts, including: adherence to legal obligations, respect for social norms, and a willingness to serve the needs of others for the betterment of the larger community, meanwhile, supporting individual pursuits.
   
   From the personal reflection of one child's life in war torn Sarajevo, the importance of social structures to a community are without question. The essential confidence in social structures, as examined with Zlata's diary, provided for one to experience a firsthand account of the effects of erosion in social structures that underpin an already functioning economic system. Given the personal narrative and familiar childhood experiences that one shared with the diary of Zlata Filipovi, the fragility of an economic system that constituted a community was all too real for the personal reflection of the diary's reported events and an understanding of the tangible differences that occurred from the collapse of social structures. Still, only through Zlata's experience can one be provided with an example for the future examination of destabilizing events and better comprehend how such events influence the life for real persons who are directly affected.



2. Thank you for your quick shipment. Book is in great shape, as you stated.



3. Zlata probably never imagined that her diary would be read by millions or that it would be published. Much like Anne Frank, I don't think Zlata ever intended the diary to be made worldwide. Unlike Anne, Zlata survived but not without internal scars and loss of friends and relatives and neighbors. In the beginning, Zlata writes about mundane, ordinary things about being 11 years old. Please keep that in mind when reading her diary is that she was only 11 years old at the time of writing in the beginning. She begins writing about her life as a child in Sarajevo before the war broke out. She writes about her father going to serve the national army reserves. She writes about her life before the war and how the war changed her life and others forever. One day, she writes about people leaving Sarajevo and heading into safe territory. She writes about the daily bombings, senseless deaths, and life under war. She is a child of course and she tries to cope with difficult circumstances like not having electricity for the first time in her life for long periods of time or the constant state of fear that she lives in for herself and for her loved ones. Zlata's diary is now widely read by students about her age. Her main objective was never to get published but to keep and maintain a diary that was quite personal at times. Children of war probably suffer a lot more than they should. Zlata grows up fast and not be choice. She struggles to survive for herself and for her family without losing sanity.



4. Filipovic, Z. and Pribichevich-Zoric, C. (1995). Zlata's Diary. New York: Penguin Group
   Zlata's Diary is about a young eleven year old girl who wrote in her diary during the Yugoslavian Civil War. The beginning of the book discusses each day and her exciting things that she did with friends as well as her family memebrs; however, as the dumb war began to affect more and more individuals she began to take note of the food and water shortage. She also began to notice the loss of family and friends. Was the world coming to an end? Would she be okay? Would she survive?
   This book can be known as the modern day The Diary of Anne Frank due to it's similarities as both girls discuss the harsh conditions and losses they encountered due to ignorant individuals. The book truly hit home for me since I lost family in this war and to read Zlata's story and compare to the ones my family memebers were telling is mind blowing. Zlata's words truly embrace the horrific results of this war.
   
   Completed by Z on 5/12/08



5. Sheesh...this is the product of a child, not the work of a Pulitzer prize winning journalist. It is an excellent diary, an excellent primary source and an excellent text for a better understanding of the Yugoslav wars. Yes...it does only tell one point of view - hers - it is her diary! Some readers are offended because of the comparison to Anne Frank; a comparison that Filipovic and others make in the book. The comparison is totally fair. Both are intelligent children caught up in situations they have no control over during wars of ethnic cleansing and extermination. It is a testament to Zlata that she can make the connection to Anne Frank...obviously the rest of the world couldn't. They (We) abandoned the Jews sixty years ago and abandoned hundreds of thousands of Croats/Bosniaks/Serbs to genocide forty years later. Zlata remembered Anne Frank's words...the world didn't.

5 comments about German Boy: A Child in War.

1. This is an eloquently told, often nearly heartbreaking story of what a young German boy endured as a refugee in the closing days and the years following WWII. Wolfgang Samuel tells his story with grace and heart. He dedicates the book to his mother, a major character in his story who, to keep her family alive, sacrificed nearly everything, even to the point of prostituting herself so her children could eat. As Samuel put it -
   
   "People were hungry and would do whatever was necessary to put food on the table for their children ... We were the people who had nothing and lived from hand to mouth. We were the human debris of that evil war. We had no reserves of food, clothing or anything else that sustained life. We were desperate people, easy to exploit."
   
   In a passage startlingly reminiscent of Gone with the Wind, the classic novel of the US Civil War and its aftermath, Samuel tells of how for many years immediately after the war, his mother had no new clothes. "The nicest looking dress she had owned ... she had made herself from curtains which hung in our barracks apartment ..."
   
   And this is not just a book about being refugees and the awful conditions after the war; it's also a universal coming-of-age story, about a boy grappling with the physical changes of puberty and having no one to talk with about what's happening to him. It's about a boy left to take care of himself at the tender age of 14. It's also an homage to his grandparents, who helped sustain him through these worst of times. In other words, there's an awful lot of stuff in here that so many people will relate to, regardless of their own backgrounds.
   
   I know I'm several years late in discovering this book, but I plan to recommend it highly to everyone, particularly history buffs and humanists interested what the human spirit can endure and still rebound. Because after his eventual emigration to the U.S. in 1950 at age 15 (where German Boy ends), Samuel went on to complete college and made a distinguished career for himself in the US Air Force for 30 years. The next book to go into my Amazon cart will be the sequel to this memoir, called Coming to Colorado. This guy can write! And I want to know the rest of his story. But start here, folks. READ THIS BOOK! - Tim Bazzett, author of Soldier Boy



2. I have always been interested in WWII history and this book is excellent as it deals with the consequences of war. Wolfgang was blessed with an incredible memory and this book tells the story of the time from 1945 to 1950 in Germany and how things were. I will not recap the story since others have done it so well, but this is in the top 10 of the hundreds of books I have read.



3. This is a great book. I gave the book to a few German friends who lived in Germany during the war. They could identify with the author's experiences.
   
   The author became a U.S citizen and fought in Vietnam. I would have liked to read about the author's experience in this country, and his experience, as a pilot in our Air Force.
   
   A well written book and interesting too.



4. Wonderful and descriptive first hand account of living through WWII in Germany and the life there afterwards.



5. The author, who was 10 years old and living in eastern Germany when WWII came to an end, has an amazing memory for telling details and an irresistibly engaging personality. His memoir of that dreadful time is framed as a tribute to his mother, who certainly deserves it, and an unforgettable lesson in history as it is really lived. Once you start reading this book, you will be unable to put it down and you will never forget it.

5 comments about Colors of the Mountain.

1. This book really taught me about what cultural impacts Mao Ze Dong had on the Chinese population. It was an amazing book and I suggest everybody read it.



2. This review refers to the abridged audio version of this book --
   
   UGH. I am fascinated with books about China and life under Mao. However, I couldn't get through the first tape of this book, for two reasons.
   
   One was the reader, Daxing Zhang. His stilted, halting and monotone delivery made it unpleasant to listen to. He evidently is not a professional narrator and it shows. Even a great book can be ruined by a poor reader.
   
   And, believe me, this doesn't even come close to being a great book.
   The storytelling is dull and self-pitying and the language is, in turns, overblown and cliched.
   
   My biggest problem, however, was the author's attitude. Don't get me wrong: I abhor what Mao and his "cultural revolution" did in China. But it's more than a bit ironic when someone from the upper classes (the author's family were landlords and owned several buildings) complains when their property, power and status is taken away.
   
   The author's stated contempt for farm work, for instance, shows the type of elitist attitude that spurred the revolution in the first place.
   
   Never once (at least in the part of the book I managed to listen to) did Da Chen appear to have any empathy for the working classes that were oppressed under the pre-revolution days.
   
   Again, I must emphasize that I do NOT agree with the goals of or methods used by Mao's Communist regime, but nor can I generate a great deal of sympathy for once-rich whiners who feel, for the first time in their lives, the sting of poverty and disenfranchisement.



3. I read a lot of memoirs precisely for what I received from this book, inspiration. The sentence that galvanized me was this one, "I had been studying an average of fifteen hours a day for the last ten months."
   
   Other reviewers have explained Chen's story, so I won't reiterate it. But I will say that when I think about what this man accomplished in pursuit of his dream, I realize once again how easy it is to excuse our failures as a matter of fate or luck.
   
   Da Chen teaches us otherwise.



4. One wonders why the communist system was swept into the dustbin of history. Da Chen tells you why. Intellectuals were purged in Mao's society and people learned very little. In fact, school was not even required of everyone. Only after Mao joined Lenin in a masoleum did intelligence and ability matter much.
   Da Chen relates his early life story about his early Chinese childhood in the rural south of China. He was discriminated against because he was a son of a former landlord. Peasants lorded it over him and his family. Da Chen relates his experiences of the Cultural Revolution and how the school system was devastated by the purges and reeducation.
   Da Chen escaped this poverty by using his intelligence to shine in the reform education system after Mao's death. He received a state education in English and went on to emigrate to New York. A nice rages to riches story and the tyranny of the Communist system.



5. Chen Da's bestselling COLORS OF THE MOUNTAIN is one of the more entertaining memoirs I've run across in recent years.
   
   In this volume, Chen recounts his life, growing up amid the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, through his acceptance into college. In the writing of autobiography, certain liberties are par for the course (memory is never impeccable), but I was overall rather impressed with Chen's determination, and his detailed, direct way of attempting to illuminate the day-to-day texture of life in an out-of-the-way part of China.
   
   Chen's approach is gentle - both accessible to Western audiences, and attentive in its' detailed depiction of his family's life, accomplishments, and the troubles those accomplishments brought (during the Cultural Revolution years); the occasionally mentioned poems of his grandfather were one of Chen's major motivators, and their eloquence was the model this entire memoir was constructed upon.
   
   Perhaps not the most literary, or the most historically rigid autobiography, but definitely one of the warmest.
   
   -David Alston

5 comments about The Stardust Lounge: Stories from a Boy's Adolescence.

1. This book was difficult to put down. I enjoyed the story. For that reason I gave it 5 stars.
   Ms. Digges is a good writer and a good mother but I disagreed with many points made in this book. For one thing, should it really have taken all those therapists to figure out that this kid, whose only steady older male figure in life, went crazy after that male figure, his older brother, left for college? The kid obviously had abandonment issues. Why? Because his mother kept marrying unavailable men in jobs and/or lives that kept them away a lot. She seemed to like it because it allowed her to freely (a bit too freely) raise her boys. I raise this issue because the most helpful therapist said the past is irrelevant. Frankly, I think it was quite relevant. Ms. Digges, a rebel herself, a true child of the 60's, married a military guy. Why, because she wanted to escape her oppressive parents. Then, surprise, she has babies with that husband yet does not agree with him on parenting issues. They divorce and the boys, particularly the youngest child, are left holding the baggage she created for them. She then picks another unavailable guy and he ultimately leaves. All of this is relevant since, despite the fact that she raised two boys who ultimately made it, both appear to be nomads. Let's hope they learned through their own examination of the past to be prepared to be available and part of a team when they have kids, if they choose to have them.
   The big solution for this kid is to teach him the value of fairness. Great, but honestly, that discussion at a younger age might have prevented a lot. For instance, could she not have introduced this concept when the whole family was busy destroying rented houses? Honestly, I pity their many landlords.
   On the subject of fairness, she talks a lot about how society doesn't "get" her kid. I believe the traditional school path is not the best one for every kid, particularly this kid. With that said, she was a writer and professor with plenty of time on her hands to homeschool him. Was it fair to dump him on a school system in his condition?
   She also seems to talk about how "poor" they were at times. Seriously, legitimately poor people do not eat take out as much as was referenced in this book. Poor people do not have her education. Poor people do not send their kids to (multiple) private schools. I realize citing limited funds paints a more pitiful story but self-imposed neediness is not pitiful.
   She talks about people's views toward her as a single parent. Specifically, she says that people seem to revere single dads but dump on single moms. She's right. With that said, the dad in the story was interested and wanted to help. She admitted that she wanted to be the single mom with her boys. She did not want to be apart from them. Then, as unfair as people may be, when you choose the path, suck it up.
   My view of this mom is that she did step up...later than I would have liked...but kudos to her for sticking by her son, especially when it seemed like it was the end of the road. She also gets kudos for taking in a foster son, who, by the way, gave her own troubled son the opportunity to be the big brother/dad he missed so much.
   This is a good book. I think parents and people who work with children should read it. I don't believe it should be used as a guidebook by any means but there are important lessons in it, not the least of which, happy endings are possible.
   As a mother of young children I want to believe prevention was critical here. As a mother who has encountered those times when I am shocked to learn that my kids have already decided my authority is limited, I pray I am right and that I can find the tools to prevent complete mutiny and worse. I am wise enough to never say never but I am well-planted enough in reality to say that troubled adolescent boys don't show up in your house without a history that explains at least some of it.



2. i'm a psychiatrist and a mother of an adolescent boy and can tell you that this book is one of the most beautifully honest books i've ever read on ANY subject. i'm going to recommend it to all my patients who are parents. it's a wonderfully inspiring story that helps one move beyond fear into a state of grace. i just loved it.



3. This book offers so much wisdom from a mother who learned the hard way how to raise an artistic son through a difficult adolescence. It's a very personal story that the author was brave enough to share. I suffered with her as I read her struggles, but in the end cheered both her and her son for their courage and intelligence. I loved that she included essays her son wrote for school and his photography as well. This is an important book for parents to read. Animal lovers may appreciate the book also because animals are central to the healing of this family. I wish all the best to the author, her son, and her foster son.



4. I first heard about this book on the Dianne Reemes show. Lots of controversy-- so I HAD to buy it. I'm glad I did. This book is so intelligently written. I loved the lists, letters, even the police reports Digges uses to further the narrative. The story itself is stunning.The ending is a knock-out! I just had to say how beautifully crafted this book is, as well as moving, and memorable.



5. I want to say that I began this book just after supper one night and couldn't stop until I finished it about 3 in the morning. I KNEW I had to get up for work, I KNEW that in a few hours I would be dead on my feet cooking my kids' breakfast. But I just couldn't stop, and though I was, for sure, exhausted the next day, I was also haunted by Digges' break-through story. I have talked about it with other parents, co-workers, and friends. They say, Can I borrow it?" I answer no. Go buy it yourself. I'm keeping mine.

5 comments about Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India (Vintage).

1. Mixing together family, food, history and culture, Madhur Jaffrey gives us a fascinating glimpse of upper class life in India. Her delicious descriptions of the daily life of the privileged contrast with what many hear of the poverty and troubles of that country. There are amusing tidbits such as "the art of getting thirty people into two cars" and the mischievous "Holi" day celebrations, and an indepth look at the intricacies of life in a large extended family, plus a sprinkling of family photos. Although she delves into the darker shadows of family troubles and the consequences of WWII and political changes, Ms. Jaffrey keeps those experiences on the light side, leaving me with more questions than answers.
   
   As with many memoirs, there is some disjointedness, but through it all there is the food - delightful, delicious, descriptions to make one drool. The average reader will undoubtedly find the recipes included at the end of the book to be daunting, but a trip to an Indian restaurant should be a most satisfying ending to this book. I enjoyed this book which offers literally a taste of India. My only question - since Madhur failed cookery in school, how did she learn to cook so well?!



2. Madhur Jaffrey is a personal favorite - I loved her reading of Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance (Oprah's Book Club) & it's a delight to see her pop up unexpectedly in movies like Prime (Widescreen Edition) in small but juicy roles. So, it was a pleasure to read about the author's childhood in this enjoyable remembrance of an India past.
   
   Ms. Jaffrey's family was obviously prosperous and privileged, as attested to by the grand house ("Number 7") that was the center of her early life. You quickly take that standard of life as a given. We get a look at the 'joint family' style of living - all the incomes pooled & the family living under the extended roof and paternal care of her respected and successful grandfather ('Babaji').
   
   You'll want to rush out and order Indian food every night. Each remembrance is embraced with recollections of specific foods and the preparation that goes into making those dishes for a large family. There's a full 50 pages of family recipes that follow the Epilogue.



3. Madhur Jaffrey is one of the foremost authors of indian cookbooks. This book is a memoir of her childhood in northern India during the 40s and 50s. It is packed with all the joys and flavors of an extended family with liberal food descriptions and delightful flavors of multi ethnic indian cuisine. She obviously had a very rich, privileged up bringing which is perhaps not what every indian born child is privy to, but her writing is compassionate, mindful of the privileges she had in comparison to the rest of the country - and allows the reader to really travel visually and enjoy a taste of the same. One cannot help wishing though that she had dealt with, at some length, on some real struggles with a dysfunctional uncle (Shibbu dada), the changes in the family during the post independance era (all families went through a lot of struggle then, particularly privileged ones) or for that matter anything that lets the reader know that the journey was not always a happy or easy one. Read it anyway, and particulary if you are from India, it is truly a delightful nostalgic journey into the joys and flavors and family love that is so typical of extended family life in our homeland and sadly getting to be a rarity for even those who live there.



4. This book brought back wonderful memories of a lovely 6 years spent in India. Her portrait of the lives of the wealthy and privledged of that era were hauntingly familiar. An excellent read.



5. I know the author by her association with Said Jaffrey, an actor of some repute
   in India, and her famous cookery show and books in the same domain.
   Apparently, at one time the author was married to Mr. Jaffrey, but has since
   divorced and is now re-married to a gentleman in New York and settled in the
   same city. I presume she still writes books on Indian cooking. In any case,
   the Jaffrey name and the title were enough of a ruse to get me to read the
   book. What emerges is a tale of a priviledged childhood in pre-independence
   India: her family traces its roots back to the time of emperor Aurangzeb
   (the last Mughal ruler of India) in whose court Madhur's ancestors used to
   ply their craft as writers. The emperor gifted land to her ancestors in what
   would later became New Delhi, enabling Madhur a luxurious childhood by Indian
   standards. Her family was well to do: grandfather was a barrister, father
   owned mills, the family took trips to Europe and possessed two American cars -- and
   this is in pre-independent India, mind you. The book itself is composed of short
   chapters, each one detailing some memory of childhood: cousins, siblings, aunts and
   uncles, grandparent, summer trips to Simla, train rides, traumas, first love, the
   travails of a joint family, etc. A common thread that runs through all the chapters is
   the association of food with the memories. Madhur (which means "sweet, honey-like" in
   Hindi) draws upon her strength -- food -- to permeate each chapter. The writing
   style is informal and colloquial, but enjoyable nonetheless. As an added bonus, the
   last portion of the book contain her favorite recipes. (July 2007)