5 comments about Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir.

1. Fulda lost around 200 pounds and details her weight-loss journey in this book. It's peppered with some facts, along with her slow start (she didn't just get serious and go-go-go) but it took a year to really get losing. She doesn't detail a diet plan but mentions cooking more and making smarter choices and exercising more. This is fine by me because I know how to cook healthier, I know the smarter choices in restaurants and grocery stores and I know I need to exercise. I just need to do these things to succeed. I don't need a plan to follow. She is good at detailing the little day-to-day observations, like buying a top in a size large for the first time in years or huffing and puffing and sweating after walking a few steps or any number of details that plague the life of someone who is too fat or someone who is losing weight. Anyone who has been in either pair of shoes can relate. She's a good writer and it's good food for thought for anybody who wants to lose, who is losing weight or who wants to try and understand a fat person's struggles.



2. I found out about this memoir by accident, and decided to give it a try. It was a great memoir: a story about the real pain experienced by a morbidly obese person (360++ lbs ) before she began her weight loss journey and lost half her body weight. This book is not a story of her self loathing or self pity. It is a straight forward memoir where Jeanette shares her emotions, her successes and some failures along the way. This book is not an instruction manual as to how she lost the weight, but rather it's a very witty book about a mindset and the stick-to- it attitude required for success. Enjoyable.



3. This is an excellent book and the writer is so entertaining, it's like you're sitting down talking with her. For anyone that has a significant amount to lose, this book is inspiring.



4. Jennette Fulda's Half-Assed is not your average weight loss memoir. Not only did Fulda lose over half her body weight, but she does not offer any apologies. In some ways, the book is as much pro-fat as pro-thin. This book, based on her blog Half of Me, chronicles how she got so fat, and, to some extent, what she did to lose the weight. Some of her struggles, such as finding clothes and getting around, are obvious, while others were more hidden, which she explores with humor and wisdom.
   
   Fulda's is an easy read, one that I'm glad I read in part on the treadmill. There is no whining here, even when Fulda presents evidence about why it may be harder for the severely overweight to lose weight. She covers the highs and lows of her journey, as well as the way, as she lost weight, readers and others turned to her for advice as she blogged every step of the way.
   
   Though it seems hard to believe that someone could just happen to wind up weighing 372 pounds, she shows how her lack of education about nutrition spiraled into a weight gain that she didn't truly recognize as a problem, let alone know how to handle, until it had reached such massive proportions. "The fat lost its shock value. It didn't scare me like it scares a skinny girl who's just put on ten pounds and can't fit into her favorite jeans. Ten pounds was a trivially small percentage of my overage." This is but one of the ways that even conceptualizing losing weight was a challenge for Fulda, one she wound up meeting head-on. Both her writing and her weight loss path show a woman with determination, independence, and the ability to sort out what worked for her and what didn't on her own.
   
   Fulda also doesn't give you a saccharine "and now I'm thin and happy" ending. She makes the reader feel the true pain of her weight gain, as well as the not-always-perfect life she leads now. While losing the weight (and blogging about it) drastically changed her life, it was not a panacea, and Fulda doesn't try to spin it that way. She also admits that, yes, there is a chance she might gain weight again, and boldly asserts that being fat is not the worst thing in the world (a fact you might not realize from, well, living in the United States). About her former fat girl life, Fulda writes, "Given the choice between that life and the life of a skinny starlet in rehab, I'd put the fat suit back on fast enough to jam the zipper."
   
   I also must add that this book is published by Seal Press, a feminist press (one I publish with as well), and I think adds a feminist spin to the topic of weight loss. Fulda is not talking about trying to conform to some mediagenic image of perfection, and in fact sounds like she had a pretty good sense of self-esteem when she was overweight (before she got obese), one which aids her as she starts to lose weight. To even have the vision that she could lose half her body weight in a healthy way is a provocative idea at a time when many people simply opt for plastic surgery. She reveals her own issues without pandering to the sexist ideal of ultra-skinnyness at all costs.
   
   My one quibble is that she did not elaborate on the specific diet she chose to use (she has revealed on her blog and in interviews it was the South Beach diet), which made some parts of the book less informed than they could be. Though she explains that this would be like "asking Yo-Yo Ma what kind of cello he played and then expecting to buy one and become a brilliant cellist," I think it could have informed her memoir, but that's a small quibble. Anyone who's ever struggled with their weight, or just wants to read an inspiring story of one woman who forged her way through the world of weight loss, should check out Half-Assed.



5. This is not just another diet book but a book about what really happened during those years of losing weight. I get frustrated with success stories that don't delve into the mind and emotions of the struggle to succeed. Or often times when they try to explain the journey after-the-fact it just comes out sounding so cliche' and empty. Fulda breaks the mold with this book and brilliantly communicates raw and real emotions of the struggles, victories and failures of her phenomenal weight loss achievement. Her commitment is the key to her attitude progression from 'fat girl syndrome' to 'weight loss mentality' to 'athletic decision making'.
   
   There are no secret recipes, instructions or food rules, no exercise plans, etc, etc and thankfully so. If you don't know what to eat or how to exercise by now then you may not be ready for this book because this is where the rubber meets the road. This isn't about how to eat but about how one person got it done and is keeping it done! Not everyone is ready to hear about the struggle when they are still making 'plans' to lose weight but for those of us who are in the trenches this is a MUST READ! This is about a girl who didn't quit - a REAL American hero.
   
   Though thoroughly entertaining this book is not meant for sensitive people. There are times when the language is quite rough and her merciless thoughts about others are a little tough but that's what this book is - her inner thought life. You may even get offended (like you would if you could read the minds of people around you) but I'd encourage you to get over it quickly and read on. I finished this book in 2 days, I don't even know how I found it because I wasn't looking for anything like this on Amazon but it showed up...to use Jeanette's words, my computer must know I'm fat!

5 comments about Kitchen Table Wisdom 10th Anniversary.

1. I really enjoyed reading this book and was impressed with the positive attitude and hopeful outlook under very difficult circumstances.



2. Kitchen Table Wisdom 10th Anniversary
   
   I ordered 2 "New" Kitchen Table Wisdom books to be given as gifts. The cover of one of them was crooked and did not cover the first page. The book was simply not made right. I was not allowed to exchange it for another, just send it back and charged a bit to do that.
   It turned out all right because I found out another way (not Amazon) to get books at discount and got the 2nd one right away.



3. Although the title sounds simplistic, the contents of this book are
   profound. It is a book of inspirational true stories, written by a most perceptive physician/counselor about the wisdom she has gleaned about life and death through her experiences with patients. Each chapter is a new story, and they open windows in our minds and hearts. One of the finest books I have read in years.



4. This is one of the most incrediblely healing books you will ever read. You will find yourself refering to it and giving it to friends (like I did) because it is so theraputic. A must read if you are a self-aware person.



5. Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal
   I was given a copy of this book by a colleague many years ago. I only recently read it for the first time, and I now realize what a wonderful gift I received. I know I will reread this book and refer to it many times. The subtitle explains it: "Stories That Heal." I cannot imagine that anyone reading this book thoughtfully would not be deeply rewarded for the time spent. I very rarely have read something that I would recommend to EVERYBODY, but this is one book I WILL recommend to everybody. Epiphany, anyone? File under "Guide for Living Well."

5 comments about The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance.

1. The Art of Learning. The title is presumptuous and not a good fit for the content of the book.
   Whatever your endeavor, if you are of a like mind, you will benefit from reading this book. Truth is, even if you don't benefit, it's a very engaging and interesting read. To the right people I always say: "You'll love it!!" I don't recommend it at all to the others. I've given away several copies, including my own and I expect to give away many more.



2. The author was the subject of the book/movie Searching for Booby Fisher. Not only is he a National Chess champion, he is also a martial arts champion. He has a very good read on what it takes to get to the ultimate levels of achievement in pretty well everything. I found tremendous insight in this book, and a heightened appreciation for the dedication to detail and performance needed at these levels. I really enjoyed his discussion on "chunking' information and "carved neural pathways" as tools that we all use to become better and better at everything we do. He also gives a very clear description on the stress and recovery model used in high performance training. As ever, I appreciate an easy to read book that lays it out so clearly that even a thick headed Swede like my self can make sense of it all. I appreciate the line, " You need to know what good feels like in order to achieve it again and again." We call that Knowing what the grass looks like when it is cut."



3. In the subtitle of "The Art of Learning," Josh Waitzkin aptly describes his book as "An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance." It is about his own life's learning processes developed during the mastery of two disciplines. One is intellectual: chess. The other is physical: the martial arts form of Tai Chi Chuan. In the writing of the book, he demonstrates that he is an expert in the process known as "mastery learning" as well as a highly accomplished storyteller and teacher. You'll notice I've emphasized the word "mastery." That is because I want to be very clear. The book is not about accelerated learning or quick tricks for memorization. It won't help you cram for an exam and get an easy "A." It is about learning how to learn. About learning at a depth that the learning becomes a part of you. About developing enduring knowledge, skills or expertise. And about using that learning to perform at high levels.
   
   If you want to know how to learn simply anything -- any subject, any skill, this is the book. It reads like a novel and teaches as if it were wired into your brain. It contains the most accessible description of the process of learning from experience I've ever seen, including the need for awareness, intention, attention, noticing details, analyzing, testing assumptions, planning new responses, testing behavior, honing, refining and practice, practice, practice. (Considering that I used to teach Psychology of Learning at the graduate level, I've seen quite a few descriptions of the learning process.)
   
   And like a good novelist would, Waitzkin doesn't just tell -- he shows. You can bet someone has the "know-how" if he also has the "show-how." Moreover, he adds something you would rarely see in a textbook on learning processes: he uses the context of real life and actual experience to show the connection between learning and emotion, how to avoid its pitfalls and how to use it to your advantage. It is a very practical and usable book.
   
   Please note, however, that although I stress how well he weaves his teachings into a story so that you learn them implicitly, he also has a great deal of quite explicit explanation. You don't have to guess what he means. The book could be used as a textbook. It is just more entertaining than a usual textbook.
   
   "The Art of Learning" belongs on the bookshelves of anyone who wants to learn well and deeply, but most certainly it belongs on the bookshelves of psychologists, educators, trainers, coaches, students and all others who study "learning how to learn," right alongside of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's various books on "flow" and George Leonard's "Mastery."



4. Josh Waitzkin is absolutely incredible. He has done so much at such a young age. My wife (Jane) and my two children (Cranny and Keet) went to the 25th anniversary conference of SENG (Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted)([...]) . Josh spoke at this conference about how he has achieved the success he has achieved in both chess and martial arts. It was clear that his intellectual abilities are exceptional and he is capable of learning to skills quite quickly. The one thing I learned more than anything is that when one learns a new skill, it is important to take a part of that skill and master it. Once the part of the skill is mastered, the rest of the skill becomes that much easier to master. Many of us when we are learning new skills try to do too much at one time. This one piece of advice has helped me immensely. It has also helped me give advice to others including my children and clients. Josh's book outlines his journey towards the mastery of his passions. It is quite an amazing read and will be an inspiration to us all. I highly recommend telling Josh's story to your children or to the children you work with.
   
   Steven E. Curtis, Ph.D.
   Understanding Your Child's Puzzling Behavior: A Guide for Parents of Children with Behavioral, Social, and Learning Challenges



5. "Invest in Loss" is probably the best line and best principle to take away from this book. Although it is a universal philosophical principle the author highlights it well and gives good examples of how it helped him in his training through Chess and Push Hands.
   
   I'd also add that this is probably one of the few if only principles that support the title of the book. The invest in loss ideal is something I have incorporated into my own teaching and learning and recommend others interested in moving forward adopt this same principle, but you do not need this book to tell you how to do it.
   
   I would have enjoyed more about Push Hands when the author made the leap to that section of the book. Even though there are 3 main parts, the book is essentially divided into two - chess, and push hands. Unfortunately the author missed the mark here as the push hands section spends a majority of the pages bringing up the authors chess experience and regurgitating the first half of the book rather than spending more time discussing his push hands training and experiences.
   
   This book, simply put, is nothing but the author pandering to his own ego and not at all a book about learning or how to improve your learning. I made it to page 209 out of 262 and couldn't bring myself to finish another 50 pages of the same text reborn time and time again.
   
   I recommend you pass this one up or you'll be investing in loss through your wallet!

5 comments about The Rose That Grew From Concrete.

1. This is a great book to futher understand 2pac and the foundation of all of his music but the book has to much love poems but he was young so dont hate. Just Open your mind and read and you will find something that stimulates a feeling of that you can relate to.



2. A window into the mind of a 'rose' that was truncated too young. I think this collection of poems by 2-Pak showed the new direction that he was thinking of for those young men standing around on the street corners of our cities.



3. I have used this book of poetry with teens to share the beauty of Tupac's writing at the age of 19. His writing is powerful, sensitive, truthful and filled with hope.



4. The rose that grew from concrete is a good simple book filled with Tupacs poems on numerous subject matters easily read and understood. Also If you're not familiar with Tupac this book gives you a great insight into the rapper with acknowledgements , preface, foreward and introuduction.



5. I bought this book because everyone kept telling me that he was a poet and his words were deep blah, blah, blah...
   
   I was disappointed to find that his poems were simple and not "deep." It is not his best work. His best work will be found in his music, not here.
   
   I had expected a lot more in this compillation of poetry.
   
   Don't missunderstan me, I love the artis and his music. I was just expecting more dept and originallity in the poetry. I think I will stick to the music as his best work! Long live Tupac Shakur!!
   
   He gets two stars because I did like the very last poem.

5 comments about Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir.

1. Any of Natalie Goldberg's books are to me the ones I grab when I need to be spurred on to put pen to paper. This one in particular is a terrific tool to writing a memior. Her prompts are practical and aside from being funny at times, she knows the needs of aspiring writers. And she never writes over my head. I think I have read every one of her books at least once and even her novel "Banana Rose" which was great summer reading.
   Do you want to write about yourself and your life as a memory? Try Natalie.



2. This morning at 4:30 I turned on the light to read a few more pages of Old Friend From Far Away. I skipped toward the end and read about how at a celebration for the twentieth anniversary of Natalie's first book, a woman who took her writing class when she was a young student at an alternative school, stood up to speak. The woman told her story of how one Monday Natalie brought in a bushel of rich red apples she'd picked the day before at an orchard near the school. This was a family orchard where a month before the oldest son had been killed in a bizarre gun accident. The woman revealed that this young man had been her first love.
   
   When I got to the part where the woman explained how Natalie's writing class gave her an avenue for expressing her suffering and grief, I found myself sobbing (in a good way) with recognition of the truth of her words.
   
   After the woman finishes telling her story Natalie writes:
   
   "It's a holy thing to be a writer. It is why you want to write your memoir: to remember all of it. The good and the bad. To trust your experience, to have confidence that your moments and the moments of others on this earth mattered... It is a great thing you are doing whatever it is you are remembering. You are saying that life--and its passing--have true value."
   
   I hesitated to buy Old Friend From Far Away since I already have Natalie Goldberg's other enormously helpful writing books. But all the praise from other writers is well-deserved. Every page makes me want to click my heels with delight--even the pages that make me cry. I wholeheartedly recommend this book!
   
   --Suza Francina, author, The New Yoga for People Over 50 and other books for people at midlife and older.
   
   
   
   
   



3. Natalie Goldberg has done it again! As a teacher of fiction and memoir, I recommend this book to all memoir writers. Natalie has prompts that will intrigue and spur writers to put pen in hand or fingers to the keyboard.
   
   By using these prompts, you can't do anything BUT write.
   
   Catherine Alexander
   Author and Instructor



4. This is classic Natalie Goldberg. I have read most of her work and was not disappointed by her latest look into the heart of writing...specifically a memoir. She is the kind of writer you can and must read over and over again, not only if you aspire to write, but if you aspire to live your life well.



5. of a wonderfully readable memoir: That's How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist by Susan Rako, M.D. The title comes from a song by Leonard Cohen: "There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." Rako's book is remarkably candid, insightful, and gracefully written. It's a great read. The writing just flows.

5 comments about Scattershot: My Bipolar Family.

1. I was trying to explain to my daughter what makes this such an amazing book. There are just so many things. The whole thing is laced with poetic language. The cadence is magical. And I was struck by how brilliantly organized it is. Amid his personal storytelling Lovelace gives historic background and scientific stats and info on the Bipolar condition in a seamless manner. And, the story just keeps going. Some of the scenes are just waiting for the Big Screen. I really could not put it down!



2. While Scattershot focuses on the heartbreaking story of a family struggling with Bipolar disorder, this is not some pity piece - Lovelace tells the story with sensitivity but no sugar coat, showing everyone's weaknesses and heroism. I feel like I started to understand the reality of being "crazy" at times and knowing it, along with the strange allure of the manic state. Told with humor and a poet's touch, Scattershot is readable - as well as sad, happy, and revealing.



3. The beginning in some memoirs can be drudgery , waiting for momemtum, but not so with this! I was intrigued immediately, and finished this in two nights. Some of my favorite scenes are in the waiting room, and the MAYBE HYPO manic, and the tender way he described his parents marraige. The 'lost friendhips' brought a sense of sadness for me. Teh role of art in their lives was really well written and interesting to me. I like the way his father was atheist , at one time,and what a burden the ever present ' dogmatic stabilzer' was in their environment. I empathized wholeheartedly with the synapse between being present for his children and wife and being 'stimulated' or clincially euphoric and ' grandiose'.
   My best read since The Tender Bar and an Unquiet Mind.
   
   
   
   Rebecca Holske



4. Unlike most other memoirs about mental illness, Scattershot isn't a complete downer. You finish with hope and laugh quite a bit along the way. I didn't end the book and feel exhausted or sad. I could relate to many of the experiences, since only a few were horrific ordeals.
   
   This is a fast, fun and sometimes harrowing read! If you read the opening chapter, you'll be hooked. As enjoyable as this is, it still chronicles the dissolution of of an entire family to a misunderstood mental illness.



5. I highly recommend this book. There have been some excellent creative non-fiction autobiographies to come out over the recent years and this rates as one of the very best. I've enjoyed Jonathan Franzen, Jeanette Walls, Haven Kimmel, David Sedaris, Augusten Burroughs, and Mary Karr and now David Lovelace has moved to the top of my list. Scattershot is immediately compelling (a two day read I could not put down) and once you're on his rollercoaster, you don't want to get off. The book is at once literary, well-written, entertaining, educational, harrowing, at times hilarious, poignant, and ultimately triumphant.

5 comments about Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road.

1. This is well-written and comes from the heart. I am a RUSH fan(atic) so of course I wanted to read this book. At first I read all of the reviews on this page - mostly the bad ones was interesting. Yes, he is after the American people all right. And after these reviews I realize he is right. What small-minded people... "Oh he doesn't like us but we have made his fortune - he should be greatful". I am not an American and now I pretty much take Neil's side when it comes to the critisism of the people. I would not be very fond of people who were so arrogant to think that they were responsible for all of my talent and fortune either.
   
   Funny to see that all of the bad reviews comes from offended American people who can't take critisism. Well, it is okay to kill people in the name of Godd too, isn't it? Jesus Crist...
   
   Anyway, I really did like this book. It is right that it gets some how boring at some points (it is self biographical - what can you expect?) but it is well-written. I really admire that he seems to make everything important and tries not to take anything for granted (family, friends, a good meal, the trees etc.) and if you can get over your self-rightous, arrogant, and offended mind you will see that the man's got a point. Musicians can't lie on their knees for fans and be begging and thankful all of the time. Fans can be a pain in the butt sometimes. Like friends can be the same.
   
   Read the book as an experience - and stop being offended and so bloody patriotic about everything.



2. Neil reveals a lot about himself which I don't think he intended to do in this book. He comes off as being an elitist in a lot of ways. He almost seems like he wants to be Hemingway, with his drinking, smoking and just doing his own crazy travels with little regards for anything else. I think his digs into America were very revealing too about himself. Yet, he doesn't seem to have a problem with his best friend being a drug dealer; or that he was never officially married to Jackie (common law wife of 22 years); then jumps into a relationship and marriage fairly quickly to Carrie; that he breaks speeding law constantly on his BMW bike and that he is only self consumed with himself and no one else outside his little small bubble of friends/family.
   
   I love Rush and I think Neil is awesome at his craft, but I'm not jumping on board with everything he does or puts out. This book took me forever to read because it was really boring at times with his letters to Brutus and his ramblings of his travels which were very dry and repetitive. This is not a self help book for someone who has had a similar tragedy in their life. This book could have been cut down to a fourth of the pages written and accomplished the same thing and kept me interested.
   
   The only thing I really got out of this book was that it probably takes longer for you to get on with your life when you have an unlimited bank account to be able to stop working. In Neil's case, it allowed him to travel all over North America on his BMW bike and spend the winter months walking on snow shoes around the lake at his house in Quebec. I believe all this free time allowed him to think more and more about things and feel sorry for himself. I think the average "fat" American, which he ran into on his travels, would probably have to go to work shortly after this type of tragedy and not be able to take two years off. Not that getting over this would be easy for anyone, but I think being forced into the work environment would eventually allow distractions in your life to stop you from thinking 24/7 about the tragedies. Neil didn't have this type of distraction and traveling alone only allowed him to dwell more and more on the tragedies in his.
   
   I by no means am putting Neil down for what he had to deal with, but I am critical of the dribble he put into this book. I don't think if you are not a hardcore Rush fan or a friend/acquaintance of Neil's you would get much out of this book. I think a lot of the praise this book gets is because it's "Neil Peart" and the tragedy he had to deal with and not because this is a particularly good book.



3. As a faithful fan of the Canadian rock-trio Rush since 1976, I had read about the heart breaking double tragedy in drummer Neil Peart's personal life: first the death of his daughter in a car accident, followed by that of his wife to cancer eight months later. Driving home from a recent Rush concert, I felt it was time to delve into Peart's writings, beginning appropriately with _Ghost Rider: Travels of the Healing Road_.
   
   Constantly surrounded at home by memories of his beloved wife and daughter, while consumed in his misery, loss and anguish, Peart, an empty shell of a man with no will to continue living realized he would die from the ravages of depression, if he did not keep moving "Book One" recounts Peart's motorcycle journey of healing through some of North America's most remote, rugged and majestically beautiful National Parks. Like many of his literary heroes, Peart set off with a writer's eye and journal in hand. When not riding, Peart hiked forest trails, rowed on mountain lakes, anything to keep moving. Peart finds wonder in nature, its beauty, and is a knowledgeable bird watcher. Along the way, he investigates local used book stores, museums and the stomping grounds of some his favorite American authors. Peart often digresses and recounts the history of a little known piece of Americana and the people who laid claim to a piece of it.
   
   Although a self-professed "saddle tramp," Peart eats at the top of the food chain, and his efforts to satisfy his Champaign tastes (described in minute detail) on beer menus is sometimes comical. It soon becomes apparent that, despite his grieving heart, Peart is a loner, by nature, comfortable in his solitude. Yet, Peart the loner battles loneliness, especially at meal times or in crowded familial settings. Happy to sit alone in a darkened corner, he eats and vents to his journal about overweight tourists with "mullet" hair cuts, name tag wearing conventioneers, or "Califoricators." When he goes as far as to label people "low lifes," however, Mr. Peart apparently has forgotten that this social strata could easily buy Rush CDs and concert tickets too. Always polite (after all Peart is Canadian), he does not warm up to people easily, nor does he choose friends readily. When he does form friendships, they tend to be lifelong: his band mates, his wife's relations, and his best friend and riding pal Brutus. After hearing that Brutus was incarcerated for illegal dealings in medicinal-herbal trade, Peart discovers a renewed purpose in the form of describing it through letters to Brutus in jail.
   
   "Book Two" finds Peart in a winter hiatus at home, after a brief but unsuccessful relationship with a woman in California. Here, motorcycle treks are replaced by snowshoes and cross-country skies as Peart re-explores his snow covered winter soulscape, and intimates the process of his healing through more letters to colleagues and friends. Although at times repetitive, Peart's letters are often more personal and revealing; less formal, and more soul bearing than his narrative. Skimming over these letters, one risks missing some of Peart's most insightful self-analysis. Yet, several of the letters to Brutus containing nothing more than adolescent banter and coded insider jokes certainly should have been chopped.
   
   It is said that wisdom is attained through pain. Neil Peart, through grief, and in spite of himself, has gained a wisdom some of us may never hope to grasp. The ancient Chinese general Sun Tzu wrote: "Know yourself, then know others, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles." Peart not only possesses the self-honesty to know himself, his human foibles, and character defects, but also came to identify the ghosts and demons that taunt a grieving soul on a daily basis. The more tangible aspects of the book contain a few flaws, though.
   
   Travel narratives offer unique challenges to a writer. Anyone who has attempted to put pen to paper soon realizes that everything surrounding them is called something. Peart's numerous descriptions of flora and fauna, and efforts to research afford the reader the joy of watching a writer in the process of developing his craft. Redundancy is another challenge. Keeping thousands of miles of roads, highways, rivers, valleys, mountains, forests, and Best Western Hotels fresh on every page is a daunting task indeed. The combination of Peart's narrative, journal entries, and too many letters to Brutus, needless to say, created overlap that unfortunately escaped an editor's keen eye. It seems Peart is enamored with the Shift-I keys. Peart's more than generous sprinkling of italicized words, is quite distracting. After a few hundred pages, Peart's final chapters and epilog take a steep nose dive. One can almost hear Peart's publisher saying, "I need that manuscript tomorrow!"
   
   Though bound handsomely the book contains some needless flair. Each new chapter shows an artsy black and white photograph of Peart's riderless BMW motorcycle, pointed down a different stretch of scenic, yet lonely North American highway. Peart hints at having taken hundreds of photos on his journey, yet not one (other than the chapter photos mentioned above) appears in the book. A photo section offering views into Peart's family life before, and during his healing journey would have been a joy. Likewise, Journal passages headed with a facsimile of Peart's handwriting, only offers more needless attempts at flair. For map lovers, the absence of a simple rudimentary map outlining Peart's route will surely disappoint.
   
   At the risk of appearing fragmented, this book offers much to a varied audience. Lack of smoother flow and tighter ending is perhaps more the fault of a keen editor than the author's. Yet the joy of watching Neil Peart grow both emotionally and literally makes Ghosts a must read, whether you are a Rush fan or not.



4. First let me say that I am a big Rush fan. Peart is one of the best if not the best drummer in rock in role and I enjoy the lyrical content of his songs which are deep and profound. Second, I can not imagine or even pretend to imagine the extreme emotional pain he experienced losing his daughter and than his wife a short time later. He is a survivor. With that said, I did enjoy the very small parts in the book where he spoke about the loss of Selena (daughter) and Jackie (wife) and his experiences with them. I wish he would have spoken more about them. The description of his travels was nice as well especially the areas that I am familiar with. However, the letters he wrote to his friends, especially his pal Brutus who was in prison for trying to sell drugs in the United Stated, got very old and where as boring as hell. He called it an injustice in regards to Brutus being in prison. Hey, you do the crime than you got to do the time, Neil! The letters where just way too much. I heard more about his druggie friend Brutus than about Jackie and Selena. The only reason I finished the book because I am stubborn, what I start I finish even if it is boring as hell. Furthermore, I spent 20+ bucks on the book and I could not justify to myself not finishing it. I bought the book thinking that it would give some insight to a man who I admire as a drummer in my favorite band but it seems he was very guarded. Nonetheless, it is his book and he can do as he pleases. I would not recommend it and the only reason i gave it two stars was because I am trying to be nice because I am a big Neil Peart fan when it comes to music but not when it comes to this book.



5. i don't know what more i can say, book more than worth reading, if you love music, RUSH, adventure, bikes, just to name a few and i you can appreciate what it takes for soul to lose everything an want to keep moving forward this is a worth wild read for you.
   
   i personally love it for all that and the way he speaks so painfully honest of eventing, himself included. not to mention his amazing ability to be perfectly descript and yet it inst my method of choice to fall asleep, if you have ever read those kind of books im sure you can relate. and as you go you will see more and more of who Niel Peart is, much of it being hi sense of humor, all be it subtle r dark at times always there. all i can say is buy it and read it, i did it on a whim simply cuz i love Rush and always like to hear what fellow drummers have to say.

5 comments about Life Among the Dead.

1. Lisa Williams may be one of the most carismatic persons ever entering the TV media and one delights in her enchanting spontanousness and directness.
   
   This gifted persona oozes a zest for life and and afterlife and makes seemingly incomprehensible phenomenon stand out as selfexplanatory and obvious.
   
   Where ms Williams excells "live" in her TV series she fails in her literary ambitions. She simply does not manage to transcend her vivacious and intense personality in letters. The book gives little clue as to why she seemingly unwilling caved in in order to dedicate herself to her unique gift and we get to know a lot of trivia that seems to lack the sufficient inspiration to make us understand and truly believe in her chosen profession.
   
   Do not misunderstand me: Ms Williams is simply outstanding and endearing on her show and gives hope and comfort to millions of people. This major task is simply not reflected in her written ouvre.
   
   It is always tempting to compare Ms Willimas with Mr Van Praagh. Ms Williams, in my opinion, comes out spendidly in such as comparison, whereas mr Van Praagh is an able writer. Douglas Modig, Kristianstad, Sweden



2. I picked up this book to read about her psychic abilities. At least that is what I thought the title suggested. Reading the sample also bolstered this opinion.
   
   It turned out to be mostly an autobiography with a few morsels here and there about her psychic abilities. Nothing wrong with that, especially since the book flows very well and the writing is immaculate, but, well, I was expecting something else. Disappointed.



3. I really enjoyed this book. I also really enjoyed her show on Lifetime and was very disappointed when it was canceled. This book was very easy to read and I had trouble putting it down. It was fascinating to read about her psychic experiences as well as her personal life and how she found her way to what she was meant to do. I hope she writes another book soon!! I highly recommend this book!!



4. After seeing her show I just had to know more about this amazing woman. This is by far the best book I've ever read. It was so intriguing and a little eerie at times. Needless to say I would LOVE to have a reading with the incredible Lisa Williams.



5. Life Among the Dead is a very enjoyable book. The conversational style feels like you are having a personal conversation with Lisa. If you are a fan of her TV show, you will love this book. If you never saw the show, read this book to see what you are missing. Lisa is an incredible psychic medium. The book is full of lots of interesting stories about Lisa and how she became a psychic. Read it and find out how she met her husband, moved to America, and got her own TV show. Lisa is the real deal. You can feel her bubbly personality and positive energy when you read this book. It is full of honest details about what it is like to be a psychic medium. It's a quick and easy read and will be enjoyable for readers of all levels.

5 comments about Istanbul: Memories and the City.

1. I have started to enyoy this masterpiece, since I visited Istambul. Suddenly Pamuk's memories has merged with mine.



2. Istanbul: Memories and the City
   
   
   Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul, like Samuel Peyps' London, Proust's Paris, and Borges' Buenos Aires, is a collection of childhood memories informed by adult intellect. Born into a once prominent but lately downwardly- mobile family, Pamuk is preoccupied by the sense of lost glory that infuses Istanbul:
   "The city into which I was born was poorer, shabbier, and more isolated than it had ever been before in its two-thousand year history. For me it has always been a city of ruins and of end-of-empire melancholy." It is this melancholy, or
   `huzun' that infuses the city and his memories.
   How to refer to the change in political control of the city from Greek to Ottoman is the subject of a fascinating chapter: "Conquest or Decline? The turkification of Istanbul." During the 500th anniversary ceremony in l953, the government downplayed the "Turkish' factor, partially because of Turkey's new membership in Nato. Out of fear of alienating the Greek population, the government chose to ignore the anniversary of the "Conquest of Constantinople."
   But there were anti-Greek demonstrations and violence, leading Pamuk to conclude that "the government allowed mobs to rampage through the city, plundering the property of Greeks and other minorities. A number of churches were destroyed during the riots and a number of priests were murdered, so there are many echoes of the cruelties Western histories describe as the "fall" of Constantinople. In fact, both the Turkish and Greek states have been guilty of treating their respective minorities as hostages to geopolitics."
   One of the attractive features of Pamuk's memoir is the generous use of archival, black and white photographs dating from the 1920's, thirties, and forties.
   The original Turkish is ably translated Maureen Freely. I am now encouraged to read more of Pamuk's works available in English, "The Black Book," "My Name is Red," and "Snow," which he describes as his only political novel.



3. I remember the Boston of my childhood, though I remember Marblehead (a small town to the north) much better because I actually lived there. The two places had certain sights, sounds, smells, and "feelings" that, for the most part, have vanished like a morning fog off the Atlantic. But anchoring all those sensory aspects of the places was history, a giant kaleidescope of shifting people, institutions and events that created the then present, that created the new present, and will create the next present. I can't imagine Boston or Marblehead without that history.
   
   Orhan Pamuk chose to write his great love for his city in a strange form. He weaves himself and his personal history into the picture, but completely avoids any historical details. I wonder whom he wrote for ? If for that "western audience" he refers to so often, there is not enough history to make sense of why Istanbul became such a melancholic, declined, fallen, poor, neglected place (at least he says it was). Fires and accidents, rain and snow, the hiss of tires slipping on old cobblestone alleys in a city that once ruled a big part of the world. If he wrote for a Turkish audience, his style of describing his family and his personal behavior would probably turn them off, along with his emphasis on Turkish cultural poverty. Maybe he wanted to "send a message" to those who insist too much on "Turkishness", by mentioning the now-mostly-disappeared non-Muslim minorities quite often. Maybe, but I conclude that he wrote it for himself---full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes to come. Pamuk writes of western painters and travellers and their views of the city in the 19th century and how they influenced him. He also writes of Turkish authors and how they viewed the city, though I have never seen any of their work in translation (meaning I have no idea how they would resonate with me). I liked this gambit, though I knew nothing about those Turkish writers. What I liked best is how he describes the city itself, how he walked around it as a child and a youth, how he steeped himself in the decay of the old Ottoman heritage before all the old mansions burned, before concrete apartment blocks sprang up like toadstools to sweep away the sad wooden houses that had seen better days. I loved the chapter on smoke from the funnels of steamships in the Bosphorus, and above all I liked the dozens of black and white photos of bygone days that fill the pages. It's a world class essay of nostalgia, but done in a very new way.
   
   It's an interesting way to describe a city and write the first part of an autobiography. It's not a travelogue. There's not a single map---as if all the readers would know the geography of Istanbul. This is not Istanbul for visitors, this is Istanbul for those who loved it (who could AFFORD to love it) back in the Fifties and Sixties, when it had not been inundated in a huge tide of immigrants or refugees from the countryside and abroad, when Turkey was a poor, slow country. I saw it, once, briefly then, when Pamuk was an eleven year old kid. The dynamic, vital, amazing city of 2008 bears little resemblance to that other Istanbul. I understand why he wrote the book; I know a little of what is lost. To know that, you couldn't find a better book than this.



4. I have now read all of Orhan Pamuk books available. I have learned so much about another culture because of this brillian author.



5. I finished this on a flight from Izmir to Istanbul. It's a good thing I did: it provides an excellent preface to visiting that amazing city.
   
   Pamuk has three guiding ideas in this book. First is that all Istanbullus share a sort of melancholy which Turks call huzun. The idea is that they all lament the decline of their city since it was the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and that they lament their servitude to the Western world. Secondly, Pamuk wants to harness this huzun and create an artwork that is distinctively Turkish -- not Western, not Muslim, but a harmonious blend of the two. Thirdly, Pamuk believes that the city inhabits the man just as much as the man inhabits the city: Pamuk feels Istanbul's moods and it feels his. Huzun is thus a strictly collective emotion. One cannot feel this sort of melancholy on one's own; one can only experience it in a collective way along with one's fellow-Istanbullus. (Indeed, it's not clear to me that residents of any other city -- Vienna, maybe? Pittsburgh? -- can feel huzun; it may be a nostalgic melancholy that only Istanbullus are logically entitled to feel.)
   
   I didn't feel the huzun in Istanbul, but then I was only there for a few days; Pamuk doesn't believe that anyone can understand his city without living there for ten years or more. It may also be impossible for a new generation of lifelong Istanbullus to feel the huzun: those born into today's Istanbul may not realize that there's anything other than the Western model to follow.
   
   This is all his perspective as an insider to the culture. As an outsider to it, my perspective says something altogether different. When I visited Istanbul, there was at least one mosque, minaret, and muezzin per quarter square mile. One block off the main drag in Beyolu (Istiklal Caddesi), our cab had to stop to let a flock of sheep and their shepherd pass. One block off on the other side was a warren of little streets filled with conservative Muslims. I felt distinctly foreign there, both in nationality and in culture. If this is "the West," Istanbul-style, then Pamuk has nothing to worry about.
   
   At times -- certainly over the last fifth of the book -- Pamuk's melodrama about huzun gets to be a bit much. He haunts the miserable streets of a lost empire, collar upturned against the snow, trying to shake off his own desperation at a lost love and make an art form that doesn't just ape the West. On and on he goes, trying to beat us over the head with the idea that the city inhabits the man and the man the city: we cut back and forth between his furious wanderings in the streets and his fight with his mother over what he'll do with his life. Pamuk thinks he is terribly clever. He wants us very much to know how clever it is; earlier in the book he drops hints about its "hidden symmetry." This symmetry, so far as I can tell, is just the symmetry between the man and the city. So now you know. If you were paying attention during the first half of the book, you already knew. I'd rather not be bludgeoned with the Cleverness Stick.
   
   Still, it's a fun read. It's peppered with (deliberately) black-and-white photos of old Stamboul, from an era when people flocked to the shores of the Bosphorous to watch the Ottoman pashas' wooden "yals" (waterfront mansions) burn to the ground one by one. There's great romance in this book, great love for the Bosphorous, and delicious history. Worth reading, but not worth owning.

5 comments about My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir.

1. On page 270 of the book Clarence Thomas replies to the hypocritical charges by Senators Kennedy, Biden, Heflin, Metzenbaum et al. Thomas' anguished open authentic declaration ranks with the pathos of Chief Seattle as his proud people were being herded into a reservation and the bold honesty of Vanzetti in his declaration to the judge who had sentenced him and his friend, Sacco, to be executed.
   
   This book speaks to those whom others have unjustly tried to humiliate; to those who were compelled to grow up with absent fathers; to those who have stared into the abyss of nihilism and found Faith; to those whose mothers suffer and suffered and labored to bring up their children without those who had fathered them; to those who became the real fathers of children when their physical fathers abandoned them.
   
   Daddy in this memoir is a portrait of a noble, just man of the greatest dignity and sacrificial love.
   
   As for myself this "Memoir" will be passed on to my children.
   Justice Thomas, thank you for your honesty, candor and authenticity in this memoir of a "hero not a victim."



2. Although I don't often read autobiographies, a dear friend gave me her copy of "My Grandfather's Son" and suggested that I would enjoy it. Though I am old enough to remember the general facts of Clarence Thomas's appointment to the bench, I never really had an interest in the politics or the man embroiled in them. However, his story is both interesting and educational.
   
   Clarence Thomas has a clear recollection of his tumultuous life from living in a shack near a swamp through college activism to political intrigues. He not only narrates the details of his own life; he realizes that his life is a whole. He illustrates the connections between incidents in his life with an understanding light. Though racism was a formative part of his life, he demonstrates the strength that comes from meeting the challenge. As politics continues to be more dominated by whining, I am thankful for the story of a man facing the challenge of integrity, failing, and learning to be a better man by incorporating the difficult lessons taught by life and by a loving grandfather.
   
   Reprinted with permission from http://naturalfamilylife.blogspot.com



3. An incredible story of regardless the present situation - keep your focus. Real goals are not going to be easy, rely on the facts, not your emotions or the misconstrued opinions of others. Rear your children with discipline and honor.



4. I loved this book because it tells of a life that fought the good fight and didn't give up... and then won the battle. From the time he was a child all the way to the supreme court, his hardships and difficult trials he faced and how he over came them time and time again. Clarence Thomas story is one of the greatest in American history and you will not be disappointed in this book.. Loved it!



5. This book really gave me a glimpse into what Justice Thomas felt like growing up with segregation and then fighting throughout his life for equality. He is extremely sincere and honest about his shortcomings in life so the reader really feels as though they got to know him. I didn't understand the rage and resentment that he felt against discrimination because I didn't grow up in that environment. I think this book is a must-read for everyone, especially white people (like me) that don't understand why some people are voting for Barack Obama just because he's part African. I've always believed that should be the least important of aspect of the decision. Thomas' solution to inequality is for all people to be given the same opportunities, not favoring any race, white or black, and that really got the liberals angry with him (and they're still angry at him today) for not accepting their handouts.