5 comments about Too Late to Die Young: Nearly True Tales from a Life.

1. As a child, Harriet McBryde Johnson never thought she would live a long life. At least that is what the telethons on television kept saying. However, she has. Yet, this is not a "triumph over disability" story. It is a story of a woman who is living her life fully. From a law student schooling the University of South Carolina on the subject of civil liberties to experiencing a disability-themed conference in Cuba, the reader is taken on a journey in which he or she just might view disability in a different way by the end of the book.
   
   This book was really powerful for me. I was born with Cerebral Palsy. However, it has not been until the last couple of years that I started feeling comfortable with myself as a person with a disability. I read this book as part of a class I took this semester and I'm very glad I did. Stories like these remind me that disability is not a negative and that we are worthy of full, rich lives.



2. The chapters in this book are arranged chronologically, but each is a discrete story. The episodes varied enough so that I was never bored: Ms. Johnson protested telethons, resisted a search of her dorm by the Secret Service, ran for office, served as a delegate at the Democratic National Convention, visited Cuba for an international conference on people with disabilities, argued in a jury trial, and more.
   
   Her views on disability as a civil rights issue aren't presented in a didactic way; they become clear to the reader as she confronts her opponents. I liked being privy to the details of her experience, even though she presents herself as nearly always right. While I read I was thinking that she came off as SO sure of herself that I would find her overbearing and a little obnoxious in person. However, she acknowledges the thorniness, and clearly isn't out to be the reader's best friend.
   
   Other than that note, I felt myself in good hands. I have a better understanding of what it's like to need and live with a personal assistant. I was familiar with the basics of disability rights, but the book got into nuances I hadn't considered-- the pressures and trade-offs in Cuba, where genuine intentions for equality butt up against severe economic limits, for example. And it reinforced ideas that non-disabled people glide over: most of us will be disabled sometime. Disabled people aren't necessarily more "terminal" or "suffering" than the rest of us, because frankly everyone suffers and dies. And if that sounds depressing, don't worry: some of the stories in this book were so funny I had to read bits out loud to my spouse.
   
   This is a four- instead of a five-star review because I didn't feel I quite got a fair view of the author's opponents; it was just a little too one-sided, although that enhanced some of the humor. But the book was still well-written and fascinating. Definitely worth reading.



3. This new book by Harriet McBryde Johnson, a civil rights attorney in Charleston, SC and disability activist, is a must read! Her book, Too Late to Die Young, provides insight into aspects of her life and career, but the author states upfront that "This book doesn't have a tidy message." Ms. Johnson is a gifted writer with a provocatively tilted perspective that is worth hearing. She accurately describes herself as a story teller in the great tradition of southern story tellers. I knew her stories were worth reading when, early on in the book, in describing a German doctor's bedside overnight care, she wrote "Now I remember how he kept vigil at my bedside so my parents could sleep and then fell sleep himself. As I listened to his deep, barrel-chested rumble, I imagined he was snoring in German." Later in the book, Harriet, after having noted that her normal viewpoint of most people is at crotch level (due to her posture), described her first impression of someone she met: "It's love at first sight - at my first sight of his shoes." Wonderful!
   
   This easy to read book (a mere 258 pages) includes the bulk of the text of Unspeakable Conversations, a 2003 New York Times Magazine article she wrote that described her conversations with Princeton Professor Peter Singer about his beliefs that the severely disabled, in some circumstances, can justifiably be killed. Interestingly, she is conflicted about the accommodating and courteous man versus his "evil" ideas. She acknowledges that she stands outside the radical mainstream simply for having engaged Mr. Singer in a conversation. Sundry other topics this self-described "crip" covers are her personal crusade against telethons, her atheism, her battles with the Secret Service, caustically amusing anecdotes from the 1996 Democratic Convention in Chicago, a trip to Cuba, and battles with a New York Times photographer who wants to shoot her nude ("nekkid" in her parlance) and does -- but not for publication, and many more amusing and unsettling stories.
   
   If you want to read a sweet story about a courageous and noble fight against disability that profiles an individual who overcomes great obstacles to achieve self-fulfillment, this IT NOT the book to read. Johnson`s book isn't about her disability (adamantly so)...but the fact that she is disabled inescapably colors her stories in powerful ways. You won't necessarily fall in love with Harriet, her politics, or all of her causes, but I think you will love her passion for what she believes, what she does, who she is, and why she does what she does. Ms. McBryde is a new and profound voice (at least to me) that is worth listening to.



4. While I disagree with a fundamental premise argued in the book, I do recommend it for many reasons. First of all, the author can write! She has filled the book with interesting and unusual experiences, described them with wit as well as passion, and she challenges people like me on some basic assumptions and conclusions. I do hope readers of this book will follow up with Peter Singer's Writings on an Ethical Life (referred to in Harriet Johnson's book) in order to hear Singer's opinions in his own words.



5. This has been a good year for disability rights in terms of publications. First, Mary Johnson published Make Them Go Away and now we have Harriet McByde Johnson's much anticipated Too Late to Die Young. Read together these texts provide a powerful one two punch for the disability rights movement in an era which has seen the courts gut the Americans with Disability Act. Both authors have been champions and leaders of the disability rights movement and each are gifted writers.
   
   Harriet McBryde Johnson is a gifted story teller--although I wanted to savor the text and make it last I was too spoiled to do so. I read the book cover to cover the day I received it. Now, I am going back to re-read each and every chapter. Each story told resonates at some level regardless of the subject matter. What truly struck me the most was that my life is not so different, that I am not so unsual, and that the bigotry and discrimination I encounter on a daily basis is no different from what other disabled people face. I am not the only one that is subjected to unwanted attention and grossly inappropriate comments. I am not the only one that found Christopher Reeve comments about disability offensive. I am not the only one who is treated poorly when I travel on an airline. In short, discrimination against the disabled is rampant and it is heartening to know others are experiencing and fighting against this. To know that I have two gifted authors on the side of equal rights lets me not only feel better about myself a feel less alone but know the future, in spite of the courts, will be better than the past.

5 comments about Eric.

1. I read this book in adolescence and it has stayed with me since then--over 20 years. I have thought of Eric's story many times over the years, especially now that I have my own son. I think that I will read this book again and add it to my permanent collection. It is very touching albeit very sad.



2. Eric is the heartbreaking, inspirational true story of Eric Lund, a seventeen-year-old boy who is diagnosed with Leukemia just days before he is set to leave for college. This book is a memoir written by his mother, Doris Lund, about Eric's unwavering will to survive, and about how his cancer affects not only himself, but everyone around him.
   
   When it's a story about a terminal illness, there can be no unexpected twist. As soon as I read the description on the back cover of the book, I knew basically how it was going to start and how it was going to end. But it's what happens in between that makes Eric Lund's life so interesting. What makes him different than many whose lives have thrown seemingly indomitable obstacles at them is that Eric refuses to give up. Even when the doctors, despite their greatest and heartfelt efforts, can offer only ominous warnings, it doesn't prevent Eric from living his life to the fullest. In this way, Eric isn't just the tragedy of a boy whose life deteriorates little by little. Instead, it is the motivational story of a man whose confidence, positive outlook, and exceptional will to live bring hope and joy to everyone around him.
   
   Of course, Doris Lund doesn't leave herself out of the picture. A lot of the book is focused on her own hopes and fears instead of Eric's, on which she can only speculate in many instances. She is also honest about her rocky relationship with Eric and the difficulties that they sometimes had communicating, which is something that most teenagers and their parents can relate to. I couldn't help noticing that there are places in the book where Doris Lund interrupts the flow of her writing, perhaps with a misplaced or awkward metaphor, but then she quickly remembers that this story is beautiful and memorable on its own without too many fancy words and phrases to distract from it.
   
   Even if you don't usually read this kind of literature, I still recommend Eric. It may be depressing, but it's not cynical, and it leaves you with the kind of hope that Eric held on to his whole life.



3. I have probably read this book 8 times since it first came out. The first time I read it was shortly after my brother had been diagnosed with a form of leukemia. This book is a wonderful tribute by Doris Lund to her son, and I highly recommend it to anyone.



4. This story is just a good read, and such a testimony of a young man struck with lucemia, his spirit his valor...emotions are stired to beyond words.



5. I hate to be the skunk in the five-star garden party, but I remember reading, or rather trying to read, this book when in high school some *cough* 20 years ago. I could barely get through it. Apparently I wasn't alone, because someone else had graffitoed on the (soft) cover, "This book sucks. Don't read it."

   Sometimes I think there should be a moratorium on grieving parents writing about their dead offspring. Aside from one brief moment when Lund catches her son checking out girls in a hospital corridor or waiting room, I don't remember a single aspect of Eric's personality aside from "Mama's Little Angel." And although my memory is vague on this, I seem to recall the book contains a fair amount of delusional mumbo-jumbo about "God's will" ('scuse me while I barf).

   If you want to read a superb book by someone who lost a child to cancer, read "Death Be Not Proud" by John Gunther. That book preserves every quirk of his late son Johnny's wry sense of humor and considerable intellect, and actually makes you regret that the son didn't live to take up the father's pen. Not only that, but Gunther deals with hard questions of mortality and loss without resorting to the kind of sticky sentimentality you'd expect from Oprah or the "women's channels" on cable TV. Cripes, even Marie Killilea's books about her handicapped (no, NOT "differently abled") daughter Karen are better than Lund's book.

   The entire genre, for obvious reasons, is for the most part manipulatively mawkish, but that's what sells, I guess. If you have an "I Believe in Angels" bumper sticker on your car, Thomas Kincaide "paintings" on your walls, and every CD Whitney Houston ever recorded in your music collection, go ahead and order "Eric." You'll cry your eyes out and write a five-star review.

2 comments about Dancing in a Wheelchair: One Family Faces HIV/Aids.

1. A MUST READ!!!!! THIS BOOK ALLOWS THE READER INTO THE LIVES OF THIS FAMILY,IT ALSO SHOWS YOU WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A CRISIS , AND IT ALSO SHOWS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RELIGION AND CHRISTIANITY! AND THE UNCONDITIONAL LOVE OF A FAMILY, NOT TO CHANGE PEOPLE, BUT TO ACCEPT PEOPLE THEY WAY THEY ARE. AND LOVE THEM THE WAY GOD SEES US (UNCONDITIONALLY) SHORT READ I READ THIS BOOK IN 2 HOURS REALLY GOOD MEMOIR.TOUCHED MY HEART AND LIFE AND MY WAY OF THINKING!



2. Through "Dancing in a Wheelchair" United Methodist Bishop and Etta Mae Mutti pour out their own hearts as parents who lived the experience of HIV/AIDS with two of their three sons and saw them die. This family's story cannot deal with AIDS without homosexuality. Every emotion impacts their pensive dialogue: When the two sons individually come out, the father and mother go behind their own doors to express shock and anger, and to weep; yet, affirm love for their sons. Etta Mae Mutti storms with disbelief, and finally a commitment to action, because her church does not treat gays with equality. Where will a Bishop turn for support in his personal pain that's a controversial issue in the church? In dialogue format these parents reveal many experiences and truths any family might encounter when HIV/AIDS invades, but with profound impact coming from a Bishop and Bishop's wife. The book is powerfully enlightening regarding the physical and mental stages and the stresses of the disease, AIDS. Despair rips parents' hearts when this illness worsens. The dialogue graphically paints the ugly portrait of AIDS. Questions loom: How to let adult children make their own decisions when they're dying? Should we make him come home? Families who have persons who are gay or those who suffer from AIDS will find Fritz and Etta Mae are companions. Religious folks will be changed if this story is read with open minds and eyes. The result could be effective risks, love expressed to all, and lifes lived in equality.

5 comments about Curveball: When Life Throws You a Brain Tumor.

1. As the daughter of someone with a meningioma I found this book fantastic. In fact, I literally didnt put it down - I read it from cover to cover in one go. And then I passed it onto another family member, who read it and passed it on again. We have now all read it and have since enjoyed discussing it with each other. There were many snippets that Liz shared that we could all relate to. I highly recommend this book to anyone dealing with a brain tumour and all their loved ones.



2. Very well written and interesting account, while not a brain tumor patient I still found the book very informative and entertaining. I believe anyone suffering from a meningioma would find this book inspiring and uplifting. For those of us without a brain tumor it gives us an insight into the life people with this conditiona lead.



3. This book is sooo well written and gives an excellent account of Liz Holzemer's personal journey with a brain tumor. This book in my opinion, is an inspiration to everyone that has any life changing illness. She relates her tricky ordeal in a straightforward and truthful way exposing her emotional state and brings quite a lot of humor to her story. I strongly recommend this book to be used as a manual for anyone who has a brain tumor, knows someone with a brain tumor as well as doctors, health care professionals, visiting nurses, psychologists...
   I have undergone three brain surgeries and wished that someone had suggested this book when I first was diagnosed(mine was the size of a lemon)so I could have tackled it head -on so to speak. An excellent manual with pertinent information. A very enjoyable and enriching read.



4. I like this book, but I'd only recommend it to people that have undergone brain surgery. I have, so I understood where she was coming from. But I wouldn't loan it out to any of my friends because they probably wouldn't enjoy it.



5. Having just undergone my second brain surgery, I can attest to the fact that this book will prepare anyone who is going to undergo this type of surgery, and would be especially helpful to a family member who wants to understand what their loved one will be experiencing. Liz masterfully interweaves the unvarnished facts with humour, making it delightful read. I would loved to have had such a book to read prior to my surgeries!

5 comments about Needles: A Memoir Of Growing Up With Diabetes.

1. Reviews of this book - particularly from sufferers of diabetes - tend to be favourable. However, for me, this book was unreadable.
   
   Her style is that of a diary, with sentences comprised of just a few words. You encounter a period/full stop on nearly every line. There is hardly a chance to get going with this book.
   
   I skipped chapters hoping that the style would settle down. It does not and I gave up reading this book depositing it in the trash bin. I very much doubt I could sell it on ebay for anything apart from the cost of postage.
   
   Perhaps the content may be of interest to diabetics, but otherwise it's a depressing mournful series of short sentences.



2. This book was a great book!! It may not be the most hopeful book, but it is the most true. Being a diabetic, I could relate to many of the things she said. I constantly found myself thinking "Oh my gosh!!! THAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME SO MANY TIMES!" or "THATS EXACTLY HOW I FEEL!!!" Some reviews have stated that she was very pessimistic when it comes to the disease, I don't think so. Diabetes made a major impact on her life I am sure that some good things did come from it, but it is a disease and who honestly really wants to praise a disease? She was very hard on the medical industry, but I think that was fair. Even when I was in the hospitle in 2003, the nurses still did things that were very ignorant. She also didn't just lash out at them for no reason, she always validates her reasons for being so firm and even combative with them. I think the book was very inspirational. I've never had a book stir so much emotion in me!



3. The book was good, no doubt. The writing was compelling, but as I sit back having just finished the book, I don't really understand how it made me feel.
   
   I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes almost a year ago now, and have learned a lot about dealing with the disease since then.
   
   This books scares me in a way because of the pessimism Andie and Denise seem to have toward the disease in the book.
   
   But I must remind myself, this was a different time. The past 25 years or so have improved things tramatically. They had hard-to-work with insulins they took two shots of a day. I have a pump the delivers precise doses tailored to my needs.
   
   Two things I found difficult with the book, besides the heavy subject material, was how hard it was to follow the time frame- dates are rarely mentioned, but it pulls together at the end. Also, toward the second half of the book it deals a lot with complications, but mentions little about what she is doing to control the disease at that point.
   
   All in all, a good read, but if you have diabetes, don't be discouraged by it.



4. I have a 12 yr. old child with diabetes and had been looking for information to do a research project on; diabetes seemed to be what I was heading toward when I accidently came across this book. Looking at someone's point of view who has dealt with type 1 diabetes for most of her life and how she handled her care, monitoring of blood sugars, medical personnel, emotions, and relationships has put a whole new look on how I should or shouldn't teach and help my own child with this disease. The author made me understand completely what she had dealt with and how, making living with diabetes more understandable.



5. In all, Needles was a good memoir of living life with Type 1 diabetes. If you're looking for a happy, positive story about living with a chronic condition, this probably isn't for you, but the other 99% of books on diabetes are usually full of advice (though not necessarily practical) on that subject. What this book does, however, is shows one person's real experience with living with diabetes, which isn't always as great as the medical professionals would have everyone believe. Andie Dominick is a good author and helps provide a perspective that is noticably absent from the field of publishing on diabetes.

5 comments about The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up: A True Story.

1. If you are looking for an interesting/inspirational book about the day that Donny woke from a coma with the details and science behind it, this is not the book for you. The majority of the book is spent building the case for why this was a tried and true religious miracle. The book rambles on and on listing parish leaders/people and their involvement in the miracle. Finally, I just skipped to the 5 pages that detail the awakening and called it a day. Not the book I thought it would be.



2. The very idea that someone could wake up from a Rip Van Winkle like coma is amazing enough, but that the family could converse with him was astounding. I was left wanting to know a little more about Donny's eventual death and the effect of the waking on his family, but I suppose that story is still waiting to unfold.
   Donny's story should make us think about the kind of care we render to minimally conscious and comatose patients.
   I preached about this story one Father's Day.



3. While this book doesn't have a typical "happy ending" it ends with closure for the family, and is a very interesting and fairly well written book with a lot of backround information about the families and the struggles this couple experienced. Very good!



4. I could not believe they would let their dog run after their car all the way out to a suburb and I could not read anymore after he apparently got confused and lost the scent.
   
   What kind of end did HE come to ?



5. As a firefighter this book hit close to home. Also, the fact that I am a member of a fire department who unfortunately shared a similar case in which a firefighter was comatose for 13 years made this book extremely interesting. If you, or someone you know is a firefighter, buy this book. It it an easy, quick read yet it makes a person realize just how fragile life is. It also brings back memories of fires I have fought where just such an accident could have happened to me or my fellow firefighters. If you happen to be Catholic, the story is even more interesting. I highly recommend it.

No comments about Stealing Second Base: A Breast Cancer Survivor's Experience and Breast Cancer Expert's Story.

5 comments about The Siege: A Family's Journey Into the World of an Autistic Child.

1. Since other reviewers offer details, I will refrain from an overview, but I will call this an excellent, up close and familial view of autism. I would strongly advise this book to all who are interested, EXCEPT parents of a newly diagnosed child. Waiting until one is more comfortable with the diagnosis, this book would afford that parent with a much heartier and thorough delivery. I gave the book 4 stars because the actual writing was sometimes difficult to follow.
   This book is particularly good for two reasons:
   -it offers a historical (late 50's early 60's) look at autism
   -the book describes and investigates specific detailed behaviors of an austistic child



2. This is one of the great books about being human. Clara Park is a superb author, biographer - George Eliot would be her closest counterpoint in the world of fiction - and Jessy Park is an entrancing and inspiring figure. The book is about autism - but really about so very much else. The reader will learn as much about him/herself as about Jessy.



3. One feels that the Author could have achieved better results in dealing with her Daughter's Autism if she had been able to read this book: "Nobody Nowhere: the Extraordinary Autobiography of an Autistic by D Williams"
   
   The disparate conclusions/revelations contained in both are remarkable.



4. In 1957 when Jessy Park was born (called "Elly" in this book, but later identified by her mother in the sequel "Exiting Nirvana"), very little was known about autism. Elly/Jessy presented behavior that Kanner described more than a decade earlier (1943) when he first coined the term "autism."
   
   Elly/Jessy was largely nonverbal for much of her childhood and had difficulty connecting names to people. She loved mathematics and could do complex equations and recognized many polygons. She developed a fascination for counting that has since stayed with her. In 1961, Elly/Jessy then nearly 4 was formally diagnosed with autism. She was enrolled in special needs programs and made progress. She also as is noted in "Exiting Nirvana" proved to be a very talented artist.
   
   This is an excellent book that chronicles in minute detail autistic behavior and a family's love and acceptance. Elly/Jessy's three older siblings love her unconditionally as do their parents. Theirs is an intellectual family whose literary pursuits are quite evident throughout this account. It is one of the best early personal accounts of autism in a family.
   
   What makes this book unique is that when it was published, it rightfully challenged the parent blaming routine that was the order of the day. Elly/Jessy had three neurotypical (NT) siblings which automatically flies in the face of the disproven and completely asinine parent blaming. At no time was she neglected. She was loved, nurtured, encouraged and accepted.
   
   Her special interests in counting and polygons are recognized as an asset, an ability. Fortunately, she is not charged with "perseverating," a harmful and damning word that has caused more harm than it ever helped. It is an extremely judgmental, negative and destructive word in any tense that is best avoided. At no time is that harmful word ever applied to the NT population and the behavior is not limited to the autistic population either. That word is best replaced with "special interests," "repetitive verbalizations / behaviors" which are more accurate and also speak to tolerance whereas "perseverate" simply does not.
   
   The book closes with Elly/Jessy at age 8, making progress in her way and at her speed. She and her mother have blazed new trails that continue to weave throughtout autism awareness and acceptance today.



5. I have a 9 year old son with autism, and have aspergers myself, and I could not have written such an insightful book as did this mother.
   
   I got concepts and ideas I hadn't had prior to reading this book, such as the reason behind all the pronoun reversal which she theorizes and explains so well.
   
   I was then and am still now in awe of her meticulous record keeping and devotion to her daughter while still maintaining balance in her home and in her personal life. Our household seems to revolve around iep's, perseverations, dr.'s appts, everything 'autism'.
   
   Anything I try to say, I fear will come no where close to describing how essential this book is to the library of any mother with an autistic child, or how much it meant to me.
   
   Despite the fact I'm not especially fond of reading, I plan to read this book again, fearing I may have missed some wisdom there was so much.
   
   I found everything she wrote accessible to my life, despite our difference circumstances. Can't say that about many books I've read. And, I got Exiting Nirvana at the same time, and was glad I did, and eager to read it directly after The Seige.
   
   While all the books by Williams and Grandin and Attwood and the more medical type books by Shaw and Candles and Greenspan are super, this one was a STORY, you didn't have to DO anything or make appointments or grasp heavy medical info. Yet it gave me a more FOCUS and future vision and ideas for my child, to give him as successful, fulfilling and happy future.

5 comments about Laughing Allegra: The Inspiring Story of a Mother's Struggle and Triumph Raising a Daughter with Learning Disabilities.

1. Excellent and true story about a family dealing with their beloved daughter and a major learning disabilty.



2. I purchased this book many times, it is one that I keep in my car. I use it to help teachers, friends and family members understand my children and others like them. It has helped me understand why I feel the frustration when my kids "don't get it" or need extra guidance in different situations or in the public school system. It is a book that I give to their teachers in hope that they will take the time to read it. As I read this book for the first time, I highlighted many sentences, example - page 17 - quote "She was so funny and effervescent and her behavior was so far frm being considered " a problem" that my mother gave up all attempts at discipline or even expressions of disapproval".... I can remember so many times my kids - acting out -- but in a way that was just "their way" they are so full of expressions and life.
   
   most important - page 39 - There is more then enough heartace involved in coming to terms with the fact that your child is disabled. .... this is the truth, but with this book it helped me come to terms with it and I am trying to help others. Please take the time to read this book it will help you, empower you and your child. You are the voice for your child, you are their confidant. You need to read this book....another wonderful book is Legacy of the Blue Heron, Living with Learning Disabilities by Harry Sylvester.



3. I have read many books out there, and this is the best one that I have found. This book is much better than Dana Buchman's book called "A Special Education" in which she constantly refers to her daughter's mild mental retardation as a "learning difference". In this book, the author is honest and tells it like it is.... she does not sugar coat it like Buchman's book. In Buckman's book, she talked too much about herself instead of her daughter. The only negative part of Anne Ford's book is that she constantly talked about the private schools refusing to let her child attend, but if she had picked a public school, it is the law that they would have to allow her child to attend. Most regular private schools would not have the resources that her child would require. For instance, speech therapist, occupation therapist, physical therapist are not necessarily found in private schools, but public schools would have these resources because they are required by law to teach all children. Anne Ford did note this in her book. Finally, here are some quotes from Anne Ford's book that might be helpful...
   
   "a learning disability affects a person's ability to interpret what they see and hear or their ability to link information from different parts of the brain, because their brain is 'wired' a little differently. These differences can show up as specific difficulties with spoken and written language, with coordination, self-control, or with paying attention. People can have learning disabilities in reading, writing, math, and processing information."
   
   "Most children with LD can read words, but comprehension may be another matter entirely."
   
   "Children with LD can and do succeed in school."
   
   "Adults with LD can and do succeed in the workplace."
   
   "LD can be treated successfully, and children with LD can go on to live happy, normal lives."
   
   In conclusion, I highly recommend this book to all parents who have special needs children, and the teachers who teaches them.



4. This is a wonderful book for any parent, written in an honest, unvarnished manner. Very insightful..... with lessons on supporting, loving, and accepting one's child no matter that the child's reality differs from the parents' dream.



5. that all those schools turned Allegra down, her being from the prominent family she's from! Maybe the schools weren't really right for her, but I guess I assumed some would have done cartwheels (and made some adjustments) for the privilege of having a Ford in their school.

5 comments about One Way Ticket To Kansas: Caring About Someone With Borderline Personality Disorder And Finding A Healthy You.

1. This is your ticket to the start of a healed you! Ozzie_Tinman is the best pilot you can have in your journey to recover from the emotional scars caused by being affected by a borderline. Although the writing is hardly academic or professional, you will be given the best advice on how to start your journey to Kansas. Yes, the only way to save yourself is to LEAVE THE BORDERLINE FOR GOOD. Tips to remember:
   1.Ozzie_Tinman is a great pilot but YOU have to make all the arrangements for this flight and that includes getting the ticket, the passport and making sure you get a good seat and buckle up (these metaphors will make sense as you read the book).
   2. Don't get obsessed with reading about BPD- you don't need to become an expert - you need to heal yourself! I recommend "Boomerang Love" but that's about all you need.
   3. LEAVE, LEAVE , LEAVE - Don't assume the borderline will get better- according to the book for a borderline to cure itself it takes at least 4 years to happen and much therapy.
   4. Regain your self-esteem as that is what is preventing you from moving on!
   5. Kansas is a wonderful place that you have been before (you met the borderline) - you can get back there, difference is that you will be stronger, more beautiful, and much smarter than when you were before the borderline drained your soul!
   6. Think positive and don't dwell on then 10% of good times you had with the BPD- those were FAKE attempts made by the BPD to win you over so that the remanding 90% of time you suffered you will long for the good times to come back.



2. This book is really written for folks with family and friends who are either diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) or are exhibiting similar symptoms. I have both family and friends who have various psychological disorders including Borderline, Depression, Bipolar, Anxiety, Autism, etc. Information useful to many types of psychological disorders is included in this book. It hits head on a variety of symptoms and how to deal with them. While the focus is on BPD it has lots of how-to information for related or similar disorders.
   
   This is a great book. It's partly about the journey of the author "Ozzie" as he recounts dealing with his borderline wife. It's heartbreaking and encouraging at the same time. Ozzie has had quite a tough time but he's handled it with a grace that I hope I can achieve.
   
   One Way Ticket To Kansas is also about educating us on symptoms, possible responses to behavior, access to support, etc. If you think you have someone near you with BPD you really should read this book. This is this kind of book I'll buy and give away to people needing the help. It's just that good.
   
   Best of the book: Chapter 7 "Ozzie Stinkin' Thinkin'" where Ozzie helps us understand how our own thinking becomes warped. Even better he helps us understand how to modify our thinking to become healthier for us, and at the same time possibly healthier for our loved one with BPD.
   
   Buy it now for immediate insight and support.
   
   I hope you enjoy One Way Ticket To Kansas.



3. This book is helpful to us ozzies (those without bipolar) and lets you know that what you are experiencing is not unusual. that others are going through exactly what you are also.



4. This book is a must have for all people who have a borderline person in their life. This book is an easy read and captures the true feelings a person without borderline personality disorder is experiencing. It has helped validate me as a person and has allowed me to move on. I highly recommend this book !!



5. In my opinion this is hands down the best book out there for dealing with someone with borderline personality disorder. Yes, there is SWOE and other books that are out there, but One Way Ticket To Kansas is the only book that I have come across that is writen from the perspective of a spouse. It is also the only book out there that explains in detail the eratic and seriouly disturbed behaviors the person with BPD directs at the person they are most intimately close to, the spouse. The information in One Way Ticket To Kansas is easy to read, entertaining, and the author has a knack for explaining the complexities of bpd in easy to understand terms. While the book is sensitive to the person with bpd, it also does not pull any punches either and gives an honest look at the effects to caring about someone with bpd. This book will make many light bulbs go off in your head, and help you realize that you have had the power all along to find happiness. It's empowering to the reader and focusses specifically on the reader, not the person with bpd. Once you start reading this book you will not want to put it down. Then you will read it again as you will emotionally connect with the author about so many aspect of your life. This is a must have book.