2 comments about A Bar On Every Corner: Sobering Up in a Tempting World.

1. Jack Erdmann delivers a gift - a brutally honest true story about one man's struggle with alcohol. However, this book is more than just a book about alcohol and alcoholics - it is a great story, period. The language may be raw or lyrical, and the story is heartbreaking, funny, and ultimately filled with hope. If you enjoy this book read 'Whiskey's Children', by the same author.



2. What a wonderful, wonderful book about the recovery and the real life application of the
   twelve steps that have taken a man from hell into sobriety and sanity. This is a inspiring
   honest book about a man who finds hope and the miracles that follow.
   A great book !!

2 comments about God's Golden Acre: The Inspirational Story of One Woman's Fight for Some of the World's Most Vulnerable AIDS Orphans.

1. This a very powerful and wonderful story. Heather is an Angel sent to care and love the orphans. She stood-up against all odds and survived the worst with her faith in God. God Bless Her and All The People she comes in contact with. Thank You Heather for sharing your story.



2. God's Golden Acre
   
   I'm a prolific, but exceedingly choosy reader. I'm not one to jump all around every book I read, shaking my tamborine!
   
   This book, however, proved its value with the first few words. It is a very rare book that slows my automatically quick reading down, in order to absorb every word. I thought I would breeze through this interesting book in an afternoon. Not so. Evening came, and I was deeply engrossed. The book was way beyond interesting. Mesmerising would be a better word.
   
   I was on a journey through Heather's life. I was on a quest to find out what she found, in the dim African huts where sometimes children were dying. Sometimes alone. I was hungering to find out how she was going to be able to help - just one person against unimaginable odds.
   
   All through, the story is told on a very upbeat note. Heather tells how she has learned to help a dying child in the best way possible. She tells how she manages to go on, with sick children and AIDS all around her. She tells it is a way that makes me want to leave my comfortable world, hop a plane, and swing in beside her, to help those children. She presents as a very real human being, like many of us. However, she follows God's call to spend her life helping helpless children, unlike most of us.
   
   She has success stories too. Beautiful little faces surround her, full of health. Many color photos illustrate her book. Heather and her one-in-a-million husband love what they are doing. I am certain that God loves what they are doing. Any reader will be stunned, challenged, delighted, and unwilling to leave the book until it is finished.
   
   I love this book! I'm going to buy copies, and send them to my best friends. You should take a long evening, and swim into this book. You will not come out the same.

5 comments about Whiskey's Children.

1. Think of all the good things you wish for your children -- health, happiness, safety and love must surely be on the list -- and then realize, if you are an alcoholic, what you may in truth pass on: fear, grief, rage, an inability to love or be loved, and the terminal disease of alcoholism itself. Mr. Erdmann explores his heritage of alcoholism, passed down from his grandfather to his father to him, and the legacy he gave his children. Burdens too big and confusing for their small trembling shoulders, fear, confusion -- so so sad, and so so common. If you are or think you are an alcoholic, do yourself and the people you love a favor and read this. And even if you don't want to quit drinking, find an AA meeting, shut your mouth and open your ears; give your children a chance, even if you never got one.



2. Alcoholism is not an emotional disorder per se, but it does sometimes have emotional triggers. When my dad started drinking in beer joints, he was in his thirties and had buried two wives and five children. I suffered inconsqentially as a result of his stopping at the nearest joint from our house on the way back for Saturday movies on the town, and I would have to hide in the backseat of the car. Since we had to traverse many curves for the few miles to get home, I remember praying all the way there for God to let us live.
   
   You can tell the children whose dad drinks alcohol, because he carries a load of guilt and pain, thinking he caused the abuse he would later reap by, looking at families who walk by and look at the young ones' faces. It is devastating.
   
   This town has a long history going back to bootlegger days before prohibition of brewing their own 'spirits' openly and for a long time on the main street of town (which they do again in this modern, accepting age), and the men are proud to be drinkers. They look down on those who are not addicted to alcohol. They are the dummies. One local writer told me recently, "You think I am just a drunk." I replied, "If I did that, why would I ask you to show me how to drink?" which he refused to do as I have liver disease. He was his usual 'confused' self and asked "Why did you choose me?" My honest answer, "I trust you because I know you won't touch me" and I thought he might feel enough responsibility to not let any of the other drunks take advantage if I started acting silly. But he told me that he can't control his own drinking, so he ended up not even offering me a drink of water. Ever! Now, I know water is not going to cause this hemangioma to burst, but it seems that something else did. Probably the pain pills I have taken for a chronic nerve pain I have had since 1994. Feeling sorry for me yet, Arthur Hardaway.
   
   Jack Daniels' Whiskey from right here in Tennessee is internationally known and sought after; people come from all over the United States looking for Lynchburg, Tennessee, as if they were seeking the Holy Grail. I heard a bigoted preacher get all emotional about the difference in immersion vs. sprinkling. He said that sprinkling is like scattering a little dirt on top of a dead person instead of burying him in a grave. Since I am a Methodist, I told him that he 'hit below the belt.' He also proclaimed that only immersed Baptists will enter Heaven. For years, I thought it was Seventh Day Adventists who preached that. My sister Evelyn belonged to that group for awhile until they betrayed her.
   
   Jack Erdmann has written othre books because I have reviewed one or more. He was the son of a jazz musician and an ex-chorus dancer in St. Louis. His reminiscing starts in 1934 when, as an altar boy, he drank the communion wine. Then, like this local writer, he drank because of loneliness. He even thinks his son should be allowed to buy beer when he is old enough to 'serve his country' in war but not yet old enough to vote. How dumb can you be!
   
   Co-writer Larry Kearney, a poet who settled in San Francisco (where Jack lives), was born in Brooklyn in 1943. Both are recovering alcoholics.



3. Jack Erdmann's story of his long struggle back from the strangling grip that alcoholism held on his life, as well as over members of his family for four generations, is a tour de force. This book is not just for alcoholics, or for drinkers who feel that they "don't have a problem," it is for everyone who is willing to accompany Erdmann on a harrowing journey.

   For those readers with alcoholics in the family, they--we--find ourselves nodding with recognition, and ultimately uplifted by the knowledge that there's a way up from the bottom. They will find assistance from now-sober alcoholics "with kind eyes, offering hot cups of bad coffee," in the words of Anne Lamott, a recovering alcoholic herself, who wrote the foreword.

   You want an "easy, feel-good" book--well, there are plenty of THOSE. You want one that will change your life, or that of someone whom you love, or that will give breathtaking insights into the lives of the alcoholics you know, "Whiskey's Children" is the best effort I've found. There are pathos, self-degradation, guilt, self-loathing, and even a quiet humor in these pages.

   If Amazon offered more than five stars, Erdmann and his co-author Larry Kearney would have earned them many times over. Not just for writing, but from their phoenix-life resurrection from the ashes of an alcoholic life.

   This is a wonderful book.




4. An unusal accounting of a whole bunch of ingested liquor. Happily with a happy ending. Sadly, though, a between-the-lines documentary of a beat poet who coulda been a contendah. Then again, he's still here now, and b.p. can be thought of as re-manifest in such pubs as McSweeney's where Mr. Erdmann (via Mr. Kearney) might consider submitting manuscript.



5. Whiskey's Children is a great book, period. While it chronicled the casual horrors and quiet heartbreak of a family damaged by alcohol better than any book I've read, it also tells a universal story of human frailty and persistance. It is shocking, depressing...and funny. Read it for any reason, and then read 'A Bar on Every Corner' by the same author.

5 comments about April Fool's Day: A Modern Love Story.

1. APRIL FOOL'S DAY was the hardest book Bryce Courtenay ever wrote, and it's also one of the hardest books I ever read. I started it (the first time) on a Friday evening and did nothing but read (and occasionally try to sleep) until I had finished it -- I couldn't imagine stepping out of the middle of the story into my own life. I've read this book, given it away, bought it again, several times: it's not a book you can forget.
   
   Courtenay's son Damon was born in Australia with severe haemophilia. Along with the moving story of an afflicted but strong-spirited boy, Courtenay paints a bitter and angry picture of the Australian medical community at that time, steeped in paternalism and political expediency.
   
   Several times a week Damon would bleed into his joints, and his father would take him to the hospital for infusion of Factor VIII to induce clotting. In other countries families were allowed to stock Factor VIII and infuse at home, minimizing both disruption to the family and permanent damage to joints. This was not permitted in Australia, to the extreme detriment of haemophiliacs and their families.
   
   Worse than this, the screening and fractionation of donated blood in Australia did not at that time meet safety standards known and required in other countries. Damon contracted AIDS from the contaminated Australian blood supply and died of that disease on April Fool's Day in 1991.
   
   The book is saturated with the author's bitterness, and the reader can't fail to walk his angry path with him. You WANT it to have been different, you WANT to find a justification or at least an exculpation for the medical mismanagement of Damon and the entire cohort of haemophiliacs in that time and place.
   
   You'll find a celebration of Damon's spirit and his family's faithful support. You'll find love that fights tooth and nail for Damon. But you won't find forgiveness or exoneration, and if you're like me you'll think you should, and keep reading the book again looking for it -- in yourself if not in the author.
   
   Courtenay's work (THE POWER OF ONE, TANDIA, WHITETHORN, etc) appears not to be well known in the United States, although he's highly regarded in his birth county (South Africa) and adopted country (Australia). APRIL FOOL'S DAY should be more widely known. It's a challenging read with a personal message the reader has to translate and tease apart. Read it for that challenge.



2. I gotta say one thing; WELL DONE BRYCE!!!! first, i didn't cry; i'm not real sentimental, but i was very touched and i think that damon was a man of steel; going through 24 years of pain and suffering. i wanted to cry when damon's friends came over. well done, courtenays.



3. This book affected me so deeply and has stayed with me since I first read it years ago. Having lost a loved one to AIDS I could relate to Bryce Courtenay's pain and I could feel the anger and passion he felt writing this book. Through Bryce's amazing talent for telling a story I felt I really knew Damon and his family. When I got to the last page I let out a deep sigh and cried for Damon, for my own loved one and for everyone affected by AIDS. I thank Bryce for having the courage to write this important book and for sharing Damon's life with us all.
   
   I've read several of Bryce Courtenay's books and every one is a gem. I'm only disappointed that his books are not published in The United States and not readily available in our local bookstores.
   
   I highly recommend this book to everyone and I know you'll be hooked on Bryce forever afterward.



4. I am a fan of Bryce Courtenay, and have read all his books. This one tells the true story of his last son, Damon, who was born with haemophilia and went through a very hard life, still one full of love and joy. I found myself crying for what happened to Damon, from the purple head episode in hospital to the AIDS he caught during a blood transfusion. And I do completely agree with what Damon said, whatever your problem is, HEALTH is a gift, the most precious one we possess, together with LOVE. The book is about love against the odds, the prejudice, the injustice of a health and political system in Australia in the 1980s; it is full of details and vivid images, and I can imagine how hard it was for the author to write about his own experience, and the suffering in trying to explain in a clear way what exactly happened to him and his family those days. Everyone who has been through a quite serious illness will love this book, as I did. Thanks, Bryce.



5. I bought this book when we lived in Australia from 1993/1994. I have since read the book over and over again and have lent it to family and friends under the strict mandate that they must return it to me upon completion. This is the most moving book I have ever read and it will be one that I will keep forever. I cried, I laughed, I cheered and I was inspired by Damon's courage and determination to not only live a normal life but to overcome the stigma associated with HIV/AIDs. Bryce Courtney has written a beautiful testimonally to his son's life. I hope every parent loves their child as much as the Courtney's did to not only let him live his life but to also allow him to die with dignity. His girlfriend, Celeste, was also amazing. How many of us could stand by our significant others knowing what she did about the ultimate outcome.

   This book is a must read on everyone's list, I am only sorry that it is out of print.

4 comments about Through the Fire & Through the Water: My Triumph over Cancer.

1. This book was so encouraging to my faith I cried during many parts of it. I was so blessed by Betty's perseverance even in severe pain and with the appearances of recurrences to the cancer. Her candid stories of how much the circumstances threatned to consume her faith--but didn't--were inspiring. We truly cannot walk by what we see, but must walk by faith! A great book for anyone who believes in divine healing. My advice: Read it now before the enemy hits!



2. This book was so encouraging to my faith I cried during many parts of it. I was so blessed by Betty's perseverance even in severe pain and with the appearances of recurrences to the cancer. Her candid stories of how much the circumstances threatned to consume her faith--but didn't--were inspiring. We truly cannot walk by what we see, but must walk by faith! A great book for anyone who believes in divine healing. My advice: Read it now before the enemy hits!



3. Unfortunately I read Dr. Betty's book after my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. But I'm glad I did. This book is full of information for anyone who is going through treatments with cancer or his/her loved ones. I truly enjoyed the scriptures and her candid telling of her triumph through the fire and water. I praise God for Dr. Betty Price and my sister's healing. May God continue to bless the Price family.



4. This is one of the best book I have read on someone's experience with cancer. What I like about the book was the medical doctor explanation of what cancer is. The author's experience was real and truthful. This book will help you not only to have faith, but also tells you what to expect. So many times cancer patient don't know what to expect or even the questions to ask. The book is well written and walks you through a step by step process.

4 comments about Silent Storm: Finding Spiritual Shelter During Hepatitis C.

1. Silent Storm is the perfect title for a book about Hepatitis C. Not only is Hepatitis C quickly spreading throughout the world, it is a disease we do not talk about openly. Two men who are not swayed by societal stigma are Mark Prater and Chris Carden. These authors openly tell the story of one family's journey through this devastating illness and describe the emotional side effects that are caused by its treatment. While this subject matter could have been too painful to read, the authors' focus on the blessings of family and friends, as well as, the family's ultimate faith in God make Silent Storm an informative and truly inspiring tale.
   
   There is something about sharing a common experience with another person that somehow brings comfort, peace and the feeling that you are not alone. I read Silent Storm a month after my husband finished his treatment for Hepatitis C. Reading about the experiences of Mark and Carol Prater helped me begin my own healing process. Right now, my 13-year-old daughter is reading the book. My 15-year-old son will read it next. I thought that reading about how another family dealt with the situation would be helpful, especially the explanations about the changes in personality that occur during treatment. It was difficult for our teenagers to understand and accept the drastic differences in their father. Their heads understood that the changes in his personality were due to the medication, but their tender hearts could not help but to be hurt. Silent Storm may allow them to separate the side effects of the treatment from the man that continues to be their father.
   
   I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has a family member, friend or co-worker with Hepatitis C. The story told will help readers understand that the negative side effects they see are not a reflection of the person they know and love. They are a reflection of a person struggling to be what they once were. Silent Storm shows us all that the struggle is worth fighting and that it is only through patience, love, and faith does one reach that goal.



2. Silent Storm takes you on a journey into the world of a Christian, who through no fault of his own, contracted and literally "fought" Hepatitis C. It expels myths about the disease and provides much needed facts. The language used makes it an easy read while it's fast pace and descriptive language holds your undivided attention. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. It helped me understand how widespread Hepatitis C is, as well as, how it can be prevented and treated. Since drug usage and sexual activity may begin at an early age, this book can be used at the elementary school level yet it is not so simple as to "turn off" the highly educated. It could be used in an English class, a health class, a Sunday School class or with a youth group. It has the makeup of a good film and would be very helpful in educating incarcerated offenders. As Mark Prater undergoes diagnosis, treatment and prognosis, as the reader I felt as if I was experiencing what he and his family were going through. As he experienced depression and struck out at his family, I knew in my heart that they were able to remain accepting and loving because they loved him with the agape love of God. It was heart wrenching when Mark was ready to give up only one month short of completing his treatment. This demonstrates the ghastly effects of this disease and the treatment. I found myself on an emotional roller coaster as I traveled through this journey with Mark Prater and his family. The end of the book contains questions and answers involving Mark's doctors, which are very "down to earth" and enlightening. This was a real eye opener for me. Because of the treatment involved it also helped me better understand the health issues of individuals undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. I will never think of a Hepatitis C or cancer patient the same again. Finally, once again through this book, I came to realize how blessed I am. I can't stop talking about this book and cannot give it enough accolades. In fact, I have bought several copies for gifts. This is a must read!!!



3. This is an important book for anyone battling Hepatitis. Mark's story is fascinating. You truly feel the emotional and psychological turmoil that Mark, his wife, his children, family and friends felt. Mark's insights into the world of television news and the interplay between battling a chronic disease and remaining in the public eye are inspiring. His faith and devout spirituality along with his sheer willpower to overcome send an important message to anyone battling Hepatitis or any other chronic disease.



4. Being able to watch and listen to Mark Prater on a daily basis thru TV and radio and getting to listen to a update from day one of the announcement of his disease to current, the book gives so much more detail of what his family, friends and co-workers went thru with him to aid in the healing of his body. This book will open your eyes and take you behind the man who we see with a bright smile and laugh to struggle with the treatments to overcome Hepatitis C. May God continue to Bless you Mark, Carol and family.

5 comments about Bill W.: A Biography of Alcoholics Anonymous Cofounder Bill Wilson.

1. Marital difficulties
   Wilson was serially unfaithful to his wife Lois. Wilson 's affairs with women caused controversy and concern within AA and it was common knowledge in New York AA circles. His interest in younger women increased with his age, and caused Barry Leach and other friends of Wilson to form a "Founders Watch". People were assigned to keep an eye on Wilson during the socializing that followed AA functions and to separate and steer away those young women who caught Wilson's interest. Wilson, like many in his generation, could be sexist, but he was also "capable of treating the women who worked with him with dignity and respect". In the mid 1950s he began an affair with Helen Wyn, a woman 22 years his junior, "in duration, intensity and scope" this was different from his other affairs. Wilson at one point discussed divorcing Lois to marry Helen. Wilson with determined perseverance was able to overcome the AA trustees objections, and renegotiated his royalty agreements with them in 1963, which allowed him to include Helen Wynn in his estate. He left 10% of his book royalties to Helen and the other 90% to his wife Lois. In 1968 with Wilson's illness making it harder for them to spend time together, Helen bought a house in Ireland.
   
   Alternative cures and spiritualism
   In the 1950s Wilson experimented with LSD in medically supervised experiments with Gerard Heard and Aldous Huxley. With Wilson's invitation his wife Lois, Father Dowling, and Nell Wing also participated in experimentation of this drug. Later Wilson wrote to Carl Jung, praising the results and recommending it as validation of Jung's spiritual experience. (The letter was not in fact sent as Jung had died.)
   
   At a parapsychology meeting in the 1960s, Wilson met Abram Hoffer and learned about the potential mood-stabilizing effects of niacin. Wilson was impressed with experiments indicating that alcoholics who were given niacin had a better sobriety rate, and he began to see niacin "as completing the third leg in the stool, the physical to complement the spiritual and emotional." Wilson also believed that niacin had given him relief from depression, and he promoted the vitamin within the AA community and with the National Institute of Mental Health as a treatment for schizophrenia. However, Wilson created a major furor in AA because he used the AA office and letterhead in his promotion.
   
   For Wilson, spiritualism (communicating with the spirits of the dead) was a life-long interest. One of his letters to his spiritual adviser Father Ed Dowling suggests that while Wilson was working on his book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions he felt that spirits were helping him, in particular a 15th century monk named Boniface.[18] Wilson believed that the living could communicate with the dead and kept a "Spook Room" in his basement, where he along and others would conduct seances with a Ouijiboard, as well as experiment with automatic writing. Despite his conviction that he had evidence for the reality of the spiritual world, Wilson chose not to share this with AA.



2. I've been a "friend" of Bill and Dr. Bob since Christmas 1990, and have read a lot of material, both "conference approved" and other, and this book is probably the best biography of Bill W. that I've come across. I have to disagree with the reviewers who gave this work a low rating... I do not see this biography as a "hatchet job" or any sort of attempt to demean or diminish the memory of Bill Wilson.
   
   Bill was not saint, and he never really sought sainthood. If some hold him to saintly standards or infallible behavior, those depictions were\are pressed on him.
   
   Hartigan successfully describes Bill's childhood, young adulthood, service years, marriage and the early years of AA's struggles in great detail. Until I read this book, I knew from other readings that Bill had many faults, but I did not fully appreciate the depth of his alcoholic behavior, and its effect on both Bill and Lois. I also did not appreciate the severity Bill's lifelong struggle with deep depression.
   
   This biography also does a good job putting context and details to Bill's lesser known "adventures" which folks hostile to AA use to discredit Bill and the AA program.
   
   Bill experimented with LSD, starting in the 50's and into the 60's... starting when the drug was legal and being investigated for psychotherapeutic potential to help alcoholics and schizophrenics.
   
   Bill actively promoted niacin for alcoholics, dragging the AA name into this promotion, but it was out of enthusiasm and hope to help the still suffering alcoholic. He was called to task for this, and the AA name removed from such endorsements.
   
   Bill was unfaithful to Lois and maintained long term relationships outside his marriage. This biography, written by the personal secretary to Lois at the end of her long life, makes no excuses for this behavior, but does add context.
   
   I came away with greater appreciation of Bill Wilson, the man, who overcame many serious problems to help create an organization that has helped many thousands of people live better lives.



3. The author went to work for Bill W's widow. Eventually this book resulted, after both were dead.
   
   The book provides a much needed perspective. It is clear on Bill's early atheism (which he called agnosticism) and helps focus how AA is a spiritual program and not a religious one and wny.
   
   Over and over again it explains the forces that were being reacted against. If you've listened to Bill and Charlie (they are available for free on the internet as mp3 downloads for ipods and similar products -- or your computer), this fills in the gaps.
   
   For example, everyone knows about Bill as a womanizer in his later years. What people do not know is that about the time he turned forty, his wife decided that she was done with sex. She was older than he was, went through menopause and retired from sex. No wonder that has he got into his fifties he started thinking of her more as a mother figure and less as a wife figure.
   
   In a modern hospital, such as where my wife works, everyone knows about "banana bags" (IVs that are yellow from the b-vitamins, especially niacin, used routinely on alcoholics who have serious problems because of bad diet) -- but I never knew that started with niacin for alcoholics.
   
   Or the rumors of financial misuse -- at complete odds with poverty and the audits -- now I know how they started and how they kept going.
   
   I'm not an alcoholic (well, I've never had a drink, so I'm at least a very dry alcoholic), though I've sent a number of clients to 12 step programs, until recently I did not have the slightest idea what they were about.
   
   With this I understand what makes AA different from every other program out there, why it found that balance and how it was shaped and touched by the personality of its founder.
   
   The book is an easy read, and gripping. I finished it over a weekend, along with other projects and preparing and teaching a Sunday School lesson.
   
   It was interesting, complex, consistent and had a basic appreciation and fondness for the subject.
   
   I'm not sure how it plays inside AA, but from the outside I find myself admiring Bill W and AA a great deal from having read this book. Heck, I even got started on the "Big Book" (I've read about half of it so far).
   
   If you've gotten to this page where the book is advertised, it is probably worth your while to buy it. I got my copy at half price books for six dollars. They had a bundle of them. Used copies in excellent to new condition abound.
   
   Buy it, read it, think about it. Well worth the read.



4. This is an amazing bio of Bill W.
   
   I've read pass it on and afew other AA related books, nothing has held my interest with such awe as this wonderful book.
   
   This book gives you a better understanding of Bill. Everyone has there own opinion.



5. Of late, I have been doing a lot of research work and writing on the differences in religious views, religious background, and religious influences on A.A. co-founders Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith. In that connection, I have found myself turning more and more to Francis Hartigan's account and quoting portions of it in various contexts. The Bill Wilson story itself has been hacked around in so many ways, many of them inaccurate, that I look for the tidbits that show the author's real familiarity and lack thereof with the subject at hand. In Hartigan's case, I found his recital of the "spiritual experience" by Bill's grandfather, Hartigan's details on Lois Wilson, and Hartigan's accurate observations on Bill's decision for Christ at the Calvary Rescue Mission to be most refreshing and quotable. Among the plethora of recent books on Bill's life, I believe this Hartigan biography and the Bill W. Autobiography from the "Bedford Papers" as reported by Hazelden to be two important resources for learning A.A.'s historical, spiritual background. Dick B.

5 comments about The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams.

1. This book has to be the worst and most sickening case of cultural apropriation in the history of the US. The fact that it was writen by a white man is further proof of the emperialist and colonialist mentality that still exists in this nation twords the Native American Community. However when I forst read this book Nasdijj was still a navajo within the eyes of the public. At the time the book mooved me deaply. Nasdijj's use if diction and the storytelling nature of his narative was beutifle. It made me want to learn more about the status and problems facing the Plains Indian community and work bring about change. That meens somthing to me and despite what I know now that initial responce when I first read this book stays with me to this day. I urge those who are going to critisize this book to read it first if you have not, and when you read it, do so with eyes un clouded by the trouth.



2. It's a shame that because of works like this, not to mention the Forrest Carter (Education of Little Tree) scandal a few years back, many unknown and undiscovered--but authentic--Native American writers will probably have to struggle that much harder to become published. Well-established American Indian authors are already naturally suspect of any newcomers on the scene; the sad fact is that for some reason Native American culture and identity is misappropriated by more misguided white writers--whatever their individual agendas might be--than any other race or ethnic group. The sad truth is that, for every Forrest Carter and Timothy Barris who manage to secure a publishing contract, there are dozens of truly deserving Native voices that are going unheard.And thanks to these imposters making the buying public- as well as agents and editors- increasingly suspicious of anyone claiming to be Native American-their chances to be read and heard are only going to diminish.



3. To hold the power to move people with words regardless of the validity of those words is a very impressive art. With the exception of one specific actor, no one in history has made a powerful film about his or her own life. There is no reason to believe that written works shoud be treated differently from movies in this respect. Obviously this writer has realized that human deception is an important method of eliciting an emotional response from an audience. By reading the responses from readers prior to the false exposure of the true writer, it is clear that this man or woman is light years ahead of current authors when it comes to manipulating the human brain into believing a story, factual or not. With the increasing pace of desensitization of the mind in recent years, obviously new techniques must be made available to entertain an insatiable public. To say that this author's amazing work is only confined within the pages of the book is downwright ludicrous. Everything, including the monikor and real identity of "Timothy Barris" is part of a larger piece of fiction that may be even further exposed as time passes. After this "identity" was unearthed, opposite and even stronger emotional responses were elicited from readers, demonstrated in print on these very pages of Amazon.com. Is it not true that disgust and outrage are also emotions that sub-par authors struggle to touch in their works? "The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams" is such an example of a work of writing and deception that is capable of plucking each string of human emotion in such a way that has never been attempted before. There is a larger picture.
   
   -AK



4. I read this book last year, and was moved by it, though I often found it rather fuzzy on certain details, and the chronology seemed to jump around. Now, I learn this guy is a total FRAUD: He's not Indian and Tommy didn't exist. He's apparently lazy, too: I've read that his descriptions of Navajo culture don't fit with reality, either. This is disgraceful, both his lying about his heritage, and inventing this sick child, as well as the other people he made up. What a waste of time.
   So many literary frauds have been exposed this month (Jan 06). Now, I'm wondering about a few other memoirs that have been popular the last few years. I'm rather disinclined to buy any memoirs these days; and I bet I'm not the only one who feels this way. I bet these scandals hurt sales of this book genre.



5. I haven't read any of "Nasdijj"'s writings, and I don't expect to do so, but as a REAL Amerind (Cherokee), I am disturbed and indignant at Navajos being used as a publicity hook by a white sado-masochist. Don't take my word for it. Read an exhaustive exposé at
   http://www.laweekly.com/index.php option=com_lawcontent&task=view&id=12468&Itemid=47

No comments about Congratulations! It's Asperger Syndrome.

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.