5 comments about My Journey to Lhasa: The Classic Story of the Only Western Woman Who Succeeded in Entering the Forbidden City.

1. Every warm-blooded traveler knows that to savor a journey, to experience a journey, one has to become the journey. Of course, that same traveler will also tell you that typically that also means parking one's notions of comfort at home in exchange for rewards that happily outstrip bodily discomfiture, because places of intense emotion reveal themselves only to the hardy and the intrepid.
   
   But this story chronicles a veritable traveler boot camp! To bed down on rocks, sleep on snow, go hungry, thirsty and unclean, travel by starlight, dangle from a rope over a gorge, beg for food, awaken to the snuffle of wild predators... all this by a woman, almost a 100 years ago, 55 years old and on the run. I thrill and shudder at once and envy her the journey sometimes (and not so much at other times!).
   
   I recently had a tantalizing taste of Tibet's fantasmagoric beauty - like that of a land spellbound by unscrupulous sorcery, where life is harsh, unforgiving, unbending but so endowed by natural splendor that one is unable to escape its thrall. As her adventure unfolds in this well-paced account, I could imagine her tramping through these fabled lands, forging through fog-filled valleys, melting into the moonshine or greeting a golden sunrise at the end of a hard night's trek. I regret that she doesn't pause to paint a fuller picture of what must have been spectacular scenery.
   
   It is also interesting to sketch her personality through her own pen. The portrait that emerges is that of a strong-willed, intelligent, somewhat arrogant woman of unwavering determination, gritty endurance and one who loves a challenge. I have to applaud her unconditionally for the original motivation that launched her on this endeavor. She would have made a great CEO in our times.
   
   Yes, the style is a little dated, as one reviewer commented, but why should that be surprising? This is a period piece. I find her use of Tibetan words occasionally distracting and the Introduction by Diana Rowan is downright hagiographic and entirely dispensable, or at least, deferrable until the end of the author's own story.
   
   If you are a traveler at heart this travelogue cannot fail to touch you.



2. Personally, I love this book and have read it more than three times. If, for no other reason, you have an interest in Tibet prior to the Chinese invasion in 1950, this book leaves for posterity a Tibet that no longer exists. The border is gone from modern maps, but even a Westerners' interpretation of their daily lives, is treasure to us all of what once was, a free and spiritually ruled Tibet.
   
   The Chinese have a built a "Disneyland" at the foot of Potalla Palace. I need to remember it before the modern attempt at Chinesification of Tibet.



3. In 1923 at the age of 55, Alexandra David-Neel put on the robes of a Buddhist monk and walked across Tibet for four months on a pilgrimmage to the holy city of Lhasa. No European woman had ever entered the holy city before, and the road promised many dangers, from wild animals to blizzards to bandits. Her descriptions bear witness to a spunky evolved soul whose scholarly knowledge of Buddhism served her well in her adopted role as an itinerant monk. Her writing is elegant, punctuated by an unselfconscious humor and relentless perspicacity. Truly an adventure trek of many wonders.



4. When I was reading the reviews of this book, I was struck by the one of the reviews. It was very negative, and the reviewer missed the beauty of this book entirely. I was glad that I had already read it. I read the reviews because I was curious to see if others had enjoyed the book as much as I did. I was buying it again as a present for a friend. The author was a very unusual person, and this book is very much worth the read. She wrote about customs and values honestly as she saw them. She was not a dispassionate viewer, but I also felt that she was not judgemental or superior. When customs of two peoples are as different as some of Tibet and France are, they will shock a person and that person will remark. However, I felt that she loved and respected the people she wrote about, and she did a remarkable job in recounting what she saw. She gave her readers the pleasure of a most unusual journey with her and her young companion through a country that was worth writing about.



5. I did not see what the big deal was, and would not recommend it. Her language and the way she treated people is offensive, Eurocentric, condescending and narrow-minded -- typical of many travel books of this period. For those trying to learn about Tibet, there is not enough here to satisfy. This is your classic I-am-to-be-admired-because-I-left-the-comforts-of-civilization-applaud-me themed books. She is not a traveller but a trophy collector.

5 comments about The Happy Hooker: My Own Story.

1. Anyone who can sell well over 15 million copies of their book, must have something going for them. In Xaviera Hollander's case it's SEX! SEX! SEX!
   
   That subject always seems to sell, but what makes THE HAPPY HOOKER such a sinful delight, is just how much she enjoyed her work as the world's most famous madam and ever active prostitute. As so thoroughly and often clinically described, she really knows how to turn on both men and women and even both at the same time. And because of that she was bound to attract the attention of the not so understanding competition and the police.
   
   In 1960's New York, police corruption was rampant to say the least, Xaviera's co-author Robin Moore certainly knows that subject from having written THE FRENCH CONNECTION. I imagine he helped with that side of the book whilst MISTRESS Hollander concentrated on what she knows best. Her customer's tales and fetishes, their needs and demands, may not be everyone's cup of tea, but theres plenty on offer here for any reader whether at bedtime or on that break from work. Numerous studies show prostitution should be fully legal, controlled and regarded as any other "service" industry. Of course we're a long way from that happening. But pornography took a while to be fully accepted and look how well thats done, specially on wall street. Don't forget illegal gambling, off-track betting and the numbers racket and interest only loans becoming legit as well.
   
   Where would the everso righteous politicians be without the sex for sale industry. Xaviera's financial climax came in writing this book,not from running her brothel which at best had a hard job breaking even, what with all the police raids, lawyer exspenses, payoffs and bad debts she had to contend with in her business. As she saids and then there are the clothes`for the "sissy boys", the whips and chains, condoms, bed laundering and all that lubricant. With all that in mind, how how many of us can truely say we enjoy what we do? THE HAPPY HOOKER is both horny and honest about what she once did.



2. Perhaps this is my second time to read it after more than 15 years.It has always impressed me.and i wonder how how a human being could express this level of honesty to tell the most private life which most of us are ashamed even to think about telling. I feel very few tell such story and is quite natural to be like her acording Freud'view.More over it is written in splendid literary flow and i really appreciate her for the top level work she produced for the reader.



3. I read this book at a friend's house in the 1970's - so many of us high school buddies grabbed it off his bookshelf that he barely noticed. There's even an autobiography interspersed between the pages of gratuitous sex, as Ms. Hollander describes her upbringing in Holland, and her life as a prostitute and madam in New York City. Then, ofcourse, comes more descriptions of her escapades with men, women, couples, etc., in those days before most people worried about safety. This book may be less stunning in today's era of DVD and cyber-porn, but that doesn't exactly elevate it to literature. Still, it's readable style helped sell 15 million copies, leading one to surmise that trashy books have an erotic effect on more men and women than will admit it.



4. This book is a sexy classic. As a sex worker in New York, I found this book to be truthful and entertaining at the same time (although dated in many respects). You will find yourself liking her because she never feels sorry for herself and truly loves the business. She is street smart, funny, and feminine with no apologies. It's too bad they made such a bad movie adaption - I would love to see another one made!



5. As a modern twenty-something who wasn't even born when this book first came out in 1972, I enjoyed picking up what is undeniably a part of the history of American sexual culture. I tried to keep in perspective how shocking this book must have been in the 1970's, before our bookshelves and televisions were plasted with frank talk about sexual health and sexual deviance. To me, the opening lesbian girlhood fantasies and the nymphomania (of course all prostitutes love sex) seemed cliched, but I don't doubt Hollander's account of her early sexual life and introduction to the profession.
   
   Hollander had an fascinating life growing up in Holland and moving to America. She was well-educated and very intelligent, and she eloquently explained how a girl of her breeding could become absolutely trapped and imprisioned in an abusive relationship. Her insight on that relationship alone makes this book a worthwhile read.
   
   The book is a true page-turner as Hollander describes her sexual escapades in New York and the ways in which she earned money on her trip to Mexico. Hollander explains all the ins and outs of the high-end prositution business and the complicated formal relationship hookers have with their madam. The end of the book becomes a business treatise on the prostitution world, and it makes for compelling reading.

5 comments about Hons and Rebels (New York Review Books Classics).

1. Hons and Rebels, a memoir of the life of the "commie" Mitford sister, Jessica, details the authors life from her childhood in rural England up until the time she lived in Miami in the 1940s. The Mitford clan of six sisters (Nancy wrote The Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate) and one brother was an unusual one, prone to playing tricks upon one another and outsiders. Jessica grew up to embrace the ideals of the communist party, while her sister Unity became a Fascist, hobnobbing with Hitler. Jessica then ran away with and married her cousin Edwin Romilly, later moving to the United States.
   
   It's a brilliant memoir, poignant and funny at the same time. Although Jessica's not always the most sympathetic character, she's always witty, touching her story every now and then with a hint of irony. Jessica describes everything in painstaking detail, from the Cotswold countryside to certain conversations she had with various people. The memoir is evocative of the time period in which Jessica lived in.



2. "I'm normal, my wife is normal, but my daughters are each more foolish than the other. What do you say about my daughters? Isn't it very sad?" Mary S Lovell has taken David Mitford's complaint to heart. She has a lot to say about his daughters. But after decades (it seems) of books on those mad, bad and sometimes dangerous-to-know girls, do we want to hear it?
   
   The six Mitford girls pursued lives which are footnotes to 20th-century history: Nancy, the socialist aristocrat, gentle satirist of the society she yet delighted in; Unity, conceived in the Ontario town of Swastika, destined to become Hitler's pet; Diana, whose marriage to Oswald Mosley set her at the fringes of acceptability; Decca, who ended up as a fiery Communist émigré in California; Pam, the country girl who married a scientist and lived quietly in Gloucestershire; and Debo, who declared her intention, and carried out the act, of marrying a duke.
   
   By drawing on new sources, Lovell presents a fresh version of the Mitford story. She fleshes out "Muv" and Farve" - the fictional Uncle Matthew and Aunt Sadie of Nancy's novels - and adds to our understanding of their progeny. David Mitford, "the most handsome man of his generation" according to James Lees-Milne, is as eccentric as his fictional portrait in The Pursuit of Love. He did regard almost all his daughters' suitors as "sewers"; but the word was Tamil, "soor", meaning pig. His wife, Sydney, achieves a Daily Sketch headline, "Peeress Saves Ha'pence", for her economies over home laundry (she used paper napkins).



3. I absolutely loved this book. I had just finished reading the very long and very good "The Sisters" http://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Saga-Mitford-Family/dp/0393324141 about the Mitfords, and wanted more when I was finished. Jessica ("Decca") was the most fascinating of all -- the one who ran away to Spain and America and became widely known for her politics and her book, "The American Way of Death." (and an Oakland resident, like myself, which is always intriguing!)
   
   "Hons and Rebels" is charming, witty, and in its pages is not only an interesting glimpse of life in upper class England between the wars, but a love story as well, as she retells the story the story of her romance with her first husband, Esmond.
   
   I never heard Mitford speak, but her voice comes through strongly in this book -- witty, determined, able to laugh at herself and family, but serious about her politics and trying to get by as a young idealistic couple in America. (And I imagine a very posh British accent...) What I also liked was how she treated the relationship with her closest sister, Unity, who, as a Nazi sympathizer, was the polar political opposite of Decca. What a family.
   
   Highly, highly recommended.



4. I was looking for a Jessica Mitford autobiography and discovered "Hons & Rebels". The original title of this (1960) book is Daughters & Rebels". Is anything other than the title revised/updated? I'm such a fan of Mitford, I'd rather read her memoirs than Mary S. Lovell's "The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family", which is supposedly more detailed.



5. A view into the always fascinating Mitford family written by family member, and best-selling author, Jessica Mitford.
   The personal observations about the totally diverse life choices made made by the sisters boggles the mind and confounds the senses.

4 comments about The Girl With the Gallery: Edith Gregor Halpert And the Making of the Modern Art Market.

1. Like another reviewer, I find it hard to put this book down.
   It is frankly and beautifully written in a way that puts the reader in the back of the Rolls Royce with Abby Rockefeller and behind the desk with Edith in her Greenwich village gallery.
   
   I am only half way through the book and am savoring it thoroughly for the ride that it is taking me on: I feel like I walked the construction site of Rockefeller Center,toured Radio City Music before the first Rockette,
   and participated in persuading Mayor LaGuardia to put a subway stop at Rock Center....
   
   Fascinating and excellent read.



2. I had a lot of trouble putting aside the book so that I could take care of my normal daily chores and business. It was interesting to me from a variety of points. One of them was the excellent introduction information about how the author first learned of Edith Gegor Halpet and then how surprised she was to discover a treasure trove of available research material including an oral history that included more than 800 transcrbed pages. While I'm not in the gallery business, I do enjoy art and I found the book a very interesting story of how tough a business the marketing of art really is. Halpert's struggles opening and running a gallery have valuable lessons for any small business owner. Some of her sales techniques could be applied to almost any business with great success. The book is a great read and provides glimpses into the world of art, artists, patrons, museums, and the important contributions women have made to the art fields over the years. It's another example of how women have come into their own.



3. Fascinating bio and first rate discussion of the strange intersection of high-art and commerece. Shows how much artists owe to the people who support and believe in them.



4. The title here is just a little bit misleading. Yes Edith was the girl with the gallery, but there were a lot of girls that had galleries. What Edith built was THE Gallery, at least so far as modern American art was concerned. Furthermore she did it from the outside, she was born Russian, coming to America when she was six, and at the young age of 26 founding the Downtown Gallery in Greenwich Village.
   
   There was at the time no American art movement. The few painters of the time had great difficulty selling their work. Edith changed that. Her gallery specialized in the work of these New York locals, combined agressive selling with a devotion to this style that remained for forty four years.
   
   It was largely because of her that there is an American art scene. This book is a fine tribute to her life that has largely been forgotten.

5 comments about Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Woman Behind the Legend (Missouri Biography Series).

1. This is by far the best biography on Laura Ingalls Wilder available. This is a scholarly, indepth look that goes beyond her books and looks into what made her a writer. Written for adults.



2. This is the real-life Laura and family. Biographer John Miller provides tremendous detail in a smooth, quick and fascinating read. Gives a lot of historic context from the time of Charles and Caroline's childhood through the 1950's, and many new tidbits about Laura's actual childhood. The most thought-provoking and disturbing section of the book is toward the end, covering the period between 1925 and Laura's death in 1957.
   
   Rose, having worked and travelled all over the world as a successful author, came home to Rocky Ridge for some 9 years in the late 20's and early 30's. While there, she suffered frequent depression, writer's block, financial trouble, and a frustrating relationship with her mother, Laura. Yet it was at this time that she helped Laura begin the Little House books, the first of which was published in 1932. The collaboration between the two on the series has been a topic of contention among scholars, critics, and fans from the beginning. Here we learn the truth, book-by-book, on who wrote what, and how each felt about her role in the partnership.
   
   This truth is enlightening and yet Rose's sad mental state and resentment toward Laura is a bit heartbreaking for fans who still believe in Pa's beloved, spunky, hard-working, Plum Creek-swimming, Nellie Oleson-hating, hay-making, bible verse-reciting, school-teaching, buggy-riding, half-pint who wanted nothing more than to send her blind sister to college.



3. This would be a very interesting book if I had not already read all the little house series plus the book where she went to Mansfield from DeSmet and the one where she went to visit Rose in San Francisco.
   
   This is best read before reading the other books. The books by Laura Ingalls Wilder give more detail than any of the birographys by any other author.



4. I found this to be a good book, although I wish the author would have personalized Laura a little more. The ongoing battle between mother and daughter might have been overemphasized, but one comes to learn that this probably worked for both of them. I found a lot of good information, but the statistics were a little much. I found myself reading between the lines and wanted to get back to the meat of the story...Laura.
   
   I recommend this book to any Wilder fan, for it does give us a glimpse into the woman she really was. Like anyone else, Laura was only human, faults and all.
   
   Meloni Cassidy
   Author of Everlasting Journey



5. I purchased this book to read about how Laura Ingalls Wilder became the celebrated author of the Little House series of books. I was very disappointed, therefore, that this uninsightful, dry, fragmented, and repetitious tome read more like a bad history book with too many statistics, facts and figures, rather than character analysis, leaving me with no more knowledge of Laura's character than before I read it. For example, after describing ad nauseum all the organizations and activities one could possibly participate in their town, the author states that we do not know if Laura and her family enjoyed any of them. It was frustrating to constantly read the words "probably, maybe, if, we can presume ....." The author makes too many assumptions and repeatedly expresses his inability to accurately understand and relay Laura's personal feelings due to the unfortunate lack of diaries, letters, and journals left behind by Mrs. Wilder. Relying too much on her daughter, Rose's writings, he portrays Laura as an overprotective, condescending, controlling mother and a domineering wife who refused to vow to obey her husband during their wedding. Miller is not quite sure he even believes Rose's unflattering portrayal of her mother, because she was mentally ill and emotionally unstable herself. This book contains so much one-sided information about Laura's daughter that it should instead be titled Becoming Rose Wilder Lane.

5 comments about Her Name Is Woman: Book 2 (Her Name is Woman).

1. Gien Karssen is timeless in her presentation of the women of the Bible. You will love how she brings to light ideas and images you seldom hear. I have taught from her two books, three times and each time, new insights are revealed through her commentary.



2. I picked this book up in conjunction with a Bible study on women of the Bible I was evaluating, but ended up just reading the book on its own. Overall, it was a good read. Mrs. Karssen's book serves well as one part of a two-part encyclopedia of some women of the Bible, and can either be read devotionally (there are Scripture readings at the beginning of each chapter), in conjunction with a Bible study, or just as one would read an average book.
   
   In this day of confusion about the biblical view of women, with lots of people misreading and feeling pity for those of us who joyfully and gratefully accept the role God has given us in our homes, society, and His Church, Mrs. Karssen takes care to explain Jesus' view and treatment of women in one of the chapters about Mary, Martha's sister:
   
   "He started by giving His friendship...Up until that time a wide gulf had existed between men and women. After all, didn't the Jewish men thank God every morning in their prayers that He had created them 'not as a slave, nor a heathen, nor a woman?'... 'It would be better that the Articles of the Law be burned than that their contents be revealed to a woman publicly,' said their rabbis.
   
   "He had introduced a new respect for women. He had offered her possibilities that had been unknown until then. He had lifted her to His plan.... The purpose of her existence had become clear in listening to this Man. A conviction grew within her, 'I am created for God. I exist because of Him.' (pp. 168, 175)
   
   As I read through HER NAME IS WOMAN, as often happens with Bible lessons, there were some characters that resonated more strongly with me right now than others. Some were reminders to me of what I ought to be doing; some were cautionary, showing me the end result if I continue in some sinful path or other. Some chapters contain my highlights throughout, some chapters aren't marked up at all.
   
   While I'm not sure I enjoyed the book as "a good read" like many other books in my library, it is an invaluable resource to keep on hand, and I look forward to using it for many years to come.



3. Theis book includes relevant Scripture passages and questions about famous-and not so famous-women of the Bible. Among the women covered: Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Potiphar's wife, Miriam, Rahab, Peninnah, Hannah, the Queen of Shebah, the widow of Zarephath, the Shunammite, the Jewish maid of Naaman, Esther, Job's wife, Mary the mother of Jesus, Elizabeth, Anna, Mary and Martha of Bethany, the woman at the well, Dorcas, Lydia, Priscilla. Foreword is by Corrie Ten Boom



4. This has to be the most practical Bible study ever written. When I first became a Christian I felt that there weren't many women to identify with in the Bible. There are, in reality, so many! Their lessons are as timely now as they were in Biblical days. I feel as if I understand more how God wants me to live my life, and how I can glorify Him as only a woman can!



5. This book, is of superb literary reading. Wonderful for the theology student, the woman's group leader (a study is contained at the end of each chapter), and also for personal reading. You realise how important women were, and still are to God. Women are becoming more recognised... and through this book, you understand how, whether you work, are a Mum at home, a female church leader, a young or older woman YOUR personal importance to God... Gien Karssen is wonderful in the range of women she chooses. The only conclusions she draws are with the use of Biblical evidence, and not hear say or traditional beliefs. The only downfall? That there is no book 3.

3 comments about The Great Swim.

1. At a time when it was declared that no woman would ever be capable of swimming the English Channel, then the pinnacle challenge of endurance swimming, four American women set out to do just that. Not just the story of incredible and ground-breaking athletes, this is also the story of a time in American history when a woman was arrested for indecency on a New York beach for removing her shoes, and women were barred from the Olympics because it was unladylike to sweat. Gavin Mortimer has written an amazing history that was an absolute pleasure to read.



2. During the summer of 1926 the eyes of the world turned to Europe, specifically the small strip of water that separated the British Isles from France. Four American women had announced their intentions to swim the English Channel. The first swimmer to accomplish that feat would be the first woman to ever complete the channel swim, joining elite group of male athletes who had managed to navagate the channel. Women had been making huge strides in the realm of athletics, steadily setting aside stereotypes and prejudices.
   
   Four women, Gertrude Ederle, Mille Gade, Lillian Cannon and Clarabelle Barrett, completely different but each posessed the desire to be first to complete the swim. Each knew the accomplishment would thrust them into the public spotlight and could better their fortunes and futures. The public interest after their swims was beyond anything anyone could imagine, and changed their lives. The Great Swim captures the giddy optimism of the 1920's and the emergence of women as a force in the world. Using diaries, newspaper archives, and primary sources Gavin Mortimer brings to life the excitement that surrounded the swims, the people supporting the swimmers and the swimmers themselves. It is a unique glimpse into the "roaring twenties" and the way the idea of a lone female swimmer taking on the channel captured the American public's imagination. It is also a cautionary tale of public adolation, the power of the press and greed. An engrossing read.



3. In 1926 Gertrude Ederle, a 19 year old New Yorker, became the first woman to swim the English Channel. She did it in record time, faster than any of the five men who had swum the Channel before her. Although that feat is little more than the answer to a trivia question today, at the time it was an accomplishment that rated a huge parade through Manhattan. She was treated as a heroine, at least until Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic three years later.
   
   The Great Swim by Gavin Mortimer tells Ederle's story and the media frenzy surrounding it. There were three other American women competing to become the first woman to swim the Channel that year, including one who broke Ederle's record only three weeks after Ederle set it. What is most interesting is the role of the press in reporting, in making these historic events. Ederle and another of the swimmers were under contract to write regular newspaper columns about their preparations. Some newspapers sponsored one or more of the swimmers. They reported daily on the swimmers, and included lots of photos of the swimmers in their swimsuits. It had only been a few years since bathing costumes for women had included sleeves and stockings. The new one-piece form-fitting swimsuits of the twenties were the bee's knees. Incidentally, Ederle developed what may have been the first bikini, using men's swimming shorts and a modified bra. Shortly after she started the record-setting swim, she chucked the bra and swam the Channel topless.
   
   Mortimer covers the preparations, the swim itself, which was quite dramatic, and the aftermath. Ederle was treated as a conquering hero, then as an accused cheater, and then as a traveling show curiosity. If anyone thinks the media frenzies of today are new, they need only read The Great Swim to see that they are only carrying on a tradition as old as the press itself.

5 comments about Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett.

1. It is a very good book, but I am a bit skeptical of some of the content



2. Unlike most prison stories which chronicle the lives of men caught in the system, Life on the Outside, sketches the life of Elaine Bartlett, a mother of four and victim of the Rockefeller Drug Laws. Jennifer Gonnerman, a Village Voice staff writer, draws an amazing picture of the hardships and suffering women face when they try to weave their way back into society after a long prison term without any training or support. Unmatched by any other book, Life on the Outside will give readers a glimpse of the multi-generational effect prison terms have on families.



3. I feel as though I've now had an intimate look at life in the ghetto. This story of Elaine Bartlett is written with honesty and has no happy ending. It is a story of Rockefeller's ridiculous drug laws and the impact they had on one family. If you're looking for justice, you won't find it here. Elaine and her family have had lives of struggle, poverty, anger, crime, prison, drug addiction, etc. Not pretty. It is a book every American should read. It is my hope (and I didn't see any mention of this in the book) that the author, Jennifer Gonnerman, has given a percentage of the profits from this book to Elaine Bartlett. Without her, there would be no story. I want to thank Jennifer Gonnerman for writing this book. I hope Elaine has decorated her apartment and has some extra money stashed away in a safe place.



4. An important book. Several years ago, I read a lengthy rave review about this book in "The New York Times" and bought it. It's about "breaking the cycle" of imprisonment and poverty in families. At a time when governments do little other than epitomize Benjamin Franklin's definition of insanity ("doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results") this book makes clear why we should tell stakeholders to go to hell and do something other than Nixon-Bush's "tough on crime," "punish don't rehabilitate," etc. Buy it five copies at a time, read it, and pass it on (please)!!



5. I was outraged that a first time offense could land this mother in prison for 15 to life is that justice No matter fact Hell to the No. Are drugs bad in the community well of course Yes. Although what she did was wrong by carrying those drugs to Albany she and her children should not have had to suffer sixteen years without her even five years would have been stiff but sufficient. I read one reviewer state that she was committing welfare fraud by working under the table and a host of other things anyway. But different people look at things differently you see I was born where Elaine was born and when our mothers went out and worked under the table it was called survival. When young white teens are allowed to work under the table it is called "teaching them responsibility" People kill me how they are so ready to judge. Anyway I once again will reiterate that in no way do I agree with her carrying any drugs because my mother was addicted to drugs which royally screwed up my family BUT before anyone judges Elaine let's look at this a young mother with four children working on the side is very vunerable to be lured into the situation she was lured into by George Deets. And to think good people allowed this to happen and are still allowing this to happen cause' why is Nathan still sitting in prison for four ounces worth of cocaine.
   To the Author I applaud you for writing Elaine's story with DIGNITY.

5 comments about Stick Figure.

1. Honestly, I'm still struggling with my eating disorder I've had for 6 years, and for some reason I'm falling into a rough patch. So I picked this book up looking for some triggering material. I didn't really get anything out of it. Not even psychological explanations that normally come with a book on eating disorders. The book is cute, to say the most, and I would recommend it for seriously bored human beings. I wouldn't call it triggering really, so I might let my niece read it one day when she's old enough to understand the concept of an eating disorder, and when I know that she over the age of aquiring one. So I suppose this book is for the mature audience who has been through that part of her life. Very easy reading also.



2. I couldn't help but be a bit offended by this book. I mean, I read the whole thing and it wasn't terrible, but it didn't portray eating disorders in a way that I would want individuals who have not suffered from the disorder themselves to see. "Wasted" by Marya Hornbacher is much more realistic and a better use of one's reading time.



3. I'm first of all very upset at some of these reviews. When people say "an adult trying to sound like an elevn year old." and "this isnt by an eleven year old"
   
   The women who wrote it IS an adult, relating to her journals FROM the age of eleven.
   
   With that being said, I very much enjoy this book. Lori is a very humerous and clever eleven year old dealing with the struggles of becoming a women and poor self imagine. The emotional neglect from her parents is very present and you start feeling for her.
   
   I think this book wa sa good idea for the author. Because it takes her back to her childhood and painful events that took place. She trys to make peopel understand what a real person suffering from anorexia is like.
   
   I own this book, and it's one of my favorite books about anoreixa. It's not a self help book, nor an educational one, a small bit of autobiograpghy is in play
   and thats it, which I would ceratinly say go ahead and read it, besides it's not very long



4. I loved this book, it made me laugh so hard that people sitting around me probably thought i was "unique"



5. I read a few snippets from this book - but put it down.
   
   To a male, this sort of thing is very shocking. Why would a young woman starve herself rather than simply going out and meeting guys? It makes no sense why these girls convert the natural impulse to flirt into a desire to starve or otherwise hurt their bodies.
   
   On one end, we have the extreme of anorexia - where girls hurt their bodies by not eating anything, to the point of not being attractive. On the other end, we have obesity, where women hurt their bodies and justify it with some hogwash about how 'beautiful' they are for loving their body! Perhaps a psychologist should look into the problem and try to unearth what makes these women compulsively opt for a nonsolution, rather than simple excercise and dieting - as well as a healthy, outgoing social life.

5 comments about Infinite Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa Casati (Definitive Edition).

1. "I loved 'Infinite Variety' for the way the authors brought the Marchesa Casati vividly to life."--Robert Fulford, author of 'The Triumph of Narrative: Storytelling in the Age of Mass Culture'



2. 'This book about the Marchesa Casati (1881-1957) is called "The Definitive Edition" about a lady of extravagant leisures. It is an excellent book reviving the roaring twenties in Europe and gives you a fairly good insight of the lifestyle of the truly rich and famous through to the 1940s. Part of this set was the Marchesa Casati, who is a source of inspiration to this very day for fashion designers, artists and wealthy heirs. So if you squander your vast inheritance, at least do it in style!' (review from Elegant Lifestyle)



3. "'Infinite Variety' is a thoroughly unbiased and well-researched biography. The 'Definitive Edition' includes a plethora of new information as well as artwork and photos. Thanks to the efforts of Ryersson and Yaccarino, the story of the Marchesa Casati, with all its splendor, will continue to astonish.--Jonathan Williams, Gothic Beauty Magazine



4. "Mesmerizing and revealing, 'Infinite Variety' is the definitive account of the Italian femme scandaleuse. A great glimpse, and more, into the life of a larger-than-life individual."-Mar Yvette (Clear Magazine)



5. "'Infinite Variety: The Definitive Edition' provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the bizarre and spectacular life that Casati led...All you fashion-conscious history buffs will love the in-depth exploration the authors take into Casati's stylish life."-Denise Dandeneau (Zink Magazine)

   "This meticulously researched and completely updated biography vividly details Luisa Casati's extravagant life...Fashionistas, art history buffs, aficionados of Belle Époque and Jazz Age culture-and general readers-will be pleased."-Lorraine Thompson (Primo Magazine)