5 comments about Beyond All Reason: My Life With Susan Smith.

1. Written by David Smith, who lost his infant and toddler sons when his wife sank her car with their children into a lake and watched it sink - and them drown. She then reported that she had been carjacked, and her children stolen. For nine days there was a media frenzy as the nation looked for those boys. I remember that.
   
   And then, finally, she confessed, and the car, and the boys, were found at the bottom of a lake. I thought his story would be compelling. It certainly is.
   
   If this story isn't an argument for abortion, I don't know what is. Of course, Susan Smith didn't choose abortion. She was a "Christian" and "didn't believe in abortion." She sure as hell didn't want to be a mother.
   
   She also had a narcissistic personality, as well as a narcissistic mother. Self-centered to the absolute maximum. No one existed outside of their own little world, no one else mattered.
   
   Susan Smith also had a stepfather who molested her. She may also have been an alcoholic, with very deep roots. This is a woman who desperately needed attention, and she was getting it the only way she knew how. Too bad no one else noticed...until it was too late.
   
   Amy Fisher: Anatomy of a Scandal : The Myth, the Media and the Truth Behind the Long Island Lolita Story



2. This book made me rather emotional. You learn about two teenagers who meet and fall in love. The young couple is David and Susan, and they both have a far from easy life behind them so far. Susan's parents had a violent relationship, and sometimes Susan's dad would threaten to kill Susan's mum. Three weeks after their divorce Susan's dad commits suicide, and a couple of weeks later Susan's mum remarries. Susan's new step-father sexually abuses her, and when her mum finds out, she decides to stay with her new man. Several members of Susan's family have committed or attempted to commit suicide, and some (like her father) have been too fond of alcohol.
   
   Even though David's family background may not be as bad as Susan's, his life hasn't been too easy either. His father tried to commit suicide, while his mother was very religious. In the end David decides to follow his brother and move in with his grandmother. Another blow happens in his life while he is dating Susan: His brother Daniel dies. Because Susan is pregnant, Susan's mother presses on and the young couple marries two weeks later.
   
   After reading the book and some additional information, I am sitting with the impression that these two should never have started a family. They were far too immature and their troubled background made things even worse. They fight a lot and both have extra-marital affairs. David seems to have big problems in sticking to one woman at the time. Susan's second pregnancy is a tough one, and David seems too immature to face it. He finds new love with Tiffany, and instead of staying with his pregnant wife and baby Michael, he spends his time with her. For a short while David splits up with Tiffany, and she becomes crazy and starts to keep David and his family awake at night. My opinion is that David does little to protect his family during this time.
   
   Shortly after Alexander's birth Susan and David parts again, and just over a year later; in a period of six weeks Susan has four lovers: Her boyfriend, her boyfriend's father, Susan's stepfather and David.
   
   In the middle of all this there are two small innocent babies: Michael and Alexander. They are bystanders, while their parents try to figure out their lives. Their lives gets a very cruel and tragic end when their disturbed mother kills them.
   
   It wasn't difficult to get through the book, even though the narrative is of average quality. Still, the picture of these two innocent children and their father's story about their short lives, make this into a book it is very difficult to forget.



3. This is an incredible book. Instead of writing a book and claiming he was the perfect guy and he was the victim, David told it how it was (unlike Susan Smith's mother, who also wrote a book that basically blamed everyone but Susan and the Russell family). He admitted that he was at times a bad husband. Both he and Susan were immature in their marraige. He made mistakes. But, he and Susan were perfect parents. Which makes this case all the more puzzling.

   Why would Susan murder her two boys like this?! I get so angry. At 14, no one my age understands how I feel. All the way through this book, I kept having to stop and ask myself WHY. WHY didn't she give MIchael and Alex to David. WHY didn't she tell anyone that she didn't want those babies anymore. WHY did she drown them? WHY did she let their bodies rot for nine days?!

   I sympathize for David. It's happy to report that he has a new wife and two more kids (Savannah and Nicholas), but imagine that, everytime one of your kids do something, everytime something new in a tabloid or the mail shows up about the case, the facts come hurling back to you.

   David, you are one strong man!!!




4. This was such a sad bad. Like David Smith said, "Remember who are the true victims in all this, Miicheal and Alex, NOT Susan Smith! It was a good and fast reading and I a book is so much better when it's write by a person who the story concern them and not from a famous writer, is even better when the writer is not a writer, so from people who said this book is good but the editing is bad, I don't see what is bad, I thought the book was very good and it comming from the heart and soul to who that real story had happen, you can feel his pain! Everybody was saying how Susan was too good for David, my God it was the other way around, David was too good for Susan. Susan was picture as like a hot, sexy girl, sorry to me she look like a ordinary house wife and kinda chubby, she come from the South right? Yeah she do look like redneck, the way she dress and wear her hair are out of fashion even in 90th, well I am out of context here but can't help saying that to me see doesn't look hot stuff and one of the book with her glasses and her hair pine up she look like a geek! Like David Smith said, the two persons who love her the most, (their kids), she had killed them, how can a mother do this to her own children and said she love them? Why David Smith want so much the death penalty for Susan, if she got a soul she suffer much more in prison, well if she got one. She seem only to think for herself and feel pity for herself. Killing her children because she was in love with a guy that didn't want a family allready made, so she killed her kids and to have the pity of the man she love she make a a big lie that a man took over her car and push her out put kept the kids. Did she really think she could live with the rest of her life with that story and have back the man she love? She was stupid, he was also having other affair and like I said Susan is no hot thing, why he would go with her? Still a part of me pity her, if she really was having depression it can make you do stupid things, yeah maybe she was really insane!



5. It was fascinating to hear the story from an iside perspective.Its so awful all around.David Smith must be a strong man to have went on with life like he did.I think Susan was seriously crazy, so I do feel a touch of sympathy for her. Its awful what happened to those poor kids.

5 comments about Pimsleur Language Program: Russian.

1. I first found this book by checking it out in the public library, and I fell in love with how easy it was to pick up the basics, and then the intermediate!
   
   I loved it so much I bought two copies: one for traveling and one for my home use. Thanks to this and many other self taught Russian books, I am finally abble to move to Russia with a little more confidence!
   
   Although not yet fluent,I am able to pick up words and phrases very quickly thanks to THIS audio program.
   
   
   
   Thanks a bunch and please buy this phenomenal set!
   
   
   Vladimir Pravda.



2. It really works, I previously spoke almost no Russian aside from "yes" and "no." But wanted to learn more, so I checked out this set of tapes, and two others at the local library. Guess which one taught me better? No question, this one did. It really teaches you how to speak in an easy way, so with a little practice most people can pick it up. This is a great set of tapes.



3. Yes, the Pimsleur method does work! The eight lessons will give the listener a vocabulary of about 100 words, more than a few useful sentences, the ability to construct their own sentences, correct pronunciation (written Russian is not as phonetic as the books led me to believe), and a strong desire to find out more about this charming language.



4. I'm going on a trip, and these tapes have really given me a base of conversational Russian to use while in the country. I am, however, trying to learn the alphabet on my own. Not all that easy. If you want to be able to communicate and do so quickly, these are the tapes for you.



5. I studied Russian in college, but let my knowledge lapse. I love the language, and recently decided to refresh my skills. I went through three other audio programs before trying this one. The others were all "survival" and "travel" phrases that did nothing to help me regain my former abilities. This program's teaching style is excellent. Although I didn't learn much new vocabulary, it gave me outstanding practice at speaking and listening. However, what you're able to say after the eight lessons included in this program is pretty basic. Thus my caution... If you're really serious about learning Russian and want to do so with the Pimsleur method, you're going to have to buy not one, but two (or maybe three) complete 30-lesson programs that retail for around $345 each! It's probably worth it to a serious student and I'm leaning toward taking the plunge, so if you get hooked on the method, beware of the cost! Nevertheless, this introduction is an excellent way to discover if you want to learn more of this beautiful language.

5 comments about Bette Davis.

1. I learned very much about Miss Bette Davis's early life and childhood, i felt that Leaming focused too much on Bette's daughter B.D.'s opinions of her mother, which as is known were not favorable. The book basically made Bette out to be a monster and a horrible person, which i think isn't giving enough credit to the star. Bette Davis may not have been perfect in her professional or personal life, but she deserves better.



2. Ms. Leaming, like that dreadful photo. of herself on the cover of this 'book', makes me sick. She is obviously attempting to cause a stir, in order to sell her book. I purchased this when it first was released -- after reading it was from a fair minded 'fan' -- yeah, right! This is a great book if you have a gripe with Bette Davis -- a great female actor, even Ms. Steep says "the Best!", a great American, too -- does anyone know what Bette Davis did for our Military by organizing the Hollywood Canteen and selling War Bonds?



3. About half way through this book, I started to scan ahead for details about Bette Davis's later films because of the lack of attention to detail about certain films. And I'm disappointed to say that some of Bette's most interesting films aren't even mentioned in the text. Ex-Lady, which apparently Bette expressed a soft spot for and which she though she gave a deep and complex performance in, isn't even mentioned, nor is Pocketful of Miracles nor Death On The Nile which is a great shame, being one of her best 70's films. Cardplayer, Mrs Cimino, As Summers Die are brushed over as are most of her earliest work as well. Leaming's only out to make a quick buck obviously. Leaming seems to be intent on telling us again and again what a drunken b***h Bette Davis was and how self destructive she was on her own career. Yet Leaming herself wants to make sure how her own career pans out after this blasting of an American legend. Bette's career speaks for itself. Avoid this book and go instead to Christopher Nicken's pictorial biography of Bette. I hated Leamings book and glad I didnt' buy it. I borrowed it from the library. One star out of five.



4. About 25 pages into this book, the tone has been unmistakenly established. Miss Davis apparantley did not say or do one good thing in her personal or professional life. Ironically the author's intent to portray Bette Davis in the most disparaging way becomes tedious early on, and the focus shifts to the author herself...just why did she find it necessary to tear down this actress on every chapter, page and paragraph? According to the author, Miss Davis has only given 2 good performances, which Ms. Leaming gives full credit to William Wyler. Her 10 Academy Award nominations do not deter the author from this view. Do yourself a favor and skip this bilious book and put on All About Eve instead. Everything you need to know about Miss Davis' talent is in that performance...and many others.



5. miss leaming should be applauded on one fact and that is she has done her homework on davis and mananged to do something that other writers werent able to do crack beyond that strong female -image and see the real woman who had tenderness ,vulnerability and heartache, but have to agree with other reveiwer the writing gets a little flat- but kudos for ther research all the way ,good but her greatest is her bio on katharine hepburn which reads like a great novel!!!!111

5 comments about The Heart of a Soldier: A Story of Love, Heroism, and September 11th.

1. This book is what our current life is really about in the Post 911 era. We visit two soldiers who live life together in Africa and then in Vietnam. It (at the end of the book) debunks our police frame work and the cover-ups of the Bush and Clinton Administrations. These two soldiers warn us of the impending Air Strikes against the Twin Towers years in advance. There can be no second guessing the correct warning they gave the NYPD,The FBI, and others. This book should be made into a film. Give this book a buy and pass it around to all you know and care for. And yes I was there on top of the towers in 1989 and felt the tremor of impending doom awaiting us in the future. Every American should be proud of these soldiers and applaud them.



2. this book chronicle's one man journey through the 20th century. His journey spans two devastating periods in America's history and is narrated through the eyes of the everyday man.



3. I had finished We Were Soldiers Once...and Young, and I was very interested in knowing more about Cyril 'Rick' Rescorla, one of the soldiers who had been in the Ia Drang valley. I googled his name and was thrilled that this book had been written about him. After everything he survived in Vietnam to die while making sure others got to safety on 9/11, I was stunned. I have read many books about Vietnam and this is by far the best. Wow what a story. I will keep this book forever, and when I need a refresher on humanity, I will reread this magnificent story. The book is a very riveting war story, so well written I couldn't put it down. Even my friends who aren't interested in wars of the past are reading it.



4. I just finished this book a few days ago and cannot believe he was a real person-he truly was a Kipling or Hemingway type of character. To be brave so many times in your life, and just trying to do the right thing is refresing to see, and we need to see more of it. His friendship with Dan is very close, and not always seen among men due to homophobia. What was most uncanny was how they knew 9/11 was coming and tried their best to prevent it. Unfortunatly it ends badly when Rick does one more heroic act, but he was a good example how to be a good, if somewhat flawed person. Needs to be made into a movie.



5. From childhood in the 1940s to 2001 two men's military experiences in colonial battles in Africa, Vietnam, and events leading to 9/11 provide a chronical of military temperment and commitment. This chronology includes their training, fears, heroics, loves , and being drawn into the mechanisms of terrorism before a terroristic event sets the stage for a final act of heroism demonstrated by one of these men.

5 comments about Timebends: A Life.

1. For such a well regarded playwright, I found the writing tedious. Miller's comments on the times added nothing that one familiar with the post-WWI period would not already know.
   
   I had hoped to learn more about the author's character and inner thoughts, but was disappointed. At times, what came across as irrelevant commentary or details seemed intended almost to obscure rather than reveal.
   
   By 50 pages, I was exasperated and starting to skim, shaking my head in wonderment at those with the patience to wade through all 600 pages of this.
   
   About the only interesting parts were Miller's comments on his plays and some of their underlying themes or motivations.



2. This was going to be a 5-star review. But I have learned this week while reading "Timebends" for the first time -- twenty years after its first publication -- that Arthur Miller and his third wife, Inge Morath, had a son, Daniel, who was born with Down syndrome in 1966. Daniel's name does not appear in the text or index of "Timebends." According to an article in the September 2007 issue of Vanity Fair, Miller had Daniel banished to a state institution almost immediately after birth, and that he thereafter completely excised Daniel from his life. It's heartbreaking. According to Vanity Fair, Daniel, who is now 41, is relatively high-functioning and a very happy, content and spirited person. But when Daniel's mother, Inge, (who was well-known in her own right) died in 2002 and the New York Times called Miller for information about his family, he again omitted the name of his youngest son. Inge visited Daniel regularly until her death, and celebrated holidays with him. I wonder how much friction her refusal to simply throw him away caused in the Miller household? Not enough to divide the couple, it seems. They were married 40 years.
   
   In my view, to have denied his son's existence is an unforgivable blind spot for an artist so widely revered and admired for his empathy and his brave stances as a moral force for justice and compassion. As the VF article points out, shame, selfishness and fear could all have been motivators for Arthur Miller's decision. Still, after reading more than 500 pages of musings and meditations by a truly masterful writer -- a man all too aware of his own humanity; both of his talents and his limitations, I feel betrayed.
   
   Much of "Timebends" just drips with elegant prose; Miller spins elegiac meditations on life during the Depression, his first exposure to unfair labor practices on New York city docks and the difficulties he always had writing (the gestation period for his plays was sometimes years). He humbly describes his refusal to "name names" during the 1950s Red Scare, and tells of the pain he felt at having to sever his friendship with director Elia Kazan for many years for having given the House Un-American Activities Committee everything it wanted.
   
   If his first marriage and children never seem to elbow their way to the forefront of Miller's monologue, it's because he devotes so much time to describing the American theater in one of its Golden Ages -- the late 1940s and early 1950s. Miller seems to have known everyone -- not only in the theater but in all realms of arts and letters and politics, but he never sounds like he's name-dropping. And he wisely uses restraint in describing his works in full and in quoting shamelessly from their reviews. Miller also bites his tongue while discussing the failed and rancorous attempts to bring about a National Theater in the 1960s.
   
   And then we come to the chapters everyone was dying to read when the book first came out -- the chapters on Marilyn Monroe. Miller had never spoken publicly about her before "Timebends" was first published in 1987. I don't doubt for an instant that he truly loved Marilyn, nor she him. Hers was obviously an extraordinarily appealing personality, and her beauty allowed him to forgive her neediness and desperation for respect and love for many years. Miller says she was never happier than when they went to visit his parents in New York. There Marilyn was treated like an ordinary daughter-in-law, and she loved it. Miller notes her native intelligence -- which was tremendous -- and her desperate sadness and endless quest for normalcy. He met her in 1951, before she became bigger than life, and he followed her trajectory almost all the way to the bottom. They were married for five years, from 1956-1961. In 1960, making the film "The Misfits," which Miller wrote expressly for Monroe, nearly killed them both. This is a fascinating portrait of Marilyn which was shrouded until Miller decided to unveil it. It's the eulogy he never got to deliver. It's beautiful, tender, and rueful, speaking as it does of untold grief on both their parts. It seems as though Miller regretted to the end of his days his inability to save Marilyn, although there were many others who found they were not up to the task, either.
   
   Tragically, after the heroic efforts to save Marilyn from herself, Miller's well ran dry, and there seems to have been no more compassion or sensitivity to show to his own son. Miller married Inge Morath in 1962, a few months before Marilyn died. Morath was a photographer from Magnum Photos sent out to capture pictures on the set of "The Misfits." Miller and Morath remained married until her death in 2002, fifteen years after "Timebends" ends. And frankly, I got no further than their marriage and birth of daughter Rebecca once I learned of the missing son of Arthur Miller. As Miller did to Daniel, so I, too, turned away from the rest of what had been the story of a deeply compelling and moving life.



3. I see there's a few used copies of this one selling for a penny - and rightly so in my opinion. Keeping in mind that I am NOT fanatical about Miller, I say with no doubt that this is quite possibly the most boring book I have ever read - and I love to read. I had to read it for a class, and it was utter torture - so long and drawn out. Beyond boring.
   
   On the other hand, if you ARE a fan of Miller, you'll likely love the book. He wrote 600+ pages on himself, so it's all pretty much in there and in fine detail. And he does deserve respect as a writer.



4. This is a very detailed autobiography. I think the very best parts of it relate to the period of Miller's life when he was a young and eager playwright. The whole story of the first stagings of ' Death of a Salesman'is a truly fascinating one. One of the major problems of the work for me however was that Miller could supply tremendous detail and also insight about people without really probing inwardly very deeply . I also believe he held back a lot of punches, a lot of bitter truth in writing about people closest to him.
   A great playwright it turns out may be a very good, but not a great autobiographer.



5. In an interview conducted before he wrote this book, Miller said, "I think memoirs, autobiography...can help to translate chaos into something that is a useable past. Give an image where there was only a blur." He suggests the kind of autobiography he would be interested in writing would be more about the time he was living rather than his life, so a reader would "come away from it somehow a little heavier than he went into it." In all of this, TIMEBENDS succeeds wonderfully. I learned a great deal more about the textures, realities and signficance of the 1930s, 40s and 50s through his observations and images than through any linear professional histories. A bonus for those who enjoy seeing and reading Miller's plays is his deliberate selection of significant events and people in his life that show up in the plays in one way or another. And he does have great stories and observations about famous people--Olivier, Clark Gable, etc.-- that are the more conventional pleasures of show biz autobios. Even if he wasn't among the most important American dramatists of our time--perhaps the most important--this book would be a significant literary accomplishment. Miller is a careful writer, so readers perhaps unused to tact and understatement in memoirs are advised to look beyond their expectations to what he actually says. Yet his chapters on Marilyn Monroe were vivid and gave me more of an impression of her as a person than anything else I've read. Miller's voice brings all of this varied material together, and so the reader might approach this book as if listening to a great storyteller. This is a book full of heart, humor, wisdom and perspectives not found elsewhere. It is a treasure and a gift.

5 comments about Zoya's Story: An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom.

1. Zoya's story begins with her childhood in the war torn country of Afghanistan as the daughter of brave and free thinking parents who tried their best to make life better for women. Unfortunately, they were murdered by Muslim fundamentalists who were trying to put the country back in the dark ages after the Russian occupation. Much to the detriment of not only women but then entire world came the infamous Taliban who's immense cruelty is shocking and who today are regaining their foothold not only in Afghanistan but Pakistan too.
   
   Today Zoya follows in her mothers footsteps and has dedicated her life to RAWA-Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. Her life is in constant danger but despite it all she continues to live and work in the repressive and violent environment of the Middle East. For this she must be commended.



2. If you've been unable to make sense out of the conflicting regimes and wars in Afghanistan during the past 2 decades, this intimate account of one young woman's life will help put it in a human prospective. Zoya is the nom de guerre of a 23-year old Afghan woman who fled her homeland after her parents were murdered on orders of the thuggish Mujahideen.
   
   I found the first part of the book more interesting than the last, as Zoya describes her life as a lively little girl playing in the streets of Kabul and as the beloved only child of educated parents. She becomes gradually aware that her parents are involved in clandestine activities to undermine the increasingly repressive political regime. One day her father, and somewhat later, her mother simply disappear. As more women are victimised in the streets and in their own homes, Zoya and her grandmother decide to take refuge in Pakistan. There Zoya grows to adulthood and joins the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).
   
   Zoya is involved in assisting Afghan refugees and later becomes a spokeswoman and fund-raiser for the organization. There are brief accounts of secret travels to Afghanistan to photograph Taliban activities such as the cutting off of hands. I wish Zoya had been less vague about the work of her organisation and her actual role in it, but it is apparently necessary for reasons of personal security. Considering the venomous hate-mail she & RAWA received from American supporters & former friends after 9/11, it is understandable and very sad that they cannot afford to trust anyone.



3. I read this story about Zoya, the young Afghan woman and her story of refuge in Pakistan and trips into Afghanistan. This is an OK story, although I prefer My Forbidden Face, another Afghan woman's story. Zoya's comments about the Mujalideen being as bad as the Taliban has some truth. Her resistance to these two regimes through RAWA is brave and principled. It goes to show that Afghan society is very traditional in the sense of repressing woman throughout society. The Soviet regime was probably the best in representing women in the society, but of course they were invaders and Zoya was not happy about their occupation of the country.
   
   This is a pretty basic story detailing the crimes of the Mujalideen and the Taliban. Zoya loses both parents, probably to the Mujalideen. Then she is forced to flee and her opposition to the Taliban makes up the latter part of this book.
   Hers is a difficult position. Friends in RAWA place her in a school and she becomes liberated with knowledge. She refuses to leave her countrymen and lives in a refugee camp. Her life is spent for the betterment of her countrymen, including women.
   
   I like the other book better, but this is an OK read about the difficulties faced by Afghan women.



4. Having grown up with the priviledges of living in the United States one can only imagine the devestation this amazing young woman has gone through in her short, inspiring life.
   At the tender age of 7, this courageous girl already started her early beginnings helping her mother work for RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan). Living in a country that had been overtaken by the Russians in what they called "the puppet regime", one couldn't imagine that life could get worse in this destitute country, ravaged by war and poverty. "The bleeding wound" Gorbachav called it.
   Zoya's graphic, heroic and saddening story told with such detail brings you to a life, I would say you "could just imagine", but I can't imagine that life. orphaned at a young age, under two controlling fundamentalist Moslem regimes, life in Afghanistan only seems to grow worse. Under the control of the Taliban, you will read of the most inhumane, torturous treatment. The taking of lives. I always knew how awful the Taliban was, but I never knew from an individual's personal experience what it was REALLY like to live there.
   This incredible young woman has done so much for the woman and people of Afghanistan, helping refugees, teaching women to read and write in a country where 90% of the women are illiterate, spreading the words of freedom, where her life can be taken at any time. Zoya is a true hero and inspiration.
   There is one line in the book that I will never forget, and I believe it is how Zoya truelly loves and feels for her country. It is a line from an old Afghan folklore "I am ready to die for my love, but I want my love to be ready to die for my country." This is the passion Zoya lives with on her crusade to make life better for people in Afghanistan.



5. zoyas story is a tale of one girl whose mother was an advocate for womens rights, and she followed suit after her mothers death and after discouraging life changes. living under the taliban was a historically tragic event for all women who endured this horrific regime that ruled afghanistan without mercy or compassion for women or their rights. zoyas entire life has been uprooted and yet she has such a strong heart and mind and will not let her people suffer alone, he courage and strength is a guide to those who have equally or more suffered and lost all theyve ever had. an example to live by, a great inside look into an awful time in afghanistans history. this book will also take you into pakistan where many refugees fled, and zoya continued to be a help to many people.

No comments about West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story.

5 comments about Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem.

1. Great book, great service. Very fast shipping and cheap, great value. No complaints at all. Thanks a bunch!



2. "The Nature of This Flower Is to Bloom" - a quote by Alice Walker, quoted in this book.
   
   Steinem writes "Without self-esteem, the only change is an exchange of masters; with it, there is no need for masters." Steinem discusses how to identify patterns and definitions that are familiar and feel like home, yet are counter to our higher priority intents and health.
   
   "The universe is made of stories, not of atoms." Muriel Rukeyser, quoted in this book.
   
   Steinem honors her mother by saying, "She managed to break the pattern of her own upbringing and pass on something quite different to us . . . my mother did her best to make us feel unique and worthwhile . . . 'Children don't belong to us,' she used to say, paraphrasing what she had learned from this blend of many world religions . . .'we don't own them. We help them become who they are.' "
   
   Steinem writes "Hierarches try to convince us that all power and well-being come from the outside, that our self-esteem depends on obedience and measuring up to their requirements." Conversely, she points out that in Greek philosophy Allotriosis, "Self-alienation," for instance, was the greatest evil . . . and oikeiosis ("self-love," "self-acceptance,"or "self-contentedness") was the greatest goal. Plato called "rational self-love' crucial to progress because it alone 'requires a man to be concerned for his own future condition.' Aristotle equated self-contentedness with happiness."
   
   After reading this book, I believe more strongly an idea I believed before reading this book: I don't primarily define Steinem as a great feminist thinker. Rather, she is a great social philosopher across many non-gender, non-race, non-religion, non-nationality, and non-era dependent disciplines. If I ever have a daughter, I will make sure she studies this book.
   
   "Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you. " Jean-Paul Sartre, quoted in this book.
   
   Steinem asserts: "The art of life is not controlling what happens to us, but using what happens to us."



3. After undercover work as a bunny in Hugh Hefner's Playboy Club, Gloria Steinmen's expose of world of wearing a rabbit outfit and 6 inch shoes with tight corsets made her the Queen of Feminists. This came out when I was a teenager and her vision and mission made an impression even then. A must have book for any feminist's collection.



4. I've read this book at various points in my life and it never fails to ring true. In crappy times it was the voice of clarity and confidence, and with the existing empowerment in the day-to-day, it serves as validation and a nice boost to want to do more. This book should be required reading for every teenaged girl.



5. I have read many many books, and I have to say that this is one of my absolute favorites. This is a book of the highest quality. Don't be fooled from the title, this is not a sappy how to love yourself book. This is a straight forward, intense account of the world around us as we know it. Yet in a way, that I believe only Gloria Steinem could tell it. She is at once brilliant, insightful, comforting, and angering. Her book made me see life through new eyes, better eyes. Steinem's book is also so obviously well researched, in fact startling facts and statistics reside on every page. If you want to feel passion and rightous anger in your soul, or if you want to read a book that will open your eyes, read this one. Books of this caliber really do not come around that often.

5 comments about Stout Hearted Seven.

1. I think this book touches peoples hearts. The author did a seriously good job of researching.



2. The most famous book about the Sager family is probably "On to Oregon!" by Honore Morrow, on which the movie, "Seven Alone," is based. But "Stout-hearted Seven," is based on more thorough research and is more accurate. This is the one our fourth grade teachers usually read aloud as part of their curriculum on Washington State, and it's the title that most students will come into the library to check out and read again.

   While there are many good fictional accounts about the Oregon Trail, this is the one I'd recommend first for upper elementary grades, simply because of its basis in actual events.

   I'd also recommend visiting the Whitman Mission in Walla Walla, if for no other reason than to see the wagon wheel ruts and the Sager names on the gravestone. Our family did this a few years ago as part of a quick 5-day trip along the Oregon Trail, starting in Independence, Missouri. If we ever go again, I'd prefer to take at least two weeks.




3. What I love about this book is it is historically accurate, gripping, and interesting to children. While it is not written with fantastic literary flourish, it is an engaging and amazing story. As a teacher, it fits with the fourth grade Washington curriculum perfectly and that is where I have used it. It sparks interest in readers (both young and old) about the Oregon Trail, history, and the Sager family.



4. I read this book many, many years ago while in middle school (?) and I couldn't put it down. Having been from Oregon, I found the tail of the Sager family incredible, and the Oregon Trail has always intrigued me. I ended up reading the whole in book in two days because it was so great.



5. I read this book recently and I absolutely loved it. It's the story of the Sager family, and their hardships and trials while on the Oregon Trail. I don't want to give the book away, but I must say that a tragic accident leaves the seven Sager children orphaned and in the care of the other members of their wagon train. The family now consists of 5 girls and 2 boys: John (13), Frank (11), Catherine (8), Elizabeth (6), Madeline (4), Louise (2), and Rosanna, only a newborn baby. They are adopted by the famous Dr. and Mrs. Whitman, where they live happily in their care for 3 years, until the tragic Whitman Massacre. That's where I'm going to stop, because if I tell you of the horrible things that happened there, I would ruin the entire story. Anyone who likes historical fiction, or even is just looking for a good book to read, I reccommend this book. So even if you don't buy it from Amazon or anywhere else, just get it from your local library, because this book is worth your while.

5 comments about A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story.

1. Once more Annette proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was & remains the true lady she always appeared to be in her roles on TV & in film...



2. YOU GO GIRL FROM THE PAGES OF THIS BOOK TO MY HEART. ANNETTE IS SUPERB IN THIS LOVING BOOK.



3. I have the audio cassette of A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes, and it is beautiful. I've listened to it several times in my car. I don't tire of it because it is a human story. Annette Funicello suceeded on her own -- her father was an auto mechanic and her mother stayed at home. This is an inspiration to children and even adults.



4. Surprisingly absorbing and lively recollections from Annette Funicello, one-time Mouseketeer and Disney darling who was the only teen-mouse to graduate to the big screen via "Babes In Toyland" and the "Beach Party" and "Merlin Jones" comedies. Annette comes clean about being the only Mouseketeer kept on contract by Walt Disney after MMC ran its course, and she contemplates why that was and how her co-stars struggled without Disney's guidance. She is very upfront, but also a little indifferent to her own good fortune, embarrassed and innately shy about a career that just fell into her lap. She says she never aspired to fame, but got it regardless. The book continues its interesting narrative even after Annette marries and retires, cleaning the house the day she heard Walt Disney passed, and eventually realizing her marriage was out of gas. Fate dealt Annette (and all her fans) a bitter hand when she was diagnosed with MS, which she still continues to fight, but her inspiring conclusion to the book gives all of us hope.



5. As a fan of the "pop" movies and music of the 1960's, I've had a long term interest in the author. So I opened up this book not just curious, but perhaps somewhat already knowlegable about Annette, particularly her "post-Mickey Mouse club" career and life.
   
   And perhaps that's why I give this book at best 3 stars.
   
   Annette and Patricia Romanowski (perhaps the names should be the other way around, one gets the sense reading this -- given much of the vocabularily used and the quality of the writing -- that Romanowski, not Funicello wrote most of it; nothing against Annette, but I have a hard time believing a woman with just a high school education writes this well) really cherry-pick way you learn about.
   
   Fine, I understand that's the nature of celebrity "autobiography," but this one goes too far. It over-focuses heavily on certain stories (her adolescent relationship with Paul Anka, making it out to be a lot more than it probably was) and completely ignores others.
   
   As example, some of the messy "politics" that went on in the cast of the original Mickey Mouse club -- everything is warm and fuzzy in Annette's version -- remain unmentioned.
   
   The book also glosses over Annettes entry into the American International Beach Party movies. In the book, Annette implies Walt Disney simply offered her a script one day for a film named "Beach Party." Well, the story isn't quite that simple:
   
   Annette's entry in the series came partly because she and Walt Disney knew she desperately needed a change in career direction. By early 1963, Annette was 20 and had clearly grown out of her "kiddy" positioning as a Mouseketeer. Walt did his best, but could only find so many internal opportunities for a "grown up"" Annette. She'd appeared in a handful of live action movies for Disney, and still made occasional appearances on his Sunday TV show, but this wasn't leading to any starring role opportunities outside of his company. Also, a pop singing career that started in 1959 and produced a handful of hits had slowed down (by early 1963, Annette hadn't charted in almost 3 years). As a result, when AIP approached Walt, looking for an affordable, beautiful brand-name leading lady who could sing for their new, trendy "surfing" movie, he immediately saw an opportunity to fix his "what-do-I-do-with-Annette" problem. With his blessing (Annette was still under contract to Disney,) a deal with AIP was quickly finalized.
   
   But you'll never hear about any of that in this book.
   
   Also, Annette repeats an infamous "urban legend" about the Beach Party series.
   
   Since she was still under contract with Disney while appearing in these movies, Annnete claims Walt Disney insisted in negotiations with AIP that she never be involved in any "suggestive" sequences. Specifically, she says Walt insisted she could not be filmed wearing anything that "showed her navel." Annette goes on to state that through the course of 6 Beach Party movies, she never wore anything that showed her navel "out of respect" for Mr. Disney.
   
   Well, irrespective of what Walt supposedly requested/desired, Annette apparently forgot about the bathing suits she wore during early scenes in both Muscle Beach Party and Bikini Beach: in the former, a white supposedly "tummy-covering" two piece, and the latter an honest to goodness blue and white bikini. Both of these at times clearly left her navel 100% uncovered and readily viewable to anyone who isn't asleep (the "navel appearance" is brief and somewhat subtle in Muscle but obvious and extensive in Bikini, particularly in the scenes where Annette first gets involved with Avalon's "Potato Bug" character). As far as navels go, Annette's is nice, but hardly anything to get all hot and bothered over (particularly in the context of the distraction produced by all the other undulating, bikinied females floating around in those scenes). Frankly, one is really left wondering what all the fuss was about.
   
   The book also completely ignores Annette's post Beach Party career at American International Pictures, an intriguing period that had a lot to do with her "retiring" from acting when she did.
   
   Botttom line: one ends up respecting the author - she is indeed is the class act and lady you always presumed - but frustrated, knowing there's a lot more to her story.