5 comments about Eat, Pray, Love.

1. The movie got so much media attention but it ended up being a flop. I got sucked into the marketing scheme and purchased this book to read while on summer vacation. Overall a good book, but also a forgettable one. I have yet to see the movie, but I will rent it once it's out on DVD.



2. (3.5 stars)I thought this was going to be a book about eating, spirituality and love. As it turns out, it's all of that and also about making mistakes, forgiving yourself and starting over. Gilbert's writing style is open and honest as she shares her journey of finding balance and contentment in her life. She does this through completely immersing herself in three different cultures. Italy is all about the food and the intimacy of sharing meals with friends, not denying yourself simple pleasures and giving yourself permission to do nothing. India is the spiritual part of her journey. Here she conquers the art of meditation and learns the meaning of some inspirational Sanskrit phrases. This part is especially interesting for those who practice yoga or meditation. And then there's my favorite section of the book, Indonesia. Its breathtaking beauty is the perfect backdrop for finding balance and love. Gilbert writes with a delightful mix of humor and wit in a style that is easy to read and flows nicely. However, there are several sections that are slow and slightly tedious, with too much descriptive detail and no movement in plot. In short, anyone struggling with divorce or feeling disconnected to their life will easily relate to and take comfort in reading this book. Travel journal enthusiasts will also find it delightful and a great escape or those on their own spiritual journey.



3. Great - the book is what I thought it would be. Shipping was on time and got here in perfect shape. Thanks - A+



4. I cannot understand why people like this boooooooring book. I painfully made it through Italy and started India...that's when I couldn't take it anymore and felt that stapling my hand to the wall would be far more interesting than continuing with this woman who never stops talking about the damn bathroom floor...save yourself and save your money! I hope I can get a few bucks for it at the used bookstore especially since I only read a portion. Seriously this woman quit her marriage for some reason that she won't share....umm ok isn't that part of what sent her out on this journey that resulted in an overly hyped up, waste of paper, diary of a cry baby? She roamed around Italy eating and talking a bunch of nonsense meanwhile not having to worry about money thanks to her book advance. What idiot publisher did that! I agree with many of the other reviews.....she is a spoiled lame. I will not even bother seeing the movie ugg!



5. I wanted to like this book. Everyone I knew loved it and said I had to read this book. I didn't make it past Italy. I was disappointed that she was paid to take this trip (book advance) and wondered how much of it was manufactured for the book. Also, to me, her tone seemed haughty and self-important.

5 comments about Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship.

1. Two intensely private writers who are also fiercely independent meet one day on a dog walk.
   
   They had actually briefly met once before at a writers' event some years earlier, but on this day, their real journey begins, as they walk their dogs.
   
   They connect on many levels: Gail Caldwell, the author of this memoir of friendship, is a Pulitzer Prize winning writer; Caroline Knapp had written a book that chronicled her struggles with alcohol. First they connect over their love of dogs and then with their writing journeys and their loneliness. Later, Caldwell will also share her own odyssey with alcohol.
   
   Caldwell grew up in the Texas Panhandle and then fled to various cities before finally settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts where Knapp grew up. In midlife, they have both settled in here and this is where their friendship journey takes off.
   
   Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship circles from when they met back to their various separate journeys and reveals a bit about their relationships, their successes, their challenges--and then zeroes in on the time they begin the friendship. What happens after the friendship has cemented itself is the biggest challenge they will face together: Knapp's diagnosis of Stage Four lung cancer. That particular challenge will require all the strength they each have, but will also show the solidity of their friendship.
   
   Through the days and nights leading up to Knapp's death, we are gifted with those thoughts and feelings that only someone on this particular journey can feel. Afterwards, we visit the loss, the challenges, even the events related to the dogs...and these moments carry us into the very heart of those feelings. Near the end of this tale, Caldwell writes something that I found wonderfully true: "I know now that we never get over great losses; we absorb them, and they carve us into different, often kinder, creatures. Sometimes I think that the pain is what yields the solution. Grief and memory create their own narrative...."
   
   And then Caldwell begins again, but as with all memorable friendships, she is forever shaped and altered by the bonds that connected the two of them.



2. I loved this book. I'm not sure if it was because I totally identified with the story or what but I have gone back and reread many passages.
   
   My Mom had barely died of ovarian cancer when both of my dogs had to be put to sleep and it was the loss of the dogs that undid me.
   
   I am going to give this book as a Christmas present to all my friends because it truly is a love story. A love story between two friends and a love story between a women and her dog.
   
   If you have ever had a good girl friend, lost a loved one tragically or loved a dog you will like this book.
   
   My Mom's name was Billie.
   
   M



3. I wanted this book since it came out, and it EXCEEDED my expectations!!!
   
   If you love Caroline Knapp, you will love this book.
   
   Just the read I was looking for! A beautiful and touching memoir. Perfectly written and completely engrossing. At times, a tearjerker; at one time, surprisingly, a thriller. But at all times, a masterfully written pageturner. You will not regret this purchase.



4. Sorry, I found this book to be less about a friendship and dogs and more about the authors own self-absorbed, and for the first half, alcohol-soaked memories. The use of "milieu" three times in two chapters? I found it sort of dull and tiresome.



5. If you are lucky, you may experience at least once in your life a soul-mate friendship, the kind where you find this magical version of yourself in the guise of another. Such was the case with Gail Caldwell and her late friend, Caroline Knapp.
   
   These single women writers (although Knapp did marry her boyfriend a few weeks before her untimely death at age 43 from lung cancer) came from quite different backgrounds but bonded through work, dogs, rowing, and recovery from alcoholism. Knapp herself wrote a 1996 bestselling memoir, "Drinking: A Love Story."
   
   The account of their growing friendship in Cambridge, MA through their mutual interests is engaging. The section where Caldwell describes her background and recovery from alcoholism deepens the story. Even richer is the period following Knapp's death where Caldwell so convincingly describes the exile of grief. In a devastating turn, loss echoes loss when Caldwell must put down her beloved Samoyed, Clementine, in an account that will break your heart. Read this memoir only if you want to feel deeply.
   
   The beauty of this book is how it well it captures the serendipitous spark of friendship, its growth and deepening, and its loss. It shows that although a life may end, the relationship continues.

5 comments about Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time.

1. Sadly, there are a small percentage of people reviewing this book who are simply cynical and mean-spirited. The message of this book is not about Greg Mortenson, it is about what one person can do when they put their mind to it. I've never been so hopeful and inpsired by one person's persistence. What he is doing is selfless and amazing and you cannot help but want to get involved. I will recommend this book to ALL my friends and family! I think everyone should be informed of this story and the work that's being done to help so many children. This book is also an excellent page-turner! It read like a movie and kept me on my toes of what was to come next.
   At the very least, you will get an up-close and personal look at what life is really like in Pakistan and at the most you will be inspired to commit some works of kindness yourself!



2. Greg Mortenson's love for the people surrounding K2 mountain is what drove him to the depth of care and concern that he could muster up to keep going back to a country at war, to provide schools for children who didn't have anything left but this. How sweet the story is of Greg's determination to reach out to a people, who from no fault of their own, at war with the world since the dawn of time, to enable their girls to feel a part of the human race and not subserviants to it. Thanks to the great people working with Greg to keep the fires burning and for luck on his side. If it weren't for luck, sometimes I wonder if Greg wouldn't have had the success he did. Or maybe it was the sheer fact of dumb luck that got him going. Sometimes you just have to believe that the stars aline, that something larger than yourself is listening in and guiding the way. And so you, too, can read this book and feel the intensity of the trip Greg took to make this happen. I highly recommend you to read Three Cups of Tea, one sip at a time.



3. Amazing Story. As inspiring and adventurous as this book is, it also leaves a lasting impression of the determination of human spirit. The concept of pluralism is well captured by the deeds and words of people involved....My personal connection to story came when I realized that I was hiking around Skardu in August 1995 while Greg Mortenson was planting the initial seeds of his good deeds by building a bridge several miles north. From my personal experience I can validate Mortenson journey and it remained real from start till end.



4. Amazing story of one man's mission to bring peace to the world, starting with one of the most difficult areas on the planet. I've never felt so inspired by a true story. He is so right, this is the way out of all the hatred and fear in the middle East. I think this is a MUST READ for every human being.



5. This well written documentary about the Muslim world helps to dispell the anxiety, suspicion and fear we may have toward Islam. It warmed my heart and I couldn't put it down.

5 comments about Life on the Mississippi.

1. Had Twain stopped after the first section, in which he describes riverboat piloting and his exploits therein, I would have come away with a positive impression of the book. His piloting writings were entertaining and interesting, even though not particularly relevant in today's world.
   
   However the later chapters ruin the book. Twain documents his return to the Mississippi with a plethora of miscellaneous descriptions and loosely related anecdotes. These sections range from only mildly entertaining to just plain boring, as Twain doesn't even use his humor to save them.
   
   In the end the disappointment of the second half outweighs the enjoyment of the first half.



2. When you do the "Look Inside" thing, you'll read "This view is of the Mass Market Paperback edition (1983) from Bantam Classics. The Paperback edition (2010) from General Books LLC that you originally viewed is the one you'll receive if you click the Add to Cart button at left." And that's correct. The General Books LLC version is a completely different book. To wit....
   
   General Books LLC puts together books using an OCR automated scanning device which can miss complete pages. There are many many Typos and no table of contents. There books receive NO EDITING of any kind, also, the OCR scanning is done by a robot (which the publishers website outright says can miss pages). This is all stated on the publishers web site (google them and read for yourself to get all the details). Almost every review of books published by General Books LLC (around 500,000 of them from one imprint or another now listed on Amazon) by buyers is negative, many are extremely so.
   
   As the General Books LLC version has reviews of other publishers versions associated with it, you need to be very careful to make sure you've bought a decent version. If you have bought the version from General Books LLC by mistake, you can return to Amazon within 30 days(but check Amazon's Return Policy for the details).



3. Mark Twain is synonymous worldwide with the Mississippi River, mainly because of the Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn stories. However, Life on the Mississippi is just as important and, in a testament to Twain's greatness, nearly as readable despite being non-fiction. It details his history with the river and gives an overview of the river itself; this may sound boring, and almost certainly would be with anyone else, but I long ago decided that even Twain's laundry list would be worth reading, and this certainly is. The magic he seemed to bring to everything is in full force; one would be very hard-pressed to find another non-fiction book that is so entertaining, besides Twain's others of course, but it is also awesomely informative. In addition, Life is historically notable as the first book written on a typewriter, not Huck as is commonly thought; however, it made Twain able to finish Huck, which he had struggled with for some years and set aside. Huck fans and scholars will want to read Life for this alone, but it is more than worthy in itself.
   
   Twain starts by giving some basic facts and history; this is the least interesting part but only lasts a few pages, and I urge anyone bored by it to continue. Much of the information is of course dated but remains historically valuable as a portrait of the river as it then stood. Far more interesting is Twain's unforgettable rundown of his years as a riverboat pilot - a central life experience that led to much of his writing. We get a fascinating glimpse of this long-vanquished trade, which was all but unthinkable even when Life was published. It is important to recall that Twain was a pilot before such boats had steam or even lights at night. He details piloting's extraordinary difficulties with engrossing detail and typical self-deprecating humor. We learn much along the way about the riverboat lifestyle, the river itself, and riverside towns. Anyone curious about what it was like to live in this era and/or how its inhabitants thought and acted will find a wealth of information; we learn as much here as in any history book, and it is of course infinitely better written. Life covers a crucial American history era and is an important primary source even for those not interested in Twain and certainly essential for anyone who is, as it gives substantial background about a crucial part of his life. The book is indeed in part a bildungsroman; Twain had always loved the river and began pilot training soon after first leaving home. He structures the narrative so that it reads much like a story, and we see him grow from naïveté and ignorance to an admirable experience and wisdom.
   
   Twain then details a trip he made on the river many years later, noting what changed and what stayed the same. There is significant autobiographical material here also, but the crux is descriptive. Twain describes the river's whole length and everything having to do with it as he goes, making it all utterly absorbing. As always, there are many eminently readable tangents. Several are autobiographical - reminisces as well as then recent events. Particularly interesting is Twain's profoundly touching visit to his hometown after a long absence. However, a good part of Life has nothing to do with the river directly but is at least as engrossing as what does. Twain's many asides are full of wit and insight; few have ever probed so deeply into life and humanity, and we are lucky to have his wisdom, much of which is hilarious. Especially engaging are observations on North/South differences, notably including the Civil War. Twain's sociopolitical criticism is also as brilliant as ever, taking on everything from architecture to Walter Raleigh to speech. Finally, Life would be valuable even if lacking all this because it passes on an invaluable treasure of American folklore.
   
   Life is quite simply required reading for anyone even remotely interested in American literature; it is essential Twain, which makes it simply essential. As for this edition, it is essentially bare bones. Anyone wanting supplemental material will need to look elsewhere, but this will do well for most, as the text stands very well on its own.



4. As a current pilot of towing vessels on the Mississippi River and the ICW, I thought this was an excellent book. Since I began working in the inland towing industry, I've often heard crew members mention a time when "the men were made of steel and the barges were made of wood". This explores that time. Even if you've never been on the Mississippi River, I'd still say this is an excellent and insightful read.



5. To me, this book seemed like several rather disjointed chunks of writing about Twain's Mississippi experience. I don't know what happened. Maybe he compiled all his scraps of material about this period and threw them together, not bothering with transitions or filling in gaps, or smoothing out the narrative flow.
   In any case, I found the writing delightful and in places laugh-aloud funny. I even typed out several large passages in a letter I was writing to my brother. The letter must have taken me an hour to write but I just had to share those passages with someone. That's how good Twain is. You want to share him with others who enjoy fine writing.
   I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say this is Twain's finest book. But it is well worth reading and it lays out in detail perhaps the cross section of Twain's life that he enjoyed most.

5 comments about A Journey: My Political Life.

1. It was 0830 on 1 September 2010 as I walked past a large London bookshop. The window display comprised 2 books - one of which was this much awaited Blair Memoirs. Mine was the first copy sold. Whilst political insiders will doubtless find much over which to raise their eyebrows, my own surprises were over his relationship with his immediate successor Gordon Brown. Don't you just hate it when people say "THEY KNEW" that such and such was going to happen but did nothing to prevent it from happening when they had the power to make a difference. In this work, Blair actually claims to have known Brown would be an awful Prime Minister. Well, we can all say that - after the event. More importantly, he also admits that he failed to sack Brown for fear of creating problems for the Labour Party and accelerating Brown's succession to Number Ten! I found this difficult to digest.
   
   This is neither a pro nor anti-Blair review, it is based on his book and his revelations. A couple of years before standing down in the most diabolical fashion ever!, Blair stated he would reduce immigration to the United Kingdom to a certain figure by the September of that year. Eventually, however, nothing happened because he was unable to make any difference whatsoever. Now ask yourself this; If the Prime Minister is unable to change things, who can? Because of his disclosures in this book, for the very first time I have begun to see Blair as a weakling. Here is a man who admits to crying because a soldier was killed in Iraq. Well what did he expect? Here is a man who would not remove or even demote Gordon Brown for "FEAR" of the consequences. Not a strong man then! Here is a man who admits to having turned to drink because of the pressures of the job. Definitely not! Altogether, I began to feel so disappointed in this man, it came as something of a betrayal. Perhaps we were all fooled to some extent by the young, pretty boy, self assured image - although it is an image that has now also caught on in other parties!
   
   The memoirs commences with the revelation (for those who did not know!) that, as he entered No 10 for the first time as Prime Minister, he had not previously held any government post whatsoever - not even a junior post. From there he went on to change the face of British politics, change the face of the Labour Party and introduce several American-style techniques by employing spin-doctors to provide the most positive gloss onto anything that might be perceived as unsavoury. It really is a candid and revealing exposé of the man in charge for all those years and for that he must be applauded.
   
   Only now, however - some two years after stepping down, do we read this personal account of those years only to learn it appears he became a victim of his own spin. In so doing he leaves a lingering question over whether or not he was ever completely suited to the job. This book has changed my perception of so many aspects of British political life in general and Tony Blair in particular. No longer will I blame Gordon Brown for the financial mess in which the UK finds itself at this time. Why? Because it is abundantly clear from this book that Brown should never have been Chancellor and the only person able to remove him from that post had become frightened of replacing him.
   
   My own political inclinations are simple; I subscribe to the view that one must vote for the party who will best look after your own personal interests. Having read this book, my personal assessment of Tony Blair - as a person, is reduced to the minimum ONE star rating. That said, the book itself is easily a FIVE star product and, therefore, well worth reading.
   
   NM



2. 
   
   First my objective analysis: Blair was Labor leader in 1994, and rode that position to become Prime minister in 1997 with the biggest victory in Labor's history. The book contains 22 chapters covering the period 1997 to 2007. There is a chapter dealing with 2007 - 2010 which are issues that are current and subsequent to his service as Prime Minister. As you know all biography is subjective and selective, and this book is no less so than others. The book's most interesting chapters are:
   
   
   3) New Labor
   
   5) Princess Diane
   
   6) Peace in Northern Ireland
   
   8) Kosovo
   
   12) 9/11 "Shoulder to Shoulder"
   
   
   My Subjective Analysis": Tony Blair can write, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. You know an author is at the very top of his form when he can put together sentences in such a way that you say to yourself, if I had a month to think about it, I don't think I could have put it any better.
   
   
   An example is in the introduction, where Blair states the American burden is that it wants to be loved, but knows it can't be. Love is given to nations with which we sympathize...powerful nations aren't loved...they have to be feared by their enemies.
   
   
   Blair also seems to be excellent at understanding the world leaders that he developed extensive personal and long relationships with. This includes Vladimir Putin, Clinton, Bush, and now Obama. Listen in just a few words at what awaits you:
   
   
   Bill Clinton - The Prime Minister found Clinton to be, "The most formidable politician I ever met, actually a brilliant President. He made it at times look easy."
   
   
   George W. Bush - Blair thought Bush was straight forward and direct. He says about Bush, "The stupidest misconception was that he was stupid" - great intuition, less about politics, more about he thought was right and wrong.
   
   
   Barack Obama - This was a very interesting observation. "This is a man with steel in every part of him."
   
   
   You will love his candid analysis of all the major players in the world. However as is true in most autobiographic materials, Blair is less candid about himself and his shortcomings. There is very little about his upbringing or what brought him to his political beliefs. Regarding Iraq he is unapologetic about leading his country to war when there were no weapons of mass destruction. It seems he is trying to sway history here, more than the current reader.
   
   
   Blair also states that his interest in religion was greater than his interest in politics, but then tells us nothing about how his religious beliefs have impacted and shaped his political beliefs. All in all this is a GREAT READ, and I urge you to do so, if only to get a wonderful understanding of how a foreign leader who had an understanding of America in this time viewed our country through his own informed lens.
   
   
   Blair will always be remembered as the man who brought the Labor Party into the 21st century by getting rid of the concept of nationalization, and let's disarm by ourselves. He also was quite eloquent in explaining our President's position on Iraq better than our President was. Small failing's aside, I think you will love reading this book, and thank you for reading this review.
   
   
   Richard C. Stoyeck



3. A real slog getting through all those pages but eminently informative and entertaining if you stick with it. Blair was, in my view,one of the few competent, honest, and courageous politicians I've ever experienced or read of. There is far too much ground covered in the book to offer any true 'review'. I feel poorly to see people (such as Mr. Assim, who has also reviewed this text)be so profoundly influenced by left wing media or ideology. They just don't seem to get it. Hussein did his level best to convince his enemies (and, in the process, the rest of the world was also convinced), that he had high levels of WMD. In fact much WMD was discovered, albeit not nuclear. In my view,most responsible people in the free world would have reacted the same way as Blair and Bush. Has Assim considered where Iraq would be today had Hussein not been toppled? Likley it would be on the same short list with Iran and North Korea. This book, in my view, offers enough insight to Blair to reinforce the views expressed above.



4. When you already know so much about the Author, such as the taking a country to war based on lies, it's difficult not to ask the question: how do we know what he says is true? after all there is more scrutiny in government then at the publishers.
   
   He states: "I feel desperately sorry for them, sorry for the lives cut short, sorry for the families whose bereavement is made worse by the controversy over why their loved ones died, sorry for the utterly unfair selection that the loss should be theirs."
   
   That's not an apology, he says he feels sorry for them not that he is sorry - he even chooses his words carefully.
   
   Here is one example: Post-war: "we did not anticipate the role of Al-Qaeda or Iran"
   Making political points whenever possible! I expected to find out why he invaded a country for an oil agenda even though based on everything he said Iran or North Korea seemed the obvious targets to invade considering the humanitarian position of Iraq, but wait, despite the world knowing the Iraq has that tasty crude oil, instead we are again fed lies and our intelligence is insulted vis-a-vis wmd's.
   
   Well done Blair, you proved to the world colonialism and exploitation still exists and woke many people like me up in the process. The book is about a journey that culminates in mass murder. For these reasons this book scores ZERO, this a politicians book, and would suit nicely the fiction section



5. Mr. Blair has fascinating insights into our times and especially into the leaders who have been on the world stage during his years in politics. He speaks as if he is chatting to you over a cup of coffee...yet his thoughts and conclusions show deep thinking and understanding. Much more than simply reviewing the events he has been part of, he evaluates, assesses, and judges the importance and substance of these recent years. A great book...

5 comments about The Glass Castle: A Memoir.

1. Unbelievable delivery time-Ordered August 28 Received by September 2-will use seller when available even if not the lowest price



2. First off, I want to admit that I have NOT finished the book yet, but if my overall opinion of it changes as I polish off the final sentences, I vow to come back and change my review accordingly.
   
   That said, I think the book is wonderful. It's more than wonderful. Walls's story is heartbreaking and uplifting, frightening and life-affirming, oftentimes all in a single sentence. But what I have to say is less about my personal opinion of the book as it is about many of the negative reviews I've read, which largely focus on the incredible details of the story, "incredible" meant in it's traditional definition (as in they think Walls made them up).
   
   Many seem to find her story too far-fetched to believe. I understand that for the average WASP raised in the suburbs, or hell, even your average Poor Joe raised on the "wrong side of the tracks," some of the aspects of this memoir are hard to swallow. But take it from someone who feels he has much in common with Walls: there is nothing impossible about what is found within these pages. I'm not saying I had it as hard as she did, but I see many parallels in our early lives, and by sheer statistical probabililty, I know there have to be people out there who've been brought up in similar but even worse conditions. Jeanette's story is a case in the extreme, but that isn't a very good arguement for it being a falsehood.
   
   I can attest to the fact that a family unit truly can maintain itself (a better phrase would probably be survive) in such situations of destitution and despondency. I'm twenty-four years of age and can list at least as many residences. My father, who was a drug addict, had no job and did little to contribute to the raising of me and my brother. My mom left him when I was around four years old, and we continued to move from state to state, city to city for the remainder of my life in her care. While I can't say I went hungry as often or for as long as Walls did, I remember times when kethcup and crackers were all my mother had to offer us, and our body-weight would have probably sunk into dangerously low numbers had it not been for school lunches. Anyway, this isn't about me; I merely wanted to let it be known that the reason I believe the events in The Glass Castle to be true is not out of blind faith or gullibilty, but because I myself have experienced similar hardships, or have seen others do so with my own eyes. That being established, I wanted to address a few specific things people seemed to have a hard time believing...
   
   One reviewer found it too unlikely that a three year old could cook her own food, referring to the book's opening passages. First of all, what Walls described herself doing there can only be called cooking by a very loose definition of the word. If the reviewer will recall, all she was doing was boiling hotdogs, and not very well I might add, seeing as how it ends in third-degree burns. If my three year old nephew can operate a DVD player (which he can), then I assure you that any relatively intelligent three year old can be taught to fill a pot with water, turn the nob to HIGH, and throw in a couple hot dogs.
   
   The reviewer goes on to ask how a mother could allow such a young child to do so unmonitored, to which I respond, "You'd be surprised." I've seen with my own eyes examples of worse neglect. All you have to do is turn on the news to hear reports of mothers leaving their kids to fend for themselves for hours while they go downtown to turn a trick, or giving birth in a McDonald's bathroom toilet, or strapping them into cars that they intentionally let roll into rivers. Reading about someone letting a kid boil water is practically pedestrian in comparison, and therefor hardly incredible enough as grounds for calling a bluff.
   
   One person who gave a single star review on the basis of the unbelievability of The Glass Castle cited a situation in which the father throws a cat out of the window of a moving car, followed later by a situation where he gives a speach on animal rights. This person calls it an inconsistency. The point he misses, I think, is that what Jeanette was trying to showcase here was her father's tendency toward being a hypocrite. Lack of behavioral consistency is not necessarily a writing flaw, as it is evident in ALL people to varying degrees.
   
   I got the impression that some of the further "inconsistencies" he alluded to were the passages in which Jeanette spoke highly of her father's intelligence (engineering skills, mathematical prowess, nigh-comprehensive knowledge of astronomy and geology to name a few) compared with his financial irresponsibility and inability to hold down a job. I find this mildy offensive for one, but mostly just ignorant. Apparently, this person has never encountered someone of notable intelligence who simply never developed the social constructs in which their knowledge may thrive and better themselves. Let us not forget that the man was an alcoholic. A comparison I could make is to the idiot savant; someone born with incredible gifts in a certain subject, but otherwise undeveloped. These include people who can repeat complex musical compositions after one listen at age five, but never learn to tie their shoes. Men who, in their heads, can calculate pi thousands of digits in but still need the care and aid of their parents.
   
   Yet another reviewer doesn't seem to have any patience for the author's way of writing in fully-fleshed out dialogue, i.e. word-for-word conversations. He somehow took them as lies. I don't think Walls intended to imply that she memorized every one of these conversations verbatim. It's for the sake of narrative that she fills in the blanks. As long as she stays true to the spirit of her memory and the personalities of the people involved, and indeed transcribes what she DOES remember as closely as possible, I see no reason to complain
   
   But maybe I shouldn't be so bothered by these reviews. Maybe it's a GOOD thing that so many people find these things so unbelievable. It likely means that they've never encountered such meanness, hypocrisy, destitution, and plain ol' bad luck in their own lives. But I can't help but think that the ignorance of there being even a POSSIBILITY of these things must have some kind of negative effect on society. I think it leads to an overall lack of sympathy. Just remember people, not everyone is dealt the same hand. For every life of advantage, there is a life of disadvantage.
   
   One more comment regarding a complaint, not only common for The Glass Castle, but seemingly all memoirs: That it is too author-centric, e.g. "Look at all the bad things that happened to me! Look what I did with my life!"
   To that, I say, "Why the hell are you reading a memoir?"
   Really, if you don't like someone going on and on about what happened in their life, stick to novels and more scholarly non-fiction.
   
   As a final point on the matter, why would someone even write a memoir unless they had an unusual/exceptional life? Think about it. It's the INCREDIBLE lives that drive the people who lead them to write in down in the first place.



3. by Emily Placido, author of Julita's Sands: A Memoir
   
   This is the author's account of her childhood traveling from town to town with her dysfunctional parents. The story seems so unreal, like it has to be made up. But, as I read on I could believe the things that happned because I had seen worse. Besides, like they say, truth is stranger than fiction!
   
   Walls writes with such compassion, many times I wanted her to let it all out and bash her parents. She doesn't. The author writes in a non biased manner without anger and resentment. Some of the living conditions that she experienced as a child would be considered child abuse today. Her mother is only that in the biological sense, and her father was a dreamer who defied authority and the norm. How Walls and her siblings made it through virtually unscathed is a wonder. This is an enjoyable read and I for one loved it. Once i started I couldn't put it down.



4. Although a close friend who has similar tastes recommended this book to me, I absolutely hated it. It was just awful, and I felt like I did when I was reading "Angela's Ashes." I just kept waiting for some sort of redemption - something that would make me feel better for this poor kids - but it never came! I generally like to finish books I begin, but I believe this would have been better unfinished. I will never recommend this to anyone. Just awful.



5. I bought the book because it was only about six bucks from the friday outlet selection from amazon.
   
   
   I got very excited when I saw the ratings - four and a half stars with like more than a thousand reviews!
   
   I just started reading the book today. At first I didn't know what to expect because I knew nothing of the author and her life. I mean, that was the reason why I purchase the book - right?
   
   Lets start out with the positives. The book is an easy read - literally. An elementary student can fully understand what Walls is trying to say. There are no difficult words nor messages behind the story. It is straight up facts - this and that happened.
   
   As I read the story, I kept on thinking white trailer-trash. And this fascinated me, I never knew how they lived. The little knowledge I knew of the poor white class was from Hollywood, thus, I knew nothing.
   
   I felt that the story was a little TOO much. How can a three year old be cooking? What type of mother would let her child cook at that age? How does she remember her first encounter with gum but not the pain from the fire - she was supposedly burnt!
   
   The book is very contradictory. How can she give a piece of the hotdog to the dog if she was on a stool/chair (whatever it was) in order for her to cook. And how did the family make money? She says that they barely had money and when they did, the father would buy hard liquor. How is it that they can leave their trailers behind and travel to another location in their plymouth and find another trailer or rent a house?
   
   It amazes me how this book has such great reviews. Nothing makes sense. Its like bits and pieces of information from her life - but everything just seems too much like a Hollywood drama. Its even more dramatic than Korean dramas! And that's saying ALOT (for those that watch the dramas like I do!)
   
   DON'T buy the book! learn from my mistake. The book is emotionless... I feel as if the author is just trying say "poor me, poor me" and "look at what I did with my life".

5 comments about Night (Oprah's Book Club).

1. Night by Elie Whitney is surely a book that will keep you entertained. The book is about the story of the holocaust a subject the Author Elie Whitney lived first-hand showing the readers the strong feelings she felt, the dreams she longed for, and the Night she'd rather skip.



2. Night is an absolutely heartbreaking memoir. It short and it is simple. The writing does not flow lyrically and is unembellished. The truth is that none of this matters. The voice of Wiesel....the voice of a man who has suffered loss, pain, and suffering that is incomprehensible to anyone who has not been in his position....makes this book what it is. He writes not only with his own voice, but also with the voices of the millions of other Jewish people who experienced the horrors of the Holocaust. Night is an account of Elie Wiesel's time in the Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. Wiesel writes with a voice that recalls loss in it's most tragic sense...loss of family, loss of humanity, loss of belief. It is hard to describe how I felt when reading this account...because as sad and horrified as I found myself while reading, I still know that what I felt was nothing compared to the sadness of the families that were there. No words really seem to be strong enough or raw enough to describe the book. I feel strongly that this should be required reading for everyone. My reason for feeling this way is the same as Wiesel's reason for writing this memoir. Humanity can never be allowed to forget what happened during that dark hour of the world's history. Allowing the world to forget would be a disrespect to the people involved....those who survived as well as those who were murdered at the hands of the Nazis. We are at a point in time where the number of survivors is dwindling quickly. Wiesel felt that this book was needed so that the world would never forget....because to forget would open the door for something like that to happen again. Night serves as a reminder of the terror that happened during the Holocaust...a reminder of our responsibility to prevent such an event from ever happening again



3. I appreciate the quickness in which I received this order. I purchased it for my daughter's summer reading and wanted to make sure that she had ample time in which to read the book. I was afraid that it was going to take a while to receive, but this was not the case. Thank you very much for great customer service !



4. This book speaks only of the facts, your soul will provide the horror and despair.
   
   Like the Elie your left with the skin and bones of what happened. This book should be required reading all over the world



5. The best book about the Holocaust I've ever read. It's short, but it will knock you flat. Hard to believe something that's only about 100 pages can pack such a wallop. Worth its weight in gold.

5 comments about Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage.

1. I only tried to read this because it came free on my Sony e-reader. I was not a huge fan of Eat, Pray, Love and am even less of a fan of this book. It is dull, boring and I think in part- made up. Elizabeth Gilbert starts out the book apologizing over and over again (I'm not a historian, I'm not an anthropoligist) enough already, we know who you are- just write the book. She then goes into great detail about how this is a book about WESTERN marriage and then proceeds to start it off by talking about the Hmong women of Vietnam...huh? As a reader, I felt confused and duped. She gives two different examples of people who had more or less arranged marriages who could not remember meeting their spouse-(ie because it just wasn't that important), early courtship, etc. I find this highly unlikely. Partly because I AM a social scientist and know from interviewing many, many people that life-changing events such as meeting your spouse (in whatever social construction that might be) is remembered, in detail. The worst part is that she goes on and on, goes off on tangents and then you forget what she is even talking about in the first place. She is like a really boring, really chatty neighbor you just can't get away from. Well, I can get away from her, I'm not going to finish the book!0



2. If you can think for yourself, are passionate about questioning assumptions and open to a bit of subversion read this book! Here is your chance to have your mind opened if you will allow it.
   Gilbert gives herself to the conundrum of commitment as only a very bright questioner of authority could. She gamely challenges her own nagging doubts about the institution of marriage. She explores the twisted route (or roots) of its transformation, and maps its frequent changes over the last few centuries.
   If you are perfectly comfortable following the prescribed societal routines, if you are deep fried in any kind of fundamentalist religious beliefs and opposed to discovering historical context that might rattle your adamantine notions, if you expect this book to sing the praises of the bloated undertaking that is currently assumed to fulfill all a girl's princess-shaped fantasies, go elsewhere.



3. I hated EPL. Did not get at all how that book became such a world wide phenomenon. The woman bores me, frankly. And the only reason I am reading Committed is because I found it at a church book sale for 50 centimes. About 40 centimes too much as far as I can tell after 50 pages. Just as dreary as EPL.



4. I enjoyed this book more than Eat, Pray, Love. I loved EPL as well. This book was more educational. Young people should read this before getting married. It made me laugh and cry more than Eat, Pray, Love. I enjoyed learning about how other cultures think about marriage and people from other times thought about marriage. Before I got married, I had a preconceived, "Western" idea about what marriage is. And then I got divorced. After reading Committed, I am more open to different ideas of what marriage is.



5. In the foreword, the author said she had destroyed one manuscript and started over. This one feels a bit sketchy and unfocused. There are some great stories here, but mostly, she retreats into theory instead of focusing on the reality of a what it means to build a real, long-term relationship. I wonder if she felt uncomfortable writing about her relationship once she was planning to marry? That might explain why it felt too cerebral and less heartfelt.

5 comments about Open.

1. This review is only pertaining to the audio copy. I checked it out of the library because I thought it would be a great "read" for my commute. I gave up before getting through the first disc. Eric Davies's voice was a terrible choice for me with this book. I felt like I was listening to a horror movie trailer the whole time. It was very unsettling and kept me from getting connected to the material. I'll get it in paperback instead.



2. This book provides insight into the life of an extraordinary athlete and humanitarian. It will not disappoint.. Agassi fan or not!



3. An excellent read. Great book for anyone who watched Agassi play, or for anyone who wants to try and understand the rigors of being a champion.



4. This is the first autobiography of a world athlete that I read and I am not disappointed at all. I have to say I give a lot of credit to J.R. Moehringer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, who helped shape the book. Agassi gave credit to Moehringer himself in the Afterward. All that said Agassi's personality shines through the letters. He's very, very open about his personal life in all aspects. The reader get to see and 'feel' all the behind the scene of his life. In some way the reading was almost like a fiction. The book definitely helps you get to know Agassi (and like him) better. The tone is sincere and open..just like the title of the book! If you're going to read only a few autobiographies of top tennis players, I highly recommend this to be one among those few. The book got to me so much that I continued on to read Sampras's autobiography, A Champion's Mind.



5. Brilliant! I could not put this book down. Andre Agassi's memoir humanized him, and just like any other ordinary citizen, he had his ups and his downs. Who would have thought that such an extraordinary tennis player had his own insecurities, just like the rest of us. The writing style was superb, and guaranteed to keep the reader enthralled page after page.

5 comments about Kitchen Confidential Updated Edition: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.).

1. I really enjoyed getting to know Bourdain a little more in this book. I love his travel shows and his take on different customs, food, people. I get a kick out of his no nonsense opinions and how he states them. I learned a few things about kitchen ware and have new appreciation for chefs, cooks and all the work it takes to run restaurants.



2. The book was great. Arrived quickly. Good condition.
   
   Thank You
   Ashley Edwards



3. Mr. Bourdain's story of not only his life but his opinion of the kitchen subculture was enlightening for his opinion of the behind-the-scenes cooks life but mostly for the point of view of working for personal satisfaction and not just for a buck. The chapters which described working all hours necessary, never being late, and doing things that may not be your job for the business really sunk in for me. The idea of thinking of yourself as a warrior in your life and doing your best no matter what is hard one to visualize but is portrayed over and over again kitchen confidential.
   I enjoyed the stories, descriptions, and insights in the book a lot and will probably read it again but really what sunk in for me was the truly inspiring work ethic. If you want to know what doing your absolute best and putting in your all looks like, read this book.



4. I find this book to be very informative to the culinary world. Anyone interested in that career has to read this book. Anthony Bourdain really grabs your attention and keeps you coming back for more!



5. 
   Enjoyable peek into Bourdain's entry into the work of chefs. I really liked his unfiltered eye on behind the scenes of restaurant relationships and personalities. He does not spare himself either. Contains salty language, but it just paints Bourdain's character that much brighter.
   A recommended read for any person who considers himself or herself a foodie.