5 comments about Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism.

1. Like another reviewer of this book, I am compelled to give my first review on Amazon. However, UNLIKE the other reviewer, I give this book a resounding five stars, and would give it more if I could.
   
   My three year old daughter does not have classic autism, but instead has infantile spasms (a form of epilepsy) and is developing autistic like behaviors. Whether it progresses into autism remains to be seen. There is a close link between infantile spasms and epilepsy, and as a result I've been hyperaware of watching for behaviors and symptoms.
   
   I read this book in one sitting. I was riveted, and felt like I was reading about MY life and MY journey with my daughter and epilepsy. Like McCarthy, I *DID* experience (and continue to experience) the hysteria and absolute disgust and frustration with doctors and medical professionals who shrug us off and have no clue what they're dealing with. Like McCarthy, I *DID* experience a sudden, immediate life change when the seizures started for my daughter. There was no gradual, easing into this life of a disabled child. One day she was fine, the next day...not fine.
   
   I APPRECIATED reading a book by a mother who wasn't fine with the status quo. Who pushed, and pushed, and pushed until she got an accurate diagnosis. Who didn't calmly & peacefully say "Oh, everythign happens for a reason", someone who got angry and demanded the best for their child.
   
   Am I a celebrity of means like McCarthy? I wish! I'm just a regular, average parent who got therapy through Early Intervention, and soon through the School District. Not once did I feel put down by McCarthy or my choices for the therapies we choose for our daughter.
   
   Instead, I felt EMPOWERED to demand research; demand justification for medications used on my daughter. I felt EMPOWERED to find doctors who would work with my DAUGHTER, not just her symptoms. My daughter is a unique individual with unique medical needs. A one-size-fits-all approach won't work for her or for us, and more than anything, I felt affirmed with the knowledge that by advocating for our daughter, I was doing right by her.
   
   I cherish this book almost above any others I've read about disabled children, and encourage any parent who can tolerate and understand the cussing when it comes to their child.
   
   Keep advocating, Jenny! You are appreciated and admired!



2. I was intrigued by this book when my son started to develop autistic characteristics. I think when you are faced with a life altering issue, you're forced to find solace, enlightenment and a certain sense of similarity with others. You want to know that there's hope out there. And it's easy to do that with a celebrity. They're celebrities, we're supposed to look up to them to a certain extent. I don't get the appeal. They're just another person, that puts their pants on, one leg at a time, like everyone else. But if they can help others, then it's not entirely a bad thing.
   
   That said, I wasn't really that impressed with this book. It is very one track minded. It seemed to be one big venting session. The swearing doesn't bother me as I tend to have a foul mouth myself when I get going, and if that's how you blow off steam, then have at it. This is just her journey. Some are going to benefit, others aren't, it's that simple. In combination with this book, and her interviews, she seems extremely standoffish in regards to her son and his treatment (which is very different from her early non-serious funny days). Maybe that's as a result of a lot of people taking issue with alternative medicine. I don't know. She seems to have her heart in the right place, fighting for greener vaccines, and realizing your potential to not just take your doctor's word as the end all. Being your own advocate.
   
   This book isn't rocket science. It's simple reading from a comedienne and tv personality. I would have appreciated more of a look at her perception of him prior to that fateful morning.
   
   Bottom line, is there are a lot of really great books out there about other everyday people's experiences that are better put together. Buy a bunch of books, take what works from each and discard the rest. There's no one way of doing things. And you'll find as you go on, that your beliefs change.



3. Ms. McCarthy's "Louder Than Words" is a candid and courageous memoir of her journey with helping her son heal from Autism. Her story was horrifying at times and made me laugh out loud at others; told with honesty and humor, Ms. McCarthy tirelessly advocates for her son's well-being and recovery. As a parent of a son with "mild autism", I have searched extensively for current and progressive information to treat my son, biomedically. Similarly to Ms. McCarthy's experience, we have not received useful guidance from the traditional pediatricians that we have consulted with and I completely understand her frustration. However, I am also grateful to a great number of biomedical researchers, alternative health practitioners, and authors who have made complex but useful information available to the public. I also wish to thank Ms McCarthy for bringing awareness to the product Threelac which, as with her own son, has made a significant difference in our son's digestive health, language, focus, and behavior. Our son is recovering from Autism.
   
   There are many many excellent books on the topics of biomedical treatments, digestive enzymes, vaccine toxicity, gluten and casein free (GF/CF) diets, advocacy, behavioral, sensory, auditory, and traditional therapies for Autism that are well-reviewed on Amazon, so I won't reiterate a huge list here. However, here are a few books that stay on my nightstand: "Say Goodbye to Allergy-Related Autism", by Devi S. Nambudripad; "Changing the Course of Autism: A Scientific Approach for Parents and Physicians", by Bryan Jepson; and "Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies: The Groundbreaking Program for the 4-A Disorders", by Kenneth Bock. The book that prompted us to consult our state's Early Intervention Program (every state has one) when our son was 18 months of age was "The Late Talker: What to Do If Your Child Isn't Talking Yet" by Marilyn C. Agin.
   
   The one book that I wholeheartedly DO NOT RECOMMEND is "The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late", by Thomas Sowell, time will tell us about the aptitude of our kids and Sowell's book should not be used as an excuse to delay crucial early intervention.



4. I am a proud Mom of an autistic child this book was outstanding. I feel everyone that has an ASD child/adult in their life in any way should read this book to help the child and and the family. Jenny gave so much insight to parents and caretakers everywhere. Most of all she gave hope.



5. My son has autism and we never considered medicating him. Jenny's book gives alot of great alternative ideas to help.

5 comments about The Hiding Place.

1. This is an absolutely extraordinary book. Never have I read a book in which the spiritual beauty of the author so resonated throughout the story. The purity of heart that manifests itself in this inspiring saga of a heroic, Dutch family in Nazi occupied Holland during World War II is stunningly beautiful.
   
   This is the true story of the Ten Boom family who, during the Nazi occupation of The Netherlands, upon seeing what was happening to their Jewish neighbors and friends, asked themselves this age old question "If not us,...who; if not now,...when?" They answered it, ultimately at great cost.
   
   The Ten Booms were devoutly Christian and lived a simple life. The patriarch of the family ran a watch shop that had been in his family for a century. Some of the family members, the author among them, worked there, selling and repairing clocks and watches. They also lived in the house in which the shop was located.
   
   When the Nazis occupied their country, the reality of what it meant slowly dawned upon them, as they saw the treatment given to their fellow Dutch citizens of the Jewish faith. Moved by their plight, the author at the age of fifty, together with other members of her family, including their father who was nearly eighty, became active in the Dutch underground.
   
   When it became clear to the Ten Booms that Jews were being targeted for deportation and death, they had a false wall constructed in the author's bedroom, thereby creating a secret room. There, they would hide the terrified Jews who were staying with them, in the event of a Nazi raid upon their home.
   
   Eventually denounced by someone to the Nazis, the Ten Booms were arrested and their home raided and torn apart by the Gestapo, in their search for the Jews they believed to be hiding there. At the time of the raid, the Ten Boom home was filled to capacity with Jews in hiding. So well concealed was the hidden room that had been created by the erection of the false wall, that these poor, terrified Jews managed to escape detection.
   
   The Ten Boom family did not fare so well. It was upon their arrest that they learned first hand of man's inhumanity to man, and their faith was put to a test that they had never dreamt possible. It was faith, however, that sustained the author in what was to be her darkest hour of deepest despair. To find out what happened to the Ten Booms, read this book. It is the story of an incredible family, who had the courage to put their convictions to the test.
   
   This book is a masterpiece. The reader is sure to be captivated by the goodness and spiritual beauty contained within its pages.



2. This is a wonderful story and it begs the question: Could I have been that brave and compassionate? A story of true Christians.



3. Great, great book. Inspiring, heart wrenching. Great message about God's faithfulness, but should in no way be boxed in as Christian literature. A great historical book no matter what your faith. Loved it.



4. The Hiding Place is the moving true-life account of Corrie ten Boom and her family who sheltered persecuted Jews in Nazi-oocupied Holland during World War Two. They did this at great personal risk, but they did it because of their unwavering faith in God, and because it was the right thing to do.
   
   Unfortunately, they are arrested and deported to the camps for their acts of resistance against the Nazis. It is a testament to their faith and nobility that they retain their belief in God despite all the travails that await them in the camps.
   
   "No pit is so deep that He is not deeper still" - as Corrie ten Boom believes despite all the horrors that she has endured. A testament to the power of belief in God, and to the courage of ordinary people in extraordinary and horrific times.



5. Let me start out by saying that this is a very powerful book. There is such an awesome message of hope, courage, and faith. If you love God, family, and believe that God can do powerful things then this is the book for you. Corrie Ten Boom is living with her family during the time when Nazi soldiers are taking Jews to concretion camps. Her family wants to help the Jews and keep them safe, by hiding them in their home. Corrie is working for a secret organization that helps protect the Jewish people. She and her family soon find that they are in the same situation as the Jews. Corrie stays strong in her faith and good things start to happen in the concretion camp that she and her family are put into. Like eventually she and her sister are finally put together, and other members of her family are let free. I strongly recommend this book for anyone sixth grade and up. The Hiding Place By: Corrie Ten Book is a very well written book and has two thumbs up.

5 comments about Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter.

1. Life Beyond Measure is a series of letters to Poitier's great-granddaughter, to be read as she matures from infancy to young womanhood. As such, it is not a straight biographical narrative, rather a compendium of grandfatherly advice intermixed with real life examples from Poitier's marvelous and challenging life.
   
   It seems some of the events are skimmed over - he mentions finding the love of his life in his second wife, but fails to detail the divorce from his first wife and the suffering involved in that. He treats everyone very resepctfully, obviously retaining a good relationship with the first wife, but I think a few lessons detailing that type of event would have been beneficial to his intended audience.
   
   The writing style is fluent and easy to read - it moves best when Poitier is relating tales from his youth on Cat Island or Nassau, or his individual struggles against unemployment or racism. It bogs down some near the end when he begins to wax philospohically on the great mysteries of the universe, and I am not certain all the background information he throws in on society and science was that useful, but still he manages to convey his basic point that mankind needs to be a good steward of this planet and of each other.
   
   All in all, an enjoyable read with a lot of valuable advice couched in warm and accessible prose.



2. This book was purchased for my 83 year old Mother as a gift for Mother's Day. She usually sticks to cookbooks, or psychology self-help type books, but I knew she always admired Sidney Poitier as an actor, and as a human being, so I thought she might enjoy this book. Turns out I was right! Even though she can only read a few pages each night due to vision problems, she has already told me how much she is enjoying reading this book. It is extremely well written, with a true human interest style that is holding her interest. Bravo, Mr. Poitier! (I'm going to borrow it from her when she's finished!)



3. What loving letters these are! The chapters about his youth are the most interesting & delightful; those in which he philosophizes about religion are a little less clear, but very heartfelt & humanitarian. I wish we all could have such a large family network. Poitier's writing is truly elegant and articulate -- I think I'd read the phone book if he'd written it!



4. It really takes a man of great internal fortitude to look back on his life with such a critical eye toward informing the future, but screen legend Sidney Poitier has proven to be such a man. He first made an impression in his pioneering role as a top-flight film star in the 1950's and 60's and then through his profound role in the civil rights movement and more recently, on more global political commitments. He has conveyed his evolving passions in a series of increasingly reflective books - first his candid, straight-ahead autobiography, 1980's This Life and then his sometimes fiery, always revelatory memories of being caught in the crossfire of expectations among his racially divided audience in 2000's The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography. His latest book finds the actor, now 81 years old, in a more philosophical mood as he writes a series of letters to his great-granddaughter Ayele.
   
   Ayele was just born in 2005, so it's clear that Poitier wrote this book as a legacy to her and quite a legacy it is. Far less interested this time in opening old wounds, he brings a genuinely inspirational tone to his ruminations on the broad topics he covers here - love, faith, life, death. Yet, he manages to use his expansive personal history when it proves relevant to a topic. Poitier realizes that he is well beyond the age where he needs to document his life purely in chronological, milestone-achieving order. At the same time, he knows he played an essential role in breaking down barriers heretofore closed to blacks despite the limitations put upon him on the big screen. The actor had to be hopelessly idealized, articulate and sexless. Even when he was allowed to be romantically involved in films like For Love of Ivy, it was handled in the most antiseptic manner. And when he spoke out against injustices in films like In the Heat of the Night or Pressure Point, Poitier kept his passions in check with calculated responses that turned into classic set pieces like the argument with his belligerent father in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
   
   Barack Obama owes a debt of gratitude to Poitier whose charisma and dignity paved the way for the first serious Presidential run by someone who is not white. However, the actor seems more resigned than enthralled by his pivotal place in history. That must explain why he deals more directly with questions about the existence of a higher power since he worries that the world his great-granddaughter inherits will be continually threatened by religious conflicts. Poitier wants to prepare her for the threats ahead, and in doing so, he shares his hard-earned wisdom in deceptively simple terms. There is a pervasive sense of mortality in the book, and one gets the sense that he is preparing himself for the world beyond. You would think the net effect would be sad, but he manages to give a strong sense of affirmation to the life lessons he shares. I still prefer the comparatively angrier "Measure of a Man" for pure revelation about his legend, but this lucidly written book provides a most fitting coda.



5. Although The Los Angeles Times reviewer gave Mr. Poitier a generous accolade as "a national treasure," those lofty words are nevertheless incomplete. This fine actor, and the roles he has played as a leading man, taught a generation of men and women the most important lessons possible about racial equality and social justice. He led our collective thoughts at a time when we were most impressionable.
   
   Through his authoritative lead characters for timeless movies -- such as "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" and "In the Heat of the Night" -- Poitier gave the Baby Boomer generation palpable and enduring context for their cultural revolution around equal rights. Martin Luther King delivered the moral imperatives for change: Sydney Poitier enacted the stories that made King's lessons tangible, comprehensible and personal.
   
   This generation is now rapidly passing the hallmark birthdays of 50 and 60 and can learn again from Sydney Poitier, the author. Today's generational zeitgeist includes the pressing need to assess our collective legacies; to leave future generations a more inclusive, humane and just world; and to bequeath our successors a better society than the divisive nation of our youth.
   
   Again, he speaks to a generation that has also admired him since our teen years, a generation that has listened to him as a wise mentor. He taught us right from wrong without a single lecture or admonishment. He just demonstrated what a nation built on equality needed to become.
   
   This book challenges each of us to consider our heritage, not just for the next generation, but for generations yet to be born. Mr. Poitier's bravery, tenacity and humanity are worth further consideration, study and reflection, as inspired by this new book.
   
   Read this masterwork if you're a Boomer. It will remind you of why we sacrificed much and worked hard to help transform Poitier's revolutionary acting roles into mainstream cultural norms today.

5 comments about Thinking About Memoir (AARP).

1. This book was not what I expected or wanted. It's too basic and not very inspiring! It's not a book I'll keep and use. I was really disappointed.



2. I recommend That's How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist by Susan Rako, M.D. Rako's book is fascinating, insightful, and an absolutely great read. The writing just flows.



3. A completely charming book about memoirs encouraging you to write your life stories. Captivating stories, fascinating vignettes, and superb writing combine to make this an inspiring book. Her writing exercise suggestions are interesting enough to tempt even non-writers and provide more experienced writers a great chance to warm up.
   
   "Writing memoirs is a way to figure out who you used to be and how you got to be who you are." Based on this book, I am looking forward to other titles in this AARP "Arts of Living" series. I only wish that this quite small book was twice as long!



4. "What is memoir? How do you write one? What if you can't remember anything, or worse, what if you remember it all?"
   
   AARP has started publishing an "Art of Living" series, and this passage is the begins Abigail Thomas's excellent contribution. She shares lessons about how to get started and stay motivated in writing your own personal history.
   
   Thomas helps wannabe writers find a "side door" with writing exercises. It's great fun to watch her apply her hints in practice: "Trust the work to find its own way," Example: "take any 10 years of your life and reduce them to two pages. Every sentence has to be three words long--not two, not four, but three words long. You discover there's nowhere to hide in three-word sentences."
   
   Other useful hints: cut ruthlessly. "[H]alf of writing is deciding what to leave out.... Marriage, divorce, love, sex--yes, there's all of that, but often what takes up precious space is sleeping on grass, or an ancient memory of blue Popsicle juice running down your sticky chin."
   
   Write every day; make it a habit. Thomas doesn't like calling your notebook a "journal" because she believes it implies writing for publication (so what's wrong with that?). And, some folks, myself included, find composing on a computer easier than scribbling on paper. Whatever your medium, Thomas's basic message is "make a start".
   
   I really enjoyed this book, but keep it next to Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach. One of his first writing exercises was to make a map of the earliest neighborhood I could remember. It was fascinating to compare the map I came up with against an aerial map published by the government.
   
   These two fine books use a similar approach, but each writer has their own distinctive "voice", just as you will if you take their advice and just "make a start".
   
   
   Robert C. Ross 2008



5. I will take some of the ideas the author has typed in bold as a stepping stone in writing my memories. I have read the two other books (the memoirs) that Abigail has written and I got a lot out of them. This one is not as good. :( She writes in a very dry style for this book. I agree with one of the other reviewers, 'I was expecting more' and what I got out of it was a lot less.

5 comments about Tuesdays With Morrie.

1. It was a privilege to read about Morrie and Mitch, and to listen in on their conversations. For readers who are willing to open their mind and heart, there are many moments of grace within these pages. Mitch & Morrie helps us reflect on life, love, marriage, forgiveness and even death in way that makes us cherish life all the more.
   -Christopher Maricle
   The Jesus Priorities: 8 Essential Habits



2. After reading "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," by the same author, and reading/hearing comments about "Tuesdays with Morrie," I really thought this was going to be a great read also-- but it wasn't. Reviewers make it seem as though there are so many revealing thoughts and lessons to be learned through this book, however, I found most of them to be common sense based. It was interesting to follow how this elderly man degenerates, yet keeps a positive attitude all throughout. Nonetheless, it wasn't as engaging to read as "The Five People You Meet in Heaven."



3. Tuesday With Morrie is a wonderful book. It sits by my bedside and I constantly pick it up and reread a chapter or two upon going to bed at night. My husband read it and Morrie inspired him to change his life. He wanted to be more like Morrie. A book that helped him do this and continues to is Why Men Die Before Women and How to Prevent It. Read both of these books.



4. As a class we read the book Tuesday with Morrie by Mitch Albom. Tuesdays with Morrie is an incredible novel about a professor who becomes very ill and happens to connect with Mitch Albom an old student of Morrie's when Mitch found out Morrie was ill. Mitch is an average working man who is very involved with his work and gets wrapped up in things that dont really matter in life. In this book you learn a lot about yourself and the courage and bravery behind death. By reading this book you realize what matters in life and how important family and friends actually are. Its not about money and the nicest cars its about love and happiness. After reading this book I had a whole new outlook on life. Also you begin to notice what happens now wont effect you in the future.
   I suggest this book for anybody who is looking for a good read, or anybody that needs that extra push when they are in a time of need. This book opens up a lot of doors for many different people and I hope that this book has the same affect on people as it did on me.
   Enjoy :)



5. Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson
   This is one of the best books I have ever read. I read this as part of a college assignment. It was one of the best assignments ever. This book taught the class so much about living life, and living it to the fullest. If you are facing difficult times in your life, this is a MUST READ. Perhaps someone you know is facing family sickness, or having a difficult time with family relationships -- if so, this is a great book to help overcome those problems. It will help you focus your energy into something more positive, therefore not wasting it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

No comments about Hero of the Underground: A Memoir.

5 comments about The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom.

1. "The Long Walk" is Polish Army officer Slavomir Rawicz's gripping account of an escape from a Soviet labor camp in Siberia in 1941. According to his story, Rawicz and his comrades walked South across the interior of Asia to freedom in British India. This journey across a winter landscape in Siberia, the Gobi Desert in Mongolia, and the mountains of western China and Tibet, is, if true, an unparalleled acount of suffering and human endurance. The BBC claims to have found records indicating that Rawicz was in fact released by the Soviets to a refugee camp in Iran during the Second World War. If these records are accurate, the main event of "The Long Walk" is an enthralling work of fiction. Readers will have to make their own judgement.
   
   Rawicz was a young Polish Cavalry officer taken prisoner by the Soviets when Hitler and Stalin divided Poland in 1939. He is tortured by the Soviets and sentenced as a spy to 25 years in a labor camp in Siberia. The suffering of the winter journey to the labor camp is bad enough, but once there, Rawicz and six of his fellow prisoners hatch an escape plan. One night, they slip away, carrying a small amount of food, a hand axe, and an improvised knife. They will travel cross-country South to Mongolia, along the way picking up a young Polish female who has also escaped from detention. The eight will dare unbelievable hazards, including a chronic lack of food, water, and shelter, to steer more or less South toward India. Only four people will reach safety in India.
   
   Rawicz's narrative is rather bare bones, possibly the result of translation from his native Polish. Traveling by the sun, the small group never has much more than a general sense of where they are or what is in front of them. Their survival is the incredible result of ingenuity and pluck, as the travelers plumb the absolute limits of human endurance and receive timely help from strangers along the way. The reader cannot help but be caught up in the terrible suspense of the story.
   
   Other reviewers have commented that Rawicz's story seems a little too good to be true. Certainly the hazards of the journey would have killed many parties far better prepared; Rawicz and his comrades seem to enjoy astonishingly good luck. "Mr. Smith", the Russian-speaking American in the group, seems especially mysterious and preternaturally self-possessed in the face of their many obstacles. The alleged encounter with two Yeti in the Himalayas strains credibility. Perhaps the best advice for readers is to put aside their skepticism and enjoy the story as presented.



2. I bought this book with great anticipation, having read and enjoyed other survival tales such as "Endurance" and "In the Heart of the Sea." I've been slogging through the uninspired language for the past month with great difficulty. The lack of passion Rawicz brings to his writing is perhaps a clue that this is not a true story, as some have attested. Or maybe it's a problem with the translation. Either way, I don't find this to be the gripping tale it could have been.
   
   I should add that I have been reading this under the assumption that it was true. So discovering now that it may not be true has not in any way affected my review; I thought it was boring before then. I wish I had known about the controversy and had picked a different book. Other reviewers have stated that it is an exciting and remarkable story, true or not. I disagree. If it is true it is a dull and lifeless transcription of a remarkable feat. If it is fiction than the author has not only lied but written a boring book.



3. Sunday, March 26, 2006
   "The Long Walk" by Slavomir Rawicz, © 1956
   This is an amazing story. It is incredible that the torturers in the U.S. Army did not read this or take lessons from the KGB, because some of their tortures are very similar to what is described in this book. But that is only in the first two chapters. The rest of the book is the story of Mr. Rawicz's walk with his cohorts from United Soviet Socialist Republic labor camp in Siberia to India. The walk starts with advise to walk south, not east, to avoid the obvious route and, therefore, obvious pursuit.
   The oddest part of this story is that one of the particpants is known only as Mr. Smith. He is an American of unknown origins. No one on this trek is cognizant of the reason of their incarceration, but Mr. Smith is so unknown that even his Christian name is never known. The next oddest part of this story is in the preface. It was supposed to be a story about people who have encountered Yeti. These fellows saw some on their walk through the Himalayas, so the assistant to the author, Ronald Downing, reseaching for a story about the Yeti, came across this amazing story.



4. I really enjoyed this book. although i have read many other concentration camp books, this one is by far the greatest journey. it really puts you in the perspective of this poor man and when something bad happens to him you seem to feel it for yourself! very descriptive!!
   P.S. whoever said "just a story" is utterly wrong and has no brain at all!! it is "just" a gripping story of a man making his way form a concentration camp, all the way down to india. so i do not see how tis can be "just a story"



5. This is by far one of the best books I have ever read in my short life. It tells the story of a... well I'm sure you already have a basic gist of what it is about. I digress. It is an increadible read. From page one you are captivated and it is difficult to set down. A great story. As a side note you should most definately read the preface.

No comments about What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

5 comments about Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist's Wife.

1. I read this book hesitantly. Do I really want to know about all the suffering in a lifestyle so alien to me? Irene did such a wonderful job, I was angry, in tears,and ended with just complete joy and tears in her new found faith which came as such a surprise. What a story of human suffering and perserverance and complete triumph. Truly wonderful, would definitely recommend a hundred times over!



2. This was the first of 3 books about the FLDS I have read recently. I constantly had to remind myself that the events took place in the 50s when "woman's place" and "role" were entirely different from today's. I got so angry with Irene Spencer at times for just not "kicking his backside" from here to eternity! I found this book extremely interesting not for the fact of Irene's questioning or rebellion, but for the mindset and the thinking of an FLDS woman. It gave me a great deal of insight into a timely topic that I knew little about except what I had seen on TV.



3. Irene's account of polygamy in general and how she survived and overcame it is an incredible life story. A talented producer and director need to get together and turn this into a blockbuster movie for the world to see and understand what happens to people when their lives are planned from the minute they are born, and their thinking controlled. I agree with another reviewer that this book should be in all book clubs.
   Should any movie producers be lurking, my choice for Irene would be Jennifer Garner....and not only for the facial resemblance. I believe she has the talent to take the viewer from the lowest of Irene's trials to the heights of her exuberance, and everything in between. I also think Jude Law, if he would dare, could excellently portray the sometime witty, charming,religious,strict,overbearing,cold,and kind Verlan LeBaron. If anyone should want to make this book into a film, they must not deviate from the story and its locales. To do so would ruin it.



4. This is one of the best books I've ever read and I've read alot. I felt like I was right there with her going thru the joy the pain and anger of being trapped in her religous hell. I kept wanting her to see the light and get herself and her babies and get out of there. I also found myself feeling somewhat sorry for her husband at times because all and all he was somewhat caught up in the trap also along with the other wives. I would definely recommend this book to anyone who likes a down to earth author with warmth and humor.



5. I struggled throughout the entire book to find some empathy for Irene and her situation. I never found it. She made a choice to marry into a polygamous relationship, and she spent about 375 pages too many complaining about it. She forever complained about not being the special wife, the favorite, and so forth, but does she forget that she was Verlan's second wife?? It should make for a very short discussion at our book club.

5 comments about Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights.

1. There have been several struggles in civil rights in the USA. Women suffrage, African American civil rights, and finally the Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Bisexual cause.
   
   Yoshino, a law professor at Yale and a gay, Asian-American man, masterfully melds autobiography and legal scholarship in this book, marking a move from more traditional pleas for civil equality to a case for individual autonomy in identity politics. Seldom has a work of such careful intellectual rigor and fairness been so deeply touching.
   
   In questioning the phenomenon of "covering," a term used for the coerced hiding of crucial aspects of one's self--in his case his homosexuality--Yoshino thrusts the reader into a battlefield of shifting gray areas. Yet, at every step, he anticipates the reader's questions and rebuttals, answering them not only with acute reasoning, but also with disarming humility.
   
   What emerges is an eloquent, poetic protest against the hidden prejudices embedded in American civil rights legislation--legislation that tacitly apologizes for "immutable" human difference from the white, male, straight norm, rather than defending one's "right to say what one is." Though Yoshino recognizes the law's potential to further (and hinder) liberty's cause, he admits that his "education in law has been an education in its limitations." Hence, by way of his unsparing accounts of self-realization, he reveals that the struggle against oppression lies not solely in fighting an imagined, monolithic state but as much in intimate discourse with the mother, the father, and the colleague who constitute that state. It deals with the ability to "blend" with the society who is yet to give the GLBT community the rights and respect it deserves.
   
   As healing as it is polemical, this book has tremendous potential as a touchstone in the struggle for universal human dignity.



2. No offense to Yoshino, but in truth, he doesn't make many actual points. This is a great book if you want to hear about his personal journey, but it's not very enlightening overall.



3. A mix of professional experience, glimpses of personal experience, poetic imagination and some interesting ideas for America's future. I am glad I've read it. The only regret is that the book doesn't lead to a powerful, clear vision for the country. The very interesting ideas from the introduction are just briefly repeated at the end. Maybe someone else will build upon this material? The book certainly encourages a discussion. Maybe that was the whole point?



4. The Publisher's Weekly review says it all, but I cannot let the opportunity pass to add my voice to those honoring this book. Yes, it's a simple concept, elaborated over 200 pages, but there is nothing monotonous about it. The academic monotony characteristic of similar monographs is thwarted through the simplest of means: the scholar-author is also a poet. He writes on the minutiae of civil rights law with the compression and unexpected image that make strong poetry memorable. I heard the author speak on the concept of Covering on the Maine Public Radio broadcast of the Chataqua Program. The discussion was interesting enough, but when he read the Epilogue, I immediately thought, "I have to have that in my Commonplace Book." As a politically active gay man and 15-year conductor of a gay men's chorus, I've often meditated on the meaning of cultural appropriation, assimilation, and accommodation and the resulting effect on actualization and abnegation of the individual. So, Kenji Yoshino's orderly discussion of coversion, passing, and covering is immediately attractive to me. But it is not my habit to read 'brainiac' books. I'm put off by the customary tone, talking down to me, especially when the subject of the discussion is, by inference, me and the people I know and love. This one is the exception. I feel like Yoshino and I have just spent a long evening, with a wide variety of friends, talking about something of immediate concern to all of us. And then there's that Epilogue. Talk is one thing, but how we live it out is usually quite another. And it's never simple. That's why it's best left to the hands of a poet, and this poet has done it well.



5. I recently heard Professor Yoshino speak here in Seattle on a day in celebration of Human Rights Day, and I can attest to his being a gifted speaker and possessing an extraordinary intellect.
   
   However, with respect to the notion of "covering," a term I believe that he has coined in this book to illuminate a polemical topic that he wishes to place squarely into the fore of the larger map/discourse of civil rights in the U.S., I am perplexed that his notion of the "mainstream" apparently does not take into account more dimensions, e.g., the cultural anthropological/sociological.
   
   From my own experience as a gay man AND as an Asian-American, I have found, largely to my dismay, that in either social group, there is, in fact, a "mainstream" that does, in fact, exert pressure to conform to its "majority" norms, behaviors...
   
   And I would suppose that in any "society," whether it be in a nation-state such as Japan, or a social group such as African-Americans, that there do exist "mainstream" cultures that individuals within those groups do have to "contend with."
   
   "Covering" as Yoshino has placed it has, by dint of his conceptual definition of it has overwhelmingly negative connotations, one which allows a "mainstream" body within a social group to exert pressures on individual members who do not conform, whether out of choice or due to individual disposition.
   
   But sometimes what could be considered "covering" (by some people) is also a means of what one could consider "healthy assimilation" or a reasonable concession to the majority--without being in any way a "sell-out."
   
   When and where such "concessions" become a sell-out, of course, is an open question. But even where "adaptation" in some behaviors to the "norm" of the mainstream does occur, it may simply entail "building bridges" and acknowledging the opinion of the majority rather than remaining in isolation from them.
   
   (If, for example, I am a nudist, I can still choose to walk outside of my house WITH clothing on, if only in simple deference to the fact that the law and the majority of my fellow citizens deem it an offense or offensive or both).
   
   This is not to deny the legitimacy of the claims of gay people to equal rights (to marriage, protection from discrimination in the job market, etc.) but to point out that "covering" might be understood in a more nuanced context. Covering, in all its different aspects, is not tantamount in all situations to being an "assault on civil rights."
   
   Covering may simply describe the "interface" where the majority and a smaller grouping, at least in a particular situation, and where the minority accedes to the norms of the former--despite the negative overtones that the author is ascribing to it. In other cases, the reverse (majority accedes to the behaviors of the minority despite a clear divergence of opinion) could and, in fact, DOES happen in America.
   
   In some instances, too, dysfunctional or inappropriate (vis-a-vis the majority) behavior by a minority is tolerated, condoned, or even lauded.
   
   Discussions of loaded discussions of "diversity" or "covering" need to be evaluated within a context rather than be seen in a predetermined, black-or-white intellectual "matrix."
   
   In other words, the major concern that I have with this book is that it too "obviously" has an agenda stamped on it.
   
   The personal details disclosed nicely balance the analytical (legal) side of the discussion.
   
   But in terms of overall appeal to both mind AND heart, a little less Paul Haggis (director/screenwriter of "Crash"). Taking a strong position on an issue, with corroborative evidence, is fine. Re-iterating that position--as a constant thread--throughout a long discussion may seem to some people evidence of "not dodging an issue." But considering all the different dimensions of that issue would provide, I believe, a more balanced, more cogent argument in favor of one's position.