5 comments about Comfort: A Journey Through Grief.

1. How to get through a parent's worst nightmare? I don't know why I was drawn to this but I felt that I should listen to her message. I will read more of her writing.



2. I have read another of memoir of by the author Ann Hood so I was familiar with her name. She wrote a very moving, heartfelt memoir in this most recent book--"Comfort" I began reading it a couple of days ago and got about 1/4 through it and today on a car ride taking my son to camp I read going up to camp and coming home from camp and I just finished it. I was moved by many things Ann said about her daughter, and her family before, during and after her daughter's death. I won't say much more about that time I will leave it to the reader to learn more about that by reading the book. :)



3. This may be the saddest and most uplifting book you will read this year.
   
   On April 18, 2002, Grace Annabelle Adrain --- five-and-a-half-year-old daughter of business executive Lorne Adrain and novelist Ann Hood, and sister of nine-year-old Sam --- died in Providence, Rhode Island, of a rare form of strep that brought about massive organ failure less than two days after she fell ill. Those are the sterile facts reported in Grace's obituary. COMFORT is Hood's searing portrayal of the struggle she and her family endured to deal with a loss so grievous it defies our understanding.
   
   Through Hood's loving portrait we come to know Grace, a bright and cheerful little girl who wore glasses, could count to 10 in flawless Chinese, loved to dance, paint and listen to the Beatles. Whose favorite meal was sliced cucumbers and shell pasta with butter and parmesan cheese. Whose hair was often tangled, who hid candy in the recesses of her drawers and who responded to her mother's sometimes exasperated urging to get moving in the morning with the protest, "You can't hurry an artist, guys."
   
   In a prologue, Hood grimly trots out all of the clichés family and friends offered to assuage her grief: She is in a better place; time heals; you should walk every day. And finally, the piece of advice most disturbing to a writer who finds herself incapable of writing: Are you writing anything down? In the face of these attempts at consolation, much of it perhaps unintentionally intended to assuage the helpless feelings of people offering it, Hood weeps, rages, burns with jealousy when she sees a healthy young child, even has her ankle tattooed on what would have been Grace's sixth birthday. "Grief isn't something you get over," she concludes. "You live with it. You go on with it lodged in you. Sometimes I feel like I have swallowed a pile of stones."
   
   Not a religious person herself, Hood reluctantly tries to gain solace from various faiths, none of which offer the answers she craves: "It wasn't pity I wanted, or even sympathy. I wanted Grace back. And short of that, I wanted God or someone to help me understand why she was gone and what to do without her." In the end, religion having failed her, she writes, "Knitting saved my life."
   
   "Grief is not linear," Hood observes. "It is disjointed." Reading her account brings to mind the image of someone stumbling through a thick forest, illuminated occasionally by a shaft of sunlight that quickly disappears, leaving blackness behind. And to the notion that "time heals," she replies: "Time doesn't heal, I had learned, it just keeps moving. And it takes us with it."
   
   By the time we feel as if we know Grace and her family, it's impossible to choke back the lump forming in our throat or the tears springing to our eyes as we read. This short book is laced with countless overwhelming moments, often growing out of the most mundane elements of daily life, elevated in their significance by Hood's recounting of them in prose that reveals a novelist's observant eye and bares a mother's broken heart.
   
   Years after Grace's death, four pairs of her shoes still sit at the top of the stairs, "lined up, toes pointed out, ready to be put on, ready to skip down those stairs, out the door, into the world." And when, on an "ordinary Saturday in February" three years after Grace's death, Hood finally summons up the courage to clean out her daughter's room, fingering bits of clothing that conjure memories and the ache of memories that never will be, her description is nothing short of devastating.
   
   To leaven the bleakness of this review, it's tempting to reveal the event that occurs at the end of COMFORT that, in some sense, brings Hood's story full circle. Instead, it seems more appropriate to leave that as a form of consolation to be discovered by the readers who have accompanied Hood on her difficult journey.
   
   Well-meaning people moved by the hard-earned insights of this profoundly wise memoir may be inspired, as did Hood's friends when they thrust similar books into her hands, to offer it to their own loved ones who have suffered a loss like Hood's, perhaps not as tragic but a loss nonetheless. Without disparaging the kindheartedness of this impulse, it is one that Hood's story counsels us to question. Because the inescapable truth that emerges from this shattering book is that while loss is universal, grief is singular.
   
   --- Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg



4. I have always enjoyed Ann Hood's contributions to magazines as well as her books. This book on loosing Grace is a heartbreaker. She gives us insight to her grief, and how people try to climb back out of this deep,dark hole. Grace was a special child and so grownup in ways! A womanchild, I suppose. I could not help but to love her also.



5. I have read three of Ann Hood's books and "Comfort" is her best. She is a very good writer, making small moments (like eating pasta or singing Beatles' songs) poetic and uplifting. Her unique gift is that she can write about horrific moments (she has experienced a lot of loss) with an evocative touch. This book has the beauty of a well delivered eulogy. The obvious comparison is to "The Year of Magical Thinking," but in some ways I liked this book even more. It is one of the best I've read this year.

5 comments about Bunny Tales.

1. This book is actually quite boring. It's mean spirited and BORING. It has a few details that are interesting to know, but she talks WAY too much about herself as a child.



2. this book is plain stupid! the girl sounds incredibly unintelligent and desperate. if u want to read it, read it online, for free and be sourly disappointed! ENJOYYYYYYY



3. I read this book in 2 days... I really couldn't put it down! I don't want to give away too much, but I can't believe the rules the "girlfriends" had to live by. I think the "Girls Next Door" have it much better than the former gf's since they are making their own money now with the TV show. Oh and the thought of ALL that babyoil and Hef... yuck! LOL



4. This book reads exactly like what it is-- a gossipy tell-all written by a woman scorned. Although I was surprised by all of the the contradictions, typos, and grammatical errors--either the publisher was too eager to get this book on the store shelves to bother with an editor, or this girl really needs some lessons in English! The book really delivers the dirt on the sex practices of the world's oldest hedonist, and the playmate girlfriend hierarchy....and that is what we are really after anyhow! It makes a fun beach read for the summer, but that's about it.



5. This book was an atrocious attempt at trying to remain relevant after Hef booted St. James out of the house. Her publisher really did her a disservice in pushing this book onto the public. From attacking the other girls to attempting to paint herself in a different light, failing miserably, I would recommend this book only for a good laugh due to the inconsistencies. Holly, Bridget, and Kendra are desperate fame seeking whores while she truly loves Hef in one breath, the next she's talking about the fit she pitched when he cut their allowance for parties from 2k to about 500 because the girls were pocketing the cash in addition to their "allowance" for living there. Calling the other girls conniving cheats while admitting a chapter or two away the frequency with which she cheated on Hef. Overall, the book was boring minutia from someone who really could have just stayed quiet or auditioned to be part of the THS on Hef and come out looking better.

5 comments about Tommyland.

1. This was another way to get inside the Motley Band for me. If your a diehard fan then this is a must. It is added to my colection with The Dirt.



2. I bought this for my husband and he loves the book. It arrived in great condition.



3. I bought this book because I really enjoyed reading Nikki's book and The Dirt. I couldn't make it past the 2nd chapter of this book. In my own opinion this book is very boring. I'm not sure why either, because Tommy is such an interesting and funny guy in general.



4. I'm a huge fan of Motley Crue and have read both Dirt and The Heroin Diaries and LOVED them. This on the other hand...not so much. I was really disappointed to be honest. The book was boring and completely random and just plain shallow. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.



5. Pretty entertaining book. Written just like Tommy speaks, plenty of "dude," and stuff like that. I'm a huge Motley Crue fan, so I enjoyed that section of the book the most. You won't, however, find much in the book about Motley that wasn't already in "The Dirt." Pamela Anderson does a little bit of writing in the chapter about their marriage; it would have been kinda cool if Heather Locklear had done the same thing in the chapter about her. The book definitely shows the more sensitive side of Tommy.

No comments about Against Medical Advice: One Family's Struggle with an Agonizing Medical Mystery.

5 comments about Hope's Boy: A Memoir.

1. This is not a book to miss. All too often, it falls to a teacher to recognize and act on the needs of a child. It can be a responsibility of a parent to make their children aware of the meaning of "foster children" and how to treat and include these children into their activities. Andy's story is repeated in every court system in this country. So many children fall through the cracks. Despite her own mental illness, Hope finds a way to assure Andy that she loves him and later realize she did what she could do under the circumstances. Without this, Andy could have ended up the way the majority of children in the system do. A simple act of kindness could change a child's life.



2. Hope's Boy is a profoundly important book for all of us to read. Though other books about foster care have been written, few ever go into the inner life of child and what that child feels, thinks, and misses after enduring a devasting loss and the most tragic conditions. Equally refreshing is that Mr. Bridge shows not a bit of self-pity, acknowledging and describing the children that he saw and still remembers who suffered even great losses than he did. This is a story about a boy who loved a deeply flawed mother -- one struck down with a horrific mental illness through no fault of her own.
   
   Bridge reminds the reader that simply warehousing a child in foster care -- giving him bed and food -- is not enough. We take these children into all of our care and we owe them the love and the nuturing needed to care and to tend for them.
   
   Apart from an extraordinary story, the book is a beautiful read. It is tenderly written account about love and children who endure more than they ought to and often need to have endured.
   
   Mr. Bridge has commited his life to helping these children. He has never forgotten or turned his back on them. As a Harvard Law School graduate, he could have done that. He did not. We should all remember these children as he does. We live in a society where hundreds of thousands of children wait for hope.



3. *Minor spoilers*
   
   The beginning of Andy's story, first with Grandma Kate and then with Hope, is very compelling. It is clear that he has taken pains to recall everything he could about a brief but influential window in his life.
   
   However, after the first year or two in foster care, the details start to become few and far between, and it felt somewhat empty to me. Like some of the other reviewers, I found his perspective on his foster family to be skewed. I wanted to believe him, but I simply found the Cinderella-esque description of his life in this setting to be a bit flimsy. Oh my God, Mrs. Leonard made terrible snacks and wore garage-sale clothes! And did I mention she was FAT??
   
   This family shared a home with him for a decade and did more for him than Hope did. When a social worker tells the adult Andy that Hope came close to winning him back several times but sabotaged the reunion at the last minute, why didn't he consider that maybe Hope DIDN'T want him back? He shows more generosity in his memory of a woman who seriously endangered him and reduced him to living in a closet and stealing cat food than he does for a family that provided him with a home and some semblance of security, if not love, for 11 years. He admits that he stayed in touch with the Leonards even into his years with the law firm, but he doesn't fully explain why beyond grudgingly saying it was a place to go to at Christmas or on school breaks.
   
   I think in the end he has a very important point to make, that he would have preferred what he perceives was his mother's love and transient life over the relative stability but frigid conditions in foster care. But I'm not sure how that translates into reality for the thousands of children who are removed from their families each year. Bridge raises many questions, but he doesn't offer realistic answers. He hints that someone should have told him Hope wanted him back, or that someone should have helped Hope reunite with him. But how could this be achieved? Hope battled a serious mental illness, and he does a valiant job of defending her, but realistically, what can the state do to help a schizophrenic woman maintain ties to her child? If he has ideas -- and he may very well might -- they aren't noted here in any detail.



4. A friend of my wife's recommended Hope's Boy. It drew me in immediately. Bridge tells his story in such a way that I kept reading, wanting to find out more about what would happen to him and Hope. His writing style is poignant, yet without self-pity. I was struck by the profound loneliness he felt - being taken from his mother, and then living in a foster home where he was treated indifferently, at best, and abusively, at worst. Yet, despite all of those obtacles, he relied on his strengths and belief in Hope's love for him to persevere and excel in the ways that the "outside" world valued and rewarded, while keeping his "inside" world hidden. High school honors, college scholarship to Wesleyan University, Harvard Law School, Fulbright Scholar, legal advocate for kids in foster care. What a great take-away message of the power of hope!



5. Andrew Bridge has written an extraordinary memoir about our country's most vulnerable women and children. Anyone who works with children and families or cares about what we need to do to help them should read this book.

5 comments about Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion.

1. Take This Bread: A Radical ConversionThis book is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the community of food! Sara Miles is a writer and was an athiest who came to understand the role of sharing a meal in building community. After a varied career of cooking in restaurant kitchens and serving as an activist in poverty stricken and war torn countries, she comes home to a radical conversion resulting from the simple words: "Take this bread" said to her at a service of Holy Communion. Her conversion leads to growth in understaning the community that God intends for all humankind. Along the way, she is drawn into the community with afforded by a food pantry program she starts at her newly found church community.
   
   Its all about the human hunger for belonging and for the meaning that comes from sharing food!
   
   A wonderful book and a quick read!



2. Sara Miles' book "Take This Bread" is a perfect read for our times. Her realization that feeding others is an ultimate act of goodness came during a worship service. But the real story is what she did next. She went out from that church and created a feeding program when others said it couldn't be done. Then she helped others create feeding programs. I have recommended the book to people of different faiths and political views. They all love it. And even more, they have been inspired to get involved in helping the hungry. The new paperback version contains a Readers' Guide - perfect for book groups.



3. take this bread is one of the best left-of-center spiritual memoirs i've read, ever.
   
   sara miles is a self-described liberal, an intellectual journalist who spent much of her life covering wars from the side of the oppressed (often in stark contrast to u.s. policy). she grew up in a staunchly athiest home (though both of her parents were children of missionaries, which ends up playing into her story in surprising and deeply satisfying ways), and was, as she says, the last person her friends would have expected to start talking about jesus.
   
   sara walked into a san francisco church one day -- called, one might way; compelled, she wasn't sure why -- and took the eucharist. and something clicked, in that moment. she had an encounter with jesus that she was never able to dismiss or shake off. eventually, her connection with jesus became a compelling call to feed others, as she was fed. sara started a food pantry, literally ON the alter of her extremely nervous church. the book walks through her multiple conversions, and those of the people around her, many of them already professed christians.
   
   the comparisons to anne lamott are easy (especially to anne's first spiritual memoir, traveling mercies). both are brilliant with words; both are liberals from san francisco, who grew up in book-loving, athiest, intellectual homes; both are liberal in every sense of the word; and both are deeply in love with jesus and passionate about following his lead. this -- i think -- is what seperates both anne and sara from classical liberals, who spent a good deal of their time distancing themselves from jesus.
   
   but sara miles and anne lammott are not the same. sara doesn't have annie's wit, which, while i absolutely adore annie's wit, makes this book somewhat more compelling, and a bit less like a collection of witty, liberal, jesus-y essays. if annie's "theme" is her self-loathing and insecurity, sara's strong-willed theme is: food. food weaves its way through every chapter of the book: from her childhood, to her experiences as a chef in new york, to her connections with people in the third world, to her intitial and ongoing experience with jesus, to her establishment of one, then many, food pantries. it's hard not to read this book and not simultaneously hanker for a chunk of some cheese you can't pronounce, and want to give that cheese to someone who wouldn't otherwise experience their next meal.
   
   wonderful, wonderful reading. challenging at points. highly edible. deeply nourishing.



4. From the moment I began reading to the last page I was hooked. I think this is a book that every church should own and require all outreach workers to read. In my view, Ms. Miles grasps and conveys in a succinct and direct manner just what it means to act out one's faith, a faith that has nothing to do with politics or what is expedient, or what will please people the most. There is a need, one responds, and that's all there is to it. Ms. Miles does not romanticize working with the homeless, feeding the hungry. She presents the challenges and difficulties clearly and realistically. This is not "fun" work. It's not meant to be fun. Yet,as I read this, I was struck by her understanding and acceptance as well as the clear conviction that this is what she was meant to do. Again, a very worthwhile read,immensely helpful and hopeful.



5. 'Take this Bread' is a wonderful book, funny and profance and touching. I loved every page. I liked the commentary on the clergy and learned so much about how to love the other. Miles brought me to face my fears. Her take on Christianity as a complex, disturbing, scary way to live is so real. With fine writing she takes us into what it means to incarnate our religion, and it's painful to face that. Luckily, her humilty, mistakes and humor keep us on her side and thinking about how we might go forth too.

2 comments about In the Hamptons: My Fifty Years with Farmers, Fishermen, Artists, Billionaires, and Celebrities.

1. I've been around as long as Dan's Papers and remember in the early years Dan Rattiner had several summer papers such as the East Hampton Summer Sun. the Sag Harbor Pilot etc. The stories Dan wrote were always great and my favorite was local history. As Dan's business grew all these local summer weekly throwaways were incorporated into one paper, Dan's Papers. With the exception being I believe the Montauk Pioneer. Anyway, This new book from Dan is great. I remember alot of this stuff from the 60's and 70's, as it appeared in his paper, but he has rewritten it and it is still an enjoyable read. A book I would highly recommend to anyone. I still long for the time in the 1960's, when I could pick up a copy of the East Hampton Summer Sun at the A&P on Newtown Lane, but that of course is not possible. Thank you Dan for 48 years of pleasurable reading. P.S. Was anyone ever electrocuted for copying that local map you use to have in the back of your newspaper?



2. Being a Long Islander who spents some time in the Hamptons and Montauk, I found this book interesting. Its chapters contained anecdotal stories of events and people. Nice, easy, summer read.

5 comments about Here If You Need Me: A True Story.

1. This book is incredibly moving in its honesty. It is extremely readable, and the development of Kate's story is gripping. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I became aware of Kate's writing by listening to an interview by Krista Tippett on the program "Speaking of Faith" on National Public Radio. The book more than met my expectations.



2. Okay, I get it, Kate Braestrup thinks her job is "cool." Good for you, but a memoir this does not make.I waited for this book to grab me until I was about 25 pages from the end, and then I had enough. Not another minute of precious reading time to be spent on this fluff. Those annoying little stories, the meaningless anecdotes from conversations that were not profound or moving, just superficial. A colleague recalls walking four or five miles in howling wind, lost and freezing."It was great," she concludes, "it really was." Pleeeez! The writing is so-so, the use of pretentious "big words" unecessary and stilted.
   The thing is, I was willing to look past all of that if only I had found some satisfaction from learning about Kate's philosophy and spiritual depth. The book fails here. The voice in this book almost mocks deep faith, and left me wondering why a state as economically impoverished as Maine is would pay this woman a salary. For what, hiking into the woods to share condolences with strangers? I am baffled, utterly.
   What is all the publishing hype about? I am an agnostic and have more spiritual depth than this gal.If I read her son's expression "Mom-Dude" one more time I thought I'd scream! Pass this one over. The best thing about it is the beautiful cover of the paperback edition, but there's little to be found inside.



3. When an out-of-control vehicle took the life of Drew, her Maine state trooper husband, Kate Braestrup's life also headed in a wildly different direction. At the time of his death, Drew was planning to attend seminary to become a Unitarian minister. After Drew's death, a grieving Kate reflected that, like so many other plans and dreams shared by married couples, "when we discussed his plan for the future...we had actually been discussing our plan." And so Kate, who had long struggled with an ambivalence toward organized religion, enrolled in divinity school, saying "'I'm here because Drew isn't.'"
   
   Proving that God does indeed work in mysterious ways, following her ordination this wilderness novice homebody received a calling to serve as chaplain to the Maine Warden Service, ministering to those men and women who respond to the call of a child lost in the north woods, who investigate poaching allegations, who work with dive teams and dogs and ATVs and snowmobiles to rescue lost hikers or recover snowmobilers who have gone through thin ice. What's more, loquacious Braestrup found that her calling required her, more than anything, to just stay and listen, to just be there for whomever needed her: "to just show up, shut my mouth, and be."
   
   Although Braestrup acknowledges that her inspiring "plucky widow" story has made her a regional media darling, many of the stories she shares in HERE IF YOU NEED ME are anything but uplifting. From the agonizing yet cathartic process of caring for her dead husband's body to the discovery of a suicidal young mother's body to the retrieval of a drowned child, she acknowledges the grim, often harrowing work conducted by the Maine game wardens, and by extension, by Braestrup herself.
   
   Not surprisingly, Braestrup finds --- and conveys --- comfort and peace through her conception of the divine. As a Unitarian, she understands God as love, as the generous quiet spirit that enables people like the game wardens whose stories she shares to search tirelessly through dark woods for a possible survivor, that encourages people to show up on the doorstep of a grieving family bearing baked goods, that allows Braestrup and her four children to survive and thrive in the wake of great loss.
   
   Although Braestrup's book is ostensibly a memoir, most of the individual chapters read more like well-crafted essays, meditations on aspects of recovery, questions of faith and everyday expressions of bravery. Relying on the perspective afforded by her unusual background, Braestrup addresses some of the big questions here: What is a miracle? What happens after we die? What is the role of forgiveness? These are, of course, questions that have been explored countless times by countless others. There in the Maine woods, though, surrounded by courageous people who might not even believe in any sort of God, Braestrup uncovers unexpected truths, exploring these age-old questions in new ways and finding answers in the most surprising places, situations, and most of all, people.
   
   --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl



4. This was a wonderful book. I think it represents well some of the basic tenets of the Unitarian Church.



5. I found this book to be a lovely affirmation of moving through a devastating loss to contentment and new life. If our lives and our luck depend on an optimistic and grateful attitude, Kate Braestrup guides us to simple and rewarding acceptance of day-to-day ups and downs. All things come to those who wait--what a novel idea in our society that craves instant gratification!

5 comments about First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.).

1. I read all but a couple chapters of this book on a flight across the US. It is easy reading and I could not put it down. The horrors this author went through will make the reader pause to count his blessings. I think this is a must read for anyone who is unfamiliar with Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.



2. When I started to read the memoir, it was very hard to put down. It is written in first person tense through the eyes of a young girl struggling through the Khmer Rouge insurgency in Cambodia. I am a 1st generation American whose mother grew up in war torn Vietnam, so I had an interest in the Southeast Asian set memoir. Now I am trying to find ones as good as this one, but set in with my mother's experiences. This book was an in depth way to learn about the people & the recent history of struggle which many Cambodian Americans no doubt have also lived through but not spoken of. It really reinforces that family and love are the most important things in life. It's a must read.



3. The book is very well-written. Loung Ung wrote with compassion,spirtual, and horrenic activities growing up under the Khmer Rogue regime. She experiences tortues,stravation, and execution of her parents. This book is very interesting to learn what the author went through live under a horrendous communist movement. The author wrote this book in a sense to give the reader an image on the conflict of war that is going in Cambodia. Readers would not be able to put this book down since it give the readers a hint of life growing up in the Khmer Rouge. Ung had to move from different works camps at a young age, and she experienced a hardship growing up in Cambodia during the 1974 to 1979. Between these two years, she watch baby brother died of stravation and the loss of his parent by the Khmer Rogue. Having to travel a large distance to Vietnam, Loung experience the execution of her people. The book will change your prespective of life and the mistery of what the cambodia people been through during the killing field years. Highly recommened to any type of readers.



4. Some people have criticized this book because they believe some small historical detail might be wrong. I say, who cares about that? The horrors that are described in this book eclipse any small misconceptions or tiny errors in fact. Cambodia's people were starved, enslaved, murdered, and robbed by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. It's a most outrageous and horrific story, but it was the truth for millions. Miss Ung did an impressive job pulling the story together into book form. My heart breaks for her family and hundreds of thousands of other families there.
   
   This should be required reading for high school students everywhere.



5. Loung Ung does an excellent job of describing what happened to her family growing up in the killing fields of Cambodia under the Pol Pot regime. She is an excellent writer. Although her story is very tragic, it is one that we all should hear. God is truly using Loung's tragic life to create something good and meaningful. Loung is a fascinating person that I feel honored to have met within the pages of her book. Thank you for sharing your story Loung. Your book has changed my life.

3 comments about American Son: My Story.

1. The autobiography on "The Golden Boy," who parlayed his pugilistic skills into successful business and philanthropic ventures outside the squared-circle, is an informative and inspiring story on chasing and capturing a slice of the American Dream.
   
   It works because Oscar De La Hoya is candid about every facet of his professional and business careers & personal life, while co-author Steve Springer - through his award-winning reporting in the Los Angeles Times - has literally watched the champ grow up in public.
   
   The legend truly comes to life through De La Hoya's own words and honesty. Though the final chapter in boxing will be "written" later this year, this is an outstanding look into a life that is just starting to get into a top gear.



2. Thoroughly enjoyed the book. Extensively details who Oscar is and where he (and his family) came from. A truly rags-to-riches story. You cannot help but like this young man. A brisk, intelligent read for everybody especially boxing fans and people of Mexican heritage.
   
   Excellent book!



3. If you are a fan of Oscar you will love this book. It is a very short book though.