3 comments about Lady Q: The Rise and Fall of a Latin Queen.

1. What a bunch of fluff to cover up all the lives Lady Q messed up and murdered.
   She knows right from wrong and she still can't get it together.
   Her first child was damaged from all the drug and drink she did.
   She should have to pay for all the extra special education the child needed not the tax payers.
   
   I don't have any sympathy for her. Like I said she knew right from wrong and choose to do the wrong.
   
   Grow up!



2. Never could i imagined being in Sonia's shoes. The pain she endured during her life was painful and hard to believe. I can't believe she lived a life like that. While she told her story of being an abused child, unloved and unwanted, I just wanted to reach through the pages in the book, give her a hug, and rescue her from her painful life. This book is definitley a must read for anyone who is thinking about gang-life. And even if your not thinking about gang life, it's an incredible, heartbreaking story that people must read.



3. I have read both of Reymundo Sanchez books and they were great! But this book... pretty much repeated it self over and over and over again. I dont want to say too much without giving the entire book but I'll let you be the judge. I read the book in 5 days and was just simply not what I expected.

5 comments about My Cousin the Saint: A Search for Faith, Family, and Miracles.

1. "My Cousin the Saint" is a terrific account of both branches of a family from Calabria, the part of Southern Italy that is in the tip of "boot" on the map. One from the side of the author's grandfather, Carmelo Catanoso, who emigrated to America in 1903 when he was 16 years old, and all his descendants, and the other branch that remained in Italy, and included the pious priest, Padre Gaetano Catanoso, who died in 1963 and was canonized in 2005.
   
   It is the author Justin Catanoso who has brought both branches together in the writing of this lovely book, because of Padre Gaetano becoming a saint. Family members who did not know of each other's existence now were united, and the roots of their Italian ancestors bringing meaning and depth to the life of those in America. The author weaves both sides of the story seamlessly and skillfully, contrasting the poverty in Calabria, that had its share of the horrors of both world wars, to the Catanosos in Philadelphia, where with diligence and hard work, all things were possible for Grandfather Carmelo and his sons.
   
   If the book has a weakness, it is when the author focuses on himself rather than his relatives; even the language loses its beauty and becomes more ordinary, even coarse on 3 or 4 occasions (which might be jarring for those who are reading this book specifically because of Padre Gaetano, and are used to a more "sublime" tone of writing). Nevertheless, "My Cousin the Saint" is a lovingly written book, and the author did a tremendous amount of research which handsomely pays off. Also greatly appreciated are the wonderful photographs, especially the older ones, with the stupendous portrait of Padre Gaetano as a young priest of special value. The book also includes a map and a "Cast of Characters," that are useful.
   
   Padre Gaetano's life story is an account of humble service, and untiring love for his fellow man, and will inspire many. Carmelo's story of coming to America with nothing and achieving much will motivate and encourage others. It all makes great reading, and we thank Justin Catanoso for making it all possible.



2. My Cousin the Saint is provocative--it's impossible to read this book and not contemplate your own faith and the meaning of family. I consider myself far too practical and rational to be religious. So it was interesting reading about how someone with the same self-image started believing. Or at least trying to.
   
   Furthermore Catanoso's vivid descriptions of his family in the United States and in Italy provides an interesting contrast of the social norms in those two countries.
   
   Growing up outside of Boston, I was jealous of my many Italian-American classmates and their large, boisterous families. This book confirms that my envy was well founded.



3. I loved this book. I cried because it was sad or because it was happy. The book is a delight and I am buying it for my Catholic friends and family. Justin has captured so much of what Italy and Italians are while giving us a view of what it is to be a saint and to be recognized as one. It is a story of faith and seeking faith. It is a story of family split by time and an ocean and a family rejoined by email, travel, and the Vatican. This book is well written. I did not edit one word! I hope Justin writes another book!



4. I picked this book up because the premise was kind of interesting -- what's it like to find out you are related to a saint (close enough that the family resemblance to your father is obvious)? The writer is kind of sleep walking spiritually through life but awakens to find that he has a cousin who is in line to become a saint -- an honest-to-goodness, pope-approved, picture-on-the-Vatican-walls saint. The journey that opens to him takes him back to his family's roots in Italy and the contrast between his grandfather's decision to leave home for America and his grandfather's cousin's decision to become a humble priest in a land that everyone (and sometimes God) seems to have forgot. The present intrudes when an older brother develops terminal cancer and the search for the miracles that will lead to Father Gaetano's canonization becomes desperately personal. Ultimately, the journey reveals to the author the hold that faith and family have on him.



5. This will be short and to the point. This accounting of Saint Gaetano Catanoso's life is a compelling read. It makes a wonderful gift to believers and unbelievers alike.
   
   Pati Sparks

5 comments about Blue Rage, Black Redemption: A Memoir.

1. This is the life story of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, the legendary founder of the Crips street gang turned America's foremost street peacemaker. This book greatly expands and clarifies the story told in "Redemption", the excellent cable movie starring Jamie Foxx
   
   "Blue Rage, Black Redemption" is an incredible piece of well-written literature in its own right---notwithstanding the ultimate fate of the author---and it is a damning indictment of a cold, callous society. It describes the unchecked poverty, violence and broken schools of South Central that spawned the Crip phenomenon. And it describes Tookie's Herculean efforts to redeem himself from within the walls of San Quentin.
   
   [The added material in this reprint by Tookie's friend Barbara Becnel is especially welcome in the context of today's ongoing debate over capital punishment in California.]



2. tookie lets you know a lot in this book on how it all got started. i always wondered how in LA it was many gangs but mostly bloods and crips. this book lets you know about the crips. but, then you can pretty much figure things out with the bloods. this is a good book to read to me. he started it him and some other guys. then new comers take it to another level. usually how it always go.



3. The other reviews are correct in that you have to read this book with an open mind. It appears all the reviews for this book were written by followers and friends of Tookie. Like I said, you have to really keep an open mind when reading it, knowing that it was written by a murderer who claims redemption but doesn't admit to his crime. Even the things he does admit, and profit from, lilke forming the Crips, he never fully achieves redemption. If so, then he would have cooperated with law enforcement to help dismantle the very gangs he preaches to children about not joining. He has not even so much as given up any other gang-bangers that he witnessed committing crimes. Its clear to see where his loyalties still lie. If I had to do it again, I would borrow the book to read so I wouldn't have to spend my money on it.



4. This book is seperated into two sections. The first half being, Blue Rage and the second, Black redemption. Their's different titled chapters compiled into each section. The first half of the book is about Stan's life from being a child in Lousiana until he gets arrested in South Central Los Angeles in 1979 for the four murders he was convicted of commiting. The second half is about his educational and spiritual transition in prison along with certain events and situations.
   
   Stanley's views are extremly intresting and worth thinking about with an open mind. Things like his views about what "dys-education" is, religeon, brotherhood, spirituality, drugs, cultural education and it's importance.
   
   His thoughts about his friend's Buddah, Evil and Treach are sad, and even uplifting at times. His educational studies on death row with Treach and Evil along with his exercising disiplines are very thought provoking also.
   
   We outside of prison seem to be getting a school-based education for the sake of financial success. Stan can't do that. His transition is based on studies we need to perform here in our daily lives along with our children.
   
   This book is not your typical urban-entertainment about being a gangster or a rap song compiled into book-form. This is a very articulated insight into the cycle of poverty, racism, violence, redemption, edification, transition and enlightenment.
   
   A must read for everyone.
   
   Rest in peace Stan. I miss you.



5. If you read this book with an open mind, you would learn that the Crips gang started out as just uniting other gangs around South Central. Stan was a mischivous little boy who I believe had potiental to do great things if only he was given the opprutunity. He says that living in South Central you had to have the mentality of "Survial of the fittest". And that's where the fights with other males really began, I believe. Much of the information about his case is left out but there are clues that connect someone else to the crimes. Hint: The people who let him keep his weights at their house after not having a permenant place to stay. Right before his grandmother died she said she had a feeling that Stan needed to get outta LA because something bad was going to happen.
   I'm going to stop there and hopefully this information has interested you enough to read this wonderful book that will hopefully open your eyes to a positive light.

1 comments about The Voice: A Memoir.

1. Quasthoff's story is an amazing and inspiring one, and he tells it with humor and charm. This is a quick, light read, and it cleaves pretty closely to the conventional formulae for books of this kind. But conventions don't matter much when the subject himself is so exceptional. You might not learn a great deal about singing or about music from this book, but you get a lot of insight into the personality of this great talent, and the kinds of challenges he has to overcome -- still -- in order to maintain his performing and recording schedule. I would have liked a bit more substance on matters such as his interpretation of Schubert, but I still found this to be a satisfying read.

5 comments about Autobiography of a Yogi (Reprint of the Philosophical library 1946 First Edition).

1. It was a gift sent to someone else. They received it, and that's all I know. Thank you!



2. I bought this book to share. I already have a ragged copy, and wanted one in good condition for my library. Paramahansa's life story provides an intimate look into India's culture, and spiritual and mystical roots. An historic read, it contains an enormous amount of information and inspiration.



3. If you have a problem with some of what Yogananda describes in the book, like mind reading, talking to animals, etc., don't blame it on the book. Blame it on your paradigm. (See, I told you "Mission Impossible".) So, before you pick up the book, be sure and drop your baggage.
   
   Originally I borrowed it from a friend to read (thank you Judi), but bought a copy so I would be able to read it again.
   
   Being able to experience what living in this physical world is like through the eyes of a yogi is a once in a lifetime opportunity. He did so much and kept a low profile. My kind of guy.
   
   And, as if that weren't enough, how many Spiritual teachers, not to mention yogis, have a surf break named after them? (Swami's just below Encinatas, CA is named for Yogananda's gold domed temple on the cliffs above.)



4. This book was highly recommended by a friend as something that would change my life. I expected something else. The author lost me in the first chapters with his descriptions of people seeing and talking to gods, reading minds, predicting the future, levitating, teletransporting, appearing in two places at the same time, fighting tigers with their bare hands, amongst other fantastic stories. Just a little bit too much for me, a long time atheist.
   
   Other people might have a kick out of it, not me.



5. Alright, this book is too cool. That's it, I'm going to India, to become a Yogi. or wait.... can I have those inner experiences here? hmmmm, maybe my India is right in front of my nose, all around me...

5 comments about The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness.

1. As a memoir, Armstrong's "The Spiral Staircase" succeeds in the first half. She documents her life in a Catholic convent, her physical challenges and her mental state of mind. Readers wonder, Why would she do this to herself when she was so miserable most of the time? Answer: Her goal was to find God.
   
   Her obsessive journey leads me, and I suppose many other readers, to conclude that she tried too hard. But it's a fascinating story.
   
   The last half of her memoir solves the puzzle of her physical (misinterpreted early in her life as mental) disability. Success follows her discovery, but the book gets tedious with her sometimes repetitious account of daily life and re-learning how to cope with job loss. She eventually finds her niche as a writer by publishing "A History of God," a thoughtful review of many religious cultures.
   
   Armstrong realizes that the study of God does not have to include belief in all the dictates of a specific religion. In fact it need not include belief in God at all. She finds out that the journey is more important than the goal.



2. So Karen is dysfuntional? No, like me, she has temporal lobe epilepsy, a condition from which the world and society prefer to turn away and pretend it doesn't exist. It's exceptionally hard to describe, since it has literally hundreds of forms and does leave one doubting one's sanity at times. Then we doubt the world's mental balance. I was once dismissed from work by someone who feared I'd bite colleagues. And Karen is an apologist for Muslim extremists? Oh, for pity's sake, grow up! Read what she says, not what your prejudice tells you. Does she perhaps wear a Paisley scarf too (originally a Scottish design, by the way)? There's no trusting these people, is there, if they don't think just like you? Open the window and look outside. There's a world out there, bigger than even your prejudices and bigotry.
   And a note to Mr Benanchou: the Greeks didn't believe the world was flat. In the centuries BCE, the circumference of the world was calculated to a high degree of accuracy, with two sticks, sunlight and basic trigonometry (subtended angles - look it up.) We rely on very pricy satellites, not garden canes, which cost so much less.
   I applaud Karen Armstrong. It can still be problematical - I know well from experience - to assert one has epilepsy. Fears of evil spirits crop up, even now. And it can lead to social and career disaster. I was forced to retire, with two degrees, at only 42.



3. Written with much sensitivity (and courage), it induced much empathy with the author. A good read.
   
   I was less than impressed with some of her books on history of religion, but this autobiography shows where she was coming from, and helped me better appreciate what she was trying to convey in those other books.
   
   I look forward to the next installment in this autobio series. :-)



4. This is a remarkably personal and insightful journey which takes us through the loss of hope and faith and then back to a higher realm of love and understanding. Here are my personal thoughts about this book:
   
   1. By the end of the book, I felt a bond with her that is similar to something I have felt for some of my best professors and teachers who helped me understand complex things. Karen is extremely honest and open and able to describe emotions and reactions which many thoughtful people must have to orthodox religious training and dogma. She works so hard to do the right thing and yet she is unable to feel the connection to God and make the decision to accept things as they are. She is the opposite of the normal rebellious person who bolts. She is the long suffering special person who will follow the rules, sacrifice and do the right things over and over again to come up with the expected result of obedience and conformity. And yet, that brilliant and analytical mind of hers cannot allow herself to be tricked or cajoled into compliance. I feel that this is because she is brutally honest and pure.
   
   2. She lets us into her very private and sometimes sad life. We know her every fear and understand that she is shy, awkward socially, and backward, and as she heals and moves to the next level of understanding in her life, we root for her and admire the things she is trying to do. Her accomplishments are huge and she has done it virtually all alone with extreme patience and many setbacks as well as thousands of days carefully studying the history of religion, various poets and other important writers. The ultra close relationship we have with her every day struggles helps us comprehend her conclusions and remarks about spirituality, religion and life. She has taken the time to do what many of us would like to do but can't do because of other more pressing obligations and, perhaps, addiction to regular shallow life things.
   
   3. She is imprisoned by her unknown health problems, her religious obligations, fear and shyness, and yet we see her determination get her to a level of freedom experienced by very few people. She loses her faith, gains a cause to help others understand how religion at a certain level can be damaging, and as she reads and studies each of the three major religions, she gradually moves back to a spiritual understanding that gives her a new freedom and love of everyone. Along the way, she teaches us some of the basics about each of the religions and why we need to understand them before we assume that all others are incorrect and horrible. This gives us hope and makes us want to reexamine and study others and then move to that higher level that is taught by all of them. Certainly, it makes me want to study more about Judaism and the prophet Mohammed's teaching.
   
   I finished the book with a great and positive feeling that there may be hope in the world if we could take the time to truly understand each other. It's a great book. Thanks, Karen.



5. The Spiral Staircase is an honest and insightful account of Karen Armstrong's spiritual journey of painful self-discovery from the age of seventeen until she was, at long last, led to her true purpose.
   
   At seventeen, Armstrong decided to devote her life to God and entered the Roman Catholic Church. She became a conscientious novitiate but over time began to question the rigid tenets of her faith. In addition, the strictness and seemingly uncaring attitude of the nuns caused her health and mental state to spiral downward. She experienced sudden, frightening panic attacks and seizures which the nuns ascribed to her overly sensitive nature and childish histrionics.
   
   After seven years in the convent, distraught and deeply wounded, she accepted defeat and left a world she had cherished for many years. Not used to the outside world, she entered academia, another cloistered existence, and worked toward her doctorate. But, after years of hard work, her thesis was rejected.
   
   Armstrong is a writer of such skill and emotional depth that in reading her story I suffered with her. It was almost as though I had known and loved her from childhood and needed to know that her health had improved, that she had finally found what she was searching for. I turned page after page with a heavy heart as I read of her continued frustrations with all that she tried... her failed doctorate, a string of televsion documentaries that also led nowhere, her terrifying seizures.
   
   The life the author describes reminds me of my own past struggles to find myself, how I too poured my heart and soul into various jobs and relationships that did not work out, and to which I reacted with feelings of hopelessness, confusion, and a severe loss of self-confidence.
   
   But Armstrong had a problem far greater than any of mine. She was ultimately diagnosed with epilepsy. Though her symptoms were the classic symptoms of this illness, they were not taken seriously by the nuns; nor were they recognized by the psychiatrist she was seeing for many years. During a hospital stay many years later, a doctor diagnosed her illness correctly, and she received the medication that stablized her and enabled her to begin her writing career.
   
   Karen Armstrong has written numerous books on the sacred texts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Her work has been translated into forty languages. In The Spiral Staircase, she shares how she came to the understanding that living a spiritual life is not merely about the rigors of following the tenets of any religious order but about living with an open, loving heart. Her engaging personality coupled with the wisdom she has gained places this book among the most moving, inspiring and entertaining memoirs I have had the pleasure to read.
   
   by Duffie Bart
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   www.storycirclebookreviews.org
   Reviewing books for, by and about women

5 comments about My Life at Grey Gardens: 13 Months and Beyond.

1. Welcome back to Grey Gardens! I just received this from Amazon last night, and I am 1/2 through it already!It truly IS a page turner. A must for all fans of these fabulously eccentric,and theatrical ladies.It is a light,diary-entry style read.It will hold your interest, for sure. These women were fascinating characters, Lois Wright included.How wonderful it would have been to know Big and Little Edie.However, we must settle for just reading about them here,in this gem of a tell-all.I agree with the other reviewer....No mention of Jerry Torre (The Marble Fawn), was strange, as he seemed to be an integral part of Grey Gardens machine.



2. Having been a fan of the play and documentary I found this book to be very revealing and touching at the same time.



3. An interesting remembrance of months living at Grey Gardens by an offbeat friend of the Beales. Would be helpful to have read, which I have, or viewed the DVD Grey Gardens before reading this book. An interesting view of these most unusual mother and daughter combination.



4. Jackie O's aunt and cousin lived in a Munster-type mansion in East Hampton. Edith Bouvier Beale (or 'Big Edie') was the sister of Black Jack Bouvier. Edie had a daughter, 'Little Edie', and both lived in harmony and dis-harmony in the ramshackle old house. Author Lois Wright, artist of questionable talent and palm reader, lived with the ladies for 13 months. The book is based on Wright's journal, which she kept during the 1970's. Big Edie, who was bedridden upstairs, had cats and the cats had fleas. Wright described the agony of the fleas, as well as raccoons climbing out of the ceiling (which Little Edie fed daily) and rats that jumped on the author and Little Edie on occasion. Wright wore boots and a hat 24/7 to ward off most of the critters. Newspapers were placed on beds, on floors, even in the Edies bathtub for the cats. Nevertheless, they were allowed to "go" where they pleased. If a cat or kitten died, Big Edie kept it on her bed for a couple of days, covered with a Kleenex. Contrary to past publicity, Jackie O and Ari stepped in and helped her relatives - Ari sending gifts, Jackie paying bills. The eccentricities of the three ladies are well worth reading about in this mesmerizing page-turner (Wright seemed a bit 'off' herself.) Just to let you be aware that there are DVDs available about Grey Gardens, starring the Beales, that are excellent. It brings Ms. Wright's pages to life, which completes their picture.



5. I have to give this book three stars just because the writer shared her experiences with the public. But considering, as she tells us, that she ended up taking two of the many ghosts in the Grey Gardens house with her when she was packing to return to her home...Well, you don't get a lot of objective observation. You don't get much extra insight about Grey Gardens. What she writes about is pretty much what you already saw in the film "Grey Gardens." I hoped to learn more about the rooms and what happened to all the furniture. She treats her stay there as just another day in the life of and with no one in particular. REAL disappointment.

5 comments about Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa.

1. While traveling on an overland safari, I ran out of books to read. (Although I brought plenty, as an English teacher, I was devouring them as we drove through the African countryside.) Fortunately, one of the French girls in the back of the truck had just finished a book and was willing to lend it to me. She said that Mukiwa was captivating and that I wouldn't be able to put it down, and she was right. Having already visited Zimbabwe several times, I was fascinated to learn more about the white experience there, especially since I had recently read Catherine Buckle's African Tears, which also describes the current land invasions. Because many tourists don't delve deeper into Zimbabwe than a quick jaunt to Victoria Falls, Godwin's memoir is an important read. Godwin describes the reality of living in a country as tumultuous as it is beautiful. The reader can't help but gain a love of the country himself and come to understand why Godwin would risk his life in returning. Fortunately, I was able to experience a glimpse of the beauty of the country myself while visiting some of their game parks. It was on one of these drives in Hwange that I first fell in love with Africa and can understand why Godwin's parents would risk their lives by choosing to remain. I enjoyed the book so much that I purchased the sequel When a Crocodile Eats the Sun at the Johannesburg Airport. I follow the news in Africa online every day--especially the news of Zimbabwe and South Africa, and cannot express how much I value the insight that Godwin provides in both of these books. I also developed a fondness and empathy for his family as they endure the turbulent times that face Zimbabwe. Despite the many problems that face the continent, I am looking forward to my eighth trip. I have been discussing Godwin's book with my honors students and told them that I plan to read his other three--Wild at Heart, The Three of Us, and Rhodesians Never Die--before I leave.



2. All Peter Godwin's book, this one,and When a Crocodile Eats the Sun, are fabulous, easy to read, and so informative!



3. Our choice for April was especially meaningful to one of our members who had lived in Africa for over 12 years as a missionary. She was aghast at the author's mother leaving him while she did her medical duties and this was cause for a great discussion both of Africa and the decisions parents, especially mothers, so often have to make. We all thought the beginning chapters were the very best writing, just made us feel as the author had felt growing up. Especially powerful were his writing about wanting to live where it wasn't so dangerous for little boys! Lots of grief in this story, but lots of love, too.



4. Peter Godwin displays great skill in recounting his life and coming of age in Rhodesia. His personal life story touches many aspects of Rhodesian life from the UDI era through to the early parts of the ZANU(PF) Mugabe led Zimbabwe. Via his memoir you join him as a fly on the wall during the late years of Rhodesia through to the early years of Zimbabwe. Now I must say Peter Godwin weaves a beautiful narrative without interjecting any over bearing political beliefs. An excellent read!



5. Peter Godwin certainly has a story to tell. It's a story of an idyllic, if unusual childhood, a disrupted but eventually immensely successful education, military service and then two careers, one in law, planned but aborted, and then one in journalism, discovered almost by default. Listed like this these elements might sound just a bit mundane, perhaps not the subject of memoir. When one adds, however, the location, Rhodesia becoming Zimbabwe, the result is a deeply moving, in places deeply sad, as well as quite disturbing account of a life lived thus far. Mukiwa, by the way, is Shona for white man.
   
   The setting for Peter Godwin's early years was a middle class, professional and, crucially, liberal family living in eastern Rhodesia, close to the Mozambique border. I had relatives in that same area, near Umtali and Melsetter, and they used to do exactly what the Godwins did regularly which was to visit the Indian Ocean beaches near Beira. We used to get postcards from there every year, usually in the middle of our north of England winter. Envy wasn't the word...
   
   Peter Godwin's mother was a doctor and this meant that his childhood was unusual in two respects. Not many youngsters in white households had liberal-minded parents and even fewer helped their mothers conduct post mortems. Unlike most mukiwa, Peter Godwin had black friends. He learned the local language and got to know the bush. He also grew up close to death and then lived alongside it during the years of the war of independence. He describes how the war simply took over everything and labels himself as a technician in its machinations. It's a telling phrase, admitting that he did not himself want to fight anyone. Like everyone else, he was caught up in the struggle, required to actively perpetrate the violence and that is what he did.
   
   His education was disrupted. His family life was effectively destroyed. And how he managed to keep his sanity during the period I have no idea. He served most of the period in Matebeleland alongside other members of the Rhodesian armed forces and police who were not, to say the least, as liberal as he was. So in some ways he was already doubly a foreigner in that he was working in an area where he could not speak the language and was accompanied by fellow countrymen with whom he shared no beliefs or ideals. And yet he had to fight.
   
   I have never served in a war and hope I never will. But my relatives from the same area as Peter Godwin were also called up into national service and also fought the war. I had not seen them for fifteen years or so when we met after they, along with many thousands of others, as recorded by Peter Godwin, had already fled south. But for them also memories of war were deep and resented scars. It was a bloody and dirty war where, if you were lucky, you could at most trust your closest colleagues. It was a vicious conflict at times and left everyone angry. No-one won. Everyone suffered.
   
   Having eventually achieved the education he sought, Peter Godwin attempted to launch a legal career. But then, almost by default, he became a reporter. After independence, he learned of atrocities perpetrated by the Zambabwean army in the area where he had served during the war. He investigated. He reported. And then, on advice, he fled.
   
   But he did eventually return to all of the areas he knew and the last part of the book is a moving and deeply sad account of how little he recognised in the places he loved as a child. But within this, there is a moment of hope as he meets a former freedom fighter and, with humour and new friendship, the two of them realise that they had not only been enemies, but had actually been two commanders trying to kill one another on opposite sides of the same skirmish.
   
   But in the end, Peter Godwin is changed man, and his home and homeland, at least as he had experienced them, were no more. War had changed everything and everyone. No-one won.

5 comments about In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing.

1. This is a love story. One might question this when a journalist has to fight for his life after being wounded while covering the Iraqi war, but not once you read Lee and Bob Woodruff's amazingly poignant story. This is their love story-the story of Bob and Lee, and how their love came to be and sustained them through a year of pain, hope, fear, recovery, and dedication.
   Told in alternating time frames from the dreadful moment when Lee is called and told that Bob has been critically injured to how they met and fell in love. Lee tells her account of their love story with passion and feeling, while Bob is as always the accomplished journalist with his fact based style of recollection. Both Lee and Bob are heroes in this story. Bob's valiant effort to handle his severe injuries mostly to the brain, and Lee's courageous, steadfast support and love throughout the entire process make up this amazingly miraculous story.
   Bob, only recently having been named co-anchor of ABC News, was in Iraq imbedded with troops covering the Iraqi war while Lee and their four children were at Disney World. While that may sound almost callous to many, this is the life a journalist and his family. When a bomb explodes and Bob is literally blown to pieces, not much hope seems to exist that he will survive as Lee is rushed to her husband's side. Telling about how she got the call and what immediately transpired, Lee aptly recounts their story first hand and truly earns the title of In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing because that is what happened to this family in just one minute.
   In the above-mentioned alternating writing style, the story goes back to Bob's leaving a profitable law profession to pursue his dream of being a journalist. Bob's hard work and passion for covering the news takes him through the rank and file in many amazing places and stories as he works his way up in his journalism career. The part of the story of Lee and Bob's personal life is interspersed with the realities of Bob's day-to-day survival and recovery following the bomb in Iraq.
   Bob's 5 week coma, swelling of the brain, and many near death complications are told with detail and clarity so that the reader really experiences, as much as possible, first hand what this family went through. The never ending waiting to see if Bob will survive is a story of such devotion that in reality, you wonder just how someone can go through something like that. Lee tells this story in a way that makes you realize that you can never know, as did she, until you are tested, how you would respond in a situation such as this. At one point, after about five weeks, Lee crawls up into bed with Bob to try and hold him, with all his medical contraptions and tubes, and she tells him that he must fight for his life because she and their four children need him. Barely leaving his side, Lee is shocked when a few days later she walks into his room and he is sitting up and asking her where she has been?! It is at that point that the real fight begins for Bob to work hard to return to his life as he knew it. Meanwhile, Lee must juggle duel roles of parent and caregiver.
   This compelling story of love and devotion is told with honesty, humor, and hope. The friendships both Lee and Bob have, the love and family they share, guides one through an often graphic but also witty and very human novel. Get the book In An Instant and you will find it won't take much longer than that to be hooked and not want to put it down!
   Submitted by Karen Haney: Originally published Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)



2. This is a memoir written by Bob and Lee Woodruff. The passages are divided between Bob and Lee, each giving their recollection of the way certain events unfolded. I found Bob's accounts to be gripping and interesting, maybe because he is the one who received the traumatic injury. I found Lee's writing akin to reading a bad soap opera script. It was almost unreadable at times. I understand that she is facing hardships with her husband in a coma, but it nothing like what your typical family has to face under the same circumstances. At one point, this Colgate educated woman wonders how she is going to pay the bills with her husband in a coma? When I read this, I got the feeling that she didn't know how to pay the bills, i.e. write out a check and mail it. I don't think money is an issue for this Westchester County, NY family. It was passages like that which detract from the book. I found Bob's account of his therapy and what he had to go through to get back to himself very interesting but too brief. In the after forward, Bob mentions he is working on a documentary about his journey and the journey GIs have to make in recovering from traumatic brain injuries. I don't know if this has come out yet, but it would be an interesting show.



3. This story recounts the miraculous survival of news anchor Bob Woodruff. More importantly, it exposes the fear, frustration, and fatigue that Woodruff's family experienced as they guided him through months of trauma.



4. This book tells the serious story of the tragedy and triumph shared by Bob Woodruff and his wife, children, friends and co-workers when he was devastatingly injured while reporting in Iraq. The trauma of his head injury is explained in a very detailed manner, and his subsequent recovery is followed mainly from his wife's point of view, describing the horrors they all went through. The ability to deal with all of this makes this book a very moving and uplifting tale of how Bob and also our brave soldiers are coping with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and why it is important for all of us to become aware and understand this signature war injury of Iraq and Afghanistan.
   
   The poignant and matter of fact telling of the process to recovery is sprinkled with humor and makes a great read for those interested in learning how to move through this difficult situation.



5. As a longstanding fan of Bob Woodruff, I felt such sadness for him and his family when he was injured. I followed his progress as much as possible through the general media. Thank you to both Lee and Bob for sharing their stories and more importantly their feelings. As a nurse having cared for patients with brain injuries, I am delighted to see him doing so well and his family adjusting to the "new normal." Please continue your work with research and families struggling through the same ordeal. It is much appreciated!

5 comments about Free Byrd: The Power of a Liberated Life.

1. I almost did not get this book... I was thinking -- great another baseball player puts out a book full of the "normal" christian pop culture and how Jesus is great and all that jazz.
   
   But I have to admit... this is an amazing book... it is down right unvarnished in your face... this is my life and how my faith has grown through out the years...
   
   It is one of my top books of 2008... it really is not about baseball but more about life and living an authentic christian life... not a perfect super clean verson -- but a real down in the dirt true christian life.
   
   I totally recommed this book.
   
   I look forward to Paul Byrd's next book...



2. I couldn't put this book down and it had me choking up with emotion time and time again. The reason is because Paul Byrd peeled away all the phony facades too many Christians hide behind and gave a stunningly open, honest, transparent and moving look into the life of a man earnestly struggling to better his relationship with Jesus Christ.
   
   Byrd focuses less on baseball and much more on the journey of what a true, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ is supposed to look like. (And is anything more important when you consider the stakes that this game of life holds for us?)
   
   Paul Byrd gets it - nobody's perfect, and yet God loves us anyway, offering His amazing grace, compassion and love through Jesus. Our job is not to try and earn it through sin management or following a list of tips and techniques, but rather ACCEPT God's love and enter into a deep, intimate relationship with Him. And out of that, we cannot help but be transformed into someone new, someone who seeks not sin (even though we'll still fall short sometimes) but rather to walk in lockstep with the One who loves us so deeply and so truly. To be loved, to really allow yourself to be loved in spite of all your struggles and imperfections, to really take Jesus at His Word ... this is what Paul Byrd inspires us to do.
   
   This book is less about baseball and more about the spiritual journey Byrd went on, and how even the trappings and fame of being a famous professional athlete leaves you empty inside if you don't know Christ. Byrd's chilling realization of this came when he won a national title with LSU in 1991 and was like, "That's it? That's all I feel?" moments after the on-field celebration began.
   
   The other thing from this book that continues to stick with me is Paul Byrd's approach to understanding and cultivating a relationship with God. He talks about how so many of us who grew up Catholic or in other denominations try to approach God with strict routines, memorized prayers, formal behaviors, etc. Byrd makes a great point when he says we would never approach our wives or close friends that way. But yet we do it with God, whose deepest desire is to have a close, loving and intimate relationship with us.
   
   Byrd's book is another way God continues to open my eyes toward the TRUTH about what it means to believe in Jesus Christ.
   
   I praise Paul Byrd for his transparency and for leading with his own weakness, because in the end it makes him human, helps me relate to him and glorifies God.
   
   After all, it's the truth about myself - the honest, unperfect truth - that attracts others to me, not all the preaching in the world.
   
   Lastly, Byrd really impresses as a writer. Having written my own Christian baseball novel The King's Game I was so excited to see Byrd's book, and I have to admit I was blown away at how crisp and clear his voice is as a narrator. The book moves at a fantastic pace - a very easy and fast read.
   
   He also had me laughing out loud over and over with his razor-sharp and oftentimes self-depricating wit.
   
   This is a book I'd give to anyone and everyone, Christian or not, sports fan or not, because it is the courageous and moving story of one man's journey toward the most important goal of all existence - knowing and sharing your life with Jesus Christ.
   
   Praise Jesus for his amazing love and blessings on Paul Byrd for this honest, much-needed memoir!



3. I bought this book because I love baseball and the Lord and because I have much respect for those seemingly few players who are successful both on the field and in their spiritual lives. The book is filled with great stories about Paul's baseball experiences, but what touched me most was how Paul recognizes how his relationship with his earthly father has shaped his view of his Heavenly Father. This is so true in my own life and it is comforting to know that someone as successful as Paul carries some of the same burdens as the rest of us. In this book, Paul writes, "I had spent most of my life imitating my living legacy, Larry the Legend (his father), by being a good, honest, and just person apart from Christ, which is impossible." I couldn't agree more! I too want to live "from Christ." Thank you Paul for sharing your stories, your insights and your life experiences so that we all learn from them. Your Father is proud!



4. Paul Byrd is living proof that Professional Baseball Players can and do have talent in areas off the field. Christians are not perfect.
   They recognized they are sinners deserving hell, they have repented of their sin to God, asked forgiveness, placed their faith in the blood of Jesus as payment of their sin-debt which guarantees their eternal salvation, then asked that God begin to make them into the person He always wanted them to be.
   We are real people, in a life-long struggle, fighting real temptations. We are just doing it with the awesome help of The Holy Spirit. Paul doesn't rely on religious systems to guide his Christian walk. He goes right to the source of all knowledge and all the wisdom we need for life in this world and for eternity to come, God's perfect and Holy Word.
   Paul, you nailed it. I just hope and pray you keep writing.
   Thanks for your testimony.
   Tim Billheimer
   Alliance, Ohio (Tribe Country)



5. I attend (and work for) the church where "Counselor Frank" is pastor. As Paul releases the LIFE that we learn more about every Sunday, we are watching him in the Grace lab class. As Frank says, sometimes grace is messy, and Paul doesn't try to put it in a pretty package. His candor is so refreshing, and I'm excited for people to read that loving and being loved by God doesn't mean never screwing up. Instead, it means we know who and whose we are even when we do screw up! Bravo, Paul!