5 comments about Lost In Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia.

1. My mother sent me this book for my birthday and I enjoyed every page. Very entertaining, both funny and serious, as well as making some great observations about growing up in Ridgefield, CT. I also grew up in Ridgefield in the 70s and the book is a very accurate description of life in Ridgefield back then. I amazed at how much he was able to remember, I'm not able to remember anywhere near that many details about my own childhood.



2. I have read almost every martial arts autobiography that has been published in the English language. I have put together quite a collection of them from all over the world. As proof, check out my book Martial Arts Biographies-An Annotated Bibliography (ISBN:0595348610). So I think I know a little about the subject of martial arts autobiographies. I liked Salzman's first book Iron & Silk. It is a classic to be sure. But I absolutly loved Lost In Place. It is the funniest of any martial arts biography that I have read. It is also very serious in other parts of the book. The story is great, and I recommend it very highly! Beyond being my favorite martial arts autobiography,I would put it in my top five favorite books of all. BUY IT, READ IT, AND LAUGH YOUR BUTT OFF!!!!



3. Memoir of Mark Salzman's adolescent years in Connecticut. Outrageously funny in spots, touching in others, and interesting throughout. The author's description of Sensei O'Keefe and the stories surrounding the Kung Fu Dojo are riotous. Ed, his eternally pessimistic father, adds another element of humor to the story. The novel describes an eccentric teenager's failed attempts to "change myself into something I'm not. The story of my life." He obsessively pursues first Kung Fu to become a fearless warior, then years of cello training to achieve a dream of becoming a concert celloist, and majors in Chinese at Yale because "it was the one subject I had a head start in and could therefore look smarter than I really was." The book is a good reflection back on the eccentricities of adolescence with a profound message offered in the end.



4. This book is an absolute gem. How often do you come across a martial arts book that is not just well written but genuinely, heartbreakingly funny? Mr. Salzman has already shown us he can write in his first book, Iron and Silk, the story of his two years spent in China teaching English and practicing wushu with Pan Qing Fu. The book was later made into a critically acclaimed film of the same name. In Lost in Place, the author lets us in on the secrets of his adolescence. Anyone who has ever been seized by the desire to shave his head, dye his pyjamas purple, and abandon the fast food of suburbia for the wandering life of a Zen monk will love this book.
   We follow Salzman through the perils of teenage life, goofing off at school and then frantically trying to make up, agonizing about dates, buying his first car, choosing what to study at university, and in general giving his long suffering family a hard time, and all of this while struggling between Eastern and Western worldviews. We meet some strange people he encountered in his attempts to become a Bruce Lee clone, such as the ominous Sensei O'Keefe, the rowdy and foul-mouthed master of the Chinese Boxing Institute, with his dreaded brainwave, "cemetery sparring". Apart from the stories of Salzman's various martial art experiences, some hilarious and some appalling, there are some well drawn scenes of his interaction with his father, who is described as a good natured pessimist, probably not a bad thing to be for someone forced to compete with the glamorous Bruce Lee for his son's affections. There is a lovely scene of his father listening to an outpouring of his son's existential angst. We get a picture of a gentle, mature man with a nice sense of irony. He must be proud now of how his son has turned out. Salzman has written four critically acclaimed novels, one of which was a finalist for the LA Times Book Review Award. He is a great storyteller and this book will not let you down.



5. In addition to a memoir, this book is an effective mediation on what it really means to master something. We see Salzman try to become a martial artist, and, later, a cello soloist, the first with considerable dedication, the latter with a certain amount of natural ability; in both cases, though, he eventually realizes that he just doesn't have what it takes to really master the discipline. In the case of Kung Fu, after three years of study, he encounters a drugged-out man who threatens him with a lead pipe. In spite of the fact that he could probably easily disarm him, Salzman's nerve fails him and he hands over his wallet. Later, with the cello, he gives up after seeing one performance by legendary cellist Yo Yo Ma. He ends up finding his greatest success as a mailboy for an attorney.

   One thing that struck me as interesting is that (I read somewhere) 'Kung Fu' refers to any human skill in Chinese (making a 'Kung Fu skills' redundant, like ATM machine); it's sort of a metaphor, then, for everything Salzman pursues.

   Another thing to note is that in spite of the subtitle 'growing up absurd in suburbia,' Salzman's martial arts training is astonishingly difficult. His teacher is a borderline psychopath who curses and hits his students (at one point he throws Mark against a trophy display case), and the school regularly practices full-range sparring with no protective equipment except for a cup, which is about as hardcore, comparatively, as playing the cello with the skin stripped off your fingers.

5 comments about Still Life with Chickens: Starting Over in a House by the Sea.

1. I read about this book on a online community for back yard chicken owners(Shout out to ya all!!!) It was written by a member that I havent met.
   And it is so well written. I barely get time to myself so a book for me is a treat. And this was a well chosen one.
   Funny and written with wit. A look inside the "addiction" that is chickens.
   Story begins with the demise of her marriage and the subsequent sale of her large home in the ritzy part of town. The promise to her daughter of chickens and the intense research her daughter then does. A move to a small, close community with the usual, and unusual dwellers. And the lengths chicken owners then go through for their chooks.
   
   From delivery to first brooder, to first coop. It is a learning adventure for the writer, her daughter and the reader.
   
   Very highly recommended for all pet owners and anyone thinking of beginning a life with chickens.



2. What a wonderful story about life and about living with chickens. Her descriptions are accurate, insightful, and very funny. Loved it!



3. It's rare to find such a sweet, satisfying read on the topic of midlife changes and detours. While there's nothing terribly new in this memoir -- we've all read about painful divorces and renovating ramshackle houses in far-flung locations -- Catherine Goldhammer's voice and the clarity of her writing make this book highly relatable to women in the throes of change. As an empty nester facing transitions of another kind, I melted into the pages of this book and found comfort. Wish I could find more like it.



4. This is a charming little book,with a happy ending..Perfect reading for a long trip on a plane, train, automobile..or a waiting room.



5. There are numerous self-help books on the market that enable people to cope with major life transitions - divorce, the death of a spouse, the move to a new neighborhood, the onset of empty-nest syndrome. Nothing attacks life changes better, though, than the wit and mirth of Caterine Goldhammer's "Still Life With Chickens". Her conversational style is hilarious and reads as if she is sitting across the table from you over coffee and talking about her move to a fixer-upper house by the sea. My favorite paragraph is her observation about the simplicity of life as seen through the eyes of her brood of fluffy chicks: "The chickens went about their little chicken lives, eating and drinking and pecking. When I picked them up, they settled into the hammock I made of my shirt and went to sleep. Their beady little eyes drooped and they leaned their little heads against my thumb. Chickens are masters at living in the moment. I should stop worrying about them, I told myself. I should bow to their greater wisdom."
   A must-buy book for giving to friends who need a good laugh during difficult times.
   
   Christina Hamlett
   Author of "Movie Girl" and "Screenwriting for Teens"

5 comments about Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World.

1. Yang Erche Namu, born in 1966 is a professional singer, model, socialite, author and basically a very famous person in China. She has written eight autobiographies in Chinese, none of which have been translated into English. However, from what we can gather from excerpta most of them narrate together with her life story the many relations she has had with men all over the world, with detailed appreciations of their virtues and vices. She is actively interested in women empowerment in China and has been investing in hotels in her home region in Sichuan. In 2007 she wrote a public letter proposing to Sarkozy, but evidently he preferred Carla Bruni. Her fame in China does not march together with public sympathy, and she says of herself that Chinese hate her almost as much as Mao's wife.
   However, this discussed public personality has a very interesting background, that has drawn the interest of an appreciated anthropologist Christine Mathieu (1954) who undertook the task of reconstructing Namu's childhood. This biography written in first person is not actually written by Namu but by her "interpreter" Mathieu. Namu was born in the Moso ethnicity, one of the 56 Chinese recognized minority groups. The less than 50,000 Moso live according to a matrilinear social organization. Women detain property and through the so called "walking marriage" procreate children that more often than not do not know their fathers. A woman's offspring is usually by different men. This kind of social organization is very rare, but still survives in some parts of the world and determines a peaceful and non violent environment. Until the 1980's this secluded society had had few contacts with the outside world and maintained its peculiar characteristics and represented an anthropologist dream..
   The spirited and intelligent Namu was keen to escape her limited life in a Moso village, and this is the story of "Leaving Mother Lake". The story of Namu's youth ranges from the description of her family and friends, sibling rivaltry, an isolated experience among the mountains with her uncle and basically a conflictive relationship with her mother Christine Mathieu has reconstructed and rewritten Namu's childhood from long conversations and memories of the protagonist, and after completion of the biography she submitted it to Namu, who recognized herself in the tale. Can this lead us to call this is an authorized biography, a biography by proxy, a false diary, an interpreted memoir? The definition is difficult, and the genesis of this book, which has been a world wide best-seller, is I think one of its drawbacks. The personality of the young Namu has been westernized, and probably for this reason it gains so much empathy. In some points Namu's story reminded me of "Caddie Woodlawn" " or "The Little House on the Prairie".
   Independently however from the description of the protagonist's character and her personal facts, the book is an anthropologic text full of stories, episodes, historical and religious analysis and correlations with history and sociology of the evolution of modern China. I was personally more interested in this aspect and found that Mathieu knows how to tell a story, and has aptly chosen Namu as her vehicle for a social analysis of the Moso ethnicity. The memoir is followed by a chapter on the discussions on the evolution of the Moso ethnicity and its possible historical explanations and another with a two voice interview with Namu and Mathieu.
   This book is very readable, it breezes along conveying by broad lines the sense of this social group, it also introduces us to the strong personality of Namu. But I suggest to look her up on from other sources, one of which is Michel Palin's "Himalaya" and reflect on who she really is and what she represents in modern China.



2. A very inspiring and good book about moso culture. I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to know a little bit more about it.



3. As with all young people, Erche Namu Yang--or just Namu--faced the traditional crossroads of forging her own identity when she was a teen in the early 1980s. While many authors have written about this important life turning point, Namu's book stands out because she faced her coming of age in one of the world's most unique cultures. As the book's extended titles notes, she experienced "a girlhood at the edge of the world." What she should have said was "in a Feminist Utopia"!
   
   Namu was born into the Moso (also Mosuo) people, who live near Lake Lugu (or Mother Lake) in remote parts of Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces, bordering Tibet. This area has been referred to as The Country of Daughters, with good reason. The Moso are one of the world's few remaining matrilineal societies. Mothers serve as heads of their families, daughters are favored, and property and leadership is passed down among the females. Sounds good! However, this culture has been described as a feminist fantasy as well as mistakenly understood as tribes of promiscuous women, because the women do not marry. They move from one relationship to the next when they wish, without any self-consciousness or guilt between either party. Male roles within the family structure are filled by the family matriarch's brothers and sons. The Moso believe that because the men in the household are all blood relatives, they will be forever loyal and helpful to their women kin. There's definitely something to that.
   
   No, I'm not making this up! The wealth of details Namu provides about Moso culture in her story will set the record straight about her people's lifestyle. Put on your cultural historian hat and remain aware that the Moso's socio-economic structure totally works for them, and you will learn a lot about an amazing group of people.
   
   Though it traumatized her family--especially her mother--Namu knew her destiny lay beyond becoming her family's next leader. This book is about a girl having the courage to fulfill her dreams and how these ambitions affect her relationship with her mother. The Moso cultural aspect provides a unique backdrop for a timeless story about personal growth.
   
   SIDE NOTE: I had the privilege of hearing Namu speak at the Shanghai Literary Festival one year. She is stunningly beautiful with a voice to match. She is so talented that she is successful at everything she does. When she couldn't sing anymore, she became a model. When she was too old to model, she became an author. To date, she has written 13 books--though only Leaving Mother Lake has been translated into English. Now she is trying to improve the quality of life in Lake Lugu and to be an ambassador for the Moso. She has opened the Namu Palace Hotel Museum at Lake Lugu, where artists can stay gratis if they create a piece to put in the adjacent art gallery and where guests can learn about Moso culture first hand. Hmmm. Definitely something to think about! But if nothing else, you can be inspired simply by reading her coming of age story.



4. A beautiful book ... truely inspiring ... no-one can fail to be moved into the (Moso) world ... so full of humanity ... I would recommend it to everyone .....



5. The lifestyle and cultural norms of the Moso people "one of fifty-six Chinese nationalities" of Tibet, who "number about 30,000" are much different than those of most developed countries. The women tend to engage in a series of monogamous relationships, resulting in matriarch family units with several half-sibling children. This one fact might cause people to describe them as sexually promiscuous and immoral. Others might look at the matriarchal, matrilineal Moso as an intriguing social entity not bound by the social constraints of most cultures. Although the Chinese government has encouraged marriage, the Moso people are overwhelmingly undeterred. Mothers tend to prize daughters, as through their offspring the family lines continue. Children may never learn the identity of their fathers, and if they do, will refer to them (as all men) as "Uncle." Children ideally remain with their maternal relatives their entire lives, dying in the same dwelling in which they were born. Men are needed "to herd the yaks in the mountains, to travel with the horse caravans to trade in the outside world, and to make the long journey to Lhasa to study the holy Buddhist scriptures and become lamas." Girls shift from childhood to womanhood by participating in a post-menarche "skirt" ceremony. They then move from a communal room to their own special chamber and are encouraged to engage in sexual relationships. Leaving Mother Lake is the story of Namu Erche, a member of the Moso tribe, who lived a life less ordinary. Her mother, "curious and restless," defied the norms of the tribe by moving from her own mother's home to settle in a village two days' walk distant. Namu cried so much as a young child that three attempts to trader her to other families were unsuccessful. An elder sister was instead traded for a male cousin, who was raised as her brother. At eight, she was sent to yak-herd with a great-uncle. Several years later she returned to her mother's home to participate in her skirt ceremony. When a group of Han Chinese visited her village to record traditional songs, they noticed her singing skills and chose her along with two others to participate in a singing contest. Successful in their first endeavor, they again succeeded in a bigger contest. Changed by her big city experience, she ran away from home to follow her dreams. She returned home, but only for a visit, after several years at a musical conservatory. Although Namu's story is fascinating, the writing seems overly simplified. Other good memoirs about lives less ordinary include: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt, The Twelve Little Cakes by Dominika Dery, and The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls.

5 comments about Embroideries.

1. Embroideries is a wonderfully funny graphic novel detailing the romantic lives of women in Iran. Each woman's story spans just a few pages, but touching, amusing punchlines are delivered every time. The illustrations are lively and gestural, capturing the personalities of Marjane's family and friends. The book is very relatable. It would be a good discussion starter for a book club or a parent broaching the subject of love, romance and courtship to young women.
   
   One of the more amusing stories is told by a woman who, after noticing that her middle aged husband was being distracted from her middle age self by twenty-something women, had plastic surgery that took fat from her behind and used it to perk up her breasts. He loves her new breasts - but in fact is kissing her rear!



2. I enjoyed this novel, but felt it was more a snack compared to the meaty content of "Persepolis."



3. Funny, heart breaking, insightful look at women in Iran, but could be women anywhere. The author is very good at getting precise meaning and acute issues across with just the right words. My new favorite author.



4. I have read this book several times, it is the funniest Marja Satrapi wrote. If you are a female Middle-Easterner, you will laugh out loud at the stories these ladies share.



5. my purchase of this book was but an afterthought. i only wanted to avail of the free shipping having ordered the two persepolis books. and i was not disappointed. true enough, it gave me a better understanding and appreciation of iranian women. learning a thing or two in the process. yes, their travails are as universal as the other women's. thank you for the endorsement.

5 comments about Please Stop Laughing At Me...: One Woman's Inspirational Story.

1. What a silly disappointment of a book. The writing is akin to an overly long essay submitted for extra credit by a seventh-grade student. Almost everything I read in this book was worthy of a snort of contempt--or, at the very least, an eye roll.



2. "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."
   
   Whoever thought of that saying never had to deal with bullying the way Jodee Blanco did. If you thought you had it rough in school, you'll rethink your own struggles when Blanco shares her literal horror stories of intimidation and harassment in "Please Stop Laughing at Me", a memoir that begins with her struggles in grade school all the way to her senior year in high school.
   
   Jodee's battles with bullies begin at a Catholic grammar school dubbed Holy Ascension. She gets her first taste of stigmatization in fourth grade when she volunteers to help out with the deaf program, telling on two friends who mock the deaf children and braving the ensuing backlash. Then while at Morgan Hills, she blows the whistle on a birthday party involving games of an overtly sexual nature, a moral compromise that has her in the red with several of the attendees and labeled a tattletale. Under the ruse of forgiveness, Jodee is dragged out into a parking lot where her so-called friends call her a "wuss", kick and spit on her, throw her favorite suede shoes in a urine-filled toilet and douse her brand new white angora sweater with cans of Coke. These are mere nuggets of the tribulation Jodee sustains over the next several years.
   
   In the course of the abuse, Jodee transfers schools twice and is forced by her parents to see a shrink and go on medication for anxiety. She succumbs to depression, her decreased appetite leading to subsequent rapid weight loss and one alarming case of self-mutilation with a kitchen knife that results in a trip to the emergency room. On top of Jodee's struggles to fit in, she deals with a painful deformity of her breasts which doctors are unable to correct until her seventeenth birthday. Her rattled state takes it toll on her parents as well, a restiveness settling atop their house during the school year with only a brief respite from her misery during summer break.
   
   The torture you read about gets overwhelming fairly quickly and about the only thing that will keep you reading is seeing Jodee get the last laugh at her high school reunion 20 years later as a person of prominence, the biggest success story in the room.
   
   I know I am not the first to say it after having read this moving memoir that there were times when I felt as if Blanco were writing my own story. Specific passages brought back thoughts and feelings that still haunt me to this day, either because I choose not to exorcise those demons and hold on to my anger (because I don't know how else to feel) or because the psychological damage is irreversible and the after-effects are beyond my control. Like Jodee, my anger with the individuals who teased me boiled to the point where I had fantasies of hurting people and also like Jodee, my catharsis for this pain was my writing (I still use it to cope with many different situations). It is my own cheap therapy (since I doubt my insurance would cover a real therapist) but I wonder if my own upcoming high school reunion (10 years) will be just the salve I need to remedy all those festering wounds. I also believe I have anger management issues that stem from the bottled-up rage and resentment I still experience from the teasing and taunting I endured. I did not suffer anywhere near the level Jodee did, but I still feel the scars from time to time.
   
   I realize now that people know nothing about individuality during the consequential years of grade school and high school - we are all too busy surrendering to conformity. I am guilty of it myself, due to the fact that I associated with a disreputable crowd just to belong (though I never really did - those people gave me hell too), as well as poking fun at other people to take the focus of the teasing off of me. As Jodee states, "Making fun of people, even if you didn't want to, was the new price of social acceptance by the group. The rules were simple. It was either shun or be shunned." (pg. 38)
   
   My mother offered the same advice that Jodee's did: Ignore them and they'll stop bothering you. While this is true for most people, this did not detract Jodee's torturers. Her silent indifference to their mockery only fueled their fire. To retort only gave them the reaction they wanted all along, another excuse to inflict physical damage as well as emotional. Because bullies (active and erstwhile alike) refuse to stop and think about the aftermath, they create monsters in the form of Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. Who knows whether psychiatric intervention could've saved those boys (as well as the people they killed), but it does give one pause to make people think about the possible end result of what they deem to be innocent and "normal" derision for people their age. When does one grow up and realize the consequences of their actions? It's only when the damage has been done do we bother to take responsibility for the lives that we have affected with our own selfish behavior.
   
   Bottom Line: Simply put, "Please Stop Laughing At Me" is an eye-opening, inspiring (albeit depressing) memoir of Blanco's inner strength and her ability to heal and forgive despite all the physical and emotional wounds inflicted upon her (I imagine the process of writing this was purgative for her as well). I look forward to reading the sequel to this memoir ("Please Stop Laughing At Us...One Survivor's Extraordinary Quest to Prevent School Bullying) as I am an advocate for relieving the toll that bullying takes both on a minute and a grand scale. If we do not take a serious and active position on this issue, then sadly, school shootings will be in the headlines for many years to come.



3. I found the author's accounts of bullying to be interesting and dramatic enough to keep me reading but I struggled with the believability of her experiences. Being held down and punched and kicked, suffocated and thrown into traffic exceeds bullying and ventures into the realm of assault. Perhaps in her time the bullying experiences were more severe. Kids don't get away with doing things like that twice in this day and age. I also think she may be exercising a slight bias toward herself being the complete victim without any provoking or invitation on her part. It's interesting how at each new school she started in she HAD a circle of friends almost immediately and those friends were part of the popular crowd. She also had multiple instances of boys taking interest in her. This tells me that it wasn't her looks or style that caused these friends to turn on her. She did come off as having a holier-than-thou attitude and even now in the writing style you can tell she is a bit of a braggart who demands attention. Kids in junior high and high school can pick up on this pretty easily. It's fine to have good morals but some of the occurances in the book made me roll my eyes a bit. If she would have with-held a couple of things from her mother (who in turn always went right to the teachers and other parents) she may have survived a little longer at these schools. The boy/girl party scene comes to mind first. All in all, I found it interesting but not really helpful or believable.



4. This is an autobiography of Jodee's struggles all through school. She tries to stand up for what is right and gets shunned and ostracized. She keeps wanting to "fit in" but doesn't know how without being untrue to herself. Near the end she finally gets some real friends. She takes a lot of abuse from kids who once were her friends, but deals as best she can looking forward to her future at college. It was sad to hear how cruel the kids were to her, but I thought her parents should have helped her by paying for some self-defense lessons instead of taking her to a psychiatrist. They knew she was getting beat up by kids at school and just made things worse. I think teens would especially like this book.



5. If you were picked on in high school and grade school like I was, this book brings back all the painful memories that you NEVER EVER forget! I'm so sorry you had to go through all this, Jodee. I was right there with you! So glad you wrote your book. I wish I had. God bless you, Jodee. Hope you enjoy great success in your life. Can't wait to read the sequel. Jodee is right. Teachers do nothing. Parents do nothing. You are on your own! I finished this book in just two days.

5 comments about Mouse Trap: Memoir of a Disneyland Cast Member.

1. The book was very boring. It is a almost day by day story of this persons job at Disneyland. After he describes every thing in WAY TOO much detail, the actual story about the place he described is boring.I would not recommend this book for anyone that wants a interesting read. Also the writing was terrible.



2. I have a couple of the other books Kevin Yee has published and they are not much better than this one. I enjoyed several aspects of Mouse Trap in terms of some of the behind the scenes bits and pieces of Disneyland, like the pranks the cast members played and Disney setting out to break the world record for hula hooping. The trivia aspects of it were quite interesting.
   
   However, I found the on stage/backstage "tour" part to be horribly tedious and very difficult to follow. I was an annual passholder for five years and am fairly familiar with the layout of Disneyland. That being said, I had a terrible time following what he was saying in terms of trying to provide a written "guided" tour of these areas and found myself skipping over some parts because they were so poorly written.
   
   I think that Yee had a very good premise going but the Disney University part of the book also got a bit boring in terms of the management tactics he was taught. This chapter basically focuses on what makes good customer service, which most people will be familiar with if they have ever worked in a customer service job.
   
   My other complaint is the cost of this book. I thought for $18 the book would be hard cover. I guess I missed that in the product description. Overall, I think if you are a die hard Disney fan this book is worth reading but you should try to obtain it for less money. Yee is a good writer when he is writing about something he is clearly passionate about but when he is focusing on more technical aspects his prose seems to fail. I did not feel like I wasted my time when I finished the book, I was just a bit disappointed since I was expecting something a bit more like David Koenig's Mouse Tales, which is far more interesting.



3. The reviewers who trashed this book because it tells the story of being a Disneyland cast member in a non-magical way are missing the point. This IS what working at Disneyland is like. I know, I was also a long-time cast member and believe me it is not all fun and fantasy. I held the same position as the author although in a much more frantic location and I can vouch for the accuracy of his account of how it works. If you think you can walk in and get a job as Mickey Mouse, wake up. You're far more likely to end up in food service or shops than one of the glamour jobs. So, if you really want to know what goes on behind the scenes, this is it. The book is probably more suited to former cast members than the general public, but I enjoyed it. If you think Mr. Yee's account of the park is too harsh, you should hear what the rest of us have to say!



4. I heard of this book on MiceAge, a website I read religiously.
   
   I live in Wyoming so insiders news of Disneyland is a little more difficult to come by, even with the internet.
   
   I absolutely love Disneyland and have taken my family there every year for the last 18 years. I mention this since it sets the stage for why I like this book so much; in my opinion the book is best read by someone who is a fan of Disneyland, who enjoys information about the place, well beyond that needed to visit.
   
   This is one of those books that I simply could not put down once I started reading. Yee gave so many fun and interesting insights to his experience as a cast member, that the book satisfied the curiosity I have had about "backstage" Disneyland and for many years.
   
   The pinnacle of the reading for me was the well-thought-out description of all the backstage areas. Yee did an excellent job taking you visually from one area to the next, and even includes well detailed maps with a legend. I must be quite the Disneyland nerd because I was genuinely fascinated by all of this. Of course, Yee's energy is hard to resist. The next time I go to Disneyland, I will see things with a different eye.
   
   There were only a couple of things I did not care for as much about the book. First of all, the work needed some attention from a professional editor. The grammar and wording worked, but did not have the level of eloquence that the uniqueness of the content deserves. Also, I did not care for the "hormones" section at the end of the book which reminded me of the kind of book which describes the "wildlife" of college aged people. While I am sure the information is accurate, it was not necessary and served only to detract from this work.
   
   Finally, if you are a dedicated Disneyland fan, I highly recommend this book. I absolutely loved it and will keep it for reference from this point on.
   
   A thanks and nice job to the author and please, keep writing books as I have purchased and enjoyed all of them you have written.



5. I am suprised on the bad reviews. I absolutely did not find this book boring, but engaging and a quick read.
   
   If you have read Mouse Tales and More Mouse Tales, you will enjoy this book. Whereas Koenig writes heresay stories, Kevin Yee has written a first hand account on a slice of Disneyland life.
   
   I will admit that the first few pages the naration seems to jump around, but Yee's style is not chronological, but brings one into the life of being a cast member. Starting with his interview, "casting" in Disney-speak, Yee introduces what many current and ex-cast members remember as orientation, indoctrination, or even brain washing. Moving on to Disney University, this is a rare glimpse into how Disney maintains the high standards we all expect.
   
   Further along, we learn why Yee, obviously a very intelligent man who could earn significant more money outside of Disney, remained at Disneyland for so long. He writes about the tight knit community, the "family" of his coworkers, and how Disney was not just a job, but can become a way of life.
   
   After many mini-stories about working at Disneyland, including a very poignant story about working the vacant resort on September 11, 2001 (Kevin, if you read this review, thank you for your thoughts and experiences that day), Yee talks about escaping the mouse trap, may be for his last time.
   
   If you ever want to experience a slice of life of a cast member, get this book.

5 comments about Recovered, Not Cured: A Journey Through Schizophrenia.

1. This writer allowed me to enter his world! This is a very brave individual who gave me a full picture of what it is like to have schizophrenia. Very well written, fast read. A particularly great book if you have a family member with this diagnosis. It gave me more insight into what my family member has suffered.



2. GET this book for yourself and anybody you know that might be influenced by schizophrenia. This biography clearly describes the struggle the author has with schizophrenia. Reading this completely helped me understand the confusion I had about schizophrenia and explained behavior and circumstances in a very heartfelt and real way. I've purchased copies for everybody I know that wants to learn more about schizophrenia.



3. I like to read personal accounts of mental illness. This book is an artwork. It is a pleasure to hold, read, and look at. It is well organized, very entertaining with many drawings made at different times of the author's illness. I felt he was very honest, humble and friendly.
   
   I like the fact that he is a young writer. I guess the book was written when he was just 30 years old, so many young readers can identify with his art and music.
   
   There are many reasons he recovered. Among them his supportive family, supportive friends, he took up humble jobs along his illness even though having a university degree, modern medicines, he was able to balance the pros and cons of his medicine's side effects and keep taking them, ...
   
   [...].



4. I read this book to make a recommendation to the Psychology teacher at the high school where I am the librarian. The teacher created an assignment for her classes where groups of kids would read a book together on a psychological condition in a book group type setting. I read many books on all different types of conditions over a fairly short period of time and then selected twelve books or so for her students to read. This book made the cut. I thought it was a very accessible book on the topic of schizophrenia in terms of language and length for high school students.
   
   I have talked to several of the students who were assigned this book and all seemed to think that the book did a good job explaining one person's story with schizophrenia without boring them with a lot of psychological/medical terminology.
   
   I will recommend this book to students who come to my library wanting to learn about schizophrenia.



5. I stumbled accidentally on this book. Running a search through the online database at a local library branch, the title popped up on the screen. I cross-referenced it with the opinions of other readers from Amazon.com and decided it'd be an interesting overview of this incredible disease - schizophrenia.
   
   I found out after checking the book out that it won the Australian Book of the Year for 2004, which intrigued me further. Having read it, I am also of the opinion that it deserves the award. The book is short and easy to read (in terms of narrative), but it reveals the complexities of the disease. The author narrates his experiences from the moments the symptoms appeared to the medication phase that restored order in his daily existence.
   
   The book is written in snippets of experiences and often the reader is hurled one story after another of the patient's psychosis, paranoia, search for codes or deciphering of codes and secret messages, the delusions of voices the author heard and his reactions to them. In addition to these experiences, he inserts numerous e-mails from other schizophrenia patients he'd received or read on mental illness-online boards, as well as messages from family members of mental patients and how they coped with them. Since he is a graphics designer by trade, he'd added plenty of visual representations of his internal torments.
   
   I recommend this book to all readers interested in learning about the symptoms of schizophrenia, how to seek treatment and how to learn to cope with the disease.
   
   -by Simon Cleveland

5 comments about Arabian Sands (Penguin Classics).

1. I live most of the year in Saudi Arabia and saw this book at a local bookstore. I was attracted by the cover, reviews, inside photography, and the author's opening comments. I purchased it hoping I would get a greater understanding of the world I live in before the influence of Western luxuries/conveniences. I also thought it would be an enjoyable true-life adventure story.
   
   Thesiger was drawn to the bedu setting from of his disdain for the onslaught of technological progression which has been infiltrating every corner of the earth. And no doubt, I benefited from the book with learning more about the bedu culture/mentality as well as their relationship with each other and other Arabs and the degree of attention that they gave to Islam (or "cultural" Islam, not to be confused with Islam as it truly is). But make no mistake, those fascinating points are very SPARSELY scattered throughout the text.
   
   Since the book contained rich descriptions and I did learn a few interesting things from it, it would be unfair of me to give only 1 or 2 stars. But why didn't I give it 4 or 5 stars? Of 287 pages, it seemed that nearly all of it consisted of traveling in the sands, occasionally visiting a town to get permission from a Shaykh to travel therein, and then OCCASIONALLY noting interesting observations from his traveling companions. That's what it was, from beginning to end. There was little to no plot, just the author's love for basking in asceticism. However, even THAT is lacking because there is very little personal reflection of life from the author in the midst of his surroundings. We don't have a page where he looks up into the sky and ponders the creation of the universe or anything of that nature. Quite simply, the book is a narrative of dealing with camels, searching for water, and getting dinner invitations. A few times throughout the book he mentioned some important historical points about Islamic history (it's spread and how it propelled Muslims to be the most advanced civilization of their time) and he concludes that this is because of the bedu participation/influence--yet even these observations, if brought together, could not cover a single page. Although the journey was a true-life "adventure" -- there was danger from thirst, lack of food-source, etc -- and sometimes it seemed that the author, as a Christian, would be in a tough bind, yet none of those scenarios ever greatly escalated, which of course is good for the author(!) but boring for the reader.
   
   For those of you who do choose to purchase/read Arabian Sands, my advice is simple: find a cozy spot where you can read it without any distractions or any impending time engagements. If you don't, the pleasant writing style will slip by unappreciated and your enjoyment will be even less.



2. Not only a magnificent travelogue chronicling travels in in a harsh, surreal landscape, here we see the age-old yearning of the explorer to discover the things which cannot be found among the comforts and conveniences of civilization,chief of which is a knowledge of what kind of man he will prove to be when tested to his utmost. Though Thesiger never promotes his undertakings as spiritual experiences,it becomes evident that surely they have as much right to be called so as any other avowedly represented accounts. His fascination with the ascetic lives of his Bedu companions with their fierce nobility and many customs of traditional Arab culture shows the desire of a searcher for meaning transcending the materialism of the modern West. It is a tribute to his integrity that, despite his admiration, he also realizes he is bound to his own heritage and could never be truly one of them. His descriptive powers are outstanding,both of people and places. This is the best adventure/travel book I have read to date.



3. After you read this, you'll never think the same of the "Empty Quarter" which encompasses much of the south of the Arabian Peninsula. First of all, you'll find it's not so empty, with the nomadic Bedu plying the dunes and oases of the region as they have for centuries. In fact, this story is primarily about the Bedu who are incredibly tough but also incredibly principled. Their moral code could teach us a lot. Their love for their camels, who literally enable them to live in their hostile geography, and for their fellow man is humbling. The author, an intrepid explorer of these desert sands, does an outstanding job of bringing the Bedu culture to us. If you want to more fully understand the nomadic Arab mind, you could do much worse than to read this outstanding book.



4. The Rub Al Khali, the Empty Quarter, or as the Arabs called it, The Sands, is one of the most inhospitable places on earth, and one of the least populated as a result. Like Mt. Everest, or the South Pole, each of which became the obsession of some men, sometimes costing them their lives, the Empty Quarter became an obsession of Wilfred Thesiger. He was not the first Westerner to cross it, Bertrand Thomas was, in the `30's, and then Harry (Abdullah) St. John Philby after him, but Thesiger is deservedly the most famous, due to this wonderful account that is difficult to put down. His birth and childhood in Abyssinia, in 1910, the son of the first British Ambassador, seems to have marked him for the "path less traveled." To fully appreciate "Arabian Sands,' it helps to have read "The Life of My Choice," his autobiography.
   
   The first part of "Arabian Sands" covers his youth in Africa, and his initial desert trips in Dhaufar, and in the Danakil country. The end of the book involves his travels in then "forbidden" Oman. The heart of his story though, is his two epic crossing of The Sands. Unlike other Westerner explorers, he was unsupported in his efforts, by other Westerners, save for the financial support of the British Anti-Locust Board. He had to live by his wits, establishing firm and trusting relationships with his beloved Bedouin (Bedu) who were the essential element in his success. In so doing, he developed an understanding of the conditions of their very harsh life, and enthusiastically emulated them. In addition to coming to terms with the "ship of the desert," the camel, and adapting to the rhythms of desert travel with such transport, he also had to stay one step ahead of central authorities, and deal with the tribal politics, which invariably meant that some tribes would be hostile to both him, and his traveling companions solely for tribal reasons. Furthermore, since he was not a Muslim, he had to deal with those individuals and tribes who were hostile due solely to his non-adherence to their religion and beliefs, but Thesiger was wise enough to realize that much of the hostility resulted from the fact that all the other Westerners who were exploring were looking for oil, and the natives feared a loss of their land - it was hard for them, or even most Westerners to understand his motives of doing it solely "because it was there." After his second crossing he was arrested in the town of Sulaiyil by adherents of the Ikhwan, the fundamentalist brotherhood that very well may have made an "example" of him, "to encourage the others", and executed him. It was only the direct intervention of his friend, Philby, with the Saudi king, Abdul Aziz, which secured his release.
   
   The book contains numerous excellent maps, which outline his trips, as well as the tribal areas. It also includes some excellent black and white photographs, many of them of his traveling companions. On a personal note, he inspired a passion to visit Yabrin, on the northern edge of the Empty Quarter, and I was able to see it develop into a significant town, over a 23 year period, a far cry from the absolute absence of people at this oasis when he passed through in 1948.
   
   I couldn't give the book a 5-star however. As one other reviewer indicated, it would help if we looked a bit at the man himself, and his reference frame. The book was written around 12 years after the events, and he admits to not maintaining accurate notes, so how much was changed in his memory? Certainly he experienced "comradeship," like men do in war, but does that mean we should have wars for this experience? It seemed that he unduly romanticized the hardship, and bemoaned that the bedu would loose their remarkable way of life with the coming impact of the modern world. And there is no question that there are only a few real bedu left on the Arabian peninsula, as they have enthusiastically embraced the conveniences of the modern world in the subsequent 60 years. It should be noted that Thesiger carefully picked the timings of his travels, to do so only in the winter. If he had spent a couple of summers with the bedu, I strongly suspect that much of his romanticism would have evaporated, and the hum of an air-conditioner would be much appreciated. Also, there may have been more than an aversion to the modern material world behind his passion for the remote areas of yore - throughout his life, including his days in Kenya at the end, there was always a youthful companion with him.
   
   Setting aside these caveats, and realizing that the prism may be distorted, his achievements are remarkable, and we are fortunate to have an enthralling narrative of this vanished way of life.



5. I had heard this was the definitive work on the desert country but never had gotten around to reading it. I now have and it is terrific - every thing it's cracked up to be. I had read Michael Asher's biography; I had been in Ethiopia, Oman and Yemen; I traveled in the Hadhramaut -- all of this over fifty years later but still there is the flavor of Thesiger's days. His writing of crossing the Empty Quarter was a precursor of Asher's more recent writings about desert travels. He writes well and keeps the reader completely caught up with his trek. There is a sadness, on Thesiger's part (and mine), that as progress has affected the Bedu life, the stability of the old days is no more. But for a loving report on life as it used to be with the Bedu tribes, I whole heartedly recommend Arabian Sands. (I should not Rory Stewart's introduction was worth the price of the book)

5 comments about Population: 485 (P.S.).

1. Michael Perry's every page drips with humor, intrigue, and dexterity. He is truly a master of words! His simple country bumpkin way of life stands juxtaposed to his extreme intellect--a beautiful combination that makes his writing style quite unique and thoroughly enjoyable. Even if the story seems at times a monotonous New Auburn history lesson, one should read it for the sheer joy of watching Perry turn a phrase.



2. Since reading this book, Michael Perry has quickly become one of my favorite authors. His writing style is humorous but at the same time heartfelt and sincere. Population 485 is about Michael's return to his hometown and his adventures on the volunteer fire department. The people in the town are the characters and by the end of the book, you feel as if you've know them yourself.



3. From the little I'd read about this book, I expected some warm, perhaps funny vignettes about life in a rural town. This book is much more! It's laugh-out-loud funny: I read several passages to my family. It also gives an insider's view of the world of volunteer firefighting and EMT/ambulance work. The author uses an impressive range of voices--from "local yokel" to knowledgeable medical professional, essay writer, and lover of poetry. My favorite book of the year so far!



4. MIchael Perry is a good writer. Any reader will feel instantly at home and comfortable reading one of his books. Population 485 accurately describes life in a small town. People know and care for each other. This emotion comes through in Population 485. If you want to feel good about the spirit of America, read this book.



5. I was hoping to find some real insight into small town living. What i got was a long winded version of a story that could have been better expressed as a short story.
   I recommend reading the last chapter and skipping the rest.

5 comments about The Great Santini.

1. Received book quickly and it was in very good condition, as stated. Highly recommend this seller. I hope to buy from them again.



2. I discovered Pay Conroy as a young adult many years ago and in short order read everything he ever wrote. In my youthful, relatively uneducated mind, I couldn't help but think he was one of the greatest writers of all time. I distinctly remember the unmitigated joy of reading The Lords of Discipline for the first time, unable to tear myself away from the thing, staying up some nights until 4am with it. It was and maybe still is the most engrossing book I have ever read.
   
   Well, many years have passed and many more books are under the belt and I guess I've come to the conclusion that maybe Pat Conroy isn't the greatest thing since sliced bread after all, but, all the melodrama notwithstanding, he still has to rank up there somewhere. This one, The Great Santini, is a fine example of Conroy in his prime.
   
   We are introduced to the Great Santini--aka Bull Meacham, Marine fighter pilot--at a wild, drunken, hilarious going-away party in his honor in the first scene of the novel. We see immediately that he is a brash, loud, cocky and arrogant; traits that serve him more or less to good effect with his Marine subordinates, but traits that serve him far less effectively with his wife and four children.
   
   The story, of course, is truly about them, and especially Ben, the oldest of the siblings. The relationship with his father is of the classic love/hate variety. He is proud of his father: his exaggerated toughness, his extraordinary discipline, his status in the world as a true warrior. But he loathes him as well: his bullying, brutal, unbending tactics are too often unnecessarily thoughtless and cruel.
   
   There are so many fine scenes. One of the most famous is the one-on-one basketball game between the maturing seventeen-year old Ben and his insanely competitive father. Ben beats him, finally--a great moment in his life--but instead of getting the congratulations he deserves and has strived for since childhood, his father instead humiliates him, calling him a girl and systematically bouncing the basketball off of his head as he walks into the house.
   
   But as brutish as Ben's father is, his mother in contrast is filled with Southern charm and grace, and loves her children unconditionally. There is a wonderful scene that I had forgotten about, in which the family is walking to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. The mother is suddenly so overcome with joy that she begins to dance on the way, a gentle, graceful waltz, thrilling the children with her loveliness. Even old Bull expresses a growl of appreciation.
   
   The novel is loaded with scenes like this, both big and small. All of the characters are sharply defined and painfully human. And as with Conroy's other novels, there is a strong sense of the South, with its swamps and its backwoods, slow-paced charm. Conroy is also a very witty fellow, particularly the dialogue between his characters which is always hilariously dead-pan.
   
   However, by the end you realize that he's tried just a little bit too hard. The novel encompasses a little less than a year in Ben's life, yet his friend's date is victimized by a brutal rapist, another friend is murdered, he is threatened by a deputy sheriff, and finally he must come to terms with the death of a significant character. It is a bit much.
   
   But don't be dissuaded. It's nevertheless a fine novel, filled with wit, wisdom and painful honestly. As are all of his first four novels--The Water is Wide, this one, The Lords of Discipline, and The Prince of Tides--which are each and every one a terrific read.



3. Let me start out by saying that I think Pat Conroy is one of the best authors out there. He can paint a picture so vividly with is words you truly feel like you are there. I first read Beach Music and it rocked my world. Each of the stories told in that book were amazing. So, even though I'd seen the movie Prince of Tides, I decided to read the book. I loved it also. Now having a hunger for more of his amazing writing, I picked up The Great Santini. I must say, I was disappointed. I loved the characters and the general concept of the story. A tough Marine, a true southern belle and two of the four children with depth that you admire throughout the entire story. I just felt that there was no storyline. I get what Conroy was trying to portray by creating the characters, and the relationships between the characters were great, but I just felt as if something was missing from this story. I also didn't feel like a whole lot happened until half way through the book.
   
   There were also a couple of highly dramatic scenes(Sammy's girlfriend and Toomer and Red) that had you at the edge of your seat. However, once that chapter was over, no mention of it whatsoever. I would think these things happened for a reason (e.g. character growth, forming a bond between two characters)and would be explored through the eyes of the characters some more. This was a disappointment to me also.
   
   All in all, the book had a lot of good in it, but just didn't measure up to Beach Music and The Prince of Tides. I plan on reading Conroy's other books in hopes to feel the magic of his writing again.



4. The Great Santini is Colonel Bull Meecham, husband to his lovely Southern enabling wife Lillian, father to Ben, Mary Anne, Matt, and Karen, Marine, fighter pilot, bully, creep, alcoholic, and all around jerk. Bull rules his family as he does the marines that serve under him. A bad drunk, Bull experiences violent mood swings, which send his family into chilling bouts of fear, hatred, and battles with the brute. Ben, most of all, the oldest, is most challenged by Bull, most humiliated, and most deeply touched, although his sister Mary Anne is a very close second. Ben is a very transparent stand-in for Conroy, although how much of this work is autobiographical is hard to know, but I suspect most of it is. Conroy could not write with such depth of feeling if he didn't experience this material firsthand. All I can say is that experiencing Bull Meecham is like experiencing brutality and hell in order to discover kindness, heaven, and love.
   Clearly written, brilliant, scintillating, this work sharply etches an unhappy family and the inner life of a boy and his love/hate relationship with his father. It also presents life in the racist south of the early 1960s, its beauties, and its nightmares. I was deeply moved by this work in spite of the ugliness of Bull Meecham and the marines he loved. This is a genuine work, an American novel, and a major achievement.



5. While this is an excellent and well written story, the Blackstone Audio version is horribly read. It is painful to listen to. The reader is very "nasal" and the attempts at accents and characterizations are just simply horrific. Find another version, or read the book if you can. I can't, and had to endure this version of the audiobook. I listen to a LOT of audiobooks and this experience was a nightmare!