5 comments about This Boy's Life: A Memoir.

1. The memoir is intriguing. Any male who reads this can, at some point, relate to the follies, plunders, and disappointments Wolff encounters during his adolescence. It is explicit and candid making for an interesting read.



2. I'm about 2/3rds through this, and I find it entirely absorbing. Wolff's writing talent is not in using fancy words or complex forms...just one sentence after another of perfectly pitched prose that feels entirely true and believable. He gains the reader's trust and empathy early on and never loses them, even though, in my case, I wasn't much interested in the details of his somewhat sordid and pathetic early years. I keep asking myself this holds my attention, while most memoirs by people I have a lot more in common with don't. (Not to sound like a snob, but guns, dogs, smoking, drinking, etc. have never been my thing.) I think the reason is that his writing seems entirely transparent, plus you care about him. postscript: I've finished it now and towards the end I was increasingly pained by how f**ked up a person Wolff is--or was. It's troubling and yet the writing is still transparent. You might say he gives us a God's eye view: if there is a force that knows everything and can look at all our failings, faults and mistakes with simultaneous compassion and dispassion, then I think such a Being would write up Wolff's early life in the way he himself wrote it. You get a feeling that there is no self-judging or constrictions and nothing to hide: just the truth, the all too human truth.



3. A great true story (almost) about Mr.Wolffs childhood. Robert DeNiro did an excellent job as the step-Father in this movie. This is typical of a Father figure who has no self esteem and picks at every little thing that goes wrong. It is never his fault always someone else. Toby has a tough time with growing up without a father and being carted around the country by his Mother who has no roots to tie on to. I see a lot of teenage problems in this movie that are played out and done extremely well. Take the time to watch this movie, you will not be sorry.



4. This is a well written and engaging memoir. It ends a bit abruptly, leaving me wondering how the author went on to become the distinguished writer he did. I enjoyed this book. The people and places described did become alive to me. While not a page turner, this was a book I enjoyed quite a bit.



5. Short (4-5 hours) account of author's troubled youth. Hard to put down, this book would easily appeal to a wide audience.

5 comments about Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life.

1. Steve Martin has written a surprisingly sad look back at his life that glosses over most of the major things he is known for while focusing on his dysfuncational family, his inabilities with women and his bad relationship with his father. The book is not very funny, a bit depressing and not as revealing as you would hope an autobiography would be.
   
   The book is very short--at 200 double-spaced pages it takes only a couple hours to read--and the first half of the book is devoted to his life to age 22. He then quickly goes through his early TV years without really telling any stories about the famous people he worked with, then doesn't get to his movie career until 20 pages before the end. He doesn't mention his marriage--but doesn't once alude to his divorce. And doesn't mention anything about family except his distant parents and sister.
   
   It sounds like he just look through some old scrapbooks and started writing his minimal recollections of what happened 40 to 50 years ago. There aren't a lot of details and little insight into how he developed his comedy. Jerry Seinfeld writes on the back cover that it's "One of the best books about comedy and being a comedian ever written," but that is so far from the truth that it's doubtful that Seinfeld even read the book.
   
   There are a few interesting tidbits--like his continued crush on his first girlfriend, who turns out to be Christian prayer book author Stormie Omartian. And some of the photos in the book are great inclusions. Plus Martin opens up about his serious anxiety disorder, which leads him to come across as aloof when he is being interviewed on talk shows.
   
   But this is not a book about his entire career--it's a book about his recollections of being a stand-up comedian decades ago, so there is almost nothing in it from the past 30 years. If you are looking for inside stories about Saturday Night Live or Sonny & Cher or his movie successes you won't find them here--just a rather sad story of a man who never really got his dad's approval, who concludes that true comedy is really very serious.



2. this book was a delight, a fascinating look at the way Martin developed his craft. For anyone who loves comedy or anyone who does public speaking it is a great primer.
   
   Martin is a gifted writer and observer of life, and this book reflects both of those gifts



3. A 2008 Summer Reading List Mini Review.
   
   Comedy, Steve Martin, once surmised, is not pretty. I just finished listening to his memoir Born Standing up: A Comic's Life and I must beg to differ.
   
   May I please differ? Please oh please could I differ? I haven't differed in such a long time. May I please have your permission to differ? (That's me, begging)
   
   Well no one said anything, so I am going to differ.
   
   Steve Martin made comedy pretty. As the premiere stand up comic of the late 70's early eighties, he made being funny an art form. It does not surprise me that he is an avid art collector. Martin does an excellent job of describing his life and the part he played in the comic landscape of the sixties and beyond.
   
   Listening to his book was a revelation. Martin does an excellent job of describing his life and the part he played in the comic landscape of the sixties and beyond. If you have not yet read his book yet, I would highly recommend listening to it. Instead of reading as he describes his routines, I actually was able to hear him perform some of them. And if you don't like listening to books? Well, in the words of Steve Martin: excuse me!



4. In this book, Steve Martin writes about his former career as a stand-up comedian. He struggled for many years before he finally made it big and quit at the height of his popularity. He details all the highs and lows of his on stage career in a very entertaining style. If you are a Steve Martin fan, you will definitely enjoy this book.



5. I bought the CD version, which is read by Steve Martin himself. I listened to it while commuting to work. It was so funny, interesting, and touching! My only sadness came when it ended, because I was so absorbed in it.

5 comments about Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America.

1. The author has a knack for finding and telling the funny part of every situation. It was delightful to read her take on her experiences. Her tales are so entertaining, I was sad when the book was finished.
   
   Thankfully, she has a new book out and I am ordering it NOW!
   
   This is one book I will keep so I can reread stories whenever I need a good laugh.
   
   It was refreshing to see how similar(in all the positive ways)families from differnt cultures actually are.



2. I read this book while on vacation with my husband and our two boys (ages 11 and 8), then my older son read it out loud to all of us during the time we were traveling by car in Italy. All of us laughed out loud as we listened to Dumas' touching and endearing, but oh-so-funny stories of her and her family's experiences in America. She is poignant and honest and brilliant. Her stories reminded us that we often have more in common with those who may seem different from us than we realize, whether those people are from a different country or from our own extended families. Now that we are back in America, we cannot wait to read her new book!



3. This book is really fun to read and also give an insight about Iranian. I recommend it to everybody. It is a great gift to give.
   
   Poopak



4. This easy read is full of humor and gives the reader a different way of looking at everyday items and events, from Twinkies, Kentucky Fried Chicken to holidays like Christmas. A friend lent her copy to us and my entire family enjoyed it so much we purchased our own copy plus the author's latest book. Read it for yourself to see how people are really more alike than they are different, and just see if you can contain the laughter.



5. I spent three and a half years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Iran and became intimately familiar with Persian (Farsi) culture. But I learned many things from this book; it also serves a moral lesson to all "Amrikayi" about their rush to judgment to condemn a group of people for what some of them have done without being preachy. In spite of all that it was hilarious reading at so many different levels.
   
   And if this is a repeat, my apologies as I had lost track of the book in mid read and just finished it.

5 comments about Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China.

1. This book is amazingly moving and well written. Anyone who is even remotely curious about the life of ordinary Chinese women throughout the 20th century should read this work. It not only describes the stories of three generations of Chinese women, but it transports the reader to world that the author is describing. I definitely recommend this book. Often I will sell biographies after reading them, but this book is a keeper.



2. A wonderful narrative of the pre-1949 and cultural revolution China told through three generations.
   
   Though Jung is anti-Mao, her book does a great job of providing a relatively unbiased personal account of this pivotal period in Chinese history.
   
   Jung's colorful family history gives her fodder for intriguing anecdotes and the reader a perspective into the life of a "well-to-do"/politically active Chinese family.



3. Before leaving for my 2004-05 sojourn in China, I naturally sought to acquaint myself with the culture in which I was about to live and work. Of the various books I read (which ranged from Chinese history to essays from American expats to descriptions of "the Asian mind" as applied to Western business people), it turned out that this book was BY FAR the most helpful in my day-to-day interactions -- both social and business -- with my Chinese associates.
   
   Spanning the early 20th Century when author Chang's grandmother was given as a concubine to a warlord general, through mid-century when Chang's parents joyously risked their lives in the Communist takeover, to 1978 when Chang herself left China, WILD SWANS paints a vivid picture of the China of today. I found that the information in this book, told in first-person story form, gave me far more understanding of my Mainland Chinese colleagues than any journalistic writings ever did, or could have.
   
   Since China is already a major force in western economies (especially America's), and will only become more central to the global economy, I consider it useful to share the observation of my personal experience: Understanding the RECENT LIFE EXPERIENCES of a nation's citizens is even important than understanding its customs. The good news is that history--told well--is a fascinating read! And Jung Chang's story is hard to top.
   
   Doni Tamblyn is author of Laugh and Learn: 95 Ways to Use Humor for More Effective Teaching and Training and The Big Book of Humorous Training Games (Big Book of Business Games Series)



4. Nice review of History of China since world War II. Intersting way of telling story.



5. The story of this family is not usual. The grandmother was the mistress of a warlord, the mother was a communist revolutionist, and her daughter, the author of the book has escaped form China as a young girl. The thing I respect the most, that the author has only used personal experiences, and only written about things she has seen with her own eyes, or things which has happened with her family, and never used unchecked stories in her descriptions. She never tells a word in her story against the regime, even when she writes about the most shocking events in her family, but leave the reader to create his or her own opinion.

5 comments about All over but the Shoutin'.

1. I have never read, heard, seen a better picture of the South than that in the first five pages of this book. Not the Scarlett O'Hara fictional Old South, but the real red clay and hard rocky ground of the Upland where the overwhelming majority of people live.
   This should be mandatory reading for anyone who trying to understand the current presidential election. You'll learn more about who these people are and why they do what they do than you will by listening to any political pundit or blogger.
   It's also a great read. Bragg is a skilled and honest writer who is not afraid to show the whole picture, warts and all.



2. I bought this book based upon all the hundreds of positive reviews but almost instantly regretting the purchase. I found Mr. Bragg's writing style annoying. What works in a newspaper article doesn't seem to work for books. Mainly, I found the one liners coy (I think they were supposed to be zingers that put the chapter in perspective or gave it an ironic twist, or tried to overdramatize the chapter.) Whatever the reason, I hated the last lines of each chapter and felt they were smug and insulting. Really, please let me make my own emotional discovery at your words, don't insult me by forcing me to have the same emotional discovery you had when you wrote them.
   
   Another annoying Mr. Bragg's has is another dramatic writers trick of starting many sentences with the same words. For example, the following string of sentences:
   "He never said he was sorry.
   He never said he wished things had turned out differently."
   He never acted like he did anything wrong."
   
   This trick is over used and jolts the reader out of the story. If you don't know what I mean, go to the library and read the prologue. Ugh.
   
   Usually I stop reading a book that is this annoying but it was the only book available to me and I was stuck with it.



3. I was raised in North Alabama. Rick Bragg's ability to paint the picture of life in that part of the South blows my mind. It is perfect, as if he reached into my head and threw my own thoughts and memories onto the pages of this book. It is real, unapologetic and stubborn...just as it should be. It helped bring me back to a world I left years ago and understand why I love and hate it so much.
   
   What a wonderful writer, his sentences are so packed full of vivid descriptions it almost made me tired at first. Honest to God, I had to put it down a few times because I needed to let the images digest before going back for more. I usually devour books within a day or two. This one I chose to savor, slowly a chapter at a time. He is now one of my favorites!



4. If you have not lived part of this book you won't get it. If your hardest moment in life was not making the team or getting dumped by a girl then you won't understand Rick's story. But if you've been there, espicially if you've been there and you grew up in the South, then this book will resonate with you in deep and meaningful ways that won't make much good logical sense. After you have your first good throat aching cry you'll experience a measure of the healing that All Over But The Shout'in can bring to a life that started hard.
   
   More than a book. A story told with honesty. A witness. A testimony that speak to the soul.



5. I read this book after loving AVA'S MAN. I was less enthralled with ALL OVER, which was written first. From reviews, I expected it to be a paean to his momma. That it was, early on and again at the end. But I couldn't help thinking that for a woman to sacrifice so much for her children is not so exceptional--most of us sacrifice more than our children will ever know--and that he was perhaps too attached to her. His lack of any real emotional connection to any of his many "girlfriends" made me think that he needed to mature and to depend less on his attachment to his momma. Like other reviewers, I was less interested in his climb to the Pulitzer, but I adjusted to the switch of focus. It turned into an autobiography, and his many "clips" from stories that he wrote were very interesting. Overall, I think the second half is just not as gripping as the first and the switch was somewhat jarring.

5 comments about Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.

1. The book was great; everything as described by Michael Smerconish. The work shows how much can be said in so few words. I am enjoying the book.



2. As with MOST of the books and a lot of the music I purchase, I "heard it on NPR!" I mean, really!! Listening to the awesome interviews of authors and musicians discussing their work is the very best way to find out about them. I presented a copy of the Memoir book to each of several friends at dinner recently, and they immediately responded EXACTLY the way I expected and hoped -- they started reading aloud as they paged through the book. My moment was complete!! I, of course, have a copy for myself and plan to continue to enjoy it. The other reaction that folks have is to try to write their OWN six-word memoirs. Really great idea!!! Kudos to those who compiled the book!!



3. I am a writer myself, when I get a moment I grab this book. I read a few six word memoirs, get a few chuckles and I can put it down without worrying if I'll forget what I was reading. It's perfect for a flight or
   when you have some time for yourself.



4. In November 2006, Smith Magazine challenged readers to write their memoirs in six words--no more, no less. One thousand of the submissions are printed here, with more to be found on their website. Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure is not an easy book to review, so don't think of this as an actual review; think of it a challenge. Here is a sampling of six-word memoirs from the book to provide inspiration.
   
   Some writers tell their stories with humor and self-deprecation:
   
   >> Woman Seeks Men--High Pain Threshold.
   >> My first concert: Zappa. Explains everything.
   >> Aging late bloomer yearns for do-over.
   
   As you would expect, there are many bitter or bittersweet references to relationships gone bad:
   
   >> Girlfriend is pregnant, my husband said.
   >> Just in: boyfriend's gay. Merry Christmas.
   >> Let's just be friends, she said.
   
   Some lucky people sent memoirs that radiate contentment.
   
   >> Alone at home, cat on lap.
   >> Hope my obituary spells "debonair" correctly.
   >> Wasn't born a redhead; fixed that.
   
   There is the contingent who describe themselves without judgment:
   
   >> Gave commencement address, became sex columnist.
   >> Mormon economist marries feminist. Worlds collide.
   >> Still lost on road less traveled.
   
   And last but not least, the philosophers who distill life experience into a greater truth:
   
   >> Palindromic novels fall apart halfway through.
   >> Cheese is the essence of life.
   >> Wandering imagination opens doors to paradise.
   
   We're all busy people, each with a story to tell. C'mon, what's yours?
   
   Linda Bulger, 2008



5. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, and I loaned it to my daughter's 8th Grade English teacher who promptly assigned the entire class to write their own 6-word memoirs. It's fun to write a few of your own, and you could also apply the 6-word description to a vacation or other event. My memoir? Life improves with age and experience.

5 comments about Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany (Vintage).

1. Anyone who has ever worked at a continental-style restaurant should read this book.
   
   I picked up "Heat" in the interests of reliving my experiences in two continental restaurants, run by two totally different-in-temperament chefs, one Austrian, one Swiss. Neither one embodies quite the insanity exhibited by Mario Batali, the owner/operator of Babbo in New York City,and known via TV as The Iron Chef. I must confess I have never watched The Iron Chef, although I have heard of him; but most of what goes on here does not impact him in that show.
   
   Mr Buford, who seems to have had an open-ended commitment with his real job at the New York Times, decides upon interviewing and further visiting with Mario Batali, that he would like to apprentice to him, to learn the art of Italian cooking. Mr Buford knows just enough about cooking to get into trouble, and it doesn't take long for him to do so when he arrives at Babbo to begin his apprenticeship. I found myself nodding my head at the things that happened to him; I recognized all the personalities in the restaurant, all the petty jealousies, all the various traumas that go on in a busy, popular restaurant on a weekend night. Mr Buford's traverse through the stages of hierarchy was entertaining to say the least. Some things that went on there made me cringe; I'm pretty sure some of the things Mr Buford reported have never occurred at the restaurants I worked at, but it's possible; I was never on the line, but my chefs were nowhere near Mario Batali in style or performance either. (And I mean that in a good way; the man is clearly nuts.)
   
   My favourite part of the book, however, was when Mr Buford, in the interests of furthering his education as a butcher, went to Italy to study under Dario Cecchini in Tuscany (further indication that Mr Buford has ample funds stored up to entertain these conceits about becoming a chef, as it seems apparent that he wasn't earning anything in Italy either). His style of writing made the little hill town where he was very vivid in my mind; the personalities he encountered were highly likable; and overall I wanted to pack up and go over there for a protracted visit myself. It didn't make me any more enamoured of pigs or their products (I only had to find out what pancetta was to know I didn't need it in my diet), but I was greatly entertained by his excursion over there and, having long wanted to visit Tuscany, it just makes me want to go there even more.
   
   Mr Buford is a thorough examiner of his environment, and I felt like I knew everyone he worked with afterwards. The joy of food, the joy of the preparation of food (or not), is clear throughout the book, and while I found hilarity within it, I also found great insight in the entire restaurant experience, from cooking to management. I'm not sure I could work with Mr Batali, but I have a greater insight into the world of food preparation for the public, on all levels. A very entertaining book. I felt like I had a pretty good education in the topic at the end of it.



2. In reading through the 1 star reviews, I'm awfully confused. There's not much "foul" language, particularly if you contrast it with Bourdain's books. I'm 7/8 of the way through and can't think of anything other than a very few sprinkled f-bombs at all. For the folks who complain about the lack of an in-depth look at French food and life in France - well, its title is pretty much the major clue - pasta and Tuscany don't scream French cuisine. I'm constantly amazed at people's ability to complain. That said, I enjoyed it but it's not a great book. It offers one person's experiences in a celebrity driven kitchen (I've never watched Mario Batali on TV and I am less likely to now) and in some other settings. I never caught his passion for cooking - it seemed more like an adventure so he would have something to write about than an adventure of his life.



3. This is a very fun book. It is especially fun for those of us who have worked in restaurants. The literary images of poor Mr. Buford being thrown to the fire--quite literally--is a delightful ride. It is a foodie's paradise and a self-deprecating memoir of the author's offbeat culinary education (at a somewhat mature age).



4. Bill Buford writes a highly entertaining book. Heat is good for 3 reasons.
   
   One, Bill is humble. It's very easy to forget that the author was an editor for the New Yorker. It's also very easy to forget how successful/famous Mario Batali and his restaurants are; which is for whom and where Bill worked. These facts seem to disappear because the author is so humble. This makes him appear more human and allows the reader to connect with him more easily.
   
   Two, he's extremely self-deprecating. After working at Babbo for a few months he described his role as the, "kitchen bitch, cleaning the kitchen's bitch." Little quotes like this speed the book along.
   
   Three, he's passionate. Bill Buford loves food. He loves learning about it, preparing it and most of all the timeless tradition of eating it. Whenever he's describing something food related his excitement begins to permeate through his writing.
   
   Together these points make Heat a very entertaining book that is difficult to put down.
   
   A note to all the foodies - you may be disappointed by this book. This book is more about the journey than it is about the food.



5. The book is boring, and what is worst, the author is always making racist comments. Very disappointing.Don't bother reading this book.

5 comments about The Year of Magical Thinking.

1. Joan Didion has captured the very quiet and lonely side of surviving the loss of a spouse. Her tone is somewhat dry and even, yet underneath you can hear her trembling. Yes, the year after is probably the hardest and her title appropriate. When faced with unexpected loss, due to trauma or sudden death, there is always a sense of disbelief. Magical thinking is necessary to carry you through the initial shock and grief. Her detailed portrayal of the first year marked by the last year of her husband's death is so grounded and painfully real. I read the book in one evening and couldn't put it down. I don't believe Mrs. Didion wrote this book to help anyone cope with their own losses, but rather to share the experience she had so that others who also have their own year of magical thinking would know they were not alone. Waiting for Odysseus



2. The theme of the book - Didion convincing herself her dead husband is going to come back, keeping his shoes etc - definitely fills a gap in the grief literature. Unfortunately, the writing is flat and ordinary. If the book had been written under a pseudonym, I highly doubt it would have been so successful. I went to see the play with Vanessa Redgrave and the actress's performance was phenomenal, so there's quality somewhere in the text, but really, you have to dig for it.



3. Let me start off by saying that I read 2-3 books a week. This book was the 2nd book in 10 years that I have given up on. I got a few chapters in and was so bored. I couldn't get past all the references and citing every other sentence. I couldn't focus on the story and found myself reading the same paragraph over and over. Believe me I tried. I don't give up lightly when it comes to reading but this one I just couldn't finish.



4. I was dealing with several deaths with a friend recommended that I read this book. I understood and knew nothing and although I was hesitant, thinking that a book could not help me in any way, I began to read The Year of Magical Thinking. I read it in one night. This is a slim novel, but it must be this way to keep the prose tight and free of any little superfluities that need not be there. I could empathize with Didion, over losing someone so close, and not knowing where to go, what to do, not even knowing how to think correctly. This is a must-read for any person, regardless of whether or not they are experiencing a loss because, after all, they have experienced some loss in their life. After one reads this book, their life will never be the same.



5. This is an extraordinary piece of literature. It is so rich, it is like a priceless tapestry, one can simply stand before in awe. This book must be savored and reflected upon. I found myself totally immersed in the story. I would read for awhile and then stop and savor the writing and feel the emotion..This wonderful book deserves your full attention. Think of the richest most perfect dessert in the world, accompanied with the richest and most perfect cup of coffee one has ever tasted while sitting in the most comfortable chair one has ever sat in, and you may come close to how much I enjoyed reading this incredible book.

2 comments about Lopsided: How Having Breast Cancer Can Be Really Distracting.

1. I've read a lot of the breast cancer literature for the woman diagnosed since I was diagnosed 8 years ago - doing fine, thanks. This is the first one I think I've seen by a woman of color. A good combo read with Cancer Vixen.



2. If you're looking for easy consolations and wishful thinking, don't look here. Meredith Norton pulls no punches and tells simple but hard truths: as her dad puts it, "No one gets out of here alive." But this isn't a depressing book; it's a story of (temporary) survival, and it's wickedly funny. Norton has a great eye for the ridiculous and outrageous in others and in herself. Recommended to anyone who may die.

5 comments about Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History.

1. Maus, A Survivor's Tale is a son's pictorial version of his father's story of survival during WWII.
   
   Both haunting and mesmerizing, sometimes funny and touching, this is a story of perseverance and about what the Jews had to suffer through at the hands of the Nazis in WWII Poland. Spiegleman never sugar-coats what his father had to endure in order to keep he and his wife alive. A true work of art.



2. Horribly distorts the true suffering of WWII victims. The Poles who are portrayed as pigs and the Jews who are portrayed as RATS is not a good beginning. The Poles and the Jews suffered the most. The Polish Catholics lost 3 million, in what has become known as the Forgotten Holocaust. The Poles lost another 2 Million to Stalins barbaric Gulags. When the Nazis were defeated, the Soviet Communists took over and were more barbaric to the Poles than the Nazis, although both brutally oppressive and cruel to the Polish nation. Maus/Rat, whatever you call it, uses a horrible and untrue depiction of the Poles. The Poles were the first to go to Auschwitz and die. Polish teachers, school children (giggling and playing having no idea what horror awaited them, my God), professors, nuns, priests were the first victims of Auschwits, for the wars first 2 years. Jews were not taken to auschwitz until May of 1942! The Germans had already slaughtered 1 Million Polish Catholics before the Jewish campaign even started! The Poles still defide Hitler saving more Jews than any other country. What makes this more incredible is that, Only in Poland were entire Polish-Catholic families, towns and villages executed for, as little as, handing a Jew an apple. in Denmark, Sweden, Hollannd, Norway, a slap on the hand was given - that's it! These countries, also had some of the most brutal Nazi organizations,.i.e., they collaborated eith the Nazis, as Poland DID NOT! For a true and purely objective learning, and not one man's version, bias or hate towards the tortured Poles, and other nations, read a short but to the point book with tons of info, perfect for Jr, High, High School and Adults: Andrew Hempels" Poland in WORLD WAR II; also Richard lukas' The FORGOTTEN HOLOCAUST;Poles Under Nazi Occupation (talks about everyone's suffering); finally, and a great litttle book on Auschwitz with big returns is AUSCHWITZ by Sybille Steinbacher. Steinbacher's book is easy to read and very clear; gets to the point and very objective. These books are so centered and incredibly objective,i.e., no embellishments, just truth and fact. The Rat book is a despicable generalization and distortion of truth. Scholars and Educators: Please, be sensitive and 'Take the bull by the horns.' Enjoy the summer - you.ve earned it.



3. One (two actually since there are two volumes) of the best submissions about the Holocaust which is designed to reach a broad audience. Maus and Maus II are written in the vernacular, personalizing the experiences of a camp survivor who is interviewed by his son. Excellent supplement to any Holocaust discussion.



4. When I included this and Perseplos & Maus 2 I was informed that they are not graphic novels and that I could not have one free. AMAZING! Of course after I asked for the distric manager's name/number there was a sudden change of heart BUT NOT a good instore experience from BORDERS at ALL. The GRAPHIC NOVEL is great. Borders are not.



5. This book is a survivors tale of being a Jew in Nazi Germany. The author tells his father's memories of the horrors of the holocaust. It is written in the form of a comic book. The author uses a metaphor for the people in WW2. The Jews are mice and the Germans are cats. The book talks about the author's father being a succesful person and then being captured by the Germans and finally freed from his POW camp, but forced to live in the Ghettos and hide from the Nazis who want to send them to Austwitch. The book leaves off as he is being shipped to Austwitch (a Nazi Concentation/death Camp).
   This is one of the best books I've read about the Jewish experience in Nazi Germany. It's easy to read and surprisingly informative. I would most defenintely recommend this book for someone else to read.