5 comments about Silent Partner: A Memoir of My Marriage.

1. I wanted to know how could a woman be married to a man without knowing he's gay. Or rather, I wanted to know how could a gay man be married to a woman without letting her know he's gay. In this book Dina Matos comes across as a very intelligent and kind person. If she could be fooled, anyone could be fooled. I think anyone who's ever been betrayed by a loved one can relate to the feeling of trying to keep up the hope when there's a nagging feeling of something not being right. I want to read the ex-husband's side of the story but there is no way getting around the fact that Dina was deceived.



2. This book was personal for me because I had this experience. There is a large percentage of men who fall into the category - so ladies beware.



3. I loved reading this book, about the true events in the life of a governor and his wife. She is very elegant in the way she tells of the lies and truths she find out about the life she led with her husband. It tells of the difference in what was going on and what she had missed. She tells about seeing signs after the fact and how she stepped out of the public eye after being pushed into a public scene with her cheating husband.



4. I was also deceived by a gay man disguising as straight. I met him online where he presented himself as a "marriage minded man seeking a woman." I began to get suspicious after a few weeks of dating and asked him if he was "bi" and he tearfully told me of his past. He also professed undying love and the desire to be with a woman permanently so I stuck with him for a few more months. Those months can only be described as a roller coaster ride; one I wish I never got on. I was not equipped mentally or emotionally to cope with this man's sexual confusion. Probably 1 week after we parted, he found himself an "amazing gentleman" and raved about how he had finally found love. (it sounded pathetically familiar; he used to rave about me.
   I walked away and had to deal with my anger and resentment for what he put me through. Yes, you can go through relationship problems with anyone, but these were particularly painful and confusing for me. No matter what anyone says, it's not the same. I felt used and exploited by him to test out the heterosexual waters.
   Prior to meeting him, I had a old friend who was gay. She fell in love with me when I was 17 and used to harass me to be with her. Physically and emotionally. That, too, was an awful experience.
   I used to be a tolerant person; probably too tolerant and it got me in some situations that were not good for me.
   Unfortunately this has caused me some trepidation in being with gay people. It's sad but I just have not had any positive experiences with them. I do try to keep an open mind though and hopefully healing will prevail.
   Thanks for listening.



5. I bought the book because I was interested to hear Dina's story. How could she be totally blindsided by Jim McGreevy's coming out? The book never really cleared that up for me. No real new relevations. However, it was an interesting look inside politics. A very quick read.

5 comments about Turning White: A Memoir of Change.

1. This book was a very enlighting experience. And now I look a people with any disease in a new eye opening light. It was very well written, and Lee Thomas seems like a wonderful man and person.



2. i brought four books with me to detroit over the christmas holiday, but picked this book up at a border's when i took my daughter there to get a book for school. its cover grabbed my eye (great cover), and i noticed it was under a "local author" sign. lee thomas, the author, is a detroit area news anchor. this is the story of his wrestle with vitiligo (pronounced vih-til-EYE-go), a skin disease where one's pigment disappears, over time. apparently, 1 - 2% of the population have this (according to the book), but it's hardly noticeable on people with lighter skin tones. of course, for an african american, like thomas, it means he's "turning white."
   
   it's a compelling issue, and seems to set the mind wandering on a multitude of questions and issues, like:
   - what does it mean to the identity of a black man to slowly turn white?
   - what if that black man makes his living in a context that is constantly focused on his face, and broadcasting that face to millions of people?
   - what role does any of our skin color play in our identity? what's the interplay of skin color, enculturation, and other factors?
   - would it be better for the author (or another with the same disease) to suddenly and completely change skin color, or to gradually change, in splotches (it's not a gradual overall lightening, but more like growing patches of whiteness)?
   
   unfortunately, the book doesn't address any of these questions. to thomas's credit, he says right from the start, that this is a book about a black man's skin, and not at all about race. but i was frustrated, on almost every page, by his unwillingness to go there. it seemed like an opportunity squandered, to address race from a completely different place. it was either a cop-out, an overly careful political-correctness (career cautiousness), or simplicity that would lead one to omit what could have been something so central to the issue (or, at least, that's what i was thinking as i read).
   
   also, the book is horribly written and edited. really, i haven't seen a book go to print in a long time that is this poorly written and edited (and i've come, given my role, to blame that primarily on the editing, not the author -- some can write and some can't, but an editor's job is to not let the author reveal that he's a crappy writer).
   
   so, yes, the book was deeply dissatisfying on multiple levels. but, somehow, i'm still glad i read it, because it's a real guy's story, dealing with a real life issue, that has all kinds of implications that caused me to think (whether the author was willing to think about those issues or not).



3. It was an interesting experience to learn how affect this illness to other persons. However, I thought I could find a method or medicine to cure vitiligo and it did not happen. Personally, I have had not that experience and I learned how to leave with it. What it really worries me is that lack of pigmentation makes you very vulnerable to the sun. In other words your skin gets burn when you are exposed for a long time to the sun.



4. This book is very well written and definitely from the heart. Mr. Thomas is an inspiration and his story is uplifting and full of hope for anyone struggling with Vitiligo. How wonderful of him to have brought this disease to the forefront to help foster understanding.



5. Only if we as people of this world can think like Lee Thomas, "Just Live!". The last paragraph of the book says it all; "We need each other to survive. I will never give up on loving life or sharing it with people." This book is very thought provoking, honest and informative.

No comments about Pieces of My Heart CD.

3 comments about Salvaged Pages: Young Writers` Diaries of the Holocaust (Yale Nota Bene).

1. This collection provides 14 generous excerpts from journals of young people during the Shoah; the earliest diaries are from adolescents who got out before or just as things were getting bad, but as we go further on, the diaries get more intense in scope, moving from adolescents who weren't quite sure what was to come, to people who had some inkling but weren't quite sure the rumors were true, to finally young people in ghettos, young people who therefore knew how bad things were, although they didn't yet know what their final grisly fate was to be. Before each excerpt we also get a generous introduction to the author, his or her surroundings, what generally happened to the Jews of that particular city or town, and the diarist's final fate. Some of these young people survived, others perished, and still others' fates are unknown, though they are presumed to have perished. There's also an appendix detailing a number of other young diarists from the Shoah, some information on them, their fates, whether the diary is in a private collection, a museum, if it's been translated into English, or was published for the general public whatever language it's in. A lot of these young diarists were very literate and intelligent astute young people; it's incredibly sad how some of them died so young and therefore didn't get a chance to possibly become great writers. My only small complaint is that Poland is a little overrepresented; while it's true that at least half of the murdered came from Poland and that Poland was the nation that lost the greatest percentage of its prewar Jewish population by far, it would have been nice to have some variety in the locations, like maybe include more diaries from Germany, France, and Belgium, or ones from Holland, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, and Greece, for example.



2. Even after countless movies and documentaries, nothing has personally ever made me direct as much attention to the tragedy of the holocaust than these young writers' words written in ghettos and in hiding places. Their optimism is heartbreaking when you learn of their fates, you see their struggles with hunger, fear of an uncertain future, their grief over losing loved ones and identity. But you also recognize their strength in troubled times and end up appreciating their courage to write, because you know it is essential that they should be known.



3. i highly recommend this book. it is not only for those with historical interests. the diaries are so moving that this book will appeal to all. the writing is very vivid and the diarist's voice will stay with you for some time. zapruder has done an impecable job of introducing each entry. she sets the scene with such biographical and cultural detail that you feel at one with diarist before delving in. i was really moved by this book and encourage all to read it.

1 comments about The Smoking Diaries.

1. This book was a huge bestseller in England and spawned a couple of sequels. The author, Simon Gray, is a well-known British playwright (of course, he's unheard of in the United States). Gray is very witty and his diaries constitute the perfect companion for anyone growing old but not only unwilling to go gently into that good night but instead thoroughly willing to give the good night a boffing about the bollocks. Oh, there's a lot of smoking in this book--as the title suggests--so if you find that objectionable, well, please feel free to go willingly away.

5 comments about He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: A Memoir of Finding Faith, Hope, and Happily Ever After.

1. I heard Trish recently at the Printers Row Book Fair in Chicago. I was impressed with her humor and sincerity. I bought her book for a friend about Trish's age (30-ish). However, I started reading it myself and couldn't put it down. As a 60-ish woman, I enjoyed her authenticity as she describes her jagged journey to finding spiritual meaning in her life and, along the way, finding the "right" husband. I like her spunk! She does not give up.



2. I loved this book more than I have ever loved a book. This book came upon me at exactly the right time.



3. When I first read the book jacket on He Loves Me, He Loves Me NOT (HLMHLMN), I thought I was in for some light-hearted chick lit or a God on a Harley type ride. Trish Ryan's desperate hubby hunt turned faith quest ended up far more meaningful than finding Prince Charming.
   
   Spirituality/Religion can be a heavy topic and can put many a reader on the defense, but Trish reveals her journey with such candor and humor, I, for one, walked away appreciating her process.
   
   In her twenties, Trish threw around the common disclaimer that she was "spiritual, but not religious." She embraced everything from A Course in Miracles, astrology, tarot cards, feng shui, crystals, chakras, Native American spirituality--you name it, she tried it. If she hadn't already made her choice, you better bet, Trish would be first in line to buy Oprah's Book Club pick, Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth Awakening To Your Life's Purpose. With painful self-dissection and heartache, all that changed...
   
   Even if you're not exploring enlightenment, you can glean clarity from Trish's memoir. I appreciate her willingness to allow us a glimpse into her spiritual and psychological trenches--she admits her insecurities and speaks openly about the dreaded "D-word," depression. Don't be detered--HLMHLMN is by no means a downer. Think Sex in The City meets Women of Faith ~ Trish's relentless self-effacing humor inspires quick page turning.
   
   I doubt we'll find many people, especially women, who won't find themselves relating to Trish, at least on some level. She reminds me of our tendency to project our ideals onto our latest man crush--the biggest trap we can set for ourselves. Instead of seeing others--specifically, prospective mates--for what they truly are, we throw our notions of perfection at them in hopes they'll stick, so we'll finally find our elusive soul mate glazed in shiny flawlessness. Then, "Life Happens," and inevitably things heat up and that glaze begins to melt, slowly dripping off to reveal the faulty individual underneath...and we're left with our disappointment wondering "What happened? Why did THEY change? I appreciate Trish's comitment to digging deep in HLMHLMN to determine that the hole she thought she could fill with a man truly could not be satiated by someone of this world.
   
   I must admit, I was left wanting her to explore just a bit more:
   
   **WHY she had such a deep sense of insecurity in the first place ~ From her account, she comes from a strong Catholic in-tact loving family--anything BUT dysfunctional compared to today's standards--so where does this deep internal abyss originate? Without God, does that unfillable hole reside in us all?
   
   **Like Trish, in my twenties, I fell into the trap of thinking my boyfriend could complete me . On page 26 of HLMHLMN she admits: "Dating Josh marked an evolution for me: it was my first experience with lying about who I was and what I wanted, of guessing what a guy wanted and then pretending to be eactly that." That was me. I didn't know myself or what I wanted and I thought finding a guy would fill that void--in was unconscious, unintentional. After reading HLMHLMN, I found myself wanting Trish to explore her own individual passions and purpose apart from her quest for landing a man. Hmmm, maybe visiting her website will provide those answers. You can also visit Trish's Forty Days of Faith website.
   Just a sidenote: As a young twenty-something "yankee," living very much like Trish--very defensive to condescending "Christianese." I had a number of Born Agains hit me with well-intended phrases like "Don't you want to be washed in the blood of the lamb?" and "My heart is burdened for your salvation" ~ Huh? That, quite frankly, felt far from loving--only sanctimonious--and turned me OFF from Christianity. It's no wonder Christianity gets a bad rap these days. Conversely, I think Trish does a superb job of articulating the Christian tenets in a nonthreatening conversational tone--very much like a discussion you may have with a nonjudgmental loving girlfriend. Admittedly, I've lived in the southern Bible Belt for nearly fifteen years now and embrace the Christian perspective, so maybe I'm immune at this point, but I'd be interested to hear how you recieve Trish's message.
   
   What are your impressions? Let's start a conversation..Feel free to visit my website at www.WordsToMouth.com and leave a comment or call and leave a voice mail.
   
   Bottom line: HLMHLMN obviously evokes much introspection. I recommend it and would love to hear your thoughts on the book and the points I've raised in this post.



4. This memoir is about Trish's journey through many different spiritual practices and relationships, while searching for happiness, and ultimately a husband. Her candid sense of humor comes through in her casual, yet gripping style of writing. I appreciated her ability to communicate that not all (in fact probably most) Christians do not fall into the stereotypes that are thrown at them, whether it be that they are Republicans, Bible-thumpers, etc. Her style/experience with faith is one that draws people in wanting to experience it for themselves. I'm not a fast reader, but finished this book in two days because I couldn't put it down.



5. great book! I could relate to some of my younger years and all the crying and laughing that she allowed for me to feel of my crazy adventures before I found the love of my life. Yes, and finding Jesus as the one true savior and Lord saved me too, from my own follies.

5 comments about The Soul of a Doctor: Harvard Medical Students Face Life and Death.

1. This is a great book. It tells the story of Harvard medical school graduates and their interactions with patients. Some of the stories are particularly moving and give hope, others remind me of how difficult it must be to become a doctor. Nearly all of the stories are well written. This book would be a great gift for anyone starting medical school, anyone who has an interest in medicine or even someone with a passing interest who watches television shows like Grey's Anatomy.



2. I have been very interested in becoming a doctor for a very long time, as such, I like to read as many books as possible about individual's experiences as a doctor or while becoming a doctor. I do feel as though some of the experiences shown were very intimate, but overall I just couldn't force myself to maintain interest. I feel as though the students who wrote these accounts received more benefit from writing them thean I did from reading them.



3. all of the true stories in this book have promise - they are interesting and thought provoking but unfortunately, the writers never follow through with the outcomes. You meet a patient, find out their problem - usually involving some sort of dillema for the dr. - they make their point but the outcome is left out. Did the patient die? They never say. (even a brief update after the essay would make a difference).



4. Getting to understand someone else's point of view is always wonderful. This book helped me imagine what it is like to be given a gift to heal and then have to learn what that means in real life. This book is not just for medical minded people but for everyone as the lessons these students learn can be applied to all of our lives/works. If nothing else, I am thankful for my health and all the doctors/nurses in my life.



5. If you ever wondered what it feels like to become a physician, I would highly recommend reading this book. Not designed to be entertaining but is instead an intimate look into the real life experiences of young and idealistic medical students as they move from the classroom to encounter the realities of patient care and the limitations of the health care system. These are very powerful and human stories, sometimes disturbing and heartwrenching and other times more positive. It's hard to imagine anyone reading this book and not be profoundly moved.

5 comments about Guitar Man: A Six-String Odyssey, or, You Love that Guitar More than You Love Me.

1. I picked up this book at the recommendation of another friend who's also been in bands and is an excellent musician. After playing in a number of bands I can honestly say that everything this guy writes is true. I'd swear Will played in one of my bands in the past. I really liked the musicians he traveled around to hang out with. I walked with Will and knew all the other musicians he's hung with. Great book - how being a musician really is!



2. This is the story of a man in his 30s that decides to learn how to play guitar and sets the goal of playing a gig within six months. The author's quest leads him to a number of characters, most of them eccentric if not downright weird. He even takes a junket to the Mississippi Delta to learn about the roots of the blues, a visit to Nashville and Memphis and a trip to see Les Paul perform in NYC.
   
   While the story has its merits I think that the author spent too much time describing drug use and other behaviors that many guitarists (myself included) feel are negative stereotypes which leave the false impression that all guitarists use illegal drugs or drink to excess. A lot of musicians use drugs and drink like fish but there are just as many of us out there that do not. This book would have been every bit as interesting to me without the drug stories.
   
   In any event, the book ends shortly after the gig; which went well, all things considered. At the end of it all Mr. Hodgkinson realizes that his dream of performing in a band was only one tentative step forward in his development as a musician and songwriter and he proceeds to work towards correcting bad habits that he picked up in his rush to learn the guitar on the fast track.
   
   Overall it was a satisfying read and very accurately conveyed the hopes, misconceptions and dreams of guitar students everywhere. The sensation was not unlike talking to a student guitarist that was enthusiastic, idealistic and a trifle over-optimistic; like many guitar students I've met.



3. As a 40+ wannabe guitarist I finally picked up an acoustic guitar and tried to learn after 20 years of 'thinking about it'. A few months in I literally stumbled across this book in a shop whilst looking for some music so that I could finally answer the question being asked of me, "When are you going to learn to play a real song on that thing?". This book had me glued from start to finish and I am now all fired up again! I am shamed to admit that I had never even heard of the great Davey Graham and many of the other characters that so shaped the guitar.
   
   As earlier reviewers have said, the premise of the book sounds a little cheesey, and perhaps suggestive of an unlikely film script, 'untalented latecomer goes on quest and finds hidden guitar skills on the way', but this book is much more than that. It provides a superb potted history of the guitar from a UK/US blues-folk-rock perspective whilst the main protagonist is honing his new found skills. I found it inspiring. Sure, Will Hodgkinson isn't your average Mr Joe Public, he seems to have indirect connections to several key players, which may be helped by his journalist background, and maybe some of his 'memories' are a little odd - he could only have been 5 or 6 years old when Marc Bolan died so can he really recall his TV appearances? And the coincidence with watching "The Servant" just after a night out with Davey Graham, artistic license perhaps? But, these very minor points aside, to all you ageing wannabe guitarists out there - read it, dust off the old guitar and get strumming!
   
   Now 'all' I need to do now is find out how to play 'Anji'!
   
   P.S Whilst researching on the Web it is interesting to note that Davey Graham is on his uppers again - if this is partly through this book and/or Will's article in the Guardian then this is great for all guitar fans!



4. GUITAR MAN: A SIX-STRING ODYSSEY, OR, YOU LOVE THAT GUITAR MORE THAN YOU LOVE ME comes from a 34-year-old who decides to play guitar even though he's tone deaf and has no rhythm. His quest to become a musician at a later age involves instruction from friends and guitar 'greats' alike, in the process revealing much about the music world's finest figures from PJ Harvey to the eccentric old bluesman T. Model Ford. His odyssey is more than autobiography: it charts the evolution of guitar, methods of playing, and more and takes readers along on a rollicking journey through the music world in the process. General-interest collections will love it; music libraries will find it a fine leisure reader's choice.



5. Though the premise sounds pat -- a bit like a book proposal: journalist with no musical training picks up guitar with the goal of playing a gig in six months, and then writing about it -- Guitar Man in fact blossoms into an enormously entertaining, and by the end, exciting story. Will Hodgkinson is a funny, charming, smart, ballsy, sympathetic guide to the world of guitar and guitar obsession. Plus he's got taste, too, and common sense, and his own peculiarly interesting (and peculiarly British, I suspect) ideas of what the guitar should be and how to go about learning to play it. For anyone who loves to play but isn't "professional," it's a fantastic lesson on why mistakes don't matter if your heart's in your fingers. And for American readers in particular, the book gives us the pleasure of encountering, in person or legend, Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, our own Jackson C. Frank, as well as understanding that maybe Eric Clapton isn't god after all. Now I need to learn to play "Anji" -- and only regret that I can't hop on over to Bert Jansch's flat for an impromptu lesson.

5 comments about Words in a French Life: Lessons in Love and Language from the South of France.

1. This book is a lot of fun. As you read about the life in France, you can't help but pick up a word or two of French with each chapter you read.



2. I enjoyed this book so much, I'm getting another copy for my daughter to take on vacation. It was interesting to learn not only about life in France but about Kristin as she adjusts to her life there. She observes herself as acutely and entertainingly as she does her new home. I found the book while browsing the travel section, I'd never heard of her blog before this - the reviewer below me is right, she's got a terrific blog with beautiful photos, but I think he's way off about the book. I found it worked both as a story read straight through, which gives a fascinating and satisfying total picture, or as vignettes read as separate chunks.



3. I first found out about Kristin's writing from her "word a day" emails. It was a natural progression to get her book and it is thoroughly charming cover to cover. This is the book that I pick up in between my trips to France to remind myself of all the things I love about the country and its people.
   
   If you've never been to France, read it and you'll be on the next plane. If you've been to France, read it and you'll be returning again soon.
   
   I hope Kristin soon publishes another volume!



4. The value of this charming and instructive book by a natural writer and observer of the (French) social scene is that it makes picking up new vocabulary easy because you remember the lovely stories in which they were packaged.
   
   This is part soap opera, part cultural exchange, part charming honesty, part ingenuousness, and, overall, a very natural and entertaining way to enhance one's French vocabulary at the same time one gains an understanding of the culture that comes along with that language.
   
   It is delightful to be a fly on the wall during the culture shock of a French major from the American Southwest finding love and community in La France.
   
   I have been a reader of her blog for a while and benefited from that, but it is a different, and better, experience to read some of her best columns in book form, which, by the way, suggests in its design the south of France, a Mediterranean touch stylewise. It's a handsome dustcover.
   
   This unique book will have you learning French while chuckling at her account of getting 'hung up' on entering the church for her wedding. Such refreshing candor! You'll love this book.
   
   Addenda:
   
   Kristin's web columns are so good I wondered how I could access as many as possible of her previous work. Voila! As a Google mail holder, I found could go to one of their services called Google Reader which allows one to add RSS (really simple syndication) feeds to that page and access them in a convenient fashion (summary or listing). When I added the URL for her webpage, Google went out, got the RSS and placed it on a list to the left of the page. I found the LIST format most useful for scrolling backwards in time more than a year to see all her French Words on which I could click to get the original page with all her vocabulary suggestions and her delightful stories.
   
   Her genius is that she places new French vocablulary gently amongst a story, otherwise in English, that is so interesting that one wants to read it to the end, and then look over the associated words and phrases.
   
   In effect, one learns new French words from the context in which they are placed in the English language story. Enormously clever and effective. It resembles the way we learn vocabulary in our own language: from context.



5. A WONDERFUL FRESH BOOK THAT ADDS DIMENSION TO WORDS IN FRENCH TO MAKE THEM MORE MEMORABLE FOR A STUDENT. LIGHT AND PERSONAL AND A GREAT AID TO MAKE A LANGUAGE YOUR FRIEND. WELL DONE!

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

1. 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.



2. 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, ...
   
   [...].



3. 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.



4. 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. A must read for all friends, relatives and sufferers of what we term 'Mental Illness'. Richard has successfully given of his own experience with his struggle through schizophrenia in a unique and vivid manner. He draws upon his talent as an artist/musician and the resource of the internet chat lines for fellow sufferers points of view and comments on what it is like to experience a psychotic illness. His drawings express emotions and a state of mind which words can not.
   
   Easy to read and unlike many other books on the subject the outlook for the sufferer is not all doom and gloom.
   
   Richard's story is living proof that there is a recovered 'normal' life from schizophrenia.
   
   Thankyou Richard as you have helped me immensely with my journey through schizophrenia.