5 comments about Lame Deer, Seeker of Visions (Enriched Classics).

1. Lame Deer is an authentic look at traditional Sioux tribal beliefs. The author pulls no punches and western audiences may be disturbed by some parts - eating of dog, hanging by flesh to have a vision of the creator. However, as Lame Deer points out, many things about American culture are deeply disturbing to Native Americans too - from Mt. Rushmore to convenient religion practiced only on a Sunday. This was written a few years ago, before the casinos started seriously plowing money back into the tribes,but I doubt Lame Deer would be very pleased at the social costs of that either. All in all, a profound, deeply moving, provocative, funny and disturbing look at Native American culture subsumed by American white culture, but never defeated. I found it a good source for my own novel as well: Neitherworld, a sci-fi epic that takes place among the Ojibwe.
   Neitherworld Book One Akiiwan (CreateSpace Version)



2. I first read this book 20 years ago and have re-read it three more times. What better recommendation can I give?



3. The life and times of this Lakota holy man, contrarian (heyoka), and sometime outlaw are rendered for us through the collaboration of John (Fire) Lame Deer, and Richard Erdoes, an Austrian artist by way of New York. Lame Deer's reckless early days; his quest for vision and spirit; and the integrity of his personality throughout a very full life - this is the meat and potatoes of this book.
   
   The autobiographical first part of the book fades into the ways of Lakota culture and rituals and all the concomitant symbolisms which inhabit them.
   Lame Deer is opening up the inner world of the Lakota people, not just for the future generations of his own people, but for all of us interested in the Lakota ways.
   
   What struck me most in this narration is Lame Deer's humor and Indian perspectives on the idiocies of the white people; without hatred or resentment - just an enormous sadness that has pervaded a very unique life. This book will open your eyes to the visions this seeker sought and found. Highly recommended.
   
   Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts
   
   The Cloud Reckoner
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   



4. Truly wonderful book written in the words of John Lame Deer. Excellent preamble to Gift of Power written in the words of Archie Lame Deer. Father and son really have a lot in common.



5. This oft insightful, oft hilarious, oft irreverant book is a great read. I read it first over Christmas, and now I'm reading it with many of my Navajo students. They love it for his erudition and frankness.
   
   Especially comical is his chapter "Getting Drunk, Going to Jail." For many of the students, they were taken aback at the Holy Man's indiscretions, but Lame Deer makes clear that an Indian holy man is no Christian - if Wakan Tanka is both good and bad, then so too should man, including holy men. There is no symptom of "bad conscience" here, thank God.
   
   One caveat: a friend of mine read this 20 years ago, recommended it to me; but he credits his decision to go and live amongst the Indians to this book. Well, the short version is Lame Deer is a man apart: don't expect Lame Deer in every Indian you meet. The poisons of alcohol and Industrialism are still doing kicking the crap out of the Indians out here. It ain't pretty.
   
   But Lame Deer is, so read this book.

5 comments about Slaves in the Family (Ballantine Reader's Circle).

1. Quite often history textbooks can be dry and boring. Edward Ball's "Slaves in the Family" illuminates many larger historical events -- the slave trade, the institution of slavery, plantation economies, the Revolutionary War, The Civil War, and Emancipation -- and brings these events down to the human level, to the place where flesh and blood people lived through these events, how the events shaped them, and how they in turn contributed to history.
   
   Ball's careful, meticulous research wove oral accounts with written records kept so well by the Ball family, giving a credible, well-balanced view of plantation life, slavery, and how it impacted the lives of both black and white Ball plantation residents.
   
   Ball paid special note to the nuances of each speaker's story as told, not only through their words, but also their body language. He is an astute observer of people's reactions and unspoken thoughts.
   
   I highly recommend this fasinating book. I couldn't lay it down.



2. Edward Ball made a courageous journey into his family's past when he researched and wrote this book about their slave owning history, and took the step of searching out and meeting descendants of their slaves. This paperback edition includes an insightful follow-up exchange between the author and one of his black relatives about the writing of the book, their relationship, and how their views of race relations have and have not changed since its writing. The book inspired me both to think deeply about my attitude towards race and to read more about southern history, using the prism of slave ownership and my own family's southern geneaology as a focus. Related recommendations: The Ruling Race: A History of American Slaveholders] and [ASIN:0465015557 My Confederate Kinfolk



3. Oh my gosh! I didn't realize that Dawn Langley Simmons had passed away. When I purchased her book about the life of Margaret Rutherford, "A Blithe Spirit", I wrote to Dawn, and was surprised to receive a reply from her or him. For several years she/he corresponded and now I realize that she/he may have mis-represented herself. She did send me several photos of Margaret Rutherford. Interesting story.



4. I thought this was a good read. I especially appreciated the details of the types of Africans that the planters preferred and detested. I recommend this book. Yes, I do agree that the author's writing style was dry. However, I find most books that have a historical base, unless it is fiction, to be dry as cracker.



5. Some reviewers below complain that this book is tedious. Well, sure. I bet the US Constitution and the Bible are tedious to someone who has no clue about, or doesn't care about, their context. To anyone with some understanding of US history, the project of writing this book marks a step forward in race relations, however big or small that step may turn out to be. If you care even a little about why this country is the way it is, this book crackles with a searing flame.
   
   Ball writes about visiting a wary African American man in Chapter 6, and what that man says at the end of his interview speaks for me and my opinion of the book. "Someone has to break the ice. I gotta give you credit, you were man enough to do it."
   
   People won't agree whether reconciliation or forgiveness apply in this situation, and I'm not sure either. But this is the author's best effort at telling the objective truth about black-white relations as it was lived by individuals over the centuries. "I decided I would make an effort, however inadequate and personal, to face the plantations, to reckon with them rather than ignore their realities or make excuses for them."
   
   Chapter 9 describes the shocking child mortality figures on the plantations. And on a slave voyage from Africa to Charleston, over a third of the captive passengers died en route - just the cost of doing business to the owners. No wonder some try to deny this history; it's too painful. Yet, the book also provides some episodes of humanity and hope. Readers will emerge with a greater understanding of our history and human nature. Maybe they'll become more vigilant against trespasses on human life and dignity in our own day as well.

5 comments about The Eighth Promise: An American Son's Tribute to His Toisanese Mother.

1. a wonderful and moving memory of mother and son, of Toisan and San Francisco, looking into the future from the past.



2. I was drawn to The Eighth Promise, as I automatically veer towards any books related to China. Then I realized that this wasn't just about China, but about America as well. The author grew up in San Franscisco's Chinatown during quite volatile times--the Vietnam war, Civil Rights protests, Chinatown wars. I was fascinated by this history which he so vividly brought to life. Then, a terrible thing happened to his family, a terribly unjust, unfair thing that you would hope doesn't happen in America. I was moved to tears by the grace with which they dealt with this horrible injustice.
   The Eighth Promise is an insightful book about Chinese Culture, American history during the 60's, 70's, and most importantly, grace in the face of injustice.



3. What a great book. I just finished reading it. There were so many layers to his story that I found so interesting: the American immigrant story of being uprooted into a strange land and customs, the attention to detail about Toisan food , the history of Chinese immigration to America and the racism they faced, and the racism faced by Asian Americans in contemporary America, the unveiling of the facade of Chinatown as a tourist postcard , the author's coming of age during the chaotic turmoil of the 60's and 70's, his relationship with his brother , and of course hearing his mother's story and the "Eighth Promise".
   It's just a great story overall and he ties everything together well.
   On a personal note, being a Korean American man , it's wonderful seeing more Asian American male voices that are being heard in literature today.



4. William Poy Lee wrote a book that deeply moved me. My parents are Toisanese. My mother's roots are from Hoisin, the city that William visited on his explorations of family roots. My father's roots are deep in the Chung-lau village nearby. My father told me stories of tending the water buffalo, getting firewood, laying down manure, etc. A lot of tough farm chores. He left home at 14 and became a paper-son to come to New York in 1952. He was detained on Ellis Island for six months before entering the world of Chinatown, Seward Park High School, waiting tables, serving as a printer's apprentice, and other odd jobs, in the lower east side.
   
   I grew up in Hong Kong and New York City's Chinatown. Because my mother was educated in Hong Kong, I was raised speaking Cantonese but I understand fully Toisanese as she spoke both. My mother's world for many years revolved around the garment factories -- the sweat shops. William Lee's stories of Chinatown San Francisco spoke to me. They are so much like how I saw things growing up in New York City, with its own variations. William's stories of Wah Ching youths, the associations, and political changes recalled for me events and people of New York's Chinatown. My friends and I lived through the times of some of the worst effects of these changes as well. But like others of that time, we also found much simple pleasures, even if we did not know it then, of playing basketball underneath the rising span of the Manhattan bridge, or just hanging out at the park on Forythe Street, or in the heart of Chinatown --Columbus Park.
   
   Poy Jen's stories, her voice, her accents and how she phrased things, and of course her soups, are just remarkable as they are so vivid to me as I recall my own grandmother when she was alive, and as I talk to my grandfather now, who is 94. My father still speaks Toisanese and his mix of Cantonese to me. My mother and father continue to make those soups today, especially the precious ginseng soups when my wife and I visit.
   
   The twin threads of the book intertwined beautifully -- the voices true, laced with everyday life's humor, and charged with the strong emotions of times of tragedy. The resolution of the stories is deeply personal and, at the same time, universally human. I look forward to seeing more stories from this fine writer.



5. The book really sheds light into the Chinese American experience. As someone new in this journey, I valued the insight William Poy Lee shares from his mother's experience and his own experience. Highly Recommended!

5 comments about Coltrane: The Story of a Sound.

1. John Coltrane is an endlessly fascinating musician, whether or not you like his music - he was both traditional and forward-looking, immensely disciplined and constantly striving for more freedom, technically brilliant yet willing to work with musicians considerably less able than himself. He made a series of relatively undistinguished recordings before suddenly emerging as a phenomenon when hired by Miles Davis, and then he went from one level to another, taking jazz to terrifying levels of complexity before breaking it down into something starkly simple.
   
   Ben Ratliff's book is about two things: what Coltrane wanted to do, and what people have wanted from Coltrane. He is clearly a good listener, and someone acutely aware of how Coltrane was coming across at the time. He is also very sensitive to the depths people have sometimes sunk to in both praise and dispraise of the man, citing as evidence both Frank Kofsky's absurd description of 'Live at the Village Vanguard Again!' as the greatest recording in the history of jazz, and Philip Larkin's bilious and vindictive article, written shortly after Coltrane's death, about how much he hated Coltrane's music - Larkin surely wanted to make other people agree with him that it was worthless, which is never a very noble ambition in a critic.
   
   Unusually for a jazz writer, Ratliff is also aware of how Coltrane's enormous influence has spread beyond jazz and into rock and punk (never thought I would see the great jazz-punk bass player Mike Watt mentioned in a book on Coltrane). He argues, if I take his point correctly, that Coltrane's influence has often been to make subsequent players sound like Coltrane, whereas the influence of an equally gifted player such as Sonny Rollins has worked more obliquely, helping players to sound more like themselves (perhaps because Sonny is not as imitable as Trane). It's true that, of the players (at least the sax players) who were most influenced by Coltrane, the majority have not been able to overcome his influence and develop truly distinctive voices - people on the level of Dave Liebman, etc., being the exceptions rather than the rule.
   
   This book does not require a degree in music theory to read, or any musical talent whatever. It helps if you've listened to a lot of music. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and my only quibble is that it wasn't longer. I can read about Coltrane forever.



2. I found this book disappointing and the subtitle misleading. Ratliff does not really provide a story or history of Coltrane's sound. He strings together some anecdotes and some opinions about Coltrane and that's about it. There was no coherent thematic thread drawing it all together. The fact that Coltrane's sound became pervasively influential is obvious to any jazz listener. The truly interesting story describing how that came to be, or even accurately describing this "sound" in the first place (Coltrane had a distinctive sound - what precisely made it distinctive? Also, since his sound changed over time, when did it really become "his" sound? Etc.), let alone the story explaining why this sound become so dominant, is sadly absent from these pages. There are some intriguing moments when Ratliff suggests that the Coltrane sound was actually a collective sounds generated by the "classic" quartet, but, like I said, that's about it.



3. i love john coltrane's music. thanks to this book, i know i lot more the things these musical jazz giants went through and i understand why i could not always follow the chords. this author dies a good job. well done



4. It's hard not to be amazed by John Coltrane's music, even for interested fans who are not expert musicians themselves (that applies to your current reviewer). Here Ben Ratliff digs deep into the substance of Coltrane's creative process - and most of all that elusive entity known as SOUND. Trying to do this in writing is an immediately incongruous prospect, though Ratliff does pretty well with prose that is full of precise musical adjectives and technical terminology that is reasonably easy for the non-expert reader to follow, all things considered. Though just watch out for the frequently congested prose that becomes necessary for Ratliff to transmit the sheer complexity of the music, such as "the meditative and semierotic aesthetic of endurance, of repetition, of ecstatic religion..." Here we can see how technical jazz really is as a genre, with Coltrane perhaps amongst the most knowledge-intensive. Another revelation here is evidence of Coltrane's lifelong search for musical perfection, as he passionately studied various instruments and genres, and even literature and languages, in a quest for the perfect sound. However, there is an underlying irony to Ratliff's entire endeavor, in that there is no proof that Coltrane (or any jazz musician of his caliber) saw the musical process in the same way as critics and writers, no matter how knowledgeable they are. One must wonder if such passionate technical analysis truly makes one appreciate the music, or if a less obsessive attitude is necessary to really feel the sound. What kind of love did Coltrane seek? [~doomsdayer520~]



5. As a beginning student of jazz piano it was enlightening to understand how the various modalities, rhythms, and chordal structures are used by one of the greats. Wonderful to have this perspective.

5 comments about Life on the Color Line: The True Story of a White Boy Who Discovered He Was Black.

1. For anyone who pretends to understand the issues of race, poverty, and family, this book is a must read. It lays bare the underbelly of American experience by shining a bright light on discrimination, segregation, the failure of the social systems and the consequences of alcoholism, as well as physical and emotional abuse on children. While the author's situation is understandably frightful while he was a young child, this is nevertheless no maudlin tale. It is recounted sincerely and without the unnecessary pulling of heartstrings. The reader's empathic response needs no teasing out when presented with the straightforward portrayal of the author's upbringing. The fact that this story unravels in Muncie, Indiana, rather than somewhere in the South might come as a surprise to those who believe that the black/white race issue is mostly a regional problem.
   
   This author was able to rise above his difficult childhood, attend college, attend law school and eventually become the Dean of a law school. I have heard him speak in person and to hear him tell some of these same stories in his own voice is downright chilling. Riveting, gripping, and intensely human.
   
   I highly recommend this book.



2. this is such an amazing book that really flips the perceived norms of race. so many things happened to this boy as he was growing up that it is a miracle that he was sane enough to write a coherent memoir. there were so many times that literally moved me to tears. i emphatically recommend this book, you won't regret it.



3. Life on the Color Line should be required reading for every American, especially anyone who wants to put their life's problems in perspective.
   
   This is the most moving book I have read in a long time and I read a lot! William's account of his childhood truly woke me up to how fortunate I am to have the life I have, despite losing my mother at age 20. No one should have to endure the painful struggles of racism, poverty, rejection, parental neglect and abandonment that Williams did, as well as a dysfunctional family to top it off. Whether Williams dated black girls or white ones, he was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.
   
   Life on the Color Line contains many harrowing scenes. One that stood out for me was when William's white maternal grandmother refuses to pass along her daughter's messages to her children after she has left the family. She calls her own grandchildren "niggers" and refuses to let them live with her in a nice section of Muncie only a few minutes away from the black ghetto where they reside with a family friend Miss Dora.
   
   One question that remains unanswered after reading this book is why William's mother only took her younger children with her when she left her husband. Why did she leave Gregory and Mike with their alcoholic father? It doesn't make sense that she would take some of her children to safety with her, but not all of them. The only explanation I can come up with is that Greg's mother figured her older boys were mature enough to fend for themselves. Towards the end of the book, their mother's inability to understand what kind of life she left her boys to leave left me wanting to throw rocks at her and give that woman a good beating.
   
   I am in awe of the author's maturity, courage, and sheer will power that enabled him to overcome all these obstacles. His experiences put my own life in perspective.
   
   I borrowed this book from the library, and now that I've reached the last page, I will definitely be buying it on Amazon!



4. I learned about this book in an article in the Baton Rouge newspaper. LSU has assigned it as summer reading for many of their students and a group is working to get others in Baton Rouge to read it as well. At our church's partnership group with a local African-American church we decided to read it as a group project, and I'm glad we did. Williams' memoir tells the fascinating story of a young man who is born into the lower-middle class white world of suburban Virginia only to learn when he is about six years old that his father is the son of a mixed-race couple from Muncie, Indiana. Circumstances resulting from this news takes the boy, his father and his brother to Muncie where they live among their African-American (or colored as they were called in the 1950s) family. Billy's (or Greg) father Tony (or Buster) is an alcoholic, which makes life no less difficult as he's scorned by his white classmates and, with his white skin and Caucasian features, standing on shaky ground in his own colored community. A good-hearted woman named Dora raises the two boys as her own, as their birth mother spurns her now-black children. Dora's kindness and Greg's determination to do more than survive are inspiring.



5. I had the unusual pleasure of hearing him speak at a public function when this book first came out. In fact, that's how I got my free copy. The story of this man's life is simply amazing. That came through in his honest and heart-felt reflection of the hardships he's had to overcome growing up. I've lived in San Francisco most of my life, attending public school with the normal cross section of the city's diverse ethnic crowd. I can say with a degree of certainty that I'm culturally aware of the African American experience. So it is with a bit of sadness that I regret not having met more people with Williams' ambition and determination when I was younger. To be fair, the circumstances in which his life unfolded would probably be hard to duplicate in this day and age, especially in San Francisco. But regardless, I truly believe young blacks of today, regardless of where they may live can draw inspiration from his story. We all still face a huge amount of inequality and injustice in our society today. With such polarization along political and religious lines in our national conscience as I'm writing this, it is critical to remember that race still matters. The other day, the biology department chair at my school presented a slide show of New Orleans where here Alma Mater was severely damaged by Katrina a year ago. She's a parasitologist with a Ph.D from Tulane University. The contrast between the French quarter/downtown and the poorer residential areas are striking. Those who've read Williams book would immediately draw parallels with the stark geographic division along racial lines of Muncie, Indiana - where Williams grew up. How many other cities in America are New Orleans waiting to happen? If something unthinkable should happen in Muncie today, how will the citizens of that city fare today? Will the impoverished blacks of Hunter's point/Bayview in my own city suffer the same fate as those of the lower 9th ward when the "Big One" strikes California? If more of my fellow black San Franciscans can aspire to be like Williams and strive to lift themselves and their community out of poverty and strife, we just might have a chance at doing better. One can hope.

5 comments about The Language of Baklava.

1. In the book's foreword, Abu-Jaber states that the facts should never get in the way of a story, that the essence of experience is in the heart. She then tells her life story, each chapter an independent vignette, strung together by her father's love of family and food. I have little in common with Abu-Jaber, the oldest daughter of a protective, over-the-top father, who never truly left his native Jordan; and a US mother, obscure in the background, a stoical cypher. But Abu-Jaber is right, the essence of a story is in the heart, and her book connects.



2. This is a great story - Abu-Jaber shares beautiful stories of growing up with a Jordanian father and an American mother. As someone close to Middle-Eastern expats, I recognised a lot of the feelings, emotions and social situations she describes: the longing for a long lost country that is one embellished from childhood memories, the importance of food as a source of comfort and a way to bring continuation to a new lifestyle in a foreign country, the importance of family, the unity between a family that is scattered around the world but whose heritage keeps them together. I thought it was very enjoyable and entertaining. It should be especially interesting to people interested in Middle-Eastern culture and those who are or know any expats/immigrants like Abu-Jaber's father. For a deeper and less light-toned stories, I also recommend Crescent, or West of the Jordan.



3. Terrific memoir, funny and moving. Pretty good recipes too! Highly recommend.



4. A lovely book, reminding me somewhat of my own childhood and my over-the-top overprotective father. The descriptions of her family's meals are incredible. I found myself rushing to make the recipes, looking forward to enjoying devouring them as I read, like I was sitting at the table with the author.
   
   One of those books that you think, "Ok, it's late... I'll just read until the end of this chapter," then you don't put it down.
   
   Well, if you're a foodie daughter of an immigrant like me, anyway.



5. Reading The Language of Baklava, I felt like I'd stepped into a 'lost world'-- the rich memories and sensations and stories were outstanding. This is my favorite kind of book, the kind that I have trouble finding any more, where I feel like you enter the heart and mind of a life and a place. I will never forget this book.

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

1. 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.



2. 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.



3. 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 .....



4. 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. Living in China, I wanted to experience a little about its culture. I have lived in some other countries (in the "western" world) and living here has both been a challenge and a great experience on how things are different from "my" western side of the world.
   Then, I stumble across this book and it's even more amazing the way her (Namu's) life changed from the childhood in the Moso country to living among the han chinese (don't think these people are the same), learning their culture, their language and writing ( I myself know how difficult this is, I've been struggling for 2 years), and even go live abroad in the west. This is amazing, I wonder how she must have changed and how much she has learned from all this. It's really incredible.
   This book is easy reading. Besides, it's not a sad story, like the ones we've been reading about women in China of the cultural revolution, etc. I really enjoyed it. It's so good she shared her story with us.

5 comments about The Confessions of Rick James: Memoirs of a Super Freak.

1. Rick was something else. While I enjoyed his music, his writing was concise and entertaining all the way thru and I really enjoyed the pics.
   Great insight into a musical genius the likes we may never see again.
   DJ
   Stockbridge, GA



2. After doing some (in-store and online) price comparison, Amazon's prices are definitely the better bargain "hands-down".



3. If you like Rick James this book is highly recommended. It is a book you will not be able to put down.



4. THE BOOK IS ON FIRE. RICK WAS ONE TALENTED DUDE. UNFORTUNATELY ALL MOST OF US KNOW ABOUT HIM IS THAT HE LIVED A CRAZY LIFE. RICK WAS MUCH MORE THAN THAT AND THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO KNOW WHAT MADE THE MAN TICK.



5. Very entertaining and informative I could not put it down I purchased 3 for gifts

No comments about Have You No Shame?: And Other Regrettable Stories.

5 comments about Wild Steps of Heaven.

1. It was a used book but was in good shape.
   the book was send really fast.



2. I first read "Wild Steps of Heaven" while I was in college. I have never been one who was able to finish a full book, but I couldn't get enough of this one. And once I was through with it I had to go out and find more books by Victor Villaseñor. He makes everything seem magical but at the same time believeable. It is like the ultimate adult fairy tale. Each character has so much life. The story is one that you just want to follow, you want it to keep going. Even the sad and painful stories shine with beauty as Villaseñor tells them. This is my absolute favorite book and I highly recommend it. You won't understand until you read it.



3. Read this book before you read "Rain of Gold". "Wild Steps of Heaven" is a short read and actually the paternal part of the family story. I wish Villasenor had included the info in Wild Steps of Heaven" in "Rain of Gold". Both books are a wonderful patchwork of history,and genuine family integrity. Excellent summer read!



4. This is a wonderful book. This book is about a family living during the Mexican Revolution.His writing just takes into this magical world and even though you know that he has made a little piece of history into this great big piece of fiction, he does it so as a matter-of -fact that you just can't believe that it's not true.



5. In times of hardship heroes are needed and none moreso than in Mexico as revolution rages. The Villasenor family patriarch, an exiled red-haired Spaniard, has married an Indian woman. The first ten years of the marriage are a time of great love and passion, and the children born first are fair and favor Don Juan Villasenor. Later children are dark like their mother. One of the dark ones, Jose, from age 12 must live in the barn because he defied his father and gentled a stallion to rescue his baby brother holding onto the leg rather than shoot the horse. In his exile and solitude a hero begins his training with Grandfather Don Pio Castro who knows Jose understands the power of love and gentleness. This will be the son who defends la familia during the revolution from the soldiers who time and again attach the village. The colonel commanding the troops more particularly desires Jose's true love Mariposa and destroys her. Ultimately, the younger brother Juan (author Villasenor's father) begins to show heroic tendencies himself and will be the one to defend his mother and the remaining family against the colonel. Villasenor moves the tale along with a powerful, songlike cadence. Notable characters are the giant cousins, Basilio and Agustin, who strip naked and race the lightning and then Halley's comet on January 17, 1910, a night of magic and love, the day before el colonel begins shooting up the home village, el paraiso de Los Altos de Jalisco. Each chapter begins with epigrams featuring "Great Father Sun" that provide a sense of power from above, as in "the heavens smile . . . as all around him the gods and serpents did battle." When the final epigram tells us "and out of these children of the earth and of the stars would now come a glorious new gente in all their wonder and fire," we realize that while we have been traveling through an exciting story with more twists and turns than fiction, we also have been participating in something approximating a creation myth. Highly recommended is Villasenor's first tale of the family Villasenor, Rain of Gold.