5 comments about Colored People: A Memoir.

1. Colored People is a wonderful book. It has humor, sadness and illuminates a specific period of time. I liked how his family and town shaped his values and made him what he is today. We are using this book as a Common Reading and also a One Book, One Community Program with the small university town of Shepherdstown. The author is coming and will meet the students who will have all read the book. The topic of race and the civil rights movement are highlighted and will be the topic of many discussions. I highly recommend the book. You will enjoy reading it and if you learn from it, so much the better.



2. An informative, interesting look into the attitudes, situations, and resoucefulness of "Colored People". Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a gifted and sensitive leader of thought and expression of our day.



3. I place Colored People alongside Angela's Ashes as one of the best works of memoir in recent years. He doesn't moralize; he just tells the honest story. This is a story that, to my knowledge, has not been told elsewhere. It is a story about the freedom and comfort and the pain of a segregated commuinty, and the heartbreak that came with leaving some of that world behind. Most things are deeper and more complex than we like to think they are. Colored People brings that concept forward in a way that no other book has. The people whose expressed frustration with not being able to keep the characters straight are missing the point - this isn't a murder mystery and it doesn't make any difference. Buy it. Read it. Share it. I only wish I'd done so when it first came out.



4. Gates fears that Piedmont, West Virginia will cease to exist. His father felt and instructed him that people of the same race should not cling to each other through habit or fear. The author rebels at the notion that he can't be part of other groups, too. Piedmont is in Mineral county. Piedmont as a whole seems to be graying. The town's identity was bound up by the existence of the Westvaco paper mill. Almost all the colored people in Piedmont worked at the paper mill. Until the 1970's the houses were rented from white landowners.
   
   The civil rights era came late to Piedmont. The family watched Dr. King on the news. The author's father was jaundiced about the civil rights movement. His mother was courageous. She sent four brothers to college and was recognized on "The Big Pay-Off". Through his mother, Gates was part of the Coleman clan, a big deal in Piedmont. The Gateses lived in Cumberland. Brown v. Board of Education marked the author and his peers for life. Integration brought interesting cultural clashes.
   
   Gates was marked out to excel from first grade. Gateses had been attending Howard for three generations and Harvard for two. The family, in the beginning, went to the Walden Methodist Church. Gates was afraid of the power of the Holiness Church and he avoided it. His mother became depressed with the change of life when the author was twelve and she was forty six. The mother became a pack rat after a childhood of scarcity. Gates began to cook dinner for the family and he joined the church in his anxiety. A childhood friend urged him to read Dickens and he became a fervid reader. He attended an Episcopal church camp in West Virginia, Peterkin, in 1965. He thought it was like stepping into a dream world. He read NOTES OF A NATIVE SON. For some of the older people in Piedmont integration was experienced as a loss. Gates went to Potomac State for one year and applied for a transfer. He was admitted to Yale.
   
   This is a lovely portrait of a community and a people.



5. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is an extraordinary scholar, particularly on African-American issues. He was born and raised in Piedmont, West Virginia during the time of early racial desegregation and, as a black man, was directly influenced by this dramatically historical period. Gates graduated summa cum laude from Yale University with a degree in history, then received a Ph.D. in English from Cambridge.
   He has written for The New Yorker, The Village Voice, Time, The New Republic, and other prominent magazines. In addition to Colored People: A Memoir, Gates has authored and co-authored several books including Figures in Black: Works, Signs, and the "Racial" Self (1987), The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism (1988), and Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man (1997).
   
   The preface to Colored People is a letter from Gates to his daughters, Maggie and Liza and, though the book is dedicated to his father Henry Louis Gates, Sr. and in memory of his mother Pauline Augusta Coleman Gates, the entire autobiography is written in conversational tone, as if Gates were recounting his stories not only to his daughters, but to their entire generation.
   
   Gates' collection of memories describes the era, long since past (both for good and for bad) when blacks and whites were segregated, and the subsequent integration of these colors, and what it was like to live in that world, and be a part of it's evolution. The title Colored People is beautifully appropriate, not only for the shades of black America it represents, but for each and every one of us; black, white, red, yellow: none of us are see-through.
   Henry Louis Gates, Jr. invites us to live with him in Piedmont, West Virginia, and experience life-black life-through his eyes. We walk through his town, invade his cultural rituals as a welcome guest, experience the love of family and community with him, and suffer the pain and frustration of segregation alongside him. I felt privileged to walk with Gates into segregated, comfortable, welcoming, "safe" black cultural spaces I could never enter otherwise: a black funeral, a black church, a black barbershop, a black family reunion. In contrast, I felt anger and pain at being judged, criticized, and belittled because of skin color.
   
   Gates emphasizes to his readers, through his personal life experiences, the fact that color is only an outside condition that changes with the sunshine. He allows us to see that we are all human beings first, experiencing the same emotions, passions and ambitions as the man next to us, regardless of his color.
   
   He doesn't discount white racism though, nor try to "Uncle Tom" it into something to be scoffed at as negligible. He allows us to know what West Virginia was like in the 1950's through the eyes of a young black man. We feel his warm acceptance when he falls for the affections of a white girl, and when he is recognized for superior intellect among his peers, many of whom are white. We share in the camaraderie he feels when he plays ball with his white friends. But then we are appalled when he is forced to leave the company of their table in a restaurant and stand at the counter, because of his skin color. We get angry because those same white friends don't stick up for him when he is forcibly thrown from a dance club, simply because he is black.
   
   Through both the segregation and integration, Gates shares with us what he finds to be of greatest value in his life; that being the love of his family. His memoir is somewhat biographical in this sense, in that the lives of his maternal family, the Colemans, and his paternal family, the Gateses, are shared with us in detail. We learn how Henry Louis Gates, Jr. found the support and strength to become the intellectual force he is today. Through the lives of his family members, we see yet another generation of segregated black America. We learn what it is like to be "kept down" in a dead-end mill job, to be forced to drink from a separate water fountain, to be drawn into a box and dared to cross its lines.
   
   Through the Colemans and the Gateses we experience the freedom of integration, but also the fear and uncertainty of leaving behind a safe and comfortable life we have come to accept, if not love. There is fear and discomfort in change, and we dread its revolution, even as we feel its excitement, through Gates' memories.
   
   Gates' optimistic personality shines throughout his book. It's refreshing to me that, despite his formidable education and vast first-hand knowledge of racism, segregation and integration, his autobiography is not written in lofty, scholarly terminology, but in an easy, relaxed manner that informs, educates and leaves the reader with the impression of having enjoyed a talk with a good friend.
   
   Colored People: A Memoir is a text which, in my opinion, should be a part of every student's university curriculum. Gates' underlying message, that freedom should never be taken for granted, is one that should be ingrained in every American citizen, regardless of color or creed. His personal memoirs, one West Virginia man's record of an era, offer a candid glimpse into the trails of integration few of us today, thankfully, will ever experience. This book is not to be missed by anyone who cares about history, about race, and about multicultural America as we now know it and how it came to be.
   
   Rhonda Browning White

5 comments about Nigger : An Autobiography.

1. I LOOKED ALL OVER FOR THIS BOOK AND YOU WERE ONLY ONE THAT HAD IT. THANKS
   
   
   
   TERI ANN GARCIA



2. I was attending a prodimently white Junior High School in Brooklyn, NY, at the age of 11 yrs. when our English requested our standard essay. I was reading Dick Gregory's "Nigger" at the time and decided to base my essay on his book. When the teacher reviewed all of the essays, she returned mine to me with an A+, and asked me read it before the class. While initially, the black and white students were at best awed by the word "Nigger", they totally embraced my essay. You see this was a liberal white school, and being in NY were open-minded. I will never forget my black teacher, Mrs Ford nor the liberating experience to read such a controversial essay during the time - 1961.



3. Dick Gregory was a track star, first class entertainer and civil rights supporter. But before each of those, he was a black man. Being a black man was never an easy thing, but Mr. Gregory had the misfortune of being a black man who grew up on "relief" (i.e. welfare) raised by a working, black single mother in a white man's world. His prose is wonderfully direct and honest to the point of discomfort. Nigger : An Autobiography would be required reading in every high school in America if not for its controversial title. In a perfect world, Dick Gregory's memoir would be judged by its content and not its cover, as he was judged by color and not character.
   
   Gregory never glorifies his accomplishments into distortion. This is not the story of a hero. He was a very small player in a civil rights movement filled with brave men and women. Though a nationally recognized high school track star, he faded in college althletics at Southern Illinois. He was not a name comedian like Johnny Carson, Jack Paar or Richard Pryor. Failings in his business and personal life are well-documented. His is a more typical black experience than Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King or Magic Johnson. It is story reflective of millions of northern blacks born in the 1930s and who come of age in the 50s and 60s. Nigger : An Autobiography is the best autobiography I have read, bar none. Because I cannot hope to match the eloquence of Dick Gregory, this review will conclude with his own words.
   
   "It's because we grinned when he wanted us to grin. We cried when he wanted us to cry. We've spent money when he wanted us to spend money. And we've done without when he said do without."
   
   "He owns all the missiles in the world, and when he talked to you about owning a switchblade you become ashamed."
   
   "He started all the wars, and when he talked to you about cutting somebody on Saturday night you become ashamed."
   
   "He makes me feel small. He calls me everything on the job but my name, so I'm aggravated before I get home."
   
   "Then he tells me about my education. Well, if it takes education his-style to produce a clown that would throw dynamite in a church, I hope we never get that."



4. I'm uncomfortable with the title, but the book is insightful and moving. If you did not grow up black and poor, you need to read this classic by Dick Gregory. I also recommend it as required reading for red necks and for anyone interested in the civil rights movement.



5. In short, I enjoyed reading Gregory's autobiography. To come from such extreme poverty to become the successful and noted Black activist/comedian that he is speaks volumes about his tenacity and determination. Follow Gregory as he talks about his struggles as a youth in St. Louis, to his college days at Southern Illinois University, to his adult life when he gets the first inklings of becoming a professional comedian, his marriage, and his time spent as an activist during the civil rights movement in the South. He is definitely one of the last of Black America's freedom fighters.

5 comments about Temptations, Updated.

1. Otis did a great job on this book. I appreciate and respect Otis for not really saying bad things about the group. I belive he could have told much more of their personal struggles and personal business, but he chose not to. I think it take a respectable man to write a book as well written as this one is about the Tempts and yet leave them their dignity intact. This show the love and respect Otis have for them. I tip my hat to him.
   
   Thanks Otis for going back and including Melvin(blue)in your book. He was wonderful.



2. This book is excellent. I think the 70's & the Temps were in the best era of all centuries!



3. I am in the process of reading the book and i like it so far but i love the moive sooooooo much i watch it like everyday its addicting! I'm probally the youngest temptations fan i'm 14 years old and love them ..... my favorites are eddie and david i think they are the best voices.
   
   
   
   
   
   let me close by saying the tempts willl never die and i thinkt their the best group ever! noone can top them



4. I love the Temptations, and this is an outstanding book. It gives you all of the history that wasn't in the movie. It is a must have for all Temptations fans.



5. I just finished reading the updated Temptations book which I bought at the Temptations concert at the Orleans Hotel Casino in Las Vegas on April 12th, 2007. I was fortunate to be in the 2nd row and Otis shook my hand at the end of the concert.
   
   I have seen the mini series several times and bought the dvd. I also bought the 'Get Ready' dvd with clips of various Temptations songs. One of my favorite video/songs is Paul Williams: "Don't look back"
   
   I really enjoyed Otis's book and especially the update. I do not agree that Otis dissed any of the other original Tempts as some reviewers claim. It is only natural that each person will have a somewhat different perspective of events.
   
   As a 60 year old white man who attended a high school in South Phoenix with a large African American population, I have seen the impact that Motown and especially the Temptations had on race relations.
   I have seen very prejudiced white guys who would change their attitudes as they related to Tempts music and lyrics. Otis was right when he said he thought their music had something to do with 'the rope' being taken down.
   
   I have a great deal of admiration for Otis Williams. He obviously is a very spiritual man who has endured many loses in his life. If not for his spiritual beliefs, he may have followed the path of David's self destruction.
   
   It was so cool at last month's concert to see many races of people singing, laughing, giving each other high fives. After the concert, many of us congregated outside the showroom lobby and shared memories and discussed our favorite Tempt songs.
   
   I just wanted to say that Ron Tyson in my opinion, is every bit a classic Temp.
   
   Terry Weeks must be channeling Paul Williams spirit. His dancing and moves certainly reminded me of Paul.
   
   Anyway thanks to Otis for keeping the Tempts music alive.

5 comments about Mr. and Mrs. Prince: How an Extraordinary Eighteenth-Century Family Moved Out of Slavery and into Legend.

1. I love the book, however I agree with the reviewer who mentioned the "creative" context used by the author, and with the reviewer who believes there's just not enough information from the available records to try to create such a full story. It is a WONDERFUL story of Mr. and Mrs. Prince of Massachusetts who were able to moved out of slavery by hard work and a little help from others in their lives. The problem I have with the book is that the author fills in a lot of the blanks about how Mr. and Mrs. Prince "must have" felt about their lives. There's just no way the author can fill in those blanks. To do that from where we sit today has no basis in the reality of a life lived then. The story is wonderful, it should be told, but the author really has no business judging 18th century lives and the "possible feelings" of the central characters based on today's intellect. I highly recommend reading the book, it is well written and obviously was a labor of love for the author and her husband. The story is good enough to tell it like it is from what is known, don't embellish with fiction.



2. Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina is a wonderful writer, & I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the amazingly creative ways she & her husband were able to interpret the sadly spotty record of Abijah & Lucy Prince's lives. But what was lacking was much context. How much did their experience as free blacks differ from their white neighbors'? Did other families in western New England at the time face many of the same personal & financial hardships?
   
   Yet while more historical background would have benefited the book, Ms. Gerzina tended to be repetitive, as if she felt she needed to pad her material.
   
   In spite of that "Mr. & Mrs. Prince" is well worth reading.



3. 
   I applaud the author for attempting to write a book about Mr. & Mrs. Prince, whose lives certainly seem worth chronicling, but the thing is there's not enough information provided in the book to actually flesh the characters out . . . to make the reader connect, even a little bit.
   
   And yes, I do understand that the author did try to get information, and she details all the sources she pored through to find out more about this remarkable couple, but records back in that day simply didn't have too much information about free blacks.
   
   The result? A worthy attempt, but with so little meat I think this would have been a much better long magazine article than even a short book.



4. The story of Mr. and Mrs. Prince is incredible. I didn't know anything about them or their legend status until now. Gerzine has done something that few writers have done---seamlessly weave the historical narrative with the actual experience of researching the material. I was drawn in by the dialogue and the meticulous research. Through this book, the author counters our longstanding views of slavery in America during the 18th century. At other times the details provided are in line with the traditional historical records of slavery in America. I couldn't put the book down and often woke up in the middle of night to read another chapter or two and go back to bed. Buy the book, read it, and pass it on to someone else. The story of the Princes' is one that should be read by everyone.



5. MR. and MRS. PRINCE is an extraordinary achievement. Meticulously researched and engagingly written, it uncovers a fascinating chapter in 18th-century African American literature. The story of the Princes, New England slaves whose trajectory takes them from bondage to farm ownership, is both the story of the struggles of all settlers in the north frontier during the Indian Wars and that of a brave African American couple establishing a life together and raising a large family against seemingly insurmountable odds. Told against the story of how, through painstaking research, the author and her husband were able to piece together the details of the Princes' lives (an adventure in itself), the book blends two fascinating narratives into one. As the narrative interweaves the moving story of the Princes with that of the two researchers indefatigable following every lead, the book lovingly evokes the past and present of a broad section of New England. The result is an extraordinary story of historical recovery and contemporary detective work that displays what couples working together can accomplish through hard work and determination. It is simply impossible to put the book down.

5 comments about Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind (P.S.).

1. This is an outstanding book. Loung Ung is an excellent writer. I was educated by her first book: First they Killed my Father. This second book shows that she is truly a good author. I look forward to books she will write in the future. God truly is using you and your tragic experiences Loung. Thank you for sharing the struggles of your life. Loung, you are truly inspiring.



2. I just bought the first book on-line finally after reading the Lucky Child last year. I admired the courage and strength of the writer. It must took more than guts to write this book. Reading Loung's book as if I'm reading a book about myself. I'm too from Cambodian; I was too only 5 y.o. when war and genocide happened. My father was executed and murdered during this sadist era. I could truly relate myself to the author's life. Few years ago, I saw The Killing Field only briefly because I could not bring myself to watch it. But reading Lucky Child brought me back so much memories and nightmares. Before reading this book I always wondered what life was like for people back in Cambodia and how people lived day by day,this book answered some of my questions. Bravdo to Loung Ung and many thanks for being the voice of Cambodians. Those 2 Millions innocent people did not deserve to die and definitely NOT to die that way: brutiality and in unhuman ways. I am not a weepy person but reading this book, I cried the whole time. I cried for Loung and her family,for the 2 millions, and for all the survivors.
   I absoultely and highly recommend this book to anyone. Lucky Child should be the reading book in every school.



3. I could not put this book down. Her second book was just as wonderful as her first. It was very well written. I was amazed at her writing skills. Great read!



4. I read Loung's first book and liked it, but something about it subtly bothered me. Reading this book, I realized that it was the anger that underlay the whole thing. She's certainly more than entitled to the anger, but it doesn't always make for the best writing or reading.
   
   This book has been written by a more mature and settled Loung, and it shows. There's more reflection and a lot more humanity, bringing depth to the portraits of family members who were shown more one-dimensionally in the first book: an inevitable byproduct of the book being told straight from a child's point of view, and that of a child focused intensely on survival. I especially liked in this book how the "scary" brother Khouy was given added nuances of character; the moment when he said, hearing of his small sister's death, that "she was so small" brought a lump to my throat. The characters of the brothers and sisters are fleshed out here in a way that's really delightful and much more interesting to read than in the previous book.
   
   What's best about this, I think, is how we're given a look at the love between the siblings and the incredibly resilience of the family members who stay in Cambodia. It's also a good portrait of how some people in Cambodia are moving on with their lives: in our minds, so much of Cambodia remains the war and the killing fields. We need to know that people are surviving and living their lives despite the shadows of this past: it makes the nation real to us instead of a symbol.
   
   A gripping story that kept me up too late to read through it in one sitting. Some reviewers have said the sections on Chou were not as good as those on Loung, but I didn't find that at all -- I could actually have read a lot more from her point of view.
   
   One quibble: the book needed slightly better proof-reading. There were a few spelling mistakes that spell-check missed, and an astounding miss on a picture caption, where one of the Angkor Wat temples was labelled "Wat BYRON" instead of "Wat Bayon." Otherwise, an excellent read.



5. Loung Ung's fascinating second book, Lucky Child, picks up the story that began with her first memoir, First They Killed My Father, and with both books I found it impossible to put them down once I'd begun reading. Lucky Child contrasts life for Loung as a refugee in America, with her sister Chou's life in rural Cambodia, and it's a revealing and moving comparison. Loung, with lasting feelings of guilt for those she'd left behind, found it difficult to fit in, whilst Chou, resigned to her fate, displayed the resilience and inner strength that is apparent in so many of her fellow countrymen and women.
   
   I found two parts of this remarkable book particularly poignant, the heart-rending death of three-year-old Kung and the reunion between Chou and her brother Meng after a separation of eleven years. These passages were hard to read. Whilst the eventual meeting of Loung and Chou is an awkward affair, the tale of their brother Kim's escape from Cambodia to France is enthralling. The book tells a tale that underscores the importance of the bond between family members, the sheer strength of the human spirit and will to endure and most of all, it's a story of two sisters who have survived and flourished against all odds. Loung Ung has a special talent at storytelling. I recommend this book without hesitation.

5 comments about Happy Birthday or Whatever: Track Suits, Kim Chee, and Other Family Disasters.

1. The shipment was out to me in a couple of days! This book is awesome, too! Thanks!



2. It's hard enough for a kid to absorb and become part of American culture. This book provides a glimpse into Choi's attempt to master two cultures. Choi's memoir is both very funny and thought provoking. She has a wonderful storytelling style - she lets the characters dish out the plot with "kettles" of unabashed humor. I haven't read a book this quickly in years.



3. The book was hilarious, I couldn't put it down. All the situations that she describes in the book are just great. It made me feel better that I'm not the only one with a crazy family, especially since I also come from a Korean background. The book def puts a smile on your face and if you want more she keeps up a blog, so check that out too.



4. I have a Korean mother, and an American father. I was raised in as much of the Korean tradition as possible, and often thought my mother was out of her mind. Having American friends, I would see how their families and mothers were and thought that my mom was just neurotic and out to make my life miserable.
   
   Annie's book is so well written. I felt that I could relate to everything she wrote. By reliving vicariously through her words, I was finally able to see that my family dynamic was not about control and disappointment, rather more about love and wanting the best for me, albeit in a very strange, stressful, mind game sort of way.
   
   Annie says on page 196: "Though we hate to admit it, we care what our family thinks; we've been brainwashed to seek approval and obey, just like the rest of Korea's children." I've repeated this line again and again, and not one of my Korean friends (and siblings) haven't laughed out loud at the funny, but very true statement.
   
   You will fall in love with Annie's family. You will adore her mother. You will feel like you know her in some strange way. This is probably because her spoken English is written as is, and you feel like she is talking to you. If you have a Korean parent, you will laugh at how the English language is somewhat butchered, yet that you are able to read and understand every bit of broken English, mispronounced and incomplete words. You will laugh at the different logic that cultural differences bring, and you will find yourself in stitches over the similarities that seem to be universal in the Korean family dynamic.
   
   This book is a joy to read. It is side splitting funny, and not dull for one second. You'll start reading and not put it down. Then you will go through withdrawal when you are finished. You'll find yourself ordering copies for friends of similar backgrounds, and referring to over and over again.
   
   Annie is comical and quick witted. I only hope that she will continue her memoir into the future.



5. hilarious and heartfelt, Annie Choi's book made me laugh out loud, and explained to the rest of the world what it's like to grow up Asian American or specifically, with nutty but loving parents who can barely communicate with you. Except in "Engrish" that is. However, the funniest thing she has written in my opinion was her "Open Letter To Architects" which is not in this collection. Good stuff though.

5 comments about The Content of Our Character: A New Vision of Race In America.

1. I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very insightful especially being a black guy recently settled in the US. The US racial politics is so complicated due to its history and this book goes some way to explaining some of the issues involved. My one minor complaint is that it was a touch repetitive, which is somewhat understandable because it is a collection of essays as stated in the introduction. Nevertheless, it did sometimes get irritating. Recommended reading however



2. This book helped me to understand myself as few books written by human authors have. But its insights also throw light on major developments within 'western' society.



3. Finally, we are making intelligent decisions about race relations and civil rights and moving away from the problems created by white guilt and "black power" agendas during the early civil rights movement. The author is very intelligent and makes valid observations and written commentary on where we have been and on a pathway to a society that makes more sense than ever before. Jim Moore



4. In a nutshell, this is one of many books written on this subject matter. It is a very good book, Mr Steele ocaisionally glosses over a bit of the subject matter. There is a need for much more of self examination, and this will allow us to define ourselves as Americans far better than those that have decided to race bait and perform the victim routine that seems to be so popular amongst many people of color. A couple of very wealthy black men have created a growth industry from it. We need the self examination that this book touches on, not the self hatred that some vocal minority within this minority are preaching.



5. Shelby Steele's "The Content of Our Character" is not just a book for African-Americans. It's for anyone who wants to live a better life. When I read this book I felt like he was speaking to me, individually, as a man and not as a member of a racial category. Especially valuable are his insights on self-sabotage, and the true sources of self-esteem. All of us have our own demons to face and Steele's wise counsel is invaluable in that struggle. You should approach this book in the spirit of Epictetus, or Benjamin Franklin. It really is in that same class.

5 comments about The Storyteller's Daughter: One Woman's Return to Her Lost Homeland.

1. The Storyteller's Daughter is a tale of high adventure--a tough-minded, fearless and obviously incredibly fit woman travels with the mujahaddin in Afghanistan as they fight the Soviet army. What is even more compelling about this book is the insight we get into the growth of radical Islam and the woeful lack of understanding by western participants/observers as this struggle was going on--with enormous consequences for today, of course.



2. An absolutely delicious story! Afghanistan's lore and legend come to life in the author's own accounts of her bold adventures as a woman on the fronts of danger in Afghanistan. It being true made it all the more fun. I really could not put this book down; it is a fascinating tale that includes intrigue, suspense, and a uniquely satire sense of humor sprinkled throughout. Saira Shah transports the reader to a foreign land, a foreign way of life, a foreign way of thought. Yet, the tales echo familiar as she gives a spectacular presentation of the clash between mystical historical lore, modern day realities, and the blend of these two realms on humanity's culture, mind, and heart.



3. I am currently in Kabul, and have read almost every English-language book on Afghanistan that is popularly available. I have also lived in Kabul and traveled to Feyzbad, Kandahar,Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad, Kunduz and along the Uzbek Border. I speak mediocre Dari. Among the books that I enjoyed were those by Saira Shah's grandmother (try "My Khyber Life") and her father, Idris Shah. The same cannot be said for Saira Shah's. Shah' work, however. Part of my complaint was that the book isn't about anything much - its just a list of what she claims were her experiences in and near Afghanistan. I would compare them to a series of interesting letters detailing what I did on my afghan vacation. What they don't provide is insight into what was happening in Afghanistan or Peshawar, why, or what is going on now, or much cultural or historical information.
   
   My other, more serious complaint, is that I think most of the book is not true, and that Ms. Shah either made it up entirely, seriously exaggerated or "borrowed" the story from someone else's experience. The issue is not that the book was not entertaining, because it was, but that I strongly suspect that it is entertaining only because she changed (or created) the facts to make it so.
   
   Too much of what she claims were her experiences in Afghanistan are general stories one hears here (such as the time she met a Mullah who spoke Arabic while claiming to be an Arab man. She says that he started faking speaking Arabic, and she pretended to understand him, so he declared them Arabs to keep his lie of Arabic proficiency and prestige that went with it. This story of two language frauds is heard in many incarnations. I even heard one in a German-language book I read 10 years ago in Austria. Also, some mountain mullahs do speak some Arabic. They may not be fluent, but they know a little bit and would spot someone who didn't, the same way you would if the only Spanish you knew was "what is your name?" and when you asked someone who claimed to be a Spaniard they didn't understand. She might have also been expected to talk to her companions and pray in Arabic - it would seem strange if she did neither, and if there is any Arabic people know here, its prayers).
   
   Another example of an improbable event is when she tells of a Buzgashi game during which the players rode their horses into the tent holding "the Great and the Good" and collapsed the tent on them. I'm guessing all of the spectators weren't the "Great and the Good," but it makes a better story if they were. Also, although Buzgashi is compared to polo, but it is really a lot more violent. All of the horses are stallions, and taught to kick and bite each other. The only rule for the players is no eye gouging. The game set-up is sort of like a race, as the player holding the goat as to ride around certain points before he can make a goal, and the others ride alongside trying to stop him. I play horse polo and have watched Buzgashi, and although a horse might run away, the whole group of players could avoid running into a spectator's tent (I've also never seen a tent for spectators, but maybe they really had that in Pakistan). If they were out of control, horses by instinct would head for open space or for home, not into an unknown tent full of people. If by some fluke a horse or horses did run into the tent, it would not have been funny. People would have been hurt, and probably killed - the same goes for the horses. If the horses just took out the tent supports, they still would have tripped, fallen and seriously injured themselves and their riders.
   
   
   Other stories just don't make sense - Dari is an older version of Farsi, it's true, but it''s not so ancient that people say "entomb thyself' instead of "take cover" as Ms Shah claims Afghans do. If Ms Shah met an Afghan who wanted her to take cover he would say "Hide!" "Get Down!" or "Cover!" He would only tell her to entomb herself if he wanted to her bury herself. It makes a quaint story about ancient languages and confusions cased by language, but it isn't true (I asked one of guards who work her at my office in Kabul, and who was previously a soldier for15 years and he agreed). By Ms. Shah's own admission her Dari wasn't so great, which makes me question if she would have understood an archaic command such as "entomb thyself," even if someone had spoken it. I also doubt that Ms.Shah spent so much time in men's clothes without anyone noticing - if she didn't have a beard, or stubble, or know how to pray with the men, they would eventually notice. From a distance I'm sure she blended in, and it would work short-term, but if she kept up for too long her secret would be out. I'm sure she did travel in men's gear, but I'm also sure it wasn't for as long as she implied, or as successfully. I used to "cross dress" in Saudi and it took abut 20 minutes before the strangers around me in the junk souk were certain I wasn't a man. There are may other such instances I doubt Ms. Shah truthfulness and stories that are too good to be true. (I was so angry when I was reading the book that I kept a list), but in the interest of a somewhat shorter review I'll stop at those examples. More generally, I find it unlikely that Ms. Shah's experience always fit so neatly into a "story,"or that her stock character friends (the rebellious Afghan girl who wants to be free, the prescient professor who sees the dangers ahead but is ignored by leaders etc.) always had the "inside scoop" and told it to her in short sound bites capturing the entire situation, or that she so frequently found herself in a situation so perfectly primed for maximum effect.
   
   
   The only part of the book that is not like this is near the end, when Ms. Shah brings a television crew to film two girls (she included them in an earlier news piece after their mother was raped and killed in front of them, and the resulting interest in their fate from paying news agencies promoted a return trip to try and help them and tape said efforts for a TV channel), by providing schooling for them, only to find them afraid to leave home and their father reluctant to let them go. This was messy, morally compromising and a without a real resolution, which makes me think it is the most true section of the book. The rest is neat, pat, a little funny sometimes tragic, and, in my opinion, almost always "enhanced," if not completely fabricated.
   
   In short read one of the many, many good books out there by the many, many truthful writer based in fact. They might not be quite so perfect and their writers not quite so in the middle of thing, but they are also more likely to be true, and you will therefore get more out of them.



4. Part memoir, part reportage, this beautifully written book is also an inquiry into the nature of myth, identity, and the limits of human endurance. Born in England and raised on the memories of her Afghan father's homeland, the author journeys as a young journalist to Afghanistan during the Soviet Occupation in the 1980s, traveling with the mujahidin rebels, who with massive infusions of weapons from the CIA eventually drive out the Russians and then quickly succumb again to an equally destructive civil war and the inevitable tyranny of the Taliban. A witness to these struggles and the widespread human misery they caused, Shah is present again in 2002 as the Americans retaliate in response to the 9/11 attacks.
   
   Through it all, she ponders her deep identification with the people of this war-torn land, fired by the cultural myths that have sustained them through millenia of invasions, occupations, and civil strife, where fierce tribal allegiances and a fatalistic fearlessness make death, brutality, and suffering a common experience. Over a period of 15 years, her belief in the myths is tested, and she begins to fully comprehend not only the immensity of the human cost of the war but the extreme difficulty of making a difference for those of its casualties most in need of help.
   
   Writing with a skilled reporter's powers of acute observation and an ability to convey images of people, places, and events in vivid and compelling prose, Shah interweaves stories, Afghan poems and sayings, and even humor, with accounts of her work as a journalist behind the lines. Readers unfamiliar with the last 50 years of Afghan history may be disoriented as Shah tells her own story, skipping as it does from one point in time to another. But read along with books like Christina Lamb's "The Sewing Circles of Herat" and Jason Eliot's "An Unexpected Light," she provides insights into her subject that are revealing, moving, and often riveting. Definitely recommended.



5. This book is one of the best books I have read. It was touching and made me realise what an amazing life Saira Shah has led. After I closed the book, I could not pick up annother book for a couple of days - I did not want to spoil the feeling it had left me with. This book will move you, make you think and touch you.
   I loved it!

5 comments about The Revolt of the Cockroach People.

1. Re-Saturday Review of Literature
   Oscar Acosta disappeared in Mexico in 1974, not 1971 (the year of his trip to Las Vegas with Dr. Thompson).



2. Re-Saturday Review of Literature
   Oscar Acosta disappeared in Mexico in 1974, not 1971 (the year of his trip to Las Vegas with Dr. Thompson).



3. This is the most realistic book I have ever seen about Mexican American hippies in Aztlan, the Chicanos of the 1960's neo-freedom movements. It will surely become a collector's item worth saving in this era of gung-ho Americanism which does not know the kind of objectivity Acosta displays with regard to how we think and why we believe as we do. Hunter S. Thompson described the author better than I can in his introduction to the book, highlighting his uniqueness while lamenting his untimely passing. I will write more after I give the book a more thorough second reading.



4. I read this book after finding out that Oscar Zeta Acosta was the fat Samoan lawyer from "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Acosta's style is similar, with a lot of drugs and sex with minors. The differences are that Acosta isn't tripping the whole time and he has time to incite political rallies. I love when they protest the Catholic church, or when he pleasures himself with some nubile young high schoolers under a blanket during a sit-in.... For those interested in the turbulent times that was the 60s, this is a must-read.



5. After reading this book, and actually living through those turbulent times of the 60's and 70' s , it was refreshing to read and feel the burning frustration and love that this man was experiencing and the way he expressed his anger against the machine. This type of awareness has been lost , due to us the forefathers of the Chicano Movement, to teach our own and other's children of how important those actions were, so that we may emphasize education, political power and family values. We have implemented a course in Chicano Studies in schools, we now have political representation in our governments, and many more success stories that are due to the work of such people as Cesar Chavez, Ruben Salazar and Corky Gonzales. Oscar Zeta was a man amongst his own that was afraid of nothing and no one.My thanks to him for fighting the powers that be and for creating an example for all of us, regardless of race. You have to stand up for what you believe and Acosta is atrue testament to that.

5 comments about Finding Fish.

1. If you have any interest in human behavior, this is a must read. It is a true story of a man who has to overcome so much to succeed. The challenges he faces are so harsh, as he struggles through life as a foster child.



2. the ending made me switch to 5. I liked the happy ending. I think what made it kinda bad for me reading this one was that I saw the movie first. So while reading I kept trying to copy parts to scenes in the movie.
   
   What makes this book great for me is the fact that it's written by a black man about his troubled life. Most black men won't even tell the people close in their lives things like this let alone write a story for the world to read.
   
   End child abuse today.



3. This is an awe inspiring piece of literary work. The narrative from the beginning inspires the reader and allows almost a walk-along journey into the author's life and the actual steps that he took. The movie was good in its setting and up to date account of a life in the 60's. The book adds so much story that went untold in the movie and is that much more moving. Antwone Fisher writes as if he has been doing this since a child.



4. The novel Finding Fish by Antwone Fisher is a very good book. The book is far better than the movie and i reccomend it to all. It entails his life as well as select readings from his poetry. It is a a story of struggle and beating the odds to become a success



5. Antwone Fisher is a child who lives from horrible foster home to ghastly foster home and eventually, almost by accident chooses a life that saves him. For someone who cannot have children - I was crushed by the neglect and abuse this poor child suffers by people whose view of children is either as a burden or cash cow. It is not a small miracle that this human being reached adulthood without having killed himself or become a victim of what our society foists upon poor black men.
   
   Although Fish has so much going against him, his ability to keep some semblance of balance inside himself eventually saves him. The tales of his childhood are almost too much to bear, but you will keep reading because you know that it turns out, you are cheered when he is dumped by his foster mother (who insisted he was evil and therefore deserved the horrible treatment he receives, including a denial of Christmas gifts), and you are gripped when he seems to find himself on the streets without a home or a way to make a living. He eventually joins the Navy - which saves him, providing him with the structure he needs to grow into an adult. He has to spend sometime in the military learning to manage his (completely understandable) anger, and he is bright enough to learn how to do that. Lastly, when he is reunited with the family of his mother (who gave birth to him in prison) I had a sigh of relief for the closure this provided him.
   
   Even though this book is hard to read because of the pain that this child suffers, it is a gripping and extremely well written autobiography and is worth every page. We should all spend more time concerned about what really happens to the unwanted children in our country.