5 comments about Prisoner of Tehran: A Memoir.

1. Marina Nemat's memoir of her experience inside Tehran's notorious Evin prison is a well written and riveting account of one woman's brutal treatment at the hands of a brutal regime. The work presents the reader with a number of moral quandaries when confronted with some decisions Marina made during her imprisonment. Were her choices truly good, evil or morally neutral? What else could she do given her dire circumstances? What would you do if you were in her place? To reveal them here would be to spoil a good read, so I will leave them for you to discover. What this work did for me was to humanize the people of Iran. Often enough, when Americans think of Iran and Iranians, we imagine a collective group of fanatics shouting, "Death to America! Death to Israel!" but Marina's book paints a different portrait. Yes, there are plenty of fanatics in Iran, but then there are mostly ordinary people, like Marina's father who ran his own dance studio before the Islamic Revolution ruled that dancing was forbidden. There is tender first love among Iranian teens; a passionate sense of justice by ordinary Iranian students, often with little regard for their own security. There is Marina's chain-smoking and impatient mother; the complex character of Ali, torn by his personal feelings for Marina and his sense of duty to Islamic justice; Andre, the church organist whose enduring love offers Marina hope in the midst of her despair. These are real people with the same aspirations to live their lives in peace and security, just like any human being. For Christians, one can discern the hand of God in Marina's life and throughout her imprisonment. The various events that lead her from the dark terror of Evin to freedom in the West is nothing less than providential. After reading Marina's story, I gained a fresh sense of appreciation and gratitude for the democratic freedoms Americans take for granted. When one considers that a man and woman may not even hold hands in public in Iran, it places many of our social problems in a stark perspective. This work is sure to move, inspire, anger, sadden, and outrage you, but it is also about the triumph of faith and the human spirit in the face of tyranny and intolerance.



2. FROM THE MINUTE I STARTED TO READ THIS BOOK I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN. IT WAS SUCH AN INTERESTING BOOK.LOVED IT!



3. Let me just get this out of the way, regardless of WHO YOU ARE, this is a really good book (plus the story has an amazing twist) . The people who feel they have to go on the defensive and gave this book a bad review, I feel sorry for. I read to open my mind, not to close it; THAT DOES NOT MEAN I TAKE TO HEART the veracity of everything I read . Small minds come in many different flavors, so please don't feel so special.



4. I'm sorry I cannot review this book as I have yet to receive it. Maybe you should improve your delivery serviuces to countries such as mine.!



5. This is a sad story of a little girl in which she is forced to set aside the crown of liberty and live like a beggar, but she fights to retain her dignity...
   Excellent Job, Great Audacity.

3 comments about White Man Walking: An American Businessman's Spiritual Adventure in Africa.

1. I have been to Uganda a two occations and I think that Ward expresses the universal thoughts and feelings of a short term American missionary in this part of the world. I enjoyed the book very much, but I don't know that people who are unfamiliar with this part of the world would find Ward's thoughts very deep or interesting. Ward himself expresses his frustration in his inability to communicate his African experiences to common Americans. It's a common frustration with people who have been to Africa, and this book may only exemplify this frustration with its inability to engage untravelled Americans. But as a world traveller, I enjoyed the book very much.



2. I was drawn to this book by the title being a person of color and once i started it i actually felt as though i was really taking this extraordinary walk with the white man who wrote it!

   The segways into other experiences that Brehm has had from among some of the most difficultand dangerous places in Africa to Statehouse meetings with Presidents was amazing! Great style of writing and an important message of hope about a continent in trouble.




3. This is a difficult book to put down. From the very beginning, Brehm captured my attention and held it firmly to the end. It is a captivating story about a "Survivor-like" experience that takes place deep in the Kenya Bush. I enjoyed learning about the primitive people he befriended there several years ago and ultimately came to rely upon for his life in this adventure. Brehm has an easy-to-read writing style. His ability to share his emotions, humor and faith were especially refreshing. This will be a "read once a year" book and "reccomend to all my friends" book for this reader! Very powerful.

5 comments about Voodoo Queen: The Spirited Lives of Marie Laveau.

1. This book is was not written in an enjoyable format. Martha Ward jumped from person to person and date to date and back and forth and all around. She also injected her views on people and places without presenting proof of validity. They were simply her views, but the way she wrote them in, they could appear to be factual.



2. Another reviewer here has stated that the author should perhaps have written a historical fiction influenced by Leveau, like what Atwood did with Grace Marks in "Alias Grace".
   
   To be honset, I wouldn't have read the book then either. That's because I can't read this book without feeling... well... search inside and read a brief excerpt. The writing reads like a freshman comp paper. I can't take it seriously because the author's put so much fluff into it.
   
   Check it out for yourself, but read the excert before you go out and actually blow some scratch on this book. Who exactly is she qouting in that first chapter?
   
   Bah... if you're interested in Marie Leveau, a topic worthy of interest; then I recomend Long's investigation into the who Marie Leveau was. It too, has it's short-comings, but I assure you that it is more worth your time than this.



3. Great book , loved it, thought it was wonderful



4. Many people have fallen in love with the women who is known as Marie Laveau. Not much is truely known about her, but Martha Ward does an excellent job in giving it's readers an inside look at the "Spirited Life of Marie Laveau". This book is a must for anyone interested in the subject of New Orleans folklore.



5. Martha Ward deserves great kudos for this incredible work of love and devotion, Finally bringing the enigma of "Marie Laveau", BOTH of the Marie Laveau's to us in this day and age where she is so very much needed again to Bless her 21st Century Children now as a bona fide "Lwa"! Excellent!!! May the Good Mother Bless Martha Ward, And ALL of Us! So Be It!

4 comments about Huey: Spirit of the Panther.

1. this is a good book for someone that doesn't know jack about the panthers. it touches on all the main points. i think fredericka newton puts a little too much dirty laundry out there, but then again, i didn't have to live with huey. i think she's earned the right to say whatever she damn well pleases. the main point for someone that doesn't know anything, isn't to judge the panthers, but to realize that through the force of a sense of justice and passion and commitment, the panthers went from semi-delusional youngsters who wanted to play at being superheroes, to growing, evolving, changing and becoming an army of justice for the overall black community. soldiers were killed. propoganda was disseminated, the u.s. govt. did everything they could to take them down and drive them apart. but in the final analysis, the "army" of the panthers laid their bodies down, fed, clothed, educated, nationalized and internationalized the struggle... and thus.. every black man and woman who breathes air today, is that much more advanced and able to walk upright due to the battles won by the panthers. yes, huey was only human. but you only have to scratch the surface of black history to understand the man, his angels, demons and choices. like i said. a good book for someone that wants to take a nice shortcut in their journey to understanding the black experience as seen through the eyes of the panthers.



2. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. are the two faces of the Civil Rights Movement that people identify with but the mainstream media undermines the heroic significance of Huey P. Newton and the organization he created, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. A revolutionary, leftist organization that fought for education, affordable housing, justice and combated police brutality, amongst other things. Due to under-documentation, David Hilliard's biographical account of Newton is well received and a breath of fresh air.
   
   While Hilliard documents the principles in which the Black Panther Party was founded on (the chapter on how Huey confronted the police with shotgun in hand is brilliant), Newton's legal troubles, the rift between Newton and Elridge Cleaver, and the constant surveillance Newton was under by the FBI very well, the book contains three flaws.
   
   1) The style of the writing isn't very captivating and is sometimes spoken in the first person, which sometimes makes it sound like a novice's personal journal. 2) Due to the fact that it is in first person at times and Hilliard is actually a surviving member of the Black Panthers, he does not present the material from a neutral perspective. More elaboration on how Huey was perceived by the media and people (interesting fact on how Richard Pryor paid for his rehab) would of been a welcomed addition. 3) There is a lack of detail in Huey's personal life. There's very little mention of his childhood, very little mention of his marriage and vague details surrounding his death. It doesn't explain the sequence of events. Who did it? Was he captured? Was there an investigation? How did the media cover the story? What is the consensus?
   
   As with every other human being, Huey was a flawed individual and aspects of his drug addiction is only discussed towards the end of the book, even though it has been something that has been prevalent throughout his entire life.
   
   For those who do not know the man behind the shotgun and the spear, should still pick up the book for basic recollections that are often misrepresented and swept under the rug. Huey was a courageous man with great influence that fought for a better country and diminish poverty. Either that or pick up Revolutionary Suicide.



3. As an authorized biography of Huey P. Newton, written by his longtime comrade David Hilliard, "Huey: Spirit of the Panther" presents the most thorough, friendly account of Newton, his ideas, his struggles and his downfall. Unfortunately, because Newton's life was so eventful, intersecting with all the major political, social and cultural of the late 1960s and early 1970s, many things are going to be overlooked. Also, because of Hilliard's closeness to the subject, we are not clearly presented with the reasons, legitimate or not, why Reagan or the FBI/the Nixon administration wanted to destroy him, no matter how obvious their racist/capitalist motives might seem. I found myself wanting to know exactly how Newton was portrayed in the mainstream press. But since Hilliard and co-writers Keith and Kent Zimmerman (who also co-wrote one of my favorite rock autobiographies, John Lydon's "Rotten" [1995]) are more concerned with the intimate details of Newton's life, as well they should, his biography lacks a more global, dialectical vision of the man, what he represented, and how people (ab-)used him for their own political advantage.
   
   Because Hilliard, one of the few surviving founding leaders of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was in the trenches with Newton, he has access to some excellent behind-the-scenes information. He does an excellent retelling of the James Frey shooting that landed Newton a three-year prison term. He also presents FBI and COINTELPRO documents, forged by the government in part to break-up the relationship between Newton and Eldridge Cleaver, adding a new wrinkle to their fraught friendship. He tells about how the FBI rented the apartment across from Newton's Penthouse for the sole purpose of spying on him. He finds it curious that blueprints of Newton's apartment were found in raids on SLA compounds in 1974 (but, unlike Elaine Brown, does not speculate that they were a counterrevolutionary group created by COINTELPRO). He also gives a wonderful account of Newton's exile in Cuba during the mid-1970s.
   
   Where Hilliard's book lacks punch is in the details he overlooks. He skims through Newton's childhood in Louisiana and his adolescence in Oakland. He doesn't talk about the regimentation of the Black Panther members' lifestyle (a model, early on, based on the Nation of Islam's dietary code), which was, apparently, contradicted by Newton's own problems with alcohol and controlled substances (Hilliard does not say if Newton did anything more than drink during while he actively lead the BPP, though he was in direct contact with some of Oakland's major drug dealers). Hilliard, in large part trying to protect the dignity of his fallen comrade, doesn't focus much on this life in the 1980s, after the Panthers had effectively dissolved (though he does talk about how Newton got his Ph.D. from UC Santa Cruz).
   
   That being said, the last two chapters--one a recounting of Huey's last days by his second wife Fredericka--show Newton, sadly, as a hopeless drug addict. The chapter does not forwardly state that he was addicted to crack, but implies it. This could have been an opportunity for Hilliard to talk about the infiltration of hard drugs into Oakland and other black urban centers in the 1970s and 1980s. These final two chapters humanize Newton, and they are tragically sad to read. These aspects of Newton's personality (who was, later in life, apparently diagnosed as bipolar), his excessiveness and his need for adrenaline, are not fully pursued throughout the preceding chapters. In the final chapter, Hilliard admits his own problems with substance abuse. Hilliard makes reference to himself several times throughout the biography, and it leaves me wishing that he would have said more about his role in the Panther Party and his relationship with Newton. I do not think this would in any wya make him seem self-important. Following the tragedy of his "reactionary" descent into drug abuse, Hilliard ends the book with a celebrated passage from Newton's autobiography, where he defines his idea of "revolutionary suicide." It is a fitting way to conclude the biography.
   
   While Hilliard's book is filled with wonderful inside information, it doesn't quite precisely articulate just how crazy his life was, especially during the period after he was released from prison in 1970. There was a lot of pressure on him from supporters and (government) detractors alike. Also, as I said earlier, there is just too much information that is left out, owing to the vastness of the Black Panther Party and the revolutionary movements of the times (Hilliard says there were BPP chapters, at one point, in 47 of the 50 United States). Criticisms aside, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this tumultous but necessary moment in America's history and to anybody fascinated with the visionary genius of Huey Newton, who ultimately rejected the term "revolution" in favor of "the transformation of society." Other books I highly recommend: Huey P. Newton's "Revolutionary Suicide," Elaine Brown's "A Taste of Power" and Eldridge Cleaver's "Soul on Ice."



4. This book should be taught in ALL college level US History courses. Not "special interest" African American studies courses, but mainstream education.
   
   It is EVERY CITIZEN OF THIS COUNTRY'S United States Government that it is revealed in this book. It is a moment in history never to be forgotten so that in this democratic society we do not ever yield to or turn a blind eye to such explicit violence and corruption; something we are still too close to today.
   
   Huey, Spirit of the Panther is a thoroughly referenced, footnoted historic documentation of the strategic workings of the US Government's branches of the Criminal Justice System and the Federal Bureau of Investigations to maintain an unjust and supremacist status quo. The mainstream needs to know and understand this history. White people, specifically, need to understand police brutality, unlawful arrest, explicit oppression of dark skinned people by the local, state and federal governing bodies of this country.
   
   People of all races will greatly benefit from understanding the true ideology-not the sensationalized FICTION that the state and federal governments succeeded in portraying in mainstream media-of the Black Panther Party and its critical contribution to this very important moment in the struggle for freedom in a white supremacist country.
   
   Huey, Spirit of the Panther reveals Huey P. Newton's true vision and his ideology for social transformation. We learn that Huey P. Newton was a revolutionary who understood that a revolution will not happen overnight, it is a constant work in progress. There is much to learn from his ideology: it is not about a war between any one organization and the oppressor but a war between the oppressor and those who are being oppressed.
   
   Thank you David Hilliard for this crucial historic document.

1 comments about Great Jews In Entertainment.

1. Any of the "great Jewish" books by Darryl Lyman are swell. Big coffee table books with great black and white photos and interesting bios of Jewish folks in the entertainment business. I'm Jewish and I did not know Harrison Ford was a yidloch [a Jewish boychick]! Note-this is the same coffee table book, essentially as Lyman's tome called Great Jews in showbusiness [or some such title, I know cause I bought both! One was done in 1999 and one 2005. The 2005 book has a few new additions but is virtually the same. Such a deal!

5 comments about Chaka! Through the Fire.

1. It begins kind of boring because she is talking about people we really don't care about (her relatives), but once she starts talking about her teen years, her black power years, her marriage, her sucess, it is very interesting!!! It is more like listening to her talk than it is "literary", but I'm glad to get info on Chaka anyway I can!!!



2. Recently checked out this book and thought it was not bad as celebrity memoirs go. Though the book is a collaborative effort, it is unmistakeably the voice of Chaka Khan. She frankly discusses both the successes, spoils and the pressures of an unexpectedly rapid rise to pop stardom. As the powerhouse tomboy of seventies soul music, Chaka Khan created a amazing body of work with the integrated pop/rock/soul band Rufus. On her own, she has been less successful but no less interesting. Indeed, she is now getting her well-deserved props for the white-hot trail she blazed in pop/R&B music. At the same time, she is also upfront about her legendary drug problems, romantic failings and her flaws as a parent. All told, this is a quick read, enjoyable and very down-to-earth.



3. This opening comment is directed to the writer who titled their review; "Chaka Uncut".
   
   Aretha gave birth to her first child when she was thirteen years of age. She most certainly could be Chaka's momma. As we used to say in the neighborhood a very looong time ago...."So talk what you know!"
   
   A good read. Boring if you are looking for lots of juicy details about intimate and private portions of the author's life.
   
   I believe this is an honest and forthright book that makes Chaka transparent before her fans and the world. Chaka's drug addiction and addled behavior was a well know industry secret.
   
   It's good to know she is clean and moving forward with her life. She purports to be a Christian these days. Lets all wish her the best.
   
   In Uncharacteristic Charity,
   
   Miss Ross



4. Too bad not enough people know about Chaka Khan in 2005.
   
   One great female vocalist.
   
   This is a great book.



5. I truly enjoyed this memoir written by Chaka Khan and Tonya Bolden and would recommend it to any Chaka Khan fan or anyone curious as to how this siren of song came to be and lived.
   
   I've been a Chaka fan since childhood. She is my favorite all-time vocalist. My father bought Rufus' first album but I didn't pay much attention until the second, "Rags to Rufus". Chaka's raw primal energy on the microphone had me hooked from the first guitar riff of "You Got the Love" and "Tell Me Something Good". The third album, "Rufusized", sealed my fate as a lifelong Rufus and Chaka Khan fan. I would sit, listen and ogle over the album covers for hours on end. In my naive young mind, Chaka Khan was the epitome of womanhood. I wanted to be her. All at once this woman was incredibly talented, beautiful, vivacious, tender... exuding tremendous confidence, power and an animal-like sensuality. I would shake my braids loose, dress up in my summer halter and bell-bottoms and dance about the family room doing that side-to-side-jerk-shimmy thing that was her trademark. The band's appearances on shows like Bandstand and Soul Train were moments that I lived for. My father even bought my first guitar to help appease my obsession. It was only much later that I discovered all that glitters is not gold... in regard to my idol and otherwise. My first live Chaka experience was at a mid-80's concert in the Chicago area. She was good... but clearly trashed and suffering. It broke my heart. My adulation remains however, and I'd always yearned to know her story.
   
   The thing that I enjoyed most about the book is the conveyance of her personality through the words. Her candid expression and frankness are qualities that I deeply appreciate. Her matter-of-fact sense of humor tends to come out of nowhere. From the first mention of her first-born you can sense the guilt that haunted her career, having left her child for long periods to pursue her career. Others have remarked on the brevity and lack of detail throughout some periods of her career (if not MOST of it). I would agree. Though personal and to the point, her recollections are fairly vague. I don't know if she was limited to a certain number of pages, by deadlines, or simply couldn't recall those times through the haze of substance abuse. I will say that I wished there were more... much more. (C'mon Chaka... girl if you're gonna write it... write it) Perhaps the intent was to focus on a few specific moments and what she pulled from those experiences. To the self-dubbed "in-the-moment gal", I gather everything else was irrelevant. I would like to know more about her rise with Rufus beyond the formative years, more detail on the inter-relationships (she could've devoted an entire chapter to her and Tony Maiden alone), inspiration for songs that she penned and adventures on the road. Most importantly, more on where that voice derived it's passion and fire. She seems to have completed this book for the purposes of exorcising demons, rather than putting focus on the beauty and legend that she created. In a way the book IS optimistic, in the sense that she feels that she has now gotten the upper hand on her demons. She continues to look forward, taking each day as it comes. I wish her the very best.

5 comments about Living Reality: My Extraordinary Summer With "Sailor" Bob Adamson.

1. I can't believe anybody takes this seriously. I just read in there how "Bob" assured this Braha guy there is no individuality after death. Too bad Braha is AN ASTROLOGER! Ha! How does he think vedic astrology is supposed to work if not by tracking an "entity"?
   
   This stuff is rightly called "neo advaita" to differentiate it from real, historical advaita. It's the ultimate in egalitarian--they're defining enlightenment downward so we can all have it. Thank goodness! I was afraid I wouldn't get it. Next we can redefine being a millionaire as anyone having more than ten thousand dollars so we can all be millionaires, too! What a relief! I was afraid that first million was going to elude me forever! Gee whiz and golly, too!
   
   I think what this whole "lineage" is doing is what the Tibetan dzogchen practitioners call giving out "pointing out instructions on the nature of mind." They are validly pointing out something about the nature of your consciousness you might not have noticed on your own. But the great part is they're relabeling it as enlightenment.
   
   In case your mind is wandering real enlightenment is sometimes called "liberation" as in liberation from suffering, liberation from fear of death, etc. How they think that just getting the pointing out instructions will actually help you in the face of terminal cancer or something is beyond me. It's the ultimate baby boomer chicken sh-t development. They've had everything else handed to them and now, darn it, they want enlightenment. Along comes one of these guys like sailor bob or ramesh balsekar, claiming to be the oracle who knows all the answers and, presto, the baby boomers got enligthenment, too! And they don't even have to do any real work! In fact, work might get in the way! Wowee!
   
   This is a flash in the pan that will be completely forgotten in thirty years after everyone wakes up with a terrible realization that this kind of elightenment doesn't actually function to lessen your fear of death at all.
   
   Boy, america is a funny place.
   
   By the way I've hung out with several of these people so don't try to tell me I haven't met them. I have. Next?



2. Quoted from the book :- "Please keep in mind that non-duality is, essentially, a viewpoint and appears to clash with other viewpoints regarding spiritual truth. The core of non-duality is presence awareness. The key to our true nature lies in the present moment-the right here,right now that have always been and will always be".The statement is concise and clear.
   This book 'Living Reality' makes an excellent reference book on non-duality.



3. The spiritual philosophy of Nisargadatta (hopefully I have the spelling right) and "Sailor Bob" could not be any clearer than it is presented in this outstanding volume. I did not give it five stars because starting around page 180 the reader has pretty much heard it all and I'm being a little charitable on the page count. It is, nonetheless, a terrific presentation of these ideas...as clear as I have seen anywhere else and I have read broadly within this category. Very strongly recommended.



4. The purpose of this book, the author says, is "to share nonduality with you. ... to expose the personal reference point - the `me' - for what it is: a phantom created by the mind. My hope is to do for readers what Nisargadatta Maharaj, the great Indian sage, did for my teacher, Sailor Bob Adamson, and what Sailor Bob did for me. And that is `to take the seeker beyond the need for help.' If, after reading this text, you are able to see clearly that the `me' you have live with your entire life is a false creation of the mind, you will never need help again. You will know your true nature and the real meaning of understanding."
   
   There may be other books that share nonduality as satisfyingly as Braha's does, but probably none surpass it. And perhaps no other book in the nonduality genre brings a living sage, in this case Sailor Bob Adamson, so close to you, in a physical and "real" sense, in the way this book does.
   
   The dialogues are realistic talks with a group of nice people with Bob Adamson at the center of attention and including Bob's wife Barb, who contributes sagely to the dialogue as well. The tone of the dialogues varies from serious, to wildly free, to nearly silly, but is always kept genuine by the presence of Bob. Of course the author has to be commended for selecting the most lively and meaningful portions of discourse, and for revealing what it was like to be in the company of Bob Adamson.
   
   Numerous topics are covered in the dialogues: Buddha, good stories about Nisargadatta Maharaj, the Now, Muktananda, infinity, the mind, thoughts of torture, reality, karma, religions, desire, reincarnation, and of course nonduality, and others. But there's really only one topic: "Life is awareness constantly seeing awareness," says Bob. Other quotations could be given basically saying that no matter what topic is addressed it comes down to awareness or present existence (or nonexistence), or getting the mind to stop.
   
   A very important part of the book is the writing by James Braha himself. His writings make up about one third of the entire book. Braha's writings consist of introductory chapters to the book as well as a conclusion. James's commentary precedes each of the dialogues with Bob and prepares the reader for them.
   
   In James's chapters he talks about his own experiences with nonduality, his developing spiritual life, until near the end when it becomes obvious that there's no point to speak of such things as a spiritual life or stages of understanding. They are imaginings. Also in Braha's chapters he talks about Bob's visit, how it came about, how it progresses, Bob's arrrival. James brings the reader into the events as they unfold, so we feel we are with Bob and the rest of the gang when the dialogues are taking place. James also talks about nonduality itself in the chapters he writes.
   
   Braha's writings are as significant as Bob's utterances. Thus this book transcends Bob and Braha and becomes about waking up itself. As well, this book includes all the elements readers want: a sage, a seeker or two, the sage's wife, story of a physical journey, story of a spiritual journey (or two), dialogues with a sage, a collection of friends and others, color photographs, a sense of warmth, family, humanity, solid and identifiable beginning, middle, and end. The writing and editing are professional. Thus this is a great book. This book must be recommended along with the very best books on the teaching of nonduality.
   
   I like the dozen or so clear, color photographs very much, showing the main people in the book. They make for a special inclusion, unheard of in other nonduality books. With all the names, subjects, concepts, themes, this book could use an index. I wanted to find all the places in the book where Barb, Bob's wife, was mentioned, because I thought she was so cool, but I couldn't. On the other hand, I can understand where indexes enforce searching and encourage avoidance of the message of nonduality which is found on every page of a book such as this, and needs no looking up.
   
   Jerry Katz
   One: Essential Writings on Nonduality



5. I love this book. I am currently on my third reading. It is about someone who was a seeker, the same confused schmuck like rest of us with all the same false expectations and dumb questions, who becomes a finder through the kind help of Sailor Bob. Happily he recorded most of the conversations so we could come along with him during this process. It runs the gambit of all questions and concerns leaving no loose ends to have reservations about. I also liked that it was a account of his time with Bob and contains personal observations and history. It makes the material more real and interesting than anonymous dialogues. I feel this is a must read for anyone interested in the subject of enlightenment or nonduality.

5 comments about Secret Daughter: A Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away.

1. Being biracial I was drawn to this book. The story was different. Cross was placed with a Black family by her mother, but her mother was still in her life. What was disturbing and shocking to me was how the mother continued to treat her daughter as a second class citizen way into Cross' adulthood. I could not get past that and kept thinking why is Cross even bothering with this woman. Nonetheless the book is interesting and worth reading.



2. This is a very touching story of how growing up insecure can lead a person to great strength. While a totally different story than, say, The Color of Water, it is an honest and sometimes brutal description of growing up a mixed race child in America. I would like to think things have changed a lot by now, but I know the problems my two biracial boys have had -- and they were adopted in the late 80's and early 90's. It took a lot of bravery for this story to be written.



3. Dirty Sally
   This was a powerful book!!!! There were times I had to shut the book and just cry. I know firsthand how it feels to feel displaced. At first I thought the mother was going to put her up for adoption considering the fact that her career was more important than raising her child. Ironically, the author's mothers name is Norma and so is mine. I am biracial (German/Black) and I wasn't raised with my biological mother for the same reasons June wasn't except my mother didn't have a career, my family just didn't like blacks. I often wonder if Junes' inner struggles were of any importance to her mother. I will never understand Norma and I have 3 kids of my own. I will never understand the shoes that she walked in, but I am sure she loved her the best way she knew how from afar. The one thing that really bothered me was when she kept telling her daughter that if only she didn't get darker, she could have passed for white. That really upset me!! Why take an innocent child through so much turmoil? Being biracial already has its issues. I am very happy that June was able to put the pieces back into her fragmented life torn with racial dissent and misunderstanding. The situation is further complicated when we learn Norma had two other white children who she neglected just as much as June. This book was very relatable for me. My birthmother had 5 children, 3 which are white and my brother and me are biracial. My mother kept her 1st born, and subsequently put the rest up for adoption. My BM was 30 years old when she gave me up, so it's not like she was "young", she should have learned her lesson by now. No matter how much June tries, or me and my siblings try, not every woman who gives birth is meant to be a mother. The only way I channel my issues of being half German and half African American is through my writing. I have written a children's book entitled; Dirty Sally........The untold stories of mixed race kids who find a new identity, love, faith and forgiveness through GOD.
   There is an interesting story behind the title. I was often taunted or teased about being biracial. Some of my family members and friends called me Dirty Sally. Dirty Sally is an old slavery term used to identify the descendants or offspring of Sally Hemings, a former slave and the late President Thomas Jefferson. Sally Hemings was biracial her mother was ½ white and ½ black and her father white. This book focuses on the misconceptions surrounding racial identity and the importance of choosing one's racial identity. Dirty Sally is a must read not only for inter-racial families, but for all parents hoping to instill in their children a sense of understanding and compassion. I believe that change requires resistance and within that process we can help heal some of the wounds that continue to inflict on racially mixed children. Purchase available on Amazon.com the ISBN# is 9781432707743
   [...]



4. I loved this book and could not put it down!! I was born the same year in another part of the country. It was interesting to see how a cohort made sense of the same issues I tried to make sense of. The way she coped and healed would make any therapist proud and provides much healing for a family dealing with trauma forced by survival and coping with the predjudices of a society not willing to accept women or people of color "be all they could be."
   Well written, insightful and candid.



5. I enjoyed this book. At times it was hard to keep up with the people. I felt sorry for the Mother because she didn't have the backbone to stand up for her child. Children of biracial parents have a hard time on both sides of the family. This book did a good job of dealing with all the problems of a biracial child. I am a grandparent of biracial and bicultural grandsons. We are doing our best to give them the best of both worlds.

5 comments about Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn.

1. Lush Life arrived efficiently and relatively fast, and was in obviously used shape, but nstill good shape; as promised. I have no complaints



2. This was an excellent read and it was great to see that somebody finally came out with a biography on Billy Strayhorn. So why the 3 star rating? Well, the author actually attempts to overemphasize Staryhorn's importance to the Ellington band (hard as that is to do).
   
   The author unfortunately tries to paint a picture of Ellington as somebody that didn't appreciate Strayhorn's talent and put his name on Stayhorn's songs and basically didn't do much at all after the arrival of Strayhorn. This, of course, is a complete crock. Ellington wrote the vast majority of his most well known songs before Strayhorn even came into the picture ("Mood Indigo", "Sophisticated Lady", "It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing", "Rockin' In Rhythm", In A Sentimental Mood", and "Solitude" just to name a few). Are we really supposed to believe that all of a sudden Strayhorn comes and Ellington's compositional skills go down the drain and he relies on Strayhorn for everything thereafter? That's a little too much (actually way too much) to believe.
   
   Also, if Strayhorn was truly all the brains behind the post-1940 Ellington band, then how come Ellington was still writing great works after Strayhorn's death (New Orleans Suite anyone?)? It just doesn't add up.
   
   Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn were one of the greatest song writing teams of all time. Both were equally important players to the other's success after they joined together and each made his significant contributions. The author is probably a big Strayhorn fan and to make up for the lack of recognition that Strayhorn has received the author actually does a disservice to Strayhorn by overstating his importance to the Ellington band. Strayhorn accomplished so much it's just not necessary to do so.
   
   That being said, the book is still a great source for learning about the life of Billy Strayhorn and who he was and it's great that somebody finally wrote a book on his life.



3. The backbone of Duke Ellimgtons music was his association with Billy Strayhorn. Where such genius came from emanates from poverty and rather ordinary family roots. This is a fascinating and beautifully documented story that completes any previous knowledge of the beauty that is Ellingtons music. Strayhorn was obviously an unrecognized genius deserving of notoriety and equal prominence.



4. one of the most interesting biographies I've ever read. When Billy Strayhorn was growing up in Pittsburgh he met Duke Ellington in the back of the theatre after a concert Duke performed at. He blew Duke away when Billy played the piano for him. Years later Duke would remember him and asked Billy to come out to NYC to see him. When Billy asked for directions Duke would write on a piece of paper, take the A train. While on the A train to Upper Manhattan to see Duke, Billy wrote the music for 'Take the A Train". So it goes the great collaboration between Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn would begin. Always in the background and never given the proper credit for all the music he wrote Billy Strayhorn would live a lush life. Travelling the world and meeting the kings and queens of the jazz world, he could be the life of the party but the applause for Duke Ellington's music would bypass him. Being black and gay back in those days was not acceptable behavior so Billy stayed in the background and Duke kept him. Billy wrote the music and Duke played it, his own personal muse. Billy loved the 3 am hour the best, it was the happiest hour of the day when you're too exhausted to care anymore and numb to everything else. A wonderful book.



5. i find myself always enjoying Books on People&this is no exception.very well detailed Book on a Important Composer&His Many Demons&Surroundings.I heard a few years back that Will Smith was considering doing the Bio Movie on Billy Strayhorn.it would be really interesting to see how things would come out on the Big screen.this book reflects on Music Talent&whole Life.very well done book.

2 comments about Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil (Dover Thrift Editions).

1. This book addresses global issues, immigration policy, womens rights, civil rights, and the nature of European colonizaton of Africa. Du Bois connects the dots that tie the East St. Louis riots, the brutal treatment of african labor by european colonists, the low wages of domestic african american workers and women in america, and the shortage of european migration/workers because of the "great war". This is a first hand account of history by an African American that differs from past accounts of the above mentioned events in history texts, the movies, and the majority press.
   Darkwater is an easy read that educates. This is history not written as history by the author but as a comment on the events of his time that have significance to what is occuring in the world today.
   I found the book very enjoyable and enlightening. I witheld one star from the rating because the poetry, although good, seemed be tossed in as a filler.



2. Fondly called W.E.B., Dr William Edward Burghardt DuBois was a conscientious voice, whose mouthpiece was just a pen. Each of his writings buttressed this point.
   A bundle of intellect, all his works have remained potent till this day. Having enumerated the problems and experiences of emancipated slaves in "The Souls of Black Folk", Dr DuBois used this book, "Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil", to highlight the intricacies of the then White-Black relationships. This book has a socio-economic focus, and dealt with such associational issues like exploitative labour, voting rights, women's rights, and family values. It suggested guidance and remedies wherever necessary. The ideas and insights of Dr DuBois were general in perspective: both Whites and Blacks were thought of.
   This book is more than eighty years old; however, anybody who reads it, needs only to turn a few pages before discovering that we are still grappling with most of its lamentations.
   Finally, I must say that I cherished reading this book. "Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil" is a compelling piece; especially for anyone who is familiar with either "The Souls of Black Folk" or "Dusk of Dawn".