5 comments about The Territory of Men: A Memoir.

1. Joelle Fraser writes a very honest, sweet memoir that is a pleasant change from the usual brag memoir. She takes us on a journey through growing up and understanding ourselves and the ones we love. She allows us to see the painful as well as the pleasurable moments in that growth and I find this very refreshing. Also, being a lover of Hawai'i, I enjoyed the brief journey to that state as well!



2. This young woman stumbles through life obsessively pursuing her own happiness, and seems surprised that she never finds it. Blonde, slender, intelligent, and skilled at manipulating men, she frequents dive bars in Hawaii and San Francisco, attends college, and blames her parents because she isn't happier. Perhaps the price she pays for her independence is that she never really cares about what happens to anybody else. Has she ever thought about people who had it much, much worse than she? You'd never know it from this book.

   Fraser's memoir is most engrossing when she describes growing up in the free-form, no-rules, do-your-own-thing culture that flourished in California during the 60's and 70's. Continually shuffled between her alcoholic father and man-crazed mother, she is deprived of the stability that she obviously desperately needs. More than once, we get the premonition that something awful is going to happen to her, but unless this reviewer is failing to read between the lines, she never encounters anything worse than that which most adolescents deal with on a consistent basis. The chapter on her experience teaching in the medium security prison provides a good example: we see the chance she is taking just by being there; trouble breaks out and she runs towards it rather than away, but in the end nothing bad actually happens to her.

   More interesting might have been a book about her mother, who actually suffers from some of the problems that Fraser only references second-hand. We are told that there were drunken orgies, a continual stream of men, substantial physical abuse, a number of failed marriages, a victory over alcoholism, and a developing interest in Native Americans, but usually the little girl in the background is sent off to her room, and doesn't really have much in the way of insights or information to share with us. Another missed opportunity is the section on her cousin Karyn, who was murdered (by being stabbed forty-two times) by her boyfriend. A little investigative reporting might have been in order here, because the bare facts we get don't really explain very much. The lessons that Fraser draws from the story are significant enough, but one is reminded of a number of great writers who have done entire books about murders that were no more brutal than this one.

   This is by no means a bad piece of writing, but it seldom manages to evoke the empty decadence of the times. Most of the book is far more personal than historical, providing an overview of this young woman's relationship with her parents without betraying any really powerful emotions. Doesn't she resent her parents for raising her like a circus animal? Isn't she angry about the way they ship her back and forth, from one school to another, never letting her grow comfortable anywhere? Some genuine emotion might lend pathos to a document that, viewed from the outside, isn't really that noteworthy. Let's hope that this talented writer's next effort finds her able to penetrate past her own cool exterior, and dig at the roots of what she's really feeling.




3. As a Sausalito native who just missed the 60's, I was eager to read Fraser's take on this little coastal tourist town full of folks a little too offbeat to stay put in nearby San Francisco. From the first page, I was stuck. Fraser's powers of pacing, description, and presence make the vignettes of 30-plus years fly on by. She seems appropriately confident in her ability to craft narrative-based scenarios that deliver years of significance. The best part? No vindictiveness. No self-righteousness. No exhausting self-analysis. Fraser hands us the gift of her paragraphs: forward-moving, heartfelt, and the product of a powerful wordsmith. I am already waiting for her next title.



4. Erica Jong, Dani Shapiro, Mary Karr, Elizabeth Wurtzel. I love them all. They kept me involved in their stories, and I am grateful for the pleasure of reading them in my bedroom, because believe me, there is no way I could lure these very intelligent, beautiful ladies in real life, into my bedroom. And they are not ashamed to say they are beautiful and intelligent. Just as Marlon Brando/Tennesse Williams says to Blanche, in "Streetcar" (paraphrase), "I never met a dame yet, who didn't know if she was goodlookin', or not". They know they are so why play games? The only one of this group who really irks me, is Dani Shapiro, who in "Slow Motion", complains of this terrible man who takes her to Paris and almost at gunpoint forces her to stay in the most luxurious hotel, and eat in four star restaurants! What a sadist he was! Also good coke was in on the deal. But how could she be happy? HE LIED TO HER ABOUT HIS WIFE AND CHILD! Oy vey. I should only know such suffering. Another thing about memoirs such as "The Territory of Men" is the almost total recall of incidents that happened maybe five, ten, or twenty years ago, like, "I remember in 1969, he had that red shirt on, and was drinking coffee from the yellow mug, when he turned to page 12 of the Feb. 6 issue of Life magazine", etc. Do you remember anything that happened at lunch last Tuesday dear reader? Okay,now that I got my clever little shtick out, I would like to say Joelle Fraser writes beautifully, particularly about Hawaii, where she grew up, the child of a hippy flower child mom, and a hard drinking would be writer dad. Folks, I don't know if you feel old but the Children of the hippies are writting books and that means I am definitely phasing out on Planet Earth. Right on Joelle! Enjoy every minute of this, because the critics are sharpening their pencils for anyone who has the temerity to write a successful book. If you want to have some fun Joelle, read the reviews for Norman Mailer's, and James Jones' SECOND books, after "The Naked and the Dead", and "From Here to Eternity". Bloodshed, pure bloodshed.



5. Joelle Fraser's book neatly avoids the tendency of many contemporary memoirs to fall into tedious (or tawdry) abstracted navel-gazing. Instead, you get a real sense of engagement as the author makes a serious attempt to understand her own upbringing and its effects on her life and lifestyle. Concrete detail abounds, both in the narrative storytelling and in the exploration of Fraser's internal landscape. The subtle force of the writing will creep up on you.

No comments about Only a Girl: Remembering My Syrian-Jewish World.

1 comments about See You After the Duration: The Story of British Evacuees to North America in World War II: Foreword by Sir Martin Gilbert.

1. Henderson is particularly informative about attitudes and events in America, but it is the anecdotes that warm and wring the heart.
   SUNDAY TIMES
   
   A touching account of the 10,000 British children evacuated to North America in the early 1940s. Among them the author who, aged eight, found himself sailing through torpedo scares to a new life in Boston.
   MAIL ON SUNDAY
   
   His book vividly evokes a lost world of patriotism and stoicism (headline: Aliens in short pants)
   TIMES EDUCATIONAL SUPPLEMENT
   
   The great wartime evacuation will not now be forgotten
   CHURCH OF ENGLAND NEWSPAPER
   
   A thorough account of the mass evacuation of British children to North America - a moving story of courage under adversity...This montage of different experiences produces a vivid portrait of events moods and atmosphere during a fearful time.
   DEVON LIFE
   
   A complete picture of a time forgotten by many - and completely unknown to most. Michael's story also sheds light on the close ties between America and the UK during the Second World War. Michael Henderson's work is personal, informativc and compelling.
   WESTERN MORNING NEWS
   
   So, dear readers, do have a box of tissues at your elbow for both the highs and the lows, but above all be moved by the impressive account of a unique period in our recent history
   NORTH DEVON JOURNAL
   
   He recounts his experiences in an easy to read and very interesting way
   THE EVACUEE
   *** Why no voting buttons? We don't let customers vote on their own reviews, so the voting buttons appear only when you look at reviews submitted by others.***

3 comments about Exiled to Siberia.

1. When I initially read this book just after it was published I called the author and thanked him for writing the book. Most of my mother's family was killed in Ark Angel, Russia and my mother grandmother, and great-aunt were all interned in many of the same places that were described in the book. It is well researched and should be necessary reading for all school aged children. it is both inspiring and educational.



2. Exiled To Siberia: A Polish Child's WWII Journey is the engaging biography of a ten-year-old Polish boy deported by the Soviets at the outbreak of World War II. From Henryk Birecki's childhood in a Polish village to his ultimate integration into American society after the war, the reader is treated to a candid and informative story of the hardships and cruelties brought about by the forcible deportation of Polish men, women and children to the bleak and hazardous interior of the Soviet Union. Thousands of Poles died during transport and in the penal and forced labor camps, remote settlements, and the Kolkhozes to which they were banished. After the end of the war Henryk and his sister made it out of the Soviet Union (where his mother died), through Iran and Iraq, then Mexico, and finally to America. Exiled To Siberia is sobering reading and brings those times and events vividly to life for new generations of readers to know and understand the inhumanity and tragedy that afflicted the civilian populace of Eastern Europe during those dark and deadly days.



3. This story of the forgotten victims of WWII is told from a unique perspective. Two friends--the author and the subject--were personally touched by the war in very different ways. One, a german child, victimized only by the disemination of misinformation and, the other, a polish child, victimized both physically and psychologically, enslaved by the Russian allies, separated from family, seizes the opportunity to search for better life for himself and his sister. The author artfully intertwines history and real life experiences. The story is, in many parts, heartbreaking and, in all parts, facinating.

No comments about Fetched-Up Yankee: A New England Boyhood Remembered.

1 comments about Northern D'Lights: Another Hilarious Account of Growing Up North (Northern Mania!).

1. Northern D'lights is a collection of humorous short stories about the rigors of growing up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the 1940's. Even today the Upper Peninsula is viewed by most as a strange, wonderful, and sparsly populated area. But it was even more so when Jerry was growing up in the pre-WWII era. In Northern D'Lights Jerry Harju has recreated the events that happened to him and characters he met during that time. You will enjoy each character and story! So sit back, relax, and enjoy!

No comments about Prairie Winter.

1 comments about Chewing Gum in Holy Water: A Childhood in the Heart of Italy.

1. One of the most enjoyable books I have read in quite a while. I loved it

3 comments about Pig Tails 'n Breadfruit: A Culinary Memoir.

1. The more acquainted you are with the food rituals of West Indians (and Bajans in particular), the more you should restrain yourself from reading this book in public. You will grin, chuckle and gafaw, and people will stare at you.



2. This delightful book evokes the language and spirit of Barbados. The author weaves in tales of growing up in Barbados with memories of the food, 'hot cuisine', that fashioned his childhood. For anyone who has visited the island, this will surely bring back fond and enticing memories. Read the book, visit Barbados!



3. This culinary memoir of the author's childhood in Barbados describes his early introduction to cooking, his involvement with native dishes, and his progress in becoming a cook. Don't look for recipes here; it's more a memoir and biography of Barbados cooking, though descriptions of preparing dishes are lovingly detailed and rival James Beard's American presentations.

1 comments about The Sporting Art of Frank W. Benson.

1. The Maine Antique Digest (Sam Pennington, Editor mad@maine.com) wrote this neat review and I am sharing it with everyone who might want to know more about this great book.

   This handsomely produced, definitive book is replete with reproductions of paintings, etchings, and lithographs of waterfowl and related works of Frank W. Benson, a pivotal artist of the American Impressionist movement. Benson's accurate depictions of birds have commanded high prices, and rightly so. This book will be an invaluable addition to the libraries of art collectors.

   Faith Andrews Bedford gathered diverse and firsthand source material. She covers Benson's career by melding his primary interests: his family, his art, and the sporting life, not to mention his lifelong passion for birds. By interlacing her text with commentary from interviews with Benson's family, diaries, letters, photographs, and historical articles, she creates a lively, immediate flavor.

   Chapter three, "A Sense of Place," begins by telling how the Benson family first visited North Haven island in Maine's Penobscot Bay in June 1901. They eventually bought Wooster Farm and summered there for about 40 years. I have a particular fondness for that island and was transported by the descriptions of their initial visits and their farm on Crabtree Point. To exemplify how neatly Bedford packs information, here is a quote from early in that chapter: "Benson's North Haven paintings of his family were praised by critics and collectors for capturing the `joyous gaiety' and `holiday mood' of life on the island. They sold almost as soon as they were seen by the public...Benson was not an indoor man by nature and far preferred the `life outside the studio.' Although his wife and daughters enjoyed the theater and music and for decades held the same two seats for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he did not often accompany them. Nor did he enjoy the confines of church. He felt the place to worship God and respect His handiwork was through nature."

   There is mention also of their tennis court at the farm, interest in golf, and of course the birds and fishing. Bedford adds other significant information about how the island affected Benson's art: "It was to become the site of many milestones, not only in his family life but in his art as well. Benson began his etching career on North Haven. Originally, this aspect of his work was merely a diversion, an experiment." This taste gives an inkling of the abundant information compiled. It is clearly presented and a good biographical resource.

   Benson lived a long, fruitful life. Bedford, who has become a scholar capable of making such statements, says, "Benson was, perhaps, that rarest of humans, a happy man. Not that he ever rested on his laurels, not that he did not look constantly for challenges...He had reaped rewards and financial success from his art, had won fame and recognition in his own lifetime-something he realized few artists ever achieved...In Benson's own words, the secret to both tranquil enjoyment and success was in doing what you love."