4 comments about Greenbelt : A Nostalgic Return to a Texas Childhood.

1. Greenbelt brought back childhood memories of a Texas lake and the antics one can get away with as a young kid. It reminded me of times that I had not considered in ages. Times when I was invincible.

   The stories in this book transcend a regional area, they could have occurred on a Texas Panhandle lake, a California beach or on a Iowa farm.

   Read this book to remind you of your own childhood or to remind you of a childhood you wish you had lived!!




2. Released just in time for for summer reading, I heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure. Jim Man's style is easygoing, and at the same time compelling. I kept reading "just one more chapter" to find out what would happen next to Jim, Dwight, and the other colorful characters. This book truly is a return to a simpler time in the not too distant past. A time when kids explored the outside world on their own, and a Mother's parting words were "Be home in time for supper".



3. I picked up the book on a Friday night. I was skeptical at best, but everybody leaves the bookstore with a book; and besides, the author was at the bookstore doing the dog and pony show trying to sell some of his books. Politely, I bought the book, came home and was mesmerized for the next four hours (I am a slow reader). I liked the size of the book, it wasn't real intimidating and I thought I would give it at least three chapters. That was all it took and I was hooked. A NOSTALGIC RETURN is exactly what I got. Mr. Man's book took me back to my own childhood and the amazement that I (and he)lived through it. Chapter after chapter was adventure, exploit, and just good ole' childhood mischief. I finished the book that night (to my wife's dislike). Several times she woke up and hit me with the pillow because the bed was shaking from my laughter. I honestly couldn't put the book down. Anyway, for what it is worth, I wish I had the book to look forward to. Write on Mr. Man, Bart boxwell



4. Here we have Jim Man's portrait of a summerful of visits to a lake house in north Texas of 1972 (age 12). The outstanding quality of Man's writing is its credibility: on a topic almost hand-crafted as a foundation for tall tales, I'm darned if I don't believe just about everything he says.

   I too grew up in the 1970s in the West, and we did in fact use to shoot at one another with BB guns, dig through any half-ruined building available to us, and gad about on any wheeled vehicle we could scrounge up. While Jim's story is one of a lot of fun--some better and cleaner than others--it is a story of lessons learned about himself and others. Jim's friend Dwight is an especially compelling character, the kind you can't invent; they either are authentic or they are not. (His accent, by the way, is authentic. He sounds precisely like my very rural, very Texan father-in-law.) By the end of the book--which I wish had been longer--I really wanted to know what ever became of the boys in the book.

   As a book for young people, I'd rate it PG-13: the author could have easily pushed it toward R-17, but a visible effort was made to take the edges off the language and content; this effort might not get the credit it deserves, but parents buying books for their children will appreciate it. If you're raising kids today, _Greenbelt_ will encourage you to pose the question: how come we turned out all right in spite of the fact that we behaved like Jim and his cohorts? It will appeal especially to anyone who likes motorcycles, fishing/boating, and modern-day Tom Sawyer hijinks. For anyone who grew up in rural Texas, naturally, the appeal will be even stronger. I came away liking the genuinely warm, adventuresome Man family, and I reckon a lot of readers will too.

5 comments about Kitchen Privileges : A Memoir.

1. I read this book when it first came out and was not disappointed in the slightest. I've read every Mary Higgins Clark book ever written. They're page turners, pure and simple, with often riveting plots and always nice, dignified characters. In an increasingly nastier world, I LIKE nice :). A lovely book about how a very lovely lady came to be one of the top fiction writers, triumphing over many odds.



2. This memoir is truly a great example of what a special person Mary Higgins Clark is.
   
   This woman was born under a special star and her mother had the wonderful insight to recognize it and encourage it to blossom.
   
   As I read this I actually felt as if I were one of those neighbors who were privileged [but didn't know it at the time] enough to be allowed to came and sit and chat at the kitchen table and listen in to the wonderful stories.
   
   Mary Higgens Clark has had her share of grief and yet she is humble enough to share those private moments with us and to managed to rise above the pain to become the wonderful sister, daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, and writer that she truly is.
   
   I really felt honored to be allowed to share in her life story and was sadden when the book ended.
   
   You won't regret reading this one!
   I read it in one sitting and one day--I couldn't put it down. Trust me--you won't be able to either.
   A-Must-Read for those who love Mary Higgens Clark and Memoirs.



3. My Mother has been suffering from memory issues. We recently lucked out and found a prescription drug that has helped her focus more than she has in years. We couldn't believe it when she told us she read a book (the only book she's read in several years) that she borrowed from a friend at her Assisted Living facility. Apparently it was in large print and she loved it. I personally haven't read it, but she did pass it on to her older sister (83) and youger sister (77) and my sister 50) who all read it and said it was great. So, probably good gift idea for those form the depression era.



4. A member of my church loaned me this book and to be frank, I wasn't all that interested in it. I had never read anything by Mary Higgins Clark before, and why did a writer name her book after a kitchen anyway? I was also intent on reading the Elsie Dinsmore books, and so put this book down, thinking that I'll return it after a week or so.
   
   Two weeks passed and I finally realized that I should at least make a seventy-something woman happy by reading it and so I began reading it after reading another borrowed book, "The Secret Life of Bees" (see my review on that superb novel). From Chapter One, I was hooked.
   
   Mary Higgins Clark writes her story with charm, wit and detail. She tells us the story of her childhood in the 1940s, the death of her father, her first jobs, her marriage and the births of her five children. She discusses her dream of becoming a writer and I can relate to this. I love to write, but my work is either rubbish or incomplete or both.
   
   However, the book was very short and left me asking some questions. She's written a lot of books, but only goes into detail about writing two of them-one of which was a failure. The epilogue leaves you asking questions that she doesn't answer, especially since she devotes an entire sentence to her second, failed marriage. Wow...
   
   Despite these flaws, I am going to read Mary Higgins Clark's fictional works and see if they are as well-written as this book is. I encourage any aspiring writer to read this book.



5. I have been a fan of Mary Higgins Clark since junior high school when I first read, "A Cry in the Night". As a 31-year old working mother of two, I barely have time to read anything leisurely anymore! Over the years I have read many of her books, but I have found this one the most entertaining to date. This book brought me to tears on more than one occasion. This is a truly inspiring human story of love and loss that many people will relate to. I applaud her determination in making all of her dreams come true. I have forwarded the book to a dear aunt who writes short stories to give her some encouragement. I hope this review has been helpful.

5 comments about Because of Romek: A Holocaust Survivor's Memoir.

1. This has been one of the few excellent books i have ever read. It is actually real, it really happened, so it makes you feel as if this was happining before your eyes. It was sad, and well written. i actually heard David Faber, the author of this book, speak. He was an incredibly powerful speaker, and his book places you in his position, just as his speech does.



2. David faber visited our high school last week, and had told us about his horrific ordeal during the holocaust. And I was utmost touched and embraced him. I could see those fear he told us in his eyes. And some of us left the auditorium in tears. I recommend this to anyone, because there is a dark side of humanity we taken for granted, and people had suffered more than anyone who had to go through.



3. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Faber as he spoke at the middle school I attended when I was in 7th grade. He spoke to us about his experiences and encounters during the Holocaust that took part in Europe during WWII. Our history teacher read us "Because of Romek" as it was part of our curriculm. I have not been the same since. This is an incredible account of what he went through in keeping of his promise to his mother to stay alive. I would recommend this to a more mature audience being that it does have some parts that are somewhat rough to handle...or so were for myself but overall is an incredible read...as he takes you through his experiences.



4. This book explains how David's encounter with the Holocaust and yet his story is sad but a good book to read. This is one of the best holocaust memoir I've read! I highly recommended. When I was starting to read the book, I couldnt but the book down...( I ended up finishing the book in 2 days!). I loved it and highly respect the holocaust survivors and of course, David Faber.



5. Had I thought it was fiction, I would have thought the author went over the top with this farfetched tale. To know that it is authentic is horrifying and at the same time captivating. If you are into the holocaust, then you will find this book absolutely fascinating; and if you aren't a history buff I recommend this book as enlightenment. My utmost respect to anyone that has been through this nightmare. And David Faber my deepest gratitude for having written this book.

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."

2 comments about Low Down: Junk, Jazz, and Other Fairy Tales from Childhood.

1. "Low Down" has plenty of moments that are tragic, horrifying, horrifyingly funny. A lesser person and a lesser writer could've written it in a continuous (and unbearable) whine. Yet, thanks to A. J. Albany's pitch-perfect, mean, clean, uncompromising writing, it's instead an example of how the best art transforms the most sordid reality into something else entirely - something beautiful, pure.

   Every time I revisit this book, and I've done so several times, I'm amazed by just how lovely Albany has made her story of wasted talent (the parents) and a ruined childhood (the author's), without letting her text get bogged down by the very natural emotions of self-pity, fury, sorrow. They're there, but they're not all that's there. There's the joy of music played right, the joy of love - however twisted - expressed fully, the joy the author clearly feels at getting it all down, and getting it down right - even righteously.

   This book deserves a thousand times more attention than it's gotten.




2. Such an amazing story told in such a beautiful way that you truly don't feel 'BAD' after reading the awkward situations this young girl endored!! A completely original writing style adds to the romantic feeling of the entire book, which is a series of short stories about life in a Hardcore Hollywood, most kids couldn't even dream of. With each chapter, you expect to somehow get to the sunshine of her tormented life (ya know, like in the movies!) but, luckily, this book is reality, rather than a predictable movie and it stays true to it's "poetic integerity" throughout! Good luck putting this one down...there's nothing predictable about this book, it's truly BEAUTIFUL, somehow!

5 comments about Jep's Place: Hope, Faith and Other Disasters.

1. Jep's Place is a fascinating look at growing up in a large, country family during the early and later years of the Great Depression. Although the author jumps around in time unexpectedly, the story holds the reader's interest because of its intimate, frank, often humorous details of family life as seen through the eyes of a young boy. I love it!



2. joseph r parzych i really like the book jep's place
   and it feels like going backing time in old days and i recommend the book
   to middle schools and 8 graders too . i world rate the book 999 stars
   i am grandson to joseph a parzych



3. Joey Parzych parents are immigrants from Poland. His father was given 50 cents and a pair of boots when he was young and told to make his way to America. At the end of a visit to Poland to see her family, Maria (Ma) traveled on foot through enemy lines to reach the docks in Holland to make the trip back to `Ameryka' and her first husband. They were strong people who had goals and worked hard to obtain them.
   
   After the deaths of their respective spouses, a date was arranged for them by a friend. Their marriage was a marriage of convenience. Both had children from their previous marriages. Due to the death of their spouses and hard times, they needed each other.
   
   This book is about real life on a small farm during the depression.
   
   Joey's Pa was very strict and did not show emotions other than anger to his children, ever. He truly believed if you `spared the rod you spoiled the child'. Joey was an inquisitive child, always asking questions, getting into mischief and constantly getting into trouble. When he was young he was sure he was unloved because if anything went wrong it seemed to fall at Joey''s feet.
   
   There was lots of hard work but also special times. Like when the family sat together around the table stripping turkey feathers for quilts and Ma told stories of her younger days in Poland or when Pa would bring them a special treat out of the blue - just because. As busy as Ma was she would walk the kids out to the outhouse after dark when they were scared. Of course, poor Joey - when he was real young - was scared to go to the outhouse because one time he decided that he was going to sit on the big seat. After all, he was a big boy. Unfortunately, he wasn't that big and fell in. There are all kinds of glimpses of humorous times, tragic times, and good times throughout the book.
   
   I could relate so much to this story because my great grandparents were immigrants from Poland and were exactly like Ma and Pa. For that matter, my grandparents were a lot like them. It was almost like reading part of my history. They were stoic, hard working people that had very high standards for their children. Life was tough but it made Joey into a very diligent, gritty young man who wasn't' afraid to work in order to succeed in life.
   
   Stories from your parents that we all heard as children like "I had to walk 10 miles to school in 3 feet of snow with no boots" - might not have been true in our parent's time but there is a good chance they were true of our grandparents or great grandparents. Jep's Place is that sort of true story.



4. Humorous and sincere memoir of a first generation American growing up in the mid 1900s. The struggles of those times help build courage for those who would live, love, sing, dance and go to war in our great USA. An enjoyable read, people who touch your heart, a life style endured, and strength of spirt not to be matched.



5. A heartwarming memoir, filled with humor and love. Joey lived in a family of thirteen children at a difficult time in our history. Sometimes painful and honest but always real. An enjoyable, easy read that moved along rapidly. I felt like I was right there at the dinner table.

5 comments about On Hitler's Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood.

1. This book makes it clear under what pressures kids and teens grew up in the thirties and forties in Germany. The writer shows the big riff between the older and younger generations in Germany during the Hitler era. It is personal and detailed. It reaffirms many of the stories I heve heard from my parents and grandparents. A must read for every interested in keeping peace alive.



2. this is a very well-written book. The lifeline flows in order which makes it easy for the reader to keep track of events as they occurred. This provides a very different perspective because it is from that as a child growing up on 'Hilter's mountain', as well as that of a German citizen. This provides a very good inside look at what life was like in these most terrible of times.



3. I lived in Germany in the late 1970s with a family who would have been young people during the War. I was vastly curious about their experience as "average Germans" but they were evasive and would say very little. Irmgard Hunt, who grew up just 30 miles from my foreign exchange mother during roughly the same years, gives us a portrait of what it was like for the average German citizen. Relying on her mother's diary, and interviews with family and friends, it may be some fiction, as an earlier reviewer states, but it rings true to me. You'll enjoy this book more if you know some German.



4. Excellent story of WW2 from the perspective of an ordinary little girl. I loved this story because it was a whole new look at this era of world history, a view not often captured. A must read for any enthusiast of the era.



5. This proves to be an interesting and somewhat insightful look from the perception of child. Irmgard Hunt spent her first 11 years of her life living in Berchtesgaden, under the shadow of Hitler's mountain retreat. She even had a honor of being on Hitler's lap and her parents must have been die-hard Nazis themselves to be allowed to live in that Bavarian village so close to their Fuhrer's own mountain home.
   
   Hunt's recollection proves to be informative on how life was for people who lived in that village where Nazism was so strong. Many of her stories actually make great deal of sense to anyone familiar with the Third Reich and it made whole lot of sense to me especially since, the author was living in Berchtesgaden.
   
   However, I do wondered how much of the book reflects reality. After all, she was very young when all this took place, most normal people do have a hard time remembering what they did, felt or thought when they were eight, nine or ten years old. The author may remembered very few details but I doubt if she could remembered all of it without being compromised by passing years of faded memories.
   
   I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the story of an ordinary German girl growing up in one of the most nazified villages in Germany. But I would also caution these readers that you are relying on a memory of that child who is now a grown woman and asked yourself how much of your childhood you remembered with such details.

3 comments about Are You Happy?: A Childhood Remembered.

1. Emily Fox Gordon may well become known as The Great American Memoirist for ARE YOU HAPPY? A Childhood Remembered, and her previous memoir MOCKINGBIRD YEARS. To read these books is to spend welcome time in the warm and brilliant company of a deeply insightful writer.
   ARE YOU HAPPY? invites us into the compelling story of Gordon's childhood that is at once shockingly personal and universal. She reveals a psychic landcape, an event in our cultural consciousness, a deliciously discerning expose of family life, the fifties, parental love and failure. Her awareness of herself and the world is so evolved that the book unfolds as an exquisite map of individual consciousness, the "socialization" of that, and the brave refusal to limit one's imaginative life and primordial communion with the world.
   She writes so well that I read many of her sentences over and over to savor them, and in fact savored the entire book. Gordon has a true gift for writing of profound emotional conflict with empathic clarity. This is a book I value most of all for its wry introspection and moments of awareness that explode in revelation. It's not only about a childhood but the self in all its pain and luminosity.



2. This wonderful book tranforms incidents that we can all identify with into brilliantly captured observations about life. I am struck by the book's honesty and Ms. Gordon's ability to inject an aura of mystery and intrigue into the incidents she recalls with such lucidity. It's a great read, very moving in its simplicity and yet filled with Proustian overtones, giving the book its strength and power.



3. In the post-Frey era, it's refreshing to discover a memoir that
   reflects the ways in which memory really works. Are You Happy? delights with loose chronology and fleeting images, like the balloon glimpsed after the child has let go of the string. Yet the book is grounded by scrupulous attention to detail, with attending sounds, tastes, and fragrances that fully realize each hovering miniature. Here, one understands the author carefully scrutinized the past not to recite a history, but to evoke and describe a state of being, embracing the privilege, and one of the goals, of the memoirist: to make art of the past, as would a painter, or a musician improvising on a theme.
   Highly recommended.

2 comments about Come Home, Love Dad.

1. Not all families are disfunctional. In fact, Shelly Reuben proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt. What a wonderful portrait of a loving father as told through her eyes and through his own letters. Reuben paints a picture in words that creates images of a real father. One who lives in a houseful of love, surrounded by his five children, tolerant and loving wife, friends and crazy relatives. One readily sees why Reuben has selected words as her vocation. Her father created, plagerized, quoted and paraphrased the thought provoking guidence and evocative sentiments with which he communicated to his offspring. Written on stationary, or on the back of landlord-tenant court documents, these jewels of creative writing tell of a romantic soul. He is clearly adored, not for his incredible inventions or tenacity regarding real estate investments, but for his character, strength, concern and consideration. Those of us who can relate have surely had fathers of similar noble quality. Those who cannot fathom the beautiful relationships between father and child have missed an incredible experience. Reach back into childhood, read this and enjoy the experience.



2. If you want to read something that makes you feel good about life, read Shelly Reuben's book, Come Home Love Dad. With so many books flooding the market about serial killers and political espionage it's a pleasure to read something about an actual person that really touches you. Miss Reuben expertly uses narration as well as actual letters written by her father to gradually reveal his personality to the reader. I came to know a man who was an inventor, a landlord, and a salesman, but first and foremost - a father.

5 comments about Under a Wing (Isis Large Print Nonfiction).

1. Reeve Lindbergh gives a most interesting overview of her very famous parents - her father with his eccentric behavior - her mother with her focus on life through the eyes of a true poet. Her parents would be proud of her writing skills and her father would probably have given her rare praise for this particular book as well as her others. Kathleen Wyatt



2. I really have enjoyed reading Reeve's memoir of her family. She has an amazing memory and can describe details of any past situation like it just happened minutes ago. I am always amazed by people who can do that (especially since I am not one of them). I come from a famous family too and enjoyed reading this book because I have always been fascinated at hearing about someone elses recollections of the past. Reeve's family experience isnt much different than my own family's and in some cases I laugh because some of the stories she has told (i.e. burping a fountain pen) is the same as my familys. My grandfather, who's stories are much the same as Charles Lindberg's, was also raised in Minnesota (St. Paul & Hallepin) so I was delighted to hear Reeve inform the reader of her father's recollections of this same period and place.
   
   Reeve writes her book in a way which makes you feel like your her best friend. She opens her soul to you and pours out all that makes her happy and sad. Although I am confident that this book will be considered one of the best memoirs of its time, I am sure that her family will be very glad she wrote it because she has unearthed the legends of her family's past and how it made them who they are. This is truly a great book...



3. What I especially like about Reeve Lindbergh's memoir is its candid and utterly sincere tone. This is not a dusty historical treatise; it is a simple sharing of thoughts and experiences. The reader is drawn into the life of a young girl with remarkable and famous parents. We already had an idea of what it was like to live with Charles Lindbergh from the diaries of his wife, Anne Morrow. Now Reeve's book gives another view, helping to round out the picture. Along the way she presents us with snapshot images that offer glimpses into his character. Charles Lindbergh wasn't an easy man to understand; and if he is difficult for us adults to get a handle on, what was it like for his offspring? Reeve tells us in her straightforward and heartwarming manner. This book should be an essential part of any Lindbergh fan's library. I highly recommend it.
   
   Richard Salva--author of Soul Journey from Lincoln to Lindbergh [UNABRIDGED]



4. Reeve Lindbergh tells stories that we want to hear about everyday life with her famous, complicated father and her intelligent, artistic mother. Reeve's delicate, precise prose is reminiscent of her mother's style of writing. A reviewer said of Anne Lindbergh that she "combed" her life for meaning and the daughter seems tuned into that same compulsion. It helps that she writes with as much insight as did her mother. The passage that describes the hours mother and daughter spent together after the death of Reeve's child is heartbreakingly revealing of the private Anne and her anguish after the kidnapping and death of her own child. Reeve's reminiscences of flying with her father (she was not an enthusiast) and her longing for her enigmatic father are poignant. She does not avoid discussing Lindbergh's perceived anti-Semitism; she does not attempt to defend him but rather keeps her emphasis on the effect this controversy had (and has) on her connection with him. I challenge any daughter to read Reeve's account of her visit to her father's childhood home without weeping.



5. There can be no doubt that Reeve Lindbergh's memoir is the most touching book about that family that I have read. Through her eyes we go beyond the covers of other books and see what it really meant to be a Lindbergh.

   They were almost a closed society onto themselves, yet they still experienced the same joys and sorrows as the rest of us. We find the man who was depised as an isolationist to be a concerned and loving father who read to his children.

   We dine with the children at their grandmother's house and we soar above the Connecticut house on Saturdays. The famed aviator at the controls and a bored child in the rear seat.

   After reading this book I felt very attached to this famous family. Being the same age as Reeve herself, my only knowledge of the Lindbergh's was the famous flight and the kidnapping as I read in history books. Now, after this book, I feel as though I have become part of them.

   It can only be summed up in one word, wonderful.