1 comments about Botchki: When Doomsday Was Still Tomorrow.

1. David Zagier wrote this book over a period of sixty years. It was first drafted in the thirties and finished only sixty years later. It tells of his childhood shtetl which was destroyed by the Nazis. He tells of his childhood there , the world of his parents. He attempts to reconstruct a world lost.
   This is a clearly written memoir and it tells its story in a good way. There were unfortunately hundreds of other such shtetls who had no one to tell their story, and keep alive if only on the page, those characters and personalities who made their world so colorful.
   This is a valuable highly readable memoir.

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.

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

1. This is a book that delivers what an art book should: good reproductions at a decent size, good writing, and good information not only on the artist but his art and techniques as well. Compared to the outrageous prices for used copies of Faith Andrews' companion book on Benson, this book is a steal at only 14.00, including shipping.



2. 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."

5 comments about The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue: A Child of the Fifties Looks Back.

1. [[0972338500-Galactically Speaking]]
   
   Robert Klein's always been one of my favorite comedians. So, I figured his memoir, "The Amorous Busboy of Decatur Avenue" would be: a) funny and 2) about sex, which it was. What I didn't expect was that many of Klein's reminiscences about coming of age in the 50's, his Animal Housean college years and his early days as an actor and comic to also be heartfeld and poignant. Although times have changed, people of all generations can relate to the intial angst and uncertainty of wading, diving or, in Klein's case, dipping a cautious toe into the turbulent sea of sexual relationships. TABODA (pronouced TABODA) is an entertaining, pleasant break from the gloom and doom of modern day life.



2. Like many of the other previous reviewers, I think the world of Robert Klein as a comedian, so I had high hopes when I purchased "Amorous Busboy." Unfortunately, unlike other recent memoirs I've read (Billy Crystal's and Alan Alda's), Klein's was sorely lacking in humor. Not to say that he wasn't funny when he tries, it's just that Klein rarely makes even the attempt at humor throughout this overly detailed book. The most interesting parts, not surprisingly, deal with the development of his talent and career, but that constitutes a relatively small portion of the book, the lion's share having to do with his sexual development. This book was a big disappointment!



3. Robert Klein's unique sense of humor makes for a great read...of course, it might be even more appealing to read his material if you are already a huge fan of his as I am. This book is not a "laugh out loud" type of book say like say an Al Franken book, but it's funny in other ways and quite enjoyable.



4. I have liked Robert Klein since I saw him live around 1975. This memoir of his early years is a lively read that gives a lot of background on what made his comedy what it is. He is unsparing about his insecurity, need to belong, tendency to overdramatize, and attitudes towards women. The result feels both honest and entertaining.
   
   Why are people giving this book negative reviews for not covering his marriage, children, HBO specials, the Dukakis campaign, or whatever else? Klein was writing only about his youth to the age of 25, with much clarity about the manners, prejudices, and sexual mores of the late 50s and 60s, and he succeeded admirably in making them vivid to someone who was born in 1959. Would I like to read more about his later years? Yes. Hope he writes another book. But it makes no sense to rake this one over the coals for things it didn't try to do.
   
   I take particular exception to the reviewer who even threw in complaints about the omission of topics Klein *did* touch on, including campus anti-Semitism, his difficulties with the talented but scene-stealing David Steinberg, and descriptions of the early careers of performers he met, including Rodney Dangerfield and Bette Midler. Did Klein explicitly say why his comedy seems based on middle-aged angst? No, but growing up with preternaturally cautious and conservative parents accounts for it. If you don't rebel against your parents, you are liable to imitate them.
   
   In sum: this book is well worth reading if you are prepared to accept it for what it is.



5. It's a joy to read. Funny, funny, funny. Great stories, and he truly makes you feel like you know all of the people in his life. A true gem of a book.

5 comments about A Nearly Normal Life: A Memoir.

1. I think if the author hadn't written his memoir in such a vain way--it would have been better??



2. In 1953, when he was a robust 14-year-old, Charles L. Mee was stricken with viral polio. This memoir describes his struggle with polio, and also comments on the treatments (sometimes horrific) that were tried to beat this virus that, in 1953 alone, struck over 50,000 people. His struggle was not an easy one, and his later life wasn't either, but he comes to terms with his limitations, becoming a successful historian and playright. It's a real eye-opener, and he doesn't mince words, which makes for a compelling read.



3. For those interested in understanding the impact of polio, this is the definitive source. No one tells the story like Charles Mee. The depth of his insights are stunning. He makes a powerful comment on the human condition. This book is a MUST READ.



4. From long experience with this area, Mee's accounts both of the era of his youth and the experiences of polio ring very true from the pen of an accomplished writer. One senses that Mee never really made peace with his disability and its impact, inasmuch as he was able to evade, compensate, head into intellectual endeavors, etc., so there are many polio/disability issues not well dealt with here. (Significantly it ends with his finding an oasis in the intellectual world of the Ivy League and the intellect.) However, one has to suspect that the decision to tell the story, with insight and honesty, may represent at long last a step in addressing what he may have hoped at one time to simply "leave behind." Perhaps there will be a sequel in which his historical training and writing skills are again focused on the complex interrelationships between disability, psyche and society. This is a good read, though, even if it is not the full story.



5. I don't write many reviews anymore, who has time? However, this book stood out so much above the rest I've read lately that I just had to share. The book is about a polio survivor, the 50's, the discovery of the vaccine and oh so much more. It's about living the life you were handed, not the want you thought you were going to get.

   His epilogue is pure poetry. An example: "Life continues to change. New things surface; old wounds hidden by bigger wounds show up when the bigger wounds are healed; new clusters of misgivings and confusion take shape to replace old clusters of exhausted adjustments. New things come along to be accepted with grace and peace. The disability and its challenges continue to evolve, and one must achieve acceptance and grace and peace again and again, day after day."

   I highly recommend this book to everyone. I read about 5 books a week and this book is in my top 20 of all time.

5 comments about Growing Up Under Hitler.

1. This was a fascinating read that gives a perspective on WWII that you seldom, if ever, hear. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in WWII history. I have come away from reading it with a broader understanding of topics that tend to be taught from only one point of view. This is a valuable asset, and I'm glad I had the oppotunity to read it.



2. Mr. Knapp has presented a unique look into the mind of a dictator and how such a person was able to affect an entire population. Mr. Knapp is able to convey that not all citizens were negativly influenced by the Nazi propagnada machine. The reader is struck by the fact that the young Mr. Knapp is able to maintain both his humanity and dignity throughout a most difficult period in his life. This book is quite relavant in that similar regimes exist today, often without national boundries. A factinating read.



3. The book gives a new insight into every day life under Hitler through the eyes of child. It is truely absorbing and I could not put it down until I completed reading. I thank the author for this excellent book.



4. The book gives a new insight into every day life under Hitler through the eyes of child. It is truely absorbing and I could not put it down until I completed reading. I thank the author for this excellent book.



5. The book gives a new insight into every day life under Hitler through the eyes of child. It is truely absorbing and I could not put it down until I completed reading. I thank the author for this excellent book.

1 comments about The Gate : A Memoir of Love and Reflection.

1. With the turn of each page I began to realize that this was more than a semi-autobiographical work by one of the most well-regarded systems theorists of our era. Riane Eisler, the internationally acclaimed author of The Chalice and The Blade, Sacred Pleasure, Tomorrow's Children and numerous works on the women's legal rights, has brought to the attention of her audience an area of Jewish twentieth century history previously unknown to many....the role that pre-Castro Cuba played as a haven to thousands of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution in the late 1930's.

   The Gate provides the reader with insights from a young girl's perspective, growing up with a culture, language, and socio-economic background significantly different than anything she or her family had experienced before. The reader perches on a young Eisler's shoulder as she explores the sights, scents and sounds of a tropical paradise, as she encounters her first love affair, and how she grows to understand the relationship and role her parents play in her life.

   For readers familar with Eisler's concepts of partnership and dominator models of relationships, it is quickly apparent the role that her Cuban upbringing, her father, and the young idealistic revolutionaries she found herself surrounded by played in her research of these concepts in later years.

   My one regret with this book is that Eisler does not continue to enchant the reader with the changes to come in her early adulthood as she enters the United States, witnesses the struggles her family must undergo to "start over" yet again, and as she begins her own exploration and growth as a lawyer and young mother. We get a mere taste of what is to come, instead of the full serving the reader begs for!

1 comments about The Unknown Bobby Fischer.

1. This book isn`t only about Fischer. It contains many stories about Fischer and other players. It contains many games of Fischer, but also games between other players. It contains pictures of Fischer and other players too. What i especially loved about this book was the stories, about Fischer and other players. It contains many games from Fischer`s 64 simul tour of the US, and quite a few stories from these simuls. It contains articles and other things. " A Bookstore in Argentina " was quite intriguing, but as was other stories and stuff. It also contains letters from Fischer to Larry Evans in the 70s. It is all in all a great book about chess. It isn`t a teaching book, but many stories about players in the 50s,60s and 70s. Combined with interwievs, pictures and other stuff. Many games are included, and in a sense i do believe we can all learn something from these games...you know what i mean when i say it isn`t a teaching book. This book is a true treasure, and while i admit i regret buying mnay of the books i own this one is great.
   It`s ashame it`s currently out of print, especially since it is a newer book ( 1999 ). If new copies arrive, or you see it in a used book-store grab it and never let go!!

5 comments about Road Song.

1. In a culture that demonizes the poor and marginalizes the children of the poor, the Kusz family faces more than just 70 below temperatures, the author's tragic accident, hunger and squalor. Those who live more mainstream (read that affluent and conforming) lives, imagine those who live in rural (or urban) poverty as morally, intellectually and spiritually as well as financially impoverished. What Natalie Kusz does in this unforgettable memoir is to slow the reader down and draw her up close to those who travel that other road-- to allow the reader to view scenes of violence, abuse, charity and grace. The book is beautifully written. The only thing I would argue with is locating the father's backstory so close to the end of the book in one large chunk, instead of interspersing part of it throughout the book where it might shed some light on his own particular demons. Interestingly, I read each of the other reviews of this book and found in every one some bit of wisdom and thoughtfulness. This book is well worth reading twice--first for the story and then for a fruitful discussion of memoir.



2. I was very excited when I found this memoir at a gently used bookstore. I thought it was very good. I felt like I was traveling to Alaska right along with Natalie. This is one of those books that you hope will have a sequel someday.



3. I read this book years ago, and found it very moving. I think Ms. Kusz is a good writer and extremely courageous. Her childhood (quite honestly) sounds horrible, but her parents are very loving and kind and smart.
   
   One thing that did disturb me about the book was that Ms. Kusz seemed to need to convince us that her parents were right in leaving LA for Alaska. For example, she writes that she and her siblings (aged 1 to 7) were sick of modern life and its accroutrements. This is hard to believe! Little kids don't know enough about the world yet to be sick of it.
   
   In LA, her parents had a house, jobs, a large backyard, family close by, warm weather, etc. In Alaska, they had nothing. They didn't even have enough money to buy the land they wanted so much. How could her parents uproot four young kids for such an uncertain future! Can you imagine her mom's life--even before Natalie's terrible accident. Four little kids, no money, not enough food, husband away working, living in a trailer with no bathroom, the weather sometimes 50 or 60 below.
   
   All the things her parents wanted--outdoor life, contact with wildlife, streams, orchards, etc., -- none of that happens in Alaska. There's no mention of the family having fun doing "country" things. It seems their adventure was not successful. Perhaps if Natalie hadn't gotten hurt things might have been different, but it doesn't seem that likely. They still were poverty-stricken, without a home or a job, living in a place where it got 70 below. I once saw a review that said the Kusz decision to move was almost comprable to child abuse, and I am tempted to agree.
   
   With that said, I really admire Natalie's ability to rise above a terribly painful childhood, filled with extraordinary physical pain. I hope she is well and I wish she'd write another book.



4. Originally it was the title that popped out on this one: aha! another great travel novel, I hoped. Oh no, much better and much more intense!!! A woman reconstructs for us the story of her unusual "hippy" parents, her father a refugee from Poland's wartime harshness. The parents have four children and cannot stand the modern life of the Southern California suburbs. Off they go, packed up in an old truck, all the way to Alaska. With a relative's gift/loan, they buy land and begin to build a house on the outskirts of Fairbanks. Needless to say, money is very tight, jobs are scarce, and the winter is setting in. The parents scrounge through the Salvation Army and the local U.S. Army dump for supplies, even finding food to keep them going. They are true pioneers in the face of horrible winter weather: -50F in a perpetual icefog, through which the kids sometimes trek to get to the the schoolbus stop.
   
   Natalie's account of her horrific accident, when underfed huskies break their chains and rip her face off, ruining one eye, is one of these memoirs almost impossible to believe is true. But yes, it is true, and luckily the parents have insurance, and are able, in the late 1960's, to save their daughter, fight infection from reaching her brain, and have her face reconstructed over years of medical appointments.
   
   In addition to this horrible disaster, the parents are barely making it financially, and for years, simply live together packed in a trailer out in the wilderness, far from town. The kids get older, need to go to school, and find that the local town is full of rough-tough kids, mainly from the U.S.Army base, who early fall into drugs, drinking and promiscuity. So of course, our Natalie does so as well, but doesn't tell her parents, until the news she can't avoid: she's pregnant at 16.
   
   On and on this story goes, and makes the reader want to keep on going for more. It's true that it's not exceptionally well-written - certainly it seems a bit too casual in its style. The author, only 27, does come across as self-involved, but perhaps that's understandable. Her mother's early death and father's early onset of heart disease make this tragedy almost unbearable. One wonders how she really could have done it all, including with the little girl, raising her alone.
   
   Definitely a great read, not at all typical "American" in any yearning for a better life. She concludes that she is attached to Alaska and decides at the time of writing (1990) that she will go back and stay up there, near her father's house.



5. As a fellow writer oh how I hated Natalie Kusz as I read her book. She is that rare combination of a brilliant writer and someone with something to say. I could barely contain my envy, and admiration, as I read. This is a book that disappoints only because it ends.

2 comments about Forgotten Memories: Sequel to East Side Dreams.

1. Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine October 2002 VOYA
   Growing up in San Jose, California, Arturo Rodriguez and his brothers and sister endured an abusive father, their parents' unhappy marriage, and their father's absence after he returned to Mexico. Rodriguez coped as best he could, but his drinking and drug use, in the wrong place at the wrong times led to his incarceration in California's prison system for young offenders. Against all odds, he put his past behind him, married and had a family, and worked hard to overcome injustices and start a successful business. After his retirement Rodriguez began writing about his life and his family. This book is sequel to East Side Dreams (Dream House, 2001, published in Spanish as Sueños del Lado Este. In this second autobiographical book, he writes about childhood pranks and misdeeds, his mother's near fatal illness, his parent's divorce, the birth of his first child, and how his parents even eventually became friends.
   The writing here is unpolished but sincere in true, and the reminiscences and descriptions are vivid and true to life. Neither how he grew to understand his father and other relatives whom he loved despite their flaws. His message for young readers is clear. It is possible to survived and overcome injustices and hardships. Rodriguez maintains a Web site at www EastSideDreams. com and invites readers to visit, view his picture alum, and perhaps send him an e-message. He will answer.-Sherry York Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine



2. Forgotten Memories
   Art Rodriguez
   Dream House Press
   Capably written for teenage readers grades 7 through 11 by Art Rodriguez, Forgotten Memories is the story of his having been a young man growing up amid difficult conflicts in San Jose, California. From life-threatening risks such as drowning and knife fights, to the cutting harshness of vituperative words, Forgotten Memories reflects the drama of learning how to survive, grow, and accept personal responsibility. Forgotten Memories is recommended as a powerful coming of age story. Also highly recommended is the Art Rodriguez previous memoir, East Side Dreams.