5 comments about Bad Girl: Confessions of a Teenage Delinquent.

1. A must read book! I sat down and read it cover to cover.
   Not to be missed!



2. Just because Vona dabbled in drugs or other "bad" things as a teen, she's labeled a "bad girl." I can relate to much in the story because the writing is so raw and real I am ripped open as a reader with the writer's brutally honest words.
   
   Like the books CONFESSIONS OF A CATHOLIC SCHOOLGIRL and PROZAC NATION this is a must read for any teen or young woman that struggles to find herself in a mixed up world.



3. Not a memoir of delinquency but a chronicle of Vona's incarceration in a juvenile "boot camp." Atrociously written by someone who comes across as a spoiled rich girl with a fondness for stereotypes, and whose "delinquency" seems to have involved nothing more heinous than dating a drug dealer and indulging in a brief "runaway" period to a vacation cabin with friends. Not recommended. (For a more compelling story written by a more sympathetic narrator in less painful prose, see Daphne Scholinski's The Last Time I Wore a Dress.)



4. My Daughter did 13 Months at Peninsula Village and it was her saviour as well. This is one of th emost respected centers in the world. At a cost of $9600 per month it had better be. We are pleased with the staff and Peninsula Village and they gave us our child back after 13 months a totally better person. The person who wrote this book trumped it up to sell books bottom line. Their is a lot of non truth items in this book.



5. An advertisement for an abusive facility that breaks kids and then puts them back together as brainwashed robots... as told by one of their so-called 'successes'. Shocking only in the way that the author seems to truly believe that being isolated from human contact, allowed no friends and no conversation, and spending most of the day sitting on her bed (not being allowed to talk or even look at things), truly helped her 'recover'.

5 comments about Looking for Lost Bird: A Jewish Woman Discovers Her Navajo Roots.

1. The book came and it was like new--maybe it was new. I thought it took a bit longer to get to me than usual, and, if so, it's no big deal



2. This is an amazing and detailed story - and I don't want to spoil it for anyone who has not read it - suffice it to say that 'discovering ones roots' is neither an easy nor a direct path to tread - the brave people who undertake this quest never cease to amaze me .......



3. I look through thousands of books a year as a reseller, but I read about 2 books a year. This one got my attention because I have a son who is 1/2 Navajo. His mother suffered the same sort of fate as Yvette. "voluntarily" seperated from brothers and sisters at the age of 5, sent to Utah, a mom she has not met, alcohol, violence etc etc etc . . .
   
   This book does a very good job of relating what rez life is really like, and gives a good insight into Navajo culture.
   
   I am a classically stoic, but I had tears in my eyes all the way through this book. I encourage anyone who is interested in the journey of the Navajo to spend some time on the reservation. Drive around, meet the people. Western culture has a lot to learn from this society.
   
   Read Ward Churchill's writings too, don't judge him by what the media has said about him.



4. Looking For Lost Bird:
   A Jewish Woman Discovers Her Navajo Roots.
   Yvette Melanson with Claire Safron
   Bard Books. 233 pages. $22.00
   By Elliot Fein

   Looking For Lost Bird is a true story that is disturbing yet compelling. A Native American Navajo Indian woman gives birth on her reservation home in Arizona to twins, a girl and a boy. During their infancy, both children get sick. The mother takes the children to the nearest local hospital for a diagnosis.

   Hospital staff members instruct her that they will need to keep the two children over night for observations. When the mother returns the next day, the children are gone. The hospital has no record that they were ever admitted.

   The kidnapped infant children are each adopted in Florida by two different families. One of the families is a young Jewish couple that lives in a New York City suburb. Looking for Lost Bird is the story of the Navajo girl, Yvette Melanson, who is raised in that Jewish household.

   As an adult, Melanson discovers her Navajo origins and searches for her family roots. She finds her family (minus her mother, who died of a broken heart grieving for two lost children) still living on the Navajo reservation in which she was born. At the age of forty-three, Melanson decides first to visit her birth family in Arizona, then to move there permanently with her husband and two children.

   While adjusting to the reservation, Melanson learns and begins practicing the religion, culture, and way of life of her birth family. In this process, she abandons many of the Jewish cultural practices (but not necessarily Jewish values) in which she was raised.

   Melanson's Jewish parents (particularly her mother) provide a loving and caring environment for their daughter. In Yvette's recollection of how she was raised, their warts do surface, particularly the shortcomings of her father. After her mother becomes ill and eventually dies during her teen years, the father changes into a different, less appealing character.

   Melanson never reveals whether her Jewish parents knew about her Navajo origins. The reader is left to speculate whether the knowledge, if known by her Jewish parents that she was stolen from a Native American Indian family would have impacted their decision to adopt.

   What is surprising in the telling of this life story is the absence of any form of anti-Semitism by the author. When Melanson writes critically about her mother and father, she writes about them as individuals. She does not associate her criticism of them with Judaism as a faith tradition.

   On the reservation, when she begins taking on Native American Indian ways, Melanson naturally compares Navajo culture to Judaism. In this comparison, Melanson writes with respect, affection, and even admiration about the religious tradition in which she was raised.

   Melanson tells her life story (with the help of Claire Safron) with compassion, humor, and eloquence.

   I recently led a book club at my synagogue. A member of the club recommended that I read Looking for Lost Bird. After reading it, we immediately decided to include Looking for Lost Bird one of our featured selections. The book provides a great opportunity to learn about Navajo culture and to see how it compares to Judaism as a religious tradition. The book is also a true gift for adopted individuals, particularly native American Indians, seeking to uncover their past.

   Elliot Fein teaches Jewish Studies in the Tarbut V'Torah School in Irvine.




5. Like many of the readers I couldn't put the book down until I read it from cover to cover. While reading the story I found out these people were my extended family! I know everyone mentioned in the book. As a youngster I remember the crusade of Aunt Desbah, Uncle John and others in finding the twins who were stolen as babies. I wept at the end when Yvette participated in the holy Hozhoji ceremony to be reunited with her birth place, family, culture, and environment. Very moving!

   Aunt Betty, Yvette's biological mother lived a very brave life as she longed and searched everyday of her life wanting to be reunited with her twins. May God bless her soul.

3 comments about Cowboy Princess: Life with My Parents Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

1. who enriched our lives over five decades.
   
   Cheryl Rogers Barnett has truly written a memoir full of Love, Respect, and Admiration for her late parents, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. She writes of the people they were, before she was born, the circumstances of her adoption - yes, Cheryl was adopted by Roy and his first wife - and growing up in the Rogers-Evans* (Roy's first wife died while Cheryl was still a young pre-adolescent child, Dale lovingly took her on as her own) household. Roy, bless his soul, was in many ways, a real cowboy who eschewed the Hollywood lifestyle and could live in the great outdoors - in fact one of their early homes out at Lake Hughes was in a wooded setting - with rattlesnakes! Knowing that this wouldn't work, Roy moved in closer to Los Angeles, but always made sure that his children were grounded and did not have airs about them.
   
   Barnett writes about her growing-up in the Rogers-Evans household, and in reading it one kind of wishes that too were put of a family that truly lived by the Cowboy Code. Roy and Dale were among the kindest folks one could ever meet, and I sure wish I did. Both Roy and Dale were unfailing kind and considerate to most people they met. It speaks volumes that in the one instance Roy ever got angry at fans was when they chose to want to visit him on the day they were burying Cheryl's little sister, Robin, and only AFTER these uncouth and rude people insisted in visiting him, having no consideration for the grief of the family.
   
   She writes of the wonder horse Trigger, of how George "Gabby" Hayes was as different in real life as he was in the movies. Gabby, bless him, was a trained Shakespearian actor who was more accustomed to wearing tweed suits than a bandana and chaps - still, he too made the roles his very own. There are the Hollywood stories and vignettes of growing up knowing John Wayne and so many other Western heroes and other television and movie celebs, written straightforward, (the reader will never have the feeling that this book is a gossipy read) of Nudie the Famous Rodeo Tailor whom Roy helped to get established in Hollywood, and finally of the last decades when Roy and Dale, seeing how different Hollywood had become (mid-1960s), chose to move out to Apple Valley, and live out their lives there.
   
   Throughout it all, Roy and Dale always gave deep love to the people they knew, and encouraged their children to be the best and fine folks in their own right(after learning she was adopted, Cheryl underwent a quest to learn about her real parents, with Roy and Dale supporting her every way). With the happiness there were the tragedies, first Robin, then the young son who died serving in the U.S. Army, and the adopted daughter from Korea, killed in a senseless road accident. Throughout it all, Roy and Dale's faith in God was never unwavering and was always solid. They lived the true meaning of the Cowboy and Cowgirl Codes.*
   
   *(on their very last record together, Roy, Dale and son Dusty recorded a song written by two great friends of mine, Chris Hillman and Steve Hill entitled: "God's Plan" ...that pretty well sums up the honest and rich meaning of the lives they lived.
   
   A warm memoir of a time when the tinsel Cowboys were so very much real - and real people too, unlike the sad imitation that Hollywood has become these days. Thank you, Cheryl Rogers-Barnett for a heartwarming read, and for signing my Roy Rogers-Dale Evans lunchpail in Wickenburg, Arizona last April.



2. I loved this book! I became a little girl again with eyes wide open in awe of my heroes - Roy and Dale. Cheryl is very honest about the fun, the hectic schedules, the grief over the loss of her siblings, her rebellious nature in an innocent way, the strengths and weaknesses of her well-known parents who raised their family well, loved them dearly, lived a honorable life and had a lot of adventures in the way. Where the fans viewed Roy and Dale as super heroes ... Cheryl presents them as parents. I highly recommend this book!



3. Cowboy Princess: Life With My Parents Roy Rogers And Dale Evans is Cheryl Rogers-Barnett's true story of growing up as the daughter of "the King of Cowboys" and "the Queen of the West", whose popular exploits on movies and TV captivated the nation. Joy, the gruelling demands of the entertainment industry, the terrible loss of three siblings, and the lively personalities of those who shared their lives with Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Cheryl Rogers-Barnett fill this highly readable and personal account. Highly recommended for fans of Roy Rogers and the western movies of yesteryear.

5 comments about Magical Mystery Tours: My Life with the Beatles.

1. Tony Bramwell has given us a lucid insider's view into the Beatles' tight circle. Some of this is hilarious stuff and it is actually refreshing to read Bramwell's shots at the now-ultra-untouchable-PC John'n'Yoko myth.
   He is almost contemptous of Lennon and disdainful of Yoko and her machinations. Lennon comes across as a drug-addled loser with his best years behind him-Yoko is an evil Queen of the Castle,an almost Satanic figure bent on destroying the Beatles and what's left of Lennon's ego.
   Actually,"disdainful" is putting it mildly. I am surprised Bramwell has survived the curses Yoko must've hurled at him while she was mixing her potions and gazing into her crystal ball.
   If the reader wants a refreshing tome that punctures the Beatle myth and the lenono myth-this book is it.
   It's among the best Beatle books.



2. This is not so much an analysis of the Beatles' unbelievable career or their music as it is a rather breezy, first-person account of the segment of their lives that Tomy Bramwell shared. He knew John, Paul and George growing up in Liverpool (he didn't meet Ringo until they were both adults), and he gives us many insights about the three founding Beatles and of how they grew into rock's greatest band. Bramwell also worked for the Beatles all during the years of their greatest popularity.
   True, many of the details have been published earlier, elsewhere. But Bramwell gives them a new, "I was there" interpretation and what might be termed a specifically "Liverpudlian" perspective.
   I have noted in an earlier review of another book about the Beatles that the author of that one seemed to have a pro-John, anti-Paul bias. In all fairness, I would have to say that while Bramwell appears to have liked all the Beatles personally, Paul seems to have been the best friend to him, the one he considered "most normal," so to speak. But nevertheless, the picture he gives of the four is honest and candid, while still maintaining the fondness he held for all four of these extraordinary men.
   Warning: If you were favorably impressed by John's and Yoko Ono's various "pro-peace" stunts and other somewhat bizarre activities in the late 1960s and early 1970s, don't expect Bramwell to share your enthusiasm in this book. He makes it clear that he held Ono in low regard, and thought John's fascination with and marriage to her a mistake.
   The final few chapters of the book do not make as interesting a read as the earlier ones, as Bramwell goes somewhat off topic to relate anecdotes about how he met, got drunk with, etc., seemingly every well-known but flakey celebrity in Hollywood. It detracts a little from the book -- but only a little.
   If you're a Beatles fan -- or if you're a young person who has heard of them but would like to learn a lot more -- you'll find this book well worth your time.



3. This book is required reading for any Beatles enthusiast; however, although Bramwell seemingly has the credentials--knowing Paul and George since childhood--to write such a book, including blow-by-blow dialogue with the lads no less, I found it curious that Bramwell is only mentioned once in the index of McCartney's 654 page (auto)biographical tome, MANY YEARS FROM NOW. Seems Bramwell didn't loom too large as far as McCartney was concerned. What gives, Tony?



4. The first half of this book is very interesting, even to someone who has read nearly everything on the band and knows the story backwards and forward as myself. Bramwell apparently had a very successful carrer as a flak for various record companies post Beatles, largely due to that experience and the contacts made therin. He places himself closer to the center of a lot of well known Beatle events than I suspect he actually was. It seems he was basically a go-fer for the band and Brian Epstein in particular, at least until the film and promotion work he did in the middle to latter period of their group carrer.
   Where the book starts going off the rails a bit is in the repetitious accounts of the party scene. This pub and that club and drink, drink, drink. Also, the book could have used another edit to streamline the narrative a bit. The time line is all over the place and some events are foreshadowed or looked back on in a very confusing manner. So much so that even being prior well versed in the story in general I had to stop and think through from where in the time line a story or event was being related. This is definately not the book for a Beatles "newbie".
   My main complaint though is the fast and loose way some of the basic facts are related. Maybe it's a case of "forest for the trees" and being too close. But the book was written with a co-author, and a fact check would have revealed several mistakes in atributing cause and effect to certain events. The best example I can think of now is a passage where the author relates that many of the Beatle songs and albums had working titles which were later changed. True enough, 'Yesterday' had 'Scrambled Eggs', 'Abbey Road' started as 'Everest' however he states that the Rubber Soul album began as Abracadabra, but after John's "Jesus" comments it was decided to stay away from anything too magical sounding. OK Beatle people, what's wrong with that. A lot of you knew right away I'm sure. Rubber Soul came out in late '65, the Jesus flap didn't happen until summer '66. At first I thought that he actually meant that 'Revolver' was to be called Abracadabra, but even that would not make sense because 'Revolver' was completed in time for summer release before the American tour right at the time of the publication in America of John's months old and forgotten interview with Maureen Cleeve. I was dumbfounded that such an error could pass through in a major biography. Oh well, it might seem nitpicking but that sentence stood out like Yoko Ono at a square dance.
   There are good points. The author tells interesting stories of the early days and sheds new first-hand light on some of the touchstone events in the development of the band, such as the fabled Litherland town hall show in '60 and the atmosphere and circumstances of touring Britain right through to their massive success starting in mid '63. Apparently even as late as early '63 the girls didn't scream much but crowded the front and swooned. In addition, if you've always clamored for a list of Tony Bramwell's bed partners especially those of the semi-famous persuasion look no further. Also, if you believe Yoko is the devil and Linda an angel you will really enjoy the middle third of this book.



5. Essentially this was a great book until I reached the latter part. The first 3/4ths were highly entertaining and kept me hooked. Bramwell relates stories that I personally had never heard before; stories that could only be told by someone who knew the members of the Beatles so intimately. Despite this I felt that Ringo and George could have been mentioned a bit more throughout. Additionally I thought that the last quarter of the book dragged a bit more than the beginning. Personally I had no problem with Bramwell's perceptions of Yoko. It was based on his experiences and how he interpreted the events that occurred. Can't quite fault the man for that.
   
   I think that almost every Beatles fan should read Magical Mystery Tours. It's really quite the read.

5 comments about Me May Mary.

1. Mary's journey is truly extraordinary! I couldn't put the book down. She is an amazing human being to have overcome such adversity! Great read!



2. My career was as the Director of a rape treatment center and child protection team. Having read Mary's book, I assure you that it is a compelling read, hauntingly told without hysteria or histrionics. In an almost eerily pragmatic tone, Mary tells her story of a seriously deprived childhood in which she quickly adapted and accepted the status quo. It is a story with which many of us can identify because of the slow, insidious, and steady impact of growing up in families that not only cannot provide the basic necessities of life such as food and shelter, but do not provide safety, security, or emotional and psychological support. As children we are great at taking responsibility for the family. Mary's story is a plain truth story of survival and determination. I was quite moved and I've heard it all.



3. Could not put the book down. What a quality written autobiography that reads more like a fiction. Entertaining, motivational and educational. No "poor me" in this one - just the facts told in a straightforward manner. As a professional who has worked in the field of Behavioral and Mental Health, I can highly recommend this book to adults AND teens. After reading what Mary experienced as a child and what she overcame to become an educated, successful and caring adult you too will understand that it IS possible!



4. This insightful and touching memoir - Catcher in the Rye meets Horatio Alger - makes you wonder how a young woman exposed to such a difficult and deprived childhood can graduate from high school, not to mention earning a PhD from Harvard and becoming a leader in her profession. Even with elaborate support systems in place, most of us accomplish much less. Mary Kilgour's story is just an incredible eye-opener, told with such self-deprecating humor and honesty that you'll find yourself laughing and crying - and happy to learn that Ms Kilgour is now working to help children who are growing up facing some of the same issues she did!



5. I loved this book. Like most of the books I love, it offers a glimpse into a reality so different from my own. BTW, I can't stand depressing books...although Mary had a tough childhood, her book never left me feeling depressed.
   
   I let a woman at my work read it after me and she loved it too!

5 comments about Paper Daughter: A Memoir.

1. Although much of the focus of Elaine Mar's memoir could be written by anyone who experienced childhood teasing, discrimination, loneliness, poverty, low self-esteem; it is important to find the core of her plight, a battle with parents resisting a change into their new country. But even that story can be retold by many.
   
   Two countries in one household.
   Elaine was very young upon arriving from Hong Kong with her mother to join her father. The parents didn't accommodate to the U.S. well. They didn't learn English or customary ways. Her mother was mentally and physically abusive and spoke to her daughter in a degrading manner, and often repeated to the daughter that it was a waste of their time raising her.
   
   I didn't feel what she had to say was any different that what many people experience as children. But then, I understood the conflict being raised as an American, but challenged by Hong Kong parents with their strong ties to that culture and beliefs.
   
   Money vs no money.
   That she could not buy the right clothes to fit in was moreso, poverty vs. money rather than a cultural aspect. And many Americans are forced to work in the family business their entire youth; it is not just a Hong Kong thing.
   
   Unanswered Questions
   I was left with questions unanswered. Her parents worked in a restaurant with relatives, and a feud caused them to leave the home (basement) and the father to be out of work. She never elaborates on what caused this feud that forced them to make changes and how did the feud end, since there was a reunion.
   
   Also, aside from some typographical errors, toward the end, there is a chapter titled "When Father Lived in Wichita", but it has nothing to do with the content. The father lived there before she came to the U.S. Another chapter regarding college life is titled TASPS, but nowhere do we get an explanation what this stands for.
   
   Graphic Detail - the sexual experience.
   We learn of her sexual experience with a white boy from the restaurant, and I do say; we learn this through graphic detail for several pages.....several. A page would have done for me.
   
   Well-written, holding my interest, living in Denver, and, my fascination with a different look at how two cultures collided.
   
   One has to admire her tenacity to get where she did! ......MzRizz



2. Some people who've posted reviews here feel this book is not significant but I think we can all relate to being teased at school and trying to get by as a child. I loved this memoir and recommend it to anyone else who also loves memoirs or autobiographies.



3. I read somewhere that the events in a person's life are only interesting to that person. So true in this case. Yeah, yeah, Asian girl picked on my American classmates. Asian girl must learn proper American table manners. blah blah blah. The flowery, overly-detailed descriptions were lame and contrived. It could have been a good story if it wasn't so full of self-pity and a narcissistic attitude. Poor child, auntie won't hug her. Poor dear, she can't date outside her ethnic background. It seems more like the diary of a confused and angry adolescent. Now, Amy Tan, that's an interesting writer!



4. The book opens with a sensuous description of a Hong Kong child eating chicken bones, crushing them between her teeth to release the clotted marrow within. The author later contrasts this earthy and primal experience with the manner in which Americans eat fried chicken, delicately nibbling away from the bone, oblivious to the rich marrow within. I found this broad metaphor thought-provoking, contrasting the sterility of American suburban life with the riotous, crowded Hong Kong environs where the author lived her earliest years.

   I was very impressed with the sensual detail in the book, the descriptions of textures and scents hinting of mystery, such as the jars of dried mushrooms and spices that her mother stored in the tiny room that was the author's first home.

   The criticism that many reviewers have expressed is that the memoir fails to be reflective. I did not find that to be the case. I prefer to have the author use metaphor and selectiveness of memory to present her view, as she deftly does, than to read pages of exposition detailing why she felt her mother treated her coldly. I believe the author is trusting to the intelligence of the reader to puzzle out the motivations of each character. It would be less than artful to be as obvious as some readers apparently wish.

   That said, I did not always sympathize with the author, especially as she grew into adolescence and became increasingly disrespectful of her parents. However, it took courage for the author to sometimes portray herself in a less than attractive manner. One was left to wonder if her adolescent angst would have been similar if she had never left Hong Kong.

   I felt the memoir's legitimate focus was her childhood and formative years. Some have expressed the wish that the author would have continued, describing her college years in greater detail. I disagree, as that would have moved the story away from the focus on family. Family is used to define the author throughout the memoir; as she seperates from her family, the story ends. Therefore, I found the break logical.

   My one criticism would be that it is slightly facile to believe that a Harvard education somehow has elevated the author beyond her family. The first severing was one of language. Education was secondary. I disliked the implication that the education she strove for somehow delivered her from an intolerable life. The author seemed to be overly impressed with herself for being accepted into Harvard, as if this were the grandest achievement attainable. She also failed to criticize, or if she did, it was too subtle for my tastes, the adolescent mentalities and delusions of genius, which were apparently common amongst the students at the Cornell summer program she attended. Nor could I tell if she felt the psychiatrist who interviewed her for the program was rather pompous and shallow, as I did. My assumption, though, is that the author has chosen to leave this unsaid and that this scene was yet another instance of her trying to fit into one sub-group or another, posing as an intellectual rather than as a typical American teenager.

   The author progresses from dutiful Chinese daughter, to bewildered immigrant, to essential interlocutor for her family, to sullen teenager, to burgeoning "intellectual". I felt that most of these transitions were beautifully described and that the varying experiences and motivations of the different family members contributed greatly to the richness of the story. I was a little off-put by her eventual move to Cambridge and Harvard, because I felt that the author's motivations were more about belonging to an "elite" group and progressing socially than any educational goals. However, my opinion is belied by the elegant and moving memoir that she later wrote, which implies that her maturity has progressed greatly beyond the last stage described in the book, that of a self-centered teenager eager to break from her family.

   Overall, I found this memoir to be very worthwhile reading.




5. Mar's memoir may be a better read for someone not accustomed to reading about the Chinese-American immigrant experience, but those well-read in the field are unlikely to be impressed. Mar does not use hindsight to explain things that confused her in her childhood, such as the significance of speaking Toisan instead of proper Cantonese. Her childhood experiences are not so different from those of American-born Chinese, or frankly of smart children in general. Her experience with the joy of being around other smart kids is more closely tied with the "smart" experience than the "immigrant" experience. And her tango with anorexia, along the same vein, has more to do with the "type-A female" experience then with the immigrant experience. Overall, this book is a good memoir of one woman's life, but there are too many ideosyncratic facets for this to tout itself as a good representation of the modern Chinese immigrant experience in America.

5 comments about Miriam's Song: A Memoir.

1. This book was really good and an eyeopener in many ways. Sometimes it is hard to believe the bad things that really go on in the world.



2. The book Miriam's Song, by Mark Mathabane, opened my eyes to the hardships and terrifying stories of Alexandria's slums and poverty. Told through the eyes of Miriam Mathabane, a poor black girl in Alexandria, South Africa, the story is inspirational and heart braking at the same time. From the beginning of the book, I was enthralled by the vivid details of Miriam's Bantu Education and poor living conditions. By the end of the book I felt as if I was inside Miriam's head, dealing with her emotions as if they were mine and following her story with a devout interest. This is the story of her struggle to overcome the difficulties of living in South Africa during the apartheid to achieve the power women and blacks were starved of.
   Miriam lived in a dysfunctional family consisting of an abusive father, smart but illiterate mother, and enough brothers and sisters to lose track of. The family lived in a shack they called a house, in an over crowded slum full of disease and mal-hygiene. On top of all of her hardships at home, Miriam had to deal with the Bantu (black) Educational system, which was staffed by cruel teachers and based on tough discipline. The teachers were more interested in clean hands and fingernails than the quality of education in the over crowded classes. In the book Miriam describes one experience with the strange education system saying, "Mama forgot to borrow a fingernail clipper... to trim my long and dirty finger nails... the mistress finally class my name... I gingerly step forward. I never take my eyes off the thick ruler in the mistress's right hand... `They are long and dirty'... the mistress slowly raises the thick ruler... high up in the air and prepares to rap my fingers." (24). It is clear that the mistress, or teacher, is worrying more than she should be on how long each students nails are and is disciplining in a harsh way. The only encouraging force keeping Miriam in the awful school was her brave mother who was continually encouraging.
   This book taught me more about how women are treated in superiorly in other places of the world and how differently I live from many other people. It was clear through out the story that physical and sexual abuse was accepted in the ghetto of Alexandria and was quite common. The discrimination of blacks was also very surprising. Even when the vast majority of the population was black, they were still treated like animals, and squeezed into small towns around the country. It was inspiring to read about the struggles for equality and the great measures many people went through to overcome the all-white government.
   After reading Miriam's Song I have gained a new respect for black women all over the world. The story showed me a new side of inequality not just judged by the color of skin but by gender. Miriam taught me to stand up for what I believe in and "fight the system." This is a great book for girls throughout the country to read because it is encouraging and a great read.



3. I strongly encourage everyone to buy and read this book. This book tells the story of what it is like to be female in apartheid South Africa. Do not pass up this opportunity to learn more about the legendary Mathabane family!



4. ...about my life, my educational opportunities, my social status. Miriam's Song should be required reading for all spoiled brats who think their lives are difficult. Shame on me for ever taking education for granted! Shame on me for ever complaining that my opportunities in the US are limited because of my gender! This book left an indelible mark on my social consciousness. Not just a touching and eye-opening memoir, but also a story of fierce determination and strength, Miriam's Song ranks among my must-reads. Her story is inspiring and her candid writing makes the reader feel as if she is sitting right there in the room, like an new friend telling you about her life. The text does not attempt to justify or rationalize or otherwise explain the social structure, and is remarkably pure in its telling of Miriam's story. Because this book is free from philisophy and pontification about wrong and right, fair and unfair, here-and-there comparisons, the reader is left to come to these realizations on his/her own and thus the story becomes most poignant. I find myself wondering how Miriam is doing now, and would welcome another book including the rest of her story and her observations of the US. Whole-heartedly recommended. Finished it yesterday and loaned it to a friend today.



5. How nice it is to sit in our American homes and vaguely read of the troubles of South Africa. I am ashamed to have never paid more attention to this subject. This is a riveting book that takes you past the superficial headlines and into the lives of the blacks who suffered under apartheid.

   The Mathabane family lives in a suburb of Johannesburg, in a one-square mile ghetto that is home to over 200,000 people (400,000 by the end of the book). Employment is hard to come by--for one to work, one must have a permit. But to get a permit, one must have a job.

   Their home is a two room shack, where four of the children sleep on the kitchen floor. There is a communal tap outside. Raw sewage runs in the street outside their door. Black children are only allowed to be taught certain subjects in a certain manner, and Miriam and her classmates are routinely beaten for any infraction--mistakes in schoolwork, uncombed hair, nails that are dirty/too long, wearing dirty bloomers, or not wearing bloomers at all. (These people live in complete poverty, and it was not uncommon for children to not have underwear.) The young teenage girls are easy targets of sexual abuse. Many become pregnant, single mothers, unable to finish school.

   While the story is unbelievably horrifying, their outlook is one of constant hope and faith. I am unable to get this family out of my mind, and I will be reading Mark Mathabane's autobiographical books as soon as I get my hands on them...This is an amazing story of how people in other parts of the world live. I strongly recommend this book.

No comments about The Boyhood Memoirs of A. E. Hotchner: King of the Hill and Looking for Miracles.

5 comments about My Father's Rifle: A Childhood in Kurdistan.

1. This novelette tells the story of Azad, A Kurdish boy living in Iraqi occupied Kurdistan, as the lands of the Kurds are seized and their culture destroyed.
   In 1968, eight year old Azad lives in a small village in Iraqi occupied Kurdistan.
   He climbs onto rooftops and watches his cousin's homing pigeons eating the juicy pomegranates in his mother's garden.
   He swims naked with his friends and brothers in the streams near the village and enjoys the occasional treat of biscuits from the village store. He watches his uncle's television- the first in his village- but he wonders why there all the shows are in Arabic and their are no Kurds on TV.
   Azad's tranquil village life is shattered after the Baathist coup of of 1968 which sweeps Ahmed Hassan Al Bakr and Saddam Hussein to power as the new regime begins a campaign of genocidal repression against the Kurds.
   Azad's cousin Mamou is hunted down and killed by Iraqi troops and his family flee to a nearby cave where they are, among thousands of Kurds, bombarded by napalm from Iraqi planes.
   The family returns home to find their home razed and their and their orchard destroyed.
   Azad's father and brothers, with meager arms and supplies join the resistance but Azad and his family are captured and together with hundreds of thousands of Kurds swept into refugee camps.
   
   Azad's small niece dies froma respiratory illness after being refused treatment by the Arab doctor at the local hospital.
   Azad eventually leaves Kurdistan for exile in Europe. Many of the family he has left behind are to die in the poison gas attacks ordered by Saddam , or in Iraqi run concentration camps. This is an engaging and moving story about the struggle for freedom of the dispossessed Kurds.
   It is a story of a people whose plight has been ignored by the media, and
   opinion makers. The Kurds have not had courses taught about their plight and
   history at universities. They are not backed by powerful lobbies and pressure groups across the world- as the "Palestinians" are- their have never been any international conferences to highlight their plight, and the opression and genocide of the Kurds by Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.
   has never occupied any time at the United Nations.



2. Fairly simple read. I could relate to this book quite a bit due to the fact that I am a Kurd. Could have been a little longer but still a fun read.



3. This is fun book to read. As a kurd, I can reflect to many of the stories shared in the book.



4. Somewhat interesting, easy reading, an insight into Kurdistan, but perhaps a bit simplistic.



5. Well written story about the Kurdish situation as seen through the eyes of a young boy as he becomes a man.

5 comments about Recollections of My Life as a Woman: The New York Years.

1. Diane di Prima's "Recollections of My Life as a Woman" is a must read for anyone who loves her poetry. I found it to be incredibly insightful and enjoyable to read. Understanding her life definitely helps demystify some of her poetry, like LOBA, for instance. She is such a diverse writer and woman. Everyone who reads this will benefit from it no matter what.



2. This is a wonderful book, presenting a brilliant vibrant picture of a cultural movement and time, the Beats/Hippies, and a woman who embodied all the artistic and humanistic values in an incredibly pure form. To me, the book (and the woman) are inspiring in their dedication to the values of art, spontanaeity, love, and Zen naturalness. An invaluable read for women artists, especially, and also for artists in general, and people interested in a certain world view and life style.



3. I found this book to be captivating. I felt as though I was right along side her on her journeys. The eras she lived through were so richly detailed. She had so much hope and energy. I never wanted this book to end.



4. Diane di Prima is one of the most foremost and noteworthy female writers of the Beat generation and the 20th century. She has been affiliated with such writers as Jack Keroac, Allen Ginsburg and Robert Creeley. She wrote and inspired in a mans world bringing to life a new female perspective in the 1950's. She continues to write extraordinary poetry, essays, and amazing prose. Her writing style is original and still refreshing to read fifty years later. Diane in her latest book Recollections of My Life As a Woman : The New York Years, an autobiography, goes on to embrace all aspects of her life as a woman. It was an amazing book. I enjoyed it, and I think most will, even if your forte is not beat generation history. It's a good read for others who want to learn more about the beat generation, and it's a great book because of the excellent narrative, and the obvious love she has for writing as well as life it's self.



5. At the end of the book I cried because it was over. That happened once before at age 10 when I finished Black Beauty. This book hit nerves in me that hadn't been touched since On the Road. DiPrima's brilliance, toughness, honesty and forays into the unknown make me want to find her phone number so I can talk to her... this rare woman!