5 comments about Almost a Woman.

1. Almost a Woman is a beautifully detailed memoir written by Esmeralda Santiago. In this book she writes of events that occur between her fourteenth and twenty second years, just after she, along with her mother and siblings, moves from a rural town in Puerto Rico to her grandmother's tiny apartment in Brooklyn, New York. Santiago describes her struggles and triumphs in adjusting to a new lifestyle in the United States, embracing her culture, and maturing into the woman she wishes to be.
   I really enjoyed this book. Santiago writes in honest detail about the adventures she has in attempt to become independent from her restricting, "old-fashioned" mother and performing in theaters of Manhattan. Most entertaining are her accounts of unique relationships with various men. I didn't know whether to laugh or to remain in shock as Santiago recalled such things as, "he was thirty-seven, the same age as Mami, seventeen years older than me," or, "it hit me that I was about to marry a man who stole planes for a living." The events are amazingly unpredictable and quite engaging. Only the clarity and specification of her words reminded me that I was not reading an imaginative, fictional story, but rather the true and eventful life of quite a remarkable woman!
   I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand the challenges of moving from one very different environment and country to another, while embarking on the journey into adulthood. This memoir will not fail to entertain, as well as teach the reader many important life lessons.



2. Wow.. I thought I had a strict upbringing.. Esmeralda's takes the cake. This memoir picks up where "When I Was Puerto Rican" stops (well, the first chapter or 2 basically repeats the end of the first book for those that did not read it) and covers her teenage years. She had a mother that bore eleven children and never married, but was apparently so concerned that her daughter not follow her example, she did not let Esmeralda date and kept her on a very short leash. Esmeralda finds ways around it tho like any spunky rebellious teenager. I found parts of it engrossing. I felt embarassed with her during the retelling of her Mami showing up at a party simply because she forgot to call. However, I did not find this one as humorous as "When I Was Puerto Rican". I also do not care to read an entire novel about the Turkish guy she meets at the end, which the next novel covers. Basically what I am trying to say, is that unlike "When I Was Puerto Rican," this memoir, although good, does not make me want to keep reading. However, I am going to read the next one just to find out if Esmeralda ever asked her mother "Mami, why do you not use birth control?" I am dying for the answer at this point.



3. Esmeralda Santiago was born in Puerto Rico, and spent her early years there. Her mother moved with her children to New York City (Brooklyn) to start a new life, hoping for newer and greater opportunities after various setbacks in the Caribbean island. Esmeralda tells the story of her beginnings in New York, her struggle to learn English, to cope with the school system, to cope with a new culture and to deal with gangs and crime. The book portrays a strong and proud mother who struggles to maintain her family in the midst of poverty, and who despite an already large family keeps adding to it. The author, in a sort of painful honesty, describes her own passage through adolescence which includes her efforts to earn money,have friends, pursue drama, date and form relationships with men. The one relationship in particular is rather unusual and interesting and I won't spoil the pleasure of reading it for the first time by providing more details. Nor will I spoil her most heroic moment of triumph in the book, a moment which truly leaves one gasping in awe. All in all this is quite a moving and interesting book, written simply and directly but with passion and power.



4. Her life is not easy, but she has made the best of it growing to be an excellent human being, a great writter and an inspiration on success if your really try and have specific goals. Like her books. She is Puerto Rican to the bone.



5. I read this for my Latino Writing class. Other than that I was bored througout the whole book. The only times I really enjoyed this story were when we discussed this in class.

5 comments about Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival.

1. Cooper does a great job giving us insight into the lives of journalists. To bring the stories that we see on the news, someone has to experience the horrors of the reality of the story and bring it to us in a clean and filtered manner. The journalists themselves though actually have to sift through the horrors on a regular basis. I guess I always imagined his life to be somewhat glamorous because of who he is and where he came from but this book just shows how television has a way of only portraying the glamour and none of the realities associated with the people we sit down to watch every evening.
   His life is far from glamorous, in fact, it's a miracle he hasn't gone over the edge yet...
   I highly recommend this book for it's insightful portrayal of the atrocities that go on in the world and Coopers honest portrayal of his life and feelings.
   The only thing I didn't love was how the book jumped back and forth in time and location, found it a bit disorienting to keep track of people and story lines.



2. I am a great admirer Anderson Cooper. Through his stories he reveals some of his 'real' self and his inner conflicts. My only negative comment is that I wish it were 10 times longer.



3. I found this book very surprising. I was not expecting to read the words of a person who was bravely opening up about inner demons, self examination and personal growth, but I found it extremely comforting and profound. Anderson Cooper shows the reader a very vulnerable side to himself that very few would ever dare speak of and paints a truly human and flawed side that all of us possess, but seldom confess. His travels, insight and experiences are very interesting, educational and entertaining! I found "Dispatches from the Edge" to be haunting, courageous and wonderful! An unexpected journey through the trials of one man's life.



4. Amazing book!
   In simple words Anderson Cooper shares with the reader emotions and hard realities, often not mentioned on news broadcasts.
   He is not only a daring journalist, or a fabulous anchorman. Anderson Cooper is a wonderful human being. He does not play the game of "political correctness" so popular among journalists. We can count on him to be "our" voice and tell things as they are.
   His book gave me an insight of the sorrows during wars, natural disasters and a broad view of what is wrong with politicians and their role during adversities.



5. What a treat it is to find a memoir that tells of one person's life while touching your own. I have always been in awe of Anderson Cooper's beauty and strength during traumatic events. It was not until I read his memoir that I discovered that the root of this strength is his rootlessness. In my mind, he has gone from being a reporter to a hero.
   
   Unlike other memoirs, Cooper does not praise himself anymore than he berates himself. His book is written like how he tells the news, straight and to the point. However, there is a depth and a sentimentality within him that is rarely noticed. His writing is exquisite as well as his ability to weave his personal development through his travels as a correspondent.
   
   I can't think of a single person who would be disappointed after reading this memoir.

5 comments about Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story.

1. I'm going to start off with this: Chuck Klosterman's "Killing Yourself to Live" did something that most books haven't been able to do, even if they were crafted to, which was make me laugh. A lot. I'm honestly pretty excited if a book manages to get me to chuckle out loud, but this make had me rolling at some points.
   
   I won't give a detailed plot of the book, but the main objective for Klosterman in this book was to travel around the United States to where ill-fated rock stars met their early demise, like the Chelsea Hotel where Sid Vicious passed along with his girlfriend, or where Buddy Holly died. He also visits Graceland and why everyone seemed to feel the death of Kurt Cobain.
   
   The book also visits various topics along the way, things that seemingly pop into Klosterman's head on the journey. For example, why Led Zeppelin was everyone's favorite band at some point in their life or how everyone he's had a serious relationship with (and some who weren't that serious) can be fitted into the roll of a Kiss band member.
   
   The book is dedicated to some of his most serious relationships. We see one of them during the book seemingly end, one that's up in the air, and one that he tries to rekindle, but never comes to fruition. At the end, and throughout the book, I certainly start to feel for him. Both because he's overly critical of a lot of his relationships, and he knows that this is a flaw he has to live with.
   
   I've only read one other book of his, "Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs"(which I picked up on solely title a couple of years ago), but found myself enjoying this book immensely more than my previous read. If you enjoy a critical thinking of popular culture with a humorous twist, or literary memoirs, do yourself a favor and pick it up.



2. In this round, Chuck Klosterman expands a journal article into a book narrative of his cross-country trip to seek out the death sites of multiple rock stars. Unsurprisingly, he focuses most of the narrative in the Midwest, from where he hails. Also, unsurprisingly, he delivers some memorable one-liners and anecdotes mixed in with many throw-away references to KISS, Fleetwood Mac, and pop culture generally.
   
   The most refreshing aspect of Klosterman is his unapologetic focus on pop culture and rock music. For the most part, he is unpretentious (although I don't understand all the hating on Jim Morrison). He tries to deliver his references in a way that he or the reader attempts finds deeper meaning by way of analogy. But, I think even Klosterman realizes it is largely a joke.
   
   This, like most of Klosterman's material, is pretty much like pop culture in general. It is largely throw-away material. But, you generally enjoy it while it lasts. And, you usually will find one or two nuggets to carry with you for a long time.



3. This is the first book of Klosterman I have read. I read his articles when he used to write for Esquire and they were pretty good. This book is basically a about Chuck's road trip visiting different places all over the country where famous and not so famous muscians died. During the course of his trip he writes about his romantic issues, drugs life philosophy and pop culture. This book is a quick and easy read. Its not the most profound thing I ever read but it is fairly entertaining. Chuck has an interesting view of pop culture. If you are on the fence about this book I suggest finding some of his magazine articles then if you like those get the book. I look forward to reading Chuck's other books.



4. Just not a very good book. It's supposed to be a lot about dead rock stars and what it all means to our hero-worshipping culture - especially when they're gone - but mostly it's a couple hundred pages of Chuck's drive across the country, some memories of old girlfriends, a weird meeting with one ex and a couple of dinners at places like Cracker Barrell. There's little about the dead rockers themselves, and this kind of "Chuck on Chuck" navel-gazing turned into a cliche for Chuck about, oh, six or seven years ago but he just can't give it up or come up with much new material.



5. Chuck Klosterman is only 6-years younger than me. He is a pretentious hipster, a stoner and a self-conscious kid playing at being a grown up. To a degree, he reminded me of me at his age. He's also very funny and kept me entertained with this book.
   
   The book's premise is Klosterman touring the US visiting the sites where various and sundry rock stars died. That is the basic structure, but the book is really about Klosterman and his relationships with current and ex girlfriends. (well, that and quite a bit of stoned stream of consciousness for our entertainment) By the end of the book, the tour itself was really only mentioned in passing while the relationships and stream of consciousness is now the main point.
   
   At first I didn't get his point. Somewhere along the way I realized he was really discussing that period in all our lives when we realize we really are adults and that its time to put our 20's behind us. He used His Nemesis, his girlfriends and his old friends as illustrations of that period in our lives when everyone we know is broke and still trying to figure out what to do with life. Unlike a typical coming of age story, he is not a boy on his way to adulthood. Instead he is an adult learning that it's time to be a grown-up.
   
   This is a highly entertaining book and well worth the read - even if one doesn't agree with his opinions on the top 3 bands of all time.

5 comments about Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran.

1. I enjoyed reading about Roxana Saberi's experiences in Iran. She tells her story very well and it encouraged me learn more about Islam in the Middle eastern countries and here in the United States. I am now reading Journey into America by Akbar Ahmed. I would like to read more about her experiences in Iran before her imprisonment and what her perspective is now that she has come home.



2. Four stars only because I wasn't quite as moved as I was by other books of this genre. I did enjoy it and would recommend it.



3. I ordered two copies of this book for work and both my co-worker and I enjoyed it and are looking forward to using it in a book read.



4. In the tradtion of Arthur Koestler's memoirs of his imprisonment in Franco's Spain, Between Two Worlds is a fascinating account of Saberi's harrowing time in the prisons of Iran. We are seldom fortunate enough to read first-hand accounts of those persecuted by Iran's leaders, and her book is to be cherished all the more for providing us with this. The surreal encounters between the North Dakota native and her jailers would constitute gems of absurdist theater if Saberi's actual freedom wasn't truly at risk.



5. I am an avid reader of women's rights books and the struggles of women in the Middle East...but this one was different. I am used to reading about women being abused, mistreated and even tortured and killed just for being women, but this book was completely surprising. This was more about Roxana's internal struggle with herself and trying to do the right thing in the face of terrible danger and unthinkable consequences. I loved it and will always remember the lessons I learned right along with her.

5 comments about Mukiwa: A White Boy in Africa.

1. Having lived in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) at the same time as the author, I really appreciated his outlook on life there at the time of such upheaval. He lived in the country and I lived in Salisbury (Harare) and it opened my eyes to a lot of things that went on that I never heard about.
   Neither one of us would live there now.



2. This book is an especially good read. Plus I learned a lot about growing up in Africa and the internal problems in Rhodesia before they gained independence. I would recommend this book to anyone.



3. I loved the book Mukiwa. I left Africa about the time the book began and had visited Rhodesia in 1974-76. I had great hope that it would soon have majority rule as Zimbabwe because it was so rich and modern and the white Africans loved it as much as the black Africans. Reading Mukiwa and Godwin's sequel, When the crocodile ate the sun, made me as sad as him about the demise which continues to this day. However his writing style, devotion to his country, and kind, pure emotions as he and his family experienced the destruction of his home and family are an inspiration to me.



4. Peter Godwin recounts his early childhood in such personal terms that you will regress along with him. You'll feel the pangs of growing up in a boarding school, of his awakening to his social status and that of the blacks that worked for his family - of the colonized Africans who became Zimbabweans. His transformation into young adult foreign journalist with a Rhodesian's perspective takes you inside the revolution that formed Zimbabwe, and likely you will be left with the need for resolution that still plagues Zimbabwe today. Read this book - you'll enjoy and learn from it.



5. Peter Godwin has written a very interesting and informative book. His descriptions of Zimbabwe as a child before and after the Mugabe government are enthralling and informative for those who do not know what was going on in Africa during the mid-20th. century. He writes with sympathy for both sides. This book made me want to read more on the on-going struggle in Zimbabwe to become a cohesive country, despite its' history.
   .

5 comments about Travels with Herodotus (Vintage International).

1. As a person who loves to travel, and who has lived in places where he didn't understand the culture and/or language, I could completely relate to Mr Kapuscinski's experiences portrayed in the first few chapters of this book. The dismal feeling of an inability to function effectively, the struggle to learn how to act local, etc. Beyond the first few chapters, though, my enjoyment of Travels with Herodotus waned rapidly.
   
   Mr K bounces from country to country, sharing smatterings of anecdotes, some interesting, others not so much. He then bounces to a story from The Histories which doesn't appear to be related to these personal experiences at all. It's altogether possible there is linkage between Mr K's travels in the 1950s and Mr H's writings from ancient Greece on some different level, but I was too groggy to catch them. That's unfortunate, but typical of my experience reading this book.
   
   Mr K feels Herodotus was more of a journalist than an historian; he retrospectively draws and relays lessons from The Histories relevant to his own career as a journalist - e.g., learn from first-hand experience, or directly from someone who was there. This is all fine and dandy, but doesn't necessarily equate to a riveting read, and didn't require summaries from The Histories to pad an undersized walk down memory lane (although these provided some of the better reading).
   
   A star for the first part; a star for some fun reading selected portions of The Histories... as an overall work, though, I didn't see the point, and can't recommend it.



2. 
   This is the title of the last chapter of this, the last book written by journalist, traveler, poet and philosopher Ryszard Kapuscinski.
   
   It is an excellent and a beautiful book, one that resonates on many levels, all at once.
   
   In 1955, Kapuscinski, an aspiring journalist in the oppressive post Stalinist environment of Cold War Poland, applied to go abroad. What he had in mind was a trip across the border to neighboring Czechoslovakia - anything farther afield seemed all but unthinkable.
   
   Instead, his editor sent him to India, and after that to China and one exotic destination after another. He took along a copy of The Histories, by Herodotus.
   
   Travels with Herodotus chronicles a lifetime of travels as the author juxtaposes his impressions of a world he could never have imagined from the confines of the closed Communist society of the fifties with the ancient explorer's first encounters with countries and cultures on the fringes of classical Greek experience.
   
   This is a deep and very well written book. Credit here must also be given to translator Klara Glowczewska for her artful rendering of the original text in English.
   
   The following snippet conveys something of the author's sensitive powers of observation along with his deft and clever description:
   
   "The paintings of Confucian artists depict court scenes - a seated emperor surrounded by stiff standing bureaucrats, chiefs of palace protocol, pompous generals, meekly bowing servants. In Taoist paintings we see distant pastel landscapes, barely discernable mountain chains, luminous mists, mulberry trees, and in the foreground a slender delicate leaf of a bamboo bush, swaying in the invisible breeze."
   
   Perhaps I was particularly seduced by this book as I read much of it on the African coast overlooking the Gulf of Guinea. But I think not.
   
   It's one of those books that will just captivate you, and will take you away...



3. I didn't know Kapuscinski before reading this book, so I cannot comment on the man's journalistic reputation. This book is really an amalgam of two books. One part is made of commented passages from The Histories of Herodotus. The other is the actual travelling of Mr Kapuscinski around the world as a journalist. The title is misleading because the places where the author travels are work assignments from Communist Poland, not a free journey that he planned in order to retrace the steps for Herodotus. Except for a brief visit to Persepolis and Egypt, they have no connection whatsoever with the Greek historian. He is first sent to India and Afghanistan, then China, Congo, Ethiopia, Algeria and Senegal. So don't expect it to be a voyage of discovery of the ancient world. It's not.
   
   The writing style, well the English translation at least, is engaging, gripping even. On the other hand, I was displeased with the author's poor knowledge of the places he visited. He doesn't understand the difference between Hindu (the religion), Hindi (a modern language), Indic (an ancient language and script) and Indian (general term) and talks about 'Hindu script' and 'Hindi writing system', or Buddhism being a 'Hindu ideology'. He talks about Chinese hieroglyphs and alphabet instead of pictograms or ideograms or just characters (hanzi, as they are known in Mandarin). He describes Kwangtung province (now spelt 'Guangdong') simply as "a place infested with crocodiles" - a rather distorted and limited view when we know it is, and has long been, the richest Chinese province in every sense of the term (economically, culturally, linguistically, ethnically).
   
   In the last chapters about Senegal, Kapuscinski expresses his aberrant opinion that Africa would be a more developed place today if the Europeans had not taken by force their strongest and most capable men to make them work as slaves in the Americas. Doesn't he know that African tribes enslaved each others and chieftains sold excess slaves to Europeans for profit ? If anything it only made these African chieftains richer. However you look at it I don't see how the lack of European interaction with Africa could have made it a more developed place now. Besides, the slave trade with the Americas only concerned a small stretch of coast in western Africa, a tiny part of the continent. Mr Kapuscinski also believes that the Senegalese descend from the ancient Egyptians.
   
   When commenting on the Greco-Persian wars, he keeps reminding the reader that it is a war between Europe and Asia, rather than just between Greece and Persia. I do not understand this standpoint considering that both the Greeks and the Persians were Indo-Europeans in language and culture, and that there were many important Greek settlements in Asia minor, including Herodotus' home town, Halicarnassus. Greece is not Europe, and Persia certainly does not represent all Asia (go tell the Chinese that they are Persians !)
   
   Apart from such weird commentaries the book is well written and enjoyable. I preferred the part taken from Herodotus. I made me want to purchase The Histories, which I think I would enjoy more because it is four time the size of this book and not tainted with someone else's opinion.



4. The absolute best travel books for armchair travelers like myself are the true fish out of water journeys. *An African in Greenland* by Michel Kpomassie immediately comes to mind. This is a story of a guy from Togo who decides he simply must visit Greenland after reading about in a book he accidentally obtained, and did it. In the Greenland book we have a narrator who is himself fascinatingly different than the reader (me, for example) writing about a place that is also unimaginably different than the places I know.
   
   *Travels With Herodotus* is similar in some ways, especially when Kapuciski makes his first journey from communist Poland to India; but as the book continues Kapuciski becomes a savvy, seasoned traveler (although he never loses his sense of wonder).
   
   When he starts out on his journeys he is given a volume of Herodotus' *Histories* and throughout *Travels With Herodotus*, as a sort of interesting gimmick, he muses about *Histories* throughout this volume, often juxtaposing ancient history / travel observations with his own contemporary experiences. I thought this technique worked well and made the book doubly interesting.
   
   His observations and writings are always fresh, unique, and well seen. This succinct book is captivating. Most highly recommended.



5. The Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski was one of the great journalists of the Twentieth Century. His beat was was the newly emerging nations of Africa and Asia. As a Pole during the Cold War, Kapuscinski had access to places that few Western journalists could visit. He was an immensely gifted writer who left us vivid portraits of peoples and nations leaving behind the the colonial world and disorientedly entering into the modern age.
   
   While traveling to the far reaches of the developing world, Kapuscinski's favorite travelling companion was the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. Kapuscinski closely identified with the ancient historian and traveller. Carrying his copy of "The Histories" with him, Kapuscinski spent many years teasing out the meanings and themes found in the book. In many ways, Kapuscinski saw himself as a modern day Herodotus visiting the world's obscure corners and bringing back to his readers what he had learned and experienced.
   
   "Travels with Herodotus" starts conventionally enough as an autobiographical tale of a young journalist leaving Poland in the late 1950's and visiting the newly independent nations of Asia and Africa. But as the book moves forward, the autobiography recedes and a literary appreciation of Herodotus begins to more fully emerge. Kapuscinski's portrait of Herodotus is heart felt and well written. However, as a long time reader of Kapuscinski, I wanted to learn more about him and I was dissapointed to see the character of Kapuscinski fade away. Nevertheless, "Travels with Herodotus" was a pleasure to read. Recommended.

5 comments about The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family.

1. Love Dan Savage. The book is a refreshing look at marriage, examining it from every angle. It was entertaining and left me wanting to read more.



2. As a recently married, soon-to-be-parent, I have been enjoying Dan Savage's "The Commitment" immensely... Until just now... After page 230 of my Plume edition, Savage's witty, smart text disappears and is replaced with "The Armies of the Night," by Normal Mailer!!! This continues until the end of the book (231-288). So strange, kind of funny, and disappointing, since I was so enjoying the book! I will contact the publisher to alert them of the problem, but was wondering if anyone else has had this bizarre experience.



3. Not my favorite Savage book, but worth reading after you finish "The Kid". I enjoyed the scenes with his mother on vacation after her "triple" margaritas. I also loved the ones pertaining to his cross-country trip with his spouse and son (worrying about getting bashed for seeming effeminate while walking a little dog--both sad and funny to imagine someone trying to "butch" it up in this situation). There were several memorable scenes now that I think about it. I did laugh aloud at this book, as I do with all writings by this author. Oh, and keep reading after "the end".



4. Excellent perspective on marriage as a whole. Homos and heteros alike can benefit tremendously from this book. While it reads as a fun novel, this book truly could be regarded with the same respect as a text book. It dissects many of the underlying issues related to marriage that almost ALL people should at the very least be aware of, if not take time to consider and discuss with their spouse or potential spouse.



5. Dan Savage is charming and speaks well. Writes as he speaks. The style and content is aimed at a certain demographic. But if you listen closely, you will worry about this guy.
   He recently had a 'Savage Love' column aimed to respond to the criticism of a certain government official, a representative, who thought 'back door sex' (this is the euphemism) was unseemly, nay, distasteful.
   His response to her was to describe the various ablutions that one must make before being on the receiving end (not intended as a pun, honestly!) and there was nary a mention of a condom. My guess is that Dan, who proclaims that he and his partner are NOT monogamous, doesn't like that little flimsy health aid. Yeah, join the club.
   Would I be charmed by all his heart-felt feelings about loving the guy he's with right now? Yep. Would I trust Dan to be disease-free? Not necessarily.
   So I would be entertained by his instruction (a lot of his Savage Love advice is basically illuminating the mechanics of an act, whatever it is), I wouldn't trust him to be around in, oh, say, the next decade or two, to follow up with a sequel to a book about marriage.
   In the interest of fairness, heterosexual men can be just as clueless as gay men.

5 comments about In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing.

1. I could not finish this book, the self-centeredness of both writers irritated the hell out of me.
   
   Unfortunate circumstances for Bob, indeed, I would NEVER wish a Brain Injury on ANYONE. I cried watching "To Iraq and Back."
   
   This book, however, was an exploitation of Brain Injury by one of America's VERY priviledged couples. Were he a soldier he would not have received the support, financial resources, extraordinary care, or the notable amount of accomodations he has received to help him daily with his disability.
   
   The writing was horrific, and sorry to say, Lee, no one cares about your damn 'visible panty lines' when your husband's health is in crisis. I wonder why the need to talk about their courtship and relationship, time in China, etc., completely irrelavant to the topic at hand. My God, even going into detail of the king size bed in the luxury room she was sleeping in at the time of the pivotal phone call.
   
   The support Lee received was phenomenal, most people who suffer Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) lose their homes, frienships, family relationships, jobs, employment opportunities, and yet all Lee seemed to do was complain and whine about how things were so uncomfortable for her. How she went on about the military families having support but she didn't. Are you kidding me? She had friends, family, the entire world. Every resource was made available to the Woodruffs.
   
   Spoiled. Priviledged. Self-centered and egotistical. Not worth a dime or a minute of time.
   
   If you want to learn about Brain Injury, there are a lot of really great books and articles about the topic. Some great books are: Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath, Over My Head, Brainlash. Websites like: [...]are excellent. Don't let your education begin and end with Bob and Lee Woodruff.



2. I harrowing tale of survival and recovery - emotional as well as physical. The Woodruffs open their hearts with tremendous vulnerability. It's an openly honest book, without sensationalizing an already dramatic story.
   As a father of a teenager who is in the beginning stages of recovery of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), it is reassuring and inspirational to follow their path with all its struggles and victories. And while every brain injury is different, the Woodruffs offer hope. Not necessarily hope that everything will be alright and return to normal, but hope that we can endure.



3. I bought this for my son to read for Summer reading. I read it and, though Bob went through a lot, he is very self centered



4. Excellent book. It brought tears to my eyes. I think everyone should read it, especially if they are having a bad time of it. I also can relate to this book, because I am a brain injury survivor from a serious car accident. I did not work for two years. I had to learn how to talk, walk, think etc. I still have short term memory problems, but I get around it by writing notes. I never needed to write notes in the past. Not only was Bob a part of the media, but his wife was also. She worked in public relations for a company. Must read for everyone who likes true stories about other people. It hit home more because he is from the Detroit area and the whole state of Michigan was watching the news very closely about his trauma.



5. I had followed Bob Woodruff on t.v. for as long as I could remember. When the broadcast came through about his injuries, I was floored.
   This book is amazing, just as much as Lee and Bob. It's a true story of love, faith, perseverance, and an unending devotion in light of unimaginable circumstances. It is skillfully written and I must deliver a rousing cheer to the Woodruff family.

5 comments about If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska.

1. Wonderful book. Makes me want to visit, if not live there. Humor an mom can relate to.



2. Whenever I go on a trip, I like to buy a book that gives me more insight into the region and that makes me feel as if I am still there even after I return home. I went into a little book shop in Sitka, Alaska while on a cruise up the Inside Passage and asked for a book written by a local author. I was told that this book was one that sells well, so I bought it. Our cruise didn't include a stop at Haines, but after finishing the book I feel as if I have truly experienced small town Alaska...much more so than Sitka or Ketchican or Juneau, the towns that we did visit, and I now hope to get a chance to visit Haines someday. Mrs. Lende brings life and death to the reader's heart and the final chapter was so moving that I feel a special bond with her. Every small town needs an advocate for its way of life like Mrs. Lende.



3. Well, not exactly. Heather Lende does write obits for her local newspaper as well as other topical columns. Her sketches of the lives & times of her isolated SE Alaskan small town leave readers to fill in whatever colors they like, & I like that in an author.
   
   This book of stories is about capturing people's lives in a few well-chosen words. Of tears & topics that burn; joy for the Sun's return, & awe before marvelous vistas. It's filled with contentment wherein she finds herself & everyday social angst - political & moral; satisfaction with domestic productivity; niceness & meanness, courage & irony. It's about being gay or native, old or young, lost or found, not judging people by how they dress (or in what they live!), growing or losing friendships, tending the being born & the dying, knowing which battles to fight, & the art of living a rich & kind life. Mostly unattainable for hive (big city) dwellers!
   
   I relished the mentions of philosophical self-examination, & the books & people who made this author think. These wisps float by like the aroma of spaghetti sauce or smoked salmon; the scent of the sea, snow & wood smoke.
   
   Very well done!



4. In 2007, I visited Haines, Alaska as part of a Tauck Tour on a Cruise West small ship and fell in love with the beauty of the town and area.
   
   The town of Haines fascinated me as my husband and I walked around (the graves in the park on the bluff overlooking the sea, were particularity fascinating being as old as they were). When we returned to Juneau and I found this book in a book store, I bought it, as the quirky title sounded irresistible.
   
   I think, regardless of the realities of the town that one reviewer mentions, the author has an interesting perspective being the obit writer and the editor of the social column for the town. Her style of writing is very enjoyable and reading about the people's lives this author became aware of, through her two diverse job descriptions, was fascinating, especially when one remembers that Alaska is so isolated in winter and presents a complete different way of life from what we experience in the 'lower 48.'
   
   I think others will enjoy this book, too, especially if they are very curious about places and people's lives that they have never experienced and the fact that the book is more a collection of 'stories' based on the author's feelings about the situations she became aware of, makes the book all the more enjoyable. Her heartfelt renditions were very enjoyable and no one should expect a travel log or an in-depth expose of the town's people. Rather, I came away with a sense of the difficulties the people of Haines endure and the sense of 'grit' the people need to call Haines 'home.' Alaska isn't for the faint of heart, to say the least but there is love in the author's take on the life and the people in Haines.



5. My daughter and I were in Talkeetna, AK last week on a very rainy day. Our flightseeing was cancelled. We slogged around in the mud, wandering in-and-out of the shops. In one I found Lende's book, my daughter found another that interested her, and we decided to head back to Peg Vos's charming "a B & B on C" where we were staying. We curled up on a comfy couch in front of the fire Peg had lit to take the chill out of the air and began to read.
   I originally thought the book would help give me insight into the people who lived in the rugged and wild land that we were visiting. Besides sightseeing, when in a new place I like to meet the people who live there, so I was especially interested in the book.
   After the first few chapters, I was somewhat dismayed. Yes, I know Lende is an obituary writer but I didn't realize the book would be mostly stories about the people who died in Haines, and there are a lot of 'em, young and old. As I kept reading, however, the presence of death, which at first seemed to be a running theme, was mitigated by another theme far more powerful, that of the lives we lead in the days we are given. Through all of Lende's essays it is life itself that shines through.
   Lende is a woman of faith, but one does not have to be religious to be moved by her tales of the people of Haines. She addresses the universality of human experience lived day-to-day in a remote American town.
   I learned something of the people of Alaska as I read this book, it is true; but I learned far more about myself, which I did not expect when I first began this modest little book with the moose on the cover.

5 comments about Ava's Man.

1. Once again, Rick Bragg weaves a wonderful book, page by page. "Ava's Man" covers more than just the life of his beloved grandfather and other relatives with Bragg's gift for writing in the region's vernacular. It also serves as a commentary for life in the rural part of Northeastern Alabama during and around the years of the Great Depression. The reader can tell that Bragg has done his research, citing countless statistics, such as how many babies died during the depression years in that area. He also provides passing commentary on how the wars, "commodity" food, and President's Roosevelt's programs such as the Works Progress Administration and Tennessee Valley Authority affected his relatives in those days. Finally, he uses his grandfather and his way of life to juxtapose with the modernization of the South.



2. I love the writing in this book, they way is all described, the story, the family. I have to said is now one of my favorites books.



3. "Ava's Man" is a book that I will keep, and read again. Anyone with an affection for, or curiosity about life in the South will be rewarded with a story of spirit, and truth. The author shows great skill in his descriptions of time and place, and in the unique character whose story he tells. This book will make you laugh, cry, and think deeply, and wish that you could read more after the last page. Highly recommended.



4. One's first impulse in seeing a follow up book by an autobiographer is to figure he wrote it to drag some more money out of his sudden massive readership. But, in this case, one would be wrong. Bragg writes this book about his mother's dad, a grandfather Bragg never knew personally. However, Bragg does his homework painstakingly enough to convince the reader that he was presenting the fully real and authentic "Ava's Man." Again, I could barely put the book down. An old alcoholic "failure" from the South was captivating me. Of course, part of the attraction was learning more about the mother that draws so much respect in Bragg's first book. If you liked All Over But the Shoutin' I encourage you to read this follow up. You won't regret it.



5. I could not put this book down! It was an incredibly easy read and I truly felt like I knew this man by the end of the book. Well written, descriptive and emotional. I highly recommend this book.