5 comments about Dreams from My Father (Random House Large Print (Cloth/Paper)).

1. It seemed to be in my best interest to find out something more than that Oprah seemed to think Senator Obama was a man of great importance. I found this book fascinating; a sensitive account of his tremendous drive to help people rather than sit behind a high paying desk job and living the life as such. Obama and Hillary seemed driven to help our country as youngsters. Open your mind and heart to Obama and read this book as well as others about our candidates.



2. This is an extremely timely book for anyone who wants to know Barack Obama--who he is, where he came from, the forces that shaped him--all the things the Smear Machine doesn't want you to know at this time. Very readable & intriguing. Wonderfully well-written. Basically tells his life story from birth to the Illinois Senate race. Tells you where his head, heart, and passions lie.



3. This coming-of-age story is masterly. Barack Hussein Obama controls his narrative and thereby presents the self he wants the rest of us to use as our personal point of departure for describing and judging him.
   
   DREAMS FROM MY FATHER has been well and frequently reviewed. I shall simply add a thought or two derived from watching the Illinois Senator's autobiographies extend themselves into his 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention and into the 2007 and 2008 Presidential campaigns. What insights into his race-consciousness, religion and patriotism emerge from comparing the text of DREAMS FROM MY FATHER with more recent events?
   
   Senator Obama's father, Barack Obama, Senior, had called himself "Barry" when he came from Kenya to study in Hawaii. There he married Ann Dunham. With her parents Miss Dunham had moved there in 1959. Barry Junior, as he was taught to call himself, presents his white Kansas-reared mother and grandparents as, respectively, utterly detached from all structured religion or having once been lightly brushed by mainstream Protestant Christianity. The author speaks of himself from earliest years as notably introspective, detached from any passionate entanglements and severely analytical. Grandparents and mother raised him for all but four of his growing years, spent in Indonesia with his second, nominally Muslim, father figure, in this case his mother's second husband.
   
   OBAMA AND RACE
   
   Although genetically 1/2 American white and 1/2 Kenyan black, young Barry Obama (or "Bar" to the American grandfather who helped rear him) early chose to think himself as an American black. At his own request he stayed behind in Hawaii with his grandparents to complete his secondary schooling when his mother and half-sister returned without him to Indonesia. He grew up in a Hawaii accepting of races and mixed races. Only later did young Barry grasp that "I was supposed to have a live-in father" or "know that I needed a race" (p. 27) Later his mother taught Barry to be proud of his divorced father and his black lineage (51). A picture in LIFE magazine of a black man so ashamed of his color that he tried to peel off his skin made the youngster feel ambushed. A hidden horrible insight flashed upon him: personal enemies, racial bigots, were "out there" and "could reach me without anyone's knowledge, even my own" (51). Slowly, the boy decided that he must remain behind in Hawaii with white grandparents and raise himself "to be "a black man in America. (76)
   
   OBAMA AND RELIGION
   
   After college, Barack Obama did social organizing within a group of black churches in South Chicago. His upbringing had been un-religious, though his anthropologist mother was "spiritual." Being black in South Chicago opened doors all by itself: "my color had always been a sufficient criterion for community membership, enough of a cross to bear" (178).
   
   If they were meeting him for the first time via telephone, some pastors were suspicious that he was a white Irishman named O'Bama (279). One day old Reverend Philips suggested that an obviously discouraged Obama's political goals for 50-odd black churches were failing for pulling black pastors away from "some of our more priestly concerns in favor of prophecy"(274). Those pastors might trust Barack more if they were sure that he was a man of faith, a member of a church -- any church.
   
   And Rev. Philips and other black ministers converged in suggesting that Barack get to know Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Jr., pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ. Over a fair number of pages (274,280-287, 291-295)the author sketches Reverend Wright and his initial impact on the young black-conscious social worker.
   
   In his follow-on book, THE AUDACITY OF HOPE (titled for a Wright sermon), Barack Obama briefly describes his conversion and baptism at Trinity United Church of Christ. He was now a Christian, having had no religion before. From his own words it seems that the only kind of Christian he would agree to be was a Black American Christian.
   
   OBAMA AND PATRIOTISM
   
   Patriotism is not a heavy theme in DREAMS FROM MY FATHER. Racism colors all aspects, Obama says, of multi-racial America. It is not easy to be black in America. When Junior was growing up, Obama Senior was back in Kenya, at times seeming about to carve a very prominent place for himself in national politics. But his inflexible adherence to principle lost him the patronage of President Jomo Kenyatta. Still, with input from his mother, young Barack phantasized about his father's greatness and came to the conclusion that, only if he could penetrate his dark, non-American father, could he ever understand himself. And to understand himself was at all times the driving crusade in the life of Barack Hussein Obama. "I had no idea who my real self was"(82).
   
   A man I know suggested that all that is genetically American in the Senator is white, along with the vast bulk of his nurture. My acquaintance also opined that in turning his face away from his genetic and nurtured whiteness, Obama also deliberately turned his back on everything about him that came from America. He thought that this turning away from whiteness might perhaps explain some of the senator's apparent hang-up about wearing an American flag lapel pin -- an expression of solidarity to most Americans.
   
   CONCLUSION: DREAMS FROM MY FATHER is a superior book from a superior communicator. The current junior senator from Illinois comes across as self-absorbed and self-conscious from his earliest years. But that sense of cool superiority to others which some think he now projects was, in this book, no more than an unusually developed sense of detachment, far from a studied aloofness which some now profess to find in the Presidential candidate. -OOO-



4. This book demonstrates in compelling fashion not just the intellectual brillance of the man, but the depth of his character. He is truly unique. After reading this book, one cannot help but become a fervant supporter.



5. I finished reading "Dreams From My Father" several days ago, but I am STILL trying to fully figure it out. I had really high expectations to begin with, from the several recommendations from friends, but I was really surprised by how honest and lyrical and well-written it was. I can only say that Barack Obama had NO clue he would ever be running for office when he wrote it.
   
   It's an incredibly unsentimental book, but it's partly a love letter to his family. It begins with a romanticized view of the 30's, 40's and 50's, the small town America where his grandparents were raised in and that his mother was born into. Eventually, his grandparents, and his mother would move to Hawaii where young Stanley Ann would meet Barack Obama Sr., a charming student from Kenya; he would leave them when Barack was just two.
   
   His father ends up being a tremendous disappointment to him, in the end but it is the absence and longing for him that forms the larger narrative of this book. Barack describes being disaffected and trying to figure out what it means to be African-American, despite having very few African-Americans in his life. Part of this journey is drug use and drinking (this is the part that he would probably have left out if he knew he would become a politician!), but eventually it would lead him to the very place he is at now: the desire to "bring change". He goes on to become a community organizer in the South Side of Chicago, for three formative years and, in the climax of the book, he visits Kenya for the first time, to become acquainted with the other half of his family and learn the true story of his father.
   
   There's tons more to love about "Dreams", because he has such an interesting life. There is a fascinating account of his life as a child in Indonesia, where he lived for four years. There is his mother, Stanley Ann, who isn't a central figure the way his father was, but whose character and values are so much reflected in the person that Barack is today. And, of course, as the title suggests, this book is a meditation on race from the unique perspective of someone who belongs in both worlds.
   
   Dreams was a joy to read and I highly recommend it, but more as a work of great literary worth. In other words, this isn't really the book you would read if you are trying to decide whether to vote for Barack Obama. That book is more "The Audacity of Hope" which is ALSO a wonderful book, and focuses mostly on his view of politics and policy and the actual "changes" that he wants to bring about. "Dreams" is more like a really, really honest look at Barack Obama, the man, rather than the politician or the candidate.
   
   Of course, the man that emerges in this book is compassionate, and thoughtful, and wise, and self-aware and incredibly smart. And those are all the things we want in a president too.

5 comments about Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation.

1. I just started reading this book last night and so far I am very pleased with Ms. Roberts' writing style. I appreciate all the research which went into the creation of this book. I love reading non-fiction; especially anything to do with History.



2. I made the dreadful mistake of trying to read this book. Are we honestly to be expected to take a work of history by Cokie Roberts seriously? I don't know why anyone would take her political commentary seriously, much less whatever she tries to pass off as history. There are plenty of serious studies of women in early America that do not feature this books flaw's. I suggest you turn to any of those. This book is poorly written. It seems to have no major theme or argument. It has absolutely no documentation, meaning that it is impossible to tell where the information actually came from. Give me a break!



3. Great ability to make these stories fascinating. Much info this Revolutionary Era buff did not know. The Women were great! I still do not understand why men were so fearful of giving Women the vote and the right to own property of their own. The book relates their stories effectively and with humor.



4. "Founding Mothers" tells the story of women, famous, not so famous and obscure, who contributed to the founding of the United States. In this, as in her other works, Cokie Roberts has told an excellent story.
   
   Some of the women, such as Martha Washington and Abigail Adams, we know well. Others, including Mercy Otis Warren and Eliza Pinckney, are mothers and wives of lesser known men, who influenced the crucial roles their sons and husbands played in the early Acts of the American Pageant. Some, such as Molly Pitcher, are so obscure that their actual identity is not known with certainty.
   
   This book is divided into sections pertaining to the Revolution, the writing and adoption of the Constitution and the establishment of the National Government. Some of the subjects, such as Martha Washington, play roles in more than one section.
   
   This book is well written and presents its stories so as to hold the reader's interest, regardless of whether the story is familiar or not, and central or peripheral to the development of the nation. I am always suspicious of books in which the author tries to make the subjects into something that they are not. I do not think that Ms. Roberts tries to do that in this book. Her renderings of the activities of the Founding Mothers are very believable. She seems to keep their involvement and influence, as significant as it is, within plausible limits. As readers of my reviews are aware, I have read several books about this era of our history. (See my Listmania Lists, "The Story of the American Revolution" and "Founding Presidents.") "Founding Mothers" presents, in an enchanting fashion, a perspective of the history largely absent from other books.



5. In general, I've found Cokie Roberts' book, "Founding Mothers" to be an interesting if not fascinating work: she has done an excellent job of digging into the frequently ignored role of women in the development of the American Republic during the revolutionary era; and has presented her findings in an easy to read and thought provoking narrative, structured as a series of mini-biographies of each of her subjects - most (but not all) of whom were prominent in the society of the time: women like Martha Washington, wife of George Washington; Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams; Peggy Shippen, wife of the traitor Benedict Arnold; and Kitty Green, wife of General Nathaniel Greene.
   
   Building mainly upon the correspondence each of her subjects exchanged with their husbands, families and friends, you get a real sense of what life was like at the time: the challenges these people faced as war ravaged their homes, and the homes of those they loved; how frustrated they were with the complete lack of consideration that the political system and society of the time had for women; their hopes that this new country would turn a new page and allow women a voice in the political arena; and how they sought to influence the men they knew and loved, most of whom had major roles in the revolutionary effort.
   
   While I find this book to be a very informative and interesting read, I get the impression from time to time that Ms. Roberts is stretching a bit to present the points she wishes to make. Some of the evidence she presents is a bit thin, and the arguments she makes based on that evidence sometimes goes beyond what I feel is reasonable. On the other hand, as Ms. Roberts herself says: women and their contrbutions to the cause simply were not valued, and so often were not preserved at all, or are very hard to track-down. So, I cannot fault her on this point, and feel that even when individual statements might go beyond the evidence, the central themes of the book are definitely clear, and compelling.
   
   These women were strong, intelligent, creative, interesting people. Cokie Roberts does a great job of helping us learn who they were, what their lives were like, and how contributed to the building of the American Dream. Great book!

1 comments about Why Women Should Rule the World LP: A Memoir.

1. 
   We women are often afraid of our own power. Afraid to be thought of as pushy or bitchy if we assert ourselves willfully with the force of our passion. But wise women wield power wisely and the planet is in desperate need of our wisdom. The time couldn't be more crucial.
   
   Thank you, Dee Dee Meyers for your insights, as well as for being such an inspiring role model. You are right! I agree completely. Women SHOULD rule the world!
   
   Now is the time for all women to acknowledge and explore our stature and our strength. It is high time to exert our influence and the power of our moral convictions and authority. We have held back long enough. Starting here, starting now, we must claim our rightful duties as powerful leaders. We have the whole world in our hands.
   
   Hell may have no fury like a woman scorned, but women standing together side by side, autonomous, proud, and empowered can create heaven on earth.
   
   There will be no heaven unless we make it.
   -Florence Nightingale

5 comments about Summer at Tiffany LP.

1. This delightful memoir takes the reader to a lovely time and place. It's a great read and departure from today's harried and complicated world. Even though I didn't grow up in this era, Marjorie Hart does a beautiful job of transporting you back to her magical summer in New York City and making you feel like one of her best friends. I've bought many copies of this book to share with family and friends.



2. Inviting and quaint recollections from a woman who moved to NYC with her friend Marty for the summer of 1945 when she was a 21 year old college co-ed. The descriptions have an alluring nostalgia for an innocent time when ladies wore dirndl skirls and shopped for white gloves and uttered words like "golly".
   The author was one of the first females to work on the floor of the famous Tiffany jewelry store and her reminisces of that honor are what fuel this memoir. Judy Garland comes into the store and she experiences goose bumps just watching her from a distance. Dropping broken pearls in the private elevator and desperately and comically trying to gather them up while still keeping her composure. A highlight was the girls joining the two million strong in Times Square on VJ day.
   A simple and sweet tale told honestly and entertainingly.



3. I absolutely loved this book. I read it and have now recommended it to my book club so we will be reading it for February. I read several books a week and this one really stuck out for me. It was so well written and told the story in such a way that you felt you were there - or wanted to be there. It also had me calling my Grandma, who is 82, and I asked her about that time period. During my talk, I learned so much about my Grandma that I never knew. In fact, little stories no one knew. No one in the family ever really thought to ask my Grandma what she did and who she was before a mother and a wife. She worked in Hollywood! Who would have guessed!! I think this story shows a side of that generation that was slightly overlooked. What these amazing women did before they became our mothers or grandmothers. It's fun to read about their style and clothing, their desires, BOYFRIENDS, dates, jobs - all the stuff you kind of don't think about when you look at your cookie baking Grandma.
   Thank you to Marjorie. You inspire me, you have taught me and you have made me love Tiffany blue just that much more.



4. This book was a light, fun memoir. I did enjoy it, although honestly I was a bit disappointed. I found a bunch of mistakes (mostly grammatical, spelling, an extra word here and there, etc.) in the book, which I think is pretty distracting when reading. Also, the author would switch from past tense to present tense throughout the book, and although I think it was done purposely, I found it a little bit confusing. Overall, I think the story was good and simple, though maybe a little corny. It was almost too wholesome for my taste. It did contain an interesting description of the author's experience of VJ Day in Times Square- I think that was my favorite part of the book. The writing could have flowed better and been more polished, but I'd say this book is worth reading.



5. What a delightful book! Perfect for the ladies on your list. You really feel like you are sharing the girls adventures in New York City during their special summer. 1945 was such a different time. How lucky they were to be a part of it!

No comments about Rigged LP: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, from Wall Street to Dubai.

3 comments about The Confession LP.

1. I cried when I read this. I knew Jimmy back when I was engaged to his Special Labor Counsel. What a great way to tell his life story - and "confess." Human life is precious and should never be judged. Why should a man or woman have to go through what he did....and in the face of it all...he held his own and became Governor anyway - imagine the strength.
   
   Love you, Jimmy! I'm so glad you are happy! Mark is a hottie! xoxoxo



2. This work was one of the most helpful tools in gaining insight into the political machine. Governor McGreevey constructed a great read following his path through probably one of the greatest experiences of his life. I applaud his work and effort and recommend reading this book. It had me frustrated and angry during the read, but I emerged happy and able to place him on a higher pedastal. If redemption was necessary, Jim has earned it by putting this out.
   I hear people say he did it for the money - and to that I say: It is well earned. Read the book and get a grip. Bravo, Jim.



3. All of New Jersey and the country were probably anticipating the release of former Governor Jim Mcgreevey's book. Some of the hype may have been due to the scandal involving his sexual encounters. I am completing the book and am very impressed with the wealth of information included.
   
   Governor Mcgreevey shares all of himself in relation to his sexual escapades, but he also connects these escapades to the many emotions and experiences that brought him to his political end and to his new beginning.
   
   There were many selfish acts and many acts of kindness performed by Jim Mcgreevey. There were hurts and pains thrust upon others as well as happiness and joys given.
   
   I make no judgments as to the truths or untruths of his book. I evaluate based on the emotions that were left with me as a reader. I am highly appreciative of the wealth of knowledge on history, philosophy, psychology and other educational topics that were included.
   
   Jim Mcgreevey has shown his ability to take the English language and develop a stellar performance as an author. His development or lack of development of his life is for him to decide. I thank Governor Mcgreevey for sharing.
   
   Elaine Butler NJ

5 comments about 90 Minutes in Heaven: A True Story of Death and Life.

1. I've been on a bit of a book reading kick lately, and I've finally been able to finish 90 Minutes in Heaven about three or four months after starting. Apparently, I could only take this book in chunks, and after awhile, eventually just finished it because I started it, not because I had much interest anymore. While I believe Don Piper and his story wholeheartedly, the way this book was written is a whole other matter all together. I just couldn't stomach it, and I eye-rolled so much that I was kicking my feet in agony by the end.
   
   It's basically about a man who has a near death experience, and in that time, goes to heaven. He is miraculously brought back by the strength of prayer, and somehow makes it though, but not without resenting everyone who is trying to help him to the point of not wanting to be on earth anymore. All he wants is to go back to heaven. And he says this often. I mean, who cares about his wife and kids and the people who love him, right? Just get him back to heaven so he can feel like, totally awesome again!
   
   There was also a moment in the story where the author sits down with his friend and cries for all the people who are going to hell because they don't believe in Jesus. Which is basically everyone else but them. Um, what? Very inspirational there, Don.
   
   All in all, this book was very hard to sit through. The author comes across as full of himself. He also sounds bored with life, like he just wants to get hit by a train so he can go to heaven again. He can't do it himself, because that's bad, obviously, so he will wait. And wait and wait and heal the sick while he's at it to show what a good boy he is. And maybe then God will give him an actual pat on the head.



2. I am a humor fan, I love books that can give an escape from reality like Mr Instability did. This book gives me hope that there is more waiting for me in the after life. I live each day as if its my last and this book is encouraging.



3. Thank God that Rev. Piper shared his experience with the world. A must read for everyone.



4. I looked forward to reading this book, but I was very disappointed. Don Piper presents, in my opinion, a totally biased view. Many times he refers to heaven as a "place for God's people" as if nobody else can get to heaven unless they are of his denomination. I think this is one-sided, narrow-minded, and simply not true. This book excludes all religions and faiths except his own. It is a slanted view of heaven. I was completely disappointed with this book.



5. The book will help people deal with the most difficult subject in life-death. Easy to read and enjoyable.

5 comments about Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I've Learned (Random House Large Print (Cloth/Paper)).

1. Alan Alda titled his new book Never Have Your Dog Stuffed -- and Other Things I've Learned. But rest assured he didn't write it as a guide for self-improvement. He doesn't aim to be your guru. "I tried to tell as good a story as I could," he sums up. The resulting narrative, at 224 pages, is as lean as its author, and as engaging, and as flush with ideas and observations. "There are things that were very, very difficult to put into words," says Alda, at 69 an entertainment veteran actor who had written numerous screenplays but never a book. "That was what I had the most fun with - the things that don't want to go into words. "But the hardest part was how to take a life and make it one simple story, not just a bunch of anecdotes. I didn't like the idea of writing a memoir or an autobiography. I only put in stuff that moved the story forward." The story: One man's advancement toward accepting the uncertainties of life. Letting go, notes Alda, is a drawn-out process, "so you don't just decide to do it. You have to creep up on it. Practice it. Get used to it. "I think the guy who winds up at the end of the book would say, 'Destiny is just what happens. " Alda should know. A lot has happened for that guy this year. He got an Oscar nomination for his role in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, a Tony nomination for his Broadway performance in David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, and an Emmy nomination for The West Wing, in which he plays flinty Republican presidential hopeful Arnold Vinick. He continues this season on the NBC political drama, and, for its Nov. 6 episode, Sen. Vinick will square off against the Democrat (Jimmy Smits) in a debate aired live. Which candidate will succeed President Bartlet (series star Martin Sheen) by season's end? " I wouldn't spoil the surprise even if I knew," Alda replies when pressed for details about his contractual commitment to the series. But then, flashing his incandescent grin, he pledges to remain "as long as necessary to turn this great country around." When he isn't shuttling to Los Angeles to shoot the series, Alda leaves his Long Island home to hit the campaign trail for Never Have Your Dog Stuffed. Its first sentence establishes the book's matter-of-fact, often darkly witty tone. "My mother didn't try to stab my father until I was six, but she must have shown signs of oddness before that," Alda writes. He was the son of a mentally ill mother and an actor father, Robert Alda, who was subject to the vagaries of show business during a career that ranged from the hardscrabble vaudeville circuit to Broadway in the original production of Guys and Dolls. All in all, it was a dizzying childhood for Alan. But by age nine, he had decided he would be an actor, too, setting the stage for his push-pull life of embracing make-believe while defiantly inquiring into how things really are. He is a man in love with facts and verifiable truth (his decade as the gung-ho host of Scientific American Frontiers makes that clear). But he has also studied what it means to yield control to forces beyond reason.



2. I've been a fan of Alda's work for a long time. The man is so talented it's unreal. Now to be able to see where he came from and how he got into the spotlight is amazing. He uses certain elements in his life where, had it happen to you or someone you know, it would be depressing, and turns them into amusing learning experiences. I am a constant reader, however 99% of what I read is fiction, nonfiction never grabs my attention. But I could not put this one down. Please read it. You wont regret it.



3. Hard to put down, it was so fascinating and the writing is excellent.
   Very witty and honest. Highly recommend this book!



4. This is one of those books that is impossible to put down once you begin reading. It's like a conversation. The knowing tone and honesty with which Alda writes is extremely captivating. It's a rare honor to read a book written by someone interested in life and learning. I'll read it again and again I'm sure.



5. This is like having a conversation with the man, as if he was sitting across the kitchen table from me. Nice time.

5 comments about Not Fade Away: A Short Life Well Lived.

1. I just finished reading "Not Fade Away" for the second time. The first time I read it a couple of years ago I remember taking it very slowly because I felt each word was so important. Usually a very fast reader, I would stop and go over sentences because I didn't want to miss anything. Impactful ideas were there in every sentence.
   
   I just finished reading it again because I wanted to see how it stood up against "The Last Lecture." And it held up very well. The two books are by (and about) similarly energetic, optimistic men dying of cancer, but they tell very different tales in different styles. I'm glad to say that there's an honesty in this book that wears well with time. Re-reading it again made me very glad that I recommended it last year to a friend whose brother was dying of cancer. They say the best gifts come in small packages, and that's certainly true here. Powerful and enjoyable! Read it.



2. As a leukemia survivor, married to a wonderful spouse and with three young children, Peter's memoir rings almost too true to me. I actually met Peter a few times in the 80s through one of his dearest friends whom I dated for a short time. Peter was never so enthusiastic as he was when talking about Laura, his soon-to-be bride. You could tell that family devotion, and a strong conscience was deeply rooted in him from an early age.
   
   The basic values given to him by his parents, particularly the sacrifices his mother made, were at the heart of this book. He sacrifices his own personal privacy and makes a gift to his children and others coping with cancer. He shows us what the process feels like. Knowledge, however sad, is somehow empowering.
   
   As a cancer patient, I have plenty of time to reflect and read. If you don't, then I say read it. You won't regret it. This book is at times intoxicating and high-flying, philosophical and deadly real. It is about life, much more than it is about death.
   
   Peter may have not thought that he was a survivor, but he was--every day he lived. Here's hoping that Peter's life, however brief, will never fade away in the hearts and minds of all he loved.



3. My father passed away in the fall of 2006, from cancer, at age 58. I found this book during the winter, it was out of place and I picked it up. Maybe I was looking for meaning, I don't know. But I have read it cover to cover twice, and pick it up often to browse. It is beautiful, poignent, raw with honesty. On the surface, my father was nothing like Peter Barton, but as I read the book I saw my father in every page. Much of what I witnessed in his final months were hard to articulate, yet Peter Barton and Laurence Shames gave me the words I could not find.
   
   A beautiful book about death and dying, about life and love and lessons. Read this book. It's more joyous than sad, more beauty than darkness.



4. I happened upon an advance uncorrected proof of this book quite by accident. I read a few sentences and thought, "Why not give it a read?" Well, I have to say that the book - both the writing and the content - are absolutely wonderful. Laurence Shames gets all the emotion and humility and pride down flawlessly in the pages of this book. You can't help but wish you had known Peter Barton after reading this.



5. Mr. Shames wrote a poignant and very real account of the disease that took his life at a very early age. I read this a couple years ago, and just re-read after hearing the story of a "younger" person stricken with cancer. This book will inspire, but will also force the reader to consider; "What would I do? Would I have that much grace and zest and enthusiasm?" The dirt-nap gets us all, this book demonstrates how one man dealt with his impending demise---and teaches valuable life-lessons that we could all use. Highly recommended.

5 comments about My Grandfather's Son LP: A Memoir.

1. Wow! An excellent book, and now we can all see where the mysterious neo-conservative black Supreme came from.
   
   As a lefty who loathes His Honor's politics and view of the law, I was taken by the writing and the story, but the real take away for me is that this is one angry, messed-up man, filled with bile and loathing for all things not in line with his viewpoint. Irony abounds. I expect that writing this book was LIKE therapy for Judge Thomas, but really he should be IN therapy, not sitting on the Supreme Court, inflicting his vile, angry, contemptuous view of America on the rest of us, via the law.
   
   Left, right, center - a great book. I'm left, and am left with a great personal respect for Judge Thomas, while maintaining little to no respect for his view of the law.



2. A truly dreadful book, in my opinion. Thomas writes a self-serving, whiney tale that draws a constant stream of drivel to his plight of being Black. His life would have to be hellish to endure all the perceived slights, insults and bigotry that apparently happen to him 24/7/365. Given how far he has come, it is very hard to imagine the kind of difficulties he describes, were a handicap The book was boring, tedious and ultimately insulting. He seemingly turns to God, but it felt like a sham to me. His writing is horrible and his tale, long-winded and I am more convinced than ever that Anita Hill was badly used.



3. My Grandfather's Son, has been out for several months now. I passed on my purchasing it many times, this was a mistake. Judge Thomas' autobiography is an easy, but interesting read.
   
   In the telling of his story, Judge Thomas, is candid about his excessive drinking, his difficult, if loving relationship he had with the grandfather who raised him, his strict upbringing, his almost constant lack of money, and the pain of his divorce. His personal experiences with racism and his views on racial issues in general are weaved nicely into his personal story.
   
   Not surpringsly, Judge Thomas doesn't have anything favorable to say about Anita Hill. However, to his credit, he mentions that she passed a polygraph. He also admits that is lack of judicial experience (just 15 months) was a legitmate argument to oppose his appointment to the Supreme Court.
   
   Where this autobiography breaks down, is at the end. He compares the Senate judiciary committee to a modern-day lynching. Yes, the process was extremely political, but to call it a "lynching" is beyond excessive. Doing so cheapens the meaning of the word. Comparing senators -- the same senators who write laws that a Supreme court justice may later rule on -- to a lynch mob should itself have disqualified him for appointment to the Supreme court.
   
   Still, while Judge Thomas overplayed the "lynch" metaphor, his book is a worthy read. My Grandfather's Son is not your everyday I'm-so-great autobiogrpahy. Don't keep passing this one up.



4. Even if you don't agree with his politics, you can't help but to admire this man for his fight and determination. His book does a great job of making his story to the top very personable as the reader share very intimate thoughts and decisions from the beginning til now. This book is filled with life lession he learned that was taught by his father, Aunt Tina, brother, and a host of other family and friends along the way. Interesting from the beginnin go the end, this book was hard to put down and I recommend it to those who are skeptcal of Thomas's views.



5. What an excellent autobiography. It provides great insite into the mind, life and thoughts of such a great man. For a man of such great stature and of such quiet reverence, this was a treat to hear about Clarence Thomas' life and trials. Very inspirational, very much worth reading!