No comments about Like a Lampshade In a Whorehouse: My Life In Comedy.

5 comments about Intensive Care: The Story of a Nurse (G K Hall Large Print Book Series).

1. I am not a nurse, but I found that the fullness of Heron's easy and poignant storytelling brings the reader into her life to share in the joys and frustrations of being a student, nurse, mother, and human being. I came to know the characters as if they were my own friends, coworkers and acquaintances. The reality and detail of the human life portrayed in the pages of this book reminds us of the universal experience of what it is to live. Her experiences are sometimes dramatic, tense, uplifting, sad, frustrating, or funny but always, always spellbinding. It is a true story of how to live, learn and grow. It is simply the best biographical narrative I have encountered.



2. A Nurse's Story: A Review of Echo Heron's Intensive Care
   Imagine a student nurse's first day being assigned to the emergency room of a big city hospital. She can't decide if her nervousness or her impulsive enthusiasm is to blame for the beads of sweat forming on her forehead as her jittery legs take her down the hallway. She stands before the big double doors and decides she is ready to enter the world of on the spot medicine.
   As she walks through the doorway to the emergency room she stops abruptly and allows a small gasp to escape from her lips. The turmoil and noise is overwhelming. Her eyes scan the room as she tries to comprehend what she has gotten herself into. Every available bed is occupied. A young woman covered in blood is in one bed moaning a rhythmic beat, a wailing child is in the next bed, and an old man yelling for a nurse is in the next. A tiny woman is muttering to herself as she mops us vomit from the tiled floor. The student nurse closes her eyes as she considers turning around and sprinting out of the building. Something deep inside tells her that she and her new career will have a love-hate relationship.
   In her autobiography, Intensive Care, (Atheneum, 1987, 370 pgs.), Echo Heron relates the story of her nursing career from her early training in the mid 1970's to the burnout she suffered toward the end of her work twenty years later. Heron compels the reader to wonder why anyone would be drawn to this occupation and why anyone, even the most caring, would want to leave it.
   
   The author's narrative reveals how she had the desire to make people's lives better from the age of eight but didn't pursue her dream until she spent many years working as a legal secretary. Heron was a divorced single mother of three and one-half year old Simon when she decided to follow her dream and apply to nursing school. She wasn't alone in her journey, her best friend Jane had applied at the same time. Together they were ready to save the world in their white stockings, crisp white uniforms, and the obligatory nurse's cap pinned to their hair. Heron quickly discovers the nursing program is extremely demanding. Intense studying into the night and long days striving to get through clinicals leaves her exhausted, skeptical, and reminiscing about the benign and boring days she spent as a legal secretary. Heron's resolve and determination prevails though even after fainting the first time she tries to inject a patient.
   Faced with some of the ugliest of humanity and the pain people inflict on one another, the emergency room must be one of the most troublesome areas in a hospital for a nurse to work.
   Though difficult, Heron learns to love the work in the emergency room. She thrives on the adrenaline rush created by the often chaotic atmosphere. The compassionate act of healing another human being among the onslaught of many patients at one time is what she has been training for. As Heron relates early in the book, "The familiar subtle thrill began to well up inside me as I walked to the nurse's station. Even though I had memorized my lines for the scene, no one ever really knew what was going to happen" (4). In one instance, Heron is assigned to work in the emergency room while she is still in training. Early one morning a man brought his wife to the hospital with burns covering 75% of her body. The couple had been drinking heavily the night before and the wife had passed out while smoking a cigarette. The husband wouldn't let her call paramedics for fear of disturbing the neighbors so they waited three hours for him to sober up. He dropped her off at the emergency room doors and headed to the bar. Compassion is not easily shown when confronted with human beings harming one another.
   Children are frequently the most rewarding, frustrating, and heartbreaking of all patients to care for. Heron describes many stories of working on children especially in the emergency room. Most of the stories have happy endings but some endings are particularly sorrowful. Heron relates the story of one such unhappy ending in chapter six of Intensive Care (52). An exhausted looking mother brought her young toddler into the emergency room. The child is unresponsive as the medical team rushes him into a trauma room while the harried mother is escorted to a quiet waiting room. It was discovered while interviewing the mother that her son had wandered into the family's backyard pool while she was napping on the couch in the family room. Heron, still a student nurse, was given the task of informing the child's mother that despite the doctor's best efforts, her son was dead. As Heron struggles to come up with the right words to say, she realizes nothing about this is right. Tears fill her eyes as she thinks of her own son, who is safe at home, and the mothering instinct blends with her nurse's training as she finds the words to speak to the grief stricken mother who just lost her only child. As Heron explains, "Nothing I thought of saying would come close to touching the woman's anguish. In the end I said nothing at all and rocked her in my arms" (88). No amount of training prepares nurses for this moment. It's just another time where their heart leads them to do the right thing.
   The population of intensive care units is often terminally ill patients. Instead of healing the sick and releasing them, nurses are frequently conflicted by tending the sick while they face their final days of life. Heron accepts a position in the intensive care unit when she graduates from nursing school. She is passionate about her work in this department although she finds it difficult to come to grips with the mortality rate of the patients she cares for. The recollection of
   these people and the continuing fight to sustain life in these patients bleeds into her personal life and memory banks on a daily basis. Heron describes the scene as one of her favorite patients, Turk, is dying. "Joe bent over from the waist, placed the paddles on Turk's chest, and jolted him with four hundred-watt seconds of electricity. It was one of those certain sounds that stayed with me, never to be lost from recall" (235). Inevitably, Heron takes her work home with her which slowly becomes a contributing factor of the burnout she suffers.
   Death is a natural part of life. Quite often, especially working in the intensive care unit, part of the author's duties was to increase the level of pain medication given to a terminally ill patient. Knowing that by increasing these levels nurses are essentially speeding up the progression of death goes totally against the oath a nurse takes to save and preserve lives. Heron often struggles with this during her career as saving lives is what her goal has been from a young age. Freeing people from pain for which there is no other release is another part of nursing.
   Echo Heron was born in Troy, New York. She moved to San Francisco in 1967 and worked as a legal secretary for eight years. Heron went back to college to become a registered nurse in 1975 and worked for the next 20 years as a nurse in emergency rooms and intensive care units in hospitals along the west coast. In 1983 she submitted a story that was printed in the Reader's Digest and from that was contacted by a publishing house to write an autobiographical
   account of her life as a critical care nurse. Intensive Care quickly rose to the New York Times bestseller list where it stayed at number one for two months. Heron has written an additional
   seven books, both fiction and nonfiction, all dealing with the medical field. She is currently an activist for patient and nurse's rights and a public speaker while working on additional books.
   In their review The New York Daily News reports, "Echo Heron is a very special nurse dedicated to healing and helping in the harshest environments. Intensive Care is unique, penetrating, and unforgettable. Her story is real." Heron does a wonderful job in taking her audience through a passionate and often painful look at nursing. Nursing has many times been characterized as an overworked, underappreciated choice of occupations but it has never been described as being glamorous.
   Intensive Care is recommended to anyone interested in employment in the healthcare industry. The author shares her frustrations as well as triumphs as she puts into perspective the real inner workings of a hospital and the naivety of prospective student nurses entering the medical field. Little things like shaving an elderly man, foot rubs, wiping brows, and talking to unconscious people are important to the patient as well as the nurse. Heron's writing requires the reader to contemplate the decision to make nursing a career as she soundly illustrates both the challenges and rewards of nursing.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   



3. This is a great book to read and get a bird's eye view to some of the things that nurses deal with. She has great chapters with great scenarios, stories and writing on some of the emotions that are dealt with in the course of a nurse's day.
   
   I can't help but think that some of the stories centered around her nursing school days are anything but Glorified and richly enhanced in terms of what she actually said and did, but nonetheless it's a great, easy read.



4. I first read this book in 1995 when I was starting to toy with the idea of leaving a paralegal career and pursuing a career in nursing. I found her descriptions and experiences to be very accurate, and her ability to tell a story very entertaining. Nursing is truly a career that comes from the heart, because nobody would do it only for the money! It has remained one of favorite books and I give it to those I know even considering pursuing a career in the nursing field. All her books are excellent, but I think this one is the best!



5. I enjoyed this book overall, but Ms. Heron seems to be quite arrogant. Was she the only good student in her nursing classes? According to her, you'd think so! In her hospital tales (which ar equite entertaining), she seems to know more than the doctors and much more experienced nurses. Some parts are a bit dramatic. Like in the opening tale, a grandson comes in to see his dying grandfather and Ms. Heron draws all these assumptions from their quick reunion. If you can get past all that, this book really is enjoyable and I will be reading her other books.

1 comments about The Kon-Tiki Man: Thor Heyerdahl (Transaction Large Print Books).

1. If ever you wanted to know what all the fuss about that raft called the Kon Tiki was all about - then this is the book to provide the answers. Kon Tiki was much more than just a raft and in so many ways, Thor Heyedahl was much more than someone who simply went to sea in that raft.
   
   Through the text of this excellent work by Christopher Ralling, the reader is able to understand both the man and the mission and the significance of that mission as far as the history of the world and the colonisation of the Pacific Islands is concerned. The book is perfectly supported with a rich and relevant selection of photographs, pictures and maps throughout.
   
   Ralling has as easy-to-read style of writing to which Heyerdahl has provided as easy-to-respect achievement.
   
   NM

5 comments about Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen: Reflections at Sixty and Beyond.

1. Written when McMurtry was 62, WALTER BENJAMIN AT THE DAIRY QUEEN is probably best classified as a memoir, although it is not presented as such. Rather, the construct (perhaps "artifice" is the more apt word) is McMurtry sitting in the Dairy Queen in hometown Archer City, Texas reading an essay on storytelling by Walter Benjamin, which then prompts McMurtry to reflect on and then pass along some of the stories of his life. This Dairy Queen/Walter Benjamin construct comes across as a tad contrived, maybe a little too self-consciously "artsy," but on the whole the stories McMurtry tells are well worth listening to.
   
   The two principle subjects of the book (tracking, one assumes, the two principle preoccupations of McMurtry's life) are (i) the American West -- including that pocket of the West local to Archer County, Texas where McMurtry grew up and his grandparents were pioneering settlers -- and (ii) books, reading, and writing. Throughout the book, seamlessly interwoven with reflections about larger themes such as the West, the doomed and mythical cowboy, and literature are themes or events personal to McMurtry, such as growing up on a hard-scrabble North Texas ranch, his father, going in his teens to the big city and later Rice University, returns to Archer City relating to "The Last Picture Show", and his quadruple-bypass surgery and its extended psychic aftermath.
   
   I see that previous reviews have characterized McMurtry as "crusty" or "cranky," which in my view does him and the book a disservice. Without any obvious effort to ingratiate himself with the reader, McMurtry comes off as personable and likeable. It is not much of a stretch to envision him actually relating these stories and reflections after the meal around a dining room table or maybe even a campfire (albeit not any Dairy Queen of my experience). Yes, in such circumstances McMurtry probably would tend to monopolize the discussion, but he knows more than most of us and, as his fiction suggests, he is a better storyteller than most.
   
   I vascillate between giving the book 4 or 5 stars. If possible, I would settle on 4.5. Because that's not possible, I am rounding up to 5.



2. Larry McMurtry is, as Proust and Virginia Woolf are to him, my Nile of literature. The quality of his prolific output has been inconsistent, but I find myself constantly returning to his work. Like all writers, McMurtry has his faults. But he is the best I have encountered in warding off, to paraphrase Harold Bloom, that dark inertia to which we are all susceptible.
   
   One of McMurtry's rare pieces of non-fiction, this is an intensely readable book - intentionally so, it seems, following the path of the oral tradition. McMurtry mourns the demise of this tradition, while at the same time seeking to find the positive in the historical developments that have killed it. McMurtry's yarns describe his childhood, his discovery of books, and his bouts with depression, including his ruminations on literature's place in his life, and his life's place in this country's physical, historical, and literary landscape.
   
   All of the tributary themes of the book join together as the book progresses, through McMurtry's own White and Blue Nile of Proust (who I personally like) and Woolf (with whom I have never been able to connect)and into a general inspiration to literature. McMurtry says that he early identified books as the central and stable activity in his life. This book is a testament to the joys and comforts of doing the same.



3. Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen: Reflections at Sixty and Beyond by Larry McMurtry. Larry McMurtry was influenced by an essay he first read in a Texas Dairy Queen by Walter Benjamin. The essay he was reading was about the dissipation of memory and the loss of narrative power in fiction today.
   
   Larry McMurtry writes about growing up on a ranch in Archer City, Texas. He shares discovering reading and books as a teen, going to college at Rice University, knowing virtually nothing about literature, transferring to North Texas State University to finish his bachelor's degree as a workaround for a troublesome Rice professor, and then doing his Master's at Rice University.
   
   He tells some about writing, his love for books that leads to his becoming a book scout and antiquarian book dealer. Across from the Archer City court house he has a giant bookstore containing a quarter-million used books, and the dying legacy of the cowboy. He shares little about his personal life except his love for reading and his quadruple bypass surgery which was very traumatic. It may be as close to a personal memoir as we get with McMurtry. The work is well written, wide, but not deep. We do not get to know McMurty at a level most would like to experience.
   
   Read and reviewed by Jimmie A. Kepler.



4. This sat on my shelf for years and I finally pulled it down. I'm glad I did. He expounds on aging, the west, books, his own writing, and reading. His writing is conversational and comfortable. Very enjoyable!



5. In this melancholy memorir of sorts, he reminates about his life growing up on the Great Plains in small-town Texas, about the vast emptiness of the Texas landscape and it effect it has on the natives. There is a vast loneliness and he feels he has been born too late so he develops an interest in vanishing breeds. The Old West has come and gone. Some time ago, I reviewed his book, THE COLONEL AND LITTLE MISSIE.
   
   He extolls the virtues of the Archer City Dairy Queen (no where else to go back then (we still have some of those places here in Knoxville) in the Eighties where he'd go to read as he drank a strasnge concoction of Dr. Pepper with lime. Now, you can get a lime Slushie with a real cherry at Sonic, the drive-in of today.
   
   He'd started on a translation of the German philosophre, Walter Benjamin's 'Illuminations,' a group of essays. He particularly liked "The Storyteller," and refers to it often as he thinks back on his life "to think about place, his life, literature and his relation to it." For twenty-five years, he has been telling his stories in book form, some of which were turned into movies, like LONESOME DOVE, THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, BUFFALO GIRLS and TERMS OF ENDEARMENT.
   
   He compares Benjamin's life in Europe with that of his grandparents settling in Texas, "while my grandparents were dealing with vast emptiness...Europe was approaching density (absolute and perhaps intolerable." There is no comparison, as they were on completely opposite polars.
   
   He'd gone on a lifelong quest to study European literature to learn their culture that spawned his own pioneer family, a quest which comes full circle, with his reminiscences for this book. He loves to remind folks of the way things used to be and this erudite elegy for the lost paces in American life and of the cowboy" comes forefront. He doesn't care much for Paul Theroux's early mentor, V. S. Pritchett.
   
   He gives an intelligent assessment of his career and the demise of oral storytelling. He promotes the need for reading and appreciated the works of Proust. He comes across as a bitter, cranky old man as he tells about his childhood and feeling 'soul-less' after his heart surgery. He's had a great career studing life and writing some strange novels. Some others are THE EVENING STAR, TEXASVILLE, and STREETS OF LOREDO.

5 comments about What I Know for Sure (Random House Large Print (Cloth/Paper)).

1. Tavis managed to craft some of the most tragic and disappointing aspects of his young life into a beautiful and inspiring novel. I came away feeling uplifted and empowered! Great job, Tavis!



2. This book helped me to understand how Tavis Smiley became who he is today. His family, community and church had a strong influence of his behaviors and thoughts as a speaker and commentator,



3. By the time I finished the last two pages of this book, one thing I knew for sure was that this book was a disappointing reading experience.
   
   Tavis Smiley did not write this book; David Ritz did. The "story" of Tavis Smiley's life was supposedly "told" to David Ritz and David Ritz wrote it down. If this is the truth, David Ritz took a not-so-good story, one heavy with super-ego morality, and did nothing with it, except put it in grammatical form with a story-line.
   
   How is it that a man who, through high school and college, was known for his oratorical and debating skills, and who, after graduating college, later became a popular interviewer on TV, doesn't trust himself to tell his own story? What's up with that?
   
   I suppose if you're rich enough, you just hire someone to write what's supposed to be in your soul and make every event in your life sound like a child's Bible lesson. But where's the unique individual stamp of Tavis Smiley in the tale? I didn't hear Tavis Smiley's voice at all in this book.
   
   I think Mr. Smiley did himself a big disservice by producing a book with his name on it in this manner. It certainly cannot be called an autobiography as he didn't write it; nor can it be called a biography as David Ritz doesn't approach the story of Tavis's life the way an official biographer would. The book has a media slickness to it: a ventriloquist's act, and we're supposed to be the dummies buying this "oral tale" full of biblical malarkey.
   
   As the story goes, Tavis Smiley grew up in an extremely narrow, parochial, religious family (it seemed insane and foreign to me, not part of America at all); he had gone to college even though his parents had not wanted him to; and he went on to make a name for himself in entertainment media. While still a teenager, he had been beaten unmercifully by his mother and, particularly, by his step-father such that he wound up in a hospital at one point, and it took a long time before his could reconcile himself emotionally to his parents. He loved his Grandma ("Big Mama") more than anyone. She was the most tolerant and understanding one in the family. He held tight to his religious beliefs all along, or so we're told, and to this day he still holds them tight (so we're told), though he never states for sure exactly what his religious beliefs are, though it is admitted they are different from his parents' beliefs.
   
   All the struggling and all the pain is wrapped up in a nice-sounding package of love and reconciliation at the end of the book so that his current success makes what happened in his childhood, and before his fame, seem worthwhile and nearly inevitable. This is the common story told of anyone who has achieved commercial success, and a commercial writer, paid to tell it told it -- or wrote it, with Tavis Smiley's approval.
   
   I'd rather hear from Tavis Smiley himself in his own voice, even if he stumbles here and there and parts don't always add up as neatly as a commercial package in the end. This simulation of Tavis Smiley's life cheapened his value for me.



4. Growing up in Bunker Hill, Indiana, with his mother and stepfather, along with four cousin, five brothers and his grandmother, Tavis struggled to find his niche.
   
   Faith and church dominated the Smiley household, and it was there that Tavis first discovered his love for discipline and words. Physical punishment was regular, harsh and usually given by Tavis' mother. After a particularly embarrassing situation at church, Tavis' father took discipline too far, and Tavis ended up in foster care. While his cousin was sent to a different town completely, Tavis was located near his family, and after only three months, moved home on his own. Though the physical damage done by his father had healed, it would be years before the relationship damage was restored.
   
   Throughout his schooling, the power of words and his love for Dr. Martin Luther King were his salvation. Though his parents were not supportive, he made his way to college with nothing except an acceptance letter and a suitcase. Fortune was on his side and he began classes at Indiana University. His eyes were opened to the African American civilization and society that had previously been closed off to him. In September of 1983, a tragic and unexplained death near IU campus deeply affected Tavis and directed him into social activism.
   
   A semester in Los Angeles once again changed the course of Tavis' life. Serving the public through government inspired Tavis and gave him direction. Though he was unable to continue serving in the government, Tavis was able to create his own way. A self-started radio program led to a BET program and the chance to meet with numerous powerful and famous people, including President Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro. His BET stint eventually gave way to NPR, which eventually gave way to his own company and many different ventures.
   
   Overall, What I Know For Sure is comfortable and heart warming. Tavis Smiley's latest book is refreshing. Whether African American, Caucasian, Hispanic or Asian, the story presented here will encourage anyone facing difficult or impossible circumstances.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: We need more encouraging books with good messages.



5. From Gulfport to Gotham to Black Entertainment Television, this is the exciting story of a man who survives a horrible childhood and now has the golden touch in media, business and life.

1 comments about Pavarotti: My World (Random House Large Print (Paper)).

1. This 335 page book was awesome. Not only a book about the man but a book that takes you around the world with him . Pavarotti's story as told to author William Wright is wonderfully descriptive. I felt as if I was there traveling with Pavarotti. The story telling is done so well you become a guest in the story. I do not recall ever enjoying this type of book as much as I did this book.It is full of life, humor, love and family. Pavarotti is honest. I really felt the spirit in which he enjoyed his life and the passion he had for his voice. I feel so blessed to have seen him at his farewell performance tour at the Hollywood Bowl. This talent will remain forever in my heart. Read this book and become a part of the joy of Pavarotti and a big Thank you Mr. Wright for writing Pavarotti's MY WORLD !

5 comments about The Dog Who Rescues Cats: The True Story of Ginny.

1. When life appears to be its most complex, suddenly life throws us a bone. Ginny, an unexpected pet has unexpected psychic talents for discovering
   cats in dire need of help. It might seem all very unlikely to a skeptic,but after you fall in love with Ginny, everything falls neatly into place.



2. 
   
   If you love animals and animal stories, then this book is for you. This is a story of the power of love and dedication, how they can change a bitter individual into one who gives so much of himself towards others. Ginny is truly an outstanding dog. His love and devotion is enough of a story to engross anyone who doesn't have a cynical heart of stone. Anyone who loves cats, dogs, or any animals will be glad they bought this book.
   
   Read also The Great Pumpkin Ride (Holiday)



3. Ginny had a gift for finding stray cats. And her speciality was finding cats with disabilities. She and her owner had the patience of saints. She and her owner out early in the morning and late at night, regardless of the weather to feed the homeless cats and rescue as many as possible. A really good story.



4. A fantastic important book. One of the top 10 to read about
   animal welfare,animal rescue - the incredible bond of animals
   and people - the healing connection of animals and people.
   I see 34 other reviews here so I will not go into detail.
   Get it. read it. Share It. Thank you both - Ginny the Dog and Philip
   for sharing your lives! The Amazon review of this book says exactly
   what I would say, so read it above. I will share this book when
   Saint Sonoma the Cat and I make our Cat Therapy rounds.



5. I really liked the story of Ginny and what she does. The writing was a little sophomoric, but it doesn't ruin the story. The pictures of Ginny's rescued cats are great.

5 comments about My Life So Far (Random House Large Print (Cloth/Paper)).

1. Very Honest and inspiring. Just when she gets whiney she deflects you. A great read overall.



2. First of all, I would like to thank Jane Fonda for sharing so much of her spirit, self and life. Reading her book made me feel like I was a time traveler as she took me back in time to when she was a liitle girl and traversed along side her throughout her life and into her third act.
   
   I most definitely could relate to some of the same issues Jane Fonda dealt with in her life. For instance the lack of love, compassion and acceptance in the home while growing up.
   The uncertainty about her sexuality.
   Questions concerning the Vietnam War.
   Jane Fonda's relationship with her father or lack thereof. Unable to connect with her father on any level (no fault of her own). All these issues I to combatted in my life and just like Jane I am a fighter and a survivor.
   
   On another note, I have a favorite actress for each decade going back to the 30's. For instance Merle Oberon is my favorite actress of the 30's, Ginger Rogers the 40's, Kim Novak the 50's, and Jane Fonda of the 60's and 70's. I have not been able to choose one since Jane Fonda retired, but I am so happy to see that she is making a come back in movies. I so missed her presence on the big screen.
   
   In closing, I believe this book has something for everybody. I highly recommend "My Life So Far" to everyone.
   Thank you Jane Fonda for sharing so much of yourself with family, friends and fans.
   
   For a love story that is unlike anything you've ever read check out D. W. Gutridge's Captured by a Smile.Captured by a Smile "Imprisoned by Love": A Memoir of Young Love that Refused to Die.



3. Jane is a pretty misunderstood woman. People make judgements about her based on stories they see in the media, and based on the rhetoric of those who oppose her. I learned a lot about the real Jane Fonda in this book. Her childhood was not that pretty. Her relationship with her father was strained at best, and this book delves into that with the insight and sensitivity of a person who has learned to accept parents who are not perfect, and who has come to understand how those early years shaped her life and the decisions she made throughout.
   
   - C.A.Wulff, author of Born Without a Tail



4. I "met" Jane Fonda at a book signing in Pasadena, CA. I was immediately taken with her graciousness. She appeared beautifully poised, content and unpretentious, before a packed gathering. She was irreverent, intelligent, insightful and candid. As she sat at the signing table, she immediately commented that she thought my blouse was gorgeous. While this may seem like a very minor thing, having been to countless events of this type, I was a bit taken aback by her focus on me. This was supposed to be about HER. This is a huge part of her charm; the ability to look outward, instead of being obsessed with herself, the way that so many of today's celebrities seem to be.
   
   As a child of the civil unrest, disobedience and rights movement, I had always related to what she stood for. I could always distinguish between being patriotic and simply disagreeing with the way that the government was handling things. Therefore, it was my belief that she had been demonized needlessly, and that ignorance and the inability to understand how caring for one's country, is what makes one passionate about what is happening in the first place. This is what has made it so difficult for people to look past what happened during the Viet Nam era.
   
   There are still many people who hate her for her activism. And it is a shame that those people will miss out on what truly is, an astoundingly insightful book. Jane Fonda is not just someone who is a famous actress; she is a woman who is living a very full, informed, and turbulent life, and took the time to really learn from it. And she is sharing her experiences in such a candid, forthright, refreshing way - that anyone could benefit from reading about them.
   
   You do not have to have been famous to have the kinds of experiences that she describes. While some celebrity autobiographies drone on and on about all of the other famous people they knew and know, very few actually tell about how they felt, and what they learned in the process. And many still have the fear of telling the truth. Because Jane Fonda is where she is in her life right now, she has the luxury and ability to be as honest as she wants to be. She has reached successful pinnacles in her career, that few rarely achieve.
   
   As I read each chapter, I could see my own life in parallels. I did not have the privilege that she did, however, I understand the same struggles that she had, as a woman. I could even see similarities in the kinds of men that she has had in her life, yet, I have lived worlds apart from her.
   
   This is a true, unabashedly truthful memoir, that does not scrimp on details. It is entertaining, candid, informative, while being stunningly, strikingly provocative, and enlightening. This is a book that I will always cherish. The revelations that she shares, have affected my own life, and will continue to do so. It is the most insightfully enlightening autobiography by an actor that I have read thus far. But that is not surprising, given that Ms. Fonda is much more than an actor. First and foremost, she is a human being who has always cared about humanity, and it truly shows in her life's experiences. I am so grateful that she decided to share it with us.
   
   



5. Different FlagsI have read Jane Fonda's Autobiography and find it a very interesting book. The parts telling about her mother's mental illness, her suicide, her brother Peter and her relationship with her stepmother are the ones I enjoyed most. I was able to relate to the things Jane Fonda should have said to her mother but didn't. Her father's depression was described in a touching and honest way. Having lived in another country myself, I really liked Jane Fonda's description of France back in the 60s. I will read it again. Eugenia Renskoff

5 comments about My Name Escapes Me: The Diary of a Retiring Actor.

1. Where BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE and A POSITIVELY FINAL APPEARANCE are more organized as memoirs, this is simply a sequence of diary entries prepared for publication. They show a great actor, the dean of Ealing comedies and (to his chagrin) the great Jedi Master, admiring the twilight in his retirement. This is a gentlemanly, sensitive, yet vibrantly witty writer who once described heaven as sitting with one or two friends, sharing a drink and savoring the silence. There are no peekaboo stories about celebrities or iconoclastic commentaries on the state of the world; just an appreciation for an interesting life well-lived, deliciously and intimately inscribed for us in these daily entries.

   For a more organized and literary memoir, the two titles mentioned above come highly recommended.




2. "My Name Escapes Me" is a book of actor Sir Alec Guinness' personal diary entries from January 1995 to June 1996, which he wrote with publication in mind. I have to give Sir Alec credit: His diary is not as tedious as most people's would be. His writing has a nice pace, and the book is mercifully short. But there simply isn't anything interesting about it. Sir Alec was 82 years old and retired when he wrote this diary. He spent most of his time relaxing at his country home. If he were working, he might have had more interesting anecdotes to relate or perhaps some insight into the process of putting on a play or making a movie to share. But it takes a more talented writer to make something interesting out of the mundane. Sir Alec mentions music that he likes, plays that he sees, books that he reads, art in various forms, but he never expounds on these subjects, so we don't learn anything about the subjects or about him. He doesn't seem to be an opinionated person. Opinions, however trying, might make for better reading. All in all, "My Name Escapes Me" gives the impression of a man of moderate writing talent and moderate intelligence. It's really too bad that no publisher asked Alec Guinness to write a diary for publication earlier in his life. His style is both literate and easy-going. If it had been applied to the life of a working actor, an insightful and highly readable book might have resulted. But as it is, I think only obsessively curious fans of Alec Guinness will find anything of interest in "My Name Escapes Me".



3. sir alec must have been a kind and gentle man. i found in this book that he was charming and witty and deliberately effacing. it takes us on a journey to his many memories of movies,tv,politics, and a great cast of characters that he's met over the years. it's a quiet and calm book. a very relaxing and entertaining read. and what a since of humor!



4. I haven't hear the audio version of Sir Alec's diary: don't need to since I can hear his voice in my head as I read. Gracious to a fault about his fellow actors, prickly about fans who invade his privacy (whether spying him at a museum or appearing in the back garden), exasperated at the Star Wars fame, he is a truly eccentric Englishman and proud of it. I love it when he admits he probably went on and on while telling a story; a common fault of the loquacious and the aging. Pokes fun at himself and endears himself all the more. Delightful.



5. In this, the first of his two volumes (so far, I hope) based on his journal, the great actor Sir Alec Guinness makes writing and reading seem as effortless as his acting. His graceful, lucid prose is remarkable, as are his observations and ruminations on his life, on the craft of acting (he never lets one forget that acting is a craft with exacting standards of professionalism), on his reading, on his religious life, on the world around him, and on his family and friends. He is one of the sharpest yet kindest observers of the human comedy, and reading him is not only an unalloyed pleasure but nourishing to the mind and the heart. Readers of this book should scour used-bookstores for BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE and should also hunt down his new book A POSITIVELY FINAL APPEARANCE.

5 comments about Geisha, a Life.

1. I LOVED this book. If you are interested in Geisha's you must read this one. It details everything about a Geisha's life. Plus tells you what is truth and what is fiction. The way the author express things is just lovely. I really recommend this book.



2. After first reading Memoirs of a Geisha, by Authur Golden, I wanted to find out how accurate it was. After reading Geisha, A life, I felt that the author Mineko Iwasaki truly represented herself. From her book you can tell that the she is an authentic Geisha wanting to dispel inaccuracies that Memoirs of a Geisha created. It is disappointing to know that society is so willing to accept inaccuracies regarding women and their accomplishments.



3. One of the reasons Mineko "came out" and decided to write this book was to set the misrepresentation of Geisha culture by Arthur Golden, whom she sued for the publishing of Memoirs of A Geisha (and settled out of court).
   
   The biggest items in contest were the facts that the concept of the Mizuage as a fee for a deflowering ceremony of a girl only applies to the oiran and tayu (prostitutes), not Geishas (where the word stands for the amount of money made by appearances over a period of time) and the notion that Geishas don't provide sex, only company. These were two items that was misrepresented by Golden.
   
   If by definition, an autobiography is to be a revealing self-portrait, then Geisha, A Life succeeds brilliantly. As readers, it is human nature, I think, to seek common ground and find people we can identify with when we pick up a book, especially a biography. However, if one can accept that the act of reading can also serve as an insight to individuals whom he or she will never cross paths with, then the absence of common ground no longer becomes an issue.
   
   Like many others here, I found this book through the controversial source for Golden's Memoirs of A Geisha. I was hoping to read about the witty conversations Geishas are reknown for. Certainly, Iwakasi- who never lets up from constantly reminding us, until the very final page- portraying herself as the greatest legend in the Geisha culture in the last hundred years, would be positively emanating with wit in every page.
   
   There was none.
   
   Instead, we are treated to a 300-page reiteration of a narrator who continues to win in almost every situation. She is No.1, inspiring jealousy in her colleagues; she excels in her dance, she instills mass hysteria and adoration from her numerous fan clubs; she is highly in demand in the Gion kobu; people sneak photos and out-takes of her into posters, commercials, and annual events, she makes so much money that she owned over three hundred kimonos worth tens of thousands of dollars, she comes from an aristocratic family (and yet, curiously, she had to "chose" a hard life of work at the age of five, separating from her family which she points out, was the only time she was truly happy in life).
   
   Even when she was at the point of retiring, not only does a good-looking younger man ask for her hand in marriage, but she keeps all her appointments, have an affair with a married superstar, and manages to make the Queen of England jealous enough to send the Duke of Edinburgh to the doghouse for paying too much attention to our heroine.
   
   She openly admits she doesn't like people. She is impetulant and spoiled from a young age. There is a unfortunate dearth of any humane voice in her narration. At the same time, she overworks herself because she wants to be liked by everyone.
   
   If all of this doesn't seem to add up, it's because the root of the story lies in one line, imparted to Mineko by her father at the beginning and the end of his life. "The samurai betrays no weakness even when starving. Pride above all."
   
   Given this filter, you begin to realize that you have to read this autobiography as if it was selectively recounted with a heavily prejudiced pen, often in the writer's favor.
   
   The only big dramatic moment occurs on Page 159, when our author pays a visit to her Onesan (the mentoring older sister to a maiko at the Okiya) who also turns out to be her real sister. She finds their mother hunched over like a maid, cleaning something. The older sister enters and screams "This is the [...] who sold us and killed Masayuki." Our author cries and runs out of the house.
   
   So the reader first thinks "whatever happened to making her own decision at five years old to lead a superstar life of a Geisha? I guess I'll find out in the next chapter."
   
   We never do.
   
   It immediately jumps back to the busy schedule of our triumphant heroine. All we have to go by is the closing chapter line "I never went back. Some proprieties were just not worth it."
   
   There is never a Geisha that equals Mineko in the narration. We are told there is a graceful beauty who was an exquisite dancer in the Gion district. Her name is Satoharu, but she is only alluded to in passing. Why? We get a glimpse of the reason on pg 232, as Mineko pleads with her Okiya mother Masako to dress down when they go meet Mineko's love interest. Here is a 21 year old superstar Geisha at the top of her game, with men falling all over her, and she is begging a 47 year old woman to go in everyday clothes because she couldn't bear being outdone?
   
   A person who doesn't like competition can tell a story only one way.
   
   One of the inherent problems of a non-fiction account of Japanese culture is that the subject is known to be extremely insulated as a community. Even if they beg to differ, or they are put off by a gross misrepresentation of the facts, we, as non-Japanese people, will never know. I think this sets the stage for a free-for-all, with the prize going to the person who choses to speak.
   
   And that's how I made it through the last hundred pages. It became more of game for me as a reader, to see how the narrator could continue to cram yet another example of self-glorification into her story.
   
   In this, she did not disappoint.



4. I found this book hard to believe. She remembers everthing when she was 3 yrs. old? Give me a break! She sounds like she's stuck on herself and acts holier than thou. At 18 she still thought kissing could get you pregnant?? I made it through this book but found it hard to digest with a straight face. A hundred grand a night for dancing for some guys? I dont think so. Next time, try being honest Mineko, you might have sold some more books! Or if your going to skimp on the truth, make it somewhat believable!



5. To be honest, I was expecting more of this book. When I first picked it up at the library, it was out of curiosity (as I noticed that it had been connected to both Arthur Golden's fictional book as well as Liza Dalby's book).
   
   Overall...this book is dry and quite, quite horrible. The story telling is lacking, Mineko's portrayal of herself is bad and unbelievable, and she refutes certain things that several other authors, who researched more than one geisha life, had cited as true. It all but admits to exaggeration, bias, and inaccuracy.
   
   Then again, it is a biography, and nobody should expect it to be as accurate throughout as researched, historical material.