No comments about Will Rogers: Reflections and Observations.

No comments about City Lights and Streets Ahead: His Bestselling Memoirs.

5 comments about Steppenwolf.

1. Steppenwolf is Hermann Hesse's classic philosophical novel about the meaning of self and the source of personality. The protagonist Harry Haller thinks he has two souls--that of a man and that of a Steppenwolf (a wolf of the Steppes)--"in continual and deadly enmity." Over the course of many fantastical events, including a couple love affairs, a frenetic masked ball, and a magical theater filled with illusions, Haller is forced to abandon his view of himself as a flawed, two-souled creature and embrace the idea that each person consists of thousands of souls living in a single body:
   
   "The breast and the body are indeed one, but the souls that dwell in it are not two, nor five, but countless in number. Man is an onion made up of a hundred integuments, a texture made up of many threads."
   
   In this slim novel, Hesse examines many complicated philosophical ideas all wrapped up in an entertaining tale. Recommended.



2. I lay in a tub of hot water, relaxing, "coming to" early in the morning. The words come off the page through my eyes narrowly bumping up against my brain en route to my heart. Incredible! Materiel for an epitaph, the stuff worthy of my eulogy. If it can't be understood, its useless to explain. Me thinks: "Like a good wine, this should be sipped slowly and rolled gently over the taste buds and only lastly is to be lost swallowed into the gut.



3. "Ignorance is bliss," goes the old proverb coined by Thomas Gray, and I'd wager Hermann Hesse would agree. When you are as intelligent and sensitive a man as Hesse, the quotidian crap that assails you and the rest of humanity must be almost unbearable. But if felo-de-se is out of the question, how exactly do you bear up?
   
   That seems to be the point of Steppenwolf, a clear-cut masterpiece whose omission from the MLA 100 is nothing if not a scandal. This is a deep book, a profound book, a book that is wearying to read, and which seems longer than its 208 pages. It is by no means a page-turner, nor is it as accessible as Siddhartha.
   
   Steppenwolf raises many questions, and answers none satisfactorily--understandable given that human beings are essentially cosmic orphans, alone and adrift on a small planet, making everything up as they go along. Hesse does not like this. He seeks order and rationale, a raison d'etre...but all he finds is stupidity, primitiveness, and ennui.
   
   This is ventriloquized through the perspective of the narrator, and there are pages and pages of angst-ridden, existential thrashing about. Sometimes these passages drag...but always--always--the sheer quality of the writing is evident. The talent on display is rare indeed, and appreciable even when you want to grab Hesse by the shoulders, give him a shake, and tell him to come to grips with life's meaninglessness and quit being such a pussy.
   
   I recommend Steppenwolf to those who are interested moreso in philosophy than literature. If you are looking for a simple, straight-forward yarn, this ain't the book.



4. There were many flaws with this book. The pace was meandering, going nowhere for long periods of time and some of the dialogue is trite
   
   The main characters were shallow, but I'm assuming they archetypal, based on Carl Jung's phychology, so they were probably that way on purpose. One really does not know which character was real and which was a figment of Harry's bruised psyche. Hermine, Harry's opposite, forces Harry to forgo his prejudices against dancing, Jazz, and a more carefree way of life. This leads to finding at least some happiness, even if it never can completely make his loneliness fade away. Also on the path is a serene Goethe as well as Mozart, and culminates in the Magic Theatre, where Harry finally faces his inner conflicts.
   
   There were many good thoughts in this book, as it shows that every human being consists of conflicting wants and feelings, all of which are clashing and causing stress on the person as a whole. The key to living a good life if for these desparate selves to live in harmony. Therefore the wolf has to live with the man and the man with the wolf. It also shows how inner conflict leads to us reinventing ourselves, dying several times in a life so to speak.
   
   What was annoying is the main characters incessant complaints about bourgeoisie values. his hatred of Jazz as anti-intellectual(history has vindicated Jazz), and drug abuse. It was rather odd how he was exclaiming living a more full life by snorting cocaine at one point and sleeping with a prostitute, and I hardly see how this helps one rebuild himself.
   
   Still, I go back to this book more than most, even several years after I read it, so obviously it had its moments that stuck to me. Recommended if you're up for a surreal and angst filled ride.



5. Theres nothing much to say, its a good product, just wish it was a little smaller given that i got it paperback to carry it inside the jacket pockets, half an inch smaller would have been good, even if it still fits its troublesome and a little annoying that you have to struggle to tuck it in. Still the rest is pretty good and the cover picture is nice.

5 comments about Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (Large Print Edition).

1. If you're fat and found dieting is genuine starvation...blah, blah and you can't fill yourself now-you're real and not head tripping, you'll be interested to know that Mary Rowlandson could never feel physically full after the captivity. She points out that the Bible even mentions that syndrome. I recently switched to Creationism because everything in the Bible eventually turns out to be true scientifically. There is a malfunction from going too hungry that we haven't medically figured out yet. It is there in our faces. Mary and her Bible is to behold. The Lord used her. He used her to prove he is always right. She is for the year 2007. She went through that horror for our times. Not hers. "Twiggy" body is anti-christ and causes a real disease of perpetual hunger.



2. Because it is a first hand account-and who better to tell the story than the person who lived through it?
   That's why I take offense at the reviewer who said this book is too one-sided. Hello? Would YOU care to live through a New England winter without any modern conveniences? Would YOU like to be taken captive by hostile savages and have your life distrupted and your child die as a result? Perhaps it's not politically correct these days to see indians as savages but excuse me-they raped women and killed children. They burned homes and tortured men. Like it or not that's how many of them were back then. (Notice I didn't say ALL so don't get your dander up.)
   This book is a look at a person's life and her perspective on it. How she dealt with a tragedy of unknown modern proportions. How she lived through it and what she learned from it.
   Fascinating stuff, in my opinion.



3. I loved all of this witches acounts of Wheetamoo, greatest sachem ever! but she was sooooooo one sided! I hated how she talked about the Sachem Wheetamoo. I wish that she was more two-sided and it is NOT understandable of her harsh words tword Wheetamoo or any of the FRIENDLY indians The author is a mean witch with a b!



4. We, Chapman Billies, Inc. published this edition and Trafalgar Square distributed it for us at first. It has never been out of stock. Of course we think it should get 5 stars, otherwise we/I would not have put our money behind it. Mrs. Rowlandson tells of the attack on her village, the wounding of her youngest child, their being kidnapped,forced to go with her captors for several months in a New England winter, and watch her child die before being ransomed. To expect her to be an enlightened 21st century woman as she tells her story is to be, Ugh, un-brave.



5. I've recently started reading a lot of history. For the most part, I only read books like this one that are taken from diaries. Just like the review written by "plum nuts", most of what we get is revisionist history. None of what he wrote has to do with real truth. You can't ask Mary Rowlandson, but you don't need to, just read her diary!
   I have the original 1930 copy of this edition still being sold.
   The book is her exact diary starting from the original bloody attack by the Indians in which most of the people were killed and 24 others were kidnapped and ending when she regained freedom. There are also some notes along the way at the bottom of pages which are there to fill in what her family was doing to regain her freedom, which Mary did not know about.
   In the 1930 Preface, it states that this is one of America's most highly treasured books & that in 1930 it had been republished more than any but the most famous books. I know it is one of my most treasured!!! ...

5 comments about Citizen McCain.

1. Here you can see a glowing report of John W. McCain in 2002 surrounded by several of the GOP sharks who have since resigned in disgrace, such as Dick Armey, The Hammer DeLay and of course the vicious Karl Rove. Having learned to defeat them he became them, and worse.
   
   What this book best demonstrates is how well, how skillfully, McCain controls the media, including the once great Drew. See also Free Ride: John McCain and the Media, see also Drew's Fear and Loathing in George W. Bush's Washington and Corruption of American Politics: What Went Wrong and Why among her many others. How the mighty fell . . .



2. I read a lot of books on political figures, this one included. And, while a long time GOP supporter, I can no longer support John McCain. I don't believe he is the same man that was described in this book. In fact, he seems to have lost his way, and his former values. I had been thinking this for some time, and have been slowly moving to "the other side" for this election.
   
   Now, I just read that even the author of this book, who admired him and spent a lot of time with him during the research of this, has become dismayed, and has publically stated that he is no longer a man of principals. I admire the author for having the courage an intelligence to admit that things change.
   
   That said, this is a great book about the "old" John McCain. Not the different one who is now running for President, the one who has lost his way.



3. So much is published about John McCain from those who seem to know him only from the campaign trail and yet we actually get to see only the side of him that he willingly presents for the cameras and not a more complete and honest account of the man.
   
   One one side, McCain is a war hero. On the other McCain as a war hero returned home to find his loving and dutiful (first) wife, mother of McCain's three oldest children horribly injured and permanently disabled. What do you think John McCain did then and why do we see so little of that part of his life?
   
   On June 8, 2008 the Times UK provided objective insight and in the process of exploring the complete life of John McCain and in the process revealed a side of McCain that demonstrates he is a first rank opportunist whose ambition rules integrity.
   
   John McCain met his first wife, Carol while he was at the US Naval Academy. The Times UK article notes that McCain was "a privileged, but rebellious scion of one of America's most distinguished military dynasties - his father and grandfather were both admirals." An examination of McCain's performance at the academy shows he was often disciplined for misbehavior and ultimately graduated near the bottom of his class. McCain struggled at the Naval Academy, finishing 894th out of 899 students, and was rejected by the U.S. National War College until his family intervened with the Secretary of the Navy. In active service, McCain was, by his lengthy acknowledgement in a commencement address given recently, a "discipline problem" resulting from a violent disposition with poor judgment and that he was frequently insubordinate. By all accounts McCain was slow to prove himself.
   
   The Times UK article explains that when McCain returned to America in 1973 he had simultaneous personal high and low points. On one side he proved himself to be a war hero as a POW and he was lauded by Richard Nixon upon his return. When he returned he also found that his wife, Carol, had been seriously hurt in a violent car crash three years earlier. After six months of medical procedures, Carol was discharged from the hospital but her prognosis was bleak. Carol suffered through surgeries that whittled away her legs and she was confined to a wheelchair and was forced to use a catheter. Despite the trauma and the disability, Carol learned to walk again through sheer force of will, but during recovery Carol gained a lot of weight and suffered from a lot of pain. H. Ross Perot, the brilliant billionaire Texas businessman, future presidential candidate and tireless long-time advocate for American prisoners of war, paid for Carol's medical care.
   
   Carol told the Times UK that she thought they would live happily ever after once John was home. But with new wings as a war hero, McCain was moving in ever-more elite circles. Ross Perot introduced McCain to Governor of California, Ronald Reagan. Nancy Reagan immediately liked Carol and took her under her wing.
   
   But by that point the McCains' marriage had begun to fray and according to the Times UK, quoting Robert Timberg: `John started carousing and running around with women.' The Times UK author pens that in 1979 - while still married to Carol - John met Cindy at a cocktail party in Hawaii. Over the next six months he pursued Cindy, flying around the country to see her. Then with Cindy effectively won, McCain began to push to end his marriage.
   
   Carol and McCain divorced in 1980 and one month later he married the heir to an Arizona brewing fortune, this girl named Cindy who was 18 years younger. Carol attributes the divorce to John's inability to be mature. Carol and her children were absolutely devastated. `It was a complete surprise,' says Nancy Reynolds, a former Reagan aide.
   
   The Times UK story digs deeper and adds that "[s]ome of McCain's acquaintances are less forgiving, however. They portray the politician as a self-centred womaniser who effectively abandoned his crippled wife to `play the field'. They accuse McCain of seeking marriage to Cindy, the former rodeo beauty queen, for financial reasons." In 1980 McCain was earning a naval officers salary, while his new father-in-law, Jim Hensley, was a multi-millionaire with deep political connections. McCain has acknowledged that he had girlfriends during this time with Carol, without going into details.
   
   Although McCain is a war hero there are many who won't forgive or forget his treatment of his first wife. The Times UK quotes Ted Sampley, who the newspaper describes as veteran who fought with US Special Forces in Vietnam and who is now a leading campaigner for veterans' rights. The Times UK write that Sampley said: `I have been following John McCain's career for nearly 20 years. I know him personally. There is something wrong with this guy and let me tell you what it is - deceit. When he came home and saw that Carol was not the beauty he left behind, he started running around on her almost right away. Everybody around him knew it. Eventually he met Cindy and she was young and beautiful and very wealthy. At that point McCain just dumped Carol for something he thought was better. This is a guy who makes such a big deal about his character. He has no character. He is a fake. If there was any character in that first marriage, it all belonged to Carol.'
   
   As a final point the Times UK adds that Ross Perot, who paid her medical bills all those years ago, now believes that both Carol McCain and the American people have been taken in by a man who is unusually slick and cruel - even by the standards of modern politics. According to the Times UK, Perot said that `McCain is the classic opportunist. He's always reaching for attention and glory.'



4. During the political season, it is good to read a political book which just gives some straight talk without attacking. Citizen McCain documents some of the years in which McCain worked with Congress on the McCain Fiengold Campaign Finance Reform Bill. After Congress got through with it, the final bill was not the same as it started. I'm sure he would like to see more reform. (At the time this was written, most people had not heard of Obama.)
   
   The book gives insight into how Congress works and how it takes persistance, cooperation, and the maturity to have the patience of Job to get a bill passed. I enjoyed seeing him at work.
   
   One trait which has not gotten the attention it deserves is his empathy. The author states: "...the empathy of someone who's suffered for someone he sees is hurting. There's a kindness, even a sweetness, that's unusual for people so ordinarily self-centered as polilticians." This book also shows his leadership during 9-ll.
   
   Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir offers more insight into McCain especially his experiences as a POW. It also shows how he was a maverick even when he was 2 years old. In this autobiographical book, it is amazing how much he talked about the importance of others and the need to serve a cause greater than self-interest. It is not an "all about me" type of book.



5. As the 2008 election season ripens, this six-year old "classic" will give you an extra interesting angle on one of the presidential candidates, and maybe future President of the US. No matter what, this work's popularity will increase shortly, then drop off sharply after January, 2009!
   
   The interesting angle comes from Elizabeth Drew, a columnist, pundit, and traveler-with author. Not everyone will like this kind of story, a sort of short-interval biography, or an informal/insider diary of trials and travels with a famous Senator. Nevertheless, it is a good tale showing in some detail what a national legislator must do to get his bills passed. In this case, of course, the legislation centers around campaign financing, resulting eventually in the McCain-Feingold law. One is also left marveling how anything much gets passed through Congress in the first place.
   
   Clearly, the author liked John McCain, and liked following the thread of the Senator's political life, as well as schmoozing in the company of the Senate's most famous maverick. She astutely points out, though, that an effective legislator has to get real business done, and McCain showed often how he was not a wild-shooting, alienating maverick. Given the author's usual philosophical tendencies, one also wonders what she will be thinking as the '08 campaign winds along. One bet might be that she will be "all kinds of sorry" she wrote such a glowing, pal-sy book back then!

5 comments about No More Words: A Journal of My Mother, Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

1. Reeve surely has Ann's gene for writing. This book should be read by all who still have parents alive and will be faced with their eventual death and by those who have already lost a loved one. Alzheimers and dimentia are a death before dying. It is hardest on those left behind and gilt and worry are only some of the emotions one has to deal with during the dying process. Reeve caught the essence of her mother and was fortunate to be able to have 24/7 caregivers to help her through this ordeal.
   This book is a tribute to Ann and to Reeve's Sister.



2. This is a touching memoir of the time when Reeve Lindbergh was helping to take care of her aging mother, the famous Anne Morrow Lindbergh in the last year(s) of her life. This book is a look inside the private lives of a very well known family during a difficult transition in their lives.
   
   The story is about how Reeve is trying to make sense of this time. It contains her thoughts and reflections and fears about the change in her mother's condition. I appreciate the honesty in which this book is written, I feel like the author held nothing back in relating her story. I was surprised and delighted at the openness of it. She wrote about things in dealing with this situation that people think, but would rarely admit to.
   
   I found this book to be very comforting, as I recently experienced a similar situation in my own family. There were so many times, as I read this, I was shaking my head thinking....I know exactly what you're saying. Throughout the ordeal, there are sad times, but there were also light and funny times as well. Dealing with the aging and decline of a loved one that you have known so well all of your life is difficult. They change, and when it happens, we don't always know how to deal with it or what to think, and we wonder what they are thinking. It's hard and it's confusing when you are trying to guess at what is going on in their world. Reeve writes beautifully about it all.
   
   I had not picked this book with the intention of experiencing what I did...the comfort of reading about someone else going through a similar situation as me. I initially picked this book because I love Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book 'Gift of the Sea' and I wanted to read more about her life. Once again, as I am a firm believer of...the right books come along at just the precise moment that we need them and so often they come in an unexpected way as this one did for me.



3. Reeve Lindberg has succeeded in giving us a marvelous journey through the last two years of her mother's life. It is also a very helpful description of what it is to deal with someone who is deep in the fog of an Alzheimer's like state. I plan to give copies to many of my friends, most especially those with elderly parents. Reeve's language is lovely and crisp in the strokes of its portraits. It is easy to see she that is her mother's daughter. I am so happy to have discovered this book and I would recommend it to anyone who is seeing or will see an elderly parent or friend through his or her last days and months. Tasha Halpert



4. This is a fast reading book concerning Mrs. Charles Lindbergh's last few years of life. Written by youngest Lindbergh sibling, Reeve, she tells of living on her own farm in Vermont, with a smaller house on the property her mother lived in during that time. Reeve Lindbergh is a wonderful writer - she doesn't need the famous last name to prove that. When she isn't writing about her mother, which is riveting for some reason, her writing of anything else in the book has such a fresh, emotional spirit behind her words. Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a legend in her own time both in flying, her husband, and her many published works, did not talk much in her last years. It is a story of how the family felt and coped with her condition, letting go of the vibrant mother they once knew. An excellent book for those who have been a caregiver to a parent or sibling. Anne M.L. was such a famous figure, it was both interesting and heartwrenching to have the privilege of reading about her day to day living. Thank you, Reeve Lindbergh, for sharing this story that you could have kept to yourself, but chose to share. It's a book that will be remembered long after it's read.



5. I have read Reeve Lindbergh's work before in her memoir, "Under A Wing". I was surprised at her candor regarding her father, and what was equally clear was her fondness for her mother. "No More Words", which records the last 17 trying and rewarding months of her mother's life, is a tender tribute that is notable for what it includes and for what it omits.

   The only photograph of Mrs. Lindbergh is the one that appears on the cover. The photograph depicts a young woman at the start of what would prove to be a life as fascinating as it was lengthy. The closing months of this woman's life are chronicled above all else with a great deal of respect. This is a most private family event, and just as the book is devoid of any pictures for the voyeur, the narrative too is informative without taking away any of the dignity of her mother. This would seem to be an obvious manner to write of one's parent, but a person does not have to look far to find books written with sales as the first goal, and exploitation of the subject left unconsidered.

   Reeve Lindbergh is a poet, she is reflective, and these aspects of her personality provide a narrative that is unique. This book is not simply a diary; it is not a chronological description of the systematic health decline of her mother. It is more of a story that is driven by the limited interactions she was able to have with her mother, and the memories that were either hers or recollections of her mother's life. This is not a sugarcoated story of what was a very trying time. The book is a balanced memoir about how difficult it is to deal with not only the death of a parent, but also the very real difficulties and frustrations that caring for an elderly, ill parent involves. Mrs. Lindbergh had the best care available which took much of the moment-to-moment care off of the family. It did not remove many of the difficulties, and the reader can easily imagine what it would entail to care for a parent with little, or no outside help.

   This is a very contemplative book that moves at an associated pace.

5 comments about My Dog Skip.

1. To anyone who has a dog, read this book, share with your family and friends. The story of loyalty in this book explains the love a boy and his dog share.
   
   If you have a young reader in mind, give it to him or her. You will be glad you did.



2. This book is the story of Willie Morris' childhood companion, a dog named Skip. Willie recounts his adolescent years and all the fond memories of his dog and friends as they grew up together in small town Mississippi. The story is heartwarming and the author paints a very clear picture of all the shenanigans, good times and bad that he and his dog had together over the years. I liked this book; but I think a male reader would appreciate the bond between a boy and his dog more than I can.



3. This is a wonderful and touching story. It is a good read, and I recommend it to anyone who has ever had a pet. I especially like that it has a jack russell in the story.



4. This was a great book! It was so touching and heartfelt. I love dogs and this book is an example of someone who loves dogs like me so I can connect! Greatly recomended!



5. Willie Morris was a truly great author! This story of his childhood with his dog was really heartwarming. It is so simple and warm and humorous, you will just love it. Warning: you will cry your eyes out at the end, but it's worth the pain. One of the best animal stories ever, I hope many kids read this in school. If you loved the movie "A Christmas Story" you will love this book. The movie version of "My Dog Skip" is also quite good, though it is kind of upsetting that in order to create drama the wonderful father of the book is kind of nasty in the movie. Willie Morris was a great author who also wrote a cat book entitled "My Cat Spit McGee" and several books about his life that remind me a little of Russel Baker's memoirs. One is entitled "North Toward Home", another "Good Old Boy" and one is about life in New York City.

5 comments about Ten Things I Learned from Bill Porter.

1. This book was very inspirational and honest and I'm glad Shelly wrote it and shared such an amazing story with the world! Bill Porter is an inspirational man and I was happy to see the media coverage (20/20 news report and a TV movie) that portrayed his story in such a captivating way.
   
   Although this story credits much of the "things learned" to Bill Porter, this book is not meant to be a biography of him, just the interactions that Shelly had with him and the things that she had gained from her relationship with him. I'm amazed that so many people are commenting about how Shelly wrote the book for "selfish reasons" and to "tell her own story". Fortunately, the title of the book is "Ten Things I Learned From Bill Porter" and not "The Big Book o' Bill Porter" (which would be misleading). In other words, she meant it to be a story told from her own perspective about the things that she had learned, not as a biography. In fact, I know Shelly Brady and she is the type of person that would give anything to show the world how great someone else is, which is exactly what she did here. I also know that she still has a good relationship with Bill Porter and still helps him to this day.
   
   I also saw somebody say that they thought the photos in the book seem amateurish. Since she is telling a story about an episode in her life, I really wouldn't expect her to have professional photos. I don't even think she had it in mind to write a book until much later. This was not a pre-planned documentary, after all.
   
   If you're looking for an inspirational book written by a down-to-earth author, then this is it. Also, if you get the chance, order the video as well (it's called "Door to Door").



2. I watched the "Door to Door" movie and ran to buy this book, anxious to read more about this remarkable man.
   
   Ha! I was disillusioned very quickly, when I realized that not only is the book very poorly written (it feels like nobody even bothered to edit it before sending it to print), but it features the life of Ms. Brady. At times, it seems that all she had in mind was how to get more of the limelight, and if Mr. Porter was feeling unwell, well - she'll just go on her own, and get the spotlight to herself. All that while whining how tough it was for her to have it all.
   
   Is this book yet another way to get attention on account of Bill Porter?



3. This book arrived quickly. I ordered others the same day from another company and I am still waiting for them.
   Book was new as stated in description.
   The story of Bill Porter is a Great One! It shows if you are Patient and Persistant you can accomplish whatever you want.



4. I laughed and I cried. I first heard of this book because it was on the New York Times Bestseller list. Also I watched clips of the movie "Door to Door" when my kids checked the video out from the library. I've become fascinated with Bill who has physical limitations and knew no limit. Despite physical challenges, he is such an inspiration to all of us who take daily tasks for granted, like putting on a tying our shoes, putting on a tie, or simply typing. Bill could only type one finger at a time. His assistant, Shelly Brady weaves her personal connection with Bill throughout. The book is a welcome addition to all middle school and high school libraries.



5. This is in my top three inspirational books. The real-life work ethic and example of Bill Porter (as told by his assistant Shelly Brady) is TRUE inspiration. The old saying "you can't keep a good man down" rings true here. I picked up this little book at Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport a few years back when my flight was delayed. I read it in the terminal and finished it on the plane. THIS BOOK IS WORTH MORE THAN ALL OF THE STEPHEN COVEYS, DALE CARNEGIES and JOEL BARKERS combined (these guys wrote "Snake Oil for the Soul"). Should you need inspiration FIND IT HERE! Bill Porter is the real deal...not a thinker, but a doer. Thank you Shelley for sharing your and Bill's story.

5 comments about Celine Dion: My Story, My Dream.

1. I loved this book. It is well written and an easy read. I read the book in one day. This may be the only book written about Celine that truly explores the romantic side of her relationship with her husband Rene Angelil. I would highly recommend it for Celine Dion fans.



2. If you love Celine or admire her or whatever, you'll enjoy her story. The idiot critic Solinas wants to trash Celine and Rene and nary gives a thought to maybe Celine is not obligated to share any of this personal info. with us... Celine bares all, lives under the scrutiny of the public and idiots like Solinas who insist they know better. I could also criticize Celine for not following her Catholic faith better, but you know I pray for her and I still enjoy her sharing so much of her intimate dreams and feelings and thank her for sharing and that's all - IT IS A GOOD READ, but if you don't like her then simply leave her alone- she doesn't ask for your approval -she is giving here, I for one appreciate that... THANKS CELINE AND THANKS RENEE - CELINE IS IN A CLASS BY HERSELF as far as I'm concerned.



3. From someone who is a huge fan of Celine's music - from her early work to her most recent, this book was not what I was expecting.
   It was a very easy read - almost like a fairytale. It was great thru the beginning of the book, but even her adult years were portrayed like they were thru the eyes of a small child. This doesn't bode well for my opinion of Celine as an adult, who spends half the book trying to assert her independence "because Rene wouldn't want me that way" if she didn't.
   
   As for the love story between her and Rene - again, I liked the early years. She admitted she didn't think much of him when she met him- hey, she was just a kid then. Talked about Anne Marie, etc. What this book is missing is things like how she dealt with breaking their relationship to his adult children, how she relates to them good and bad, and how she justifies such great lengths for a child with a man who has already raised two.
   
   Again, this story seems to brush over these kinds of topics in favor of defending Rene. We didn't read the book for Rene, we read it for her. She was real about her childhood. Not so real about her adult life.



4. I did find this book to be enjoyable at times and boring in parts as well:
   
   I found Celine's early years of family/homelife interesting and oh my did she and her mother (her siblings as well) worked their butts off (and her manager/now husband Rene) to get Celine to where she is today.
   
   I think the reader might take the "I'm rich and I deserve it" the wrong way (maybe the French translation into English). Yes, she admits she is rich and yes she does talk about decorating homes and her fairytale wedding and renewing her vows, but I she realizes that she grew up poor and to give back, etc (she gave her siblings $$, etc).
   
   I found Celine to be heartfelt and truthful. She admits she doesn't hide "things" from the press/friends (such as fertility problems), she admits that she was kind of spoiled growing up, and she did finally come out and tell the world she was in love with her manager Rene.
   
   Around the age of 17 or so (earlier maybe) Celine describes her "fantasies" and movies she made up in her head about her manager Rene. She realized she was in "love" with him. I think she went a little in detail,(this sometimes gets boring), etc. I don't know what to think of it. Rene maybe didn't realize or didn't want to realize her attraction to him and his to her (he goes away to fix his marriage which ends up in divorce, his 2nd wife was fed up with this workaholic/gambling ways). When she was 18 I think it offical came out between the two of them that they were "in love." Rene and her mother do question the 26 year age difference (and the twice divorce thing as well). What I took out of the "love" relationship is it is extremely power and important to her and age doesn't make a difference.
   
   Celine outlines that she indeed is strong and independent and Rene did guide her on the path of stardom but she is more than capible in making her own decisions.
   
   All in all an ok book. it seems unfinished, and rushed little, and it needs a sequel. It leaves off during her pregnancy. I think the real meaning could have gotten lost in translation from French to English as well.
   
   Anyway an ok read and I read it in a few days and I'm a die-hard Celine Fan!
   
   That's my review for celine Dion, My Story, My Dream.



5. I am ofcourse in love with Celine Dion, so I was a bit biased at first. Reading this book took me through her life from the very start, and through her stardom. Her love with Rene Angelil, her feelings for this man 26 years her senior, her view of the world, of popularity, of discipline most of all, and of her working hard and intense attitude, I fell in love with her all over again. I can't recommend the book enough, but then again, you have to love Celine the way I do to appreciate her book as much!! :)

5 comments about My Detachment (Random House Large Print (Cloth/Paper)).

1. The tone of Tracy Kidder's excellent memoir from his tour of duty in Vietnam in 1968 and 1968 is dour, full of resentment and disbelief in the value of war, and one of the stronger pacifist statements in book form. Rather than re-living the horrors of the Vietnam War and struggling to stay alive in a combat zone not marked by peripheries but rather by indistinct underground burrows where the ubiquitous 'enemy' remained hidden and disguised, Kidder's 'Detachment' was an Intelligence unit, for the most part safe from assault attack, but a unit that suffered the psychological destruction that accompanies an isolated band of men living in filthy conditions and always under the threat of 'inspection' by commanding officers seemingly more concerned with polished boots than by healthy mental states.
   
   Kidder, who never believed in the concept of the war in Vietnam, was a Lieutenant in charge of a small band of enlisted men whose job was to gather Intelligence to pass on to the war planners. His memoir unveils his own need to transmit to his family and girlfriend back home a sense of constant danger and participation in killing, and it is this disparity between his own convictions and the 'image' he felt necessary to send home that makes his memoir so frighteningly memorable. He shares his relationship to the men under his command, the multiple problems he confronted with personality types and aberrant situations, and the manner in which he grew as a man during his prolonged exposure to the underbelly of the commanding officers of the war. 'But to represent something is to command power over it. Maps are the tools of many ambitious people, of policy makers, commanders of armies, and youths who like to play at being one of those. And the problem is that the maps are easily confused with the world'.
   
   Where Kidder succeeds in his memoir about his war experience is in his brutal honesty, his fearless approach to report the reality of a war everyone is electing to forget, and the impact that Vietnam had on the mentality of the world and especially now with the youths who face another very similar war. His pacifism may annoy some readers, but his intelligence as a reporter and a writer cannot by ignored. As Kidder completed his tour, he observed a lifer, Major Great, on his way to back into Vietnam and ultimately society: 'I tried to imagine the life in front of him. Paperwork and acronyms and young men who wouldn't get dressed right. Too bad he wasn't a more prepossessing villain. But what a horrible life. Incomprehensible, really. And, of course, he probably walked off still shaking his head, thinking much the same about me.'
   
   Kidder has written a gripping book, one that would serve us all well to read - a different view of the long-term effect of Vietnam, and war in general. Grady Harp, March 08



2. My Detachment is the story of Tracy Kidder's one year tour of duty serving in Vietnam. He describes his experiences, command style, and attitude to the war and the Army in this memoir.
   
   This book has received many accolades, but I find this hard to understand. The story Kidder tells about himself doesn't inspire respect.. He portrays himself as a superficial, lying coward.. Having read the reviews others have written, I think most reviewers found these traits to be endearing. I did not. I think the acclaim this book has received has largely been from people who thought poorly of the Vietnam war and found expression of these feelings in this book. But certainly there are better, more thoughtful and intelligent anti war books than this.
   
   Kidder says he is against the war because a friend told him should be. He gives it no more depth of thought than this. By the end of the book he has become a true believer in the anti war cause, but we never see this develop.. He never gives any indication that he has given this any depth of thought.
   
   Kidder's experience in Vietnam was unremarkable. Nothing happened. He did not see any action. He did not talk to people who saw action. He never interacted with the Vietnamese. He was never exposed, even second hand, to the realities of war. He gives us nothing as a basis for why he opposes the war
   
   The only example he ever gave about something tragic was when he mentioned how the Communists had shelled innocent civilians in a refugee camp. It was the enemy who did this.
   
   The only thing I found interesting in the book was the brief description he gives of his work. His detachment's job was to use radio detection techniques to locate enemy units. The brief description of this was the most interesting.
   
   "When I'd left the United States, some people in the antiwar movement were still saying this was a war waged only between a corrupt South Vietnamese regime and valiant local insurgents. But on the part of our map that covered the brigade's AO, most of what you saw were large North Vietnamese units, and just a couple of Vietcong companies. And here was the kicker..... All of those units, including the two little VC companies, communicated directly with a giant corps headquarters across the border in Cambodia....... which in turn communicated directly with Hanoi. More than geography separated me from my principled antiwar friends back home....... He should be against the war, of course, but I'd bet he didn't know why"
   
   I was appalled when I read this. He offers us proof of North Vietnamese aggression, but this has no impact on him at all.
   
   Kidder dislikes the Army. He volunteered in hopes of avoiding being sent to Vietnam. When he finds out he is going to be sent he argues that his Harvard education made this a waste of material.
   
   Initially Kidder believes that he is too good to be sent to Vietnam. He comments that the war is for the uneducated and unsophisticated. However, once in Vietnam he starts to identify with these people in a total reversal of his attitude. He is their champion. He is an officer but has nothing but contempt for other officers no matter how good they are to him. He likes all enlisted men no matter how shameful their behavior. He doesn't like officers because he doesn't like regulations and inspections.
   
   Kidder makes a big display over how he feels he must protect "his men". But when he says protect, he means protect them from annoying inspections and regulations, But, he has little use for true protection concerns. His men are supposed to wear their helmets. He thinks this rule is ridiculous. His men are supposed to keep the sandbags maintained around their living and working areas to protect from mortars. He thinks this is just "make work" doled out by the Lifers as harassment. The real shocker is even when he hears about people getting killed by mortars in the camp, he still thinks the sandbag filling is harassment.. So much for protecting his men.
   
   His men didn't respect him. He showed no leadership qualities whatsoever. The whole book is a celebration of his weaknesses. He wanted to be a good leader, but in his mind his men had to like him for him to consider himself a good leader. So, to "Protect" his men and make them like him he asks very little of them. No expectations whatsoever. They live up to these expectations. He wants his men to like him yet by the end of the book he is still hopelessly not respected by his men and he knows it. His sergeant didn't have this problem with leadership, so the men listened to and respected the sergeant. But this leadership lesson was lost on Lt. Kidder.. As if to highlight his weaknesses he even tells us that while he was on R&R in Singapore a prostitute rejected him and the madam thought he is gay.
   
   He lied in his letters to family and friends. He never got anywhere close to any danger, but in his letters he constantly suggested he was in the thick of the war, and he is a good and respected leader. He is a writer so he wrote stories about the war while he was there. He wrote stories about soldiers in the field. People with whom he had no contact whatsoever. Stories of combat, racial problems, drug problems, the raping Vietnamese girls. Yet he had no personal knowledge of any such activities nor heard anyone tell him of such things. He admits this, yet he disingenuously wrote these things anyway.
   
   Kidder paints a truly pathetic picture of himself in this book.. I found it very hard to read. Almost embarrassing to read.



3. Having read "House", I knew that I liked Kidder's writing style and was curious about this book because of my own experiences. Much like Kidder, I was attending graduate school in Boston when I was drafted into the Army and ended up doing a tour of duty in Viet Nam. Also like Kidder, I was somewhat ambivalent about serving in the Army as I did not support the war and did not believe the U S should be in Viet Nam. So we both were sent off to do something that didn't need to be done for people who didn't want it done for them. Kidder does an excellent job of describing the almost fog-like state of mind that someone in their 20s adopts while in the military in order to get through the entire process, from basic training to final discharge.
   Kidder discusses how the day you arrived in-country, you started counting off the days until you could leave. It was rare to find anyone who couldn't tell you the number of days until they could DEROS (date of estimated return from overseas) or ETS (estimate termination from service). I will never forget drunken soldiers at NCO clubs, who had been in country all of three days, singing the "Short Song" - the Animals' version of "We Gotta Get Out of this Place."
   Kidder does a marvelous job of sharing the sense of tedium you experienced as well as the sense that you were completely and totally wasting your time. For most of us, your only goal and objective in serving in Viet Nam was not to be killed and Kidder helps the reader understand how one would adopt this philosophy. It was clear that we were not out saving America for democracy. Kidder also brings parts of his failed novel on Viet Nam into this book in helping describe the fantasies of those who were serving in the rear echelons.
   Kidder does a good job of explaining that many of the people who were sent to Viet Nam were not humping through the boonies but instead were placed in mindless jobs in the rear echelon. There they had to take orders from officers and senior NCOs who were putting in their required time in a war zone because it was a box that needed to be checked off so they could get their next promotion. The constant rotation of new officers on a one year tour meant that for at least the first six months, an officer was learning his job before he became any where close to being proficient. It was almost constant OJT.
   This book resonated with me in terms of reminding me of having many of the same experiences and feelings as Kidder described in his book: misadventures on R&R (I was in Bangkok and Kidder was in Singapore but the experience was quite similar); dislike and disdain for "lifers": a sense of how unfair life could be if you received a "dear John" letter from your fiancee; frustration over the fact that most of one's college friends had been clever enough to avoid being drafted and sent to Viet Nam; the fact that your peers viewed you as a "baby killer" instead of a patriot.
   If you served in Viet Nam, particularly as a REMF, you will enjoy this book. If you have ever wondered what it was like to spend a year of your life mostly bored to death with moments of abject fear when under mortar, sapper or rocket attack, this book will help explain those sensations. It is well written, is a good read, has a good deal of humor, and takes one back to what it is like to be 23 years old, depressed over being rejected by "the one great love of your life," and totally clueless about what you are doing in a foreign country taking orders from people you do not respect and performing a function that seems completely useless. I really liked the book, but I also lived the experience. Maybe you had to be there.



4. I almost met Tracy Kidder on October 10, 2006 because he gave a free public talk as an author participating in the Creative Writing Program of the University of Minnesota. Reading the book was a snap for me because I have been reading about Nam since I bought PAPERS ON THE WAR by Daniel Ellsberg back in about 1972. Putting little pieces of that big puzzle together is one of the things that keeps my brain active as I rapidly approach the age of 60. Probably the best idea I found in the book was "creepy lifer puke." Ain't like a man, when people run for public office and ads on TV smear someone for things that you do every day and salute people when you are not in a war zone, but to hear people in the good old U. S. Of A. complain about hippie freaks is just a bunch of creepy lifer puke, as far as I am concerned. When he was questioned about Iraq after his presentation from things he wrote, Tracy Kidder said some things about the terrible nature of war. The big green machine we know so well is unlikely to solve the kind of problems that people in Iraq have after their door gets kicked in. I also liked a bit about things to do in Singapore on R & R. It did not say you have to be in the army to get away with stuff like that, but who'd want to ?



5. I read a lot of genre books and have rated novels with less merit higher than Kidders 'My Detachment'. The reason I mention this fact is that I am holding 'My Detachment' up to a higher light than I would if Kidder had written a story along the lines of James Patterson or Stephen King. Instead I think that this story cries out to be considered along with other war novels that have shaped the great American novel, from 'Red Badge of Courage', to Norman Mailers, Tim O'Brien, Hemingway, and Joseph Heller's first efforts. And if I stack what Kidder has given us against these masterpieces, it is lacking on many fronts.
   
   On the other hand this is an enjoyable little book in its own rights. It follows the time line of Kidders early years, from his college days to his time in Vietnam. The story repeatedly brings up Kidders first foray into writing... a story that he wrote just after coming home from Nam. This story is portrayed loosely, but I felt as though it were along the lines of John Wayne's Green Berets. Kidder mentions this book often and contrasts the story he wrote to his actual experience which is what he is writing in My Detachment. He looks back at this story as a bit of young foolishness, and he looks back at himself as an ignorant self centered young man.
   
   Part of the problem with My Detachment, or maybe it is what makes it appealing, is that Kidder really pulls no punches when dealing with who he was at that time. He is a wholly self engrossed person, and the character that Kidder presents us with is both loathsome as well as fascinating. Its hard to find an affinity for the young Kidder, the novel gives you little in the way to latch on to personality wise, and you are left removed from events. Also, the story itself is an almost minimalist war story. Not too much happens, and this is kind of the point of this book.
   
   Kidder is a fine writer. I don't think that this story will be remembered as his best. It almost felt as though Kidder were going for a Nicholson Baker effect. Baker is a writer who is at his best when writing about the inconsequential. He wrote an entire novel about a trip up an escalator. It would have been interesting if Kidder had investigated his time with a different edge, by this I think that Kidder approached his time as if he were Hemingway crossed with a bit of our post modern culture, and not himself. I think he wrote for what others were expecting and not for originality's sake.