1 comments about The Pillow Book (Penguin Classics).

1. Relatively little is known about Sei Shonagon's life. We know she was a court lady in tenth-century Japan, at the pinnacle of the Heian period.
   
   And she left behind a glimpse into her culture's period in "The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon." It's a sort of mishmash memoir -- gossip, reflections, lists, and personal recollections are all mingled together, with a light, poetic delicacy that still is striking today.
   
   The story behind the Pillow Book is that when Shonagon (possible real name: Kiyohara Nagiko) was serving the Imperial Family, the Empress Teishi received a bunch of notebooks that she couldn't use. As they were too valuable to discard, she gave them to Shonagon to use as she chose.
   
   And so Shonagon basically poured her thoughts into her "Pillow Book" -- she offers brief reflections on the world around her, diary-like recollections of things that happen among the ladies in waiting, essays on court life, lists, poetry, and pretty much anything else she dreamed up.
   
   One of the most intriguing things about the Pillow Book is the glimpse into tenth-century Japan that it gives. Shonagon's stories are about little things like flutes, disobedient dogs, clothes, and the Empress's ladies betting on how long it would take a giant mound of snow to melt (no, I'm not kidding). Somehow, it leaves the past seeming a little less distant.
   
   Normally these stories would be curiosities only. But Shonagon -- despite her tendency towards snobbery -- had a special knack with prose, and and a bright, shimmering wit. Her charming love of beauty is often enchanting; she often lists things that she finds pleasing, such as moons, summer nights, flowers and willow trees. Her words were almost as pleasant, since she littered her writing with jokes, metaphor and wordplay.
   
   Not that her recollections are without negatives -- she listed her pet peeves (such as parents worshiping a very unappealing child -- something we've all been annoyed with), and things she found depressing or annoying. A stickler for form and ettiquette, she had very precise ideas about how things should be done... right down to how love affairs should be conducted.
   
   If there's a problem with this, it's that Shonagon -- in the manner of her time -- tends to gloss over the more important, unpleasant details of life. And her own anecdotes show that she could be very cruel, as when she gave a mocking poem to a newly-homeless peasant, instead of a promissory note. It may have been typical of her class and culture, but come on.
   
   "The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon" opens a little window into the scented world of Heian-era Japan, and leaves behind the impression of a spunky, sharp-witted lady who would have stood out anywhere.

4 comments about Brotherhood of the Fin: A Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer's Story.

1. Former Coast Guard rescue swimmer Gerald R. Hoover presents his own biography in Brotherhood of the Fin: A Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer's Story. Harrowing life-and-death decisions and endurance-testing rescue missions formed a part of his life and his dedication to saving those in desperate need. In his long career, he racked up more deployments than any other rescue swimmer in the history of the program; his final mission was to serve as part of the search and rescue mission to aid those victimized by the national disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. An absorbing, straight-talk tale of real life adventure and heroically selfless dedication.



2. What an excellent book. If you have ever wondered about the world of Coastguard Rescue Swimmers, this is a must-read.



3. This book is so well written. I have read many that are not as well thought out and reviewed by the writer; but this writer obviously really went over every detail and made sure it read well. The organization of the book is also one of the best. It seems a kind of beginning rather than just a focus on one career and eventual retirement. This should continue as a series covering many other AST Swimmer stories as well as how the experiences may affect and lead to improvements towards future more successful Search and Rescue Missions. This book also shows how vital and important the AST Rescue Swimmer program is since it's recent inception in the Coast Guard (only the last ~22 years). Now, countless people have been saved who could not have helped themselves into the rescue basket for hoist - who have gone on and had continued successful lives after their rescue. This is important to everyone - especially if you should need rescue one day....



4. 
   
   Gerald Hoover's book is a outstanding work of non-fiction. As a retired Coast Guard rescue swimmer I'm very proud of the way he relives his career of rescues that were life and death struggles filled with heart-pounding action. ASM1 Hoover takes the reader on a journey into the depths of turbulent waters where a select few persons, who are the Brotherhood of the Fin, willingly enter to rescue those in peril. Furthermore, Hoover hits the nail on the head by emphasizing the team effort of the Coast Guard's highly trained professionals that are part of every rescue. I highly recommend this book and would make it a required read for any young man or woman who wants to pursue a career as a Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer.
   Darell Gelakoska
   ASMCM USCG (Ret)

5 comments about Up For Renewal: What Magazines Taught Me About Love, Sex, and Starting Over.

1. Cathy Alter is a 30-something unhappy divorcee who realizes that her life is a mess because she has made poor choices. Determined to change, she uses women's magazines to challenge, inspire, and guide. One year and a lot of hard work later, Alter is much happier with herself and her life.
   
   Part self-help and part memoir, Up for Renewal reads like fiction. Will it motivate readers to change? I'm not sure - I'm still wrangling with "84 Things You Need for the Perfect Wardrobe" (pp 105-06) - but it was a lot of fun going along for the ride.



2. This book appears to be Cathy Alter's somewhat autobiographical account of a year of positive transformation largely due to following the trite advice she found in over a dozen glossy women's magazines. I think the main message is that if a person will focus on making necessary changes in her life and keep at it for long enough, then life will improve. A secondary purpose of the book is to amuse the reader. Some will find her humor more to their liking than others.
   
   Undoubtedly the vignettes are fun and creative (unless they really happened). It appears the character's was stuck in a shallow, meaningless, and amoral lifestyle, and in that may not be particularly unique. The reader grows to like the Cathy of the book, and hopes she has a happy ending. Her friends and family are very vivid and believable people, thought they don't seem to have particularly worthwhile relationships with each other.
   
   This is fun light reading. Urban women in their 20s and 30s (and maybe a little older) will enjoy the book. Others will feel like they're looking into the window of a foreign culture. The idea for the book (or reality of it) is cute and clever. If credit is due for Cathy's year of self-improvement, I think she deserves the credit, not the slick publications that play off the perennial fears of the readers.



3. When I came of age and left home I was at that stage of life where I didn't trust (or want) my mother's advice. I found myself sitting in the break room at work nibbling on my bagel and being stared at by the flawless faces of actresses and supermodels while bright colored cover lines offered all the advice I was looking for. My uber strict, religious parents had never allowed magazines in the house, especially those where teens could read about sex or learn how to find the best bikinis. Here were whole guidebooks on how to find love, be a sex goddess and what to wear while doing it. Cosmo, Glamour and Marie Claire became my guidebooks into the world of being an adult woman.
   
   Cathy Alter's experience might not have been the same, but when I read about this book months ago I felt drawn to it. Afterall, someone out there had taken all those articles I have saved over the years in hopes of one day using their tips, tricks and advice to trim down, do my eye make-up without looking like a prostitute, find the most flattering jeans for my body type, and put them into practical use.
   
   In a very Carrie Bradshaw-esque narrative, Alter explains all the uglies in her life that lead to her year of subscriber madness. Her unhappy marriage and subsequent divorce. Her vending machine contents diet. Her sex with-all-the-wrong-men life. Maybe not everyone who reads this book has gone through the same fumblings but it was easy to relate to her feeling of needing a change. Like me, she couldn't rely on her mother for help so her turn to magazines made me feel a lot less silly for doing so in my younger years.
   
   Cathy ended up subscribed to fourteen different magazines including Self, Real Simple, O (The Oprah Magazine), InStyle, Allure and Cosmo. Each month she chose an aspect of her life she wanted to make changes or improvements to and used her magazines to find ways to do each. From simply packing a home-made lunch to avoid vending machine junk food to keeping up a healthy appetite for sex with her long-term boyfriend. At times the seemingly superficial things she wanted to change actually became quite profound. For example, during her cooking month a close friend was diagnosed with a life threatening condition so she wanted to do something special for him. She wanted her friend to have something good before he went through the horrors of hospitals and tests, so she prepared a meal for him. The recipe ended up being so miserably spicy that it was impossible to eat and as they laughed over it she realized that it didn't matter what she had cooked, what mattered was that it had brought them together. It was the one time in reading this book that I got a little choked up.
   
   By the end of her 12 months Alter was ready to move on from her magazine living experiment. She had reached a point where she no longer needed to run to them for advice. Her year as a subscriber had helped her make the improvements she sought and she had learned not only a lot of new things, like how to wrap a sandwich in plastic wrap, but also how to trust her own instincts.
   
   All in all it felt like reading a woman's self-improvement blog. I think fans of Sex and the City would appreciate the writing style and even some of the subject matter. I think this would be a terrific gift for a newly divorced friend or college graduated who is going through a floundering stage of in-between-ness. I keep picturing it in a gift basket with the latest copy of Self, Real Simple and Allure, some dark chocolate, a copy of the Sex and the City movie, a bottle of wine and a pair of comfy slippers. Woah. I think I just planned out my recently-divorced mother's Christmas gift. Enjoy!



4. As a huge magazine reader I was really looking forward to reading this book. As I got further and further into the book I found myself rooting against the author. While the premise of the book was engaging the actual execution of the idea lacked any commitment. This is really a "novel" that would have made a good magazine article but lacked the substance necessary for a book.



5. At 322 pages, this book is about 200 pages too long. The book starts out with a very interesting summary of the newly divorced author's toxic romantic/sexual relationships and other self destructive behaviors, and describes her interesting plan to improve her life. Unfortunately, my interest waned rapidly as the book progressed. The writing style was inconsistent. Brilliant in places, incredibly boring in others.
   
   Borrow this book from the library if you feel you must read it.

5 comments about Strides: Running Through History With an Unlikely Athlete.

1. The joys of running are probably incomprehensible to those who don't indulge, but Benjamin Cheever does a manly job of explaining them. He also tells some great tales of runners throughout history, from the first marathoner, Pheidippides, who brought news to Athens about the Greek victory on the plains of Marathon, to U.S. soldiers who brave all sorts of horrible things to run in Iraq today.
   Cheever also draws on his own experiences running in dozens of marathons around the world and covering the scene as a writer for Runner's World magazine as well as the pleasures of a simple morning run around the neighborhood where he lives.
   I had a tough time getting through the book for a perverse reason: I happened to have picked it up the day my doctor told me my own running days were over. Back and foot problems coupled with nerve damage meant that I was sidelined for months if not forever.
   I may not be able to enjoy the sport in the first person any longer, but I can at least experience it with frequent re-readings of this chipper, well-expressed memoir.



2. I'm sorry Mr. Cheever doesn't have a personal website to where we could direct fan mail, so maybe this will do. This likable literary sextagenerian has composed/compiled a marvelous collection of personal essays on recreational running that will honor and touch all of us who lace up our shoes most mornings. Touching, inspiring, thought provoking and (most importantly) identifiable tales of the recreational runner and all he/she endures in the mutually identifiable compulsion for personal achievement.
   
   Such a nice book for the runner's collection. Thanks, Ben!



3. This is one of the best running books I have ever read! Mr. Cheever is an average, dedicated runner but he is a superb writer. He mixes his personal history with running with the history of the sport. He shares his personal journeys both physical (Kenya, France, Greece, Boston, etc) and emotional. I think one of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much was that we are about the same age and have traveled similar paths in our running lives (but he's a lot better runner). This book is thoroughly researched and he draws on a wide variety of material. A plus is the book's Appendix which includes a list of his favorite 26.2 running books of all time. This a book for the runner and non-runner alike. It moves to the top of my best running books list. A GREAT READ!!!



4. this was an excellent, amusing, and educatioonal read for me who have been running for over 30 years



5. I could not put this book down and was sorry to get to the last page. A brilliant read.

5 comments about JUST a LUMP IN THE ROAD ...: Reflections of young breast cancer survivors.

1. Amazing book, amazing women! Ths book is a must have for anyone beginning this scary journey, as well as anyone traveling with them. These women share valuable information, insight and hindsight that only survivors can provide. Each "sister" tells her own experience with style and honesty. You may relate to one more than the other, but you will love them all. I laughed, I cried, I cheered.



2. This book is not just for the person who has cancer but for those dealing with a loved one who has it. I bought this book for my mother who was having a rough time facing the fact. Not only did it help her feel ( and Look) so much better but after reading it myself I feel so much better about it. If cancer is affecting your life in any way i say BUY THIS BOOK.



3. This book is a great resource, written by real people. It's nice to have a roadmap of other people's experiences who have gone through the same thing you are going through. This book should be on the best seller's list for anyone going through breast cancer, especially young women who are the newest face of this disease.



4. This book is a must read for anyone with breast cancer. It is very informative and insightful for the patient and caregivers (friends, family, etc). It provides important and useful information. The way in which the authors write about this information is in a very relaxed and comfortable setting; almost as though they are having a conversation with you and just sharing their experiences. Being a recently diagnosed breast cancer patient myself I found this book extremely helpful. I wish this book was availble when I began my treatments, it would have answered many questions for me. Thank you to the authors for being so honest.



5. As a new breast cancer survivor (March 2007 diagnosis), I found this book inspirational! I found comfort and support from the women in the book...like my own support group. At each stage of my journey, I can flip to the corresponding section to give me advice. I am thankful for these strong survivors who shared their stories!

5 comments about A Year in Van Nuys.

1. To be honest, there's so much stuff in this book, subjects all over the map, that I'm having trouble writing a review. Every subject hit me a little differently. I found myself getting extremely bored on one tale, and then immensely enjoying another. That I had trouble getting past the first 30 pages had no bearing on how much I enjoyed the middle 10, or indeed that story about the writing workshop, which came near the end and was one of the best. R.A. Salvatore said that you know you are really a writer only if you just can't stop, and Sandra Tsing Loh makes this point wonderfully.
   
   One reason I read this book is because it was apparently about Van Nuys; however, that suburb of Los Angeles did not figure into the book nearly as much as I thought it would. The author devotes too much time and energy on Hollywood, which is a very different place from the San Fernando Valley (which Van Nuys is part of), so the title may be misleading.
   
   You don't really need to know much about Los Angeles to understand this book, but a good knowledge of pop culture of the time helps. Recommended if you like those things and amusing streams of consciousness as well as the subjects of writing and aging.



2. Tsing Loh is a new talent in the essay genre, and she will appeal to anyone in their 20's or 30's who is post-college but still searching for themselves, while watching annoying overachievers from college become television anchors. Some readers find her a bit too whiny, but she really hit home with me, and I loved her way of examining the world. The book has some terrific hand-drawn illustrations and diagrams expressing Sandra's feelings (one winner is a pie chart comaring ideal time spent together by a married couple, actual time spent together by hetero couples, and actual time spent together by gay male couples).
   
   The end of this book didn't sit well with me, because the message seemed to be to abandon your dreams, and it was depressing. The journey to the end definitely had its high points, though.
   
   Tsing Loh has some other great books about living in LA, and anyone from the area will be able to identify with the places and events she talks about. Fans of Tsing Loh will love essayist Laurie Notaro, who writes about the same age and experiences, but definitely in a less whiny voice. Check out Notaro's The Idiot Girls' Action Adventure club.



3. I've been told that it's important to "step outside your comfort zone" every once in a while, and that's exactly what I did by reading this book. The experience was, well, a little bit weird.
   
   FULL DISCLOSURE: Sandra's female, I'm male. She's Asian-American, I'm your basic WASP-American mongrel. She's a product of life in metro LA, I'm a Midwesterner living in a small city. I don't particularly care for southern California and I'm sure she'd be bored to tears by Battle Creek, Michigan. And so forth.
   
   For me, reading "A Year in Van Nuys" was like stumbling on a diary that someone accidently left at the airport. Sandra is spilling her guts throughout most of the book about her marriage, career problems, friends, therapist, money issues and somewhat desperate life in suburban LA. She mixes regular narrative text with e-mails, cartoon drawings, diagrams, photos, confessional essays and some other strange stuff to make it read like a confidential journal. I loved the use of "strike through" type to show earlier versions of her thought process.
   
   Whether you like it or not, Sandra forces us to be voyeurs. That can be funny and also annoying. For example, her take on the role of religion in weddings is hilarious, as are her riffs on life as a freelance writer. On the other hand, her obsessions about eye bags and cosmetic surgery are just kind of boring. The last few pages of the book bring some sense of resolution to her free-floating self-loathing, but not enough to matter, in my opinion.
   
   Ultimately, "A Year in Van Nuys" is a quick, silly, moderately entertaining read -- just right for that wait between flights. To find Sandra's REAL comedic talent, you'll have to listen to one of her commentaries on NPR.



4. I am flabergasted that so many people liked this book. I had to force myself to keep turning the pages to get through this whinning drivel, and in the end I regretted not giving up sooner. Most of Sandra's problems appear to be entirely her own fault. She gets too drunk at a Fox party and screws up her sitcom deal. She gets a new editor at her online magazine who doesn't like her style. Welcome to the real world - none of this is special or interesting because it's Van Nuys and the entertainment industry, and not just some shmuck in a cubicle. And here's a shocker - in real life, Loh was fired from her cushy radio commentary job for cursing on the air, and has blamed everyone at the radio station for it. No one feels as sorry for her as she apparently feels for herself.
   I like one reviewer's comparison to the comic strip Cathy - this was like having to listen to Cathy complain in complete chapters instead of a few frames. By the end of the book I not only wanted the $5 I paid for it at a used bookseller back, I wanted to personally find this woman and give her a good slap across the face.



5. This is a good - not great - book that generally entertains, but goes too far in an effort to keep the reader amused and interested. The author writes at a higher intelligence level than your typical best selling author does. The downside is that she knows it, and it effects her work. More importantly, however, is the prevalence of eye bag references that nearly made me throw this book in the trash, something I have never done in my life. Six weeks after having finished the book, I sit here editing this review with one prevailing thought in my head, the less-than-enjoyable eye bag references.
   
   The book is presumably about a year in the life of the author. While I don't know how much resonance there is between her real life and what we read on the pages, you can tell there is some. There are too many passionate outbursts for all of this to be fiction. After all, what writer doesn't reveal some of their soul in the words they create? This is what makes it so real and easy to read. As someone once said somewhere, write what you know. But then, what if you know nothing? I digress.
   
   The author clearly knows more than nothing and for the most part, the contents of what she does know are enjoyable to read. Some of the events in the book are resonant with things I've experienced in my own life, despite the fact that I'm a man. I'll go ahead and say the eye bags are *not* one of those things. Still, the struggle to be an author and her ultimate decision in that endeavor are thoughts close to many I have had before. Her final decision, entirely contrary to the fact she authored a book, is something I've also come to adopt. Maybe it this freedom has led her to this work? Again, I digress.
   
   It's a refreshing book, light yet intelligent to a point. It's a quick and enjoyable read. You could certainly do a lot worse. What's more, it has diagrams for those slow on the uptake. All in all, it's generally entertaining and contains real-life insights that can be applied to life and used to learn a little about yourself. Well worth the time spent reading it.

5 comments about Change Me into Zeus's Daughter: A Memoir.

1. This memoir is not just Barbara's, but is the story of everyone who has grown up in an alcoholic family. I could empathise with her trials, fears, anger and perceptions, and would often find myself nodding subconsciously as I read along. I felt I knew her well. Thank you so much for courageously sharing your story.



2. Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter is a powerful and poignant story of impoverished life as experienced by Barbara Moss.
   
   Surrounded by poverty, alcoholism, abuse, malnutrition and facial deformities, Moss could easily have allowed herself to be trapped in that negative world. Instead, through determination and the kindness of a few strangers along the way, she rose above adversity and has been able to escape the clutches of childhood demons.
   
   In 1996, Moss won the Gold Medal for Personal Essay in the William Faulkner Creative Writing Contest. Her winning essay became the first chapter of Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter. Her life, her determination, and her writing acheivements serve as an inspiration to the aspiring writer in me.
   
   When I first read this book, I was working through the emotional impact of having undergone facial surgery to remove a malignant melanoma and recreate a nose. At the time of that first reading, I was more tuned into the parts of Moss's story which dealt so poignantly with the emotional effects of her deformed face and people's unkind reactions to that deformity. Her drive to find a way to resolve the situation was nothing less than admirable. Now that I am a few years beyond my surgery and have re-read her story, I find her desire to become Zeus's daughter (the goddess of beauty) pales in comparison to the beautiful person who writes this remarkable story.
   
   With grace and insight, Moss takes us back in time to a place where life seemed to surely be waging war against her. In what she calls an effort to heal wounds and reclaim her family, she writes of both the challenges and the triumphs of childhood, adolesence and adulthood. Throughout the story, Moss interjects memories of a humorous nature - proving that even in the most desparate of situations, it is possible to find joy.
   
   In what can only be described as a "wise beyond her years" approach, the ninth grade Moss wrote a list of eight things she wanted to do to improve herself. At the top of the list were "1. Remove moles on face, 2. Get braces on teeth, 3. Fix face." It is incredible that one so young would seize such determination and not let go until she had accomplished these seemingly insurmountable goals. Shortly after writing these goals, she began to act upon them. Her book reveals the ways she accomplished them. With remarkable insight, Moss writes about how each achieved goal created both negative and positive issues for her.
   
   Moss's writing talent is evident in this deeply personal and moving story. Her gift to her readers is the lesson of redemption and grace in the midst of life's biggest hurdles.
   
   by Lee Ambrose
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



3. I could not put this book down! I got so caught up in this memoir, I couldn't wait to finish it. Then, when it was done I wished I hadn't read it in 4 days! It is filled with gut wrenching stories, sometimes so incredible it seems they can't be real. The part that takes place at Christmas was especially moving to me.
   
   I can't recommend this book highly enough.



4. 
   a heart-wrenching true memoir that is almost unbelievable to imagine. how children can cope with the harshest
   
   abuse,emotionally and physically, with a mother standing by silently shows what resilience the human spirit can endure. looking forward to the sequel"fierce"



5. I didn't know much about about this part of the United States..I have been reading more memoirs set there since I read this book.

5 comments about Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star.

1. I confess. I am one of the millions of people who confuse Tab Hunter with Troy Donahue. Blond, photogenic, and somewhat talentless. However upon seeing Tab Hunter promoting his autobiography on 'Larry King Live' I was intrigued at the candor of the author. And it is somewhat refreshing to see an older gay man come out for all the world to see. So I didn't hesitate in picking up 'Tab Hunter Confidential' when I saw it in a secondhand bookstore.
   
   So how was it? Rather good. Tab Hunter pretty much tells us all about his career and his private life without resorting to sleaze. He seems refreshingly devoid of ego, and admits to be rather imperfect. Only rarely does he blast people who've burned him. But otherwise his autobiography is an enjoyable and surprisingly quick read.
   
   
   Bottom line: recommended to fans of Tab Hunter and even to those who still can't distinguish him from Troy Donahue.



2. I am going to do this review on a personal level, instead of going into the content of the book. Why? Because after you read this book, you will see that Tab is made from a different mold than most people who have made it to Hollywood. He is more of an average person than the movie star so many have grown to enjoy. I am lucky to say...Tab Hunter is an amazing guy and friend. My mother and Tab became friends a few years back and I have gotten to know and love him through the eyes of my mom, who has since passed on. He is charming and sincere. So it was not a surprise to me that his book would be anything but absolutely wonderful. From the moment you pick up this book, you feel as though you are there...experiencing this incredible life through Tab's eyes. It will touch you in many ways. It is true and raw. The style in which Tab tells his life story allows the reader to feel the uninhibited emotions, joys and turmoils of his career. The pictures are subperb. I won't go into details of the book. That would spoil it for the ones who have not taken the opportunity to experience this fabulous read.
   Once you have read this book, you will become to know and love Tab. So don't delay. You must add this to your collections of favorites today!



3. As movie stars' autobiographies go, this is one of the best I've ever read. Tab (a/k/a Art Gelien) is completely charming and open about his life, but what makes it truly wonderful is his guileless, disingenuous approach to himself. He frequently refers to himself in the third person because he's never truly believed that he IS that person. He makes me wish I had the chance to meet him. As a gay man myself, born about five years after him, I can relate to the obstacles he faced back in the uptight 1950s. Highly recommended.



4. Tab Hunter's ethics seem to have been shaped to fit his impulses in this well-written, well-paced autobiography. He takes us for a swim in the shallow end of the pool but that doesn't mean we don't enjoy the water.
   
   Hunter is a proud and practicing Catholic, even after being chased out of the church by a torrent of abusive language after confessing to homosexual thoughts when he was young. This passage, one of the most startling in the book, makes you wonder why Hunter would ever want to return. But he does, saying he decided to imagine that God loves him just like everyone else. He has always been attracted to the pomp and ceremony of his religion and learns to comparmentalize the way he feels about things. To him, it is a practical matter. Not an ethical one. If they disapprove of what I am, I will change to suit their expectation of me, at least on the outside.
   
   This of course is basic training for a career in acting.
   
   From his late teens to his late twenties, Arthur Gelien (Hunter) is alternately groomed and groped up the ladder of success by a succession of drooling agents and producers who can't resist his golden good looks and the money to be made from them. A willing commodity, Hunter hooks up with the notorious Henry Willson, Rock Hudson's agent. Rock Hudson, Rip Torn, Reb Wheeler, Rory Calhoun, Tab Hunter. Willson was famous for giving his actors these odd names, and for taking a personal interest in them as well. Hunter eagerly follows Willson's plans for him.
   
   The rumor mill had it that Henry, a particularly homely gentleman, slept with all his clients. Hunter doesn't go there in this book, though admits to taking a cruise with him to Bermuda (hmmmm). Later, the two men have a permanent break when Hunter suspects Willson of giving him up to Confidential Magazine to protect Rock Hudson, a story that is most-likely true.
   
   Perhaps it's the fact that Hunter has grown so used to repressing his feelings that the reader finds himself reading a travelogue of facts and tidbits devoid of much human emotion. "These things happened to me. Here they are."
   
   We get the whole story, and it's a pretty good one, but we never really make it into the deep end of the pool. It's like having a perfectly satisfactory meal. You can't really complain about it, but it doesn't leave you either raving about the food or wanting any more.
   
   I don't blame some of these older actors like Tab Hunter and Richard Chamberlain for waiting until their 70's to "come out" with their autobiographies after spending their careers staying in. Of course, it's career suicide for a gay man to come out, even now. Women all over the world have a stake in the actors they turn into romantic idols, and they want them to be straight in real life too, not just on the screen.
   
   I found the biography of Tony Perkins, Split Image, to be an interesting bookend to Tab Hunter's reminiscenses. Perkins entered intensive pschotherapy to come to terms with his conflicted sexual desires. Hunter dislikes psychiatry and endless bouts of self-investigation.
   
   We get an image of Tony Perkins as being quite the kinkster in Split Image, which made me wonder what Tab Hunter left out. A lot, it seems. He focuses on his career and "studying his craft" even after most actors his age have mastered it. As career options dwindle at the end of his twenties, Hunter gently steps off the Hollywood merry-go-round and heads for Europe.
   
   Tab Hunter is at least honest in the depiction of the positive and negative reviews of his work. He is most often described as being wooden. But he accomplished a lot in his career. He knocked Elvis Presley off the top of the charts with his insipid pop song "Young Love," and he was adored by millions of young girls around the world. Without a doubt, Tab Hunter was one of the top pop idols of the 50's.
   
   While I would have liked a bit more candor in his big sell-out, tell-all moment, I was satisfied by the story he told. It was interesting and well done. I don't know if this is due to the input of Mr. Hunter or of his writer, but the result was a readable, enjoyable portrait of a conflicted teen idol and his hidden life.



5. This review is from: Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making Of A Movie Star
   
   Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making Of A Movie Star, By Tab Hunter and Eddie Muller, is, in my opinion, a glossed over version about the story of an inflexibly wooden, dispassionate, and emotionally bankrupt actor whose main contribution, to the many movies he appeared in, was merely to serve as decorative window dressing - and nothing more.
   
   To be fair, he did appear in a handful of A-List movies. But even in those roles, in which another young actor might have brilliantly excelled, Mr. Hunter's performances were always sadly lacking in both substance and meaning.
   
   No doubt, his stoic upbringing had much to do with his inability to openly and effectively express the true depth of his innermost thoughts and feelings.
   
   Having been brought up by a formidably stern, strong-willed mother, who, we are told, dearly loved both her sons (Tab and his adored older brother Walter) she, nonetheless, never really offered either one of them anything that might even tangibly resemble any sort of emotional stability. Neither, we are also told, did she ever openly show them any real affection. Apparently, this factor proved to be most instrumental in helping to create the impenetrable wall of reserve that Tab Hunter had built around himself very early in life, and which he conveniently used as a means to keep himself separated from the rest of the world.
   
   Whatever the reasons involved, however, the sad fact remains that it greatly inhibited his earlier growth as a substantial human-being, and heavily contributed in his never being able to realize the full potential that he later might have aspired to as an actor.
   
   This becomes increasingly clear when one is confronted with the undeniable truth concerning the severe limitations of his acting abilities - and by the painful realization that this one-dimensional actor was only capable of re-creating, time and time again, the same old familiar characterization of just being himself - Tab Hunter.
   
   Throughout his entire career, he never once truly captured the subliminal spark that would have ignited within him all the necessary warmth, and sincerity of passion that is so vitally essential in bringing total believability to the elusive art of great dramatic acting. It was almost as if he was pre-ordained (by the limited range of his emotional output) to forever just remain the perennial blond surfer that he so tellingly portrayed in "Ride The Wild Surf."
   
   If Tab Hunter should ever wonder why his acting career was so shortlived - perhaps the answer is a relatively simple one. The only thespians who endure the ages are those who infuse their acting by reaching far down into the very depths of their heart and soul and bring forth, through the magic of their artistry, an astonishing new interpretation on the age old verities of life that is an absolute revelation to watch. Those who are there merely for adornment purposes only - fade away after a brief time, and are completely forgotten.
   
   Mr. Hunter's homosexuality, an important part of his life that has helped shape him into the person that he really is, is never fully addressed here. The several male lovers that he has had throughout the years, including some outstandingly famous ones like Anthony Perkins, Rudolph Nureyev, and ice-skating champion Ronnie Robertson, are mentioned, but barely. They appear as rather sketchily drawn presentations - in a matter-of-fact same sort of a way as footnotes that might appear at the bottom of a printed page. Here he is, in reality, being the same emotionally unresponsive person that so faithfully represented the trademark performances that he usually gave on screen.
   
   It was always a no-strings attached, no commitment type of relationship that he usually shared with most of these men, conveniently affording him the option of being able to unceremoniously cut all existing ties with them whenever another more attractive prospect came along.
   
   Because of the incredibly good looks that he had been endowed with, one gets the feeling that most of these men were merely conquests that he felt he could have just for the taking.
   
   Although a warm, friendly and outgoing personality weren't exactly his forte, I'm sure there were other less visible attributes that more than certified his credentials as being a card carrying member of the human race.
   
   Being an independent, self sufficient person was an admirable trait that had been successfully instilled in him by his mother, a stalwart woman, who, during very rough times, literally raised both boys by herself after having escaped from the clutches of a brutally abusive husband. Another admirable trait was loyalty. Loyalty to his mother, a woman he had often been at odds with, by vowing to support and care for her until the very end - which, I might add, was dutifully accomplished. To further enhance his humanistic resume, Mr. Hunter also has a genuine love for animals - especially dogs and horses. Horses, predominantly - a love for the animal that his brother Walt had helped to cultivate within him. Anybody who religiously vows to care for a parent (and actually does so) and has a deep, respectful and caring love for animals, certainly makes them alright in anyone's book - especially mine.
   
   There is one touching, memorable moment in the book that literally shines with the true spark of heartfelt humanity. It happened during a horse jumping show at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Poised on his horse, and waiting to be called into the ring, Mr. Hunter was approached by a soldier, who, after inquiring if he was Arthur Gelien (Tab's real name) proceeded to soberly inform him that his beloved brother Walt, at age 35, had been killed in action in Vietnam. Dazed by the tragic, unexpected news, Tab somehow managed to go through with the show, winning the event in honor of his brother's memory. Later, alone in the stall of the horse he had ridden, he completely broke down into tears and sobbed uncontrollably. Evidently, Walt was about the only person in the world that he truly ever did love with his whole heart and soul.
   
   The one thing that bothers me most about Tab Hunter is that he had all the opportunity in the world to try and become a better actor - but, instead, chose to squander it all away by not striving hard enough to put himself in touch with the vast reservoir of untapped human emotions that could have made him a far greater actor than merely being the recipient of an empty, superficial type of glamour fame that was only too briefly enjoyed.
   
   There is much in this book that should be of considerable interest to the Hollywood buff. The authors have done a remarkably fine job in vividly re-creating the portrait of a particular time and place, and accurately describe, whether intentionally or not, the dizzying, merry-go-round existence of those celebrities viciously caught up in a whirlwind vacuum of self-idolatry and indulgence. We are also offered an insider's look into the workings of motion picture studios, the people who run them, and the rather dubious methods that are used in the hiring of what particular stars, for what particular movies, and for what particular reasons. In most instances, needless to say, inside politics always plays an important role.
   
   Fascinating as these insights tend to be, it still doesn't quite overshadow the importance of the bigger picture here. In the final analysis, one comes away from this book with the sad conclusion that a bright light has been allowed to shine down, perhaps too brightly, upon an acting life that, at best, has been considerably less than stellar.
   
   At the end of the book, Tab Hunter writes, and I quote: 'TODAY I AM HAPPY to be "forgotten". I can go anywhere and for the first time in my adult life be unrecognized'.
   
   I pray that this is indeed true, and sincerely wish for him everything that is only the very best that life has to offer.

5 comments about Stealing Buddha's Dinner: A Memoir.

1. This book is just okay. There were a few insighful moments about acculturation and religion, but nothing really new in the ethnic-american and/or memoir genre. It's a nice collection of memories, especially if you grew up in the 1980's. However, it lacks good storytelling. Nothing really happens. I find it surprising that the author teaches literature and creative writing. Overall, disappointing.



2. There is much to enjoy in "Stealing Buddha's Dinner." It is a nostalgic, pop culture fueled book that will appeal to anyone who can't leave the '80s behind. It is also a touching, almost gut wrenching story about Vietnamese boat people and their assimilation in the US. These two threads coalesce in a narrative that is centered around eating, particularly the American junk food that Bich Minh Nguyen glamorizes while growing up in Grand Rapids, MI.
   
   On the food front, I can relate to the author. I grew up in Minnesota during the same years, and my childhood was full of longing for the colorful candy and fast food that my parents disallowed. I used to steal away to the neighbors and luxuriate in junk food and bad TV. Good times. (Then again, when candy and toys look alike, that may be a sign of a culture headed towards an obesity epidemic. But I digress.) Nguyen writes in great detail about food, making this the literary equivalent of those nostalgia picture books that take you back. She also ties in a lot of pop culture -- music, TV, clothes. food -- somehow all these things slip into one category.
   
   Far more poignant are Nguyen's tales of her assimilation into American culture. I wasn't expecting this to go as deeply as it did; by the end the author has learned family secrets and reunited with lost relatives. I was almost crying by the evocative final chapter. It's amazing to me what people go through to get to this country, only to be met by mixed blessings.
   
   "Stealing Buddha's Dinner" is not without its problems. It skips around a lot, and many chapters don't rise to the quality of writing that the last few paragraphs achieve. Call it uneven. It is also truthful, fun, moving, and engrossing. I doubt I'll read this author again, but I'm grateful for this dip into her world.



3. As a child of the 80s (which was truly a silly time to grow up with the hairstyles and fractal patterned Trapper Keepers and whatnot), and a lover of food, I found much to love about this book.
   
   There were a few passages that I found to be a little off-track, like the chapter where the author rhapsodizes about the Laura Ingalls Wilder's books.
   
   But on the whole, I viewed it as a tiny but vivid window into the immigrant experience. I could find some way to relate to every member of the author's family, even when they were not on their best behaviour. I especially loved her depiction of her grandmother, Noi, who has such a lovely peaceful and nuturing presence throughout the book.
   
   The book was thoughtfully crafted and planned out, and beautifully written. I would recommend it to others.



4. As a Vietnamese-American, I related on so many levels. I laughed out loud, too many similar thoughts and experiences.



5. I really enjoyed this book. It is a fascinating look at the complications of being a first generation Vietmamese American. The places where cultures clash are sometimes very amusing and sometimes hard to take, but always enlightening.

5 comments about The Grizzly Maze: Timothy Treadwell's Fatal Obsession with Alaskan Bears.

1. Since the day Tim Treadwell died I have kept a file on all the media information to appear about him. Why? Because I never met him, but talked to him on the phone several times about bears. He was the first person in my life who ever had the nerve to say "hey bears might not be the monsters people have been lead to believe they are". Having said that, I realized from reading his book that he was partly wacko, no question. I also realized long before he died that he was the kind of person who people either liked in a tolerant, funny sort of way or they really, really hated him. A person who can generate that kind of hate is a lesson to all of us. Nick Jans says he never met Tim Treadwell but he writes this story with common sense and neutrality and a good deal of careful craft. The story of Tim Treadwell's death itself has never settled on me as the whole truth. When I read this book, all it gave me were more questions which will never be answered. As a tracker, a seeker of facts, I was astounded that the discovery of the tragedy wasn't treated as a crime scene. In search and rescue they ALWAYS treat each incident as a crime scene until it is proven otherwise. In this case they just assumed it was obvious what happened, and maybe it was, but procedurally that was wrong. Also, the only evidence of what happened outside of appearances, was the audio tape. That tape was a crucial piece of evidence and if the bears involved had been humans charged with murder, even an inept attorney could have gotten them acquitted based on the handling of that evidence. SO,if you are interested in what happened to Tim Treadwell read this book as it contains the best information available. Nick Jans is to be congratulated on a fine effort in a situation where he was pressed to get a book done. His book is as honest, fair and complete as possible where as several other versions are not.



2. I just finished reading this book and was riveted throughout. Unlike several other reviewers who found the last third of the book superfluous, I found it highly informative and thought it fit in beautifully with the rest of the story. I appreciated Nick Jans' account of his personal journey with bears and the insights he gained into both his own soul and the behavior of grizzlies/brown bears. I think it is exactly what qualifies him to surmise what motivated Timothy Treadwell to choose the lifestyle he chose. Jans remained objective yet weighed the pros and cons of Timothy's behavior with sensitivity and good sense. He leaves it up to the reader to form his or her own opinions. I saw the documentary "Grizzly Man" when it was in theaters - three times. I was fascinated by Tim's story and thought Werner Herzog did a fine job of presenting it. This book and the movie complement each other very well.
   Jans writes beautifully; I was pleasantly surprised to find a touch of the poet in his prose.



3. I learned alot about bears.I appreciate his love for the bears,but do not think he went about it correctly.



4. Because of the success of Werner Herzog's movie, "Grizzly Man," the world thinks that it knows Timothy Treadwell. While Herzog treats Treadwell as an emotionally and socially defective person, Jans is much more sympathetic. He provides a respectful, richer, and more rounded portrait of Treadwell than does "Grizzly Man."
   
   As a result, Jans is probably insufficiently critical of Treadwell. Treadwell was "protecting" a healthy grizzly population in a national park, indulged by the National Park Service despite flaunting its rules, and engaging in unsafe practices that ended in the death of two people and two grizzlies. An overall assessment of the man must take this into account.
   
   After telling Treadwell's story, the second half of this book turns to Jans' musings on humans' relations with bears, and wildlife more generally. This was less successful than the first half of the book. Even so, Jans is a talented writer and the book moves along very nicely.



5. Nick Jans' "The Grizzly Maze" is a good read to complement seeing the Werner Herzog movie, "Grizzly Man." The book clears up some of the murkiness left behind the movie. Tim Treadwell is a conflicted soul, whose sturm and drang both helps and hurts grizzly bears. Turning to the study of coastal brown bears (a sub-type of grizzly) in the Alaskan summers for many years in Katmai National Park, probably kept Treadwell from self-destructing on alcohol, drugs or the sheer arrogance of his ego. The man learned a lot about bear behavior over those 13 summers. However, his very presence, his defiance toward Park authorities and his smug disregard for the proper practices in bear country resulted in his own death, the death of his girlfriend and the death of two bears. Wasn't that the reason he claimed himself to be a friend and guardian of grizzly bears? Treadwell greatly exaggerates the poaching issue and completely disregards Park policies designed to minimize bear-human conflict. In the most self-righteous and self-serving way, he ends up habituating bears to humans, doing the very thing he cautions others not to do. Jans brings this front-and-center in his tale. The only reason this book gets four stars instead of five is that in the final chapters, Jans wanders off-course and the focus gets a bit lost. Still, a great read for clearing up unanswered questions in the movie.