5 comments about I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny.

1. I've read this book twice and was touched both times by the love Johnny Cash expressed for Vivian. What a lady to hold her head high, raise her children despite the enormous heatbreak she experienced. Its amazing that people can't seem to get past the Johnny and June story long enough to realize he already had a "true love" , children and marriage. I don't see how anyone could ever condemn Vivian. My heart broke for her throughout the book. She's in heaven now and God bless her family.



2. I really enjoyed this book. You learn alot about Vivian Cash and her life with Johnny before June. Although I thought there were alot of letters (I only read up until 1953, until I got frustrated. I wanted to learn about there time together and not just all the letters Johnny wrote.) The letters were very insighting and you could really tell how much Johnny loved Vivian. I also thought it was pretty incredible how Vivian kept all those letters for so long.



3. I loved the book!! I've always had questions about dear little June Carter and this book answered them all. Poor Vivian and all she went through!! Bless her heart. Drugs and Booze be damned. I hate a man who cheats on his woman.



4. This book isn't really an autobiography like I thought it would be. Lots and lots of letters from Johnny to his first wife Vivian. It's pretty nice, but there was too much. I would have liked to hear more from Vivian.
   
   I have to say Vivian was absolutely gorgeous. She was very stunning more so then June was. A Fox. But that's the only compliment I can have on this book.
   
   For one thing Vivian really goes at it when it comes to June. June got Johnny on drugs. June seduced Johnny. June stole Johnny from her. June was the devil. June didn't write Ring Of Fire. In which none of these accusations I find true. It makes you wonder...why did she not write this book when June and Johnny were alive? Because she might have gotten sued for defamation? The dead have no rights as we know. This is me just wondering here.
   
   I think she should place some of that rage, blame and hate she threw towards June and aim some of it at Johnny. She doesn't beat him up not nearly as much as she did with June. He was the one who cheated on her. He broke the family up. You can't place blame entirely on June. Granted cheating awful. June was far from an angel. Sleeping with married men is just wrong. I can see why Vivian was so angry but I refuse to believe that a strong willed minded man as Johnny Cash was seduced by some woman. Not to mention got into drugs because of her, "gave her" a song he supposely wrote and every negative thing he did was because of his mistress. I do understand the frustrations Vivian must have gone through. Having your man cheat on you with some other woman must have felt terrible for her and her children, but don't place the blame all on the woman. The man needs to go down on the dirt in blame too. It would have been nice seeing her curse out Johnny Cash too. I really don't believe much of what Vivian said about the situation with June, but that is just my opinion. She's blinded by rage and rightfully so. Her take on Ring Of Fire and who really wrote it made me feel sorry for her. I doubt Johnny felt so bad to have to give June the song to "help" her out finacially. June only came from the first family of Country. I know she couldn't have been "needy" and by all accounts of people who knew Johnny, they all said June wrote it. Not to mention everytime Johnny was on stage he gave June credit for the song. A man who is so much about truth, why would he lie about something like that? Also by all accounts of people who knew Johnny, it was Johnny who was running after June all the time. Not the other way around.
   
   So anyway, read the book and come up with your own conclusions. It nice to read Johnny's letters but I would like to have seen the book as an autobiography more so then so many letters. The pictures inside the book is stunning. Also Vivian has passed away which is sad. Would have been nice to see her promote this book and explain more.
   
   Other books of this genre you should read is Wonderful Tonight by Patti Boyd and Storms by Carol Ann Harris.



5. this is an excellant insight into how Johnny felt about Vivian before June came into the picture and disregarded the Cash's marriage and children.

5 comments about Plain Secrets: An Outsider among the Amish.

1. I am from West Salem and having lived there and worked at the law office, I could pretty much pick out who he was talking about. I feel Mr. Mackall did a wonderful job of telling the true life of the Amish.
   
   I have seen the shunning of a young man in public, at a auction I attended. It broke my heart. It is not easy for them to just walk away from the only family and way of life they known.
   
   If the Amish interest you as they do me, then this book is the one book to read.Plain Secrets: An Outsider among the Amish



2. Neither a scholarly treatise nor a vilification, an idealization nor an exposé, Joe Mackall's PLAIN SECRETS is a narrative that explores one man's relationship to an Amish family and, by extension, a community.
   
   Mackall, who lives in Ashland County, Ohio, befriends the Shetler family: Samuel, Mary and their nine children (names changed by the author). Over the years, living in close proximity to the Shetlers, Mackall develops as close a relationship with the family as an Englisher might be allowed. What emerges is the peace, beauty and goodness of the culture, as well as the disturbing questions he finds himself asking about legalism, the rights of women and the protection of children. His friendship with the family also helps him learn more about himself. "I have chosen...to mine the raw material of their everyday lives in search of everyday truths," writes Mackall.
   
   It's an immersion into the world of the Swartzentruber, the most traditional and strict of the Amish sects. The Swartzentruber refuse to use reflective signs on the back of their buggies, leave school after the eighth grade, bathe only once a week and carry no insurance. The women are not permitted to wear bras and are not allowed to shave their underarms or legs.
   
   However, there are plenty of surprises. This conservative sect shops at Wal-Mart and loves the Dollar Store, and may enjoy junk food such as Milky Way candy bars and potato chips. Although they don't practice "rumspringa" like many other Amish sects, the Swartzentruber Amish let their teens go on "dates," in which a teenage boy and girl spend the night together, side by side, in her bed. Mackall skillfully weaves other information throughout the narrative: the history of the Swartzentruber, the organization of the church and the ordination of ministers, and Amish perceptions of African Americans.
   
   As part of his exploration, Mackall follows the story of Samuel's nephew Jonas, who leaves the Amish to join the English community. The reader will be alternately intrigued, sympathetic and repelled at how Jonas handles his new-found "freedom." To abandon Amish life, Mackall shows through Jonas's attempt, is to encounter immediate problems. How do you get a Social Security number if your parents refuse to let you have a copy of their marriage license? How do you find a job when you've never gone to school past the eighth grade? The Amish community's culture and rules, Mackall realizes, make it difficult for a child to leave.
   
   Living in close proximity to the Shetler family offers Mackall positive insights as well --- an appreciation and attention to the weather, a realization that he doesn't need as much as he perhaps wants. Mackall, a professor of English and journalism at Ashland University, beautifully pens one particularly haunting scene, which finds him rhythmically tossing butternut squash to Samuel in his truck as they get ready to go to an auction.
   
   "Perhaps it's because the weather is fair and the season is autumn, but suddenly I experience a paroxysm of joy --- sheer, sharp unadulterated joy. I'm suspended between two worlds, an outsider in an outsider's world. I'm here with friends who consider themselves separate from the world but woven into the earth, while we all throw fruits of the earth to one another: seeds planted, sown, produce reaped and cleaned, soon to be sold, bought, and eaten. Toddlers play, teenagers laugh, a friend loses his hat, my back aches, and through it all the beauty and heartbreaking brevity of this life pierce me with their stunning certainty."
   
   Other scenes are not so prosaic. After enjoying his rides in Samuel's buggy and telling others about them "as if I were playing a small part in some quaint drama most people could only watch", he must re-evaluate his thinking after another family's buggy is hit by a car and an eight-year-old girl is killed. This leads to a written personal tirade, which ends with, "Is sticking with your sacred buggies more important than the sanctity of human life? Can't you take care of your children?" Readers will have further concerns when Samuel takes his daughter to a veterinarian for medical treatment or, like all Swartzentrubers, refuses to immunize his children. Mackall's questions as he ponders the less appealing side of Amish life are respectful, vulnerable and thought provoking.
   
   Threaded throughout Mackall's book is Samuel's belief in God's will and how it affects his world. "He talks about God's will the way he reports how much it rained the night before or that one of his cows has the milk disease. God's will is like gravity --- it is rain and dirt and sun and snow and wind and fire and every other elemental thing. It is what it is --- no matter what we do." Despite Mackall's own disagreement with Samuel's theology, he finds himself strangely comforted by it when a disabled uncle dies.
   
   It's these conflicting perceptions that provide the necessary tension that holds Mackall's narrative together. Readers will come away with new perspectives about Amish life and some disturbing questions.
   
   --- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby



3. Plain Secrets was our choice for our book club this month. It was an informative read. Much info about the Amish of Ohio and a good conversation work.



4. Very enjoyable read. Mackall uses his sensitivity, humor and vulnerability to tell us a real story about real Amish people. Living next door and making friends with a Swatzentruber (very orthodox & traditional) Amish family, he is there for them in their time of need, and they welcome him in to their lives - to a certain point. Mackall smashes many of the popular, but inaccurate notions we have about the Amish and leaves us a little more informed and thoroughly entertained.



5. As someone who grew up Swartzentruber Amish in the same community as the "Shetler" family I consider this to be one of the best books on the Amish I've ever come across. It accurately tells the real story without being offensive. My only problem with reading it was knowing how private the Amish are I felt like I was eavesdroping! If you are looking for an accurate account of life inside the Swartzentruber Amish community this book is a must read.

5 comments about Johnny's Girl: A Daughter's Memoir of Growing Up I.

1. I grew up in Anchorage during the same time that Kim Rich did so I bought this book for my sister for her birthday. It got passed from family member to family member until it made it back to me in Texas. My mother doesn't usually read books and even she couldn't put it down. I found it to be very interesting although it may not be as good to those without ties to Alaska. I knew that Anchorage has its sleazy side but I had no idea about the activities described in this book although I do remember some of the characters and murders. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it.



2. Although biographies are not my favorite reading, I was drawn to this when it first came out. I still remember the feelings evoked by how she was able to deal with her parents and her life -- her strength and resilience as she was growing up. Her strength in her later search for answers, her maturity and understanding, and her forgiveness and love for her mother and father, although both parents were flawed and could not give her the kind of love and life so needed by a child, is a powerful statement.



3. I am a person who finishes a book of this length in a day. But this book I held onto for weeks. Such extraordinary courage and objectivity it must have taken to write this book. One should be proud. My Holiday Greetings to Kim Rich and her family.



4. Kim Rich, who grew up in Anchorage during the 60s and 70s, had the parents from hell: Mom was a prostitute who ended her years in a mental hospital, and dad was an operator of illegal gambling joints who was eventually murdered due to a dispute over ownership of a massage parlor. Her parents tried to create the facade of a respectable middle-class family when Kim was a child, but all for naught; Kim imparts such experiences as being mistaken by the police for a prostitute, at age 13, when they raided her house.

   I sense writing the book was an act of therapy for the author, who was trying to reconcile the fact that although her parents loved her, they were, at the core, bad people. It is deeply moving to see how the author struggled to have a normal childhood and normal teenage years despite the underworld characters who surrounded her and the emotional baggage her parents saddled her with. This well-written, articulate book is also a portrayal of what Anchorage, Alaska, was like during the 60s and 70s.




5. I read this book after seeing the movie 'Johnny's Girl' which is based on Kim Rich's life story. As I suspected, the book offered a fuller portrait of the struggles Rich endured and the sense of survial she must have felt. Her writing style is fluid and funny and moving and I recommend this book to readers who value excellent literarily nonfiction. I look forward to her next book!

5 comments about I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir.

1. This book is very unique in the fact you expect it to be about a haunted house but actually the main subject is the struggle of growing up different. I got this book because I love haunted house stories but I have to admit I got more than I bargained for. The author did a good job bringing her awkwardness and pain to life especially when he was almost discovered with his sister's bridal dress on in the attic by his father! I don't believe in the gay issues but I felt very sorry for Jimmmy as a boy who was so confused and noone to turn to and I really believe considering the fact he did have sexual feelings for a couple of females and the desire to change that he could have if he had gotta the help he needed. All and all it was a very well told memoir and her personality really came thru in the story.



2. 
   At first glance I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir seems to be about growing up in a haunted house, but it's much more than that. Author Jennifer Finney Boylan uses the near-translucent spirits inhabiting her family home as a metaphor for her dissociated youth. She spent her first 40 years as James Boylan, the boy's and man's body a bad fit for her soul.
   
   The Boylan family moved to the aptly named "Coffin House" on Philadelphia's Main Line, and at once young James began to observe ghostly shapes drifting through the rooms. Through the teen years and in later visits as a young adult, alienated by feelings that "James" was meant to be "Jenny," the author continued to experience the ghosts. In more recent years, after transgender surgery turned James into Jenny at last, she visited the house with a "ghostbusting" team and came to a better understanding of the strange presence and what it was foreshadowing to the boy, near-translucent himself.
   
   This memoir follows the theme of author Boylan's earlier book She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders, expanding on her life with a full cast of eccentric extended family members and friends. Boylan's humor has a dark cast; she deflects her serious moods with lightning-quick turnarounds, yet the reader never doubts her seriousness. The book is full of music and cultural references that at times are the only tethers holding Jenny/James in the real world.
   
   Parent and partner, professor, friend, musician, daughter, sister -- some of Boylan's relationships have thrived and some suffered. Her books leave me believing that, as she states, she's "solid" at last. I'm Looking Through You: Growing Up Haunted: A Memoir is not your everyday memoir but it will make you think -- about ghosts, but especially about the human experience.
   
   Linda Bulger, 2008



3. A fascinating story woven with the backdrop of a transgender young man haunted both by his phsyical identity and the physical haunting of a house in main line Philadelphia. It is a very poignant, at times sad and then humorous book. I deeply admire the struggle of the author and the way in which she wrote this moving story. The call to be real and to "find ourselves" is one in which we all struggle to achieve on varying levels.



4. I didn't know jack (or jill) about Jennifer Finney Boylan when I picked up this book. I was only interested because it was described as a "growing up in a haunted house" memoir, and I can't get enough of the paranormal.
   
   Imagine my surprise when a few pages in I discover that Jenny was formerly Jimmy.
   
   At first I was annoyed at what I perceived as falst advertising. But in no time I found myself captivated by Jenny's unique voice and perspective. She captures perfectly the goofiness of teenagers in the '70s, with all cultural references intact. The section on Jimmy's first job as a bank teller had me laughing out loud because it reminded me so much of my first job.
   
   By the end of the book, I loved both Jimmy and Jenny, and the whole haunted angle was almost a moot point.
   
   I'm looking forward to reading more by this talented writer.



5. This book picked up steam after a chapter or two and never ceased to be less than enthralling. Boylan's story of growing up transgendered and in a haunted house is a tale that probably no one else can tell, and she does a remarkable job. Even better than She's Not There, in I'm Looking Through You Boylan recounts a rich childhood and adolescence filled with love, doubt, pain, joy, and how both the living and the dead have an impact on our lives. A surprisingly addictive read, and highly recommended.

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 Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy 1915-1963.

1. This is an excellent book with lots of interviews with Les Paul and others who were part of the development of the Les Paul guitar through the early years. The photography is excellent with photos of significant Les Paul guitars. It is a beautiful book with lots of inside scoop for the Les Paul aficionado.



2. I really wish it were possible to review products at Amazon without assigning a rating, because pinning a number of stars on The Early Years of the Les Paul Legacy: 1915-1963 is no easy task.
   
   It must be said right off the bat that the book is a veritable treasure trove for fans of Les Paul and the famous solidbody guitar that bears his name. The images alone are worth the price of admission, and the author brings a unique perspective to the book that's deeply appreciated. The book is extremely well-written; there's no denying it.
   
   Unfortunately, though, it's extremely poorly edited. I searched for an editor to blame -- it's hard to fault Robb Lawrence, because even the best of writers need an editor -- but I could find no such credit. As a result, newer fans will often find themselves lost in the course of reading the text. Sometimes lesser-known information is presented matter-of-factly on one page, only to be explained sufficiently four pages (or two chapters) later, as if it were being introduced for the first time. It's as if Lawrence wrote the book in chronological order, then someone else cut-and-pasted paragraphs into chapters by subject, without ever going back to tidy up the text.
   
   Honestly, though, that's the only blemish on an otherwise brilliant and one-of-a-kind book. None of the other texts on Les or the Les Paul model guitar come close. The layouts are unparalleled, the images are simply breathtaking, and the personal anecdotes are priceless.
   
   Seriously, though, Robb? If you're reading this, please find an editor before releasing the second volume! The quality of work you're putting into this project deserves that last 5% of polish.



3. Anything written on the grand master of the guitar is worth reading. This book has plenty of pictures and interesting history on Les. I'd recommend it if your a fan of Les Paul or of the guitar that bears his name.



4. A long awaited insightful look into the legend and his famous axe. I have several books on vintage guitars, as well as ones specifically on the Les Paul. This one is my favorite. I think this is a great book full of tons of facts and an enourmous amount of eye candy. This is the type of book I keep around close and look at again and again.
   A great job done, and I cannot wait for part two!!



5. This is the definitive must have book for any Les Paul fan. Thoughtfully written and well researched, this book has it all. Information about the man, the history and the guitars. Tons of photos, facts, trivia and details. Do not pass this one by! Great job Robb!!!

5 comments about Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window.

1. I have this book since 1984 when Tetsuko Kuroyanagi became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. I was in 7th grade at that time. I have read it over 20 times. Every time, I found joyful, happiness, and touching. But I lost it when we moved. I did get an used one. And I have read it over and over again. This book inspired me to study Japaneses. I love it. GREAT BOOK for children and for adult. READ IT if you want to find your childhood and refill your imagination.



2. Honestly I read this book over 25 years ago and thought that this book has long been discontinued. I guess this proves what a time-tested treasure it is. The author, a TV celebrity in Japan, recalls her childhood and the unorthodox school she went to. Absolutely adoring in the simple story of how a concerned mother tried to do the best for her daughter and how a simple man did his best to give a bright and meaningful future to the few children who comes into his life.
   
   It is the type of book that makes you wish that there were more teachers like him and that you had a teacher like him.



3. This is one of my all-time favorite books. First published in Japan in 1981, this beautiful book depicting the true story of innocent little Totto-chan, her family, friends, and above all, the innovating educationer she befriends in the years leading up to, and during the first years of WW2, remains a national best seller in Japan to this day. I don't have any children of my own, but if I did, and if Tomoe-Gakuen (the elementary school Totto-chan attends) existed today, I would immediately enroll my children there. Since there is not, I hope I have the good luck of finding somebody like Sosaku Kobayashi to help make my child the happiest and kindest child in the world.
   
   It was due to this book's beauty that then UNICEF Executive Director, James P. Grant persuaded those working at UNICEF to appoint the author, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi (who is Totto-chan grown up), to UNICEF's International Goodwill Ambassador, enabling her to visit and help children in need all over the world.
   
   For people who have read this book and those who have not, I also recommend "Totto-Chan's Children : A Goodwill Journey to the Children of the World" by the same author. It tells the story of Totto-chan grown up, still big-hearted as ever, striving to help children in need. Check it out!



4. In 1969 I was part of a group of teachers who created a school much like that featured in Toto Chan. We thought we were on the "cutting edge" of educational practices without knowing that a school in Japan had been delivering many of the same holistic, humanistic educational practices over a quarter of a century before. I'm sure many U.S. educators who thought/think they were/are in the vanguard of educational practices would appreciate this beautiful story of a dedicated educator and his students.



5. I have not read a better book which has made me laugh, cry, love, and ponder over is such a way! This book is awesome and worth much more than 5 stars.

3 comments about Adoniram Judson: Bound for Burma (Christian Heroes: Then & Now) (Christian Heroes: Then & Now).

1. This book is written in a way that older children could read it, but so could an older person, and both would enjoy it.
   
   So inspiring!!



2. We like the other books we've read in this series, but many of the themes this particular book (Judson) were really too "old" for our nine-year-old and we chose not to finish the book. The graphic violence and sometimes disturbing theological themes may not be appropriate for younger readers. I would certainly not recommend this book as a read "alone". I would highly suggest a parental "read along" so that you can address any disturbing or controversial issues.



3. This book casts a long shadow-historically speaking. Adoniram's work is the only translated Bible in the Burmese language today. His life was an amazing adventure filled with the pain of loss and the victory of seeing the Holy spirit open doors. You will do yourself a favor to read this book. I loved it.

5 comments about Ryan White: My Own Story.

1. Today is World AIDS Day and each year I remember my childhood friend, Ryan White. His sister and I were both Rollerskaters and skated in the same skating rinks. Knowing Ryan personally and having his book for years now, it is still a story that resonates with me. It is true, thoughtful, and in his own words.
   
   I'll never forget the hatred the spewed from the city of Kokomo against him. It was such a devastating blow to his well being. Not only did he have this death sentence, but the entire town was treating him worse than what you would treat a pig going to slaughter. I am not joking. I remember seeing him at the skating rink one day, it was a time when he wasn't as sick so he was able to be a kid. I went up to him to give him a hug because I hadn't seen him in so long and he said, "You want to hug ME?" He was shocked that someone would want to touch him. That's how bad it was.
   
   Read his book. He is the reason people with AIDS are accepted now. This friend of mine had more courage than anyone I have ever met.



2. i really loved this book if i was born around his time i would have been his friend i love how he stood up for his beliefs and went back to school in stuff even though he didn't get to gradulate, but he still lived a great in fun life it was short but he did things with it i'm young but my aunt past away with AIDS and after reading this book it really touch me i was crying because i felt so bad what ryan went though but he didn't let it get to him. He was so strong he got people believing again.



3. In fifth grade we were introduced to an illness called AIDS. We also learned about a boy named Ryan White. I took an interest to this story because I have an illness called diabetes and have to deal with how different people react and treat me because of it. Just like Ryan and AIDS diabetes is not contagious and there are no know ways to prevent or cure it. I have heard many different reactions when they find out that I have Diabetes. The most commom being "Did you eat too much sugar or something?" Most of the time I just laugh at this and explain that you have no control over getting Diabetes. I took an interest in school that year and by doing so I found myself a role model...Ryan White.



4. When I was young I remeber a copy of People magazine that my mom had lying around with Ryan White on the cover. For some reason I always took an interest to him, and his life, and all the article that I could find on him. In high school I remeber reading part of it to do an exta credit project. Finally 2 year out of high school I decided to reread the story of his life. It is amazing how people really are. It really hit home, not living too far from Kokomo, Indiana where he was from, that people in my community would treat people this way. It is also amazing how much determination he had to be who he was and not let anyone or anything get in the way. This book is great!!!! Everyone should read it and put themselves in this families shoes!!



5. I read this book upon entering seventh grade. Ryan's story was so empowering and so honest that I often feel the need just to sit down and read a chapter by random. Everytime I read it I cry. This auto- biography has inspired me to help in the relief and research for AIDS. I have done reports on the disease and Ryan and teachers often comment about how passionate I am about the subject. This book changed the way I veiw life; a treasure that should'nt be wasted. Thank you Ryan.

5 comments about Cherry.

1. I enjoyed both books by Ms. Karr. She speaks of happiness hidden in a dysfunctional childhood. I believe more young adults should read her books and realize that happiness comes from within and as adults it is no longer our parents who control our choices/lifestyle. I read exerpts to high school seniors who find they can relate to abuse or poor personal choices like losing their virginity. Ms. Karr is a natural born story weaver.



2. I read Liar's Club when first published & Cherry when it was first published, so, it's been many years since I have read either one. I grew up w/Mary Karr. Leechfield, TX is actually Groves, Port Arthur, TX; Janis Joplin's hometown. She dedicated Cherry to my step-brother's best friend, the one she ran off with to California after graduation from HS. I'm glad that Mary has turned out to be a successful writer & professor. She had a book of poetry published when we were in the 3rd grade. I was always in awe of her. Mary was always beautiful, with those big doe eyes, & long lashes, pretty body. She was in the HS drill team, so, she wasn't as much of an outcast, as she would have many to believe. We all went through the halls stoned on acid, pot, etc. There wasn't a lot to do, except, hang @ the Dairy Queen down the street from PNG HS, or skip school & go surfing @ Crystal Beach. A lot of us hung out in those dangerous, "black" blues bars down by the docks in Beaumont, & drove across the "bridge", just to get drunk in Vinton, LA. Many of the people she hung with in HS, were my friends, as well. I know exactly who she is referring to in Cherry's descriptions. Although Liar's Club is a much better written book, Cherry is still a good read. I was shocked when people related so much to Liar's Club, you know, the WASP girls in the book clubs. Kudis to Mary!!



3. I will 100% agree with the person who says in their review is this the same author of The Liar's Club? I REALLY, REALLY liked that memoir. I don't know what went wrong with this one..but I didn't waste much of my time trying to figure it out.



4. This is my absolute favorite book in the past few years. Karr is outstanding at description. I've never read anything as precise and beautiful and inventive. Her description of an attention-driven suicide attempt is hilarious and profoundly sad. The writing style is deliciously funny and smart, Karr is a keen observer of sexuality, adolescence, and change, and physicality permeates the story.
   
   On another note, I couldn't believe the 1-star reviews here - they criticize Karr's use of "big words." I was cracking up, hahha. And apparently if you write about drugs, your story automatically sucks. What?!
   
   Most people seem to be critiquing the fact that it isn't another Liars' Club. I haven't read that yet, so maybe that's why I was able to read Cherry with no expectations. It's very accessible, and I liked reading it out of order and then again in sequence. It doesn't have a really linear narrative, (maybe that's what people disliked?) but I loved that. I can't wait to read her first memoir.



5. I bought this book because I loved her first one "The Liars' Club" so much. To be honest, had I started with "Cherry" I probably would not have been interested enough to read anything else by her. But by the end of "The Liars' Club" you feel as if she's a close friend so you want to read "Cherry" to find out what happens in her life after that. She's also a poet, but I'm not a fan of poetry so I can't tell how if her poetry books are any good. I highly, highly recommend "The Liars' Club" and then "Cherry".