1 comments about The Pages In Between: A Holocaust Legacy of Two Families, One Home.

1. A Jewish baby is born in a Polish ghetto in 1942. In an attempt to save her life, her father asks a Polish gentile woman to look after his young daughter, telling her that he'll be back after the war. Indeed he does return and these two are some of the only members of their family who survive the holocaust. The frightened little girl and her father, a stranger to her, go to Sweden for a few years and then on to the United States where this little girl grows up, marries, and becomes a mother.
   
   Erin Einhorn, a reporter, must have known she had quite a story on her hands, or at the very least a fascinating family history, because the little girl in the story was her mother, Irene Rozenblum Einhorn. Despite her mother's long reluctance and disinterest in speaking of her past, Einhorn is determined to find out who this family is who saved her mother and made her own life possible. This story has become The Pages in Between, an honest and revealing memoir which winds up going in a direction that most holocaust writing does not. Einhorn moves to Poland and is surprised to find that in this country that was ten percent Jewish before WW2, Judaism has now become trendy. There are Jewish restaurants and trinket shops and tours one can go on.
   
   Einhorn visits Bedzin, the previous home of her family, and quite easily finds the house they used to live in, and in it, the family that saved her mother's life, the Skowronskis. The woman who cared for her has died, but her son lives there with his family. He remembers the little girl he thought of as his sister whom they had always hoped would return for a visit. Einhorn visits the family multiple times, taking a translator with her, and over time some frustration on the part of the Skowronskis is revealed. Einhorn learns there is a problem with ownership of the house, and the Skowronskis want to collect on a promise made by Einhorn's grandfather during the war.
   
   Einhorn tries to do what she can to help them, and it turns out to be a terribly complicated and potentially expensive legal matter. At the same time, Einhorn is struggling with the somewhat turbulent relationship she has always had with her mother as well as some life-altering news.
   
   I found this to be a quite compelling story and I enjoyed Einhorn's personal tone throughout the book. I was very impressed with the degree to which she tried to assist the Skowronskis. I felt as though they were giving her a pretty hard time and it would have been easy for her just to walk away. It's an interesting question, really. After what happened in the Holocaust, do people really owe each other for saving a life, or was it just the right (and obviously brave) thing to do? Who should property belong to? The people it was stolen from over 60 years ago, or the people who have since made it their own?
   
   I found this to be a fascinating and unique story and recommend it.

5 comments about The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir.

1. What an enjoyable read. Brought back all the wonderful memories of childhood along with an adult slant about the world today. Every chapter a treat.



2. I have read several of Bryson's books, the most recent being his able essay on Shakespeare, but this one I found almost disturbing. The book is supposedly about growing up in Des Moines (Bryson was born in 1951) and part of the book is about that. But lots is not. There are hypercritical and one sided rants on US policy in the Cold War, on the anti-communist hysteria of the 1950's and a number of other aspects of life in the 1950's of which Bryson disapproves. Now some of these things are pretty soft targets and deserve some measure of abuse, but the rants are not relating the experience of the very young boy who experienced the times. They are the views of an adult evaluating the times and an angry adult at that.
   
   Some of the parts that are about growing up in Des Moines are fairly funny, but they are just as frequently nasty and are often fueled by anger as well. Bryson is thoroughly unkind to many of the people that he describes in the book. The funny parts were not enough to me to counterbalance the nasty. Overall the book reeks of an arrogant superiority that I have not found in other Bryson books. His other books did not seem to me to be mean spirited. This one does.



3. As a kid growing up in the Midwest in the 1950s, I totally related to Bill Bryson's recounting of his childhood in Iowa. He did all sorts of stuff kids today would never get away with - their mothers would be horrified. Of course, much of his recollections are exaggerated, but not so much so that they don't ring true to those who grew up in that post WWII era.
   
   Bryson's knack for creatively recounting minor incidents from his life - like working on a scab for months, until it was 1 1/2 inches thick and you could stick a thumbtack in it and not feel a thing - had me laughing out loud again and again. His imagination turns a day at the beach, or dinner and a movie with his mom, into one hilarious event after another. His was an era where getting stitches more than once was not only common but a measurement of bravery...or guts.
   
   I highly recommend this entertaining, feel-good, laugh-till-you-cry (complete with tears) experience, a baby boomer's delight and worthy of your time.
   50 Ways to Leave Your Mother



4. Lots of great research (At least I can't remember that many details of my childhood from the same time period.) Not as good as the raving reviews but interesting and easy reading.



5. 50's nostalgia has been done over and over, but Bill Bryson hits a home run with this reminiscence of his childhood years in Des Moines, Iowa. Despite the efforts of modern novelists and Hollywood to cast a dark shadow over the decade of the 50's, it does truly seem like it was the best of times after reading this book.
   
   Being a "late boomer", born almost a decade after Bryson, I grew up with some remnants of this world myself, and I can personally vouch for the mayhem inside those movie theatres that showed Saturday matinees for the kids. If there's one chapter that made me laugh out loud it was the one entitled "Out and About". The theatres, the amusement park, the restaurants, the Iowa State Fair, hanging around a downtown full of stores, all of these places had stories which Bryson delights in sharing with us.
   
   The author describes Iowa as an idyllic place; smack dab in the middle of the country, with deep topsoil, huge stalks of corn, and frugal yet welcoming people who didn't worry too much about things they couldn't control. The world was a much bigger place then, and food items which seem pretty basic to us, such as "pasta, rice, cream cheese, sour cream, garlic, mayonnaise, onions.." etc. were somewhat exotic and to be viewed with suspicion back then.
   
   Those of us who have received a much circulated e-mail about how things were different in our childhood, how we could be outside at all hours of the day and didn't flinch at the cuts and scrapes we acquired on a daily basis, will get more reminding by reading this book. Even childhood mischief is portrayed somewhat benignly as Bryson looks through the haze of nostalgia; chemistry sets setting houses on fire, petty thefts of beer and candy, and dangerous practices like hanging off the back of tailgates of moving cars. Not to mention the threat of the polio epidemic of the time, one wonders in today's age of over-supervised kids how we ever survived our own 50's and 60's childhoods.
   
   Bryson looks at the 50's in the greater world as well, sometimes in a way that works, sometimes not. Bryson is at his best when talking about phenomena like comic books and TV becoming so big, and about publications of all kinds predicting various Doomsday scenarios (much like today actually). The chapter on the Red Scare doesn't fit too well into this book though, a bit of liberal preachiness creeps in that seems out of place here.
   
   There are parts where it seems as if Bryson might be trying too hard to amuse us, but overall I enjoyed this book very much. His affection for his sportswriter father and absent-minded yet cheery mother are quite heartwarming. The chapter about his rural grandparent's home was drawn very nicely as well. Bryson does the inevitable comparison between the Des Moines of his childhood and today and sees all that was lost, never to return. Was the world a better place back then? Bryson implies strongly that it was, and I won't disagree.
   
   For those fans of Bryson's books, or for those who are drawn to nostalgic remembrances, you will enjoy this.

5 comments about Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, and the Search for the American Dream.

1. Okay, I finally got around to reading this. Contrary to comments I have read, this is not the antithesis to N&D. I know that is how it is being marketed, and that is how the author portrays it in the beginning, but more than anything it supports the thesis of Dimed: it is TOUGH to make it out of the lower class. There are many barriers for the poor to overcome, and just because someone IS poor doesn't mean they are lazy or stupid. That comes off in his pages more than anything. It is merely an extension of Ehrenreich's work, only not quite as well done.
   
   It is an easy, enjoyable read and I recommend it more as a Voluntary Simplicity book than what it is being marketed as. He makes some smart decisions (a few dumb ones... get in a street fight with a street kid??), and his writing style is easy and entertaining. I enjoyed it in spite of my expectations. It lags in the middle and toward the end. Most interesting stuff was often about the people around him rather than his own experience, but still a good book.
   
   I don't blame him for marketing it the way he does. It was his intent to prove N&D wrong from the beginning, but he found a much different world than what he expected. But how many books would he sell if he came out and said that? What's the point of buying his when you could just buy hers? How many would he sell if he said, "I went out to prove Ehrenreich wrong, but found out she was right?"
   
   Again, in spite of that, I recommend it.



2. I just loved the book. I am not one that has any trouble putting a book down and taking my time, but not this one. It truly was a page turner because you couldn't wait to see what Shep's next step would be.
   
   I was also amazed at how things were behind the scenes in a homeless shelter. He told the story so well that you felt like you were with him!
   
   Last, I admire someone who has a goal as large as this particular one and goes forth to accomplish it keeping a high spirit and letting no hurdle get in their way. I know that Shep will do well in all of his future endeavors.
   
   Susan in Jalisco, Mexico



3. My daughter and I read this book together along with her 8th grade class. We then had the pleasure of meeting Adam when he came to talk to her school. I was impressed with the book, but even more impressed with the author. He has proven that the American Dream is possible when coupled with traditional values like hard work, persistence, dependability, loyalty, etc.. He is a good man and this is an excellent book. I'd love to see the author of "Nickeled and Dimed" together with him for a debate on the accessibility of the American Dream. I highly recommend "Scratch Beginnings" to everyone.



4. 
   I agree that this guy, as a smart, healthy, and white male with no criminal record, had some advantages that others would not have. Still, I give him credit for what he accomplished in such a short time.
   
   Some reviewers complained about the depth of detail about his job in the second half of the book. I actually found it to be quite interesting. Of course, maybe I'm just biased because this book had me laughing harder than any book has in a long time and a refreshing change from whiney Barbara.



5. Hey Dad,
   Thanks for sending me that book. I just finished it last night, and although some parts were very cliché, it was quite interesting. I think the kid had some good points about hard work, saving money, and a "five year plan", but it's obvious that he is still a young, privileged, white boy from the south. I guess he got something right since he is my age and already published!

5 comments about The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World.

1. Laugh-out-loud funny in some parts. Maybe a little tedious toward the middle (probably sort of like, say, being in the middle of reading the encyclopaedia), but still well worthwhile. I recommend it for entertaining, humorous reading that sneaks a little knowledge in without being heavy-handed.



2. I emailed AJ and told him that this was my favorite book, right up there with my 2nd fav "Memoirs of a Geisha". He thanked me for comparing him to a Japanese hooker! That's funny. In fact, he's so funny and quirky that I'm always thinking of more book ideas for him. This book is so fun to read. I read it aloud to my husband while traveling on our summer vacation. I just wish I could memorize more of it! You gotta read this book.



3. I currently have no idea where my copy of "The Know-It-All" is, as I have loaned it out to anyone and everyone who will listen to me talk about how much I love the book, the ideas, the wit, and especially the author. LOVE IT!



4. Totally do not waste your time on this book. It is insulting to the reader it is so badly written and his political jabs (against conservatives/Republicans) are thinly veiled and completely unwarranted and misplaced.



5. This book is fantastic, so I recommend everyone to buy it.
   
   Also one of my Amazon buddies, who happens to have the same name as this wonderful book, Mr. Know It All, is celebrating a birthday today and I just wanted to wish him HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
   
   We love you Dr. Shock and keep up those amazing reviews that make us by more DVDs!

5 comments about My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq.

1. This is wonderfully realized and loving family story telling at its best; the book describes the lost world of the Northern Iraqi Kurdish Jews. Ariel, we learn, is the great-grandson of Ephraim the Dyer a Jewish mystic who lived in the Northern Iraqi-Kurdish town of Zhako. Zhako is where Ariel Sabar's father Yona was born and lived until the Jews of Iraq were expelled in a forced exodus to Israel in 1951.
   
   Sabar lovingly reconstructs the lost world of the Aramaic speaking Jews of Zhako where his father was born and lived until the age of 12. We learn that Sabar's father Yona changed the original family name of Sabagha to Sabar in Israel, an indication of the disruption and trials caused by their exodus from the land the family's ancestors had inhabited for thousands of years. Yona's parents and grandparents struggled in the promised land of Israel where they were maligned as uneducated and illiterate Kurds.
   
   The family history starts with thirteen-year-old Miryiam's marriage to Yona's father Rahamim Beh Sabagha. The couple's first child , the infant girl Rifka, was kidnapped by a tribal Muslim wet nurse and lost forever.
   
   To illustrate the wonderful stories, consider the extraordinary experiences of Miryiam who escaped the clutches of an abusive stepmother by her child-marriage and conceived Yona after praying at the temple of the prophet Jonah (Yona's namesake) in Nineveh. The illiterate Miryiam emigrated to Israel with her family and eventually travelled to Yale where her son Yona was awarded a PHD in linguistics for work in her native tongue of neo-Aramaic. Many of Miryiam's experiences are both surreal and gripping, including seeing the movie Woodstock in the US with her son Uri and a Marilyn Monroe like encounter with New York City steam grates.
   
   This is wonderfully enjoyable storytelling at its best; I loved the book and highly recommend it.



2. "My Father's Paradise" was a fascinating read. I wasn't sure exactly what I was getting into when I chose this book by its cover but the title was intriguing. In fact, the book is much more captivating than I expected.
   
   Ariel Sabar's story begins like that of many children of immigrants, alienated from his father and caring not at all about his family's past until he became a father himself. Then suddenly he wanted to connect. In his quest to understand his father and himself he goes a little further than most, however. He "interviewed nearly one hundred relatives, family friends and acquaintances, scholars, and others... conducted research at libraries, special collections, and government archives... traveled to Iraq, Israel, and cities across the United States.... collected family letters, diaries, photographs and official documents." The result is a gripping story of a family told against the back drop of a part of recent history that I didn't know much about: the formation of the state of Israel and the exodus of 120,000 Jews from Iraq.
   
   I've said before that I don't really like reading history and biography. They tend to be to dry, cluttered with facts and frequently lack a strong narrative that will pull me in and maintain my interest. I do, however like memoir and historical fiction and this is much more along those lines. Sabar writes that "while this book is by and large a work of nonfiction, it is not a formal history or biography. Nor is it journalism. ... A book on one's family is by its nature a subjective exercise. But I have tried in every instance to keep faith with the larger emotional truth of my family's saga."
   
   The book also tells the story of a language, Aramaic. We know it as the language that Jesus spoke. It also was the language that continued to be spoken by the Jewish population of Kurdistan. After the family's emigration to Israel, Ariel Sabar's father, Yona, went on to become a scholar, a linguist and a crusader for the preservation of Neo-Aramaic, the language of his boyhood that he realized was hovering on the brink of extinction as the second generation of Kurdish Jews in Israel abandoned their native tongue in favor of Hebrew, the official language of Israel.
   
   One of the funniest moments in the book is when his father is asked to do a voice over in Aramaic for The X-Files and must translate, as a little Beatles Easter egg, the lyric "I am a walrus". The puzzled scholar tries to explain that in mountainous landlocked Kurdistan there is no Aramaic word for walrus. He improvised with "I am a sea dog."
   
   Almost as funny is the follow-up story in which the author, whose television gets bad reception, checks into a motel that allows him to pay by the hour and that has cable access to watch the episode of the X-Files in which his voice appeared. His wife meets him there, driving her own car. He wants to explain to the clerk, who must be suspicious at this clandestine rendezvous, when he checks out an hour later; but just can't.



3. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book's description, but knowing I'm not a fan of "sweeping multi-generational sagas" on the fiction side, I approached "My Father's Paradise" with a little nervousness. But Ariel Sabar won me over very quickly with what turned out to be a surprisingly engrossing, educational, and ultimately moving story.
   
   The narrative covers a lot of literal ground, from Kurdistan to Israel to New Haven to Los Angeles and back, but also thematic ground, addressing history, linguistics, cultural and generational clashes, and quite a bit more. At its heart, though, it's a story of a family -- and while those often can end up maudlin, uncomfortably personal, or larded with irrelevancies, Sabar has kept a light hand and a fine balance, and has produced a remarkable story, one I think will remain with me for quite a while. For not knowing what to expect, I ended up very pleasantly surprised.



4. 
   I could not stop reading this book.
   Usually a book like this, starts off great, but gets boreing. Not this one, it only gets more interesting to the very end, and you cannot put it down.
   Ariel Sabar draws you into his Fathers world.
   
   Ariel takes you on a Journey about his Kurdish Father, Yona, who was born in the 40's in small remote town in Kurdish Iraq. His Father Yona and his family had to escape to Israel in the 50's, to a harder life. They where consitered illiterate people. Low on the standards for Israel, which was a new country at that time.
   Yona went to Yale University.
   
   When Ariel got married, and has a Son, he wanted to find his Father's, and his Jewish Kurdish Roots. Also to understand and have a closer relaionship with His Father Yona.
   
   This Book has touched my Heart. I'm Jewish but not a Kurdish Jew. I'm a second generation Jew in the USA, who was raised reformed. After reading this book, I will be looking in to my Jewish ancestors, to find out what they went through in there native country, and where I have really come from.
   This book has showed me that I should have been more tolorent of my Grandparents that came to this country. I wish I would have understood them better. It also opened my eyes to why they did certain things in there life. I'm sure they brought with them there culture. My parents wanting to fit in, and be the new Jewish in the Usa , My Parents forgot there parents culture, and we lived as the rich Americans.
   
   Are the Jew's a Religion or a Tribe!!!
   
   I do not think it matters if your a Jew, Christian, or what Religion you follow, This book will bring back memeories, Giving you a better understanding of the emigrants. and lift your Spirit.



5. Told as a journey by Ariel Sabar to re-discovery his family's Jewish roots in Iraq, this book unveils a fascinating glimpse into the history and culture of the Mesopotamian Jews, a community so isolated from the outside world that they continued the use of the ancient language of Aramaic! I confess that even with my knowledge of the Middle East, I had little knowledge of the Jewish Iraqis beyond their existence, and am grateful to the author for writing this book. Although this book focuses on family history, it also gives a wider view of a fascinating community, isolated from the wider world but still clinging to their own vibrant culture and traditions, and the experiences of the Iraqi Jewish community with the formation of modern Iraq and the creation of Israel. The community of Zakho, deep in the foothills of Kurdish Iraq, comes alive in this book. Anyone seeking knowledge of the Middle Eastern Jews should definitely read this book, because it shows the human side of history, the people displaced by their own country, and the difficult choices families made with the creation of Israel. An outstanding work!

3 comments about The Book of Mychal: The Surprising Life and Heroic Death of Father Mychal Judge.

1. This book brought tears to my eyes. We know that Mychal Judge's life was tragically ended on September 11, 2001 but this book told his life's story in a very real and touching way. The lessons of Mychal Judge's life will stay with you for a lifetime.



2. That's what this book clearly is - a labor of love, a probing biography by a Daily News columnist. The author delves deeply into Judge's Irish upbringing, the Catholic church, the Fire Dept, and New York City politics. A Pulitzer-worthy book.



3. Daly, Michael. "The Book of Mychal: The Surprising Life and Heroic Death of Father Mychal Judge", Thomas Dunne Books, 2008.
   
   A National Hero
   
   Amos Lassen
   
   Father Mychal Judge became a hero after his death. He died while he was helping victims at the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He was the chaplain for the New York City Fire Department and he soon became the supreme symbol of those who put their lives at risk so they could help others and he paid the highest price. He was loved by his fireman and was always ready to listen to anyone who needed to talk. He not only was minister to firemen but to gay New Yorkers as well even though many of his firemen had no idea that he was gay and did not learn that until he was dead. Father Judge had problems with reconciling his private life with his public life and this was discovered in a journal he began keeping in 1999. We read that he yearned to speak out but he felt that coming out would cost him his ministry, his friends and his standing in the Catholic Church.
   Michael Daly, who was Judge's friend and who wrote this book, had access to the journals and gives us the thoughts of Judge.
   Judge's life was gripping from being a youth in Depression Brooklyn to his Catholic upbringing. The last section of the book hits hard as it deals with September 11 and the days following. I love the way we get to see Father Judge as he tries to balance his work with the fire department and his life as a gay man especially during the 1990's when New York City was engaged in a war between the church and the gay community. Daly gives us a peek into Judge's private life as well and with great sensitivity. We read of his involvement with the AIDS crisis, when he bucked his church's official policy on homosexuality. We also learn of the priest's ten year love affair with a much younger man but Daly says that it was never consummated because of the Church.
   What makes the book so special is reading about Judge's inner thoughts and turmoils as well as the love his fireman felt for him. He was quite a man and Michael Daly has done both the man and his memory justice.

5 comments about Always Running: La Vida Loca: Gang Days in L.A..

1. As a teacher I used this book in a Continuation High School to get students to read and write and draw out their experiences. In a classroom where students wanted only to "kick it" until the bell rang vignettes from this book made for a powerful draw for learning. Originally I bought 20 hardback copies. At the end of teaching there I had lost count of how many copies I had purchased. It was one of my most stolen books. I always wanted to meet him at Martinez' Bookstore In Santa Ana, California, but I never knew he was coming until he'd left. Many of us are grateful to him .



2. It is a very interesting book. It makes me feel I don't want to stop reading it.



3. This book is a great book, very eye opening and wonderfully written.
   
   I have to wondering though, throughout the book, what is going through the author's mind...
   
   He complains that the police treated them poorly. They were CRIMINALS. If they weren't up to no good at that SPECIFIC point in time, they were ABOUT to do something terrible or definitely had already DONE something terrible.
   
   I don't understand how the author calls the police... "rioting police... in a murderous frenzy..." HELLO, you were doing illegal drugs in a public place, your friends stole something from a liquor store, then a mob started banging on the doors of the liquor store to let them in - am I missing something? Can you really blame the police for acting as they did? You just committed several crimes! The police were doing there job and acting defensively when KNOWN gang members committed crimes...
   
   Then the author complains that he was thrown into an adult jail cell, with murderers and rapists, despite being a juvenile and too young to be in that specific jail. OK, fine, but earlier in the book, he was talking about hanging OUT with FRIENDS of his while they were RAPING UNCONSCIOUS WOMEN. He had SHOT people before, held guns to innocent peoples' heads during robberies. WHY IS BEING SURROUNDED BY MURDERERS AND RAPISTS *SUDDENLY* SO offensive to him? He wasn't old enough to be in an adult facility, but he was old enough to do drugs, drive illegally, drink illegally, commit robberies at gun point. Who is the author kidding? He acts like the police somehow treated him so badly but he DESERVED it. He was a criminal! The worst kind of criminal.



4. i was intrigued by this book when i saw it in the store so i bought it. it was very educational for me as i never knew how bad things would really get in gang life. i grew up in the burbs and this was all very shocking to me. it was truthful, sad and awakening.



5. I had no choice when it came to reading this book. It was after all, required in my college english class in order to survive the masses of quizzes and essays. But I will say that although I did not want to read this book at first, once I read the first couple pages I was hooked. I no longer wanted to read it just because it was required, now I was reading it for pleasure. Although the book is strongly graphic especially on the sex parts, it is done in a most tasteful manner. As a young latina born and raised in America, I was very touched by what my people had gone through in the past, and it is knowledge I had ignored taking the liberty I have now for granted. I really recommend this book if you're up to take a good dose of eye opener.

5 comments about Girl, Interrupted.

1. It's actually one of the better memoirs of recent vintage (it came out in 1993 and became a bestseller in 2000, with the film's release). Not that SK is very insightful about her `borderline personality' disorder, nor capable of extended moments of insight nor poetry, but she compensates for her lack of great craftsmanship in wordplay and sentence/paragraph construction with a daring approach to the memoir.
   
   The book, with larger than normal print, is not even 170 pages in the Vintage edition I read, and there's plenty of white space, as well as transcripts of SK's mental diagnoses within. In a sense, this sets up the piece to be quite poetic. In fact, this is where the poesy of the prose comes from, not the ability to craft gorgeous prose. Most of the few dozen `chapters' are brief- 3-4 pages is usual, and they are often dreamy or hazy recollections that sometimes briefly, violently come into focus, in describing a fellow patient's ill or death. In other chapters SK goes off rambling about mental ills, philosophy, her sexual precocity, and other things. While many of these individual reminiscences and airies fall flat, the way they are woven together and contrast with each other allow make the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
   
   This synergy got me to thinking of a poetic equivalent, and the manifest answer was the long Maximus poem series by Charles Olson- another Massachusetts resident. In that poem series, one of the few `experimental' works of poetry that actually coheres and is good, CO strings together many poems about his hometown, yet each poem/stanza is, in a sense, lacking- it fails as an individual work because it is incomplete. Yet, read one after the other the incomplete figurines each `poem' makes connect up. It's like looking at a single Matissean line on a piece of tissue paper. The individual curves and twists seem random until you lay each tissue paper over the next. Then, the full, intricate, and interesting picture emerges. Such it was in CO's poem sequence, and such it is in SK's memoir- each `chapter' a single line, sometimes non-chronological, that gives a better representation of her mindset than any straightforward prose could. Interestingly, in looking up reviews of the book, I was struck by how not a single published review (at least those online) ever mentioned this, even though the form of the book jumped out at me. This is evidence of piss poor criticism. It's akin to reviewing the first edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves Of Grass, dismissing it as smutty, and not even commenting on the breakthrough structure of the free verse.
   
   There is little bitching, and poseur pity.... In short, Girl, Interrupted is a very good work, and what any memoirist should strive to achieve. The very fact that many critics criticized it for, when boiled down, not filling their conventional needs as a reader, and chose to review it against what what they wanted (expected) it to be, argues for its specialness, and I'd bet that it will be read long after Prozac Nation or A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius have gone out of print. Smile at that, Susanna.



2. This was...senseless jibberjaw..Truly that is the only word that comes to mind. The movie was wonderful, but I can see now that it was very loosely based on this book.. It took a few characters and added on to their personalities.. the book was mostly just rambling and opinions. Half of the interesting things that occured in the movie were not in this book. Those that love the movie will be greatly disapointed in this. I would also like to add, you will have in completely read in one or two sittings.



3. On the first page of her novel(?), Susanna Kaysen says she had to live for two years in a "parallel universe" when she became a patient in a psychiatric hospital. In the chapter "Elementary Topography," she poses a question, how did I get to be in here?
   The answer she gives, other than her being delusional, is that she was in a "state of contrariety." She goes on, "All of my integrity seemed to lie in saying No."
   Two other chapters bear witness to the adversarial character of her illness, "Velocity vs. Viscosity," which deals with her obsessive thought patterns, and "Mind vs. Brain:"
   "Whatever we call it--mind, character, soul--we like to think it possesses something that is greater than the sum of its neurons, and that 'animates' us."
   In yet another chapter, Kaysen derides her former therapist, who was named "Melvin," and who was to become her analyst. She acts like she tolerated him as someone imposed on her, and says that she "felt sorry for him" on account of his funny name. In an internal memo, however, a nurse reported that she experienced extreme anxiety over her therapist being absent.
   Part of Kaysen's "state of contrariety," then, must be seen in the light of an abject, back-against-the-wall helplessness caused by the mental illness. I pity Kaysen for her interrupted life. Her novel makes a compelling case for mental-illness research.
   In the Charleston County Library, >Girl, Interrupted< is located in the "Young Adult Fiction" section, which is inappropriate for such a rough, lurid story.



4. Susanna Kaysen shares an episodic account of her two-year stay in a mental institution during her late teens. She recounts the ailments and behavior which led her to the hospital, while also questioning her diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder, as well as the manner in which mental illnesses are treated. In order to portray her experience and the experiences of the other young women she encountered within the institution accurately, Kaysen recounts a variety of occurrences, ranging from the grim to the lighthearted. Among Kaysen's recollections are one girl's experience with shock therapy, her own attempt to bite into her hand to ensure that she is "real," and the girls' humorous outing to an ice cream shop.
   
   Copies of Kaysen's medical records are juxtaposed against her personal accounts, often making the tone of the former documents unsettlingly cold and detached. Her personal account is often moving, and even the logic Kaysen uses to explain some of her most unusual behavior can make sense. At the same time, she strives for a relatively objective account of her interaction with mental health professionals. Kaysen presents a strong case to support her belief that the line between "normalcy" and mental illness is often muddied,--a thought she summarizes beautifully at the beginning of the book, writing that "Every window in Alcatraz has a view of San Francisco"-- without becoming overly critical of those who diagnosed and treated her.



5. Having PTSD myself from Wars and other things, I thought this was a great movie! I didn't read the book first however and normally I do but from what I gather the movie in this instance was much better than the book...
   
   I have read One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and in many ways this reminded me of that, only in the setting of a female dominated one vice a male one....
   
   Maybe in the future if time permits I will read the book itself to see if the movie which I have already seen and truly thought was great stacks up...
   
   If not...
   
   It was that book which inspired the movie and it's a great movie...
   
   And mental illness isn't just something that people are born with, some times they receive it through traumatic experiences such as tragedies or war or the like...
   
   In my opinion it is something that really needs to be given far more attention than it is receiving and this movie sheds light on it like few have...
   
   Your Chance to Hear The Last Panther Speak

5 comments about Becoming the Natural: My Life In and Out of the Cage.

1. Generally entertaining - Background confirmed my Father's advice:
   "It is easier to become a Father, than to be a Father"
   Would have liked to have seen a photograph of Randy's 2nd wife.
   Appreciated Randy's honesty in revealing his less than perfect
   morals, which at the same time, marred, to some extent, my admiration of the man.



2. Very good read.
   
   Randy is very open about his personal life. He doesn't try to hide his skeletons. Although, i think he has made some bad choices along the way, i respect him even more for admiting to them and not trying to make excuses.
   
   It also shows that Randy wasn't always "the natural" in his athletic career, and how one must work hard and dedicate themselves to achieve their goals.



3. Randy Couture did not have to "take it on the chin" with certain admissions he made in this book regarding the cause of his divorces. It gives insight to a great champion and the road that took him there. Absolutely excellent book, if you are a fan of any sport this book is an excellent true account of incredible determination.



4. Another great MMA fighter autobiography!
   
   First off the book has a very funny, short (foreword) written by comedian/actor Kevin James!
   
   "Becoming the Natural" is right up there with Chuck Liddell's book "Iceman / My Fighting Life", which I consider to be the best MMA/UFC book out there.
   
   Randy tells his childhood story and how he got into wrestling and MMA. He had a very sordid childhood as far as his parents were concerned. Randy talks about alot of very personal issues in the book, that he didn't have to tell us the readers. He really lays it all out there! He goes into detail about his ex-wives, cheating and being a parent.
   
   Randy goes into detail about the UFC, Dana White and his current legal battle with the UFC. Couture's 16-8 record doesn't stand out like that of a champion, but read the book and you'll see just where that record comes from. Randy was fighting heavyweights with 40-50 pds. over him, in many fights once they got on top, he was simply pinned beneath them.
   
   Randy is one of my favorite fighters simply because he seems to be a genuinely good guy and this book gave me that same feeling about him! Randy has beaten the best and been beaten by the best.
   
   Throughout the book, even when describing his losses, he never bad mouths his opponents, in one fight he loses, he later learns the other fighter failed a steroid test, Randy is given the chance to have the fight changed from a (loss) to a (no contest), he refuses, saying a loss is a loss!
   
   As a fan, I hope to see Randy get his chance to fight Fedor. As Randy says in his book, it's about taking on the best possible opponent and that man is Fedor!
   
   Randy is still training, but not currently fighting, he is pursuing his acting career, with his first leading role movie, "Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior" due on DVD this Tuesday!
   
   The book also provides alot of nice pictures to give you a better sense of his past and family!
   
   Another good MMA bio. for fans collections!



5. I've been a big fan of Randy Couture since I first saw him compete at UFC 13 in Georgia back in 1993.
   
   In Becoming the Natural, Randy Couture and mixed martial arts journalist Loretta Hunt delve into the mind of "The Natural," and what fueled a small-town Washington kid to the greatest heights an MMA athlete has ever achieved.
   
   My favorite thing about this book is the depth that Couture and Hunt explore about the life of a true living legend. From humble beginnings to superstardom, seemingly every aspect of Couture's life is covered. His youth, memories, friendships and relationships are just the tip of the cosmos. Did I mention his quest for Olympic dreams?
   
   If you're a fan of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, this book is for you. The Octagon and beyond is touched on. Vivid are the memories of UFC triumphs and failures alike. Photos from Couture's family album and early career are fantastic.
   
   Without a doubt, Randy Couture's Becoming the Natural: My life In and Out of the Cage is easily the best MMA-related book ever penned.
   
   Whether you're a fan of combat sports or an admirer of true-life literature, this is sure to be the best book you'll read all year!

5 comments about Autobiography of a Face.

1. I think this is a great book. No wonder it has been adopted by so many high schools. The way Ms.Grealy wrote the book it seems as if you want to be going through the same thing she does. It makes me just want to comfort her because of all the pain and sadness she went through.I think this one of the best books ever written.



2. I liked this book very much, it was hard to read about Lucy. I knew her when she was a beautiful little girl. She would come into the Spring Valley Library with her twin sister. One day I told her she had ink marks on her face and she told me that was for the radiation. She went to school with my kids but they never said anything unkind about her, and years later I saw her on the street, terribly
   deformed on her face. It is a very sad end for a very brave girl who didnt deserve the hand she was dealt. Read the book and rejoice in your better luck.



3. We lost Lucy Grealy too soon. By we, I mean the world of art. She was truly a gifted writer. Her writing slides across the page as if the words are riding sentence surfboards atop waves of emotion. Yeah, I'm pretty corny when it comes to metaphor, but as Lucy might say, "This girl isn't." I wish I could describe how well written this book is, but I've already demonstrated my inability to do it justice. If you haven't read it, you owe it to yourself to meet this incredible little dynamo and see inside someone who held her head and her spirit high enough to challenge us to climb up with her.



4. This book is inspirational and eye-opening. I experienced a different standpoint of truth and beauty. I enjoyed the mechanics and vocabulary in the book. I found the amazing chapter structure easy to use. "Autobiography of a Face" is intelligent and heartfelt . Lucy Grealy surprised me, after reading the afterword by Ann Patchett, when she stated that she was 'making art not a documentary'. I would've look forward to reading Autobiography of a Face: The "Real" Story although I know it would not be written.



5. Grealy was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma at the age of nine. From then on, her life was divided into two parts before and after cancer. After the surgery to remove half her jaw, Grealy spent over two years enduring weekly chemotherapy treatments. When she was finally declared 'healthy', Grealy returned to the sixth grade -- only to be met with scorn and cruelty from her classmates.
   
   Her story is written clearly and concisely. She is unerringly honest about how her disease affected her family, her developing personality, and those around her. As we follow her through years of skin and bone grafts, we witness her need or acceptance from others and her gradual acceptance of herself.
   
   I was particularly struck by Grealy's need to be 'strong.' She is constantly reminded not to cry and to never show fear. This begins Grealy's quest to be the model patient. I am amazed that this small child was able to internalize and minimize her emotions, suffering, and considerable pain. To me, she seemed like an adult soul in a child's body.
   
   I recommend Autobiography of a Face -- it is a moving and meaningful read.