5 comments about Blue Clay People: Seasons on Africa's Fragile Edge.

1. For a country coming from such dark, dense, violent political upheaval, and it's unique spot in the African continent as a former colony of the U.S.A, for a lack of a better way to put it, "Blue Clay People" can be sometimes surprisingly pithy. The book is an easy read and that's not what I'd expect from a novel about the plight of Liberia. It was interesting reading about the how difficult it was to get anything done over there, but it wasn't interesting reading about his love life. Is the novel about Liberia? Is it about William Powers? Is it about William Power's experience in Liberia? It is more the latter, and while I did not expect a piece of journalistic narrative, a la Aidian Hartley and Howard French, I did want more than the dramatization of a long-distance relationship that was doomed from the start. Anybody over 25 could have told him that. It was equally depressing reading about his relationship with the young Liberian Ciatta. What these asides did was make Powers seem incredibly ill-prepared for the job, as well as unconcerned. He'd have been better off joining the Peace Corps, and writing that memoir. As such, he was put in charge of millions of dollars worth of aid through the Catholic Relief Services. I just don't think he seemed qualified enough to take on that responsibility. With all that being said, it is important that books like this get published, not only to shed light on what is happening in West Africa, but to make us question the various aspects of international aid that sometimes go horribly wrong. As for his love life, hopefully that won't make much of a difference in the grand scheme of African history.



2. William Powers writes a compelling story of idealism and reality in the war-torn country of Liberia, where he lived for two years while working for Catholic Relief Services.
   
   What intrigued me the most? How he avoided placing all blame in one corner, but rather shared it amongst all the participants. Relief agencies create too much dependence through simple distributions. Governments fuel violence and bathe themselves in corruption. Americans and others in First World nations demand goods at rates and levels that siphon necessary resources from countries that need them for development. The poor lie, cheat, and steal in order to keep their families fed (thus focusing on the short-term and ignoring the long-term.) All in all, a thought-provking, well written story with an important moral!



3. In this powerful and compelling account, William Powers helps us all strive toward having "enough". The Liberians have too little. They lack food, water, shelter, and security. But too many westerners have too much. The excessive natural resources consumed by each westerner are obtained at immense cost to the environment and the people of third and fourth world countries. The mahogany of old growth trees clear cut from the Liberian rain forest is sold to Westerners to enrich Charles Taylor and finance war on his own people. Engagement rings made with "conflict diamonds" pay to oppress many poor Africans. But intervention is difficult as William Powers found out as he worked in Liberia to "reduce poverty and dependency while preserving the rain forest". Western ways do not solve fourth world problems; instead they usually add to the problems. Simple, elegant, sustainable solutions, integrated into each unique physical and cultural environment can make a difference. This book is a fascinating invitation to listen to nature, rather than dominate it.



4. Blue Clay People: Seasons on Africa's Fragile Edge by William Powers is one of those international environment and development books that makes you wince even if you're not surprised by what you see. Powers (who's doing some work with my wife in the Andes now, which is why I read his book) headed off to Liberia just out of his master's degree to work for Catholic Relief Services, with the grand goals of improving Liberia's health, education, and economic development prospects while stopping deforestation of the country's rainforest. Nice ideas. He arrived at what he thought was the end of a civil war. Instead, he arrived at a temporary halt in the fighting that would shortly end. In the meantime he found an expatriate NGO community living a high life of SUVs, parties with embassy staff, and jazz and beer in the capital city, while in the hinterlands, aid was wasted, corruption was rampant, and the natives were reliant on international handouts rather than developing their own infrastructure. He went in as an idealist, writing eagerly back to his fiancee in the States and espousing a sort of post-sectarian missionary zeal to help the noble Liberian people. He ends up rather soured on the whole experience, even when he does get out into the country, find more responsible economic development models (i.e. building capacity in sustainable agriculture) and finding a Liberian girlfriend when his engagement falls apart. Moral of the story: International development is a dicey business, and living in a developing country is good for introspection and personal growth, but risky for your love life.



5. This book is a must read for anyone who professes to want to effect a change in the world, specifically when it comes to helping people less fortunate than ourselves, home or abroad.
   
   There are conflicting issues of sustainabilty versus compassion, saving economies versus environmental holocaust and culture imperialism versus saving lives that don't often get brought up. How do we deal with these seemingly impossible concessions? Read it, then make up your own mind.
   
   Powers is also a very stirring writer of narrative, and aside from the larger issues, it's a personal journey that I found so easy to internalize and feel as if I were involved personally.

5 comments about My Life in the NYPD: Jimmy the Wags.

1. I bought this book after reading the Kindle sample and could not put it down. Being a 24 year Military Veteran, I related to a large portion of the book however, the Author has skillfully ensured that even a layman with no history of law enforcement can identify with the stories and events. Very well written Mr. Wagner! Hope to see more from you in the future.



2. This is a book that all cop buffs will love. It is a series of war stories and observations garnered from the author's twenty-two year career with the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Told in a voice that rings true, this no-holds barred, straightforward account of life in the NYPD from 1968 to 1990, a time of turbulence and changing policing philosophies, will grip the reader. The author lays it all out for the reader in an engaging manner-the good, the bad, and the ugly-keeping the reader turning the pages until the very last.



3. 
   A terrific memoir of life as a cop on the streets of New York's tough Alphabet City neighborhood. Wags' book is loaded with fascinating, well told stories. Especially moving is the author's recollections of his dad, also a police officer, and how they would sit side by side listening to "Dragnet" on the radio. The experience apparently fueled Wags' dreams of becoming a New York City cop. My Life In The NYPD is much more enjoyable than Wags' earlier book about his catastrophic "career" as a PI/bodyguard which ended in a felony conviction. Aside from a nasty, totally unneccessary intro by racist, homophobic shock jock Don Imus, this is a unqualified five star read. Assuming he must have at least a dozen more great tales of his life as one of New York's Finest, I hope Wags finds time to write a sequel.



4. I don't read much. I found this book on this site, read the reviews, decided to order it and give it a chance. Of all the books i have read, this is the most interesting and funniest books.

   After showing a few funny parts to my friends, they all said i have a sick humour. One part reading about a guy who tried to kill him self by jumping off a building but fails. The way it was written was soo funny. Anyway, there are many many more interesting/funny parts.

   After i read it i came online to buy Wags first book, but because it is no where to be found, i haven't been able to get it yet. However i have bought 2 other books similar this 'My Life in the NYPD."

   Very enjoyable read.




5. Jimmy does it again! This book deals with his years in the NYPD, and goes right up to the start of his PI career (the first book). As before he delivers the goods retelling his most amazing and dazzling stories of life and crime in New York in a personal and well written way. The book also deals with the person behind the badge, the associates, the friends, the family, and not the least the importance of not letting the job get to you. Starting out in the 60's to the early 90's the way cops work has changed tremendously and Wags takes you on that ride!!! Recommended read.

5 comments about Five-Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History.

1. If you don't find yourself howling out loud at some passages in this book, then you don't get the east coast sense of humor at all ( finding humor in the absurd, the miserable and the horrible). And well, frankly, I question your horrible taste.
   
   Stapinski's book is very moving, funny and well written. Massive corruption, police brutality, toxic waste, armies of invading rats, packs of wild dogs, and mysterious odors - Jersey City had it all. This book sent me into fits.
   
   
   



2. I was amazed by the vehemence of the reviews of this book, both positive and negative. I was also surprised by the number of reviews. I think that, in itself, tells you that the book is worth reading.
   
   Like many of the reviewers, I was born and raised in Jersey City (born in 1955). That would make me ten years older than the author, so our time in Jesey City pretty much paralleled each other. Was my family like Ms. Stapinski's? No. Can I relate to that which she is writing? Absolutely! I grew up in the Heights section of Jersey City on Waverly Street right off of Central Avenue and near Pershing Field. It was not downtown Jersey City, but we had enough characters of our own. For those who grew up in Jesey City and cannot relate to Ms. Stapinski and her story, well, good for you. But if you were not aware of, or did not see the things she writes about in Jersey City, you were either naive, sheltered, or a liar.
   
   In the 1960s and 1970s Jersey City was not a "model city." But then again, what large city was doing well, especially in the 1970s? For all it's faults, I would not have wanted to grow up anywhere else.
   
   "Five Fingered Discount" is one woman's recollection of her childhood. It is not the definitive history of Jersey City. Jersey City is like any other large city; it has it's good points and bad points. If you happen to remember more of the good points, wonderful, but it doesn't mean the bad ones didn't exist. If you know nothing about Jersey City, but would like some interesting reading, I recommend this book. If you are from another large urban area in the U.S., I am sure you will find Ms. Stapinski's story familiar. Jersey City has not cornered the market on urban dysfunction!



3. I was reading some reviews here and was surprised that they found this book "offensive", because either they knew better part of the city or Stapinski's family members stole, could not drive, drank, etc. WHY????? Haven't you stole an ashtray from downtown cafe once? Ever? Or haven't you taken a bunch of ketcup packets from fastfood joint? .. OK, all I'm saying is to lighten up a little. I think tragedies and craziness of her family are written here with great humor and affection. And who doesn't have one crazy person in their family? I could feel lump in my throat when I read the part where her daddy died. If you like to read something filled with morals and displines, then this book is not for you. But if you like to laugh and cry over real people with vivid characters, you should try this one.



4. Stapinski relates growing up in Jersey City in a fresh and honest way. And her recounting of the blighted history of Jersey City politics is a head-shaking hoot. As for the popularity of her opinions about JC and its denizens, well, that has no bearing on whether this book is a great read; it is.
   
   I loved the sheer humanity of this book.



5. I've come to know and appreciate Jersey City on my own, since I became a volunteer historian at The Stanley Theatre 6 years ago. I've had to go the JC Public Library and had the pleasure of going thru the NJ Room, as well as meeting great people (Cynthia, Bruce, and Leon Yost -'Jersey Citians'(?). I've grown up in urban areas (i.e, Newark/Irvington), and now live in the suburbs in another County, but have come to appreciate Jersey City very much.
   
   Jersey City has some wonderful historic sites, as well as areas that have been revitalized by citizens who take pride in their communities. I'm sure that the folks who've taken exception to many aspects of this book have their own arguments, that are probably even valid. But Ms. Stapinski's story is HER family story, the good, bad, and ugly.
   
   There are wonderful Jersey City Arcadia-published books on various historical aspects, but Ms. Stapinski's personal account with "Five Finger Discount" was close to home for me, because my paternal grandfather was somewhat like her Grandpa, and my grandfather was sent to Trenton State Prison in the 1960's for illegal gambling, as well as not naming names.
   
   I also read her "Baby Plays Around" and if nothing else, one has to admit that Ms. Stapinski's candor and raw emotion comes through in both published works.

5 comments about Cabin Fever: Notes from a Part-Time Pioneer.

1. I love reading anything on cabins and living out in the wild. This book was very good and I really enjoyed it.



2. Bill Sullivan is an excellent writer and he is willing to share his family life in the cabin. This book will keep you reading. To find out what he has done with the cabin and who coming to visits in the woods. I've read all of his other books and they are outstanding.
   I highly recommended his "cabin fever" book if you are an adventure and enjoy the outdoor life.



3. There are 2 types of people in the world: those who love the idea of living in a log cabin and those who don't. If you belong to the prior group, you'll love this book.
   
   This book is loosely comparable to "One Man's Wilderness", a story about a man who builds a cabin in the wilds of Alaska and lives in solitude. I found this book to be much more interesting. I guess that's the difference between non-fiction and creative non-fiction?
   
   At any rate, if you read this review Mr. Sullivan...kudos!



4. This is a wonderful book. It's well-written and keeps your attention throughout. You get to know the people, and to care what happens to them.
   
   The focus is less on the hands-on pioneering, although that aspect is fascinating and enlightening, and more on the pioneering spirit. It's nice to know that the spirit is still alive.



5. As someone who has grown up romanticizing the log cabin life, I absolutely loved this modern cabin story. It's typical Bill Sullivan - funny, historically informative, easy to read, and entertaining. Anyone who is a fan of Bill's will enjoy learning more about his family. Anyone who is new to Bill's work will want to read more after reading this book.

5 comments about Sexless in the City: A Memoir of Reluctant Chastity.

1. After having read many Christian books on sexuality that rely solely on the "true love waits" mantra, I found this book to be very refreshing. Broadway uses her experiences to show the fallacy behind the American myth that true love and marriage will solve every problem in life. She dispels this myth and shows that only the love from God can ever truly satisfy our huge need for love. She also does not shy away from discussing her own desires and I truly appreciated that.



2. This was a great book. It was fun reading about the firsthand adventures of a single Christian American female trying to sort out and cope with the challenges and excitements that come with dating in our generation. I would recommend this book to any reader, but especially to a young woman. I appreciated Anna's openness about her own struggles in relationships and the thoughtfulness with which she resolved the issues these struggles brought up. Would definitely purchase again!



3. With a distinct voice, Anna vulnerably divulges the intimate confessions and struggles of a Christian woman not always confident of comfortable in her faith or self. Anna is bold in her integrity to remain abstinent before marriage and similarly bold to be open about it to a public that lost belief in such mythical creatures as 29 year old virgins. But despite this public confession of counter-cultural sexuality, I don't believe this is the true struggle in the book, rather, it is Anna's search for community like she knew as a child in a family of six - surrounded by accountability and support. In an ideal world, the Christian Church is supposed to fill this gap - but Anna admits that the Church often fails to fill this need. Nonetheless she maintains loyalty to Christ, His broken people, and perhaps most shockingly - His high expectations for His people. This is her true and rare triumph.
   
   Three other reading experiences come to mind after finishing Sexless - Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, Anne Lammott in general, and Blue Like Jazz. If anything strikes a chord with you in these three, Sexless is worth exploring for its search for community, vulnerable honesty about one's own failings and faith, and her willingness to admit the imperfections in the Church without giving up her commitment to it altogether.



4. I couldn't wait to read this book once I heard about it. "Anna" has tackled a subject that every single woman of faith has grappled with at one point or another, and she's done it with a measure of wit and self-deprecation that is refreshing. We really don't need any more dogma, or "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts." The sexual roles in our society are so mixed up anyway - add an overlay of faith to the mix and it gets really crazy.
   
   I appreciated that this is a memoir about being true to who you are, bad choices and all. Anna writes with a clear eye on the culture and on the faith community - and boy, are they confused about each other when it comes to sex and relationships!
   
   I look forward to reading more from this author.



5. This book deserves the attention of any woman (or men that care) who have struggled with the issue of chastity. You will find here both a kindred spirit who has struggled that you've struggled with and who has dealt with the many issues both thoughtfully and with humor. Five stars for bravery, humor, and insight.

5 comments about Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia's Dead End Kids.

1. The author's investigation into the cause of the teenage suicide pact that led to the deaths of the so-called "Bergenfield Four" subsequently revealed much about the suburban culture that spawned the tragedy.
   
   Curt Rowlett,
   Author of Labyrinth13



2. I recently reread this book and was pleased, yet unsurprised to, see how well it's held up. The books easily stands on it's own merits, however I have been compelled to write a review after reading some of the bilge that others have written. Mostly along the lines of "I knew these kids or I'm from Jersey and she shouldn't have written that book", and other unintelligent nonsense and blindfolded provincial tripe. Comparing Dr. Gaines to the Taliban is about as clever as someone comparing homosexuals with the devil. If someone is that stupid as to make that comparison, they're in over their empty head just reading the word sociology, much less a book on the subject.
   
   I read this book not long after it's release. I considered myself a graduate of a similar 'teenage wasteland' on long island, and approached the subject matter with the critical eye of someone with years of experience of suburban malaise, suicidal cohorts and punk and metal soundtracks. After completing the book I was genuinely moved not only by her obvious empathetic treatment of the subject matter, but for her logical conclusions pertaining the conditions that made the events in the book not only understandable, but also unavoidable. She never judged the subjects of the book, and thus gained their confidence. Her personal connection to the events she was writing allowed her a keen insight into the situation she describes without sacrificing clinical, reasoned objectivity.
   
   Not long after reading this book for the first time, I wrote to the author, thanking her for her efforts regarding a subject that I knew well. Instead of receiving a corporate form letter reply or a brush off, I received a personal response from the author and an invitation to discuss the book in person. The author, completely without pretension or hidden agendas, spent time with myself and my friends discussing the ubiquitous dementations, absurdities, and the poignancy of suburbia. She did so without asking anything of us, and we were not exploited or maltreated, nor were the subjects of this book.
   
   The fact that she took the time to give equal time to suburban dirtbags for no other reason than we liked her book... and knew where she was from... speaks volumes of not only her character, but her integrity as well. I highly doubt that the same could be said of the books' critics.



3. Gaines should be put in the same category as Taliban. I grew up in Bergenfield, did lines with the Buress sisters', Olton, and Rizzo at Garvey's house. Yes, alot of children back then did waste time just as I did. But don't think that Gaines few moments in Bergenfield could sum it all up. Gaines knew nothing but to be a glory stealer for a book that was going to happen anyway. How about the other suicides, Like Paul Murphy and Chris Hurt. You should have done your math Gaines. Cooper's Pond had finger digits from snapping turtles that were restless. Gaines had nothing in mind but selfishness intentions. I'd like to meet Gaines and do a reminder. A product of the Teenage Wasteland she has described makes me think..I got a B.S of Science in M.E. a few years ago and I've been serving in the military as well. Ms. Gaines should remember me if we ever cross paths. Bergenfield was a town at that time that was showing the future. Ms. Gaines didn't see that, she just wrote a book....Words, they are so easy



4. Gaines spent a month in Bergenfield and tried to turn others' pain into her gain. The book reads like her website: Look at me! Look at me! Look at me! She should be ashamed of herself.



5. I don't get it, did the author go to BHS? From the way this book is written, one gets the feeling that author can "feel the pain" of the teens of that time because she lived it. She didn't.
   I did.
   The author implies that this kind of stuff happens all the time with these burn outs in the ugly town of Bergenfield, what can you expect?
   It ripped our town apart, and brought us together.

5 comments about Teacher: The One Who Made the Difference.

1. Mark Edmundson's book has received mixed reviews, but I found it to be refreshing, enlightening, and inspiring. He relates his high school self in an open, forthright way, revealing his ignorance, his oppositional, immature (even for a 17-year-old) behavior, and his preoccupation with shallow, insignificant pastimes. I think that aptly describes most high school seniors. He and his classmates conspired together to undermine any teacher who attempted to do interfere with the intellectual malaise of the school. The few students who were actually interested in education were ridiculed and despised. This was to change as a small class met day after day with an amazing teacher who changed the classroom dynamic and in doing so, successfully altered the way his students listened, thought, reacted, interacted, learned, and even the way they lived.
   
   This change was not an accidental happenstance. It was a well-planned strategy. As the students persistently refused to read the literature for their homework, the Teacher read it aloud in class. He used Socrates' example, posing questions for them to answer, or at least to think about. Unfortunately, his initial efforts produced little fruit. As a result, he changed the seating in the classroom to allow for open exchange of ideas. He raised the question of an important experiment by a man named Milgram, which involved testing the willingness of people of different nationalities to use electrical shocks on people in order to produce desired results on a memory task. This exercise interested the students and opened up the first real discussion. A few weeks later, the Teacher led the class in a similar experiment involving one of their own. Using these unusual but brilliant methods, he showed his students "the pleasure and pain of sticking to your way, of seeing things as truly as a human being can". To quote a familiar adage, he dared them to be different.
   
   His next ploy was to throw out the curriculum and introduce a collection of books that would teach them to question authority, to recognize herd behavior, and empower them to make educated choices. He encouraged them to examine themselves, to explore their deepest thoughts and beliefs and allow themselves to be free from illusions. The Teacher then invited a group of representatives from Students for a Democratic Society to visit the class, and as a result had students actually skipping other classes so they could sit in on his class. The visitors were against the Vietnam conflict, and vociferously against the unnamed perpetrators who had oppressed native Americans, enslaved African Americans, and continued to exploit Filipinos, the Vietnamese, and other "poor, inconvenient people who lay between the arrogant republic and its hunger for more". The author reveals that the Teacher was "nearly gleeful" the day his class was visited by "commies", because people who usually did not think were thinking, and people who did not usually talk were actively discussing issues. He wasn't interested in swaying the students to any particular viewpoint, he just wanted to stimulate them to have a viewpoint.
   
   When the students came to his next class, the Teacher found them drowsy and again unmovable, so he invited them outside into the snow, where he began a spirited snowball fight. The upshot was what author Mary Pipher calls "a moment", with everyone panting, laughing, drenched with cold, wet, snow, but filled with life. The Teacher was again triumphant, because from this time forward the class began to change.
   
   The students began to be interested in the Teacher as a person, even as they realized that he was aware of them as individuals. He introduced a variety of music, including current rock and roll compositions, as another format for stimulating analytical thought and intelligent discussions. Students who never asked or answered questions in any classes began to interact. They were still working their way through his series of books by reading aloud in class, so the Teacher used diverse means to pry open the cobwebbed minds of his group. He believed that if you impelled people to be boldly imaginative, and rigorously discerning, they could affect positive change in their lives. A turning point came when the questions were not related to the meaning of a book, but moved forward to inquire about the truth of that meaning, and whether there were life-changing truths to be found like gold nuggets and used to guide, to refine, to transform.
   
   I admire the way the Teacher showed his students by his example that it was not just okay but important and necessary to be unique, an individual, to be aware of which matters are weighty, and which are shallow, to be knowledgeable and affect change with words rather than your fists, to be unfailingly honest, to be accepting of others' opinions, feelings, and thoughts, to really listen, to challenge your students with large words and larger questions, concepts, and ideals, to teach them to create their own path to freedom and their own particular culture that is true to who they are. The author acknowledged that by being a student of this Teacher, his life was made infinitely richer. By writing this book, he has passed the torch on to countless others.
   
   The author encourages the reader not just to emulate the Teacher, which is a given, but also to recognize the pitfalls inherent in the educational system ("The content of these exercises mattered not at all. All that mattered was form - repetition and form. You filled in the blanks, conjugated, declined, diagrammed, defined, outlined, summarized, recapitulated, positioned, graphed."), which result in teaching loads of information, perhaps producing higher SAT scores, but achieving very little in the way of impact on the future. Masses of students graduate year after year, but how many are able to think freely for themselves, read to analyze their beliefs, and avidly seek to find their true North? Edmundson reminds us that in order to be a great teacher, it is necessary to have kindness, but also to have an edge, in the spirit of Socrates, Confucius, and Jesus Christ. Teachers must be willing to lead by example, to be antagonistic if necessary, and above all, to tell the truth.
   
   Although the chapters about football and beer-drinking and chasing after girls were, I suppose, necessary to demonstrate the "before" and "after", those portions were geared to the masculine mind and therefore were rather difficult for me to digest. I also thought it was a shame that he and his father did not maintain a good relationship when it was obvious how much his father loved him. It took many years and the author becoming a father himself before he understood the irony of their relationship, with his father taking the back seat as the author's life became more vital; and also of his father realizing what he might have been when he visited Yale, where Edmundson was pursuing a graduate degree. In reporting all of this openly and honestly, Edmundson teaches us yet another lesson. All in all, this author has produced a winner.



2. Before reading this book, I assumed it was about an excellent teacher in whom the children connected with. After completing the book, I realized it told of the struggles of a high school senior and his reform with the help of his teacher, Mr. Lears. Told from the first point of view, Mark Edmundson shows how no child has to fail. I do not reccomend this book to college level students, though I do reccomend it to the younger audience. Teachers having difficulty in their own classes may find this book inspirational and helpful.



3. The book that I just finished reading "Teacher The One Who Made The Difference" by Mark Edmundson was an average book. At first when I bought the book I thought that it would be interesting and enjoyable to read but it was not really interesting at all.There were so many ideas that were hard to follow, and it did not talk particulary about the teacher and how he changed his life.I would not recommned it to anyone, but if you like to read for pleasure and you have time you certainly can. There were some chapters that keep you interested but there were some that you just do not want to read. Overall it had a nice ending.



4. This book was an enjoyable story, but it had many points that did not hold my attention. I also could not find much interest in the book due to the fact that it was a tedious story. Many points got boring and I would have trouble concentrating. This is just an average book. I would only reccomend it to a middle-school reader.



5. I think that this book was fairly interesting. It didn't have enough rivetting thoughts to keep the reader interested. Even though I was unhappy about the book, it's still a good read. I think that this book would be appropriate for a much younger audience, an age group of ten to sixteen.

5 comments about News Junkie.

1. You don't have to read the paper or even watch the news to appreciate this well written book. Sure, it centers around a fantastic journalistic story. It is also a story of addiction/sobriety, overcoming child abuse and a love story. It is a dark and gritty book that is hard to put down.



2. Leopold is a tough guy to like. He is a drug addict, a thief, and incredibly self-loathing. He is also a chronic complainer, believing that life has dealt him a terrible hand. Even when things in his life are going well, he manages to sabotage everything around him, almost losing his wife and career. Leopold's instability and ongoing war with himself make for incredibly entertaining stories.



3. I liked News Junkie a lot. The writing style give the reader a sense of time and place. You feel as if you are in the newsroom with Leopold.
   
   Jason Leopold is complex and a contradition. You like him and root for him, yet cringe at some of his actions. You wish the unfinished chapters of his life will bring happiness.



4. This is a scary book. Jason Leopold was not a nice guy. He was a creep who would screw over anyone for drugs first, then news "scoops" later.
   
   This is a story of a guy whose misdirected intelligence and passion totally screw him up for a number of years. Finally, he starts to get on a path where he's doing some good, but he's still stuck with some very nasty habits that get him in trouble and keep him sabotaging himself, in spite of becoming a serial award winning reporter.
   
   As a writer I found Jason's book very inspiring. Not the nasty stuff-- but Jason describes the creative and energetic ways he went after stories. I've written for national magazines, with my own share of cover stories, and I've done some investigative leg and phone work. But Jason's descriptions of his efforts have already inspired me to go the extra distance to dig further into articles. The first article I applied this to rose to the top five articles of the month on my website, where we've published at least 400 articles so far this month.
   
   Jason writes about how he was tough on his reporters, as an editor. insisting that they go out on the street, covering their beat, not waiting for news to come to them. That's inspired me to take a similar approach in my own writing.
   
   If you're a reporter, this book is different than any I've seen. It's wild and wooly and while a bit apologetic, brutally honest.
   
   
   Recently, post the writing of this book, Jason reported that Karl Rove was about to be indicted by Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor investigating the Plame CIA case. It didn't happen. Rove was never indicted. Now you could just write Jason off as an incompetent. But you could also wonder whether Rove got to Fitzgerald, or, that someone fed Jason bad info that was designed to set him up, because he was getting too close to the truth. I don't know what the answer is. Frankly, having published his report, I was embarassed by the article being wrong. When I got the word, I headlined the article. It didn't feel very good. But maybe that's what was supposed to happen-- what was intended by the people who set him up. I'm not apologizing for him. But I'm keeping my mind open to the possibility that the people who brought us the threat of WMDs in Iraq, who pulled one over on Colin Powell, the majority of the senate and most of the US could have also pulled one over on this news junkie.
   
   I see Jason as a man who can make a difference. I'm glad he's working for the progressive cause now. The right wing fights very, very dirty. They lie, cheat, and since they run the mainstream media, they propagandize, cover up and gloss over news that should be covered that isn't.
   
   We need more Jason Leopolds who are willing to do what it takes to dig up the truth. And we should expect that when he uses his enormous cojones to take on incredibly powerful, influential and wealthy players, he will occasionally be set up,occasionally stabbed in the back by editors, occasionally made to look bad, so his good work is questioned.
   
   Bottom line, this gritty autobiography tells a tale of a man who becomes a drug addicted, dealing, thieving criminal who quits abusing, cleans up his act and really achieves some significant successes in his life, not leaving all his flaws behind, but steadily making progress.
   
   It's a great read.
   
   About the inspiring part-- one must be selective about what one is inspired by. I chose to be inspired by his creative, energetic approach to digging up stories. [...].
   
   I find it interesting and extremely unusual that there are, at the writing of this review, a dozen reviews, most of the positive. All the positive, four or five star reviews have been rated as unhelpful by two to one. My guess is that some of the right wingers who have been attacking the author in the blogoverse have decided to "tar" the positive reviews. I expect the same will happen to this one. The fact is, I doubt that these review commenters have read the book, or care to. It is dishonest to take this approach.



5. News Junkie is the engaging memoir and personally revealing story of Jason Leopold and his willingness to risk an unhealthy and destructive life in exchange as an investigative reporter. An incredible autobiography of a genuinely hazardous career that came to involve selling drugs and stolen goods, News Junkie carries readers through the riveting true-life tale of a reporter's daily job dedicated to exposing corporate-crooks and politician, facing his own illegal behavior brought about by his own felonious behavior, his pressing need for regaining personal sobriety, and the impact upon his emotional well being of what he had been continuously confronted with while in the pursuit of his profession. With its superbly presented candor, News Junkie is very highly recommended reading both as a memoir offering unique insights into the mind and life of an investigative journalist, and as a "slice of life" window into the stories and personalities behind headline stories of corruption and crime.

5 comments about There Are Worse Things I Could Do.

1. I wouldn't consider myself a huge fan of Adrienne Barbeau, but this book was a great read. In fact, I had a hard time putting it down! The book was very engaging, genuine, and fun to read. Ms. Barbeau is a definitely a class act; and she seems like a good, down to earth person. That's hard to say about many actresses these days.



2. I have always enjoyed Adrienne Barbeau's acting, but this book has transformed me into a bona-fide fan. Ms. Barbeau shares stories of her Hollywood travels and her journeys toward personal identity and healthy relationships. It's an amazing read -- I hated putting it down!
   
   This book is definitely of a higher caliber than most Hollywood tell-alls, and Ms. Barbeau exudes class, authenticity and humor throughout. After reading it, one will want to sit down and get to know this remarkable lady.
   
   Also, Ms. Barbeau has signed a book deal to write mystery novels! So we will have more books from this amazing writer. Yay!



3. +++++
   
   "I went from being a musical comedy performer to a sitcom actress to a scream queen to a mother and a TV talk-show host and a book reviewer and a voice-over performer, and then back to the stage and back to musical comedy and back to television and concert halls and more films, and even into the recording studio for a CD and into my office to write this book."
   
   This is an excerpt from this page-turning autobiography by Adrienne Barbeau, a candid, funny, and self-deprecating autobiography that covers sixty years of her life. It is based on the journals she kept which she "began in 1955." She "wrote every day for the next forty years."
   
   The above excerpt tells you generally what the book is about. Along the way, Barbeau tells us about "relationships and love affairs, emotional highs and lows, friendships and loss."
   
   Highlights of this book include talking about her two hit TV shows ("Maude" and "Carnivale"), her major movies ("The Fog," "Escape from New York," "Swamp Thing," and "Creepshow"), her relationship with 1970's superstar Burt Reynolds, and her two marriages (the first to horror and science fiction director John Carpenter).
   
   The title of this book is the title of a major song Barbeau sung in the original Broadway production of "Grease" which was "a major turning point in [her] life."
   
   This autobiography is well written. What I especially liked was Barbeau's directness and the fact that you could easily follow the timeline of her life story.
   
   Included in the book's approximate center are over forty black and white photographs. My favorite is the one that has her character in the movie "The Convent" gunning down nuns (or as she says "blowing away nuns").
   
   Barbeau throughout her book doesn't come off as self-absorbed or an airhead. Instead she comes off as a smart, witty, loving, and giving person who, as this book chronicles, is a survivor.
   
   Finally, I did find a few problems:
   
   (1) I felt that Barbeau was holding back on certain details of her life story. For example, we are not told anything about the book's provocative cover photograph (shown above by Amazon). I learned that this is Barbeau's 1978 pin-up poster that actually rivaled Farrah Fawcett's poster of the same decade. Why are we not told anything about this?
   (2) Many of the stories in her book are not followed up and this might be frustrating for some readers.
   (3) She tends to sometimes flip-flop back and forth between present and past tense.
   
   In conclusion, this is a good, solid, witty, and revealing autobiography about an actor who has been in the "biz" for more than four decades. It is definitely better than the standard actor autobiography!!
   
   (first published 2006; introduction {entitled "The Journals"}; 40 chapters; main narrative 335 pages; acknowledgements {entitled "Thank You"})
   
   +++++



4. Adrienne Barbeau's first book is a wonderful testament to a life lived. Good, bad or indifferent she propels her readers to LIVE.
   
   Memoirs are always tough, and Barbeau nailed it! Even if I did not know her voice, from the many films, plays and TV shows she has been a part of, her written voice comes through so clearly. It is simultaneously kind, comic and sad without ever being maudlin.
   
   Barbeau has a wonderful ability to take the reader in as if writing each reader a note about the day to day, and then she turns things that note around. You are reading a note from a friend and then realize that: Yes she was married to one of the most notable directors of horror in the U.S, yes she had an affair with Burt Reynolds. And yes she has had many loves in her time. Wow! But rather than delivering a tell all revealing the warts of others - although we do read a bit about those warts - Barbeau manages to undauntingly keep the focus on herself. While laughing at herself, and her foibles as a person with loves gained and lost, she takes the comic and imbues it with such heart the reader can visualize how double sided comedy is within each us; as when we laugh at ourselves, there tends to be some sadness lurking - conversely she explores her own tragedies such as the passing of her mother and her best friend, and reveals hope.
   
   When reading this book, I was reminded of being lost on occasion. In THERE ARE WORSE THINGS I COULD DO, the reader, along with Adrienne, takes a journey. Barbeau reminds us that when we are lost we seek acceptance, regardless of what that acceptance might mean. But as we lose ourselves amidst gaining acceptance, we discover how within that losing, we can all find ourselves anew.
   
   What is so fantastic about this read is Barbeau's refusal to be consumed by circumstance.
   She keeps on going, keeps living, and keeps growing. For me as a woman, what is so particularly compelling about this book, is that she lets all women know that age truly, does not matter. And she does this simply by revealing her life, not by being pedantic. This is a message to all of us, to keep on keeping on. Ultimately she finds the love she so deserves, and rediscovers her muses: her children. Still, Barbeau reminds us that each day is a blank slate. and although Adrienne has found her muses, she keeps working at her life - understanding that with each day, ones life may need some reconfiguring. And that reconfiguring is a good thing...
   
   I was lucky enough to hear Barbeau read passages from the book, and the reading added a wonderful dimension to my understanding of her experiences. Her timing is impeccable, and I hope her publisher will push extensively for a nationwide tour with the author.



5. Adrienne Barbeau's "There are Worst Things I Could Do" is not your standard kiss-and-tell Hollywood memoir. Although she writes wittily about her affair with Burt Reynolds, her marriage to cult filmmaker John Carpenter, her liaisons with various Hollywood personalities, and behind the scenes mayhem during the filming of "The Fog", "The Swamp Thing", "The Cannonball Run", and her hit television sitcom "Maude", her memoir is more about her personal journey as a wounded woman who ached for peace and joy in her relationships with men.
   
   Her candor is refreshing. She does not flinch from sharing with the reader intimate details about sex, psychics, gurus, and her quest to heal the trauma of being abandoned by her father when she was still a child. The forty or so chapters around which she has arranged her material reveal a vibrant woman who wanted to experience life fully, to learn from her experiences, to heal her wounds, and to grow as an actress and woman.
   
   Though she deals candidly with "heavy" subjects, her style is never maudlin or judgmental or self-pitying. She is able to find humor and farce even in the most intense situations of life.
   
   So read this book as a Hollywood memoir full of juicy revelations if you wish. But the pleasure I got from it was not reading about her career arc but her personal journey as a woman through the rapidly shifting zeitgeist of the past five decades.
   
   In time, her well-rounded memoir will grow in stature.

4 comments about Digging up Butch and Sundance (Second Edition).

1. Digging Up Butch and Sundance is as engrossing as any fictional detective story, thanks to Anne Meadows' exceptional writing style and dogged pursuit of the facts. She brings to life the men behind the myth, and deals with a wealth of confusing and conflicting accounts with clarity and intelligence, spicing her story with numerous fascinating details about her and her husband's countless trips to South America in search of the truth. While her final answers may not have solved the mystery of the outlaws' fate with 100% certainty, she has done more than anyone else to come to a solution, which is certain to satisfy all but the most of skeptical of critics. May be the most complete (and accurate) book about their final days, and is likely to remain so. Highly recommended.



2. We loved the Butch and Sundance we saw on the screen. Their humor, looks and everything else. But sadly, we gained not quite enough information on the two except their robbing career, loves and their escape to Bolivia.(Ha!)
   So, for those of you who want to know more about the two outlaws, I strongly suggest Anne Meadows book, DIGGING UP BUTCH AND SUNDANCE.
   
   I am not quite done with the book yet. It's a big read. But from what I have read so far, I have learned a lot about the two. Anne Meadows takes us to a home and other places where Cassidy and the Kid were said to have stayed and visited. She gives us detailed information about their lives, robberies and even room to doubt about their final fight. There has been speculation about whether or not they died in the last battle in Bolivia and whether that battle even occured. I haven't reached that far in the book yet, but I like it so far and encourage anyone who is interested to read DIGGING UP BUTCH AND SUNDANCE.
   Anne Meadows did an excellent job in writing this book. Don't pass it up!



3. Meadows, an exceptionally skillful writer, takes you along on a fascinating adventure to uncover the remains of two of the old west's most colorful outlaws. You feel you are right there at the side of the author and her husband every step of the way as they try to solve the mystery of the famous outlaw pair's last days. It's a trip well worth the taking. Highly recommended.



4. I must admit that in my mind the myths around Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid were all tied up with the 1969 movie starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. I had a vague idea that the characters were based on real people, but I wasn't very curious about them. Then I ran across this book. I meant to give it a desultory glance, but I got hooked by the charming George Leroy Parker aka Butch Cassidy and his hothead partner, Harry Longabaugh aka the Sundance Kid. I found myself peering at the photographs and thinking, "They were real!" I was particularly entranced with the mysterious Etta Place (if that was actually her name). This is a very entertaining account of obsessive sleuthing. The author and her husband even went to Bolivia and witnessed the digging up of remains of an outlaw purported to be Sundance. Ms. Meadows reaches no definite conclusions, and that's just fine with me. Perhaps if we knew exactly what happened to them, they wouldn't be so intriguing.