1 comments about Ted DiBiase: The Million Dollar Man.

1. This book is an excellent one which provides the reader with much insightful information about professional wrestling during the 1970s through 2006. Ted DiBiase was a very talented wrestler who performed as one of the greatest heel characters of all times - the totally despicable Million Dollar Man. It was also quite interesting to note that the heel persona which Ted DiBiase was able to so successfully present was clearly not the real Ted who is known to his friends, fellow wrestlers, family and others. This book presents solid information about how the Million Dollar Man was created by the WWE honcho Vince McMahon and capably carried out by DiBiase. The book also provides much insight into what it takes to become a wrestler and the sacrifices which must be accepted in order to receive any measure of success in the mat world. I know that true wrestling aficionados will find reading this book to be a real pleasure with much that can be learned about the profession of wrestling. After ending his wrestling career, Ted went into the Christian ministry to serve people in a very different capacity, and very successfully too. All aspects of Ted's life were covered in this book and provided in a way which demonstrates his self awareness and his honesty in revealing himself to the reader.

5 comments about Good Dog. Stay..

1. Short and oh so sweet!
   
   Yes this is more of an essay than a full blown novel, but the writing is worth every dime. There are so many phrases in the book that I read and re-read. Spend the money and keep this book for revisiting over and over.



2. This is a 45 minute short story about Anna's dog, Beau. I am not a fan of animal stories as they usually either end up getting hurt or dying. The same is true in this one. It is the life story of Beau and as all life stories, the end is death. That brings tears to me which is why I don't like these types of stories.
   
   I believe Anna wrote this as a way to heal from her lost of Beau more than trying to tell a readable story. This is not to say the story doesn't make sense. It does. I just hear in Anna's own words how much she and her family cared for Beau and how much his loss meant to them.
   
   As with all stories, there are the good times and the "bad dog" times, laughs and tears and general day-to-day life. If you want to hear about a good dog's life, this CD will provide that.



3. I bought this book for my husband as part of the grieving process after our 14-year-old black lab died. I expected Anna Quindlen's usual wisdom and frankly I was disappointed. The text was very short; not enough in quantity or quality to justify a book in my opinion. Worse, every page featured those awful cutesy stockhouse dog photos that seem the antithesis of the honest and straight style I expected based on reading her wise columns in the NY Times for many years. The book came across as a celebrity milking something very thin for some extra cash. Come on, Anna, you can do a lot better than this!



4. I think she is such a wonderful author and love her books. This was yet another treasure.



5. Loved this book - sounded just like what we went through with our yellow lab. Quick read - heartwarming.

5 comments about It's Only Temporary: The Good News and the Bad News of Being Alive.

1. ....to gain an understanding of what Evan went through. I wrote an extensive review of his first book on Amazon in 1998, and received a lovely email from Mr. Handler thanking him for my kind words. The review was later deleted (not sure why) but I wrote another short one back in 2000 to make up for it. And here is why: it's a phenomenal story about what it is like to be young and on the cusp of success before it is snatched away from you. Make no mistake - this man should be dead. The survival rates for his type of leukemia in the 1980's were dismal at best. His navigation through treatment and all it's emotions is striking, and made this nurse think twice about how healthcare is delivered.
   So what happens when you beat the odds and have to live? You press on. And so he has, and has gained success again in the process - although not nearly what he should have. It should be noted that Evan was on his way to a major acting career when he was young. Matthew Broderick and a host of other young 1980's actors have basically had better careers because he had to drop out of the business for treatment. He should have won his Tony by now...if not his Oscar.
   So - the new book. Of course, it's not about his time on Sex and the City. That's only a small portion of what he's been doing since his recovery. So those looking for some insight into that character should read something else. It's about trying to gain self-identity as something other that a patient. Living a life you weren't expecting to have. It's anecdotal (most good writing is) and funny. The story of selling his engagement ring back to Sotheby's made me cry, because beating cancer doesn't preclude you from failed relationships.
   As a new mom, I love that he has embraced fatherhood - he's lucky he could have kids after all his treatment. And it was nice to catch up with his progress after all these years. I loved it.



2. Getting a catastrophic illness at a young adult age is like an earthquake: its most dramatic and obvious effects are felt during it, but the more subtle, and largely psychological, aftershocks that follow can be just as far-reaching and dramatic. And they often persist for a lifetime.
   
   As a fellow leukemia and bone marrow transplant survivor, I understand the life-questions and dilemmas that confront this author. We surface from the rubble not knowing how to approach falling in love, our professions, our family, marriage, and having kids, among other things. Issues that aren't a big deal to most of our peers become huge, profound, moral, or spiritual as we grapple with our considerably more uncertain futures.
   
   This theme nuances every story, and in instances where it is more obvious, Mr. Handler plays it out with impressive honesty and grace. You won't find behind-the-scenes "Sex and the City' anecdotes here. What you will find -- elegant reflections on finding love, connecting with other people, and investing in one's life in spite of its uncertainties -- is so much better.



3. I read Evan Handler's new book the week it came out (MySpace was abuzz with it's empending release for a while). It was wonderful. I was expecting a self important, "this is me after cancer, pity me!" type of book, but was pleasently surprised. It is full of humorously self depricating, truly hysterical essays that draw you in to the book. They are not presented in a "first this happened and then this happened" progression. Like the author explains in the intro, he wants it to be like getting to know someone, you find out things about them randomly and out of order. My favorite moment in the book was, after describing some truly terrible behavior, Mr Handler reminds the reader that he had had cancer. Sounds odd? You have to read it to fully appreciate why I had to set the book down for a few moments to laugh myself silly. I also had my eyes opened to the fact that Americans have dirty butts. We do, and the authors wife knows this. I haven't been the same since! Mr Handler is a remarkable writer and this book shows off his talents beautifully. I was drawn into his mind and was pleased with what was presented to me there. Honest, raw emotions and dark humor. Each essay brings you further to what I see as his point: Life is not easy, even if you're supposed to appreciate it a little more than others. I firmly suggest anyone read this book. It is like talking to a really good friend you haven't seen in years. Catching up on all you've missed. Being entertained by his self expression. This book is worth the price and then some. Read it!! You'll thank me!



4. I read Time on Fire when a colleague was dying of lymphoma. I found the book extraordinary, and it hit me hard--and the situation, and especially his anger, though frightening, were riveting.. Sadly, this new book is anything but on fire--it's boring as he goes from relationship to relationship. I liked him better when he was angry--he had more interesting things to say. Yet I'm glad he has survived, thrived, and is finally happy.



5. I must have enjoyed this book because I picked it back up every moment I could until I finished it. It is very disjointed, not an autobiography as much as a series of personal, very introspective essays, mostly about dating and why he couldn't make any relationships work. Then pow, he meets this Italian woman and it's instant. Then there's an abortion. I don't like abortions under any circumstances, so this put me off at the end. It doesn't talk about acting as much as I would have hoped. He has very little...in fact, nothing...to say about the acting process or his roles. He mentions Harry Goldblatt from Sex and the City only because it was his breakthrough role that made him experience fame for the first time, and it happened about the same time he met his wife. I look forward to finding his leukemia survival book at a discount and reading that now.

5 comments about Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman.

1. Yvon Chouinard began his foray into business as a way to create a product for himself and his climbing colleagues. His desire to life an unconventional lifestyle, along with his mother's philanthropic influence, led him to create what Patagonia is today: a socially responsible business that makes high quality products while tending to the environment and its employees. Chouinard believes in his people and they in turn trust him.
   
   Author, "Trust is Everything: Become the leader others will follow"



2. this is the best business book i've read in a long time, hands down. and, that's a bit strange, in many ways. because it's not a pure business book -- let's call it a business memoir. chuoinard tells his own life story, including a detailed telling of the creation of chouinard equipment, and then patagonia. he's sometimes-arrogant, he often unfairly generalizes, he occasionally overstates his case. he's overly proud of this "i did it my way" path.
   
   but... it works. and there are nuggets in here that are so wonderfullly different than what one would read in other business books. in a sense, this is a "life book" -- it's about leading a company who is voraciosly and unflinchingly committed to its mission and values, even when those are contrary to profit. it's about a company or an organization being about something other, something more, than revenue and profit. and, really, it's about being the kind of person who knows herself, knows his values, knows her strengths, knows his commitments, and works ruthlessly to keep them. for chouinard, those values are all about the environment. so the book is packed with both the theoretical and the practical when it comes to environmental issues (including lots of side stories).
   
   personally, i found the environmental stuff really helpful. we (ys) aren't patagonia (either in their singular commitment to environmental issues, or in many other ways). but we are trying to become more green. but the environmental passion of patagonia transfers, conceptually, to what other organizations could be passionate about (assuming that something is outside of themselves).
   
   so...
   1/3 personal and organizational memoir
   1/3 environmental manifesto and practical organizational guide
   1/3 business book on passionate commitment to internally and externally focused organizational mission and values
   
   i'm going to buy a case lot of these (really), and give them to the ys exec team, the ys green team (a group of ys staff working on ways to help ys be more environmentally friendly), and some on the zondervan leadership team.



3. I found the book to be very enjoyable and definitely thought provoking. Even though I don't run a company, it got me thinking about ways I could have a similar affect on our world in my own job and personal life. If the book did that alone, I would consider it a success.



4. The tone of arrogance and condescension really diminish what would otherwise be a good autobiographical case study of growing a hobby/skill into a successful brand. Critical self assessment is sometimes subordinated to over emotive passages and screeds about Chouinard's take social and economic trends. Some of the more interesting aspects of forming company goals and culture were lost amid a general tone of contempt for what Chouinard considers `the business world'. The good stuff is there, you just have to get past the maverick chest thumping and "I am a reluctant businessman and I run my business better without old and tired business practices and paradigms. . . like profit".
   
   Two things were rather galling. First, the first sentence "No young kid growing up ever dreams of becoming a businessman." Well, sorry, a lot of kids actually do, they dream of following a parent or relation in a particular line of business or endeavor, just because Chouinard wasn't like that doesn't mean it doesn't occur.
   
   Second, the restructuring of 1991 was a prime example of the arrogance and hypocrisy that marks the books tone. In July of 1991, Patagonia fired 20% of its workforce. So what does Chouinard do? He packs his executives off to Argentina for a `walkabout' to discuss goals and direction. Nice. You fire a bunch of people then you blaze a huge carbon footprint down to Argentina to brainstorm. WOW, that is brilliant. Excellent use of corporate and global assets. That's the kind of morale crushing maneuver that Chouinard pillories `the business world' for throughout the book. "Where's the boss?" "Oh, after the red ink of the second quarter, he and the executive committee went to Argentina to figure things out." Right out of Dilbert.
   
   Again, some good information buried amid the screed and propaganda (at Patagonia, it's not propaganda, it's activism). I would recommend reading Goldratt's `The Goal' parallel with this. Still, the book is a good case study of brand development and growing a hobby/skill into a corporate business.



5. I thought this book was excellent. It definitely causes you to think about the relationship of your business to the world at large.
   
   The most helpful part of the book was how Patagonia incorporated their principles into the decision making for the corporation. The real world examples were helpful and easy to understand.

5 comments about Split: A Memoir of Divorce.

1. Finnamore nails the emotional journey of a woman going through an unexpected divorce. I couldn't put the book down and read it in one night. So often, I felt as though I was reading my own diary. A poignant, clever, spot-on memoir of a young mother's strength and commitment to her child.



2. It' s incredibly difficult to be funny while telling a heartbreaking story, but Finnamore absolutely pulls it off. Every page crackles with wit and intelligence. Anyone who is going through a divorce owes it to herself to read this book and discover how to come out the other side of the experience stronger and with her sense of humor completely intact. If you don't like this book, seek professional help. Every page is an undiluted joy.



3. I could not put this book down. Finnamore brings the utter angst, grief and full gamut of emotions one experiences when getting divorced in this wonderful memoir. I look forward to reading her novels and wish her the best.



4. incredibly spot on in terms of the emotional rollercoaster of an unwanted divorce, I cracked up on the "obligatory trip across the ocean" and many other escapades. I managed to skip the sex with the ex but otherwise it was a perfect mirror. Read it and laugh!



5. Shame on you Suzanne Finnamore, in your first to memoirs you didn't share with your faithful readers the huge red flags that were waving in your face about your husband "N". Thus, some of us justifiably felt a little cheated ourselves when we found out about these omens after the fact in your latest memoir of divorce, "Split". That aside, you did a superb job describing the horrors and heartbreak of betrayal. You made us laugh and cry and feel joyful at your survival.
   
   But now...enough about you, okay? You are such a terrific writer, I can imagine that your fiction would be sensational! Funny, pithy, insightful, deep...how about a whole story based on characters modeled after Betty Lady and Christopher? Make something up...enough real life already.

5 comments about Out of Africa (Modern Library).

1. My favorite movie of all time. The book is not as good as the movie.



2. Out of Africa is Karen Blixen's memoir about her years in Africa, writing as Isak Dinesen. She recounts the world of Africa, specifically Kenya. It is, like the England of her friend Denys Finch-Hatton, "a world that no longer existed" even then and certainly as she left it. The memoir is a slow read, yet a book with prose in which you can luxuriate, or languish perhaps as it seems to mirror the mammoth African landscape. Reading like a pastoral novel, the narrator interested me with her myriad experiences. It presents people, cultures, landscape, and wildlife through her eyes, sometimes noble, sometimes paternal. The culture of the various tribes and religions with whom she had contact on her coffee farm became almost real, so that as I read certain moments became funny or sad or wistful. The reader comes to view animals differently, the fecundity of life struck me particularly. The different forces at work are both natural and foreign; the paradoxical nature of the presence of two churches (Roman Catholic and Church of Scotland) is sometimes presented as working for good yet other times it is in conflict. Blixen's memoir is truly literate and the importance of books and writing is evident throughout. Early in the memoir she tries to explain her wirting a book to a native. Near the end of her stay as she is selling off the furniture and other estate provisions their is a poignant moment when, as she sits on her remaining books, she comments:
   "Books in a colony play a different part in your existence from what they do in Europe; there is a whole side of your life which they alone take charge of ... you feel more grateful to them, or more indignant with them, than you will ever do in civilized countries." (p.373)
   Blixen's memoir of this "uncivilised" land is both memorable and effective in sweeping the reader away into a very different world. Definitely a worthwhile read.



3. The two-cassette abridgment was way too limiting for such a magnificent book. Also disappointing was the fact that the product was a rejected one from a public library, and the second tape was stretched and half of the second tape was not able to be heard. This product should never have been sold in this condition.



4. This was the first of many books I've read about Africa. At the time, I had a romanticized view of The Dark Continent, a naieve view.
   After doing some more research, I realize Karen Blixen's view was VERY romanticized....to the extent that many of her contemporaries thought her somewhat odd and out of touch with reality.
   If you want a lyrically told story colored with emotion...this is for you.
   If you're interested in Africa as it really was, read the many accounts extant by settlers who spent far more time, and ranged over a wider area.



5. The book, "Out of Africa," is a memoir of the Danish Baroness Karen Blixen's habitation near Nairobi in Kenya from 1914 to 1931 on a fertile 6000-acre coffee plantation, "at the foot of the Ngong Hills" (1992: 3). Blixen writes under the pen-name Isak Dinesen. Karen Blixen went to British East Africa (in a location in present-day, Kenya) to join her German husband (Baron Bror Blixen), and upon separation she stayed in Kenya to manage the farm by herself. The extent of her adventures in Africa, and to what extent she is a feminist is borne out by the book, as well as the film "Out of Africa," that is based on the book. This piece will examine such, as well as comparisons between the book and the film.
   
   Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen) presents geographical detail, oftentimes comparisons and contrasts within this fertile land of the Kikuyu people that would several decades later be the crux of the Mau-Mau rebellion over whites' displacement and dispossession of natives from their land. Dinesen also compares features with those of her native Europe. Dinesen writes of the equatorial habitat, "Everything that you saw made for greatness and freedom, and unequaled nobility...Up in this high air you breathed easily, drawing in a vital assurance and lightness of heart: Here I am where I ought to be" (1992: 4). Dinesen writes of "heavy-scented lilies," of "long-rains," "ever-changing clouds," of "hills from the farm [that} changed their character many times in the course of the day, and sometimes looked quite close and at times very far away" (1992: 4). Dinesen, in precise and elegant language displays love and fascination for the geography, the clean air, the animals, the beauty of this African environment; she becomes possessed by the place.The movie captures the large, picturesque, mysterious, and varied eastern equatorial Africa where the eland, the buffalo, and the rhino are quite common sights; the movie impressively and unanimously earned, Oscar, "Best Picture of the Year."
   
   In the end Dinesen is forced to give up her plantation, this scenario elicits a heartache and sadness. Dinesen's memoirs, years after she had left Africa could be a reflection of her nostalgic dealing with her loss of the farm as well as overall experiences in Africa. Dinesen stands out as a courageous and strong woman, one who is in the feminist direction. She lost her philandering husband, but stayed on bravely, for nearly 20 years in a foreign harsh environment, one with languages and cultures far-fetched from her own. Dinesen worked well at being appreciative of an environment that was new to her, during an era of colonialism in Africa, a time when Darwinian relegation of black Africans to the lowest of human species and elevation of whites to the upper rung was very strong. Dinesen cuts through the female traditional roles, she tries flying in planes, the goes on safari, she learns how to shoot and even shoots and kills game. She is open and welcomes countless visitors from all over the world to her home and farm. This was an age of exploration and acquisition of "Dark Africa," by Europeans and Asians. Dinesen is quite aware of her feminine strength. She rescues and adopts a wounded antelope she names Lulu; Lulu becomes a celebrity on the farm; Dinesen searches, discovers and celebrates the feminist strength in Lulu: "But Lulu was not really gentle, she had the so-called devil in her. She had, to the highest degree, the feminine trait of appearing to be exclusively on the defensive, concentrating on guarding the integrity of her being, when she was really, with the force in her, bent upon and defensive" (1992: 74). Also, "Lulu of the woods was a superior, independent being...she was in possession. If I had happened to have known a young princess in exile, and while she was still a pretender to the throne, and had met her again in her full queenly estate after she had come into her rights, our meeting would have had the same character" (1992: 78).
   
   The book displays that Karen Blixen exemplified the Europeans with the upper hand in colonial world conquest and politics. It is to be recalled that the three weapons used by Europeans to subjugate Africans were the gun, the Bible, and the anthropologist. Karen used guns to protect herself. Catholic (mostly Belgian and French), Protestant (mostly British), and Muslim (mostly Arabic) agencies vied for power in Africa. The Germans were in present-day neighboring Tanzania (German East Africa) to the south. They would be ousted during this significant, "Scramble for Africa." The book illustrates how Karen Blixen took great interest in which religious group the young natives (some of whom served her) adhered to. Many native followers, taught to kneel and pray to an invisible white Almighty god, became converted to the political/ religious groups, as they became dispossessed of their land resources. The anthropology aspect, as mentioned, involved relegation of black Africans to the lowest rungs of evolutionary mankind...the white was relegated as the superior, the master, the savior, the benevolent, the genius. The movie is great at casting Meryl Streep as the beautiful, rosy-cheeked clean, statuesque woman amidst muddy, black African paradise! The real Karen Blixen likely had more rugged looks and likely often got "down-and-dirty," than is depicted in the movie. An equatorial Africa of long and heavy rainy seasons, of continuous tropical sun, and of limited running water would not leave the Danish heroine so clean and collected.
   
   It is to be recalled that Dinesen is writing from an overly European point of view, hence, negative criticism of her will not be short. Her attitude to black Africans is racist and condescending. In the movie, Denys Finch-Hatton (Robert Redford) rebukes her for instructing native porters to get off her belongings by "shooing," them off!. Finch-Hatton, in shock, remarks to her, "Shoo?" as if telling her, "I do not believe you addressed these people that way!" Finch-Hatton (who became Dinesen's lover) knows the native languages (Kiswahili and Kikuyu), and goes on to communicate her instructions to the porters. Black Africans are prevalently depicted in the movie as poverty-stricken servants, laborers and porters, as helpless people close to animal nature. In tune with the movie, here Dinesen writes, "They were poor people, small and underfed; they looked like a pair of badgers on my lawn...I could hardly distinguish them against the grass. They were sank in deep grief; their bereavement and their economic loss melted into one overwhelming distress" (1992: 108). Dinesen is surprised that the, "Natives," are strikingly open, adapting, welcoming and unprejudiced. Yet, as prevalent in the colonial fashion, she does not attribute this to the inner traditions and workings of indigenous African society, but from influence from foreigners including slavers! "The lack of prejudice in the Natives is a striking thing, for you expect to find dark taboos in the primitive people. It is due...to their acquaintance with a variety of races and tribes, and to the lively human intercourse that was brought upon East Africa, first by the old traders of ivory and slaves...and...by the settlers and big-game hunters" (1992: 54).
   
   Dinesen wishes the natives would understand and appreciate her more. It is always presumptuous to be confident of having fully understood a foreign culture and people; she does not seem to believe she is prejudiced and why the natives to a good extent regard her as a foreigner far different from them, and difficult to comprehend. She writes, "If I know a song of Africa,---I thought,---of the Giraffe, and the African new moon lying on her back, of the ploughs in the field, and the sweaty faces of the coffee pickers, does Africa know a song of me?" (1992: 83). At the same time, Dinesen quite often acknowledges that newcomers from Africa are from a noisy and rushed world, they do not have the patience and connectedness of native Africans. European colonialists imposed on the natives an alien system of forced dispossession and displacement and of monopoly. So much of this colonial intrusion was quite new to the prevalently communalist and family-oriented, egalitarian way of native African subsistence.
   
   Karen Blixen's marriage starts out as more of a convenience than of romance. She left Denmark to marry the German Baron Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer) and start a dairy in Kenya. Bror is actually the brother of her lover. Karen is offering her fortune for companionship and adventure (and for the title of, "Baroness") much more than for enjoying the security of a man. So, from the outset, Karen's feminist inclinations are strong. The husband changes his mind about the diary, and instead invests her money in a risky venture of growing coffee. The husband is unfaithful, philandering, gives her syphilis that will disable her from having children; the marriage breaks up. Karen is left to manage the farm, she has to battle with floods and fire. Hardly anything of British big game hunter Denys Finch-Hatton's romance with Dinesen (Karen Blixen), is mentioned in the book; the movie likely borrows from other sources depicting the life of Karen Blixen. Unfortunately the English accent of Denys Finch-Hatton is not conveyed by Redford, compared to Karen's excellent outflow of a Scandinavian accent. Yet, the movie depicts their chemistry, Denys is impressed by her strength and independence, Karen's ability to tell and weave stories, they kiss, and in one scene have sex. Karen does seem to desire long-term companionship and commitment from Denys, desire for a man who will sacrifice to be with her. She stands against having a man like Denys who wants to be "free-wheeling," one who will come and go depending on need and desire, he loves the African outdoors. Finch-Hatton is mysterious, elusive and emotionally distant, but he is miscast in that in the movie: he seems to represent an all-American jock that waywardly found his way into Africa. Karen was wounded before, and this encounter with Denys is only a brief moment of ecstasy, but she bravely soldiers on, appreciating more of what is around her. Karen is indeed confident, stoic and creative in face of the odds. She did resist going on safari with Denys, but she eventually succumbed to his quite undeniable invitation. Eventually, they got closer, she broadened her horizons, she better adapted to and better accepted foreigners and their ways.
   
   In conclusion, the movie emphasizes the romantic issues and episodes in Karen Blixen's life in Africa (romance and sex sells in Hollywood), much more than the book does. The book seems to be constructed from a breadth of notes of what Blixen put together while in Africa, and weaved them into a good fairy tale. The truth is that Blixen dealt with aspects like fluctuating coffee prices, sometimes drought and heavy rains, discontented dispossessed natives, scrambles for Africa amongst several European agencies, African diseases and sometimes unsanitary conditions, wildlife from untamed neighborhoods. The movie does display the exquisite beauty of tropical Africa which Blixen did dwell on, but not on the colonial wranglings. There is lyrical beauty in Blixen's writing, and the movie does elicit an African peaceful mood through the excellent music. Blixen, in both the movie and the book is a strong and opinionated woman, yet flexible and open to ideas, people, and adventure. She is a significant precursor of modern-day feminism.

5 comments about Bunny Tales.

1. this book is plain stupid! the girl sounds incredibly unintelligent and desperate. if u want to read it, read it online, for free and be sourly disappointed! ENJOYYYYYYY



2. I read this book in 2 days... I really couldn't put it down! I don't want to give away too much, but I can't believe the rules the "girlfriends" had to live by. I think the "Girls Next Door" have it much better than the former gf's since they are making their own money now with the TV show. Oh and the thought of ALL that babyoil and Hef... yuck! LOL



3. This book reads exactly like what it is-- a gossipy tell-all written by a woman scorned. Although I was surprised by all of the the contradictions, typos, and grammatical errors--either the publisher was too eager to get this book on the store shelves to bother with an editor, or this girl really needs some lessons in English! The book really delivers the dirt on the sex practices of the world's oldest hedonist, and the playmate girlfriend hierarchy....and that is what we are really after anyhow! It makes a fun beach read for the summer, but that's about it.



4. This book was an atrocious attempt at trying to remain relevant after Hef booted St. James out of the house. Her publisher really did her a disservice in pushing this book onto the public. From attacking the other girls to attempting to paint herself in a different light, failing miserably, I would recommend this book only for a good laugh due to the inconsistencies. Holly, Bridget, and Kendra are desperate fame seeking whores while she truly loves Hef in one breath, the next she's talking about the fit she pitched when he cut their allowance for parties from 2k to about 500 because the girls were pocketing the cash in addition to their "allowance" for living there. Calling the other girls conniving cheats while admitting a chapter or two away the frequency with which she cheated on Hef. Overall, the book was boring minutia from someone who really could have just stayed quiet or auditioned to be part of the THS on Hef and come out looking better.



5. Interesting if you have ever been to one of the Mansions Parties or if you ever watch "The girls next door" you gotta read this. Lets say "there is always two sides to a story"
   Nice book

5 comments about Inheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History.

1. Learning about your family's slave trading empire must be hard to stomach, and the members of the family who undertook to study the facts deserve credit for facing up to it. Too bad they didn't hire a qualified historian to write their story. Inheriting the Trade reminds me of those self-indulgent, melodramatic "encounter groups" that were so popular in the 1970's. Let's beat up on each other for things we never did, just for being who we are. And along the way, let's read endless descriptions about the participants' clothing, jobs, hair color, and denial. And let's ignore the fact that people of all races have been enslaved at one time or another, by one culture or another.
   Slavery is deplorable, but an avalanche of angst is useless and a waste of energy that could better be expended on finding solutions to the problems that separate the races in 2008. What did the deWolfs gain from the evils perpetrated by their ancestors? Well, among their apparently endless "privileges" is the right to write a book and make a TV program.



2. It is my pleasure to invite you to read this book. Inheriting the Trade is about Tom's journey with his relatives as they documented the story of their ancestors being the largest group of slave traders in America. Their experience is told in the recently released movie: Traces of the Trade.
   
   This book stopped me in my tracks and invited me to ask questions and see new truths about myself.
   It is not just the story of one family, but of an entire world and all of us in it.
   
   Be ready to take your time when you read this and listen to the questions that surface in your heart. Answer them honestly and you will learn about more than slavery in the past, you will discover your own position and how it is influenced by privilege, your own and others still today.
   
   I highly recommend this book.



3. I thought this book was fascinating. Here's this white guy from Oregon who grew up in a middle-class family in California without much knowledge of his family history. He moves to Oregon, to an affluent, largely white town, where he encounters a distant cousin. Suddenly, he's thrust into a huge extended family with long ties to New England. Slave traders! His forebears were slave traders? Does he want to be in a documentary about the slave trade? Does he want to go to Rhode Island, Ghana, and Cuba to retrace the route of the triangle trade?* He does, and in the process his eyes are opened to places and ways of living he knew nothing about - and this includes not only the African and Cuban cultures but also that of privileged New Englanders. What an amazing set of events!
   
   The author weaves together his own deep changes with description and reflection on the history of the slave trade and its continuing impact on our still racist society. The big idea is that white people in America are largely unaware of our own unearned privilege, and that becoming aware is one step in beginning the change to erasing racism. This book shows that it's a one-person-at-a-time effort, difficult but not impossible.
   
   *Traces of the Trade, by Katrina Browne, Thomas DeWolf's 7th cousin once removed, if I read the genealogical chart correctly.



4. The virtue of this book for me was that it didn't purport to be objective history; instead, the history of the Northern slave trade was the starting point for this family's, and the author's exploration of privilege and oppression. The author's voice is clear and distinct, and I admired how he was able to weave explanations of the slave trade -- the commerce in human beings -- conducted by Northerners with descriptions of the journey that he and his cousins took to retrace the trade routes, the people they encountered, and the emotional impact the journey had on the family. This book covers issues that most whites prefer to avoid, and it does so in a cogent, readable, and revealing way. I loved how it got me thinking, and opened my eyes in a non-threatening but persistent way to how different kinds of isms -- racism, classism, sexism -- pervade our lives. Simply learning how my assumptions about my freedom differ from a non-white's assumptions has made me aware, on a daily basis, of what benefits I take for granted, and make me think about what we need to do to promote greater, color-blind, access to those benefits.
   
   This book was like a good movie: I finished reading it and I keep thinking about it.



5. I picked up this book expecting an unflinching and objective historical discussion of a much neglected subject: the involvement of Northern merchant families in the abominable slave trade. What I got instead was page after page of white people blathering away in self-loathing about crimes committed by their forbears 150 years ago. If the DeWolf family was worried about their good family name being sullied, they can rest easy. This book is unreadable.

5 comments about Get Me Out of Here: My Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder.

1. Terrible- a long whining expose of poor-poor Rachel's BPD. Frankly it struck me more like-Rachel's rather a spoiled rich kid brat who grows up to be nasty spoiled bratty wife. She blames all her issues on BPD. The book was poorly written, one long overly melodramtic tale of endless whining and self pity. Bleeeh....don't read it.



2. The book's title says it all - I'm the victim, and, damit, I want out! No mention of maturity or responsibility whatsoever. I'm a male BPD and am angry at the oblique, reverse bias so obvious in this book. She throws a tantrum and gets 'support'!?! I can only dream of getting all the help I need and can't get away with the things she does. Support is something I have to give myself in trying to recover.
   All I can say is that it must be nice to have money, and I'm not liberal. Seems that only women can show emotion - when men do it, they get thrown in jail.



3. I really enjoyed this book. The story is a very touching and moving one. I feel as if I had gone through the inspiring and at times heartbreaking journey with the author. I didn't think psychiatrists such as hers exist. If they really do, then anybody would be truly blessed to be their patient. The author is very lucky to have had the support system that she did, so we need to keep in mind that her story is an exception, not the norm. But nevertheless, I gained a lot of insight into this condition, and also into the 'human condition' in general. I highly recommend it.



4. There's something about reading a first hand account that's different. That's not to say that books written by doctors aren't worth reading, because they can be. But you get this sense of relief when you read a book written by someone else who suffers from the same problems that you do. It makes you realize that you're not alone. Others have felt the same way you do.
   
   I found Rachel's story to be honest, heartbreaking at times, but well worth reading. It really hit home, and it gave me hope to read about someone else who has suffered from this and "lived to tell the tale" so to speak.



5. I am a substance abuse counselor and work with a lot of people with co-occurring mental illness. This book was recommended by a client. It makes a huge impact on the reader. It gives hope to people who previously have been told they cannot be helped. I have recommended this book to several clients. It is an excellent book for professionals, clients, or anyone who wants to learn about this devastating disease.

5 comments about A Thousand Days in Venice (Ballantine Reader's Circle).

1. This book was recommended as a better read than the current best seller, Eat Pray Love. While they are superficially similar, in that both authors love Italian culture, food and the joy of living, this book is more in depth at giving a flavor of Venice and background into Italian culture, through the eyes of an american visitor.
   The author describes the many steps necessary to make the transition as an american into a country with ancient, almost ingrained customs. Her love of Italy, the food and the traditions, comes through with gusto.
   This is also a memoir of an unlikely middle age romance, which is refreshing, even when things don't go smoothly within the marriage.
   As a counterpart to studying Italian conversation and language, this is a wonderful book about Italy and Venice and Italy's people, and what they've survived. I have gone on to read the 2 subsequent books about the couple's travels and adventures in other regions of Italy.



2. I thoroughly delighted in this true story only after getting through the preposterous, high fructose corn syrup sappy, first 20 pages - factual though they may be. Having guffawed, rolled my eyes, and saying out loud to no one, "I am not reading this!" at page 12, weeks later I picked it up with my interest piqued and didn't put it back down until the end. Marlena is an intelligent writer, never wasteful with her perfect words and allusions. She was enraptured with her Italian settings and immersed in them, not distant from their ancient exoticism like so many authors who prattle on with some cold, repeated, textbook authority. I would read anything by her again in a heartbeat. There is purity and security both in her romance and her writing. Actually she is pretty inspirational by simply following her heart, her loves.



3. If you are looking for a wonderfully human story of pure delight, this is the book for you... It gives you a real flavor for one of the most romantic cities in Italy.... You can almost smell the food... and feel the puch of the tourists... She is steeped in the Italian experience...



4. In a world of multitudes of choices, Marlena chose the road (or actually, waterway), less travelled. She fell in love with someone she barely knew and moved half way round the world in the process. She opted for the unexpected - an adventure. I chose Marlena's story as my "beach read" this summer and it was perfect. It's quick and light - fun! She didn't weigh her story down with complaints about how different we all are - she chose the language of love (and food) to find commonality - yet she still added charming stories that suggested how Italian lifestyle and priorities are a bit different from Americans. Instead or wondering "what if..." - she did it! What a brave soul!



5. Reading De Blasi's story is like going to Venice in person. Love her comments on italian men and all her recipes that come with the book.