5 comments about Hand to Mouth: A Chronicle of Early Failure.

1. I love Auster and when I first started reading this memoir about his early days of struggle as a writer, I was throughly engrossed. There was something open and honest about his early years, and although it runs parallel to many of the struggles writers go through, his was particularly interesting because of the wonderful people he meets along the way and the interesting situations and work environments he finds himself. But something happens halfway in and the work just comes to a halt. It loses its momentum and becomes trite and even boring. Auster fans will enjoy the early play and detective novel included, but even those seem thrown in, as if Auster knew that what he was publishing was not worth the money.



2. My eye was caught by the pretty photo of the author on the cover. Now that I've read this stinker, I bet he lovingly searched for the best(old) photo of himself. I've never heard of him before but he joins the ranks of those who work hardest trying to avoid work. He's the Maynard G. Krebs (Work!) of Columbia, Class of 69'. Couldn't Paul Auster have had some nobility about taking good care of his wife and son? Oh, yeah, that would mean someone else coming first in his life. After I closed the cover I wondered what messed up this guy to never attach to anything. I looked him up on the internet and it's the old story-getting old, settling down, and finally growing up. And cleaning out his desk and diary and making a buck off it.



3. Paul Auster's autobiographical account spanning about 12 years or so after he finished college, is an excellent exposition of a young writer's search for meaning, and then the translation of that meaning into money, to provide for further existence, to allow the writer to keep producing work, representative of his desires, but also able to be sold for money to continue the quest.

   The appeal to almost all people is hidden in the fact, that at anytime, any person, can be living a "hand to mouth" existence. This feeling of abject poverty and financial ruin is not uncommon today, in an economy that has lost over 2 million jobs, and forced hundreds of thousands to start their own businesses because work was not available. Those in America who have had to do this, can relate directly to Auster's feelings, especially the salient concept of when will I ever get to the point when I am making a living again, even a somewhat less luxurious one than before, just any living.

   As usual, Auster uses his incredible incisiveness and truly exceptional clarity in his construction of this book. It is of special interest to Auster readers, as it gives the reader some very interesting information about the author's early days when he was still struggling to become known. But Auster's story is one that every actor, every writer, every lawyer, every doctor, or most of them anyway, have to go through at the beginning, including every new entrepreneur. Becoming established is very hard work. And more people fail, than succeed. This high failure rate is generated by the need to be able to sustain high levels of suffering in bad times, to get to the good times. Most of us are just not up to the task.




4. Hand to Mouth, by itself, is a somewhat raw but not at all insensitive memoir of life before publishing. I found it engrossing at times.

   Auster recounts his youthful rejection of middle class consumerism, his odd and fascinating encounters with all kinds of characters and life situations, his stay in Paris, his first marriage, his ...well... failures to make it big as a writer. His admirable sense of integrity (no jobs except ones literary) unfortunately kept the author wallowing in translation work to put food on the table, and the sense of pain, desperation and even a sort of starvation are palpable. Agonizingly, but rather fittingly, he tells only of his years BEFORE success. This is no rags to fame & riches story.

   Hand to Mouth is basically a reality check. Of some value to anyone who wants to get published, but the only thing that keeps this from being totally depressing is our knowledge of Auster's eventual literary success.

   Lovely sections about the wacky people he met on ships and on streets reveal inspiration for characters he brings alive in his humanistic fiction.

   If you do buy an edition (check out the number of pages before you order) which contains "Action Baseball" and "Squeeze Play", you are in for a treat. The former is a complete card game and the latter is a detective novel. Squeeze Play was written under a pseudonym and features a Jewish private eye with a law degree from Columbia who has a taste for fine wine and music. Mickey Spillane gets urban Semitic spit & polish in this totally enjoyable bonus read.




5. By and large, this book will be of interest to Auster fans only. The first section is a brief autobiography, which may be boiled down to this: "How I Tried to Avoid Having a Regular Job." It's all about the crazy schemes Auster had to make money while not working 9-5. The stories are good, though nothing amazing. As he chronicles his early life, he references his "Appendices" -- a couple of one-act plays, a card-based baseball game he'd invented, and his first novel. I'd say of the entire book, the novel may be the best part. It's strictly a by-the-numbers noir novel (the unwilling detective, the femme fatale, a larger-than-life victim), but it's executed very nicely. It's funny how Auster thinks nothing of his work -- according to the memoir, he churned this out in three months (June-August), which to me is pretty impressive, but I suppose Auster thinks it's just pulp... I don't think it is, though because he stays so within the confines of the genre, it almost comes off as parody. Still, it's an enjoyable read.

   3 stars

5 comments about Recollections of My Life as a Woman: The New York Years.

1. Diane di Prima's "Recollections of My Life as a Woman" is a must read for anyone who loves her poetry. I found it to be incredibly insightful and enjoyable to read. Understanding her life definitely helps demystify some of her poetry, like LOBA, for instance. She is such a diverse writer and woman. Everyone who reads this will benefit from it no matter what.



2. This is a wonderful book, presenting a brilliant vibrant picture of a cultural movement and time, the Beats/Hippies, and a woman who embodied all the artistic and humanistic values in an incredibly pure form. To me, the book (and the woman) are inspiring in their dedication to the values of art, spontanaeity, love, and Zen naturalness. An invaluable read for women artists, especially, and also for artists in general, and people interested in a certain world view and life style.



3. I found this book to be captivating. I felt as though I was right along side her on her journeys. The eras she lived through were so richly detailed. She had so much hope and energy. I never wanted this book to end.



4. Diane di Prima is one of the most foremost and noteworthy female writers of the Beat generation and the 20th century. She has been affiliated with such writers as Jack Keroac, Allen Ginsburg and Robert Creeley. She wrote and inspired in a mans world bringing to life a new female perspective in the 1950's. She continues to write extraordinary poetry, essays, and amazing prose. Her writing style is original and still refreshing to read fifty years later. Diane in her latest book Recollections of My Life As a Woman : The New York Years, an autobiography, goes on to embrace all aspects of her life as a woman. It was an amazing book. I enjoyed it, and I think most will, even if your forte is not beat generation history. It's a good read for others who want to learn more about the beat generation, and it's a great book because of the excellent narrative, and the obvious love she has for writing as well as life it's self.



5. At the end of the book I cried because it was over. That happened once before at age 10 when I finished Black Beauty. This book hit nerves in me that hadn't been touched since On the Road. DiPrima's brilliance, toughness, honesty and forays into the unknown make me want to find her phone number so I can talk to her... this rare woman!

5 comments about I Cried, You Didn't Listen: A Survivor's Expos of the California Youth Authority.

1. What a candid book. I read it in one night. I volunteer in Los Angeles County Juvenile Hall. I read this aloud to the wards, 15-16 year old boys. That was last year, some are asking me when am I going to read it again. Some books about incaceration glorify the situation, but Mr. Abbott's account of an innocent childhood to a downhill spiral of abuse and survival really strikes a cord with the reader.



2. this is a great read. though much of it is tought to read through, the material is important and needs to be circulated!



3. The author of this book states that he wrote it while in solitary confinement. It's a trip into his childhood, where he came of age in California's Juvenile system. It takes place throughout his childhood years, beginning with an early stay at age 6 (along with a rape by a counselor). The rest is his teenage years spent trying to survive the brutal system of rape, violence, and sadistic counselors (also known as prison guards).
   
   It's very chilling. I couldn't peel myself away from this book, even though it has graphic descriptions of rapes and brutal fights between gangs of boys not even old enough to shave. The fact that the author even survived that system, which incidentally took place in the 1960s, impresses me. When I was a teenager, a few friends of mine ended up in a juvenile drug rehab center at Horsham, PA, and afterwards they were extremely shaken up. It turned out later they had been raped. Not much has changed in the last 40 years.
   
   Abbott and his companion quickly rise to the top of the ruling prison gang, which he uses to attempt several escapes. Each time, he nearly makes it. It's amazing that he goes for his parents, who are totally excluded from being able to help their boy. He forms a love relationship with his companion which he must hide in order to survive. The counselors maintain the order by daily beatdowns and shake-ups, and when it comes down to it, the boys are treated exactly like adults. The prison system makes people have to fight for their survival almost daily, or be pushed to a fate of worse than death.
   
   It makes the reader wonder why anyone thinks that prisons can reform any person. Trapping someone in a room and punishing them for years with the most sadistic people doesn't seem like a good way to reform anyone. In the end, prison, for adults or kids, really just sweeps the problem of emotional disturbance underneath the carpet. Nowadays, a few million reside in United States prisons, the largest such population in the world (even more than China, which has 5 times the population). We're at a time when the ruling classes think it's better to completely separate millions into boxes than to even give a carrot to oppressed communities.
   
   Dwight Abbott remains in jail today, and he says he wouldn't be there unless the Juvenile Youth Authority had twisted him as a human being to the point where the only place he could exist was in a prison. They destroyed him as a teenager at a critical point in any human being's development. Why? If you want a window into how a person can be destroyed, read this book. At the same time, if you want to see how a person can keep some amount of love and hope for a better day (away from the prison), read this book as well.



4. I cried, You Didn't Listen was absolutely breath taking. The whole time I wanted to stop reading the horrors, but didnt stop looking at the text the entire way through the book. It placed a new perspective on a lot of things for me and I thank Abbott for such. This is a must read for anybody looking for some perspective on juvenile punishment within the Califonia Youth Authority. It is a tough one though if you have a passion for living beings, especially children.



5. This plain autobiography is written with such directness that it is difficult to doubt the veracity of even the smallest incident. More important, it is difficult to doubt that these incidents (or similar ones) are fairly common place, not just the events of some freakish horror story.
   
   The story is told with great specific purpose, to expose institutions so completely rotten, but one is aware that much is not being told. The author concentrates on what must be said to bear witness to what is wrong institutionally, and does not allow himself long divergences into his own feelings and ideas. The title is a bit ironic; it's about tears shed long ago, and mere personal understanding can no longer change much.
   
   The book speaks clearly to the need for, at very least, massive alterations in the juvenile (and adult) justice system in this country, above and beyond any very small reforms made since this story occurred. Ultimately, one must question our reliance on "professionals" to do our thinking and social organizing for us. Every terrible action detailed in this book, each so obviously misguided and clearly bound to have exactly the opposite effect of it's supposed intention, is a reminder of how we as a people have turned our freedom and control over to institutions that serve only the dictates of cynical and uncaring power, and which operate directly against the interests of individuals and society in general.
   
   Whatever tiny changes have been made in California's juvenile system must be looked at against the fact that America has few (or perhaps no) growing industries other than it's prison system, which cannibalizes the society it purports to serve, and is already a bloated hulk, claiming more far people per capita than that of any other country, two, four, or 10 times as many as any other major nation today.

5 comments about Loretta Lynn - Coal Miner's Daughter.

1. I have very high standards when it comes to idols (at least by my warped definition). Mrs. Lynn managed to be both an idol and hero to me. She is a strong out spoken female that refuses to compromise her beliefs to fit into a cookie cutter/hollywood type image. The best day of my life was getting to visit her ranch and pose for a photo on her steps. I love both of her books although Still Woman Enough is my favorite as she is completely relaxed in being herself. Loretta Lynn is an inspritation for all women young and old that have had to overcome hard challenges in life.



2. A grandmother at 28? Wow! I learned a lot of interesting things about 1) the country music star, and 2) about coming up hard and making it work out.
   
   This book is Loretta Lynn's tale of her childhood in Butcher Holler with her poor but pround parents. Her parents allow her to be married off to a man she barely knows when she is 13. Amazingly, she remains married to this man for the rest of his life.
   
   Anyway, the husband encourages Loretta to sing publicly because he thinks she has a great voice. And I don't need to tell you how the career goes, because that's pretty popular knowledge.
   
   All in all, this was a great book. Very well developed and informative, whether you're a country music fan or not.



3. I have been completely in love with Loretta Lynn ever since I saw "Coal Miner's Daughter." I didn't even know who she was til I watched the movie at age 14, then I read the book and became hooked on her music. She is an amazing woman. Her life has been hard, and she doesn't take any of her success for granted. She is who she is. What you see is what you get with her. I don't know if anyone who reads her book could relate to half of what she has experienced, but it makes for interesting reading. I was lucky enough to see her live in concert a month ago, and when she walked out on that stage, I was brought literally to tears. I just couldn't believe this woman I admire so highly was actually standing in front of me. I'll never forget that night. And I will never stop loving Loretta Lynn. Read BOTH of her autobiographies. Both are excellent.



4. This is one of the greatest books that has ever been written. My father was a coal miner until he got hurt. I sing my self and loretta is just so good. Being from the same state she is i guess the reason she has such a influenece on my life. If you read this book you will love it.



5. Very interesting. This woman has led a very difficult life, but she never seems to lose her spirit.

3 comments about 9 1/2 Years Behind the Green Door: A Mitchell Brothers Stripper Remembers her Lover Artie Mitchell, Hunter S. Thompson, and the Killing that Rocked San Francisco.

1. Simone Corday not only provides intimate details about working at the O'Farrell Theater, she kept track of conversations between she and her long-time lover Artie Mitchell, and her compadre Hunter S. Thompson in journals.
   
   In her memoir, you are like a fly on the wall, drinking in so many delicious details about her life with these over-the-top counterculture icons.
   
   It's a sensual, emotional page turner. You won't want to put it down, and then you will be crying out for more, lingering on that final page, and searching for old Mitchell Brothers' films to get more glimpses on her extraordinary life.



2. An absolutely unmissable read for anyone interested in this bizarre story of two brothers who had the world on a string and then stuck a pin in it.



3. For a realistic, hearfelt look at what it was like to dance at an infamous strip club, have a long love affair with porn king Artie Mitchell, and hang out with Hunter Thompson, this is the book to read! Full of uncanny detail, Corday's story is affectionate, funny, sexy, and a real page-turner. With a searing account of Artie's slaying by his brother Jim and the motives behind it, the murder trial which cost him $1.3 million, and the political connections that helped him get off with serving just 3 years at San Quentin.

5 comments about When Autumn Comes: Creating Compassionate Care for the Dying.

1. The experiences of dying individuals in this book were compelling and insightful. Each chapter tells a story of a hospice patient's unique situation and challenges from the perspective of a volunteer. In the margins, the author would pose insightful questions about ethical dilemmas, boundary issues, or problems, that she encountered in this particular assignment. For this reason, selected chapters might serve as effective case studies and be suitable for a training class or discussion group for hospice volunteers.
   
   There is a glossary of medical and hospice terms in the back of the book and a very practical chapter on the physiological process as one is actively dying. Although the author writes openly about her sadness and feelings of ambivalence and conflict, her personal story speaks for the value of compassion in this line of work yet the tone is never maudlin or despondent. Personal opinions are balanced with pragmatism.
   
   In summary, I would recommend this book to hospice volunteers but also to people who are trying to get a deeper understanding of the general hospice experience.



2. I was pleasantly surprised and enlightened by reading this informative book on hospice care. Very well done, with an interesting personal touch.



3. I have been an RN for over 30 years and a hospice nurse for 14 years. As I read When Autumn Comes I discovered how Mary Jo Bennett brings her gift of listening with her whole heart to each encounter with those approaching death. It is clear that she offers a caring and quiet spirit to her patients and shows how we can also.



4. I found "When Autumn Comes" to be very inspiring as well as comforting reading at the time my father was passing on. I think more than anything it helped me to recognize my own agenda vs. my father's real needs and state of mind. This book helped me to not be so afraid of death and instead to support my father and actually encourage him in this process by my mindful presence. I will never forget this rich experience of being at his side until the moment when he took his final breath. It was an honor, a joy and a privilege and I am so grateful to have had this guidebook for support to enhance my spiritual understanding of the death process.



5. The stories Ms. Bennett tells in When Autumn Comes have the power to penetrate deeply into relationship spaces most of us are unwilling to go without a guide. She has learned the sacred art of listening, and challenges me to ask this burning question everywhere I go these days, "How can I help?"

1 comments about One Step Forward: The Life of Ken Dahlberg.

1. One Step Forward The life of Ken Dahlberg
   
   
   I was not to sure what to expect from a WW II veteran's life. The story kept me interested thru out. The book is about Ken Dahlberg life from childhood to the founder of company called Miracle Ear. Oh, by the way, he was a triple ace in WW II, shot down three times and held as a prisoner of war in Germany. Ken Dahlberg is now over ninety years old with no signs of slowing down!
   My favorite part of the book is his military career. He tells about how he almost did not graduate flight school. What he thought was his last day he snapped a barrel roll in his plane. The instructor asked and Dahlberg replied he thought he failed and wanted to try it in his last day of flying a military aircraft. The instructors made him a flight instructor and finally sent him to combat.
   The description of his becoming a triple ace is remarkable. I know there are only a few triple aces. Dahlberg is pretty humble in his skills as a pilot. When he was shot down, during the Battle of the Bulge he was rescued by a tank crew. Dahlberg and the book writers went to visit the soldier who saved him sixty years later in the hospital . The soldier told his story of the rescue and later passed away from cancer.
   Dahlberg went back to France and revisited the French family that hid him from the Germans after he was shot down. In the book, there are photos of the villa, and Dahlberg with the wooden stick hut slept in.
   Most of the book is about WW II combat experience and there are parts on how he got started in business after the war. I found it amazing that Dahlberg had started with nothing and worked hard and sacrificed to become a successful business person. He never forgets the sacrifices he and his fellow soldiers made to this country.
   Reading One Step Forward the life of Ken Dahlbeg will make you understand why World War II Veterans are called the greatest generation because they gave it all for this country. The book is very excellent reading and captivating.
   
   MAJ (ret) Eric Shuler NJARNG
   OIF 2004-2005
   
   
   

2 comments about My Life as a Revolutionary: Reflections of a Former Guerrillera.

1. "My Life as a Colombian Revolutionary; Reflections of a Former Guerrillera," by Maria Eugenia Vasquez Perdomo is primarily a guerrilla narrative of Colombia's violent past. To this end, the author provides an intimate understanding of "how" young urban and rural Colombians flock to revolutionary movements. However, this book has two major shortcomings. First, the author fails to adequately explain "why" Colombians turn their back on establishment institutions to promote change. And secondly, Vasquez makes a very feeble attempt to demonstrate contrition for living the life of a terrorist for 18 years.
   
   On that note, it is no surprise that the Spanish-language version of this book was awarded the Colombian National Prize for Testimonial Literature in 1998. Colombian readers have a good understanding of the absence of political, economic, social and land reforms inside their country. American readers of this text should be warned to pay close attention to the strong 22-page historical "Introduction" by Arthur Schmidt. Otherwise, they will never completely figure out "why" Colombians join guerrilla organizations. The author fails to give a comprehensive understanding of significant historical events. For instance, Jorge Eliecer Gaitan, the Bogotazo, La Violencia, The National Front, the controversial 1970 elections and Camilo Torres take a back seat to her day to day anti-imperialism, anti-oligharchy, anti-sectarianism guerrilla activities. Had the author dedicated more time to weave Colombia's complex history to her narrative this would be a benchmark book.
   
   Still and all, this is an extremely valuable text. Vasquez is harassed, hunted and tortured by state institutions. She also renounces motherhood twice for her senior leadership position in the M-19 guerrilla organization. Consequently, her explanation of the turmoil on the Colombian urban campus and the era of war for the sake of peace is useful. Moreover, information on legendary M-19 leaders, Jaime Bateman, Gustavo Arias (a.k.a. Boris), Carlos Pizarro, Ivan Marino Ospina, Antonio Navarro, and Alvaro Fayad is priceless. It just would have made more sense for the author to have developed a better "connect" between the revolutionary consciousness and Colombia's long history of state-inspired violence.
   
   Bert Ruiz



2. My wife is originally from Ecuador and her best friend is from Colombia. So, through staying with her friend's wonderful family in Pasto, I have had the opportunity to explore and experience this vibrant country full of some of the most kind and generous people I have ever met. Tragically, Colombia's history, from far into the past until today, has been marred by devasting political violence and warfare.
   
   When Maria Vasquez was a young, idealistic student she joined a group of revolutionaries, known as the M-19s, hoping to transform Colombian society. Vasquez is an excellent writer who paints a vivid and compelling portrait of her youthful adventures and political activites. That is why I give this book a high rating.
   
   Unfortunately, Vasquez's actions included such atrocities as robbery, kidnapping and hostage taking at a foreign embassy. Obviously, her actions caused suffering to many innocent people. She and other M-19 guerillas also receiving military training in Castro's Cuba and Gadaffi's Libya. In contemporary terms she would likely be called a terrorist. Vasquez does take some responsibility for her actions in the final chapter. But most of the book is a highly romanticized account of her "glory days" as a guerilla, in which little remorse is expressed. In that respect I was disappointed.
   
   Still this book has an amazing story to tell and I do recommend reading it. But, sadly, instead of changing Colombia for the better Vasquez and her fellow M-19s only continued Colombia's brutal legacy of political violence and killing. This beautiful country and its people deserve better!

1 comments about Sundar Singh: Footprints Over The Mountains (Christian Heroes: Then & Now) (Christian Heroes: Then & Now).

1. Sundar's mother wanted him to be a holy man, or sadhu, and, being a Singh, he was expected to follow in the Sikh faith of their family. They thought the Sikh scriptures were better than the Hindu scriptures; also the Sikhs believed in only one God. The Sikhs thought themselves above the rest of the people of India.
   
   Since the public school was five miles away, his parents sent him to the Christian mission school nearby. Sundar was a good learner, and pleased the teachers. Before his mother died, he prayed that she would live, but after her death, he hated the Christians and their God, making life at the mission school miserable. Since he still had to go to school, he told his father he would walk to the public school, but after he contracted malaria, he was not strong enough to make the walk. His father insisted that he attend the Christian mission school again. After some time, he was still sick and depressed from the malaria, and he decided he must know if God was real. He prayed and asked the Lord to show Himself to Sundar that night, or he would kill himself under the morning train. He says that Jesus appeared and spoke to him. That night his life changed. He repented and believed on Christ.
   
   When Sundar told his family about his new faith in Jesus, they tried to change his mind, finally poisoning him, when he left to live with Christian friends. To their amazement, he survived the poisoning.
   
   He had a burning desire to tell everyone about the Lord. It occurred to him that people with listen more readily if became a Sadhu; not a Sikh Sadhu, but a Christian holy man. He traveled all over, preaching as he went. Many people drove him away, but some listened.
   
   Sundar had a particular burden for the people of Tibet. He would walk over the Himalayan ranges to preach to them, although bringing in a foreign "religion" was illegal. One of the first times he was preaching, he was caught by the grand lama and sentenced to die. Since their religious convictions forbid them to actually kill someone, they have divised many methods of slowly "allowing" people to die. Sundar was thrown into a dry well to die, a well that he discovered had been used many times for the same purpose. Rotting human remains and bones surrounded him with an awful stench. After three days, he was miraculously rescued.
   
   He went on to many places, being persecuted and tortured, but continuing to preach. He began to be well known, and other countries asked for him to come to speak to them. Sundar preached in many countries, but he always came back to the places his heart yearned over. In time his father came to know the Lord.
   
   Sundar never returned from his last trip to Tibet. No one knows or admits to knowing what happened to him. We do know that he was faithful to preach God's Word; faithful unto death, and he will receive a crown of life.

2 comments about Tainted Blood?: Memoirs of a Part-Jewish Girl in the Third Reich 1933-1945.

1. There is so much information on WW2, the events leading up to war, Hitler and his regime, the plight of the Jewish people, etc. Baake's book is a welcome perspective from an average person growing up under Hitler's regime. She brings to light the day to day challenges the people had to face, what information they received, what they thought, the charm of the Hitler Youth programs, the hell they had to endure. But never does she wallow in the sadness. This is not a depressing book. While vividly reminding us of the tragedies and challenges that come with war, Baake's positive nature shines through in every difficult situation. She will even make you laugh in her innocent flirtations and ironic comedies that often come up in trying times. This is a book for anyone who wishes they could ask their grandparents the question 'what was it like'?



2. When I lived as a student in France, I lived with a woman who remembered her city and its occupation by the Germans during WWII. I wanted to hear a personal account from the other side and had always wanted to ask a German who lived under the Nazi regime what were the things they experienced in their society that brought them to war? How did this happen to the German people? I would like to be able to recognize the same signs of tyranny in our present world. "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana.