5 comments about To Own a Dragon: Reflections On Growing Up Without A Father.

1. As an educator with both parents still together after 50+ years, this book is a HUGE insight into what more and more young men face growing up without a male role model. Often our words reflect our own experiences, which can alienate those we are trying to help.



2. Even for those had a father growing up, there are still things a human father will fail at. Miller helps us to comprehend the greatness of the word "Father".



3. To Own A Dragon is, I believe, one of Donald Miller's best books. He is more well known for Blue Like Jazz and Through Painted Deserts, but I think this one is one of his most insightful. He has always been very honest about the fact that he grew up without a father and this book dives into that story much deeper. As one who grew up with a distant father the book was very healing and spoke to me by someone who knew what it was like.
   
   This is a wonderful and healing book for anyone, male or female, who is struggling with a father never present.



4. In his typical laid-back style, Donald Miller explores the effects that growing up without a father had on him. To Own a Dragon must be understood within the genre of "memoir." It is not meant to an exhaustive exploration, only what the author felt and dealt with while going through the event he is writing about.
   
   I appreciate Miller's honesty, his straight forward approach the what a child experiences. I grew up without a father in the home, and found this to be an enlightening and encouraging read. I found myself constantly saying, "I am not alone! I am not the only one who feels this way."
   
   I highly recommend this book to anyone who struggles having grown up without a father. It will not answer all the question...it may not answer any of the questions...but it will let you know that you are not the only one.



5. To be perfectly blunt--this book is just full of religious stuff. And, it is coming from some guy who brags about breaking into someone else's house to steal a book he could have purchased on Amazon for a few dollars!
   I feel that more practical advice should have been dispensed. If your father is missing and if your mother is independently wealthy, totally frazzled from supporting the family, totally ineffective, or also missing, the half orphan should realize he/she is now totally responsible for his future. In today's Christian record keeping society, you need only step out of line once to insure you will never obtain a job that will support you or enter a good college. Societal infractions are only possible when you are descended from a "good" and wealthy family. You are on your own and will only succeed if you take positive steps to insure an adequate future.

5 comments about Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man's Prison.

1. Sorry, this is more of an emotional release than a fully fledged review.
   
   What a twisted prison system in a seemingly civilized society!
   What a brave young man that has succeeded in beating the odds and coming back from it!
   What a beautiful first love story that has an inevitable sad ending like it always does!
   
   I'm not a native english speaker, but I believe the power of any good book is beyond languages.



2. While the story is bizzare, disgusting and pathetic; the apparent fact that this person did not have the "Heart" to fight off his aggressors, does not rationalize the nightmarish environments he had to endure. Talk about a meat grinder: white trailer park trash becomes white sex slave and then finally becomes an apparent healthy male with wounds. I think for me there is this feeling , however slight it may be, that this could happen to anyone of us and the subject therefore should not be so easily dismissed as it has and will be. If you have the stomach for it , this book is a glaring indictment of our less then perfect culture.



3. As soon as I finished reading this book, I went back to the beginning and read it again. I was blown away by Parsell's experiences and his courage to come forth and tell the truth. He made me realize how ignorant I was about life in prison. I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed his writing. Highly recommended!



4. I read a great review of this book on a writer's blog & couldn't wait to read it! It truly is a courageous story and I admire Parsell for sharing such difficult memories. Bravo!



5. I suppose my title is strange for a book about this subject---but it was really wonderful and I see everyone else liked it too. This is going to be a book I KEEP on my shelves, usually I get rid of the book after I read it. I couldn't wait to pick it up again. Most autobiographies I don't like, they don't tell the whole story, but T.J. Parsell really, really bares his soul to us and I thank him. And he's really come so far in life since his prison days.
   
   There was just about every emotion and feeling there can be in this book. Love, hate, tenderness, violence, understanding, friendship, rage, openness, awareness, brutality, isolation, confusion, sadness and maybe even a little bit of joy.
   
   What a book!! I'm going to write T. J. I'm so glad he turned out alright. The letters at the end made me cry.

5 comments about Laughing Without an Accent: Adventures of an Iranian American, at Home and Abroad.

1. One needn't have read Mrs. Dumas' first book, Funny In Farsi, to enjoy this take on the ethnic translation into American culture, but it would certainly help to get you into the mood. Knowing a bit of the family and its ways means you can start smiling, even chuckling, before the stories unfold. An occasional outburst of pure laughter also happen. Mrs. Dumas, in this sequel, shifts the terrain a bit, with a heavier focus on Iranian ethnic life amidst the bits and pieces of American life. An occasional downward spin on some of our habits and mores is fair game, but doesn't spoil this never-ending story of confused Iranians coping with the "New World." After all, this "New World" is now Mrs. Dumas' as well.



2. While not laugh-out-loud funny it is amusing, enjoyable book. So many of us can see pieces of our own family dynamics in her stories of gifts that you pretend to like, food you serve they won't eat, and those incidents you laugh at only in hind-sight. Her last chapter where she spends time with one of the Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days is wonderfully poignant.



3. I heard the author on NPR and immediately wanted to read her book. She did not disappoint. She provided a much-needed antidote to the current stereotype of people from Iran. She is smart, sensible, and very amusing. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about how her family has successfully adjusted to living in the United States.



4. This is a fast reading book with lots of humor about an Iranian family that comes to live in Southern California. It contains universal lessons of life and humor. Everyone can feel the love that Firoozeh has for her family, her birth country, and her new home in America. After reading Laughing Without an Accent, I felt as if Firoozeh's family were my own. I was fortunate to be able to meet this charming author in person. This book will lift your spirits!



5. This book is hilarious. As an Iranian-American with a large family who immigrated from Iran, i found myself reading them passages so they could laugh with me. I have re-gifted this book again and again so that my entire extended family can join in. I absolutely loved it and know that you will too!

5 comments about Christmas with Paula Deen: Recipes and Stories from My Favorite Holiday.

1. I ordered this book for a gift and was really disappointed in it. I wish I had read the other reviews before I bought it. I would have saved my money. I will probably end up keeping it and purchasing something else for the gift. I can't believe how small it is.



2. First off...I have poor vision, that's right, and I wear contacts. If you've had failed lasik boo-hoo, and then pull out your magnifying glass. Not liking a recipe book only based on the size/cover/lack of photos is the STUPIDEST thing I've heard. How many of you reviewers have Joy of Cooking in your cabinets? Yeah, that's what I thought...
   
   All of the cookie recipes are GREAT and her holiday bow-tie cookies recipes are very good and she gives great advice too that even inexperienced cooks can understand. (The cocktail recipes will knock you under the table though so watch out.) I would recommend this for anyone who loves the holidays and loves baking and loves Paula Deen.



3. I love the Southern influence, and the stories, and the humor in this book. The recipes remind me of learning to cook beside my mother in a cramped and noisy kitchen. This brought back fond memories and several recipes that were very familiar from my upbringing but which I had forgotten. I am so pleased to have this book in my kitchen cupboard and I plan to use it for many years to come.



4. Paula is my favorite cook... I bought this book for me and my grandma.. I made the yummy6 cut out cookies... I also liked this book for the CUTE Stories that are inside.. The advice is great. LIke don't let anything stand in the way of family,, always go home for the holidays,,, I am 27 and listening to Puala about all of it,, she is so great!



5. The recipes are outstanding. My one and only dissatisfaction thus far was that the caramel corn she described as addictive was overly sweet - but everything else is yummy.
   
   HOWEVER (and it is a big however), the book is very tiny (the size of a thin paperback), so more suitable as a stocking stuffer than a gift cookbook.
   
   Also, the light green and red print is very Christmasy, but would be impossible for anyone with less than excellent vision to read. (IMHO, a larger book with black lettering would have been far superior ... I can read it, but like things as bold as possible in the kitchen.)
   
   The recipes also appear (word-for-word!) in her other books -- so my recommendation would be to buy one of them, or look for this at a tag sale. If it were Paula Deen's only work, it would be stupendous, but is grossly overpriced for a tiny, hard-to-read-in-the-kitchen copy of the recipes in her other books. Paula Deen's recipes are outstanding, but you don't need more than one copy of the same recipe.

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

1. What a wonderful little novel! If you love Italy as I do, you will love this story as it leads you through the day to day life of this interesting and colorful heroine throughout the city of Venice. Diplaced, lonely, living in this city that couldnt be further away from Saint Louis, Missouri in every way, she builds a new life for herself. The story is full of cooking, eating and enjoying the food of Venice as well as the people who live there.



2. The main character of this book Marlena, a chef from St Louis, is visiting Venice for one of the many times she goes there. This time , a Venitian ,as she comes to call him, notices her and her life changes forever. This memoir tells of her life setting up house with the Venitian, her forays into the markets and her recipes and meals. De Blasi has lovely words to describe the scenes and the smells and the tastes as she explores Venice with her new husband. Some of the description may be over the top but Melena lives life that way.



3. I love Marlena's Book, all of them! Please write more.... I'm waiting! This book, A Thousand Days in Venice, is another one of her magnifico writings, which is also a true memoir of her life. I like to read a book that is "real life" happenings! I've been taking two tour groups to Italy twice a year now for seven years. I also travel to Italy and France to the markets for my store. I love the markets, especially in Italy. And, Marlena describes them well. My extended Dad, is born and raised in Sicily, and now lives in Tuscany, which is wonderful! I am in Italy as much as the United States. Marlena describes Venice, as well as the many other places in Italy, so well. Reading her books, puts you right there with her, and that's a wonderful thing when reading! I also like the balance in her books; she doesn't talk too much about food, but keeps a balance. Lately, I've read too many books about Italy, that are so boring and too much like the others out there. Not Marlena's books, true stories of her life in Italy! They really entice me to keep reading and reading until the end! Thank you so much Marlena for sharing your life with others, especially those who are in love with Italy! You have probably seen me around Orvieto, Venice, and many other places, especially my big sign that reads, Decorate Ornate.com! That sign has been North to South many times. Keep up the writing, I have enjoyed your books so much! I highly recommended "all" of your books to my customers, especially those of them that go on my tours and love Italy! They have the same compliments too, wondeful book, and when is the next one?
   
   Stephani Chance
   Decorate Ornate
   Gladewater, TX



4. This is a fabulous - - fiction or non-fiction - I am not sure which - book. Almost a fairy tale type book. It which makes those of us who have never visited Venice - yearn to do so. I wanted to walk where she walked and especially eat all the delicious foods she describes. A fantasic risk she takes in moving there to be with "the stranger" and the story winds through their getting to know each other in a daring yet believable manner. The romance of it all brought tears to my eyes many times. I loved it. Can't wait to read the next in the series.



5. This is the sort of romantic story you expect in the movies, not real life. To find your great love, almost by accident, in Venice, while walking through Piazza San Marco, seems impossible and yet that's exactly what happened to the author. Sharing this lovely story gives us all a chance to dream. And it isn't just ordinary sharing, but beautifully crafted description of a place that boasts an extraordinary amount of beauty. Not all is wine and roses for this implausible couple--eHarmony would never have matched them up--and yet it works on many levels and thanks to Ms. DeBlasi, we readers are allowed a glimpse into an inner life in Venice which leaves us wanting more--and luckily, following stories by Ms. DeBlasi provide that.

4 comments about That Summer in Sicily: A Love Story.

1. This author can write! Her descriptions of people, environments, food and relationship are first class.
   
   Unlike the first three books that were memoirs of her travels and life with her husband, A Thousand Days in Venice, A Thousand Days in Tuscany, and The Lady in the Palazzo, this book is really Tosca Brazzi's story as told to Marlena.
   
   De Blasi descriptions of simple, everyday things are strong, such as: Unskilled, unshy hands pounded scales on the piano." I could hear the music and see that person working the keys.
   
   What an interesting story de Blasi tells because of her chance meeting with a woman, now in her mid 60s, while traveling with her husband, Italian born Fernando. Tosca, the nine-year-old daughter of a peasant under the last prince in Sicily, was given to the prince by her father in trade for a stallion. She was educated along with the prince's young children and as she grew, became their teacher. A priest who knew her in the beginning described her as having "splendid arrogance."
   
   At 18, Tosca became the mistress of Leo, the prince, now 36. When Leo disappeared mysteriously because his work for the people went against the local mafia, Tosco became an heiress. She carries on his work of modernizing some of culture. Sicily is like a major character in the book and we learn about many aspects of life there.
   
   The story today is of Tosca's role in helping women who are alone--many who come to the beautiful Villa Donnafugata (house of fleeing women) to live, and maybe to die.
   
   If you love good writing that is descriptive to the finest detail, read this book. In the first chapter she describes the ceiling of the dining room in the Villa: "Fragment of frescoed gods and goddesses--plump flanked and rolling eyes--hurtle across the high crumbling walls, giving chase up onto the great vault of the ceiling."
   
   The author has been a journalist, restaurant critic, and cookbook author. She took a trip to Italy, and there experienced a whirlwind love affair with a man and with Venice, inspiring her to write _A Thousand Days in Venice.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: Not a memoir of de Blasi's life, but of Tosca's, however this is a good read you'll enjoy.



2. That Summer in Sicily is the fourth Marlena de Blasi book I have read. When I picked up the first one, A Thousand Days in Venice, I didn't take to it right away. I am a Texan who writes exactly the way I speak, and I am irritated by flowery prose. However, I am also a sensualist, in love with taste, aroma, color, texture and sound. These elements--these things that define a particular place--come alive for me in these books.
   
   Unlike her previous three memoirs, this story is not really about American Marlena and her Venetian husband. It is an almost unbelievable love story, a story about what it means to be Sicilian. As with most other adventures in her life, this one began with a writing assignment. Marlena was asked by a scholarly magazine to write a seminal piece on the interior regions of Sicily. Several people had already turned the job down, and soon she discovered why. Despite a meticulously drawn route and prearranged interview appointments, she was met at every turn with "misanthropic silences, closed doors and epic heat." Eventually she gave up.
   
   Marlena's husband had come along for the ride, and before wending their way down from the mountains, they decided to take a day or two to recover. Finally, a policeman responded to their numerous inquiries for a place to stay. "There is a woman called Tosca. Her place is Villa Donnafugata (house of fleeing woman), although there's no sign to tell you so."
   
   When they entered the gates they found what looked like a castle with sweeping gardens. In fact, it was nothing more than a hunting lodge, once belonging to the last Anjou prince in Sicily. Everywhere, they passed groups of women in long black dresses, laughing and singing as they went about their daily chores. A beautiful woman dressed in jodphurs and boots approached them. "I'm Tosca Brozzi. We'll be sitting down at one. I'll let you know later if there's room for you to stay."
   
   From one of the other women there, Marlena learned that Tosca had inherited the villa from the prince, whose ward she once was. Bit by bit, she had restored the place. For more than thirty years she had lived there with an assortment of villagers who had found themselves alone, and in need of other people. This sort of communal life helped them to stay well, to stay young. Babies were born there, some people died there. "We are all related by affection," they said. "We are part of one another's history. We are Sicilian." They grew and prepared their own food, cared for the animals and for each other. Though there was much work to be done, it seemed to be merely a diversion to fill the hours between meals. "We eat often and well here, signora," Marlena was told. It was a society she never would have believed could exist.
   
   "We never decide to stay but simply get caught up in the imperishable rituals and rhythms of the villa," wrote Marlena. One day Don Cosimo, a seventy-six year old priest, approached Marlena. He told her that he'd been the household's resident cleric and the prince's chauffeur when, fifty-six years previously, the prince had taken Tosca to live with him in the palace, a few hours drive from the lodge. "She was, even then, of that splendid arrogance. Leo claimed her when, I think, she was nine. Her beauty was already fearsome," he recalled. It was a common enough feudal custom, this sanctioned purloining of the children of one's peasants. Most people believed that the prince had requested Tosca. However, it was Tosca's father who'd offered her to the prince, in exchange for a stallion he coveted. And so Tosca was schooled by a French governess with the prince's daughters, tamed, formed, refined.
   
   Later, it was Tosca who approached Marlena. "I'd like to tell you a story, Chou," she said. "Oh, I don't mean right now, of course. But soon. It's a long story, you see... It might take a few days. A week... I want to try out my story on someone from another place. I want to tell it to you, leave it with you, I guess, knowing that you'll go away." And so it began, the unfolding of a saga that spanned decades. It is a story that explores the ravages of war, poverty, the origins of the Cosa Nostra, the responsibilities of wealth and privilege, the cost of defying rigid traditions, the meaning of love, and finding one's true place in the world. It is also a story of miracles.
   
   by Becky Lane
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



3. I have read and re-read A Thousand Days in Venice, A Thousand Days in Tuscany and The Lady in the Palazzo, so was delighted when That Summer in Sicily was released. It is another exquisitely-written, tender story of love and food in Italy. Di Blasi replaces the on-going love story of herself and Fernando with the stories of Tosca and the Last Prince and Tosca and The Widows. It is not only di Blasi's ability to create visual images with her words but more to evoke an atmosphere of timeless, genuine romance that draws one in. This is a woman totally seduced by food who can fall completely in love with an Italian man, whose idea of cuisine before they met was under-cooked pasta paired with over-cooked chicken breast and jarred sauce. This is a book in which to appreciate, understand and share the true joy of love. I can't wait for her next book.



4. I fell under Ms. de Blasi's spell with the trilogy (1000 Days In Venice, 1000 Days in Tuscany and The Lady In The Palazzo) and here is another book of delicate prose woven with insight and beauty. This type of writing probably isn't for everyone. One reviewer of a book she wrote was shocked that she could write about food without having step-by-step photos of preparations. How sad for that person that the whole purpose of her writing isn't about how to cook but how to enjoy cooking, how to enjoy the friends that will eat your food and how to enjoy life. This is a book by a writer who will transport you into another world - if you give her your time and hand.

5 comments about Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic.

1. This book was recommended by a writer-friend saying it was well written and an interesting read. I was sucked in by the writer for a few pages, but then decided to start listing all the inconsistencies and reality-defying events. By page 95, where I am now, I have 10 major ones listed. Then I remembered the lately discussion about Fake Memoirs and thought, hey lets see what the reviewers on Amazon say. I'm surprised at the large number of reviewers who believe this stuff actually happened as written. She might have gone to Harvard and might have a Down's syndrome kid, but after that, it pure fiction. Try imagine writing about what you had in the refrigerator on day 26 of vomiting 10 years later. But you have to give Ms. Beck credit for a vivid imagination; similar to a paranoid-compulsive nephew I know who can make up the most compelling fictitious event scenarios; way better than I can.



2. I was primed for this book. Our third grandson, Adam, had just been born (August 5), when I visited a bookstore just down the street from the hospital. So the title, Expecting Adam, quite naturally practically leapt off the shelf into my hands. I originally thought, what a great gift for my daughter (the new mother), but when I read it was a story about having a child with Down Syndrome, I reconsidered. Our particular Adam, although a few weeks premature, seemed pretty much perfect, and I didn't want to needlessly upset the new mom. I needn't have worried. This is an absolutely wonderful book, told with humor, compassion, wit, wisdom and a nearly other-worldy sense of wonder. And did I mention humor? Because this woman is a very funny writer. The numerous references to invisible beings, whether she calls them angels or Bunraku puppeteers, and intercontinental telepathy are the kind of thing that would normally put me off, as I am a natural skeptic. But somehow Beck pulls it off. Probably because she believes it, she makes me believe it too - all of it. My wife wants to read it now. (She'd seen Martha Beck on Oprah some time ago, she tells me.) We will then pass the book along to our daughter to read. We know she will relate, and probably cry a little, when she reads Beck's perfect descriptions of a tiny foot the size of a man's thumb and a head the size of an orange. Babies. Ain't they just the grandest things?! I'll say it again. This is a wonderful book. - Tim Bazzett, author of the ReedCityBoy trilogy



3. Read this book if: you are struggling with the belief that you must be perfect to be loved. I have read other Beck books. I especially liked Leaving the Saints. And like some of the other reviewers here, I occasionally pause, scratch my head, and say "can all of this stuff really happen to one person?"and "is it possible she is taking literary license with some of the details? And then I look at my own life, and I think, NO. If all of us told the truth of our own existence, the late night thoughts, the dreams, the spiritual experiences, we'd all sound like lunatics. These are the things we must share with each other and these are the things we don't share because we are afraid some "reviewer" will skewer us or smirk or otherwise besmirch our integrity and sanity. I loved this book. It brought me back to the power of my dreams and my connection with the divine. I thank Martha and Adam for the inspiration and love shared.



4. As many have mentioned, Beck's story has very little to do with Adam, her son, and everything to do with the many miracles that she feels surrounded his gestation.
   
   The assumption is that something very spiritual took place. I don't doubt that's true. But I found her position to be highly unbalanced.
   
   Being the scholar that she is, I have to wonder how she wrote this memoir as "truth" when the subject matter cannot be proven.
   
   The red flags are:
   
   1) From A to Z this story is presented with *high emotion.*
   2) While she was expecting Adam she was under tremendous stress.
   -she was physically hampered by a difficult pregnancy compounded by an autoimmune disfunction (which she doesn't name).
   -her academic requirements would have produced enough stress to put the Dali Lama on Prozac.
   -she had very little family support
   -she was caring for another child under the age of two.
   -after her appartment building caught fire, when she claimed she and her toddler nearly died, she kept right on pushing herself to the extreme. She sought no psychological help for what must surely have been a traumatizing event.
   -when her fears that "something was wrong" with her baby were confirmed, she kept pace with all her stress. She worked and studied and cared for her other child. It seems to me she took very little care for her physical and mental health.
   
   Another thing to consider is that her other books are also questionable. A quick background check into the controversies surrounding her life and experiences suggests there is no middle ground present in this woman, only extremes. Her pendulums swing all the way to the right or left. They don't appear to rest anywhere in between. This has landed her in more than one sticky situation. Beck and former husband John once co-authored a book on abstaining from homosexuality. Today they are divorced and both are openly gay. She also wrote about leaving the Mormon church, where she accuses her father of molesting her. Her seven other siblings all contest her reportings, some were said to have shared a room WITH her and have no idea how molestation could have taken place without thier knowledge. Even John felt the need to respond to her portrayal of events, feeling they were inadequate and unfair. To date she's at odds with her family, her husband John (so highly represented in the book, they are now divorced) and the Mormon church of her upbringing. Controversy is to Martha Beck as ink is to paper.
   
   By now this review sounds largely negative. Let me add that Martha's writing is stellar and extremely readable. Even believable. To the untrained eye, this is an amazing account.
   
   If you, like me, have that niggling suspicion her perception of supernatural abetting may indeed be larger than life there is one question to be considered: Is the niggling doubt of a spiritual manifestation? Or could it merely be common sense...
   
   I will close by mentioning that I too have kept journals of my experiences in life. Looking back I could easily assign spirituality as the sole benefactor of certain events. But it wouldn't be fair to present myself as though that were the ONLY cause of my life's outcomes. My choices and actions are part of the equation. One also has to wonder if Beck's perceptions were in any way altered by psychological (perhaps peri-partum depression? anxiety? Outright psychosis?) were in any way a factor in her view of what was happening inside (and outside) of her body at that time.



5. I almost wish I hadn't found out more about Martha Beck's life before writing this review. If I hadn't I'd say this is a very good book, with some great messages and inspirational content. I thought she was bit rough on Harvard and seemed to stereotype people who seemed to wrong her. On the other hand, I really liked the message to live your life simply, enjoy the little things, and know there's more to life than just the workaday narrow view.
   
   I had some problems with how much she talked about the morning sickness, and how Harvard people are, etc. Give the reader more credit. I got the picture pretty quick, and it just seemed to drudge on. But it was worth it, because Beck's a very good writer, with an excellent sense of humor and wry wit. All in all, I'd recommend the book.
   
   Now, back to her personal life. I won't go into details, but it sort of detracts from the credibility of this book. Sounds like she might have fabricated other stuff in her life, covered it up, or maybe exaggerated it. Too bad, because I'd really like to believe what she went through. There are just too many bizarre and questionable things in her bio for me remain in total acceptance of the book's contents.

5 comments about Before & After, Revised Edition: Living and Eating Well After Weight-Loss Surgery.

1. This book was an easy read and has the experiences of a WLS patient goes through before and after surgery and an example of the 'dumping' episode one hears about pre-surgery. I have travelled internationally extensively in my career and I fully understand what the Author is saying about her great travels, eating, spending etc. and because she can do them now as before she felt prohibited to do so, she inturns shares her experiences. I didn't take this as a 'look at how great I am' book, rather a look at life and your eating life after surgery. Her receipes look easy and most ingrediants can be purchased at your store. It is not a surprise that the author has a website of product one can purchase. I do find them extremely high in price and the average income person would only be able to afford a few items.



2. I have to admit, I found this book disappointing. I am pre-surgery, in the qualifying stages, and have done a lot of research. I hear about dumping and emotional changes and mood swings and changes in relationships with people, as well as with food. So I expected this book would give me a realistic view of what to expect ahead.
   I know each person's experience is different, but I got tired of the diary of what gourmet food she was able to eat each day after surgery...plenty of ! points throughout the narrative, like a pre-teen's diary, but not a lot of useful information. I was also disappointed she went right on eating absolutely everything pre-surgery to say goodbye to food, and then found she can still enjoy gourmet delights, just in tiny portions. Most of us are not gourmets, and it is not a healthy approach to weight loss surgery to have your last supper three times a day every day before surgery. You need to get your head in the right place first, and for me, it is breaking the food addiction. Susan obviously is able to continue her love affair with food without skipping a beat, just tiny portions. There's very little about the emotional changes to expect, etc. - her life seems perfect, she can afford the plastic surgery afterward, etc. There was nothing about the psychological aspects involved, just the good times with friends and sharing delicious food and being loved. It just wasn't the kind of book I'd hoped for.
   On the positive side, though, I will say the recipes are good, and are broken down into WLS portions and normal portions.
   I guess I was expecting a "real" person with real issues, but instead this book is about someone who has her cake and eats it too.



3. I really enjoyed this book. Unlike some other reviews I don't think that she came across snobby or stuck up or full of herself. I think she came across as a woman who had finally gained confidence and was finally getting a chance to experience life! Yes, she has money and therefor has the means to travel and go shopping and throw parties, but that shouldn't be a reason to not like this book. Susan Leach worked hard to achieve her goal, and I think her story was very inspiring. The only reason I gave it 4 stars was because I wish the book had been longer. Half of the book is recipes and I think she should have maybe only had 1/3 be recipes, and then most of the book devoted to her weight loss story. I think the only reason people don't like this book is because they are jealous of her life style. But I for one, really enjoyed it and it inspired me a great deal. I recommend it.



4. Good book for anyone that wants to get a realistic view of Bariatric (Lapband) surgery and the food you can eat.



5. It was great to read about how she went thru the transition after the surgey and also the meals suggestion recipes are helpful to.

5 comments about The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir.

1. Isabelle Allende writes in a very simple way her memories about her life. While reading the book the reader is concentrated on her life and can enter in it without being conscious..I recommend this book to all people in search of emotion...



2. Like most reviewers, I've enjoyed Allende's previous works, and I spent most of a Sunday afternoon wrapping up this latest offering. I can feel my furrowed brow as I type, because I don't know what to make of it. I enjoyed reading about the various members of Allende's "tribe" and at times wished I could join them. At other times I felt like the book was an infomercial. Clearly Allende is justifiably proud of her friends and family's accomplishments--her friend Tabra's jewelry business (I'll probably make a purchase shortly), her former daughter-in-law's Marin County mountain bike tour company, her husband's novels.
   
   Allende also discusses her frequent travels around the globe with family members--annual trips to Chile to her mother, an African safari with her grandchildren, a trip to India with her husband and Tabra. I suspect the average reader can only dream of such adventures; am I envious? Allende and her husband can afford to be financially generous to their large family, and they obviously enjoy sharing their good fortune, but for a reason I still can't put my finger on, broadcasting that fact to devoted readers just smacked of Oprah to me.
   
   Other reviewers had mentioned that they felt the book was written in haste, and poorly edited. Passages like this one simply didn't ring true for me: "I had shrunk an inch [she's 5 feet tall] and the body lolling in the water was that of a mature woman who had never been a beauty." I'm sure anyone who has seen photos of Ms. Allende would agree that she's stunning and quite beautiful. Had she been unattractive, I suspect her career might not have been as successful as it is.
   
   I'm sure I'll be editing my review once I've given it more thought. For now, I agree with other reviewers that The Sum of Our Lives is not the best introduction to Allende's wonderful body of work. Start with House of the Spirits and work your way up through her earlier works to the current offering.



3. In terms of literature, a bit of a disappointment -- it certainly isn't a candle on "Paula," and I kind of agree with the reviewer who said it seemed hastily written. It does, and there's little of the lyrical language that made "Paula" such a treat.
   
   On the other hand, it IS interesting to see more of the whole "tribe" here, and people are depicted more as real people, including Isabel herself. I was shocked and surprised to find that Paula, who came across as almost too saintly in the last book, didn't like children, but it made me like her a lot more as a real person. (Perhaps it was just her youth; I can imagine her, like many woman, wanting a child as she got older.)
   
   I'd say this book is best for people who have already read a lot of Allende and are interested in her and her family. I wouldn't start anybody off with this one, and even for diehard fans, the hardcover price may be a bit much. I'd say wait for the paperback or borrow from a library.



4. ...which is bizarre because her daughter Paula was a Christian believer (according to Isabel herself in 'Paula'). Isabel kind of free-associates through this whole book, not really seeming to 'land' anywhere. We discover that she's a witch who belongs to a coven in the Bay area, who pulls random people she meets and likes into her family, and we're given brief snippets of their lives. Towards the end of the book she starts laying into Christians, of which I'm one, and talks about a 'new religion' she created for her grandchildren. Her ignorance of the Bible and Christianity is striking. She has an uninformed, cartoonish caricature of Christians in her mind as being white and Southern - it's apparent she's never really known a Christian before, except for her own beloved daughter, Paula (ironically enough)! Isabel forgets (?) that Christians are also Asian, Indian and African. Apparently she doesn't know that the list of 'ignorant' Creation-believing Christians includes J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Johann Sebastian Bach, Albert Schweitzer, Martin Luther King, Jr., to name a very few. I realize an author takes a personal risk when writing their memoir. I know way more about Isabel now than I need to know. This book was plodding, ignorant and uninformed in areas, disjointed, and overall difficult to get through. I have to admit that I've lost some respect for her.



5. Enlightening as well.
   
   "Love is a lighting bolt that strikes suddenly changing us."
   This clever sentence resumes the lives of the generations of this story. As readers, we are touched in different ways. In my case, the core of my heart and inner motives were shaken.
   A story written with candor, filled of joyful times and also very sad, devastating moments. All of them told with a sense of humor that honors everybody's dignity. This story couldn't have been written in a different way.
   
   Thank you Isabel.

5 comments about Before Night Falls: A Memoir.

1. My review will be quite simple, this book is... marvelous, magnificent, beautiful, brilliant, painful, poetic, and glorious. Read it!!!!!!!!



2. Anyone can put the their life on paper, but few such endeavors are worth reading. A fine memoir must come alive, must breathe, must sweat, must bleed, must become flesh and blood and acquire a `life` beyond that of its creator. A memoir worth reading (more than once) must become a Frankenstein. Reinaldo Arenas` supremely moving and magical autobiographical journey has become just that, a freakish, terrifying and stunningly gorgeous creation that will carry the memory of its creator well into the future. If Arenas had never written anything else, `Before Night Falls` would have been enough to rocket its author into the pantheon of literary greats.
   
   When I first devoured this book more than ten years ago, it gripped me like some nagging fever. I just couldn`t put it down, nor put its collection of macabre images and revealing epiphanies out of mind. Coming back to it once again, I was amazed that its power and pathos can still hold the reader spellbound. And what exactly is the secret of its magic? The answer lays with Arenas`s unflinching desire to lay himself bare before the reader, completely shorn of the disingenuous veils through which we all like to see ourselves and be seen by others. Arenas makes no such attempt to airbrush his forty-seven years of life into a pretty portrait for posterity. Instead, he gives us what was and nothing more.
   
   But was, was truly a life lived to the full. As full as possible within the Island prison of Fidel Castro. When the first page begins with little Reinaldo expelling a painful and ferocious stomach worm (the result of too much dirt eating!), the die is cast. Page after page, Arenas documents his impoverished upbringing within the wilds of Eastern Cuba. With his stark and matter-of-fact diction, Arenas shades nothing. Yet, through the very simplicity of his language, the images of his magical youth do achieve something of that overused phenomenon within Latin American letters, `magical realism.` Whether describing his lonely and forsaken mother, superstitous grandmother or lecherous grandfather, Arenas` tiny familial world comes alive like that of a Marquez novel. And everpresent throughout are the forces of nature, the rich, luxurious island fauna, the extremes of rain and sun and especially, the powerful and mysterious Caribbean. Throughout his life, the sea remained a mythic and revered instrument of freedom for Arenas, always enticing and prodding him to abandon his island prison, which he eventually did in 1980 with the Mariel exodus.
   
   And in a book where the forces of nature play a central role, sexuality is omnipresent. Arenas` homosexuality was central to who he was as a man and as a writer, and he lived a life many would deem promiscuous at the very least. With seering intensity and unmatched candor, Arenas catalogues his sexual history like few have done before. From the group encounters with his childhood playmates (even a few animals) to the legions of encounters and partners in adulthood, Arenas leaves no stone unturned in documenting the importance of sex in his life. Yet, Arenas` lusty descriptions of his extraordinary erotic life are neither strictly prurient nor solely for voyeuristic thrill. Instead, one feels the palpable, if albeit transitory, joy that the erotic held for Arenas. While some parts of the book will be hard going for the puritan, the arm-chair psychotherapist will have a field day constructing theories as to the source of Arenas` grandiose appetites. Yet, Arenas` makes no excuses nor explanations for his behavior, rather he documents what was, without blinders, without shame.
   
   Like in Kundera`s Czechoslovakia, Arenas` Cuba was/is a place of profound spiritual, emotional and physical suffering. A place where the `state` forced its way into every perimeter of human existence. Sexual expression, along with artistic expression, was the only way of asserting any individual autonomy. But even this was/is controlled and oppressed by the all-compassing arms of Castro`s revolutionary state. Arenas suffered persecution and torture for both his uncompromising sexual autonomy and for his individual artistic voice. Branded a `degenerate` and `counter-revolutionary,` Arenas paid a heavy price for his refusal to conform. Some of `Before Night Falls` most endearing and moving passages involve Arenas` internment in the infamous `El Morro` concentration camp.
   
   While the constant references to the Cuban literary milieu and its inhabitants can confuse the reader (who informed on who!), they never wholly detract from the fluidity of the narrative nor from the power of the voice locked within. `Before Night Falls` is like a boulder rolling down a steep cliff. With each page, it only gains in intensity and ferocity.
   
   With Arenas`decision to end his richly lived and endured years, `Before Night Falls` comes to an abrupt stop. But not end, for this is truly an unfinished work. Arenas` spirit stays with the reader long after the last word is digested, feverishly waiting for his country to catch up with him.
   
   Arenas` last words say it best, `Cuba will be free. I already am.`



3. Many readers may have a difficult time getting past the first third of Reinaldo Arenas's memoir. Its opening chapters describe both the author's sexual awakening and his unorthodox (to say the least) adventures at the beaches and in the bushes and even in public restrooms in Cuba before and after the rise of Castro. "In spite of everything, youth in the sixties managed to conspire, not against the regime but in favor of life." He regales his readers both unashamedly and unreservedly with his exploits, and the more homogeneous audience members may be repelled by his homo-heterodoxy.
   
   Yet these tales are an integral part of Arenas's message: in a totalitarian society, everything is an act of rebellion--even sex, which is often subversive and furtive and (in spite of any regime's puritanical attempt to control it) always available. For Arenas, his sexual prowess is of a piece with his literary expression, and his brave and headstrong need to write often overlap with his desire to be a gay man in a society that doesn't want homosexuals--or writers--to exist. The bulk of the book, dealing with his life as a writer, as a rebel, as a fugitive, as a prisoner, and as an exile, is identical in tone and spirit to the early passages about his libidinous youth.
   
   His stubbornness is awe-inspiring. We read about the many times Arenas's manuscripts, often hidden in the roof or left with friends, were discovered and destroyed. Nevertheless, he would shirk off the dangers and re-create them from memory. The novels he managed to smuggle out of the country resulted in a slim international celebrity that made him a pariah of the government yet immunized him from becoming simply a political prisoner. After his arrest, he confessed to "ideological weaknesses," but his public trial was for sexual offences. "By convicting me of a common crime, they would avoid an international scandal," and the court condemned him as "a counterrevolutionary and an immoral person [who] should be sentenced for corruption of minors." (It is almost beside the point that the two swarthy "victims," both of whom recanted their testimony at the trial out of embarrassment, were hardly minors.) All of Arenas's battles were fought at the intersection of sex and literature.
   
   Arenas has little good to say about the Batista era, but his recollections are a bracing and much-needed rebuttal to those who make apologies for the Castro regime. He reserves his bitterness especially for fellow writers like Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Alejo Carpentier who have helped prop up Castro with an aura of respectability. He reminds us that Carpentier wrote his best work (in exile) before 1959 but became part of a group of writers who "once they embraced the new dictatorship, never wrote anything worthwhile again."
   
   Arenas begins his book with "The End," a chapter summarizing his final struggle with AIDS and acknowledging the irony that after the "thousand adversities" he suffered in Cuba, "the only escape for me was death." The paradox of Arena's life is that he finally escaped his homeland, only to die in a decade by his own hand in a dingy New York City apartment. Repression, imprisonment, and torture couldn't destroy him in a land that liberty forgot, but the fight ended once he reached the land of the free.



4. No pretty prose passages, no magical realism, no lovable eccentrics. Thank God. This isn't Marquez or Allende. This is true life, sonny Jim, dirty, brutal, hilarious, dark and unrepentant. This is a great book filled with creations, copulations, imprisonments, escapes, knife fights, love affairs and a deep, deep love of a rich beautiful Cuba that one day Arenas hopes will be free from tyranny.
   
   Arenas hates what Castro and his cronies did to him and the island. He shows us the secret police, the prisoners, the informers, the labor camps all in intense and sometimes horrifying detail. He levels his wrath at deluded pro Castroites in the United States and Latin America and doesnt hold back from accusing fellow writers (including Marquez, Carpentier and Paz) of being stooges of the Castro brothers.
   
   I personally could have done without the AIDS conspiracy theories and the copious beastiality, but that doesnt detract from a terrific book.



5. If you're sick of cute little stories that follow some godforsaken formula, you might get some juices flowing with this book. I can count on my fingers all the books I've read that resulted in what I would call "an experience." This is one of them.