5 comments about Scattershot: My Bipolar Family.

1. David Lovelace presents a perfect autobiographical account of an apparent 'idylic' childhood that has the undercurrent of a misunderstood mental illness that racked his entire family and shaped his unique persona. David's witty and somewhat satirical writing style is spectacular and his insights into his own family's coping mechanisms are brilliant.
   Read this book! It's excellent.
   
   Paul M. Melrose, MA



2. I was trying to explain to my daughter what makes this such an amazing book. There are just so many things. The whole thing is laced with poetic language. The cadence is magical. And I was struck by how brilliantly organized it is. Amid his personal storytelling Lovelace gives historic background and scientific stats and info on the Bipolar condition in a seamless manner. And, the story just keeps going. Some of the scenes are just waiting for the Big Screen. I really could not put it down!



3. While Scattershot focuses on the heartbreaking story of a family struggling with Bipolar disorder, this is not some pity piece - Lovelace tells the story with sensitivity but no sugar coat, showing everyone's weaknesses and heroism. I feel like I started to understand the reality of being "crazy" at times and knowing it, along with the strange allure of the manic state. Told with humor and a poet's touch, Scattershot is readable - as well as sad, happy, and revealing.



4. The beginning in some memoirs can be drudgery , waiting for momemtum, but not so with this! I was intrigued immediately, and finished this in two nights. Some of my favorite scenes are in the waiting room, and the MAYBE HYPO manic, and the tender way he described his parents marraige. The 'lost friendhips' brought a sense of sadness for me. Teh role of art in their lives was really well written and interesting to me. I like the way his father was atheist , at one time,and what a burden the ever present ' dogmatic stabilzer' was in their environment. I empathized wholeheartedly with the synapse between being present for his children and wife and being 'stimulated' or clincially euphoric and ' grandiose'.
   My best read since The Tender Bar and an Unquiet Mind.
   
   
   
   Rebecca Holske



5. Unlike most other memoirs about mental illness, Scattershot isn't a complete downer. You finish with hope and laugh quite a bit along the way. I didn't end the book and feel exhausted or sad. I could relate to many of the experiences, since only a few were horrific ordeals.
   
   This is a fast, fun and sometimes harrowing read! If you read the opening chapter, you'll be hooked. As enjoyable as this is, it still chronicles the dissolution of of an entire family to a misunderstood mental illness.

5 comments about An Idiot Girl's Christmas: True Tales from the Top of the Naughty List.

1. Laurie Notaro may be the funniest bitch alive, yet i feel like sometimes she follows me and writes down my escapades. She's a chick to relate to (esp. if you're an idiot girl) and her antics will make you laugh out loud.



2. I've read all of Notaro's books up to this one, and unfortunately they seem to be getting less and less funny. On the first two, I laughed out loud to the point of accidentally eliciting the attention of many strangers at the dentist's office, on airplanes, etc. While reading the third book, I chuckled; while reading the fourth book, I chuckled less. During this, the fifth book, I think I only laughed once. So oh well. A good joke can't stay funny forever! I highly recommend The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club and Autobiography of a Fat Bride if you have not read them already.



3. I was taken by "Christmas" in the title and "Best Selling Author", but this book was such a disappointment. It was depressing and so negative. I read through half of it but had to stop because the hope of it getting better didnt come.
   Sorry, I didn't get the humor in this book.



4. Defnitely fun to read - not the highest level of wit but still made me laugh out loud from time to time. Notaro nails the essestial feelings of being the recipient of crappy gifts at Christmas and having a mother that is always playing devil's advocate. Worth picking up. Easy read.



5. I did research for a light funny book for our book club and came across this book with outstanding reviews. The book was moderately funny at best. Yes it was an easy light read but nothing warranting 4 1/2 stars. Perhaps since this is the first of her books I have read it didn't have the same appeal. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

5 comments about Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia (P.S.).

1. This book is the definition of disturbing....but it may bring "skinny" into a better perspective for you. The media should read this & then re-evaluate what kind of skinny is appropriate for women...



2. this book is beautifully written. marya hornbacher is a phenomenal writer, and i have read this book at least 5 times over, never growing tired of her vivid descriptions of an uphill battle with an eating disorder. i've read all 3 of hornbacher's books (all of which i finished in approximately 3-4 days, because i could NOT put them down), and truly look forward to any further books/memoirs she has in the works, as i know they will be equally brilliant.
   this book is life changing...it's heart breaking...it's beautiful...it's scarring...it's amazing.



3. Wasted is Marya Hornbacher's terribly disturbing memoir of her experiences with anorexia, bulimia, and other self-destructive behaviors. Her eating disorders began at age nine and continued until about age 20. During this period her weight fluctuated between 135 and 52 pounds. She was hospitalized or institutionalized several times for extended periods. At age 19 she nearly died. In addition to her eating disorders, Marya abused alcohol and various drugs (pot, speed, cocaine, heroin) and was sexually promiscuous starting at a young age. At the time she wrote this memoir (age 23) it was not at all clear that she had recovered.
   
   For readers who enjoy shockingly graphic descriptions of other people's deeply disturbed lives, this book is for you. May your number be small.
   
   For readers trying to understand the origins and triggers of eating disorders, this book offers a vast array of possible causes, so vast that it is nearly useless.
   
   For readers wanting to understand what an eating disorder is like, this book provides a truly horrible catalog of symptoms, behaviors, and consequences.
   
   For readers actually struggling with eating disorders, this book will probably do no good, and may do harm. In the Introduction, Marya states, "I am not here to spill my guts and tell you how awful it's been..." However, that is precisely what she proceeds to do. This book is about little else besides the grim awfulness of her eating disorders and her other self-destructive behaviors. It offers no hope whatsoever. Moreover, much of this memoir has a strangely neutral tone, as if Marya is unwilling to render any moral commentary on her own past, as if she maintains some sort of fondness for it and perversely enjoys the attention it brings her.
   
   The wisest and most helpful words in this book come from one of Marya's friends, who never had an eating disorder, but who tells Marya that she tried to make herself throw up once. But she stopped herself. She was "gripped by the sudden sense that what she was doing was wrong...a crime against nature, the body, the soul, the self."



4. i cannot believe how relieved i felt after reading this book. i myself have anorexia and connect on so many levels with the author. the anger, the superiority complex, the fatal drive for "just a little bit more"... I believe the point in time in which the author wrote the memoir was perfect, where she is still the cannonball firing herself into life. her mind was still in the element of anorexia which makes it all the more puncturing for your eyes to read, revealing the struggle keeps going and going. her following book, "madness", follows up on her life after the beginning of the illness and is also very good. this provides her later wiser point of view and her difficulties with bipolar 1.



5. This book offered me a lot of insight into an actual sufferer's life, rather than what clinicians say a sufferer's life should be. Of course, Marya states that her family was dysfunctional to some extent, but it wasn't how the doctors had cut it out to be. I think it helped me understand my eating disorder better.

2 comments about A Friend Like Henry: The Remarkable True Story of an Autistic Boy and the Dog That Unlocked His World.

1. a friend like henry,written by Nuala Gardner and published by Sourcebooks is a parents' book about autism...with all the fluffy bits removed. Honest, blunt, significant, rewarding. A well written, meaningful and very readable book.
   
   a friend like henry is a book that tells the reader how frustrating, enlightening and magical living with autism can be, both for the person on the spectrum and those that live in the world parallel to ours.
   I am happy to say that at no time in this book is it ever implied that Dale should be 'cured' of his autism, it is obvious throughout the book that the search is for coping mechanisms and behavioral modification.
   
   One of the things I enjoyed most was that Nuala does not claim that pet therapy is the only solution to the above dilemma but she does openly and honestly share one way of using an autistic child's obsession to their family's best advantage.
   
   One of the things I disliked the most about this book (besides the use of all lower case for the title and author name), was the way it rewired all my emotions and made me cry every few pages. I found that I had to pace myself through this book by reading it in between several others in order to give my emotions a break. I nearly couldn't continue on reading it at the end but I am not going to tell you why, as it will 'ruin' the ending for you. However, I am happy that I did carry on.
   
   After reading this book I am still convinced that our N3S is still the child most likely to be savaged by a dog but I picked up a few tips encouraging on behavioral modification which we will apply through other mediums.
   
   The section where Dale 'speaks' at the end of the book along with Nuala's afterword are nice twists and are the perfect ending to what I feel is a triumph of literary honesty. This is a very special book.
   
   I speak as both an adult Aspie and a mother of an Aspie child when I say that this book will break your heart into several pieces and then show you interesting new ways to put it back together again.



2. I kind of feel like I don't even know where to start talking about this book. I knew very little about what families with autistic children go through, and after reading this book, a first hand account of a mother with two autistic children, I feel I can empathize much more with the struggle they go through. And while all the daily tasks and events, the simple communications and learning events most parents take for granted are extraordinarily more difficult, this book is in no way a downer.
   
   First of all, I think the Gardners are fantastic parents. They worked tirelessly to help their son live the most normal life he possibly could. After years of working with him and using his obsessions (such as with Mickey Mouse and Thomas the Tank Engine) to teach him about human emotions and connecting with other people to minimal results, they discovered he loved dogs. And so they researched and searched until they were able to find a golden retriever puppy...the breed they thought would be a perfect fit.
   
   A wonderful testament to the glory of dogs, this dog loved their son and became a companion to him and helped this family "get their son back."
   
   This book is the story of a life...of Jamie and Nuala's life, of Dale's life, and of Henry's life. It's about struggle and triumph...parental love and the love of a dog. It's profoundly moving, inspiring, and educational. I highly, highly recommend it. Just be sure to have a box of tissues nearby when you read....you'll need it.

5 comments about All You Need to Be Impossibly French: A Witty Investigation into the Lives, Lusts, and Little Secrets of French Women.

1. I am French. Moved in the US 4 years ago.
   I do wear sneakers, practically live in them.
   Healthy eating in France?? I am just roaring with laughter at that one. It usually takes me 2 weeks to recover from all the heavy eating when I come back from visiting my family.
   And last but not least, your husbands are perfectly safe with me. I have been married for over 20 years, and I love my husband so much I cannot think of life without him.
   So, please drop the stereotype! French women are not a different species. They come in all size and shapes, some are nice, some not so nice.
   As for this book, it is just meant to be entertaining, not an actual anthropopology study.



2. I was astonished when I read the reviews. In most cases I got the same question, why Americans want to emulate French women, don't u are American? don't u want to be an American woman? are u ashamed of being it? (why is that for? ... mmm, let me think: Irak, obesity, McDo, Wal-Mart...) For what I see, yes, and you want to embody the image you have of French women! French women are like any other women in the world. The gym thing is, yes, American, but it exists because here nobody walks and depends on car and malls, eat hamburgers for lunch with coke, feels guilty and run for hours in the gym feeling yet half guilty-half relieved. All pleasure is guilt in US. I don't know if "French women" but French in general have a different scope on pleasure. Yes, one key word is pleasure and that is to smell good, to feel good, to sleep good, to eat good, to treat yourself with nice clothes, to treat yourself with a nice dinner, in sum, with a nice life (and that's not a LV, a Burberry coat, a Hummer, a shopping spree and a Chanel for the mall). It's the lace of your underwear, the silk on your top and the parfum on your wrists that makes you feel beautiful, it's the (guilty-free) sex, the basic yet classic/original style, the orange juice with toasted bread and butter (no guilt) in the morning, the salad and vegetables (no punishment) with duck, foie gras and wine, final cheese, choc and coffee (no guilt) for dinner. It's shopping what you like because it's original and not because everyone wear it. It's about being the best yourself and not about being French. And what about your concern on competition? American women are not ($$$, jewels, LV, moral, religious, social) competitive? Yes, but they hide with a big fake smile and fake blessings. Women are competitive just as men are, humans are competitive, men with chests, women with nails, both with loud voice, unnecessary bling bling, and bad sarcasm. French society is just like any other society: there's tragedy and comedy. But if something changes is that there are more parties and get-togethers, less hypocrisy, more talking, more drinking, less punishing and less "little dirty secrets" as in US. It's funny how the reviewers (and the authors) want to be someone they're not, and how they need a guide to do it.



3. All You Need to Be Impossibly French is an entertaining and enlightening read. But after finishing the book, I was very glad to have been born elsewhere. French women do not sound like they have much joie de vivre. To the plus side, French women take pride in their appearance and can even make jeans and a t-shirt look smart; they are thinner than American or British women and do not drink to excess; they have a tremendous amount of family and government support so that they can raise their children, and use sex both for pleasure and exercise. To the negative, they are suspicious and spiteful where other women are concerned; do not seem to have much of a work ethic; have few real friendships outside their families; and have no problem going after other womens' husbands. Oh, and they smoke like crazy.
   
   After reading this book, and the even better-written "Almost French," I've concluded that it's best to pluck the admirable things about France and Frenchwomen -- the interest in good food, appearance, decor and the family -- and forget those that would only be damaging to our self-esteem. Some of our puritanical American and buttoned up British traits aren't so bad, by comparison.



4. I was afraid it was going to be too frilly, but it is great. Love that she talks about real & famous french women. Funny at times. Very entertaining!



5. This was such a cute book to read. It's always interesting to see that the author interviewed other ladies and men to get their opinions of France and the chic cultures of the people who live there. It made the book more real for me. I really enjoyed it.

5 comments about Surrender Is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations.

1. An inside look at the obstinate, foot dragging bureacracy inside the U.S. State Department from a man, John Bolton, who (in an ideal world) should be some future (smart) President's Secretary of State. He details a failed United Nations organization that has never been more than an optimistic pie-in-the-sky theory (just like its' predecessor "League of Nations" ancestor)that is fraught with corruption as well as systematic animosity for it's United States host and primary benefactor. Bolton is an expert on diplomatic double-speak and maneuvering and recognizes the pathways through the frustrating maze known as the United Nations. This book is an "early warning" on the insidious intent the United Nations would bring to bear upon our Democratic Republic, and our Constitution, if left to United Nations manipulations and devices.



2. If you like to read about international relations then I highly recommend this book. It is very insightful and exciting to read. Even if you do not agree with all that is said it is still interesting to see how our nation has worked on international affairs over the past years.



3. We already knew that "one-man-one-vote" makes for messy domestic politics; now John Bolton shows how messy "one-nation-one-vote" is in international politics. Many of us laughed when President Bush appointed John Bolton to be America's ambassador to the United Nations. Our first thought was that he'd be a bull in a china shop. Bolton's book shows us that he was just the right bull, and that the UN was just the right china shop. In retrospect we have Bolton to thank for a remarkably thorough insider's expose of the dysfunctionalism at the UN's core, and its apathetic, self-absorbed leaderlessness under Kofi Anan. He shows how the UN encourages and enables the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by consistently yielding to the timid and indecisive in order to obtain consensus. He shows us the UN's "culture of inaction," and "surrender as a matter of high principle." Bolton is a clear thinker and an engaging writer, and no matter what your views of him as a classic Bush administration neocon, the objective reader of his book comes away proud to have had him representing the United States and wondering what he might have accomplished given more time.
   
   Bolton entertains with substance rather than craft, though his editorial humor is ever-present. He notes, for instance that before we wish for reforms that make the UN more effective, we should recognize that its very ineffectiveness is a safeguard against the damage the UN can do. He is a master at capturing his adversaries' deficiencies in a phrase, as when he speaks of the multilateralists' dereliction of duty as "outsourcing our foreign policy." Ambassador Bolton describes in detail his battles in the "twilight zone at Turtle Bay:" the Oil for Food Scandal, the nuclear proliferation of North Korea and Iran, the Peace-Building Commission, Zionism as Racism, the Human Rights Commission, the drafting of "Outcome Documents," and the brawling over the budget. If any American still labors under the misimpression that the UN is a force for the good in the world, this book will be very illuminating. That large numbers of our State Department's "permanent bureaucracy" still hold that view is very disturbing.
   
   Ambassador Bolton distills all of his experience with the UN down to one inescapable conclusion. Among all the reform proposals the UN may consider, one reform alone is worth the effort, changing assessed contributions to voluntary contributions. Only with that change, and with that change only, will the UN become accountable for results, and will the United States have the confidence that its money is well spent. Senator Lincoln Chafee, who put his personal interests above those of the country, will forever carry the stigma of setting back the clock on that effort by obstructing Bolton's reconfirmation.



4. Although he was exposed by Carl Ford, a former chief in the State Department, as "a quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy" during his U.N. ambassador confirmation, this book demonstrates that he is in fact one of the most brilliant statesmen who ever walked the face of the earth. Bolton has openly admitted that he had no desire to serve in Viet Nam because he was afraid of getting killed. But as undersecratary of something-or-other at the State Department, Bolton was one of the fiercest proponents of going to war with Iraq for no good reason. In this great great book, Bolton chronicles the monumental efforts he undertook to fabricate evidence of WMD in Iraq and of Saddam's connection to 9/11. Bolton's detailed recounting of how the White House and the State Department were determined to go to war with Iraq for no other reason that to demonstrate U.S. military might to the world, is simultaneously chilling and comforting.
   
   Although Bolton and Doug Feith and George Bush and Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz and the many others who took this country to war have never had any desire to fight for their country when they had the opportunity, nobody can deny the patriotism and courage that these brave men have demonstrated in taking this great nation to war for no good reason against a country with a weak military but lots and lots of those Arab looking people who hate our freedoms.
   
   [...]



5. I bought this book after I heard Mr. Bolton on Michael Medved's talk radio program. I must say, he's much more interesting on a radio interview than in a book.
   
   The first red flag is that this book is over 400 pages. It's hard to dig out the good stuff from all the dry, boring details. Mr. Bolton will detail you to sleep!
   
   "Surrender is Not an Option," huh? I will definitely be Surrendering my book.

5 comments about Return from Tomorrow.

1. Return from Tomorrow
   
   I found this at the library and loved it so I purchased it for my father for his birthday. He called me after he received it and said he read it in one day, he couldn't put it down.



2. This is a fascinating real life-death account which I personally believe to be true. It gives great hope to those of us who are still alive and is a compelling and inspiring adventure.



3. I was originally loaned this book by a friend who made great claims about it. I was hesitant because most of us have heard the experiences of those with near or real death and then come back to tell about it. One day I picked up the book and starting skimming through it to the part where the death experience occurs, I couldn't put it down! its totally different than all the others I've heard about. In fact, once I finished the book I immediately started over from the very beginning. I bought this book to loan out to others and to re-read myself, it can be read in a few hours.



4. I found "Return from Tomorrow" to be a moving, compelling little gem. I have been sharing it with many friends and feel that you could have a ministry from what George Ritchie reports in his book. It was absolutely life changing for me. I thank Guideposts and George Ritchie for his inspiring and riveting story.



5. Excellent book for someone wanting to broaden his/her spiritual and religious base. It is a Christian book, but goes beyond traditional boundaries. The author discusses relationships with Jesus and God that are more personal and of more consequence that conventional teaching.

1 comments about Backstabbing for Beginners: My Crash Course in International Diplomacy.

1. Michael Soussan's memoir of his time as UN Oil for Food Programme Coordinator is all at once informative, provocative, witty, intelligent, and poignant. Far from your ordinary historical review, Mr. Soussan paints a detailed and engaging insider's picture of what was going on within the iconic international organization, complete with a description of the specific contents of Benon Sevan's office and a cast of nicknamed characters (including "Spooky," "Smiley Face," and his own - "The Kid"). In addition, Mr. Soussan demonstrates a strong grasp of the conflicting international interests and current affairs at the time.
   
   Insofar as this book also serves as a "coming-of-age" piece, again, the author manages to accomplish much more, describing a young man, naïve and hopeful, who was convinced he was going to make a difference - and he does, just not at all in the way he ever imagined. Mr. Soussan's writing is clever and will have you laughing out loud as you relate to some of the many mistakes he made in his younger days and gape at others you never would imagine happening to yourself (like nearly kissing your life goodbye as you pee in a mine-laden wasteland). At the same time, the book includes some very sobering scenes, and you will be engrossed in the tragedy Mr. Soussan aptly describes. The overall message of the book is powerful, reminding us to never forget our ability to achieve a greater good no matter what the odds.

1 comments about Big Chuck: My Favorite Stories from 47 Years on Cleveland TV.

1. Big Chuck Schodowski tells this story in his own words. At 74 years old, he's had a tremendous career, and made countless friends. Tom Feran, who co-wrote the book, does a great job of letting the Conversational style of Big Chuck come through in the narrative. To read this book, is to hear Big Chuck talking like he's standing right next to you sharing a beer.

5 comments about A Pirate Looks at Fifty.

1. I was prepared to hate this book. If you have ever spent much time in Key West or even walked up and down Duval Street a few times, you become sick of Jimmy Buffett. It seems there is a Buffett song being played in every bar and there are three or four or more bars every block. However, I had read Tales From Margaritaville a while ago and seem to remember liking it. This is not the autobiography I thought it would be. Buffett comes across as likeable and not shallow. He can write and this book tells the reader more about him than anything else he has done. While still not a fan of his music, I recommend this book as well as Tales From Margaritaville.



2. It was a fairly good book but not as good as his other novels. Some of the stories were not that interesting and I'm not a big fan of journals. It did provide some insights into the pirate.



3. this book was interesting enough if you want to know more about fishing
   than Jimmy. Yes, I know he loves to fish, but I wanted a little more
   background.



4. I haven't reached 50, yet. I hope that this book is a primer for when I get there. I hope that 50 is that great!



5. My husband brought with him on vacation. He loves Buffett's books & this was no exception. Very entertaining.