5 comments about Passion on the Vine: A Memoir of Food, Wine, and Family in the Heart of Italy.

1. PASSION ON THE VINE is a deeply moving, eloquent and personal expression of his love for the essence of Italian wine and its inextricable, sensual and sacred relationship with the land, its people, its culture and of course it's food. As an accomplished cook, my most surprising discovery on my first trip to Italy (Tuscany) was not the quality of the food - I've had comparable quality in LA - but how the experience of food was imbued with wine and the company of friends at table. Nothing was "segmented", nothing was rushed or regarded as "food as fuel" as in the US. It that moment, my understanding of Italian food at a soul level incarnated. And that was my experience reading Sergio's book: this is a very challenging, profound and intimate concept to communicate and he did it masterfully.



2. Although I don't have even a single corpuscle of Italian blood in me, my wife is 100%. Her grandparents on both sides were immigrants who came to Newark from the town of Avellino, which is about 45 minutes east of Naples, and if known at all in America, it's probably as the alleged hometown of Tony Soprano. Naples, of course, is far more famous for crime, but it's also the ancestral home of Sergio Esposito, author of Passion on the Vine, and it provides the springboard for his worldview and life's work.
   
   So I know a little about life in a Southern Italian family, at least through osmosis. It would also probably constitute full disclosure to add that I have an amateur's abiding interest in Italian wine, as evidenced by a number of Amazon reviews I've written on books that deal with this specific subject.
   
   
   Throw in the fact that I've been to Esposito's Italian Wine Merchant store in Manhattan a number of times, and you'll probably understand why I had certain preconceptions about this book before I ever opened it. In hindsight, I probably would have been better served if I had read it blind (pardon the atrocious mixed metaphor), and like a blind wine tasting, known nothing about it before I tried it. I was kind of hoping for a book that celebrated the true and the beautiful in Italian wine, but also the accessible, in the sense that you shouldn't need to take out a home equity loan before you buy, as would be the case if you were chasing '05 first growth Bordeaux. You certainly can find good, authentic QPR (quality/price ratio) wines in Esposito's store. Unfortunately, you won't find them in the book, but I'll return to this theme later.
   
   Passion on the Vine really isn't a traditional wine expert's memoir (here I lump together the works of intrepid importers like Kermit Lynch and writer/educators like Gerald Asher), because the story of Esposito's Neapolitan family is deeply woven into the narrative. It's a relatively engaging immigrants' tale, and the personalities of his parents, uncles and aunts especially come to life and remind me sharply of my wife's many relatives who still live in Avellino. But if your goal in reading this book is full immersion in the contemporary Italian wine scene, you may be disappointed by the family details that spill across the pages at the expense of more stories about wine. Or maybe you'll love them. You'll also probably find more details about the food he's eaten than the wines he's consumed, but that goes with the territorio.
   
   Accordingly, I'm not going to recount the "portrait of the wine merchant as a young man" story since that's not of real interest to me. For me, the first half of the book seemed to drag on and occasionally frustrated me. There are a few strange things I noted, like how his transplanted family appears to have suddenly gone from near abject poverty in Albany to relative affluence in Scottsdale without explanation, and occasional incomprehensible statements, like when he describes one of his early mentors as a true "scientist," since no one can reproduce his experiments. I also can't for the life of me figure out why he would effectively call the initial investors in The Italian Wine Merchant a bunch of clueless Wall Street boobs who couldn't understand how a store could only sell Italian wines, but then gave him the money anyway. At times the book reminded me of the scene in Animal House when Bluto says "...was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?" Otter whispers to Boon, "Germans?" And Boon replies, "Don't stop him, he's rolling."
   
   Esposito seems to believe he alone invented the idea that a store dedicated to Italian wine could succeed in the US, although he didn't get around to opening the store until 1998. I recall shopping in a wonderful Italian food and wine store in Chicago in the early `80's called Convito Italiano, at a time when Esposito was still in knickers. The profiled producers (see next paragraph) were mostly all well established when Victor Hazan wrote his wonderful guide simply called Italian Wine, published in 1982.
   
   When we finally get to Italy on business, the chapters are mostly arranged around visits to iconic, world-renowned properties (Bartolo Mascarello, Biondi Santi, Soldera, Josko Gravner), each singled out I presume for their respect for the land and what I might term modern traditionalism, where the best of the past is effectively preserved and enhanced by application of non-interventionist technical advances. Like I said before, these are fiendishly expensive wines that all sell for $100 a bottle or more, so don't come looking for bargains here. But Esposito has a real gift for letting the winemakers tell their own stories. The chapter on biodynamics, for example, unfolds as a Socratic dialog between a Serbian winemaker and the author's wife. It is unquestionably the best and most entertaining introduction to the how's and why's of biodynamics I've encountered, and should be required reading for anyone who wants a primer on biodynamic theory and practice. The wines you read about here are mostly true vini di meditazione, so much so in fact that when visiting legendary Barolo producer Bartolo Mascarello, the winemaker sits mute for an hour smelling the wine and smiling to himself. Except for the fact that's he's confined to a wheelchair, all that's missing is the lotus position.
   
   Esposito isn't afraid to reveal his personal foibles to the reader. He's impatient, petulant, self-absorbed, and even downright mean at times, particularly when he openly baits the effeminate son of one of his wine producers with a string of female names like Coco Chanel and Ursula Andress. Is he a homophobe? Well, that's passion of a different kind.
   
   I recognize this review is getting a little off topic, not unlike the way my initial expectations wandered from where they started. Read this book as a cultural history based on Italian family, food and wine in that order and you'll probably love it. Despite my grape gripes, I enjoyed a lot of it, and I don't think anyone could have summed it up better than Gianfranco Soldera, quoted after another prodigious Italian meal recounted by the author: "La storia, la famiglia, il cibo, il vino. Questa e la vita dell'uomo. History, family, food, wine. This is the life of man." A bottle of the wine they drank that afternoon, the '99 Casse Basse Soldera Brunello, isn't available at the Italian Wine Merchant, but you can get the '01 on pre-arrival for a little less than three hundred smackers a bottle if you inquire now.



3. Esposito write with a real zest for wine and the food that accompanies it.He provides the reader with a large amount of historical information about the origin and development of the Italian wine industry. However he gives the reader little insight in how he got to where he is and how he made his business a success - if in fact it is. Finally one has to ask the question - how does he survive so much food and drink in a day only to get up and start all over? Yeah, yeah I am Italian American and I couldn't come close to what he says he does.



4. Sergio Esposito, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich started Italian Wine Merchants in 1999, a retail shop that sells fine Italian wines. There are many interesting wines on offer, the staff is knowledgeable and helpful, and the weekly and monthly emails provide a wonderful education on Italian wines and wine in general.
   
   The emails are written by Esposito, and this wonderful book is a perfect example of Esposito's warm and educational style of writing. He starts his memoir with a description of an idyllic childhood in the slums of Naples: he remembers that "women lowered baskets from their balconies to buy the fish straight from the sea and grapes straight from the vine."
   
   When he was a child, his family moved from Naples to Albany, New York. Esposito writes movingly about the transition: The pasta they ate in Italy had been laid in the middle of the street, "so that the unique combination of Mediterranean and mountain winds would dry it in just the right way, to produce the perfect texture when it was boiled." His first pasta in Albany was "mushy ...like glue in my throat."
   
   Esposito describes his travels as a student and as a wine merchant with great enthusiasm. Wine geeks will love passages like these, this one about Friulian winemaker Josko Gravner:
   
   "Gravner is a proponent in the use of open-top wood vats, extended maceration on the grape skins, no added yeasts, no sulphur dioxide, and no temperature control--purely natural winemaking. This is Josko's current position, and he employs both amphorae and large oak barrels to make his three wines; Collio Breg, Ribolla Gialla, and Rosso Gravner. The grapes for these wines come from his 18 hectares of vineyards in Gorizia (Oslavia) that straddle the Italian-Slovenian border. It is here that he exercises his current approach to wine: 'I am convinced that wine is a product of Nature, not of Man, whose role therefore is to accompany its maturation process while avoiding any artificial intervention.'"
   
   Any reader with the least interest in Italy will love his descriptions of the food and vintages he consumes on his adventures. For example, in one Roman restaurant, a white wine "smelled of apricots, white flowers, dried honey, nuts ... [I] got the sensation that I was being seduced in a Pompeii brothel before the volcano erupted."
   
   Bill Buford is glowing in his praise: "Without qualification, the best book about Italian wine today, if only because Sergio Esposito understands that its mysterious greatness is in its poetry--the earth, its diurnal magic, the ghosts of great-grandfathers. A beautiful, boldly sentimental memoir."
   
   As a long time reader of Esposito's prose, I couldn't agree more. Wine, of course, food, family, travel, more -- an absolute delight.
   
   
   Robert C. Ross 2008



5. I loved this book. Wine, food, gossip, history - who could ask for more. Page 128 has a story of a wedding that will have you rolling on the floor with glee. The only drawback is trying to find a bottle of Vestini Campagnano Pallagrello Bianco - which Mr. Esposito describes as, '..being seduced in a Pompeii brothel before the volcano erupted.'

5 comments about Fargo Rock City : A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota.

1. Klosterman understands the universe, and why heavy metal had to exist to make it balanced and just.



2. Personally, Chuck is my top 3 favorite writer. I think he hit me hard with his styles and topics in all of his books. So if you're like me:
   
   - Love Rock and/or Heavy Metal music*****this is very important for this book
   - Enjoy reading about popular culture topics
   - Love sarcastic and funny books
   - is in the age range of 18-30 (I'm 24)
   - Like to explore all kinds od writings and books
   - is not one who tend to OVERTHINK AND OVERCRITISIZE books and writing styles
   - is open minded
   
   Then, this is probably your kind of writer too. Good luck and enjoy!



3. If you grew up enjoying hard rock and/or heavy metal of the 80's and early 90's, or are just a fan of that music, then you simply must read this book. It will bring back fond memories of your developing musical tastes and make you laugh out loud.



4. I bought this on the recommendation of Martin Popoff, and was terribly disappointed. If you want to read an insightful, entertaining, and fair review of heavy metal, this is most definitely NOT your book. Klosterman's "appreciation" of the form starts and ends with glam. He spends most of the book in postmodern smirky hipster mode, which means he continually trashes the music from a musical point of view, and chooses to battle for its "validity" in the more easily defended realm of "what it meant to me as a kid." As cultural studies, this is crap, and as a book about heavy metal it is an utter waste of time. He elevates glam (Poison, GNR, Cinderella, etc) and simultaneously slags Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica and the host of other metal bands which were the meat and potatoes of any real metalhead of the time. He has no appreciation for what most metal fans would actually grace with the term "heavy metal". As you will quickly be able to tell, this is masterfully well done, in that he affirms what most of the snobs have been saying all along about metal--all the 5 star reviews are from people who are...gasp...not metal fans--whilst and at the same time pretending to be a true fan. Hipster dreck at its worst. You are better off reading Ian Christe's "Sound of the Beast", or even Walser or Weinstein's books. Better yet, check out Sam Dunn's documentary "Metal-A Headbanger's Journey." Dunn and Christe are real fans of the music, and they don't spend all their time perpetuating all the stereotypes of the form.



5. While I think that this book is deservedly the black sheep of the Klosterman books, its still enjoyable. What this book lacks is any sense of flow... I never caught a real story or any purpose. It just seemed like a series of rants on liking metal (pop/ hair metal in particular) that were taped and then transcribed. Klosterman still has that really approachable style that's fun and thoguhtful.
   
   While I'd like to laugh at him for liking crappy bands, Klosterman's experiences are similar to most any youth who feels a strong connection to music. I know that they're not unlike my feelings as a young teen becoming obsessed with hardcore records back then... though I had one up on Chuck 'cos I was living in Philly, and not rural North Dakota, back in the day.
   
   Typical Klosterman; funny, absurd, and thoughtful... I suppose a lot of other readers are turned away by what they see as a lack of direction or movement in the book.

4 comments about Things the Grandchildren Should Know.

1. I loved this book. I admire E's (Mark Oliver Everett) willingness to open both his life, his heart and his soul to us via this book. It is one of the most personal, candid, and frank autobiographies I have every read. While I was reading it I felt I was in a very private conversation with the artist and author. His music speaks volumes to me and I am touched that the creation of his music touched him also. This is a book for the real music fan that understands music can be real nourishment and a savior for the human soul and the human spirit.



2. I've been an Eels fan since Beautiful Freak came out, and have since purchased the catalogue as the records came out. I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a 'superfan', but I definitely have an appreciation for the fact that each record is varied, is obviously sincere, and carries with it a heavy dose of integrity (something that is more than rare in music these days).
   
   When I found out that Mark Everett had written a book, I was intrigued to say the least. With such scattered & quirky musical ambitions, I was sure that he would have some interesting things to say. I underestimated how interesting!! I'm sure there had to be a certain amount of disconnect inherent in the writing of this book, as it would be more than difficult to explore the events throughout his life without it. That said, I definitely appreciate the witty sense of humour and sarcasm throughout the book, a sort of tongue-in-cheek walk through a man's life as he explores all of the ups & downs & absurdities that life has to offer.
   
   I walked into this book an Eels fan. I walked out with a deep appreciation of the author and all that he has had to endure to bring us something real, both in his personal life and as a musician.
   
   If you're into Eels at all, you'll be glad you picked up the book.



3. Sure, the title to this review might sound like hyperbole, but I honestly cannot think of a book I enjoyed as much as this one for the past several years.
   
   A somewhat rambly memoir, it represents a chronological description of Mark Everett's very interesting life. From his childhood, and his relationship with his family (including his detached father, genius physicist Hugh Everett) through to his touring life and inspiration for his band, the Eels, this book represents a fascinating insight into E's experiences. His self-reflection is thought-provoking and allows us just a small peek into what it's like inside his world.
   
   As a long-time Eels fan I found this book particularly engaging due to Everett's discussion of inspiration for song-writing and arrangement. As I read through the chapters, I could remember hearing songs for the first time, or seeing new arrangements at the shows. This gave the book an added dimension which I honestly hadn't expected.
   
   This is a very honest, well-written book that I think will appeal to music fans and others alike.



4. Picked this book up while visiting London. Read it in a day. Couldn't put it down. It is a great read. I am a huge Eels fan. It helped me understand more about my favorite songs and favorite band. I think only a casual fan would find this book both interesting and amusing.
   
   E (Mark) writes about death, music and how he has been able to find satisfaction in life. He has a dry but very funny sense of humor about his life and the world at large.
   
   I gave it to my wife to read and she was hooked in a few pages.
   
   Do yourself a favor and pick this book up.

5 comments about Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy.

1. I am married to a pedro pan kid/man Ovidio Fernandez now 58, and have read many books on the pedro pan saga. This one is the most memorable and touching of them all. I lost my copy in the katrina flood and have violated my promise,not to replace lost books, by purchasing this one beloved book.



2. Very good, ethereal account of Eire's time in Cuba before being sent to the US on his own at age 12 to escape Communist Cuba. Sad, funny, disturbing.
   
   Ultimately, I think its mostly joyful, though. If you look at the photo of Carlos as a small boy, and as a 50-something Yale U. professor of History and Religion, the same tight-lipped smile and smiling eyes come through. The boy became the man, despite the worst, and some of these experiences do count as worst.



3. I forced myself to finish this book. I say that because I have no idea what all these people are talking about. I LOVE to read- honestly, i probably read 10 books a month. Finding good books that you can't put down is my hobby. Not to say this book isn't good, because it is, but the good parts are so intermixed with the author's worthless drivel thoughts about NOTHING that you can't focus on the good stuff. I found myself skimming through entire chapters and i NEVER do that!
   
   It IS a moving memoir about the Cuban Revolution and I like that part, but aside from that, I did not enjoy it. After reading the book, I know a TINY bit more about the Cuban revolution and ALOT more about this guy's hatred of lizards and his fear of his grandmother's house.
   
   Some people may like it, just like some people like Picasso. That is what I would equate it to- a newer style of writing where the author thinks that the average reader WANTS to know every single worthless thought that runs through his head- and some of that may be interesting. But after the book, you definitely wonder if someone would buy your own book if you wrote down everything you were thinking about and disguised it under an interesting time in history. Just like Picasso, you think "I could probably do this on my own if I wanted."
   
   Skip it. Buy something you can't put down because this is definitely not one of those!



4. Eire is a master of practical prose and humourous metaphors. And this, his memoir of his once carefree days of childhood in Cuba before the Revolution, abounds in both. It was very enjoyable to read as the author vividly dipicted everyday life in Havana, from his quirky family life to his reckless escapades with his buddies. He really does make you feel, hear, see, smell, and taste what he did growing up. It's easy to be swiftly swept away by the author's personal and disarming style as he recounts the time he and his friends blew up one of those hateful lizards with a firecracker. Or the time his Catholic teacher warned him of immorality. Or how his elementary crush was horrifyingly brought out in public.
   Despite these comical stories, Eire does carry a great deal of gravity, especially when referring to Castro in bitterness. His inside view of the horrors and bloodiness that accompanied the Revolution makes it painfully real to the reader. He creates an indignance against the ruthless dictator and sympathy towards the suffering Cubans. Thank you, Mr. Eire, for bringing these injustices with all their force to reality for us.
   My only issue with this book is the careless and flippant way the author(a professor of religious studies at Yale) seems to treat God. He repeatedly uses Jesus' name and all the images in his childhood home as a subject of jest. And he tries (inadequately in my opinion) to explain faith with reason, something that simply cannot be done.
   So go ahead and read or even buy this book, it will be well worth it and you'll enjoy it. Only keep your head on when you come to the religious parts.



5. 
   30 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
   Waiting for Snow in Havana-Well Worth the Wait, March 11, 2003
   By Jane Borderud (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
   
   This review is from: Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy (Hardcover)
   At long last, a book that tells the truth about how the Cuban Revolution affected Children whose only crime was being born in Cuba in the 1950's! We meet Carlos and his family on January 1st 1959. Carlos is 8 years old and is world is going to change dramatically and forever. Batista has fled and Castro is marching down the main street in Havana atop a Sherman tank. Within three years, life will totally change for Carlos and his older brother Tony. Eventually they will join the more than 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban children leaving for the USA towards and unknown future. The adventures continue...and seen through the eyes of Carlos it takes on an almost magical quality. Wherever Carlos Eire takes us on this Magical Mystery tour there in never a dull moment...whether ducking whizzing bullets or picking flowers for his mother in the park with his friends, or playing in the backyard of a neighbor who has a live chimp as a pet-one is totally enthralled in this rich narrative. For anyone who enjoys seeing the world through the eyes of a child, sprinkled with the insightful and almost transcendent wisdom of someone who has experienced and survived a cataclysmic shift in personal and cultural identity, Waiting for Snow in Havana was well worth the wait!! Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
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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.

5 comments about Come Back: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back (P.S.).

1. I don't have a kid, I don't have drug or abuse issues, I'm not a woman. The only reason I picked this book up was because it was in my girlfriend's car when I borrowed it. I see why she loved it. The story is suspenseful, funny, heartbreaking, both women are complex and compelling, but mostly, the writing is simply terrific. I read a great deal of non-fiction, including memoirs, and the writing is far better than any memoir I've read. Huge recommend.



2. Very gripping story, I didn't want to put it down. Claire is a little wordy at times and I found myself skipping paragraphs, but overall I loved it. Really makes you feel for the authors and understand their pain from each side.



3. This book was recommended to me by a friend because I have a past similar to Mia's and it did more to help me understand and overcome it than ten years of therapy (though my friend had a really normal childhood and loved the book as well). The writing is absolutely beautiful, very honest and powerful. Definitly a story that will stay with you long after you finish reading it.



4. This is a strange memoir written by Claire and Mia Fontaine (not their real names) about bizarre WWASP schools (prison-like residential teen boot camps) and how they helped Mia conquer drug addiction. However, this book almost seems like a pro-WWASP book to counter all the negative press WWASP schools receive. A lot of this book was unbelievable, too. Weak writing. I'm not sure I believe that Clair Fontaine actually is a screenwriter, either. Could be the next literary hoax.....



5. Wow! I am one of those people that always has a book in her hand and I have to say, this is the BEST book I've read in years. It is all together brutally HONEST, FUNNY and HEART-WARMING. The writing was PHENOMENAL. And the people in the book were all so REAL and LOVABLE. Just like the person in the last review, I absolutely could not put this book down. I was actually upset when I got to my subway stop and would have to stop reading for 5 minutes. Now that I have finished Comeback, all I can do is hope that Claire and Mia Fontaine PUT OUT ANOTHER BOOK - Please! and soon! I can't wait to hear more. I really miss Claire and Mia.

5 comments about Seducing the Boys Club: Uncensored Tactics from a Woman at the Top.

1. Like a man who likes to go on and on with "fascinating" stories about himself, the author goes on and on with "fascinating" stories about herself that are of interest to no one but someone also in her own profession.



2. I know a lot of people love the title. To be honest, I was a little turned off by it - sounded manipulative. But I couldn't help falling in love with the book.
   
   Nina shares a brazen, honest, politically incorrect look at what it was like for her moving up the ranks in the "boys club." I love that this is NOT about male bashing. There's really only one man in the whole book who she couldn't find a way to work with.
   
   The stories are priceless, and the lessons should be mandatory for every woman in the workplace. I so wish I had read this book 15 years ago! (speaking of priceless - it was great fun to hear the origins of that famous ad campaign.)
   
   The parts about where and when to use emotion are worth the price of the book.
   
   I know Nina is in advertising, which isn't as stuffy as some other corporations, but I wish more women at the top shared such honest feedback about their rise to the top.



3. Having grown up with three brothers, recollections of living with them came back to me as I read Nina DiSesa's book, Seducing the Boys Club: Uncensored Tactics from a Woman at the Top. At the beginning, I thought I was reading humor as she relates her childhood "...my long road to uncertainty started when I was twelve years old and lasted until the end of my thirtieth year, when I metamorphosed almost overnight from a shy and insecure loser to a first-rate conceited jerk." But once I realized that this humor helped her work effectively with the men in her organization, I began to pay closer attention.
   
   Another source of my confusion with DiSesa's premise came from her assertion that breaking the plexiglas ceiling involves women becoming more seductive and manipulative. To me, that sounded unfair. But having proven herself after progressing from writing resort ads for the Catskills to becoming chairman of McCann Erickson New York, DiSesa makes her points with these sometimes humorous, sometimes insane, but effective strategies for working with men. Using many examples, she shows how she spent her creative energies figuring out the men in her office. She writes, "It's like solving a murder mystery. Collect the clues, lay them all out, and you will solve the puzzle."
   
   Throughout the book, DiSesa shows how she struggled to be taken seriously by twenty and thirty-year-old employees. Once she used a high-powered water rifle to quell their inappropriate behavior. She reminded me of the time when my own children were teenagers and my daughter, annoyed by her brother's antics, asked whether sisters could divorce their brothers. But along with the humor, uncensored commentary, and good advice, DiSesa shows how her lessons helped change the climate of her highly-competitive workplace by identifying her masculine side in order to accomplish creative tasks, meet impossible deadlines, and gain the trust of her co-workers. And in the process, she helped her co-workers find their feminine side making the workplace more pleasant for everyone.
   
   Usually, DiSesa relates solving a particular situation, showing what she did and summarizing the lesson learned, but she is so eager to get to the next topic that occasionally she fails to tie up the threads of the narrative. But this is a minor flaw and may have been intended to keep the reader engaged. This book can help women who study DiSesa's techniques overcome the roadblocks to success by providing a proven path to follow.
   
   by Susan M. Andrus
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



4. Nina makes a lot of good points, and in a very easy to read format! She uses her experiences aka learning lessons to explain her theories and I enjoyed her witty humor.



5. This book does a great job explaining the male culture to women. This culture permeates locker room jokes, jockeying for position, the constant need for hierarchy. This book is one woman's view from the inside and it is great.

5 comments about Summer at Tiffany.

1. Cute. That would be the best word to describe this short, particularly sweet memoir. Going into it, I was waiting for vast accounts of the inner workings of one of the most fantastic stores ever to exist. The tome is more character driven than tell-all, which I would assume stems from the era the author comes from (that is, polite and loyal). I could have done without the dozens of "Ohmygosh!"s that were sprinkled quite liberally throughout the narrative - it was distracting, irritating, and took away credibility from the writer. The naive charm still held me captive, though: I received a glimpse of a time where girls still wore gloves and hats, were polite and charming, and treated everyday as if it were a glamorous event. The backdrop of World War Two gave the book more depth, thankfully, for without it the story would have drooped from saccharine sweetness. The descriptions of the now-antiquated stores and sweetshops were divine, and the cameos from celebrities like Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland were quite nice, as well. (Watch out for the sub-plot with Yale...it felt like a forced dilemma for the main character and also quite unrealistic). All in all, I loved seeing New York as it never will be again, especially after 9/11. A lovely look inside a rare moment of time, this book will most definitely cheer you up. That's all it's really there for, I guess. Charming.



2. Not to be confused with the infamous Holly Golightly caper, this charming tale takes us back to the turquoise corridors of Tiffany, where jewels twinkle and customers include Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland. This time, the heroines are two Iowa-bred "long-limbed, blue eyed blondes" who are traveling to Manhattan to find summer work. The catch? The hordes of other hungry co-ed girls hellbent on the same glamorous goal.
   
   Far from pretentious fare like Nichole Ritchie's "The Truth about Diamonds," this memoir of two college girls hoofing it into Manhattan in search of summer work is a career girl's tale at heart. From their initial dizzy hysteria of job hunting, to working the mysterious connections of a family friend, the story perfectly captures the plummeting feeling of job rejection, and the giddy glee of being hired for even the most menial tasks when set in glamorous Manhattan. With this mindset, Marjorie and her best friend Marty become the first-ever female store pages for Tiffany, delivering packages to the shipping and receiving department. The irony that they work among glittering diamonds and pearls on a salary of $20 is not lost on them, even in 1945 when the book is set.
   
   Indeed, this is period literature, but only in the most lightly pleasing way. From dancing the Charleston to Frank Sinatra's "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" to scrambling on her hands and knees to recover the precious pearls that have spilled all over the elevator floor on her way to the Tiffany Diamond and Pearl room (yes, it's real), Hart is a charming heroine whose adventures equal an endearing coming-of-age tale, wrought with Tiffany glamour and winsome World War II overtones.
   
   The overall result is a book that is special, light-hearted without being shallow, and perfectly satisfying as a summer beach read. If you want summer reading but need a break from stilettos and cosmopolitans, this little blue jewel of a book will transport you in no time.



3. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, fun to hear about life during the 40's and what New York City was like back then. Fun book to read!



4. This memoir of working as one of the first women on the sales floor at Tiffany & Co. was informative and sweet, but a bit dull. It's an easy read and definitely suitable for a young adult reader. If you like stories about New York and "career girl" narratives you might enjoy it. I'd hoped for a bit more.



5. The summer of '45 was full of discoveries for the author: New York City, the elegance of Tiffany's, the euphoric end to WWII, happenings with friends, and meeting a beau. Well-written picture of the times. A really fun read - highly recommended.

5 comments about Prisoner of Tehran: A Memoir.

1. Let me just get this out of the way, regardless of WHO YOU ARE, this is a really good book (plus the story has an amazing twist) . The people who feel they have to go on the defensive and gave this book a bad review, I feel sorry for. I read to open my mind, not to close it; THAT DOES NOT MEAN I TAKE TO HEART the veracity of everything I read . Small minds come in many different flavors, so please don't feel so special.



2. I'm sorry I cannot review this book as I have yet to receive it. Maybe you should improve your delivery serviuces to countries such as mine.!



3. This is a sad story of a little girl in which she is forced to set aside the crown of liberty and live like a beggar, but she fights to retain her dignity...
   Excellent Job, Great Audacity.



4. As a person of the same age as of this woman, who has lived in Iran until 1994, I have to say I find this book a bad piece of fiction, written for the Western audience and ready-to-be-sold to Hollywood to make a crappy movie.
   The truth is, in those years our life as a nation was miserable. Evin prison was full of political prisoners, and there was no freedom of speech. But things were not the way Nemat describes it. Her memoir is ridiculously fabricated with lies about everything you can imagine about Iran. People of age 15 were executed in Iran in those years, but for reasons more politically important than leading a strike in high school! Is she crazy? If the Iranian regime wanted to arrest every high-school student for their argument with their math teacher they could not rule the country. And that story about being saved by her interrogator: nothing can be more far from reality than that. This is more like an emotional Hollywood movie than the reality I have lived in.
   
   I cannot believe people here actually believe this nonsense. This woman is either a charlatan, or a psycho.



5. I have read the reviews that are good, bad as well as the very heated discussions about this book and I have to say that it is good that this book generated such intense reactions in mind of the readers as it did for me. Regardless of the accuracy of the author's account as I don't have the first hand experiences, I assume that most of the author's accounts of the general political and cultural environment in Iran are fairly accurate. My reaction is again, the disbelief over the oppression and violence towards women in the name of religion and traditions, and the conspicuous lack of uproar in the international community in the name of political correctness or "cultural sensitivity". I don't mean to minimize the importance of other causes that received attention, such as Chinese government against Tibet, but when it comes to women, the world seems to be rather silent. Books such as this, and other memoirs such as Infidel, Bookseller in Kabul, Wild Swans,and memoirs by FLDS survivors are important means to raise awareness, therefore need to be written and to be read. Having said that, I gave only two stars because the writing is very poor and flat and some recollections of her childhood experiences seem too romanticized and blantantly inconsistent with her developemental stages, which raised questions in me about the believability of her account, and eventually became distracting to me.

4 comments about Learning to Breathe: One Woman's Journey of Spirit and Survival.

1. This is a book everyone should read - very inspirational whether you need it or not!



2. Learning to Breathe will knock your socks off! Just as the heroine of the story, photojournalist Alison Wright, manages to survive one terrifying near-death situation she hurtles herself (and you along with her) into yet another one...and then another one!! Where in the world does she get the courage to go on, you wonder? The fact that this amazing and true story is told in an honest, straight-forward style only adds to the drama. An inspirational and transformative emotional journey that takes you from the depths of the soul to the highest mountain peaks. A terrific page-turner! Loved it.



3. "Learning to Breathe" is a memoir by San Francisco-based photojournalist Alison Wright who flat-lined while on the operating table following a horrendous bus crash in Laos. Her doctors told her she should be dead, would never walk normally again, and recommended she put away her cameras and do something else with her life. Ms. Wright responded by climbing Africa's tallest peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and publishing several photo books.
   
   At one point, Ms Wright recalls someone asking, "What are you willing to give up to find what you are looking for?"
   
   What indeed!



4. The book is a quick read, one reason for that is "you can't put it down." It's an amazing story, simply told. Worth reading.