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 Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime SarajevoRevised Edition.

1. Thank you for your quick shipment. Book is in great shape, as you stated.



2. Zlata probably never imagined that her diary would be read by millions or that it would be published. Much like Anne Frank, I don't think Zlata ever intended the diary to be made worldwide. Unlike Anne, Zlata survived but not without internal scars and loss of friends and relatives and neighbors. In the beginning, Zlata writes about mundane, ordinary things about being 11 years old. Please keep that in mind when reading her diary is that she was only 11 years old at the time of writing in the beginning. She begins writing about her life as a child in Sarajevo before the war broke out. She writes about her father going to serve the national army reserves. She writes about her life before the war and how the war changed her life and others forever. One day, she writes about people leaving Sarajevo and heading into safe territory. She writes about the daily bombings, senseless deaths, and life under war. She is a child of course and she tries to cope with difficult circumstances like not having electricity for the first time in her life for long periods of time or the constant state of fear that she lives in for herself and for her loved ones. Zlata's diary is now widely read by students about her age. Her main objective was never to get published but to keep and maintain a diary that was quite personal at times. Children of war probably suffer a lot more than they should. Zlata grows up fast and not be choice. She struggles to survive for herself and for her family without losing sanity.



3. Filipovic, Z. and Pribichevich-Zoric, C. (1995). Zlata's Diary. New York: Penguin Group
   Zlata's Diary is about a young eleven year old girl who wrote in her diary during the Yugoslavian Civil War. The beginning of the book discusses each day and her exciting things that she did with friends as well as her family memebrs; however, as the dumb war began to affect more and more individuals she began to take note of the food and water shortage. She also began to notice the loss of family and friends. Was the world coming to an end? Would she be okay? Would she survive?
   This book can be known as the modern day The Diary of Anne Frank due to it's similarities as both girls discuss the harsh conditions and losses they encountered due to ignorant individuals. The book truly hit home for me since I lost family in this war and to read Zlata's story and compare to the ones my family memebers were telling is mind blowing. Zlata's words truly embrace the horrific results of this war.
   
   Completed by Z on 5/12/08



4. Sheesh...this is the product of a child, not the work of a Pulitzer prize winning journalist. It is an excellent diary, an excellent primary source and an excellent text for a better understanding of the Yugoslav wars. Yes...it does only tell one point of view - hers - it is her diary! Some readers are offended because of the comparison to Anne Frank; a comparison that Filipovic and others make in the book. The comparison is totally fair. Both are intelligent children caught up in situations they have no control over during wars of ethnic cleansing and extermination. It is a testament to Zlata that she can make the connection to Anne Frank...obviously the rest of the world couldn't. They (We) abandoned the Jews sixty years ago and abandoned hundreds of thousands of Croats/Bosniaks/Serbs to genocide forty years later. Zlata remembered Anne Frank's words...the world didn't.



5. I remember reading this book as a child and picked it up again as an adult. It was a quick read, but really showed how a child deals with war. It made me think of how children in Iraq are feeling right now. Very interesting.

2 comments about Out of Egypt: A Memoir.

1. I read these memoirs with strict concentration on all features of the environment that provided the interesting material to this book.
   
   From childhood of elderly relatives that was somewhat unhappy and bordering on deprivation, the family living off charity, in areas where the primary social groups' life revealed a pattern of neglect, moral [...] , and disregard for law.
   
   I watched a collection of things making people of the same feather sharing a common attribute. Perhaps I should say that a small part of these features I lived myself (1952-56). The message Andre Aciman is giving me is also addressed to every member of a clan feeling alien in the environment in which one was found, and resisted to share.
   
   You are taken back in time to the beginning of the twentieth century until the mid fifties. I never felt strange to uncle Vili, Aunt Clara, or Tante Lotte, like these people exist in the annals of many families' chronological account of events in any successive years.
   
   How much true it is when one had become a success story and thus an object of intense jealousy on the part of his less fortunate confreres. One would definitely feel better off to keep ones apart from ones fellows.
   Walking on tight ropes during WWII to keep balance between complete annihilation and survival is not impossible, or unethical, though the uncomplimentary remarks Uncle Vili used to make about the warring parties - about them both - in private, now remained no secret. We all tend to do the same thing when cornered; won't we? This is legitimate quest for survival amid a world run in madness, Uncle Vili appeared uncomplicated enough.
   
   Those were the people we came to know in Egypt in the mid-fifties, their private life, their intimate charm, their gentleness, their direct and affectionate manner, their kindness and modesty which remained unchanged even at the very height of their predicaments.
   
   We knew people like Uncle Vili, their sense of humor, coupled with caustic wit with their servants - Egyptians and/or Sudanese - that their good nature forsook them and their tongue became capable of mordant, wounding remarks. In the company of their intimate friends, they would throw off the habitual reserve they displayed on public occasions and behave like the big boy scouts which they remained in one corner of their personality - Pashas attitudes.
   
   Andre Aciman: I salute you.



2. Out of Egypt, is a very special memoir about growing up in Alexandria before the author and his family were forced to move from Egypt in 1965 . It's a fascinating memoir of a time and place that no longer exists, and a wonderfully written account .

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.

5 comments about The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood.

1. I didn't expect to buy this book. I hadn't heard about it. I wasn't even familiar with the author. But after just a quick scan of the first chapter, I was fully engrossed in the story of Christopher Hogwood. I couldn't put it down. The author skillfully integrates personal details of her own life into the story which no good animal story would be without. It is listed as a "biography, non-fiction" book so if you are looking for specific information on pigs, this probably isn't the right reference book for you. This is the story not so much of a very lucky pig who was saved/adopted by a human couple but more the story of several lucky human beings who were inspired/enlightened/befriended by one very talented pig. Anyone who has been around pigs can test to their intelligence and Chris is no exception..yet his particular talent seems to be his ability to bring out the best in any human who meets him. An entertaining quick read..perfect for a longer plane ride or a rainy day on the couch!



2. The author being a self-described "naturalist," I thought this book would have some sort of insight into the nature of pigs. Nope. Mostly a lot of boring, self-indulgent tripe about how the author and her husband overfed this runt pig, whom they named Christopher Hogwood (how cute! -- NOT!), and Hogwood grew into something Montgomery calls "beautiful" but would more appropriately be called "grotesque." (She even admits letting him eat ice cream until he can barely move and becomes overweight). The author is what she calls "child free" (which one can fully support) but fails to see how her many animals are in fact substitute children. In one stunningly ignorant passage, she claims that the pig Hogwood is an "adult" and therefore her relationship to him is not one of adult to child. Hullo? It's a PIG for cryin' out loud. You can't converse with it, plan an event with it and (yes, just like a baby) you have to make sure all its poop is cleaned up and that it's taken care of.
   
   I lost count of the boring passages in the book about how Hogwood made the author closer to her neighbors and taught her how to "play with children" (gag). If you enjoy that type of sentimental fluff, this book is for you. Personally, I was very sad at the end. Not because Hogwood died, but at the waste of perfectly good meat! (they buried him...sob!)



3. This book was given to me by a friend as a birthday present.
   She gave it to me because I have a pig as a pet and she knew that I could probably relate to it.
   
   She was right. The Good, Good Pig is a very touching story. It made me laugh and it made me cry.
   
   My only criticism would be that Sy Montgomery got a little lenghthy on some explanations but I would still recommend this story to anyone who is an animal lover or especially to anyone who has a pig.
   
   I love my pig. My pig is a pot bellied pig. She is such a character. She inspired me to write my own story. Unlike Sy Montgomerys story, my book is fiction. A children's picture book entitled "Bubbles the Little Pig."
   
   Since becoming a pet pig owner, pigs have become very near and dear to me. They will always have a special place in my heart.



4. this book was an easy read with lots of laughing throughout. I enjoyed the information peppered throughout as well from Sy's background information and experiences as well as the associations her premise for the book was. I disagree that the pig was 'nothing special' as some poor reviews stated because it wasn't really about the pig but rather about the pig as part of a larger phenomenon.



5. This book was an absolutely disappointing read and it took everything I had to keep going in hopes that something would improve. The characters were never developed nor was the writing very descriptive. The author could have written everything she wanted to say in one or two pages. This might be somewhat interesting to a reader who never raised farm animals that escaped periodically or never had neighborhood kids come by to visit them, but for those readers who have grown up in the country around animals, this book is review of the ordinary. The author is far too self-aggrandizing and proud of herself for her chosen lifestyle, which is actually not that unusual or extraordinary. What I found particularly frustrating about this read was the author's blindness to the fact that Chris, though he is a pig, is just a beloved pet like your dog or my donkey. He is not extraordinary, nor was his life. It reminded me of parents who gloat about their child as though s/he is actually better than everyone else's child. I personally am very contrite and apologetic when my donkey escapes; I do not think it is cute at all, nor do the police. I was really hoping for a book with some insight or humor, but found neither here.

No comments about The Road of Lost Innocence: As a girl she was sold into sexual slavery, but now she rescues others. The true story of a Cambodian heroine..

5 comments about The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness.

1. This book is a beautiful act of compassion for other women and men who, like Karen Armstrong, have struggled with doubts, conforming to religions, and other related "failures." The book provides alternate, thoughtful, and understandable means of interpreting and expressing hopes and faiths. Thank you Karen for writing down your thoughts and helping many of us who have struggled with so many of the same issues you have studied.



2. As a memoir, Armstrong's "The Spiral Staircase" succeeds in the first half. She documents her life in a Catholic convent, her physical challenges and her mental state of mind. Readers wonder, Why would she do this to herself when she was so miserable most of the time? Answer: Her goal was to find God.
   
   Her obsessive journey leads me, and I suppose many other readers, to conclude that she tried too hard. But it's a fascinating story.
   
   The last half of her memoir solves the puzzle of her physical (misinterpreted early in her life as mental) disability. Success follows her discovery, but the book gets tedious with her sometimes repetitious account of daily life and re-learning how to cope with job loss. She eventually finds her niche as a writer by publishing "A History of God," a thoughtful review of many religious cultures.
   
   Armstrong realizes that the study of God does not have to include belief in all the dictates of a specific religion. In fact it need not include belief in God at all. She finds out that the journey is more important than the goal.



3. So Karen is dysfuntional? No, like me, she has temporal lobe epilepsy, a condition from which the world and society prefer to turn away and pretend it doesn't exist. It's exceptionally hard to describe, since it has literally hundreds of forms and does leave one doubting one's sanity at times. Then we doubt the world's mental balance. I was once dismissed from work by someone who feared I'd bite colleagues. And Karen is an apologist for Muslim extremists? Oh, for pity's sake, grow up! Read what she says, not what your prejudice tells you. Does she perhaps wear a Paisley scarf too (originally a Scottish design, by the way)? There's no trusting these people, is there, if they don't think just like you? Open the window and look outside. There's a world out there, bigger than even your prejudices and bigotry.
   And a note to Mr Benanchou: the Greeks didn't believe the world was flat. In the centuries BCE, the circumference of the world was calculated to a high degree of accuracy, with two sticks, sunlight and basic trigonometry (subtended angles - look it up.) We rely on very pricy satellites, not garden canes, which cost so much less.
   I applaud Karen Armstrong. It can still be problematical - I know well from experience - to assert one has epilepsy. Fears of evil spirits crop up, even now. And it can lead to social and career disaster. I was forced to retire, with two degrees, at only 42.



4. Written with much sensitivity (and courage), it induced much empathy with the author. A good read.
   
   I was less than impressed with some of her books on history of religion, but this autobiography shows where she was coming from, and helped me better appreciate what she was trying to convey in those other books.
   
   I look forward to the next installment in this autobio series. :-)



5. This is a remarkably personal and insightful journey which takes us through the loss of hope and faith and then back to a higher realm of love and understanding. Here are my personal thoughts about this book:
   
   1. By the end of the book, I felt a bond with her that is similar to something I have felt for some of my best professors and teachers who helped me understand complex things. Karen is extremely honest and open and able to describe emotions and reactions which many thoughtful people must have to orthodox religious training and dogma. She works so hard to do the right thing and yet she is unable to feel the connection to God and make the decision to accept things as they are. She is the opposite of the normal rebellious person who bolts. She is the long suffering special person who will follow the rules, sacrifice and do the right things over and over again to come up with the expected result of obedience and conformity. And yet, that brilliant and analytical mind of hers cannot allow herself to be tricked or cajoled into compliance. I feel that this is because she is brutally honest and pure.
   
   2. She lets us into her very private and sometimes sad life. We know her every fear and understand that she is shy, awkward socially, and backward, and as she heals and moves to the next level of understanding in her life, we root for her and admire the things she is trying to do. Her accomplishments are huge and she has done it virtually all alone with extreme patience and many setbacks as well as thousands of days carefully studying the history of religion, various poets and other important writers. The ultra close relationship we have with her every day struggles helps us comprehend her conclusions and remarks about spirituality, religion and life. She has taken the time to do what many of us would like to do but can't do because of other more pressing obligations and, perhaps, addiction to regular shallow life things.
   
   3. She is imprisoned by her unknown health problems, her religious obligations, fear and shyness, and yet we see her determination get her to a level of freedom experienced by very few people. She loses her faith, gains a cause to help others understand how religion at a certain level can be damaging, and as she reads and studies each of the three major religions, she gradually moves back to a spiritual understanding that gives her a new freedom and love of everyone. Along the way, she teaches us some of the basics about each of the religions and why we need to understand them before we assume that all others are incorrect and horrible. This gives us hope and makes us want to reexamine and study others and then move to that higher level that is taught by all of them. Certainly, it makes me want to study more about Judaism and the prophet Mohammed's teaching.
   
   I finished the book with a great and positive feeling that there may be hope in the world if we could take the time to truly understand each other. It's a great book. Thanks, Karen.

5 comments about The Man on Mao's Right: From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, My Life Inside China's Foreign Ministry.

1. Ji Chaozhu was involved in some of the great moments, people, and institutions of the twentieth century, growing up partly in the U.S., attending Harvard, and then returning to participate in Mao's government. Through the magic of memoir writing, I learn about the entire span through his eyes.
   
   This is the third book I've read about the Cultural Revolution. First, Nien Cheng's Life and Death in Shanghai. Second, Apologies Forthcoming a book of short stories by Xujun Eberlein, and now this book. Obviously his view of the Tiananmen Square massacre is apologetic. And he doesn't even bother trying to explain the Tibet invasion, one of the great human and cultural tragedies of our time. I had to take a deep breath when he said the actions of the U.S. in Korea and Taiwan were perfidious. Do I really have to look at yet another U.S. policy from the other side's point of view? Oh, what the heck. How do I expect to ever understand the world unless I see it from other points of view?
   
   The book is remarkably simple and straightforward. Good writing stays out of the way and lets the reader enter. When I finished, I realized with some astonishment how much history I had just walked through, in an engaging, and page-turning story. The book flew by and enriched my life.



2. Couldn't put this book down, it was such a riveting, dramatic personal story. By the end I felt I understood China for the first time, and especially important periods like the Cultural Revolution. What makes this story so unique is that the author grew up in New York before returning to China as a college student, and his improbably amazing story intersects with everyone from Eleanor Roosevelt, who served him cookies and milk in her Washington Square townhouse, Mao and Zhou Enlai, plus six US presidents. The story is told not in a stuffy official way, but in a very human and observant voice, and a sly sense of humor. If all the Olympic attention has you wanting to "get" China and the Chinese, this is a great place to start. But it's also just a great tale.



3. I knew Ji back in the 70's. At that time none of us, I suspect, had any idea the hardships he had endured in China, particularly during the Cultural Revolution. Toward the end of the book, however, when he gets to Tiananmen, I felt he was trying to set up his readers to conclude (incorrectly) that the Tiananmen demonstrations were essentially a reenactment of the Red Guards/Cultural Revolution excesses and as such deserved to be suppressed by whatever means necessary. This of course is the party line in China and it was disappointed to see someone like Ji parroting it. Toward the end I even began to wonder if the whole purpose of the book was to justify the Tiananmen massacre.
   I was also disappointed that Ji denigrated Han Xu, his colleague and sometime superior in the Foreign Office. He depicts Han as hard line, but it was Han (now dead) who was disillusioned by the Tiananmen suppression and, according to people I trust, contemplated seeking refuge in the United States or some other democratic society.



4. Ambassador Ji Chaozhu's personal journey in the Chinese Foreign Ministry provides vivid and rich details for our understanding of the inner working of Chinese foreign policy-making establishment. From this book, we learn not only real stories of top leaders such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Deng Xiaoping, but also personal relations between Ambassador Ji and other senior PRC diplomats such as Huang Zhen, Han Xu, Zhang Wenjin, Nancy Tang and Wang Hairong, and etc. This book is a major addition to the growing literature on PRC diplomacy, and will become an essential reading for any one interested in 20th century China, especially its diplomacy.



5. A good relationship between China and America is crucial for the future of the world. Period. Therefore, learning the history of recent Chinese politics and the historical relationship between China and America should be mandatory for all Americans, young and old. And what better way to start learning than by reading this very entertaining factual book. This book, written by an interpreter for various high-ranking Chinese officials during the Mao era, is a must-read for those who want an insiders view into the momentous events that occurred in China from the 1950's through recent times. The author is humorous, occassionally self-depreciating, and brutally honest in all he recalls about the great historical events he witnessed close-up in China. Riveting and memorable are two words I can use to describe this book. After reading it, I have a better understanding of what was going on in China when China was "closed" from 1949 to 1976. And, I have a desire to read more from the author. I sincerely hope China and America can grow old together, clean up the environment and always be friends. Nothing less than the future of our planet depends upon it.

5 comments about The Driver: My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World.

1. All i can say is that this guy is my hero! The book is well written and very easy to read. I really wish it was longer though...



2. A myriad of enthusiastic book reviews tout this book as "the best frickin' book ever" and, suffice it to say, I agree. Wholeheartedly. Thus, to avoid duplicity, I wanted to comment briefly on a less-reviewed aspect of "The Driver," one that seems to often take a back seat (pun intended) to the racing/high-speed/gumball-rallying/party-all-night theme that is the subject of innumerable other reviews: the author's attempt to answer some big questions in a car.
   
   Clearly Mr. Roy can drive. Obviously he is a brilliant strategist. It is axiomatic that he is insane. But some of my favorite scenes in the book did not take place in the lovely M5.
   
   Thus, for those who are thinking of buying this book and, also, in response to those who have taken the time to pontificate, often so carelessly, about Mr. Roy's life, and to judge, all too easily, his passion for racing and the actions he has taken in the exploration thereof, I humbly offer this.
   
   To understand what makes this book so special, it is important to read and understand those passages that do not relate to the garmins, radar jammers and police outfits that otherwise make Team Polizei the wonderful and ridiculous phenomenon that it is.
   
   Indeed, when read holistically, "The Driver" is a fast-paced journey through a world of insane cars, playboys and rally-racers just as much as it is a window into the driver's personal search for that which money can not buy. Meaning. Answers. Passion. "Cadillacs."



3. On the whole, a very good book.
   
   The best parts are the recounts of the Gumball battles and the road racing. However, I think Alex felt the need to tie all the events in the book together with a single underlying storyline - one that I think is fictional. To me, it's too incredible to believe, and I don't think Alex would have believed it at the time either.
   
   This book is really a must for Gumball enthusiasts. While it is accessible to those not familiar with Gumball, I would say it's most enjoyed by those in the know. An excellent accompanyment to any DVDs you have, as it gives amazing tales of antics not seen in the documentaries - both off the road and on!
   
   Some of the stories are so enthralling I didn't want them to end, and this was one book I couldn't wait to pick up again after work.



4. This book is the best book I have ever read, A lot of information in it and still written in a way its easy and fun to read!
   Anybody who is remotely interested in reading just has to read this book!



5. As much as I disapprove of what Alex Roy does (and I truly do), I couldn't help but get a guilty, vicarious thrill reading this book. Alex Roy participates in road rallies and cross-country runs for speed, often clipping along at speeds well into triple digits (how does 175 mph strike you?) on public roads. No matter how many safety precautions you take, that's putting the lives of non-participants at risk and there are plenty of legal ways to get your car onto the track if you want to drive fast safely. Lecture over, my immature half will now commence the review.
   
   I stayed up late reading this book despite writing that is disjointed and frequently hard to follow because I just loved hearing about the antics of the guys who drive these rallies. I am always curious how these guys get away with driving the way they do, how frequently they get caught and what happens when they do. This book answers those questions.
   
   What was unexpected for me was the level of technology and preparation that Roy and a couple other drivers put into these rallies and cross-country runs. Roy's penultimate achievement is setting the record for driving fastest from New York to LA in just 31 hours and 4 minutes. He uses police scanners programmed with the frequency of each state's highway patrol, infrared cameras for night driving, gyroscope-stabilized binoculars and a spotter plane - yep, a plane.
   
   If you've harbored the same questions I have about how and why these guys rally, if you like technology and planning, if you have a kernel of resistance to authority in your personality, if you like cars a little too much, you too might find yourself staying awake too late into the night reading this book. Even if you do disapprove of what these guys do.

2 comments about My Booky Wook.

1. I first saw Russel Brand on youtube, he was doing something with Noel Fielding (mighty boosh) and i was instantly intrigued by his vernacular and his amazingly good looks :)I watched a few clips and a few episodes of various t.v. shows he was in... and then amazon popped this little gem into my recommendations. Not only does his humor and charm transfer well over paper, he also has reasonably good writing skills.



2. I did not know who Russell Brand was (no...I never watched "Big Brother") till I checked into a London hotel for the holidays and saw him on a holiday talk show. He is hysterically funny in a sharp, no-nonsense, "no sacred cows" manner. This book is a memoir written in a rather disorderly manner but nontheless extremey funny. His recollections and comments are fresh and at time tear jerking. A fast read, it kept me up all night. Even Americans who do not know who he is will enjoy his recollections of experiences growing up, his several stints in rehab (for various causes) and show-biz trials. Really enjoyable, I can't wait for him to write something new!