5 comments about Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood.

1. I just finished reading Jennifer Traig's incredibly engaging memoir. Who knew a book about a serious condition- OCD, more specifically srucpulosity- would be so entertaining, yet endearing? I was constantly reading parts of the books outloud to my husband, who was wondering why I was giggling.
   Traig is both a gifted and clever author as she gives us an inside peak into a world of extreme religion and cleanliness.
   The story was captivating, the writing wonderful, and yes, the devil is in the details. If you are considering buying this book, definitely buy it. Put a tissue on your head and read it!!



2. Is it wrong to fall over laughing when reading a book about a person with severe OCD? If so, I'm in some deep cosmic trouble, because this was hilarious.
   
   "Scenes" aptly describes the book because, as Traig herself makes clear, her battles with the disease were sporadic. Plus, the book has scattered through it various (also very funny) quizzes, proofs, sample SAT questions, and so forth that give insight into the OCD mind. Somehow, Traig helps us find humor in the horror of bloody, chapped hands, anorexia, and hair-pulling. It's almost a hat trick; I'm not sure how she did it.
   
   Traig and her family, as presented in the book, are immensely likable and weather the bizzare with good humor. There are colorful portraits of them as well as of Traig; no member of her immediate family is there as a mere prop to her own story, which is a real strength in the book, something that helps make it more substantial than many of the more "me-centric" memoirs.
   
   Religion plays a heavy part in this memoir, something that many readers may not expect, but it was the key piece of Traig's disorder. I personally found it fascinating to read about, as so many elements of Orthodox Judaism were unfamiliar to me, and, again, I thought it gave the book a good deal of substance. Some readers may be put off by this element of the unfamiliar, while others may find it intriguing (and it certainly makes this book stand out from any other OCD memoir). The book becomes not just a "book about a girl with OCD" but also a more profound look at a girl coming to terms with her identity and faith. And again-- to be able to make all of this side-splittingly funny reveals rare talent indeed!



3. Intrigued by the excellent art design on the cover of this book, I recently enjoyed stepping into the mind of author Traig as a young girl struggling with a mental disorder amongst other pains of growing up. She writes with a very sardonic tone, which suits the serious subject quite well, making it a fun read instead of a potentially dreary one. The only aspect that seemed slightly out of place was how she didn't really wrap the memoir up with any sense of finality. There was hardly any sense of the author in the present tense, aside from a few mentions of her religious life currently. Perhaps the intent was to create a snapshot of her as an adolescent, but it seems like an abrupt ending to the book regardless. Would definitely recommend to anyone interested in reading a sharply written memoir.



4. Jennifer Traig uses a distinctive comic voice throughout this book that makes it very easy to read. The author describes the trials and tribulations of growing up with OCD, and her anecdotes are both poignant and funny. She provides a non-clinical point of view, describing the impact of OCD on her everyday life. I would recommend this book and am looking forward to reading more works by Traig.



5. I really liked this book. A good read about growing up, religion, family and OCD. I just saw that the author has another book, and I'm ordering that one right now! Good read!

5 comments about Learning to Fly: The Autobiography: The Autobiography.

1. i first decided to get this book because i'm a fan of victoria beckham. when i read the book i was really pleased with it. it was well structured and it gives you a better idea of what victoria beckham is really like. supposedly there's all these speculations about her being a diva, but after reading this book i really don't believe those stories anymore. by reading the book, it seems as though your listening to a long time friend's life story. i really like this book and reccomend it. i seriously didn't want it to end and wish she came out with another autobiography.



2. This book is great. Victoria is truly open about her life. It makes you see a different side of the person you see in all the tabloids. She allows you to peak into her world. It is heartbreakingly honest. She doesn't try to skip the hard parts of her life. We can see how the Spice Girls developed and how the girls got along. Victoria allows the reader to take a peak into a marriage (and romance) that has overcome many obstacles to raise 3 kids and lead a happy life. She even reveals how it felt when people accused David of cheating on her.
   
   I didn't know what to expect when I started the book but I couldn't put it down. I read the entire book in one night (staying up until 4:00 in the morning). I have a new respect for Victoria Beckham that I wouldn't have had otherwise. I have always admired her fashion sense but I have a new respect for the person behind all the photographs. It is a must read for anyone who wants to learn more about Victoria Beckham.



3. The book was amazing. Victoria talks to you like you are her best friend and she's just letting it all out. I have always been a huge fan and after reading this I respect her even more.



4. This book on the surface seems to be just another quickly rushed, put together autobiography for monetary reasons alone...which is Victoria Beckham all over. This book is now a few years old and you'd be surprised that since it's publication the amount of contraditions that have been exposed about this talentless, insecure, attention hungry, mean to the bone so called "entertainer" is hilarious. If you want to be sucked into this con game then go ahead but lies, lies, lies will be all you'll be reading. A big fat 0/10 for this one.



5. Victoria Beckham's masterpiece... although in the beginning, it is a little "slow," it was still NOT a let down. i absoluetly thought this book was fantastic. even though i just found out about her, i was thrilled to read all about her. she is a wonderful inspriration to me. for those who are unsure of buying this book, don't slack... buy it immediatly. you won't regret it because you see, i don't really enjoy reading. however, i love this autobiography by victoria as well as her awesome music. i can't wait to finish this book!

5 comments about Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World.

1. If you know next to nothing about Italy, are never planning to visit, and are perfectly content to allow your impressions of the country to be informed by *Under the Tuscan Sun*-like romanticism and shameless, treacly sentimentality, then *Four Seasons in Rome* is the travel book for you. Otherwise, Doerr's constant doses of high-sugar, low-fiber commentary about his and his family's year in Rome are only going to have you reaching for your insulin pen. Are we really (I mean, are we REALLY??) still at the stage where someone can publish a book about Italy in which his entire contribution to the genre is to rehearse postcard stereotypes and Merchant-Ivory clichés? Call me simple, but I'd truly have thought the market was completely glutted with sixteenth-of-an-inch thick observations on how "wonderful" and "beautiful" Italy is--made by people who don't speak the language, who never stop being tourists, and whose apparently unlimited financial and other resources insulate them entirely from the realities of Italian life. Being a casual visitor is a fine and respectable pastime, but it doesn't qualify you to write a book. Doerr, however, is undaunted, awhirl in whimsy and wide-eyed wonder. From his innocent astonishment that tomatoes actually taste good (he does live in Boise, Idaho, after all) to his tired (and tiring) insistence that he and his wife never saw a badly dressed Italian--or a fat one--to his second-rate tour-guide rhapsodies over the Pantheon, Doerr never lets a bromide or a platitude get away from him. When a Roman waiter makes him and his wife wait 90 minutes for their dinner check, Doerr's only reaction is to go all dewy-eyed over how "relaxed" and "laid back" people are in Italy. Please, Anthony. The waiter was rude. There's no great mystery to it. It happens all the time in Italy, especially to tourists, especially in Rome, and especially to people who are willing, as the Italians say, to fare il fesso--that is, let someone else make an a** of them. Gird your loins as well, Gentle Reader, for page after darling, cooing page about the marvel of Doerr's one-year-old twins and for detailed descriptions of just how darn difficult it was to try to wheel them around Rome in a double-stroller that I can only imagine was a special treat for all the people who had to contend with it on buses, down sidewalks, and in museums. But let's give credit where credit is due: Doerr's prose is pretty, even poetic. The trouble is, that's often all it is: a Fabergé egg, a festoon, the rich-and-creamy icing on a cardboard cake. In his 220-plus pages on Rome, there's almost no there there. (Don't be misled, either, by the subtitle's promise of information about "the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World"; Doerr didn't actually attend, and most of what he knows about it he saw on television.) In more than a few passages, he gets so carried away making perfect little netsuke sentences that he forgets he's supposed to be transmitting actual meaning in the process. Yes; I admit it. I have a bone to pick: Doerr has nothing particularly interesting, profound, insightful, or new to say about Italy. That sure didn't keep him from getting a book contract, however, which suggests that attending the right cocktail parties is a sure shot to success. Merit, while appreciated, is not required. And *Four Seasons in Rome* is yet more evidence that, when it comes to anything with the word "Italy" stamped on it, the American public is all too willing to fare il fesso.



2. I thought it would be a tale of The Great Man writing about being the father of twins whilst the drudgery of actually caring for the babies is in the background. But, being a tragic Italophile, I knew I had to read it eventually. Am so glad I did. The author is a truly devoted parent, yet still possesses a sweet innocence himself towards this beautiful, new-to-him world of Rome. Just as one of the boys is wide-eyed over a taste of chocolate, the author seems reborn at the sight of the glorious skies Rome (apparently) has, the food, the poetry of the language. The writing is gorgeous but not in the artificial MFA manner (maybe he has one, I don't know)--it's genuine and vivid and...tangible. It reawakened in me a desire to not just read more American fiction, but to pull my old drafts off the shelves and see if I, too, could conjure up some similar magic. In one sense my prejudice was correct, though--with his love of family and openness and sense of humor about the world and himself, Four Seasons in Rome did turn out to be the tale of what seems to be a [lower case] great man. (One commentator "denounced" the author as "liberal"; what Doerr seems to be, of course, is humane.)



3. 4 Season's in Rome, is essentially a story within a story. Doerr struggles day in and day out with trying to write his next novel, while living in a foreign land, and raising his first TWO children (they're fraternal twins). Throw in the death of one of the greatest religious figures of the 20th century and it makes for a very interesting time spent abroad. In the end, his next novel, becomes this story about trying to to write his next novel.
   I think if you've been to Rome and lived there, this book will invoke those memories of a magnificent place. You can sympathize with what he has gone through.



4. As an American who moved to Rome to have a baby, I can relate to this book. My experience is different. I live with an Italian and all my friends are Roman, but I still found Doerr's observations lyrical and prescient. As a new father, I actually enjoyed how he was learning the city as he became a parent, an experience I know and grok completely. It was useful to see how someone had to endure a lot of the same difficulties that I have experience. How often do you get to read something parallel to your own life? I also enjoyed his descriptions. For me they came quite close to my own observations, as distant as they may be (a fact that he acknowledges). I read the book on a the train from Rome to Turin, so it's something that is quite fast and easy on the mind. Additionally I enjoyed his sense of impermanence and how that is a character of Rome. Bravo!



5. In "Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World," Anthony Doerr accepted a fellowship with the American Academy of Arts and Letters in Rome, Italy and together with his wife, Shauna, and their newborn twins, they moved to Rome. The author wrote about his experience in Rome, trying to adjust to the way of life there as well as having to manage two babies. He also spent some time talking about Rome in a more unconventional sense (different from a travelogue) focusing on the history and literature.
   
   This was an okay read for me as I had hoped the author would focus more about the culture and people in Rome. It almost felt like he was writing about his own experience as a new father having to deal with both work and that Rome was just the backdrop of all that was happening. He spent a considerable time talking about authors and literatures which were not very interesting for me. The most fascinating part of "Four Seasons in Rome" was his coverage of the Pope's funeral and his observation of the people who adored and loved the Pope. It was just an average read for me - if you are looking for a travelogue type read, this would definitely not be in. This is more of a part memoir, part travel type book.

5 comments about The Old Way: A Story of the First People.

1. I bought this book, knowing little about it, simply because I have loved everything I've read by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas. This is the best of her best, which says a lot. The world is fortunate that her wealthy, and obviously very intelligent, family, chose to leave our way of life behind for long periods, and immerse themselves in the lives of southern African Bushmen in the 1950s. The story of the Bushman way of life, presented here in Thomas's clear and elegant prose, is endlessly fascinating. Their lives were vigorous, challenging, and based on a sense of sharing that we can all learn from. Of course, once western "civilization" takes over, tragedy follows. But that part of the story has been--and still is--repeated endlessly the world over. Marshall is a brilliant writer and observer, following in the footsteps of her amazing parents. This book is also her tribute to her beloved brother, and his lifelong friendships with the people they met and worked with over the years.



2. This book, written by a personw ith long standing attachment and interest int he Bushmen of the Kalahari is a good summary of what they were like in the l950's and how they have (beenforced) changed and moved into today south Africa and Bostwana.
   
   An interesting and unique group of people, the Bushmen give links to what early human life was like. Ms Thomas does do a little interpreting about violence and drinking and gender roles, but it is plausible and interesting to reflect upon.



3. Thomas, anthropologist and author of such diverse bestsellers as "The Hidden Life of Dogs," and two excellent pre-history novels, "Reindeer Moon" and "The Animal Wife," began her writing career with the study, "The Harmless People," based on her youthful sojourn among the Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert. The Bushmen may be the only people who ever lived without war. But more on that later.
   
   With "The Old Way," she returns to the subject of that first book - a title that has been in print since 1959. Marshall first encountered the Ju/wasi, one of the five groups of Bushmen, in 1950 when she was 18, on the first of several Kalahari trips with her parents and brother.
   
   Her father, a founder of Raytheon, was a highly organized, take-charge sort of person, with versatile skills. Her mother, a former ballerina turned teacher, became a noted anthropologist over the course of these (and more) trips, and her brother devoted most of his life to the Bushmen.
   
   In the 1950s the Ju/wasi maintained their ancient nomadic culture in near isolation. Except for bits of metal they obtained in trade and used for arrowheads, the Ju/wasi made everything they needed from local material. They did not farm and had no domestic animals, but obtained all their food from hunting and gathering. They were the last people on earth, says Thomas, to follow the "Old Way," a way of life that depends on knowledge handed down one-to-one from generation to generation. The Old Way depends on intimacy between habitat and humanity.
   
   Thomas' book is not a scientific study or a memoir, but a bit of both, as well as a celebration and lament for a culture now gone. It's also a thoughtful reflection on how the Old Way shaped our species from the time we came down out of the trees and stepped on to the Savannah.
   
   Water, says Thomas, controlled the size of human hunter-gatherer groups, and that remained true among the Ju/wasi. Rain was scarce, and water holes passed down through families. Though children were betrothed young, they did not cohabit until the girl reached menarche - about age 17 - and the average age for bearing a first child was 19.
   
   Similarly, though no birth control was used, women bore children about four years apart and seldom had more than four. This was just what could be sustained, without starvation or overburdening the mother or group.
   
   Alliances were complex, all going to foster the strength of the group. Survival depended on group cohesion and the force of their culture went into strengthening those bonds, subsuming, smothering, the desires of the individual.
   
   The sharing of food, for instance, had little to do with who actually killed or gathered the food and the complex system was worked out before the gathering or hunting trip began. Periodic dances also reinforced ties and helped to dispel repressed tensions.
   
   Repression was the usual means of maintaining harmony. Temper tantrums, even among children, were frowned upon - for one thing childish noise could attract predators. Arguments flared, of course, but were almost always settled without violence.
   
   War, to the Ju/wasi, was unknown. Not because they were right thinking pacifists, but because they had developed the perfect weapon to make war - or murder - unthinkable.
   
   The Ju/wasi had only one real weapon - the poisoned arrow. It was all they used to hunt (though they finished off game with a spear). The poison was invariably fatal. A man who settled an argument with a stab from an arrow couldn't take it back - but he would have days to watch his victim die. And the victim, facing certain death, would be perfectly healthy for a day or more and quite capable of wreaking revenge.
   
   The lack of suitable weapons, and even more, the lack of any kind of shield, convince Thomas the Ju/wasi have never known war. She makes a convincing case.
   
   By the 1980s, however, the Ju/wasi were being forced into villages. Many of those Marshall knew as children are now dead - killed in fights, often fueled with drink. Today, alcohol and violence have decimated the Ju/wasi.
   
   While the book's conclusion is wrenching, most of it is a celebration of their intricate culture. Marshall captures the imagination with anecdotes - many from her old journals - that illustrate the matter-of-fact resourcefulness of a people who know the intricacies of all the plants and animals of their desert home.
   
   Some of her anecdotes simply demonstrate the odd commonalities of humanity: "Although I will eventually learn enough !Kung to stumble along in the language...at this point I am at the stage where the Ju/wasi either address me in baby talk or raised voices, or both."
   
   She describes gathering trips that take all day, but don't get going until mid-morning, baffling her own Yankee work ethic. Until she realizes the wisdom of waiting until lions and other nighttime predators are well and truly asleep.
   
   The lion stories are horrifically thrilling. She describes a lioness coming to the edge of their small encampment and roaring threateningly: "The roar was so deep and so loud that it had no direction. It seemed to be coming from anywhere, everywhere." Yet, scary as they were, the lions never hunted or preyed upon the Bushmen.
   
   Marshall does not try to provide answers for all her questions. Some things are "unknowable." This eloquent, passionate book does foster a sense of wonder at our own evolution. Though we've traded much of our intimacy with the earth for modern civilization, Marshall shows how many traces of the Old Way linger on in our blood.



4. I have all her books but two and I have been a fan for years and years. Starting with reindeer moon and then The hidden life of dogs, Tribe of Tiger, Certain Poor Shephards and everything else except Warrior Tribesman and The Harmless People which I plan to order. The books I have ordered or which were bought for me online were ordered by my best friend. I hope Elizabeth Marshall Thomas writes many more books. If I did not already have the most wonderful mother, I would wish that she was my mother. I really love her view of life, people and animals and nature. She is my favorite author of all time and I would'nt even loan her books to anyone else for fear of losing them. Keep it up EMT I'm forever your fan and I will always reread your books.



5. I first heard of the Bushmen through National Geographic's Genographic Project (Spencer Wells "The Journey of Man") which found genetic evidence suggesting Bushmen are one of the oldest, if not the oldest, peoples in the world--a "genetic Adam" from which all the worlds ethnic groups can ultimately trace genetic heritage. Within the face of a Bushmen one can see all the genetic expressions of the world (Asian eyes, African nose, Indian skin, etc..) So I was delighted when this new book appeared by bushmen expert Elizabeth Marshall Thomas who, along with her brother and parents, were one of the first westerners to live with and scientifically document the Bushmen in the 1950s (when Elizabeth was a teenager). Her parents and brother went on to become famous Bushmen experts and proponents in their own careers.
   
   Older members of the Bushmen tribe were valued and respected for their wisdom, likewise Elizabeth is passing down her knowledge and experience for later generations. The Bushman way of life she saw in the 1950s, perhaps as old as 150,000 years, no longer exists - all it took was one generation and the long unbroken chain known as "The Old Way" has disappeared. It is the same sad story told the world over from Native Americans to Tibet to Eskimos. Yet Elizabeth reveals a deeper lesson, which is the "myth" that the Bushmen ever wanted it any other way - they want the comforts of modernization, just as we would prefer not to hunt and gather food each day. Bushmen want to travel, see the world, be a part of wider humanity, and for that we can celebrate and welcome all they have to teach. This book provides that introduction.

5 comments about Palace Cobra: A Fighter Pilot in the Vietnam Air War.

1. Once again the author goes into combat above North Vietnam. This time in an F-4 Phantom. Although the plot is similar to his earlier book, "When Thunder Rolled", this one's different enough not to feel like a warmed-over rehash. The only thing the same is his fantastic ability to "tell it like it is". Chronologicaly, the events described came after his other book but you need not have read it to enjoy this. Along with Ken Bell's "100 Missions North" this has to be one of my favorites. You come away from it with a much better understanding of the complexities of the war from a strategic as well as tactical view. The mundane day-to-day stuff balanced with the terror they must have felt flying over the most heavily defended airspace known to man. The aircrews involved did a great job in spite of the adversities and this book tells one brave pilot's story superbly!



2. 
   Rasimus returns to Vietnam for a second tour after transitioning to F-4's. We are indebted to Rasimus for his courage and his intellect. The book is superb.
   
   The book covers the air war from the height of air war against North Vietnam and the massive B-52 raids to the dog days near the end of the war when the REMF's came to get their tickets punched. Rasimus captures it all, from the sweaty, terror filled minutes of endless Sam killing missions deep over North Vietnam to the days near the end of the war when US planes did not venture into North Vietnam. The friendly skies of South Vietnam brought out those who had avoided the air war in various Pentagon burrows to get their 201 files filled with combat flying. Rasimus sorts out the good guys like Robin Olds from the slackers with a sharp knife.
   
   What differentiates this book from many other fine books is Rasimus' intellect and writing skills . Highly recommended.



3. Whilst putting you very much in the cockpit Mr Rasimus has at the same time managed to produce a thoughtful, insightful, and instructive book that gives an excellent view of the experiences, feelings and thoughts of what it meant to be a fighter pilot in the later years of the Vietnam war. An excellent sequel to his earlier book. Highly recommended.



4. Outstanding commentary of a two tour aerial war veteran of the Vietnam
   War. We were winning every time he and I left Nam.



5. ED RASIMUS WAS IN A GOOD POSITION TO DOCUMENT THE CHANGES IN ATTITUDE,TACTICS AND OPPOSITION LEVELS ENCOUNTERED IN 1966 AND THOSE IN 1972.IT IS A COLORFULL ,HONEST WITH NO PUNCHES PULLED BOOK.HE TAKES YOU ALONG IN THE COCKPIT WHERE YOU CAN ALMOST TASTE AND FEEL WHAT HE WENT THROUGH.WELL WRITTEN AND THOUROUGHLY ENJOYABLE BOOK !

3 comments about Workbook for Intermediate Hebrew, A: Grammar, Exegesis, and Commentary on Jonah and Ruth.

1. This is a good way for those who have a basic knowledge of Biblical Hebrew to keep up with it and learn a few more things.



2. I used this workbook both for a Ruth and a Jonah exegesis class. It is great for self-teaching grammar, syntax, morphology, etc. It is not a commentary, but it will help you learn the text of these two books.
   
   Answers in the back!



3. Robert Chisholm, professor of Old Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, has produced A Workbook for Intermediate Hebrew: Grammar, Exegesis, and Commentary on Jonah and Ruth. At 320 pages, the book is somewhat longer than the title. Designed for intermediate students or those nearing the end of first-year Hebrew, this new resource aims to transform grammar into syntax by providing direction towards developing a rough translation and outline of selected passages. Answers to all questions are provided. A useful parsing guide and glossary are also included. More briefly, Dennis Tucker has produced Jonah: A Handbook on the Hebrew Text (Baylor University Press).

5 comments about Too Close to the Falls.

1. I'm not sure that I would have loved this so much if I wasn't familiar with everything that the author was writing about. I grew up not far from her and it was fun reading about all of the local things, but I don't know if I would have been able to enjoy it as much as I did if I wasn't familiar with what she was talking about.



2. I found the book to be excellent. I am from the area and as I read I found myself at the locations in the book. It took me on a strange and wonderful tour of my "back yard." I would recommend this to anyone from the area. To those outside the area, you will get a feel for the wonderful little town of Lewiston, that hasn't changed much over the years.



3. I'm not certain exactly which years Cathy attended "Hennepin Hall" in Lewiston -- but my memories definitely differ from hers! I did find many familiar characters and locations. Generally well written, and it really did make me a little homesick... they call it "Lewiston By The River" now as a way to draw tourist traffic, and this book took me back to a simpler time when Lewiston had exactly one blinking stoplight.
   
   Worth reading.



4. I really liked this memoir..and I wish the author would continue where she left off. It ends well in this memoir but I was really sorry when it did end. I felt like I was experiencing the life of the author as a young girl into early adulthood--with all her adventures!



5. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and my only complaint is that it ended too soon. I am hoping that there will be a sequel. This is an unconventional memoir, a very unusual childhood and just so funny and also deeply moving, I couldn't put it down! Everyone I know who has read it loves it. This book will take you through every emotion. If you hate to cook, know a gifted child or were one yourself, had a Catholic school education, this book will be particularly amusing. Worth the read and make sure to pass it along to a friend or two!

5 comments about Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian.

1. Librarians are known for their knowledge of the system and penchant for silence, but QUIET, PLEASE goes beyond the stereotypes in presenting a series of librarian profiles to spice the profession. From a librarian who thinks Thomas Pynchon is Julia Robert's latest love to a patron who believes the government is canceling her print jobs, patron as well as librarian anecdotes and history are blended into a survey of library events and fun circumstances from Carnegie to modern Afghanistan, making for a fun and whirlwind tour perfect for any general-interest lending library.



2. I love libraries and was really looking forward to this memoir.
   
   In Quiet Please: Dispatches From a Public Librarian by Scott Douglas, the author was a college student who liked books and needed a job, so he became a page (shelving books) at the Anaheim Public Library. Lacking better career plans, he accepted a state grant to get a degree in library science. In this memoir, Douglas reports on the types of individuals that frequent the library. He focuses on teens, homeless people, crazy people and the elderly. His stories about what he has encountered working in the library are so funny. I thought his comments about his coworkers, and about librarians not being readers to be very humorous as well. The chapters were numbered (using the Dewey Decimal System) which I found to be very clever. My only complaint was that some of the writing seemed to be scattered; just as I was enjoying a few passages the subject matter seemed to shift completely. All in all this was as enjoyable memoir.



3. I loved this book! It's funny, unique, informative and is the kind of book you hate to see end. More please, more please!!!



4. Let me state upfront that the reason I picked up this book is that I myself am a library-addict, and I have no shame in admitting as such. I visit my local public library branch (in Blue Ash, a suburb of Cincinnati) at least once a week, usually more than that. So when I saw this book, I immediately picked it up.
   
   In "Quite, Please--Dispatches From a Public Librarian" (330 pages), author Scott Douglas brings the irreverent but very tongue-in-cheek and fun look on how he became involved working at a public library (in Anaheim, CA), eventually getting a Masters Degree in Library Sciences from San Jose Sate, and working his way up the ladder. His observations are astute. "What I quickly learned was the dark truth about librarians: they simply do not have the time to read", haha! The author understands quickly that the library is more than about books, it is a center point for the community. He describes in great, and often hilarious, details how to deal with teenage kids hanging out after school hours until they get picked up by a parent, seniors, and homeless people, all of whom see the library as much more than just a place to get a book or go on the internet. Along the way, the author brings fascinating tidbits of the history of libraries, including how Germany destroyed the main library of the Catholic University of Louvain (where I went to university, before migrating to the US) not once, but twice, in both WWI and WWII ( it was rebuilt each time and I spent many an hour there in my college days).
   
   In all, "Quite, Please" is a terrific read from start to finish. At one point, when the author feels he needs to work on his physical appearance and starts working out, he dryly writes "I stopped after three days. I concluded that librarians just weren't made to be tough. They were made to shelve books, and you don't need a lot of muscle for that", haha! Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in libraries.



5. In fact I got the sense that this is what this book is...individual magazine articles or a collection of essays cobbled together into a book.
   
   Three or four footnotes at the bottom of every page...some long enough to run onto the next page...was amusing on the first and second page. Then it got really old really fast and by the tenth page it was just annoying.
   
   A book that if you are interested in reading it you want to take out from a library.

5 comments about The Bridge Across Forever: A True Love Story.

1. The first time I read The Bridge Across Forever was in 1991. My joy in learning about the synchronicity of Richard Bach and Leslie Parrish's lives led me to yet one more interesting and challenging point of view. Like lovers who cross paths 20 years earlier without knowing the level of their significance to each other. This is an incredible story of lovers sharing each other's dreams while sleeping and the discovering their completeness when finding their soul mate is the epitome of life's purpose. We should all be so fortunate. Each time I have read this book, I am enlightened and over joyed.



2. I'm still amazed at the power of this simple autobiographical narrative to inspire vitriolic rhetoric among the chronically disappointed. I've read dozens of reviews of "Bridge..." that begin with the confession that the reviewer has never met Richard Bach--and knows little or nothing about him beyond his own description of himself--that then proceed with a string of indictments of his character, morals, philosophy, personal integrity, personal history, and his supposed lack of intellectual and literary prowess. Since they are based on little more than Bach's own narrative, it seems to me that these indictments reveal more about the reviewer than the one being reviewed.
   
   I, too, re-read it after a nearly 20-year hiatus, and I agree that Mr. Bach doesn't come off all that well in the book. But remember, this is a SELF-portrait. It is, in fact, one of the most brutally honest portraits of personal frailty and vanity I have ever read. Remember, too, that everything we know about the "beautiful and intelligent" Leslie comes from Richard's own description of her--in contrast to himself. Who among us would be willing to reveal as much of his/her own frailty? The fact that he is willing to portray himself this way in front of the whole world actually gives me hope--in a perverse sort of way. If a guy who did all the things Richard Bach has been accused of doing can still find love and make it work for 20 years--well, then there's still hope for the rest of us.
   
   I don't care a fig that it didn't work out in the long run for the real-life Richard and Leslie. (And I'd like to know Ms. Mitchell's source for her assertion that Richard Bach "left his beautiful and intelligent 'soulmate' after twenty years of marriage because she wanted to live a grownup life and he didn't." As far as I know, Bach simply confirms that they split up because they had different goals--no indication of who left whom, not that it matters, and not that it's anyone's business but theirs. I've never seen anything from Leslie Parrish on the subject. And I agree that we need to hear from Leslie pretty soon if she has anything to say on the subject of Love. She's over 70 years old now, and time is running out.) I don't see how their failure to "make it work" serves as a valid basis on which to dismiss the whole concept of true, abiding, heart-bursting romance.
   
   Let me put it this way: Once upon a time, after much heartache, injury, and despair, someone came up with the idea of putting stop signs at busy intersections in order to prevent needless injury, death, and unhappiness. So, because people sometimes run stop signs, or because the author of the stop sign is killed at a marked intersection, we should yank out stop signs because stop signs don't work? Because WE sometimes fail to come to a complete stop, stop signs are a lie and a dangerous fantasy?
   
   No. And I'll bet I'm every bit as "dented" by adulthood and its failures as Ms. Mitchell is. After all, I've got at least 20 years on her. Nevertheless, I refuse to give up. I'd rather die. We live in a cynical age that warns us to throw away every soaring passion, and every heart's desire. It is WE who are "smug and narcissistic and complacent" in our condemnation of those who refuse to settle for half-a-love, or who fight for a love they know is true--in spite of personal shortcomings.
   
   Richard Bach dared to write a book about soul-smashing love at a time when no one wanted to talk about it, or even acknowledge that such a thing exists. The very fact that we're still talking about it 20 years later is testimony to his courage, insight, and prescience, even in the midst of his personal frailty. What's needed now isn't a bunch of pompous rhetoric about Richard Bach and his supposed failings as a human being. What's needed now is a book about how to pick up the pieces of shipwrecked idealism and hold onto something that raises it's head above this manure pile that passes for "values" in the first decade of the 21st Century.
   
   This book is as much about Leslie's fight for her love as it is about Richard's vanity and narcissism. And I submit to you, and to everyone reading this lonely message-in-a-bottle, that what we need in this dried-up world of cynicism and self-protection is more--not less--of the honesty and radical idealism of people who want to build bridges "across forever."



3. I have read this book some 9 years ago. Lost my first copy, so ordered it again. Still love it.



4. Most of us know the saying that we teach best what we most need to learn. With regard to many of the reviews I've read regarding this book,and others of his with the soulmate theme, many people would say this is true of Richard. But is that so? Didn't Richard advocate being true to one's self and one's feelings most? Even if the feelings weren't convenient or mainstream. And feelings change. Richard is self centered and I really don't think he ever tried to present himself as anything other than that - quite the opposite. He wrote what he felt and thought then- period. He didn't stay with the person he depicted as his soulmate because apparently his feelings and thoughts about the person and the relationship changed and I'll wager Leslie's did too. And in keeping with his philosophy he followed those feelings and thoughts and moved on. And Leslie, being the beautiful person that she is definitely deserves someone being with her who can deeply appreciate and love her and WANT TO BE THERE. Is Richard immature? I think so. But he is sure following his phiosophy of being true to one's self regardless of what I think or you think. I do admire that. And Leslie loved this brillant fickle man knowing he was a brillant fickle man changeable as the wind's direction. After all she must have been aware that he left a wife and 6 children. This being honest and "true" to one's own self can have a sharp edge to it even among soulmates. This outcome is not so foreign to the book's content. It's an interesting book,and the reaction to it is even more interesting. As for me, I believe there are soulmates but no life long guarantees.



5. It's not that mushy stuff!
   
   It'a all about a man who actually finds his soulmate and how his soul recognizes her soul... It has a light philosophical content on the subject of souls reconnecting in the next life.
   
   It's beautifully written. And it's a story that most of us dream about in our lifetime.

5 comments about The Ride of Our Lives.

1. I couldn't put this book down. It is so touching, and profound. At times I would put the book down and laugh out loud! What a family to belong to, I bet everyone who read the book was jealous, and wants to take a month trip of their own!



2. The PBS series based on this memoir is entertaining, but the book is so much more. It's poignant, it's deeper, and it's much, much funnier -- laugh out loud finny. Marge and Jack emerge in the book as three-dimensional people, not just the target of jokes that the TV version focuses on. You'll also learn heart-rending details of their childhoods, the pervasive sadness that both have coped with, and you'll understand why Mike Leonard thinks he leads a charmed life.



3. A good quick read. The book is funny,sad,and so much like most of our lives. The family is a say it like it is. We are just as we come take us or leave us. I would take them, read the book it was very enjoyable.



4. I enjoyed the book so much. Mike Leonard has written an amazing book about a trip with his parents and how much he learns about them. The book makes you feel like you are riding along with them in the RV experiencing every mile of the trip. I laughed out loud and even cried like a baby in spots. I am now watching the series on the PBS channel on Thursday nights. If anyone can tell me how to get in touch with Mike Leonard (ie) email. Please let me know by emailing me at rangersfan5@optonline.net. I would love to let him know how great his book was.



5. I laughed till I cried tears!! Very vivid in his writing, you feel like you were a fly on the wall and living the dream with them! WONDERFUL READ!
   It was nice to read a book like this in the world today!