5 comments about Running with Scissors: A Memoir.

1. More entertaining in a fascinating way than hilarious but still worth every minute spent reading. I couldn't put it down. I disagree with people who say this book is offensive; i'd rather read one of Augusten's books than watch any U.S. news channel anyday - at least his work displays intelligence and compassion.



2. This is a great book, it's a faced paced book, an easy read that you become somewhat addicted to the plot and characters. He's a great writer and his comparisons and images are amazing.



3. This book was absolutely disgusting and I don't believe even half of it actually happened.



4. This is a memoir (and a painfully sad one at that) of an boy ill-raised and neglected by a wildly irresponsible mother and psychologist-friend. Such brutal neglect is when a 33 year old pedophile molests him (a 13 year old boy then) on a regular basis and masks the relationship as "doing what lovers do". The mother and psychologist-friend see nothing wrong with the "relationship" and turn a blind eye. Another is when the psychologist-friend instructs his daughter to scoop out his feces from the toilet to let sunbake in the backyard. Although Burroughs presents this as a dysfunctional family at it's wierdness, there is obviously something more sinister going down, which Burroughs fails to see or present. On the upside, the author's wit and humor transcends his personal horror stories. There are moments in the first part of the book that are so shocking and funny, it's like nothing you've ever read before. Half way through the book the reader may find themselves tortured by a long yarn of people actiing dysfunctional. Rarely, if ever, does the book bother to go to any level deeper than freak story after freak story. Surely there are readers out there who would find the morbid humour in this book a masterpiece of the white trash literature. I certainly did, and after about 1/2 way through the book I decided I had enough fun.



5. That anyone can read this book and think it is even in the least bit humorous, is beyond me.
   
   I purchased this book because as an avid reader of classics, I enjoy dipping my toes back into what the populace at large is reading. And just as I found with 'The Kite Runner,' and 'Water for the Elephants,' my eyes were once again opened to a public that knows nothing of the written word, its use, its subtleties and its nuances. The reading public at large, if one can base an opinion of such on best sellers such as Running with Scissors, etc, have no idea what good literature is and will read anything that is placed before them.
   
   That said, there are some redeeming qualities about the work in general. When an author can make me actually feel something, regardless of overall story, I consider their job halfway complete. Reading through some of the scenes a knot formed in the pit of my stomach, and at once I felt a terrible sorrow for the boy, and the situation that he was placed in. For example, in the scene describing his first "meeting" with Bookman I felt as though I needed to shower when it was over because I felt as dirty as the author. That's good writing! And throughout the work, there are several scenes in which the emotion was not only being read, but felt.
   
   Overall, I wouldn't say that I enjoyed the book - it was far too disturbing for that. But I will say that the book was entertaining and insightful in that it further strengthened my belief that behind every closed door and white painted picket fence, there are things going on that would sicken us if we were allowed a peek.
   
   Running with Scissors is neither a work of genius nor a classic. It is a mildly entertaining peek into the lives of some very, very disturbed and troubled (and troubling) people.
   
   Three Stars.

5 comments about The Complete Persepolis: Now a Major Motion Picture.

1. I got this book as a gift. Honestly, I wasn't so sure at first. It is written like a comic book. But as I read it, I realized that it reads just like any book and that the comic pictures make it that much more interesting and unique. I learned a lot from this book, too. I would recommend it to anyone.



2. This is my first Graphic Novel, but not my last. I loved the story and I felt that the book had a really nice flow. Marjane Satrapi as an exceptional story teller and has a very strong voice. I read this shortly after seeing the movie, and though I loved the movie, I felt that it left alot of important stuff out. The book really helped fill in some of the gaps, and you also got to see Satrapi's personality a bit more. I look forward to reading her other works. If you have never read a Graphic Novel, this is a great place to start.



3. I was surprised to find it was in comic strip format, but I enjoyed the lite reading.



4. Without harping too much on what has already been said about the political observations that Satrapi makes or her commentary on the limits faced by everyone (and most especially) women in Iran, the truly inspirational achievement of this work is how honest she can be about herself in the story. That with everything whirling around her, the fact that she can be honest about both the good and the bad of the relationships she'd been in, the despair both at home and abroad, the flickers of hope that she clung to during the darkest times and how (true to the reality of a hopeful young woman) the very worst thing that can happen is ultimately to let down yourself and to let down your loved ones is stark and amazing. The scene where she loses the trust and the good standing with her grand mother is heart-breaking and yet could happen to any teenage girl anywhere in the world. That it's depicted in basic drawings doesn't detract from the power of the moment in the least.
   
   And not that graphic novels these days have any trouble being seen as legitimate art, but Persepolis certainly puts a nail in the coffin of the arguments made by detractors.
   
   Trust this book for it's emotion, for it's personal honesty, for it's attempts to always find something good even under the most extreme circumstances. It is not a history book. It is a personal history book. And it is one that deserves applause.



5. In the chapter "The Shabbat", set before she leaves for Austria in 1984, Marjane describes how Iraqi Scud missiles start raining down on Tehran, killing her Jewish childhood friend and neighbor, Neda. However, according to Jane's Intelligence Review and other sources, no missiles reached Tehran before Iraq's Al-Husayn missile programme in February 1988. Why would she lie about this?

5 comments about Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me?.

1. Lancaster's first book was all about ironies...the loss of her job, the eventual demise of her bank account...the subsequent near-eviction out of a ghetto apartment, etc. This is what made her so endearing. This second book however, just gets on one's nerves. There are Jen's lists, the emails, the "footnotes" and of course, the chapter to contend with. All the while with sentences. that. end. up. written. like. this. Aaggh!! In Lancaster style, she. is. trying. way. too. hard.



2. Okay, i know i shouldn't let my political views impede on my book selection. i have close friends who are republicans. i fear my husband is a closeted one. And I enjoyed her last book. But, i felt a frisson of alarm when she mentioned having Fox news on all the time and ripping down an anti-Bush poster. When she wrote about reading an Ann Coulter book, i felt repusled and could not get past it. She would write something funny and i'd think, "but she reads ann coulter!" For whatever reason, that greatly diminished my reading and enjoying the book and will dissuade me from purchasing another.



3. This is another hilarious novel by Lancaster! I loved her first one and this one did not disappoint as well! I laughed out loud so many times, even when I brought the book to Jury Duty! Jennifer Lancaster sure knows how to bring a smile to your face. I most definitely recommend this one and I can't wait to get started on her third, Such a Pretty Fat. She is witty, straight-forward, and tells it like it is, but you love her anyway!



4. As always Jen had me laughing out loud! So much so, the tears from laughing cause me to not be able to continue reading!! I look forward to reading more from her ............ I can totallt relate to her on a million levels!!!



5. I absolutely loved Bitter is the New Black. It was Laugh Out Loud good. I was anxiouly anticipating the release of this second book only to come away a bit disappointed. The book is still funny and a great poolside read, but it does not pack the punch of Bitter. This book was a bit on the whiney side. I smiled, but did not laugh out loud. I did not find myself wanting to read excerpts to everyone around me as I had with Bitter.
   
   I did love the Target, IKEA, and Trader Joe's stories. The paper gown incident is also a big favorite. Overall there just are not the stories as in Bitter. This second book is mostly just a collection of incidences which do not seemed to be as well connected as the previous.
   
   I am still a huge Jen fan and will certainly read the next book due out soon.

5 comments about Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History.

1. As a Jew Living in Israel, holocaust related books are important to read, but it's hard to do it actually. I can remember several holocaust-era semi-biographic novels which are great but those are the exceptions. Most of the books are a bit bothersome though true.
   Maus just captured me.I consider it one of the best books I've ever read in my life. It was just breath-taking, adding to that the fact that this was my first graphic novel ever, not to say first comic ever.
   I gave it to my wife, her parents, brother and so on. The book came back to me after 6 month. all worn out.
   The book touched me in the deepest levels, and was able to do what many other holocaust books tried to do and failed. Take you inside one of the the darkest eras of human kind. You NEED to read to. You have to read it.



2. Maus, A Survivor's Tale is a son's pictorial version of his father's story of survival during WWII.
   
   Both haunting and mesmerizing, sometimes funny and touching, this is a story of perseverance and about what the Jews had to suffer through at the hands of the Nazis in WWII Poland. Spiegleman never sugar-coats what his father had to endure in order to keep he and his wife alive. A true work of art.



3. Horribly distorts the true suffering of WWII victims. The Poles who are portrayed as pigs and the Jews who are portrayed as RATS is not a good beginning. The Poles and the Jews suffered the most. The Polish Catholics lost 3 million, in what has become known as the Forgotten Holocaust. The Poles lost another 2 Million to Stalins barbaric Gulags. When the Nazis were defeated, the Soviet Communists took over and were more barbaric to the Poles than the Nazis, although both brutally oppressive and cruel to the Polish nation. Maus/Rat, whatever you call it, uses a horrible and untrue depiction of the Poles. The Poles were the first to go to Auschwitz and die. Polish teachers, school children (giggling and playing having no idea what horror awaited them, my God), professors, nuns, priests were the first victims of Auschwits, for the wars first 2 years. Jews were not taken to auschwitz until May of 1942! The Germans had already slaughtered 1 Million Polish Catholics before the Jewish campaign even started! The Poles still defide Hitler saving more Jews than any other country. What makes this more incredible is that, Only in Poland were entire Polish-Catholic families, towns and villages executed for, as little as, handing a Jew an apple. in Denmark, Sweden, Hollannd, Norway, a slap on the hand was given - that's it! These countries, also had some of the most brutal Nazi organizations,.i.e., they collaborated eith the Nazis, as Poland DID NOT! For a true and purely objective learning, and not one man's version, bias or hate towards the tortured Poles, and other nations, read a short but to the point book with tons of info, perfect for Jr, High, High School and Adults: Andrew Hempels" Poland in WORLD WAR II; also Richard lukas' The FORGOTTEN HOLOCAUST;Poles Under Nazi Occupation (talks about everyone's suffering); finally, and a great litttle book on Auschwitz with big returns is AUSCHWITZ by Sybille Steinbacher. Steinbacher's book is easy to read and very clear; gets to the point and very objective. These books are so centered and incredibly objective,i.e., no embellishments, just truth and fact. The Rat book is a despicable generalization and distortion of truth. Scholars and Educators: Please, be sensitive and 'Take the bull by the horns.' Enjoy the summer - you.ve earned it.



4. One (two actually since there are two volumes) of the best submissions about the Holocaust which is designed to reach a broad audience. Maus and Maus II are written in the vernacular, personalizing the experiences of a camp survivor who is interviewed by his son. Excellent supplement to any Holocaust discussion.



5. When I included this and Perseplos & Maus 2 I was informed that they are not graphic novels and that I could not have one free. AMAZING! Of course after I asked for the distric manager's name/number there was a sudden change of heart BUT NOT a good instore experience from BORDERS at ALL. The GRAPHIC NOVEL is great. Borders are not.

5 comments about War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism.

1. I saw at Powerline that Doug Feith testified before the house judiciary committee subcommittee, and that prompted me to share my enthusiasm for this book, in which Mr. Feith discusses how and why we went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. He documents the process, beginning with 911, staff discussions that occurred immediately followed 911, and on through the lengthy public process (in the case of Iraq) that led to the decision to go to war. Along the way, Mr. Feith provides excellent insight into the style, character, and to the degree that one can know, motive in subsequent actions of all the major players.
   
   Regarding motive, it is telling that the most thoroughly written arguments for or against a particular policy came from Donald Rumsfeld. Amid all the wild accusations about an illegal war, secrecy, impeach Bush, and that sort of nonsense, it is refreshing to have such an honorable and courageous public servant as Mr. Feith around to painstakingly document just how open, how much public debate, and how much scrutiny of the evidence went into the very difficult decision to go to war.
   
   This book has been ignored to an incredible degree by the mainstream press, not only by the enemies of the administration, but was even dismissed by Bill O'Reilly, who is the king of the all knowing, king-making media gods. No big deal, except that it represents such a terrible injustice to the fine work done by Mr. Feith. If you care about how we ended up going to war in two countries following 911, read this book. The facts are all there.



2. `War & Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism` by Douglas Feith
   
   Mr. Feith does a remarkable job of recounting his - all firsthand - experiences from his tumultuous time serving the country at the Pentagon as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. In this thoroughly researched, meticulously footnoted and highly readable memoir of 5 historic years, many of the myths propagated (those that the author was party to and had refuting documentation) in the media regarding Pentagon decision making, war strategies and policy are completely debunked. The book also remains critical of the key players - including Feith himself, as well as Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Powell, Armitage, Franks, Bremer, Rice, Cheney, of course President Bush, and others. The character of Donald Rumsfeld is also extremely well covered in this book with enough new information for anyone interested in current affairs and the players shaping the events of our time.
   
   It may very well be decided that, after finishing this book, you simply disagree with the strategies and policies adopted by the Pentagon, and subsequently, the Bush administrations prosecution of the invasion of Afghanistan, Iraq and the "global war on terror". I think this would be just fine with the author. The narrative may serve to reinforce beliefs you've held to date, and conversely, reverse your thinking. Mr. Feith works hard to lay out the foundation of the decision making processes and attempt to put to rest some of the erroneous Pentagon reporting which took place during his tenure. Additionally, credit is certainly provided where credit is deserved to those reporters who maintained accuracy, even in highly critical situations.
   
   I did not close `War & Decision' with the impression that I had just digested a tract penned merely to win a convert to a particular philosophy or policy. I was left, rather, with a clearer picture of this story (which is documented in its entirety) and an opportunity to make up my mind as to whether my countries policies and actions were properly conceived, examined, and executed. I don't think the author is worried whether the reader will agree or disagree, only that he or she is now privy to the first, first-person Pentagon perspective, which was painstakingly documented. Douglas Feith provides the facts coupled with his opinions (which he does not mask) which you use to assess one of the most important subjects of our time.
   
   I'm sure there are folks who will scoff at even the mention of reading anything by Douglas Feith - I think that's a shame. It is my firm belief that anyone serious about gaining additional perspective into the Pentagon during this ever important period would be well served by picking up 'War & Decision' and taking the time to glean these important insights. In addition, all of the author's proceeds are being donated to charities which support our troops - anyone with a heart should feel good about the unparalleled return on that investment!
   
   - Johnny



3. I love how 60 minutes ripped this man apart on national television. He was a completely incompotent decision-maker of an invasion that has not only destroyed America's international credibility, but has destroyed the Iraqi people. The fact that this man agreed to disbanding the Iraqi army, effectively creating 400 thousand unemployed and armed civilians in an unstable, leaderless, and poverty-stricken nation proves that this man and the Bush administration never had Iraqi peace on the agenda. They have been doing nothing but feed the fire of ethnic hatred. This book is filled with indoctrinating propaganda. They went to war under the flag of pre-emptive self-defence, a concept that Hitler used to justify the invasion of Poland back at the start of WWII. It is becomming painfully obvious now that the collateral damage this idiodic war has caused will only augment America's national "defence" budget, further damaging its already exhausted economy and monstrous national debt.



4. A very deep, well-researched and informed book. An important work which should be read by anyone for or against the Iraq war



5. I found this book to be an interesting inside view of what was going on. I first saw the book on the daily show with John Stewart, and thought i'd pick it up. Wether or not you agree with Douglas Feith on the issue of deception, this book is filled with information you should probably know.
   Factual, mostly unbiased accounts of what was going on, and also what is in the official records too, is what this book is filled with. I personally liked that it has a map of that region of the world in the front, a good idea what with only 1 in 7 people in the U.S. able to find Iraq according to the latest statistics spread by news media. 4 stars.

5 comments about The Prince of Frogtown.

1. This is a continuation of All Over But the Shoutin' and Ava's Man. If you liked these, you will like this book about his father. He doesn't say much about his father in the first two books because his father was not in his life much while growing up but now you get to see the good and mostly bad about him. Rick Bragg is a terrific writer and I will read anything he writes.



2. My husband read Rick Bragg's first book and loved it so much that he ordered everything Bragg has ever written. Great Southern author.



3. I'd read this, and then got Large Print book for my father for Father's Day. He loved it! Ricky Bragg has now again created a wonderful heartwarming story, full of laughs, great stories, and great truths about his perception of his father and his turn at parenting his step-son. We highly recommend this.



4. Thanks to Luke, we're familiar with the prodigal son. Thanks to Rick Bragg in his new third Bragg family memoir, The Prince of Frogtown, we meet the prodigal father: Bragg's violent alcoholic father, Charlie, who caused Bragg so much trauma and anguish in his early years that he and his brother had written their father off as unredeemed and unredeemable. Bragg's deep deep pain, savored and nourished over a lifetime, finally, at age 45, had to be dealt with. It helped that Bragg, best selling author of All Over But The Shoutin' and Ava's Man, controversial former New York Times feature writer, Pulitzer Prize winner, teacher of writing at The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, had the good fortune to marry for the second time, after being single for 20 years. Diane, "the woman," as she is known in Frogtown, has three sons. The youngest one, Jake, (a little child shall lead them) opens Bragg's eyes again to what it means to be a little boy: for Jake, for Bragg, but most importantly, for Bragg's written off father, Charlie. Bragg is forced to search for his real father, looking at all the forces that sculpted and shaped him from boyhood, knowing that just writing him off will write much of himself off and will take Bragg himself unredeemed to his own grave, with no peace in the meantime. So Bragg searches for his father by talking to all the cotton mill town folk and relatives and Korean War buddies in Jacksonville, Alabama who knew him in that part of town where the fighting, hard drinking, hell-raising Braggs lived, Frogtown. What Bragg finds and how he goes about telling us about it and what it does to him and Jake and their relationship is on a par with anything William Faulkner or Thornton Wilder or Ernest Hemingway or Harper Lee ever wrote. Read this book, real soon. Real soon. If you delay, delay only to read All Over But The Shoutin' and Ava's Man first.



5. I've read and loved every word Rick Bragg has published so far. His descriptions of places, things, and people always make me wish I could have been there, seen and known those things and people. 'Decriptive writing' doesn't get much better than this author's! How wonderful to realize that R.Bragg now has a family of his own and I wish him much happiness. How lucky for 'The boy' to have such a wonderful man for a step-father and like-wise 'The woman' couldn't have found a better man to share the rest of her life with. Once I start reading book by Rick Bragg I don't accomplish much else that day. I'll certainly be watching and waiting for his next publication !

5 comments about Slash.

1. Let me start by saying I am a huge Slash/GnR fan. I loved Slash's stories behind all the GnR songs and his take on Axl being Axl and the last band tours. My beef is with the editing and fact checking. I am shocked by how much of it is wrong! Just small examples like Slash and Renee being married at the Four Seasons in Marina Del Rey (it's a Ritz) and getting Fred Coury's name wrong (it is mentioned at least 1/2 dozen times as Curry). There are several other wrong or inconsistent details, enough for it to distract me and wonder what else was incorrect in this book. Again, that being said, I did enjoy the book would recommend it. I just wish the publishers would take the time to put out a better quality book. Nikki Sixx's book was really so much better quality even though it is a totally different style.



2. Slash
   Slash is very honest in his book. It was a real page turner. I bought this book for my hubby for christmas. He finished it in 3 days. Then I got it and finished it in a week. Love it!! I hope to read more from this author in the future!!



3. Finally got aroudn to ordering and reading this book, and I am certainly glad I did. Being a big GNR fan, I've always wanted to know what the band was really like and why they fell apart so quickly. Until Axl writes his own book, this book will be the best one about Guns N' Roses and their rise & fall. Slash decribes his upbringing, first learning to playing a guitar, and how GNR came to be in fluid detail. The making of AfD also is described with the source of every song.



4. Even if you are not a GnR fan, this book has alot to offer. I highly recommend!



5. Slash tells his story from his funny and adventurous childhood through his Guns N Roses days to his present work with Velvet Revolver. There have been many unofficial biographies of Slash and other GNR-related books, but finally we have something from the man himself.
   
   
   Besides, Slash is a really smart guy, so this is not just another average rock book. It's a captivating story. His style is honest and easy to read, his comments and conclusions are backed up by nice rare pictures. The guy sure has great sense of humor, too!
   
   It's one of the best books I've read this year. The top-hatted guitar hero has become a legend, played with many other rock legends and experienced the evolution of rock music from the 80s until present day. He's been there, done that and has a lot to tell about life and the music business. Here's our chance to hear it straight from the source.

5 comments about Madness: A Bipolar Life.

1. Marya Hornbacher's Madness is one of the most compelling books I have ever read. I do not often read nonfiction, but found myself at times forgetting that this was all true. Hornbacher has a gift with words and phrases and her writing is beautiful. At times, the story itself is disturbing, but for anyone who has lived with bipolar or someone who has it will love the book. It must have taken great courage to write a book that takes her own struggle with mental illness and use it to help others understand that they are not alone. Truly, it is one of the best books I have ever read and the single book that has most helped me understand this disease. After reading this one, I suggest you read The Center of Winter, also by Hornbacher.



2. Having recently entered into the confusing world of having a child diagnosed with bi-polar, trying to tease out a distinction between mental illness and drug and alcohol addiction, watching different psychiatrists prescribe different medications, along with the child being a hostile patient, i.e. doesn't want to talk about what's going on---this book is a brilliant insight into what's going on inside a rapid cycle bi-polar head. I recognized some actions of my son throughout this book and finally got a sense of what it must be like inside his brain. This book gave me a new appreciation for the pain he is trying to hide or run away from. And also gave me insight into how I can better be there for him in his mental illness while not enabling his addictive behavior. This illness is not fun and there seems to be a lot of differences in how to treat it, especially as the field of study on bi-polar appears to be expanding and new treatments are on the rise but not consistently throughout the psychiatric profession.
   
   Marya Hornbacher has done a great service for me by writing in such vivid prose her ongoing dilemma. Admittedly, my reading on bi-polar is not exhaustive, but this is the first book I've read that truly captured the tyranny of this illness. Ms. Hornbacher is a truly gifted writer. I do not envy her the ongoing struggle she faces, but she sure dug deep to write this. Throughout the the painful descriptions of behavior and feelings shines a courage that lifts my hopes for my own son.



3. I have a daughter who was diagnosed with early onset bipolar at age 11. She is now 22 with a 20 month old child and alcoholic (probably bipolar but won't seek help)husband. Marya's book was written with graphic discriptions of manic and depressive episodes. You can really feel her pain. This book should be great for someone who doesn't realize the trauma and pain that goes with this disorder. I was left with a sad, discouraged feeling. Although there are brief times of remission, I already felt that there is no way out of this nightmare. Maybe Marya meant the book to be that way as this is a serious illness with no cure just treatment sometimes effective and sometimes not.



4. Excellent book. Riveting and exciting look at the life of a very manic bipolar woman. Easy to read but hard to put down.



5. I have seen what Bipolar can do to people. This was really an eye opener.

5 comments about Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's.

1. I have lived with a partner with Asperger's Syndrome for over 12 years now. How true this book is as far as how their minds process differently from the rest of us "neurotypicals". It validates the difficuities of such a relationship, and portrays how one must accept the effected individual for who they are - they rarely change without egocentric motivation. An excellent book without being technical.



2. This book, above all the others I have read on the subject of Asperger's, is a must have. I gained more insight into how my oldest son might think by reading this book than any book written by people with a lot of initials after their name. Believe me, if you have a child or other relative who has been diagnosed with AS, then you owe it to them to read this book. In all honesty, I do hope that if you do read this book that your child is not going through a similar childhood that this man did.



3. This book was a bridge to the mind of my 13-year-old grandson, who not only deals with this syndrome, but Tourette's, as well. As we struggled as a family to understand him, it would've made all the difference in the world if we'd had this book as a guidebook!
   
   What was so hopeful and helpful to me was the resourcefulness which John Elder exhibited. It brings us a breath of fresh air to know that there is a world out there that needs Aspergians, and without these gifts (many from undiagnosed geniuses of historical significance), we would be much poorer indeed.
   
   I think the author was brave to share that hope with all of us!



4. This was an educating read on a fascinating character with Asperger's. To see Mr. Robinson grow and be able to utilize his condition for his personal well being was inspiring. The fact that he is Augusten Burrough's brother is what led me to read the book but after finishing the autobiography, I realize his relationship to his brother played a very small part in my enjoyment of the work.



5. Caution: SPOILERS in this review.
   
   The author seems to delight in "getting one over" certain people - he stages an elaborate stunt to get one over on the cops, tells his son convoluted lies about Santa being in trouble with the law, spends a huge amount of time setting up a trap for higher-ups at work to fall into (and then is incredulous and disgusted at the end result), and calls people insulting names because "that's the only way that works for me." Where does Aspberger's end and the "real" John Elder begin?
   
   He goes on at great length about not understanding why people from a certain city like the way he describes them. The word "goonie" is in the middle of his word, which may be the reason. If he asked instead of trying to puzzle such things out in his head he may be surprised to know others are also intelligent in ways he is not.
   
   The whole tone of this book is one of amused superiority.

5 comments about Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.

1. The book was great; everything as described by Michael Smerconish. The work shows how much can be said in so few words. I am enjoying the book.



2. As with MOST of the books and a lot of the music I purchase, I "heard it on NPR!" I mean, really!! Listening to the awesome interviews of authors and musicians discussing their work is the very best way to find out about them. I presented a copy of the Memoir book to each of several friends at dinner recently, and they immediately responded EXACTLY the way I expected and hoped -- they started reading aloud as they paged through the book. My moment was complete!! I, of course, have a copy for myself and plan to continue to enjoy it. The other reaction that folks have is to try to write their OWN six-word memoirs. Really great idea!!! Kudos to those who compiled the book!!



3. I am a writer myself, when I get a moment I grab this book. I read a few six word memoirs, get a few chuckles and I can put it down without worrying if I'll forget what I was reading. It's perfect for a flight or
   when you have some time for yourself.



4. In November 2006, Smith Magazine challenged readers to write their memoirs in six words--no more, no less. One thousand of the submissions are printed here, with more to be found on their website. Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure is not an easy book to review, so don't think of this as an actual review; think of it a challenge. Here is a sampling of six-word memoirs from the book to provide inspiration.
   
   Some writers tell their stories with humor and self-deprecation:
   
   >> Woman Seeks Men--High Pain Threshold.
   >> My first concert: Zappa. Explains everything.
   >> Aging late bloomer yearns for do-over.
   
   As you would expect, there are many bitter or bittersweet references to relationships gone bad:
   
   >> Girlfriend is pregnant, my husband said.
   >> Just in: boyfriend's gay. Merry Christmas.
   >> Let's just be friends, she said.
   
   Some lucky people sent memoirs that radiate contentment.
   
   >> Alone at home, cat on lap.
   >> Hope my obituary spells "debonair" correctly.
   >> Wasn't born a redhead; fixed that.
   
   There is the contingent who describe themselves without judgment:
   
   >> Gave commencement address, became sex columnist.
   >> Mormon economist marries feminist. Worlds collide.
   >> Still lost on road less traveled.
   
   And last but not least, the philosophers who distill life experience into a greater truth:
   
   >> Palindromic novels fall apart halfway through.
   >> Cheese is the essence of life.
   >> Wandering imagination opens doors to paradise.
   
   We're all busy people, each with a story to tell. C'mon, what's yours?
   
   Linda Bulger, 2008



5. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, and I loaned it to my daughter's 8th Grade English teacher who promptly assigned the entire class to write their own 6-word memoirs. It's fun to write a few of your own, and you could also apply the 6-word description to a vacation or other event. My memoir? Life improves with age and experience.