2 comments about Resurrection and Redemption.

1. This book will be among the decades' great narratives of a family's struggle with mental illness. It documents the worst forms of fraud and abuse committed to most vulnerable, as well as the highest forms of compassionate, scientific, and rationale approaches to healing. The book further dispells the myth that bipolar disorder is untreatable, demonstrating that while a cure is not yet available, help and progress are well within reach. Both the co-authors have been changed by their experiences, as will the reader. (...)



2. "Ressurection and Redemption" captures the delima of coping with mental health issues in todays society. Dr.Opelar sets the tone in the first chapter when he states that we as a people are still in the dark ages with our attitudes towards mental heath problems. This book opens the doors to the real suffering on a day to day basis by the person with the mental disability and thier family. Like "The Burning Bed" by Francine Hughes who took domestic violience out of the closet and enlightened us forever, "Redemption" exposes the myths associated with the mentally ill, gives us a first hand glance at the patients suffering from their own point of view,and shows in an intimate, candid way of the Ehrlich's valient effort to navagagate the fractued mental health system that exists today. We see through Rebecca's eyes the cruel blow that nature inflicted upon her and her brave struggle for release from the bondage of a misunderstood disorder of one part of her body, her mind. We find we are not alone when dealing with this problem. There was a time in the not to not too distant past when physical disabilities were scorned upon by society. Hopefully, with time and enlightenment we will soon look upon mental illness as just another chronic desease, not a dark and foreboding secret.

1 comments about One Extra Month.

1. I couldn't put it down. I had no idea what parents of premature born children, much less those of children also with special needs, go through in the first year of life. I also had my first child in the same year as the author's daughter Lauren...I was so moved by the author's words, rivetted, I couldn't put it down... I had to read if there was a happy ending. The author's words were very inspiring and made me exceptionally grateful for my little baby boy. Thank you to the author for expressing these special and difficult words.

No comments about Stand Up For Your Life: One woman's journey through cancer.

2 comments about The Four of Us: The Story of a Family.

1. Swados devouts a section each to her mother, father and brother, and finally, herself. In a torrential-at-times rush of prose she describes a youth spent dealing with her mom's and schizophrenic brother's odd behavior - due to mental illness - which was never named, explained or treated with much compassion by her hyperactive, determined-to-succeed-at-all-costs father. Swados shows herself as a young child, imaginative, resourceful and creative, who managed, after a self-destrucive period, to develop into an imaginative, resourceful and creative adult. Her brother, Lincoln, especially comes alive for the reader, as a budding writer and cartoonist whose schizophrenia was never adequately treated (due in part to Lincoln's own obstinence) who later died. Swados' job from childhood on, she tells us, was to be the well child, the success her father could tell stories about to his friends. She well describes the toll that took on her. Yet there is much love and compassion, among the occasionally hurt and bitter memories. Recommended.



2. Swados, Elizabeth. The four of us. The story of a family. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, c1991. (Book review)

   In the history of disease is there any other that wreaks as much havoc on family life as does mental illness? Elizabeth Swados, a successful author and musician, shares her story of a family torn apart by dysfunction, culminating in dual suicide. The family's inability to cope with the symptoms of schizophrenia, "with severe paranoid tendencies" of Elizabeth's older and talented brother (Lincoln), serves as the cornerstone for this memoir. By devoting a separate chapter to each family member, Swados succeeds in conveying the effect of Lincoln's illness on individual family members and, ultimately, on the family as a whole. In attempting to come to terms with her mother's depression, which has rendered her "unreachable," Swados observes that "research in mental illness hadn't come up with an explanation of schizophrenia that might have lessened some of the blame on her." This criticism of psychiatry `s inability to relieve the feelings of frustration and helplessness experienced by family members, while harsh, is not uncommon.

   While this memoir may be fraught with tragedy, the Swados family is, in many respects, representative of all families. Thus, the child, Elizabeth, remains blissfully unaware of her brother's "struggle with hospitalizations and medications" over an extended period of time. Her admission that "what I knew at the time was that my brother went to college and never returned" is a reminder of the extent to which families go to protect the innocence of youth. It also suggests that one of our major tasks as adults lies in reconstructing our family histories, based on our own memories and those of others.

No comments about Unforeseen Destiny.

1 comments about Life Without Father: Influences of an Unknown Man.

1. Bill Wartman writes with sensitivenousness and probating insight about his early life, a life anyone who has ever lost anything truly importunate can identify with. Upon reaching the penultimate page, and then the penultimate page after that, you wonder what came next. Is chasing monster drives off the tee in a Toyota the rest of the story? Or is there some promissory saga about a seedling of German immigrants sprouting branches and taking to the skies to become the next Messiah? Sup, Bill?

3 comments about A Wing. . . and a Hero!: The Steve Yzerman Story.

1. I would have bought this anyway, just because I collect all Yzerman things. That's the only reason.
   I was extremely disappointed. It's obviously just a compilation of everything he could find that had already been used. I don't think I saw anything in the book that I didn't already know. The kids he talks about in the book are ones 'like' the children Yzerman visited. It's pretty obvious the guys never actually spoke to Yzerman or the kids he visited. The only pic of Yzerman that I can recall is a small black and white that I've seen several times before. I think he was just trying to use Yzerman's name to sell his book.
   I would recommend any other Yzerman book over this one.
   I prefer 'Heart of a Champion' myself.



2. When I saw "A Wing and a Hero" was published by 1st Books, a web-based publisher for first-time authors, I figured I'd get a copy and support an aspiring writer like myself. Besides, being a huge fan of Steve Yzerman since he first came to Detroit in 1983, I'm always on the lookout for new books about him and the Red Wings. I was not prepared to be sorely disappointed.

   This book is awful. It's poorly written, poorly organized and definitely not worth the money. In the acknowledgements, Mr. Morrison states that he sent a copy of the transcript to Steve Yzerman, hoping to get his okay to call it an authorized biography. He didn't get it and it's no wonder - this book is a disaster.

   I own several books about Steve and the Red Wings, and I would recommend any of them over "A Wing and a Hero," including Bruce Dowbiggin's "Of Ice and Men," even with all its inaccuracies. If you'd like to read a well-written, authorized biography of Steve, get Shelly Lazarus' "Hockeytown Hero." Yes, it's written more or less for kids, but it's good and probably the best Yzerman biography out there.

   I've given "A Wing and a Hero" one star, only because Amazon.com's system won't let me give it less than that.




3. This book was very inspiring and it is good to know that there is still a hero out there in the likes of Steve Yzerman. I really enjoyed reading A Wing And A Hero and would recommend it to other readers.

No comments about C-Notes: My Journey Through Breast Cancer.

No comments about From Seven to Heaven: A True Cancer Survivor Story.

5 comments about The Cannibal's Wife: A Memoir.

1. For me, this book showed clearly that it is children who are abused (sexually or emotionally) who are most vulnerable, as adults, to suffer similar abuse again--and remain silent. Unfortunately, I know many similar stories of sexual abuse by clergy and counselors who abused power over while pretending to serve those in their care. An example is a psychiatrist in a West European country, running an isolated clinic for women with psychosomatic problems, and "helping" his patients by forcing them into sex!

   The most horrible part is that, in all the cases I know, the victims of abuse called for help many, many times before anyone even believed their stories. It is the failure to find even a single suitably "enlightened witness" (in the words of Swiss psychiatrist Alice Miller) that in the end shocks me more than the instance of abuse. (Don't we all suspect that an abuser like Fr. Frank was himself victimized as a child?)

   It seemed to me that Fr. Frank's supervisor was also an abuser: he was hardly likely to have reported Fr. Frank. And also Fr. Stamp, before representing Sister Yvonne, had perpetrated sexual abuses on children... The web of abuse is very vast; many people in the clergy have a stake in keeping victims silenced.

   Sister Yvonne was deeply troubled that so few people believed and supported her when she finally told the story that had caused her to lose spirituality and optimism. I believe her; I know that her story needs retelling many times before healing can occur. It is for us to listen, again and again, even when the listening hurts us or the story seems old. This is the least we can do to break the pattern of abuse.

   For anyone with a similar history, I can recommend the books of Anne Wilson Schaef and those of Alice Miller (in translation from the Swiss German). For the Catholic Church, I wonder when it will notice the harm done in its treatment of women and children...




2. If we indeed believe that people "called" to religious service should strive to be paragons of moral vigilance, reading this book will lead one to inescapably conclude that the wrong person, in this case, was compelled to give up their religious responsibilities, in favor of letting a church retain a vain glorious womanizer as priest.

   The "cannibal" in this instance -- a priest who sexually and emotionally abused author, Yvonne Maes -- is still a so-called "man of God" while his victim is no longer a nun. Out of an apparent jealous need to squelch whatever in her noble service record reflects negatively on his deficiencies as a priest, Fr. Frank declares his sexual passion for Sister Yvonne, rapes her and then snidely belittles her protests until she is silenced into dazed compliance for a time.

   When she finally emerges from years of depressed submission to Fr. Frank's misogynistic take on "God's will" for them, Yvonne next suffers secondary abuse from a kangaroo ecclesiastical court, only convened to respond to her complaints in a proscribed and condescending way. (And fancy finding out later that the bishop acting as the diocesan equivalent of a district attorney is himself a sexual predator)

   The charade of justice includes one in-court confrontation between Yvonne and her former tormentor that is most awkward and wrenching for having been played out before moral arbiters who are themselves as much in conflict with their own sexuality as the nun and priest on trial. The priest admits he broke his vows of celibacy, but remains oblivious to the damage he did to Yvonne as a human being and colleague in religious service. For him, ultimate accountability is only an issue of admitting to a moral lapse, receiving absolution and continuing on as a priest. While Yvonne, who tried to take a moral stand, in exposing the abuse done to her leaves the church that failed to back her in that stand.

   When I was eight years old, I saw the movie "Song of Bernadette" and became enchanted with the idea of becoming a nun. But after reading Yvonne's heart-rending memoir, I know that as long as the Church retains these wolves in sheep's clothing who call themselves priests, I'd rather take my chances walking down a blind alley at 2 A.M. in a drug-infested part of town than play guessing games with wondering who's really a good priest and who's not!




3. I don't generally like nonfiction/biography books, but The Cannibal's Wife is a sensitive, moving read. I only gave it 4 stars because the subject matter made me, well, disturbed. Nevertheless, I recommend it highly. Sometimes we need to be disturbed.



4. well very boring!at first I wanted to cr



5. The Cannibal's Wife is a searing, self-revealing, and frightening book. On a personal level, it is about sadomasochism, gender asymmetry, and abuse of power. On a social level, it is about institutional blindness and complicity. It is ironic that the church may be one of the last locations in which sexual harassment can be practiced without serious repercussion. It is a riveting read.

   --Margaret R. Miles Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs The Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA