5 comments about The Ride Together: A Brother and Sister's Memoir of Autism in the Family.

1. The authors call this a "memoir of autism in the family", but a more telling tag line would be "memoir of a family". Their autistic brother Dave is not the focus of the memoir as much as one could have hoped for. Especially the sister's prose pieces are a bit more concerned with her own reactions and feelings than with Dave himself. Paul Karasik is a bit more focused on Dave, but also with Paul himself as more or less the main character. When you finish reading you know more about Paul and Judy than you know about Dave. That said it's a well written and drawn book, and if you pick it up to read a brother and sister's memoir of their family (which is interesting enough in itself), you won't be disappointed. But if you pick it up to read about "autism in the family", you'll be disappointed. HWI



2. This is a truly outstanding book. Siblings Paul and Judy Karasik tell their life stories as relates to their brother David, who has an especially severe form of autism.
   
   Born in 1948, David appeared to meet developmental milestones within normal limits during the first year of his life, save for speech. In beautifully, brilliantly drawn comic-style illustrations, his younger brother Paul depicts family scenes with David and then only sibling, younger brother Michael going to a doctor's office while David awaits his verdict. David receives a multitude of antiquated diagnoses given the times including aphasia.
   
   Judy and Paul, the two youngest Karasik children chronicle the parallels of their neurotypical development alongside of that of David. Unable to stand changes to his routine, David insists on "putting on TV shows" wherein he "interviewed" politicians and copied the format of televised interviews. When crossed, he would self stim and even hit his own head, screaming out names of television characters. He also liked to list the names of the neighborhood barbers and seemed to derive comfort in anticipating his haircuts at their shop. The barbers had established a bond with the Karasik family and would step up to the plate for their father when he suffered his final illness in 1992.
   
   Other challenges crop up in their family. The Karasik children's maternal grandfather and his daughter, their aunt move into their home in 1969. Their aunt, severely debilitated and profoundly retarded after suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage in infancy is installed in one room and their grandfather has the study. An angel of a nurse named Dorothy White cares for the pair as well as the Karasik children.
   
   To ease Dorothy's work load, a night nurse is hired. When Judy comes home one night and finds the nurse watching television, ignoring her grandfather's anguished cries and dismissing them, the first person she calls is Dorothy. Like the Cavalry, Dorothy rushes over to the home to resume caring for the pair. The night nurse's departure is expedited and rightfully so after her callous inattention to the patients' needs.
   
   Dorothy again steps up to the plate for her ailing charges. She insists on having them move into her home where she and other members of her family can care of them. This arrangement worked well until a fire destroyed her home in March, 1978 killing both patients, another relative who lived in the home and injuring Dorothy's husband. An electrical short from a television in an upstairs bedroom caused the fire and sadly, the patients perished from smoke inhalation. Luckily, the Karasiks were able to rally around Dorothy and her husband's side and continue a circle of love. Dorothy sounded like a genuine angel.
   
   The professional and personal Long & Winding Roads of each Karasik are gently chronicled. Readers come away with an enriched sense of life with multiple challenges - severe autism; sibling questions; elderly relatives' needs and sadly, the death of a parent. The comic illustrations by Paul Karasik add much to the book and some are such beautifully moving accounts, such as the early one about David's diagnosis and later, the death of their father that they might make you cry. The final comic strip in this book is also quite moving indeed. Dorothy's kindness is also extremely heartwarming.
   
   There are funny parts. Paul's middle school prank, as he drew many years later; Paul and David going to the Three Stoogeathon in their neighborhood theater and the HILARIOUS story Paul drew about that movie trip might make you laugh. I love that!
   
   Judy describes watching the movie "Rain Man" on television. Although the movie is never mentioned by name, it is plain that it is the movie she references. In her words, it is a movie about somebody "with an autistic brother" who lives in a residence; can tell how many matches are in a box and who is taken out of his residential facility to travel the countryside with his neurotypical brother. Although I didn't care for "Rain Man," I found her comments about it in relation to her brother very interesting.
   
   David was enrolled in residential facilities that were unsatisfactory and day programs with varying degrees of success. In 1995 when their mother, then widowed 3 years decides to sell the family home and move into a smaller place, the sad and frightening truth about David's then current placement emerges. Mother and siblings band together and find a good program that will meet David's needs.
   
   This book really touched my heart. I hope other readers will enjoy it and find it as moving as I did.



3. "The Ride Together" provides a unique illustration of living
   with--growing up with--autism. The book gives voice like nothing
   else to the personal impact of autism on family members in ways not ordinarily considered. For example, a youngster wincing when his friend casually uses "retard" as an epithet. Or mom patiently explaining why it's fair that one's brother doesn't have to clean his room "because everything else is so hard for him." There are escape mechanisms one must develop in order not to be overwhelmed--one poignant example being the adoption of avoidance strategies in adolescence so the girl you want to date won't actually come to your house. The format of the book combines clear, unsentimental prose and graphic novel form, enhancing its message in the way that poetry lends added meaning to ordinary words and phrases.



4. What a unique and astounding experience this book is. The authors tell the story of their autistic brother in a way that made me shake my head in wonder. Alternating chapters of prose and graphic/illustrated text paint a portrait of such power and poignant insight that neither method alone could ever achieve. For me, it was like when, after instumental music has taken us as far as it can, the vocal chorus kicks in in Beethoven's Ninth. As I read (and re-read) this book, I found that the chapters were almost conducting a dialog with each other, with "prose" chapters challenging the "words-and-pictures" ones, and vice versa, each chapter upping the narrative ante. Because the format alternates as it does, our brains are constantly challenged and engaged, and we get to know David and all the members of the Karasik family in wasy that make it unlikely that we will soon forget them.

   A stunning achievement.




5. Although the format is indeed innovative; interspersing cartoon chapters with prose, neither type of chapter had enough substance to make it worth reading. The book had a very interesting premise (which made me buy it), but I was disappointed that it was so loosely tied together and undeveloped.

5 comments about Twitch and Shout: A Touretter's Tale.

1. Taken from the perspective of an author who lives with Tourette's Syndrome, Lowell Handler provides one of the most vivid everyday observances to a most uncontrollable disorder. What most people have little grasp on, Handler often uses humility and humor to set examples of how only one living with this handicap can describe.
   
   Tourette's Syndrome is usually spotted early before the age of eighteen, found to impair males more than females (almost three to one). Tourette's creates involuntary movements and tics that usually cannot be controlled by the person. Vocally, inappropriate language and animal sounds is the most common dysfunction towards the disorder's spontaneous combustion.
   
   Twitch & Shout gives an inspirational account of a man that survives triumphantly, documenting the good and the bad as an author, photographer and moviemaker, on top of personal and love interest. People with Tourette's lead normal and healthy lives, but the journey sometimes is not. Feeling comfortable means comprehending the diagnoses. Handler evokes a great deal of self into the findings of this book.
   
   SIDENOTE
   Handler filmed a documentary also called Twitch & Shout before the book was published. This can be found at select local libraries on a VHS format. The video shows some different perspectives that the book cannot illustrate. VERY RECOMMENDED.



2. Many Touretters will say that Tourette's gives rhythm to not only movement and speech, but thought and life as well. This book, with its energetic, pulsing, and sometimes explosive rhythm, certainly seems to bear that out.

   The author, who has Tourette's syndrome himself, describes the way Tourette's interplays with and shapes his life, in an integrated way even when he sees it as an interference. He meets people with varying kinds and degrees of Tourette's, along with Oliver Sacks, a famous neurologist who studies people with Tourette's.

   As a person whose tics are too mild for me to really consider them a part of me, I found it interesting to see what life is like with tics that integrate themselves into every part of a person's life. I noticed parallels between the attitudes of some Touretters toward Tourette's and the attitude of many autistic people toward autism, where there's not as much of a line to be drawn between a condition and a person's personality as a purely medical/disease model would make it sound. This book was both interesting and genuinely enjoyable to read.




3. Twitch and Shout is a fascinating, moving, and informative account of an artistic young man (the author) who confronts his Tourette Syndrome head on, deliberately living at full tilt in defiance of the much misunderstood disorder.

   Moments of transcendent prose alternate with hilarious and sometimes sad memoir.

   As an artist and advocate of mastery, I appreciated how the author's challenges shaped his journey, bringing him numerous triumphs, as photographer, author, friend and lover. With objectivity and grace, he discovered that Tourette informed part of who he was, and acted almost as a language or culture, at times a heightened state.

   I was moved by this perspective, and aspire to its message, that we should not only accept our rough edges, but see them as the parameters of our genius.




4. I was so impressed with the frankness and openess of this book. Handler allows its reader into a world that there are not many doors for those without TS. He helps the reader explore the humor of TS, the complexity of TS and the comradery between Touretters. This book is profoundly honest. It is a must read for those readers interested in Tourette Syndrome.



5. I was very disappointed that the author spent so much time using TS as an excuse for his immoral lifestyle. I'd rather not have read about his sex life & drug use.

   The book almost seemed to give the impression that all of us who have TS (yes, that means me too) go around living this way.

   The book actually did have a few pages that were worth reading so I gave it two stars rather than one.

1 comments about Maybe Baby: An Infertile Love Story.

1. When we think of creating our families, most of us take for granted that we'll have exactly the number of children we want exactly when we want them. It seems the more "together" you have it when it comes to family planning the greater the disappointment when all things reproductive don't go as planned. In his book, Matt Miller does a wonderful job of expressing his dreams and hopes of fatherhood and the bitter disappointment that comes when those dreams suddenly become elusive. A beautiful, often humorous, always raw and honest account of the experience of infertility from a male point of view, this beautifully written book reads like a novel. The love Matt and his wife have for each other and for their family and friends is palpable and inspiring! Truly a "love story," this entertaining and informative book is a must-read for anyone who has ever experienced or is currently experiencing any level of infertility or delay in family planning.

3 comments about Look up for Yes.

1. I thought that the book was exelent and that Julia could have talked more about her family and more about Goldwater. Overall she did a fantastic job at writing this book.



2. A nurse recommended the book to my sister. She said it changed the way she treats patients. My sister read it in one afternoon. It makes you think and reminds you to count your blessings!



3. Those who weap because they have no shoes should meet this woman who has no feet, no hands, no voice, no normalcy. And yet she greets the day with poetry and refuses -- against odds few people could bear -- to loosen her grip on reality, on the future, on hope. Where some autobiographical writers might seek our pity, Julia demands our respect. Where some labor to generate tears, Julia aims to generate cheers -- and at times outbursts of profanity. Her story is a fast, easy-to-follow read packed with flashbacks, present-day tales and, the most essential element of all, hope

5 comments about The Mind Tree: A Miraculous Child Breaks the Silence of Autism.

1. I give this book 5 stars!
   
   From the moment that my son was diagnosed as Autistic, I searched for books that are written by Autistic individuals because I wanted better insight and there's no better insight than from the one who walks the path themselves. Tito not only gave great insight, he amazed me with the most beautiful poetry that I have ever had the priviledge of reading.
   



2. I have read this book 4 times, bought 7 copies to send to all my family. I have a non-verbal child with autism and this book has given me insights into what his life is like. It is so inspiring you can not put it down! Tito is such an articulate writer that I sometimes need to re-read his book to catch all the different meanings his words have said. Actually some of his poetry reminds me of great prophets in the Bible, that need to be studied, considered at every angle, and deeply absorbed. Thank you Tito for all your inspiration! Keep it up!



3. My son has autism and uses a high-tech communication device. This book challenged me to look at the world from my son's perspective and helped me better understand this disorder. It also proves that individuals without verbal communication can still have a lot "to say".



4. I've only read one other book about Autism. That was "Speed of Dark", which was fiction from the point of view of an autistic. It provided fascinating insight into the viewpoint of an autistic, but again it was fiction. It is worth noting that the author was the mother of an Autistic.
   
   I digress. Onto the book "The Mind Tree". I feel I should tell people what this book is actually going to be like. I would have liked to give the book 3.5 stars, but alas there is no option for it. So, I gave it the benefit of the doubt with 4 stars. This is because I know how remarkable it is for someone with such severe Autism as Tito to have written the way he wrote so articulately. That having said, the reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because Tito's prose can be hard to read. Not that it isn't readable--he's actually quite articulate at times--I just found myself doing a LOT of double-takes on certain sentences that I had trouble reading.
   
   The "story" (for lack of a better term) is basically a description of the events of Tito's life as he remembers them. He remembers a great deal, which is impressive. He also does a pretty good job of explaining why he couldn't do things like converse or focus, as well as explained some of his behavioral oddities. For instance, he describes his nervous rocking and/or movement of his arms as "flapping" and explains that he did this because if he wasn't moving, he lost "track" of his body and couldn't "feel" his hands, arms, etc.
   
   This could actually be a good book to read if you have a severely autistic child, or otherwise have a severely autistic person in your life. I think it would help to better understand the world through their eyes and why they behave the way they do. I found the book, overall, a bit dull and I found myself spacing out at times. It really is more or less just an account of how he went from doctor to doctor, from city to city, with his mother in an effort to find him some help. I've always felt that autists really were "normal" people deep down, but that something prevented them from communicating, behaving correctly or properly dealing with social situations, and Tito's words are a fascinating look into exactly how that feels.



5. I loved Tito every moment I read the book and have immense respect for the dedication, persistence and effort of his mother Soma. She seems to be a very strong woman to handle it all alone. But I have to mention this that I hated the part where Tito writes he was hit hard until he paid attention. I have seen and heard of many successful people who cannot ever forget their childhood abuse by their parents even though they were for good reasons.This is a very wrong concept used earlier and is not encouraged any more by many many people these days. Even though hitting might prove right for some reason it does a permanent damage to one's inner self.

3 comments about Deaf Hearing Boy: A Memoir (Deaf Lives Series, Vol. 2).

1. This is a memoir of a boy with normal hearing who is raised by two deaf parents. It reveals the problems and prejudice faced by this subset of individuals and one boy's never say die techniques of overcoming them. It demonstrates as well the problems, both internal and external of the deaf community. It is a very touching and visceral account of the author's trip from infancy to adulthood in very challenging circumstances which ultimately results in strength and resilience of character. It's a quick read and well worth the time.



2. R.H. Miller provides very descriptive detail with every sentence. This wonderful book is an autobiography of R.H. Miller's life as he remembers it as a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults). A fascinating book that you can hardly put down.



3. The second volume of the Deaf Lives series, Deaf Hearing Boy: A Memoir is the true story the author, born in 1938 as the oldest of four hearing boys to deaf parents. Deaf Hearing Boy chronicles growing up in changing times, and the author's own experience as the sometimes unwilling liaison between his deaf parents and hearing grandparents. The end of World War II brought poverty to the family, as returning soldiers displaced his parents' jobs and they had to resort to scraping by on the family farm. Deaf Hearing Boy chronicles an era when small farms gradually faded from the landscape, and cultural connectivity began to erode the isolation of deaf people. It tells of prejudice against the deaf, from fathers who would not let the author date their daughters for fear that the author carried a gene for deafness that would be passed on, to misunderstandings within the family and more. And it tells of a young man's abiding respect for his parents, despite the problems unique to a deaf couple striving to raise hearing children. A compelling testimony drawn directly from heart and memory.

5 comments about Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D.

1. I admire the courage Lizzie Simon has to peel away- everything- and show us all the inside of her brain!
   
   This is the memoir of her journey to find other young successful people like herself who suffer from bipolar disorder. She interviews seven different people who have similar stories to tell.
   
   "Everybody has stories about being misdiagnosed, mistreated, misunderstood and disrespected by the medical community.
   
   Everybody has spent long stretches of time as zombies waiting for medicine to work. Most of us have been good sports about humiliating side effects like weight gain, bed-wetting and drooling.
   
   Everybody experienced a time when it didn't look as if they were gonna make it. Everybody did make it."
   
   How brave of her to write this honest and eye opening memoir about the struggle and the stigma associated with mental illness.
   
   I was so impressed by her ability to communicate the sadness but especially the mania. She was so unflinchingly direct with not one word of psychiatric jargon. This was a very real and often raw account of her cross-country adventure.
   
   This was not a scientific study, this is the story of Lizzie's experience, it's a hopefully story. I feel the people she interviewed were very fortunate most of them had good parents who educated themselves and helped their children through their crisis.
   
   Of course this could have been a very different story if Lizzie had chosen to write an objective scientific study about people suffering from bipolar disorder in America. I most likely wouldn't have read that book. I'm thankful she wrote this story, I found it very insightful.



2. I've re-read this book twice since discovering it. I continued to admire its emotional authenticity and intellectual clarity, which wind up allowing the reader to get beyond the wealth of misconceptions that surround bipolarity. This book goes way deeper and further than most personal-experience books on medical/emotional conditions.



3. Detour provides another perspective for those who are bipolar or have a loved one who is bipolar. There are other books out there that cover the science and case studies of the disorder. This is a much more personal book. I certainly don't think it is the only book you should read on the subject. Beware that the focus is on the under 35, college educated, relatively recently diagnosed bipolar person. If you are that person you need to read this book. It is a very quick read and well worth the effort.



4. I thought that I would be able to relate to Simon's book as I have a few things in common with her. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at nineteen after experiencing a manic episode induced by antidepressants. I too have felt quite lonely at times; I've found myself wishing I had a friend who could relate to my experiences with bipolar disorder. I thought the book would be encouraging, and in a way it is. After reading it you remember that you aren't alone, that other teenagers and young adults have struggled with this disorder and they've survived.
   
   I think that memoirs of this type can be misleading. I've read Jamison's book and Patty Duke's book to name a few and I have the same problem with these books as well. Anybody reading these books might think that the answer to bipolar disorder is simple enough, you need to take Lithium. Don't get me wrong, Lithium is an amazing medication; it brought me out of a manic high in about a week. And I took it for about two years and then it lost its effectiveness. Lithium can save lives but it isn't always the answer and it definitely isn't a perfect solution.
   
   I finished the book feeling that medications are the answer to bipolar. But what about people like me who don't respond to Lithium or who can't tolerate the horrendous side-effects of the other mood stabilizers and antidepressants? There is no answer to this question in her book. And that's fine, I suppose, that isn't what she wanted her book to be about but she doesn't need to put down people who go the alternative route. In one section she is at a support group looking for "successful" bipolars and they are going around the circle describing their personal situations. Simon writes: "Next is this crackpot bipolar nutritionist lady who says that at the Parsons Institute they taught her how to change her diet and do eight million behavioral adjustments so she doesn't need so much medicine. She is fifty-nine, not young enough for my purposes." After I read that I wasn't at all convinced that it was the woman's age that deterred Simon from interviewing her but rather it was her "crackpot" nutrition.
   
   In the same section she describes a woman whose son has bipolar schizoaffective disorder; the woman is there trying to gather information about treatment. Simons writes: "She has no clinical diagnosis herself, but I identify her immediately as a real nut.'. The woman says that her son gets put on all types of different medications and he isn't getting any better, he just sits in his room and does nothing. Simon doesn't verbalize her opinion in the group but thinks to herself: "Maybe he just hates you".
   
   Simon seems quite conflicted. On the one hand she does a good job at expressing her disgust with the stigma surrounding bipolar disorder. On the other hand she is quick to use derogatory language. It's as if by using such language she is contributing to the very stigma that she is trying to fight. I found this particular aspect of the book unsettling.
   
   Anyway, despite my criticisms of the book I would still recommend that you give it a try, it's interesting enough. But here's my warning: please don't feel bad if you find that you don't fit into Simon's definition of a "successful bipolar", she's a hard marker.



5. I picked up this book about 1 1/2 years ago thinking that I'd find something that I could relate to, as I'm a 30 bipolar woman. Unfortunately, I could not relate to Lizzie Simon. She is elitist and she is very self-congratulatory. It is so embarrassing to read about her relationship with Nicholas, and somehow she thinks that she's the only one who could understand him. He can't understand himself!!! Needless to say, I don't understand what all the hype is when reading this book. I think there are plenty of people out there who have written excellent books on their struggles with mental illness (i.e Kay Redfield Jamison, William Styron). This book, though entertaining, is very base.

5 comments about Slackjaw.

1. This memoir is funny,clever and engaging. Knipfel is an interesting guy to say the least. If "Slackjaw" hadn't come highly recomended to me, there's no way I would have read a book about a mentally-ill, guy who tried to kill himself several times before going blind. However, since I did, it was rewarding, humorous, proud and never depressing.



2. The book is most interesting. Knipfel knows how to tell a story; he tells in a sarcastic way the story of his life. Very important book for rehabilitation teachers for the blind and social workers.



3. Jim Knipfel is an idiot, truly. He's the type of person that delivers stories on characters like Werner Herzog and Ed Gein, very self-aggrandising, and, most significant to his idiot status, fails to understand anything at all. Want to be like Jim Knipfel? Quickly read a story in the newspaper, spend the next ten years watching The Nanny, then write a story based on what you read in the newspaper, and then assume the role of expert on the whole thing.



4. I like this book. I like Jim Knipfel's writing in general. He's quite good, and seems to be a naturally gifted author who's learned the ropes from his years as a columnist. In a strange sort of way, I consider him to be yet another link in the line of writers first described in the 1950s as the Beats. He measures up to many of those great truthsayers, and I always look forward to more work from Mr. Knipfel.

   Long may he linger.




5. Slackjaw is an entertaining memoir about the author's past. Jim writes with raw honesty and the book has a contagious personal quality that makes it hard to stop reading. Even though people may go through different hardships than the author, he writes in a way in which all people can relate. Through all the hard times, Jim takes the time to look at the ironic, hilarious details that make life, life.
   This book is highly recommended...

5 comments about Marked for Life: A Memoir.

1. As others have observed, this is a hard book to put down, and worthy of your attention. I happened to be doing research on the lives of people born with birthmarks, but I got much more than I bargained for in this book. In short, Joie Davidow is someone I admire and not merely because of her courage -- she's quite a writer. Highly recommended.



2. Who would imagine that a memoir about a rare form of birthmark commonly referred to as a "port wine" mark would be impossible to put down? Joie Davidow's lover during college chose her over a "certified genius" girlfriend from his hometown. Joie Davidow may not be "certified," but she certainly demonstrates creative genius. In writing about the stigma of growing up with a dark purple "handprint" over half her face, Ms. Davidow also manages to mirror the larger "print" of civilization and its consideration of who passes the "test" for perfection. For example, Ms. Davidow, then a young teen who hates being asked, "What happened to you?" asks an elderly woman why she has a number tatooed onto her arm. The book tells about growing up Jewish in a small mostly non-Jewish town where one isn't to make a "big deal" over anything, including the purple mark; what this means is that she is not to show her feelings about anything. When she first falls in love, her father makes that a very big deal. He (...) stops speaking to his young and rather innocent daughter (other than to insult her), another "mark for life" in terms of her relationships with men. Her training as a singer is also fascinating. If all of this sounds rather heavy and intense, the reader should know that Ms. Davidow has a wonderful and subtle sense of humor. Her writing sings.



3. Ms. Davidow is an avid storyteller who has bared her soul to allow us the opportunity to examine the life of someone living with a port wine stain. The birthmark is secondary to the obstacles that probably faced many Jewish women growing up where she did and when she did. I applaud her for her honesty and trust. As someone who has also grown up with birthmarks I can appreciate the pain she has felt, the stares she has endured, and the longing to "be normal" that is evident in her story.

   Great book; Great person.




4. Marked For Life is "about" a stigma as much as Moby Dick is about a whale; it is surely the central problem, but it is the journey wherein lies the story. The body and its frailties, its betrayals, and its reflection, for better or worse, on our selves is everyone's existential lot, and the pathos in the narrative both gives one perspective, and becomes a real life metaphor for the paradoxes we all live; experiencing pleasure and creative expression through our physical beings while conversely being confined, by gender, appearance, and longings that both drive us and make us want to scream to the void: "I am not this body!"
   The "mark" has even broader implications as the author searches for ways to conceal as well as integrate the "problem" as she grows, reflected in the myriad ways the mark is gazed by different people in her life, parents, doctors, lovers and society itself over time and personal growth. The greatest irony of the story is that Ms Davidow is actually quite beautiful, as well as brilliant, but it is the refrain of the book:"If I had been born in another time, another place..." which reminds us of the fragility that physicality burdens us with, and how lucky we are to be here now.



5. MARKED FOR LIFE is one of those books that stays with you for a long time. I could not put it down once I started reading it. It is much more than just the story of someone with a port wine stain--it is a story about the growing pains that we all feel in life and the attempts we make to fit in. I recommend this book to anyone who believes that real life stories are more interesting than any fiction. Joie is a talented storyteller and you can't help rooting for her throughout this touching and well-written book. I especially recommend this book for all young women. A must read.

5 comments about Blind Faith: The Miraculous Journey of Lula Hardaway, Stevie Wonder's Mother.

1. Interesting only to a point. Lula plays off her sons leaving us hanging. By the time I finished the book, any compassion I had for her story was lost in the repeated saga of her own self egotisim.



2. Lula Hardaway was a great, great lady. How many would go through what Mama went through, for the sake of her children? The difficult years of a young girl, the despicable treatment of Lula by her first husband, and her triumph over unbelieveable obstacles, is an amazing story! And her belief in her 12 year old blind son, who became Stevie Wonder, is the ultimate story of a mother's love. I knew Mama since 1965, when I began working with Steve. I spoke to her just two weeks ago, lively, funny, with a laugh that made 'me' laugh. Goodbye Mama. I miss you already.



3. 1932-2006.
   
   It was truly a Miraculous Journey.



4. This was a great book! It was wonderful to read about Stevie's mother and her struggles through the years. I grew up listening to Stevie having parents who saw his show a few times. I learned things I never knew about Stevie and his life. I highly suggest this book.



5. This one started out so well. A fascinating life story which then morphed into the biography of a son. I picked it up on sale thinking it looked really interesting...and it was...at first. I was disappointed when Lula, the subject of the biography, was forgotten as soon as Stevie signed with Motown. We no longer have Lula's biography, we have "Stevie Wonder: The Early Years". After the Stevie section started we merely get asides mentioning that Lula is divorced, Lula is remarried, Lula is divorced, again. Not what I signed up for when I started reading it.