5 comments about Over My Head: A Doctor's Own Story of Head Injury from the Inside Looking Out.

1. I was told to Read the book Over My Head By Claudia L. Osborne. I Like Her Was in a Bad accident in which I also had a closed head Brain Injury. I was in a coma for over 7 weeks in late August of 2006. I would agree with the writers synopsis that all you want to do is get back to your old Self, To be the same personyou were and do the same things but so many things changed in that split second that it is not only better to forget the Who you were and to Start basically a new Life. It is the only way to look positivly and to go on with life a new. A lot of the things in life will stay the same and yet there are so many things that I can no longer do. I could Bitch and Moan and get on hating My New Life or I could accept what has happened, Thank God Daily that for what ever reason I was spared: that He has a plan for Me and I must look at the positive and not the negative. I make it a goal now to work on putting a smile on My face every day by the time I close my eyes and go to sleep. That is of course after I have thanked the Dear Lord For The things that I can still enjoy among those things are the greatest Family and Friends a person could have. You have to look at life as a whole New life; separate and different in so many ways from who You used to be, but The same in social aspects where things ar still the same.



2. I first read this book at the recommendation of my neuropsychologist following a closed-head injury 8 years ago. I think it saved my sanity! Closed-head injury can bring about a panoply of just plain WEIRD symptoms that can make the patient (and their family, for that matter) feel as if they're losing their mind. The insanity is explained by a doctor who went through the same experience after an accident. She talks about it in a very non-technical way and helps the patient and those around the patient understand what's happening, why, and that NO, you're not nuts!



3. I suffered a ruptured aneurysm this summer '07, and read this book while recovering from brain surgery. It prepared me for the worst regarding other's responses to my temporary slower mental functioning. The book also helped me to be more sensitive to other people in general regardless of whether an infirmity is obvious or not. I.e., people were very compassionate toward me when my head was shaved and my scalp was full of staples, but now that my hair has grown back and the staples have been removed, that sensitivity has disappeared even though I am still recovering and will be for a long time.
   
   I was inspired by Dr. Osborn's strength and her determination to overcome her deficits. I admire her for writing this book to help others in her situation. Because of this book, I knew to ask my neurologist about cognitive therapy and am now enrolled and working with a occupational/speech therapist.
   
   I don't recommend reading this book early in the recovery process if you have had any kind of brain injury. I did, and it caused severe depression to overcome me. For lighter, more humorous material about brain injury survivors' ordeals, I recommend Susie Becker's book, "I had Brain Surgery, What's Your Excuse?"



4. I have had Encephalitis twice, recieved rehabilitation in Occupational, Physical and Speech therapies, and currently work full-time, yet will forever be aware of my physical & mental limitations. In this book a doctor explains her acquired brain injury and the rehab process she and her famuly and friends dealt with, along with the positive strategies she has gained to deal with her life today. This book clearly clarified for me the diference between TBI and simple brain injury and brought to reality the fact that other people have dealt with similar rehab situations as myself & survived successfully! A must read I found hard to put down.



5. Osborn does what is virtually impossible. She translates the fog of a damaged brain's function into vignettes that an undamaged brain can comprehend.
   
   In her case, this translation is from experiences which were by definition wordless, disorganized, incomprehensible, frightening and often completely mindless to their opposites. The level of Dr. Osborn's skill in doing this may be best understood by readers who have some experience (as I do) in being with brain-injured people.
   
   Whether one appreciates Osborn's achievement in communicating the uncommunicable is unimportant. What is valuable is that she succeeds so well in giving us insight into the "being" of at a subset of the injured.
   
   Most of the incidents recorded in the book are too long to quote in illustration of my point. Their length is a necessary consequence of Osborn's wish to reveal her floundering. Nothing in her life was straightforward. A relatively short excerpt follows:
   
   BEGIN EXCERPT (page 33)
   
   "I left soon after for the bookstore, but with the force of old habit and despite Marcia's written reminder dangling from the dash, I drove directly to the hospital. And then home again. Three times.
   
   "It was noon when I drove out of the hospital parking lot for the third time, I was determined it wouldn't happen again.
   
   "Now, as I turned onto the main road, Marcia's note clutched in my hand, I chanted, "Book store, go to the bookstore.'
   
   "I was still saying it thirty minutes later as I turned into our driveway.
   
   "When I got into the house, I reread Marcia's note. Lord, the bookstore.
   
   "Well, I would definitely get the book tomorrow. Right now, I could still do the second item on her list - water the lawn."
   
   END EXCERPT (page 34)
   
   Needless to say, Osborn forgot to water the lawn.
   
   The book is also notable in illustrating the lack of insight (in regard to her limitations) that Osborn (as others) experienced for quite some time. Then, once insight was gained, she writes about her struggle with a sorrowed sense of lost self.
   
   One incident that helped to her to understand the scope of her lost abilities (which apparently were exceptional) is recorded on pages 205-206. She was not able perform even so "simple" a cognitive exercise as making a telephone call to obtain a patient's medical information.
   
   The book provides a generalized understanding of how rehabilitation is accomplished. This includes learning stratagems for partially replacing lost structural functions.
   
   BEGIN EXCERPT (page 145)
   
   "Now my notes ordered me to [begin italics] really look in the mirror. Hair combed? Teeth cleaned? Collar straight? Earrings match? Expression alert, smiling? [end italics] It began to make a difference."
   
   END EXCERPT
   
   For the most part, the rehab portions of the book are most useful for providing a patient's view of rehabilitation. "Over My Head" certainly does not provide an overview of rehabilitation techniques. Osborn does, however, include a concise review of the generalized deficits that rehab and therapy have to address.
   
   By the end of the book, Osborn manages to return to teaching medicine, but in a format and in situations where she can proceed more or less by rote and under controlled circumstances. Osborn emphasizes that adult brain injury generally imposes permanent limitations upon post-trauma performance. You will not be who you were. Part of the rehabilitation process requires coming to emotional grips with whom you have become.
   
   I recommend "Over My Head" without reservation. It will be of most value to people new to dealing with brain trauma. It also has worth for those of us who lost figurative pieces of ourselves, but do not have brain trauma to blame. The "coping with loss and less" element of the book has universal appeal.
   
   Throughout, Osborn shines as a human being.

5 comments about About Alice.

1. It's all been said before, but never so eloquently. A true loss. An amazing spirit.



2. This is a slim book and a quick read but don't let the small size fool you; it packs a punch. Readers of Trillin's other works may recognize a version (or two) of Alice in this book. He never nails down Alice's essence which may be a disappointment for anyone who picks up the book with the hope that Alice's true personality would be revealed. This is a love letter about Alice and their marriage.
   
   Love can be the culmination of stories told (some details are naturally remembered differently than your partner) and shared experiences. Trillin visits many different stories and memories (his and others') about Alice and their life together. There is no doubt he loved her and was inspired by her to be a better writer and a better person.



3. Calvin Trillin's wife Alice died of cardiac arrest in 2001. During their 36-year marriage, Alice had served as Trillin's muse and first editor, and she often featured as a sort of character in his writing. (I confess I've only read one other book by Trillin, his 2001 novel Tepper Isn't Going Out). In About Alice, published in 2006, Trillin seems to be trying to define his wife's personality, to preserve a piece of it for the record, to explain why she inspired his devotion. It is not a maudlin account. He writes about Alice's attitudes toward parenting and money, for example, about the role she played in his writing, her charity work, her cancer scare in 1976. The book is a sort of extended love letter to Alice, to be sure, but a further point of the exercise is to be found on the book's dedication page. About Alice is dedicated not to her, but to the couple's grandchildren, who will never know her. The book is a nice gift to them, and to Alice.
   
   About Alice is brief--it only takes about an hour to read--and Trillin's prose goes down easy. The book should be of particular interset to readers familiar with Trillin's characterization of his wife in earlier books.
   
   -- Debra Hamel



4. This less-than-80-pages is a little bit of a memoir, a compilation of excerpts from journal entries, a walk-down memory lane, but undeniably, a tribute to his wife who was to him a muse, a companion, and a coach & cheerleader...
   Although I enjoyed Trillin's work and his piece that is solely dedicated to his wife, I was disappointed by the shortness and choppy-ness of the piece as a whole. Especially after having read many high praise reviews (on Amazon and widely-circulated newspapers), I was disappointed that as this was written as a rather private work, I felt like an outsider looking in at private moments and inside jokes that was incoherent to an outsider. It seemed that the Trillins had a beautiful relationship and partnership where Alice was so much more than Calvin's wife. I regret that the work did not show a fuller picture of their type of love in a more comprehensible and coherent way.



5. By providing a number of memorable incidents from his wife Alice's life, author Trillin definitely piques the reader's interest to more about this woman. In many respects she reminded me of my mother -- warm, bright, out-spoken, opinionated, and never shy about telling people what she thinks (with their best interest in mind, of course). Alice, like my mother, also put her words into 'action.' I enjoyed the scenarios that Trillin selected and the book makes for the perfect "light read" associated with 'coffee table books.' There difference here is, that the reader leaves the book behind a bit more heart-centered to go about the business and busyness of the day. (Scott O'Brien - author of "Kay Francis - I Can't Wait to be Forgotten.")

5 comments about Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence.

1. Matt Sanford is my hero!!! He has tremendous courage and wisdom despite being dealt some really tough blows in his young life. Somehow, he has managed through a lot of hard work to use what he's learned and share it through words that speak volumes to me about what's really important in life. I read a ton of books; this one is in my top 5 book ever. It made me cringe, wince, laugh, remember, cry, hurt, and most of all cherish my life in a deeper way than I ever knew possible.
   
   Even if you think that you don't want to read anything that would make you "hurt or wince", this is one of those books that also reminds us to appreciate our connection both to our inner selves and others.
   
   Thank you Matt. . . you're too awesome for words!



2. This memoir was a very fast read for me. I got very interested in the many directions that the authors life went. It awakened something in me as well. I will look up the authors website..to learn even more. This memoir was also very touching.



3. I have read this book now three times over. It is one of the best books I have ever read. It is one of those books that makes you stop and take a look at your life and make changes. The book is extremely well written. The way Matt tells his tragic story and adds his insight makes you admire him greatly. The way he worries about his family in the midst of his own tragedy makes you fall in love with him. The way the story turns out and the way he lives his life presently makes you want to meet him and tell him how much his story has touched you.



4. Incredible story. So sad and yet the dominant feeling is truly one of transcendence and the inner strength of Matt and his family. It certainly puts life in perspective and insires us to focus on the wholeness of our lives as he does, not what we sometimes perceive as lacking. It's a quick read and one that every yoga student should read.



5. Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence is a life story that makes demands on the reader not unlike a yoga or rehabilitation stretch. Just when you think that it is too much to bear, there is a moment of breakthrough, of grace, that makes it possible to perverere. I devoured this book in less than a day because of its style and conviction--and because the therapeutic presence of Matthew Sanford on the page is palpable. Waking will resonate with readers who have sustained a physical loss, who have been traumatized, and/or who are open to the possibility of a different type of healing. I also believe it could help health care workers understand from the inside-out what it is like to live in a body altered by the unexpected. I found this book by accident while googling the phrase "trauma and transcendence." The subtitle precisely sums up the book's theme. My only complaint is its brevity (241 pages). It could have easily been double that length, sharing greater details of Sanford's life with paralysis and the yoga practice that echoes his own deep well of wisdom and courage.

5 comments about Road Map to Holland: How I Found My Way Through My Son's First Two Years With Down Syndrome.

1. This book took my breath away with its factual, emotional, and honest capturing of the journey through the birth, diagnosis, and early growth of a child with Down syndrome. Groneberg clearly displays the confusion, guilt, exhaustion, fear, and (later) unparalleled joy that the news, 'Your baby has Down syndrome' brings. I hope that all new parents of babies with DS will read this book and find validation, encouragement, and most of all hope as they walk through the initial maze of doctors' offices, therapy appointments and stacks of insurance papers. Groneberg rightly emphasizes that the delights and treasures brought to their family by their son with DS makes it all worth it.
   
   I think this book should be the first thing a parent receives from the hospital, along with the diagnosis of Down syndrome. If it were, so many new parents would be spared some of the misconceptions, confusion, and fear that often accompanies the initial diagnosis. If you are a doctor, family member, or therapist in contact with new parents of babies with DS, please consider giving them this book. It will do them a world of good.



2. In ROAD MAP TO HOLLAND Jennifer Graf Groneberg reveals a lifetime of lessons learned in a very short time-span. Her message of hope resonates with the joy of her ultimate discovery that one of the greatest gifts she can give her children is to simply teach them how to love. Read this book, read Jennifer's blog, and join in a celebration of a unique family with a mom-writer at the helm who's gracious and generous enough to invite us all along on her ongoing journey of discovery.



3. This book is wonderful! As a new mom with a son with DS, I cannot express how accurate this book depicts the wide range of emotions, confusion, feelings of being lost and guilt, and most of all love we all feel for our children. This book should be handed out in the hospital before you leave with your child. It would help to ease so much fear and help you understand, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I was in tears so many times through out this book and remember thinking, "YES, that is exactly how I feel/felt!"....HIGHLY recommend to anyone and everyone! If you don't understand DS, read this and educate yourself!! Great book!



4. I couldn't put this book down.
   
   The author writes about her experience with premature delivery of twins, one of whom is diagnosed with Down syndrome, and the first two years of their life.
   
   This isn't just a story of a mom having to come to terms with that trip to Holland, but an honest mom's story--of balancing the arrival of twins with her preschooler, the affect that her situation had on friendships--both good and bad, her marriage, and her perception of herself as a woman.
   
   This is an excellent book--honest without being morose, uplifting without coming across as saccharine-sweet. A must read for all moms.



5. The book arrived and I read it in less than twenty-four hours and that was on a busy weekend of attending Paralympic events. I have been trying to decide what to write...other than "read this now if you are a mom". Sure, it is a book written by a mom of a special needs child, but her words resonate with all moms. Words of reality...words of frustration...words of love...read them.
   
   I keep thinking perhaps it is because of time spent in NICU with our oldest son...or the special needs diagnoses times three of our younger sons which my husband and I have faced that drew me into this book. No. It is Jennifer's honest words about the moments of fear and uncertainty of motherhood.
   
   If you are a mom, read "Road Map To Holland". If you are a mom of a special needs child...or perhaps like me, of several special needs children...read "Road Map To Holland". If there exists a writer able to more fluidly weave words...I've never read her work.
   
   Thank you, Jennifer, for sympathizing with and understanding me. You have indeed shared your spirit, and that is a beautiful gift.
   
   Note...For parents of children with Down Syndrome, the book's appendix offers a plethora of resources, additional reading titles and a glossary of terminology.

5 comments about The Dark Sacrament: True Stories of Modern-Day Demon Possession and Exorcism.

1. Fairly interesting accounts of some recent devilry in Ireland - up to 2007. Some stories are sure to scare you. The main focus is on two different (and busy) exorcists and some of their recent cases. The author provides a very nice account of exorcism through the ages as the last chapter of the book. It's a good companion read after "The Demonologist" (which WILL scare you SILLY - guaranteed)!!!! But after reading the aforementioned this seemed a little pale in comparison. I would still recommend it for anyone interested in the demonic and how to safely coexist in a world where evil is just about everywhere. As with "The Demonologist", this book also had me thinking very much about the good in the world and the existence of angels as well as these terrible troubled spirits or these demons who have never lived. My heart really went out to some of these people (the poor woman and her evil, evil husband on the Dingle peninsula in particular, and the woman who left her body at will).
   All-in-all, a very good read but I highly recommend "The Demonologist" first and foremost. (If you do read "Demonologist", make sure you have some good friends nearby that you can call on).



2. GREAT BOOK, IT WILL BRING YOU BACK TO MASS, BUT I COULD ! PUT IT DOWN THAT'S WHY I GAVE IT 4 NOT 5 STARS.
   
   WAYNE STEVENS



3. This book had me hooked from the first page. It was well written, and fast moving. The stories in this book detail how the unseen dark forces invade our lives, and tells how the people in these circumstances battled the evil one. I found it very informative. It will give you a healthy respect for the powers of darkness, and show you just how horrific a life can be transformed by the presence of evil.



4. The Dark Sacrament carefully and thoroughly describes several cases of demonic activity in Ireland. The heroes are the families who endure years of supernatural harassment and two clergymen who are very humble spiritual/Christian giants who engage in supernatural warfare with the evil forces. This book is a great read for anyone interested in the cosmic battle between God, his people, and evil!!!



5. This was a great book. The intro was a bit slow, but once you started reading the tue stories, it renews your faith in God and say your prayers at night!

5 comments about Riding the Bus with My Sister: A True Life Journey.

1. This book is an engaging, fast read. I was especially interested in Rachel Simon's flashbacks. We learn what caused her mental retardation, we see her experiences and Rachel's, we also suffer with the children as mom continues in a downward spiral. All of these flashbacks, distinguished by italic font, are worthy of a book all their own.
   
   Beth Simon is hard to like. She is loud, immature, unhygenic, and self-centered. She is also capable of holding down a job- she just chooses not to. What makes it worse is that she tells her fellow passengers that she doesn't work because she doesn't want to- always reminding them of her disability check. What type of endurance would you need, if you were riding the bus with Beth, heading to your job? Many people can't handle it. And Beth is oblivious to the reasons why people dislike her- she's a capable woman who won't better herself.
   
   In Rachel's relationship with Beth, the story is not sugar-coated. Rachel gets very annoyed with Beth: ' Damn it Beth, shut up! my dark voice erupts. Look at you- same expression, same seat, same stupefying conversation.
   and
   "When I started riding the buses, I remember, I thought of the people who didn't like Beth as insensitive and narrow-minded. Now I find myself more sympathetic to their point of view. Yes, some of them are coarse and offensively vocal. But she is so loud. And she talks all the time. About nothing. I know many of us babble on about nothing, too, but she does it over and over and over- and over and over and over- and it's really eroding the limits of my endurance. Dad used to tell us he came to dread their car rides to work for precisely the same reasons. That was twenty years ago."
   
   However, Rachel's interaction with every bus driver are so profound. She always seems to be learning something from them. And it's always about how they changed their philosophies so they could lead happier lives. Ugh, it was too corny and simplistic for me!
   
   Further, I was uninterested in how Rachel changed in relations to men and other people. I only wanted to see her relationship with Beth. Yes, Rachel Simon gives Beth and the bus rides credit for changing her life- but I really have no desire to know anything else about Rachel Simon in the late 90s (when the story takes place). Tell me more about Beth, including more altercations with drives and passengers, more about her obsessions with the drivers, more about her self-centered domination of every bus ride.
   
   " Beth is ignoring the parade of costumes in the street and gazing adoringly at Cliff- and with a jolt, I know what scares me.
   It's not just the same old crush with a new face, or the same olf song with the same wrong words. It's not just the pattern she doesn't see, or care about, and therefore cannot or will not change.
   It's that Beth seems to need a cataclysmic event for her to change in any way- an event like our mother's complete abdication of her responsibility to protect her own child, Juanita's rejection, or Rodolpho's abandonment. This seems true whether she's being called upon to develop resorucefulness, assertiveness, or just basic self-restraint. I look at her and feel a clutch in my throat. What will it take now?
   Is this all there will ever be to her life? "



2. This is not a book I would have chosen, but I read it for my book club and was pleasantly surprised. When I saw an endorsement from Rosie O'Donnell on the front cover of this book, I was expecting something more sentimental, along the lines of a Lifetime Channel movie, to lie within the pages. Instead, I found a powerful tribute to people on society's fringe and a meaningfully insightful story.
   
   The story centers around a workaholic writer/teacher, Rachel Simon, who runs out of ideas for her newspaper work and decides to spend a year shadowing her mildly mentally retarded sister, Beth. Beth has chucked working and living in a group home for a hedonistic life in her own apartment, filling her days happily riding the city's busses. Simon takes what could be a boring or sappy story and makes something marvelous out of Beth's mundane, repetitive life by her keen observation and analysis of the details of this routine. She does an excellent job of looking at life through Beth's eyes and of showing how the mentally challenged are at times similar to the rest of us and yet at other times vastly different and difficult to comprehend.
   
   Naturally Beth's efforts to live independently in the manner she desires create enormous frustration for her family and even the professionals involved in her "case." How to help someone in Beth's situation is complicated. How much help can family and professionals give versus how much help should they give? How many decisions can she safely, competently make on her own? Simon shows us that there are no easy answers, as she attempts to establish her own place in her sister's life.
   
   The book is beautifully written, hard to put down, and filled with insights and wisdom that would make Irma Bombeck proud. The author was surprised at how much she learned from Beth's limitations and her world, and you will be too.



3. I found this book to be very interesting and moving. It has really made a mark on my heart. I have a special needs child who unlike "Cool Beth" is not treated differently by many, yet sees some of the same prejudices. It was nice to read a book that shows how a person can live on their own and have the same things that so called "normal" people can. I appreciated that Beth knew right from wrong and is not afraid to express that to the world around her. We can all learn from that. The annoyance that Rachel gets from Beth is such a tough feeling for a sibling/parent, but a genuine one and written with such truth. This will not be enjoyed by all, but all can learn from it.



4. This book isn't for everyone, but anyone who lives with a mildy retarded family member will see this book as an eye-opening and touching memoir of the highs and lows of living and coping and dealing with a person such as Beth, the author's sister, with whom she agrees to ride the city buses with over the course of a year.
   
   The chapters are beautifully interweaved with flashbacks to the author's childhood with Beth, who is 18 months younger than the author. The parents' coping with Beth, and how the rest of the family deals with this headstrong and independent girl without once ever mentioning the words "mild retardation" and yet determined to keep together as a family in the early 1960s bring this book to life for many Babyboomers. Rachel did a lot of research on the subject to write for this book, and inserts statistics at logical moments without ever tiring the reader.
   
   Along with the encounters on the bus are small vignettes of the various and varied drivers who deal with Beth on a daily basis. Bus drivers are profiled coming from all aspects of society. Some like Beth, others do not, and many came forward to talk about Beth and her incessant chats while sitting in the front of crowded buses with strangers all around her. Bus drivers are her friends, are her mentors, are her romantic interests and Beth at times reminds us of our girlish teenage crushes...and she is 39 years old while the story takes place.
   
   Although this book mostly deals with Beth and her daily bus rides around town, the author also talks about her own failings; her recent break-up, her move to a new apartment, and we see how dealing with Beth, and talking with bus drivers, help Rachel find the answers for her own troubles.
   
   This book may not be for everyone. One must have a close experience with a person such as Beth to understand the many detailed and sometimes long-drawn-out episodes of city bus travel to truly appreciate this book. Beth is beautifully portrayed in this book, and with all her flaws and handicaps we can see a bit our ourselves through her daily bus journeys.
   
   Read this book with patience and understanding for the mildy retarded people in our society. We all know and have dealt with our own Cools Beths.



5. Okay, so maybe not the most original title in the world, but the story sure is. The author decides to spend some quality time with her mildly retarded sister, Beth, (whom she never fully understood). Simons basically takes a very long leave of absence from work and totally immerses herself in Beth's world - which consists mainly of riding the bus system in an unnamed Pennsylvania city. But this is not just a simple journey. She experiences how Beth has carved out a life for herself, the people she has connected with, the joyful outlook she has on life, and realizes that maybe Beth's life is fulfilling in its own way. This is also a journey through her childhood as she
   reflects on her memories, her relationship with her family as well as her sister. By slowing down her fast-paced existence and taking the time to experience a year with her sister, Simons certainly discovers a lot about herself, and comes away with a different, more appreciative view of her life. Hopefully you will too. I know I did.

5 comments about The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness: A True Story.

1. This is the best book I have read in a long time. I loved the author's technique of prefacing each chapter / theme with an ancient folk tale. This connected the wisdom of the past with the challenges of today. I found the author's style engaging and attractive (there are not many books I have trouble putting down). The teachings about life and God were profound. My only grateful regret is that I did not make notes while reading. I will now have to do that upon reading the book a second time - after I get it back from the people to which I have loaned it. My advice is don't borrow this book but buy your own copy. Then, when you read it, have a pencil nearby. There are many statements that are so life enhancing, that the reader will want to remember those passages and refer to them, when, in their turn, life grants a portion of challenge and sorrow.



2. I did not at all like this book. The author tries way, way too hard to come across as folksy yet profound, and in the end his tone is possibly the most annoying I've ever read. Which makes it even less forgivable that he constantly uses the tritest of clichés both in characterization (he compares meeting his wife to a Joan Baez pop song) and in metaphor (he really actually uses "like grit on sandpaper").
   
   There's a number of short included stories. These stories are mildly interesting on their own, and definitely provide a welcome break from having to hear the author, but lose effect when they're forced into such a corny, played-out "illustrative text" format.



3. I had picked up this book at a book fair a while back and it sat on my book self for months. One afternoon I started reading it and I was completely capitivated by the beauty, insight and inspiration contained in this bright treasure. The book speaks to your soul. It is also funny, wise and instructive. Ben Izzy gives us an opportunity to learn from his strength and challenges. When life hands you lemons you have options on what to do with them. Ben Izzy explores and discovers the ability to make lots of lemonade. This book was so moving that I wanted several special people in my life to have it and be able to read it again and again. Everyone that recieved a copy was equally knocked out. All I can say is do not pass this one up. This book will warm your soul and inspire you.



4. This book intersperses short stories from around the world with the author's struggles coping with partial muteness. Rather than being preachy or sentimental, the author entertains us by providing international tales that foretell lessons he learns in his own life. The author's advice re: happiness reminds me of Theodore Roethke's beautiful lines:
   
   "I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
   I learn by going where I have to go."
   
   I did not provide this book with five stars, only because I felt the author's relationship with his friend Lenny was co-dependent and deserved less attention. Of course, that relationship leads the author to a large part of his self-actualization, but I would have liked to hear more about his wife--she shines in every small aside about her. If you want to be entertained and read a story about an author coping with an illness (that affects his ability to speak) in his own unique, admirable way, this is the book for you.



5. This book found me the day I was attending the wake of a good friend. I was feeling miserable of course and decided to start this book minutes before I got out of the car at the funeral home to take my mind of off my grief. I read the prologue and was hooked to this story. It has changed my outlook on life and on the death of my friend. It is great how the author takes each folktale and applies it to his life. This book is full of many life lessons and I am truly inspired to look through the curses in my life to find the blessings like Joel ben Izzy did. I have just bought this book and plan to read it to my High School World History classes this fall. I think this is a must read book for everyone. Give yourself a gift and read this book!

5 comments about Where is the Mango Princess?.

1. Crimmon's book was heart-wrenching to read. The story of her husband's TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and the after effects of it on her life, his life and their daughter have to be read to be understood. I can't do it justice. She keeps a good sense of humor throughout the book but there is certainly an underlying cynical and bitter tone throughout. Not that I can blame her. It's real. It's life and a it ain't pretty. Personally, after reading this I literally wanted to make all my loved ones wear helmets each day after reading about the hell that TBI can put a family through.



2. An honest telling of head injury and what family will experience.
   
   I was shocked at what her daughter, Kelly, was exposed to - I have since read that the author now regrets this. Rehab is NO PLACE for children - or an endless stream of friends. I am sad that her husband's privacy was taken away in order to project 'normalcy' or the authors belief in emotional honesty. She should have protected her husband and her daughter. THIS is the time when you close the door to the world outside and tend to your family - as best you can.
   
   I feel for the author. How quickly the nurses/non-doctors put forth a 'professional opinion' about brain injury. As I often say: Everybody wants to be a doctor, nobody want to go to medical school. You have to see brain injury over a long span of time, which is years and decades. A nurse who sees them admitted and discharged knows next to nothing, unless personally affected.
   
   The beginning of the story was confusing to me because the marriage had so little intimacy. The parents were 2 ships in the night and then they had a child. This little girl was utterly alone through a waking nightmare. I hope she finds the support that she will need as she grows up.
   
   Eventually, the author acknowledges her lack of connection to husband and child and explains herself in a way that is somewhat satisfying.
   
   I appreciate her honesty in the discussion on disinhibition. You can count on it happening and it's real hard to explain to people - especially when you have to.
   
   Worth reading, though disturbing in ways the author may not have intended.



3. We read this book for book club and we all loved it. Only now I understand what my cousin and his family have gone through after he had an bicycle accident and was in a coma for three days. The writer clearly describes the pain and anguish she and her daughter went through. I admire her absolute commitment to her husband and getting him back on his feet and back to a "regular" life. This is a great and informational book to read for everybody who comes into contact with a person with brain injury.



4. I read this book in four nights, right before bed. I tore through it like no other memoir before. This book, for me, was like reading my own parents' memoir. My father suffered a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) when I was four/five years old. Of course, so much of what was available to the author's husband was simply not around 45 years ago. I understand so much more why my father acted the way he did for the remaining 16 years of his life. This book is powerful. It is honest, raw, intense, lighthearted at times, funny, sad, well written and easy to read (though the subject matter is quite painful at times)... an all around excellent book. I am so glad that I read it, and plan to keep this one.



5. I found this account of a severe brain injury and the bumpy road to recovery very moving. I ask will there be more to Cathy and her husband's experiences
   written as a memoir at some later date? Maybe not this book was published in September 2000. Worth the read!

5 comments about Eleven Seconds: A Story of Tragedy, Courage & Triumph.

1. I would love to review this product, however, it is now well over a month and I have yet to recieve it. I would love to know where it is and why it is taking so long. I ordered it on June 12 and my credit card was billed that day but I have not yet recieved the product. I am very disappointed.



2. Travis Roy is an inspirational man, he tells everyone about the emotional state that he was through during the whole entire situation. He created a foundation that didn't just help him but helped others with the same situation. Before reading this I didn't know the process of paralysis victims, but after I was fully aware of what paralysis victims went through emotionally and physically.
   
   It is a great story for people that don't even really like hockey because any person could get paralyzed any given day. So after reading this story it made me aware of how a single mans pain can express the words of thousands.
   
   The reason why I recommend this book is because it is the story of a man that enjoyed everyday life before being paralyzed, then after 11 seconds of hockey his life completely changed, but he fought through the pain and lived everyday to the fullest and always kept his mind looking positively. He wants to walk again and keeps thinking that he can, one thing that could possibly just keep him going everyday.
   
   So this is a must read for everyone, I strongly recommend it because it makes people explicitly aware of what paralyzed people go through. After reading the book it will make you look at people in wheelchairs differently. If you do choose to read this book, enjoy it and keep in mind that Travis Roy is much luckier than many.



3. I read this book in two days! Travis Roy is an incredible person who has lived through a tragic experience. I applaud him for setting up a foundation to help other people with spinal cord injuries. As a teacher, I would love to have him speak at my school!



4. Initially I was drawn to this book because it involved my passion, hockey. But Travis' story moved me deeply. Once I started reading this book I could not put it down. I was really interested in the affect his accident would have on his relationship with his girlfriend and I was rooting for them to stay together. I'll be honest I'm pretty bummed things didn't work out between them. But this was a great story of a very inspirational person. It truly made me want to make a contribution to his foundation which I plan on doing. I would recommend this book to anyone not just fans of hockey. Good Luck in the future Trav!



5. In Eleven Seconds, a story about a young man at the age of twenty-one living life and one event happens to change it all. Playing in his first collegiate game of hockey, Travis Roy crashed the corner after a dump in, tripped, fell, and broke his fourth vertebrae and becomes paralyzed from his neck down. This single event changes the way he and his family act towards each other. The story goes through his amazing recovery and the heart and determination he had. The author portrays Travis Roy as a hero to those that are in deep pain or trouble. He accomplishes this by showing the good and bad times in his recovery stages. After a few months at the hospital, Travis Roy wants to get back into the world and show that this freak accident will not keep him down. He returns to college and tries to become a normal student, but this is impossible because he has become a well-known person due to the accident. The grit and determination of Mr. Roy and his family members through the hard times to get to a level of peace and acceptance of what has happend is amazing. This story makes you, the reader, feel that you just need to make the best of the hand that is dealt and that if anything goes wrong you just have to deal with it and make the best of the situation. Eleven Seconds is a great book and should be read by all.

5 comments about The Unheard: A Memoir of Deafness and Africa.

1. I found Josh Swiller's riveting and beautifully written account of his Peace Corps service in Eastern Africa impossible to put down. Swiller weaves insight about deafness brilliantly into his story, giving the reader an insider's perspective on being deaf in any and every possible situation. As the mother of a present Peace Corps Volunteer, I couldn't help but imagine how Josh's mother might have been feeling during his two years in Africa. What did she know about his experience? Was she able to communicate with him? Did he protect her by not divulging details of the danger? While he doesn't tell the reader much about his mother in his book, I found myself wondering about her beyond the book. And...I have continued to think deeply about his experience long after reading his final words. I'm ready to read whatever Swiller publishes next!



2. I love this book. I've recommended it to just about everyone I've spoken to since I finished it. It is a wonderful memoir. It is hard to put down, and it's incredible to reflect on.
   
   Read it.



3. As a Psychotherapist, I would recommend this book to anyone with a hearing problem or anyone who has a child with a hearing problem. I also would recommend it to anyone who needed to be inspired by the human spirit and to see that the limits of our coping capacities are beyond anything we can imagine.



4. Josh Swiller's account of his Peace Corps years is a wonderful insight into how he coped with volunteering in an African village as a young deaf man. It is a real page turner. A 5 star read!



5. Review originally published in the Hipster Book Club, April 2008.
   
   Josh Swiller's memoir, The Unheard, tells the story of his two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Mununga, a dusty Zambian village home to tribal factions and a host of refugees from neighboring Zaire. Deaf since childhood, Josh was raised by devoted parents who trained him to speak and lip-read with the assistance of hearing aids. Raised to fit into the hearing world, he attended Yale but encountered feelings of isolation and frustration toward heavily-accented professors who spoke into chalkboards. In graduate school at Gallaudet University, he attempted to immerse himself in a new Deaf community but discovered that he was just as isolated in a world that spoke exclusively American Sign Language. So Josh went to Africa to find "a place past deafness."
   
   After a ten-week training course, Josh was off to inspire a sense of community ownership in Mununga, with a charter to organize the villagers to build their first community infrastructure: wells to provide fresh water to the disease-ridden community. The villagers, led by politicians whose primary concern was getting their rake of the banana wine production, were perplexed that the white man didn't have the money and power to give them a well. Politicians had deep-seated tribal affairs to sort out and were suspicious of Josh's motives in offering "help" to the community without bringing along cash and resources. Josh writes of the plight of the Africans with a voice of introspection and humor. His teaching experience required navigating "an educational system based, apparently, on the principles of unlimited recess." By keeping the tone light, Josh conveys profound insights with nary a trace of pity for himself or the economically ravaged country.
   
   For his part, Josh was able to speak Bemba, the tribal language, better than any of his fellow volunteers. Bemba was just another series of verbal sounds Josh had to perform without hearing. In the village and even the larger city centers of Africa, background noise was low, so Josh was able to distinguish sounds more easily. He also noted that people tended to speak to him slowly and directly, further aiding his comprehension.
   
   Josh formed warm friendships with his cook, houseboy, and fellow health clinic worker Jere. In many ways, The Unheard is the story of Josh's friendship with this steadfast and wise chess player. Jere was Josh's constant ally throughout his struggles fighting for resources, adhering to tribal customs, and maneuvering against a ferocious tribal leader out to destroy Josh for his own purposes. Josh learned to adapt his style to reach the Africans in any way possible. In one of his more successful moves, he fosters cultural exchange by passing out a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition to his male students.
   
   The zenith of Josh's experience in Africa was the construction of a local clinic for which Josh put his own Peace Corps career on the line. He self-funded the effort via outside grants in quasi-violation of bureaucratic red tape. Throughout his time in Mununga, Josh wrestled with his inability to effect lasting change against a tidal wave of cultural differences. He finally acquiesced to the urgings of his friend Jere to make one small, practical contribution to the village by building a clinic. Josh's arch nemesis, the tribal leader Boniface, manipulated both the Peace Corps volunteer and the villagers throughout the process, misappropriating project supplies and resources, and finally sabotaging the project in a climactic lynch mob of violence. For Josh, the after effects were devastating. He was forced to suppress his personal outrage and again adhere to the advice of his friend Jere, who continually encouraged Josh to adapt to the local system. Josh learned that subtly outwitting Boniface at his own game was much more effective than pursing any official means of justice.
   
   Josh Swiller did indeed find a place past deafness in the lakeside village of Mununga, Zambia. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in a war-torn, disease-ravaged region in which being light-skinned and American was strange enough that no one bothered to alienate him based on deafness. In his memoir, he casts a critical eye at the Peace Corps process as well as his own conduct in Africa. Josh recognizes that he had naïve goals when he first arrived; learning how to work within the system was an arduous process. He balances his criticism of the local government corruption and his frustration at the lack of industrial progress with his genuine awe and appreciation for the beauty and friendship he found in Mununga. The Unheard is at once a comedy of errors, a coming-of-age story, and a touching tribute to a strange piece of paradise.