5 comments about Birth in a Chicken House.

1. I was hopeful I'd enjoy this book when I purchased it, and it more than exceeded my expectations. As a physician, I found myself almost entranced as I read about the adventures of Dr. Lucas. The best part is, though, that you don't have to be a vet or a doc to thouroughly love this book.



2. As a farm kid and a veterinary student, I found this book to be extremely realistic and funny. I enjoyed his stories recalling veterinary school and farm calls. Dr. Lucas tells it how it is. It is a good eye opener for people interested in large animal veterinary medicine and the life one has because of it. If you come from a farm you will certainly enjoy this book.



3. James Lucas is a seasoned veterinarian playing his trade in southern Iowa for more than 36 years. He kept notes of his experiences with the people and animals he encountered throughout his career. In Birth In A Chicken House, Lucas draws upon those personal reminiscences to spin out his humorous true-life tales that will engage the reader's rapt attention from first page to last. Highly recommended reading for anyone who loves a good yarn well told, Birth In A Chicken House provides perceptive and very funny descriptions of the animals and culture, the beauty and history of a rural farming community, and the dedicated veterinarian that served their needs.



4. Birth in a Chicken House is a great read for anyone who has experienced life in a rural setting, and it's a must read for anyone in the 50s' plus era. As you read the stories, it's as if Dr. Lucas is sitting across the table from you telling a story. He writes it just like it happened. I found myself laughing out loud many, many times as he related his personal accounts of people and animals...I think almost everyone can identify with his experiences. The short story format makes it a great book for busy people to pick up for a few minutes and read a story. However, once you start reading it, you'll probably not want to put it down.



5. I enjoyed reading Dr. Lucas' book about life in rural Iowa . The book touched on all the human emotions . I laughed many times throughout the book, yet I also found myself close to tears . Dr. Lucas portrays an honest , uncensored look at life as a veterinarian. A real eye-opener to the good , country life that many people are looking for.

4 comments about Reflections On A Life With Diabetes: A Memoir In Many Voices.

1. It's difficult to imagine a collection of more telling and powerful tales on the topic of diabetes. This book, compiled by Diane Parker and Ruth Mark, is a winner. The contributors chronicle their personal struggles with diabetes and the strengths and insights gained along the way with candor and humor. I can't think of a better read for ANYONE whose life has been touched by this illness. I honestly could not put it down! The fact that most of these folks were gifted writer made each story even more more pleasurable to read. Highly recommended to those with the illness, their family or friends, or anyone living with a chronic illness or condition.



2. For anyone who has been affected by diabetes this is a must read! An inspirational, touching and heartfelt look at living with diabetes from the point of view of the diabetic but also those who live with or love a diabetic. As someone who has a friend with diabetes this book has made me feel not alone in dealing with diabetes and has given me a much better understanding of what having this chronic condition is like.



3. This is a really lovely book, filled with amazing insights; but even more, it's a book of comfort. It's about not being alone, and it's about not just surviving diabetes, but living with it, in the moment and in the company of some pretty incredible writers who wrap stories and essays and poetry around you, serving up comfort and hope. It's about life. Highly recommend!!!!



4. I have read this book from beginning to end and congratulate the writers for telling their story about what it's like to live with diabetes. The stories and poems are heartfelt and capture the essence of life with diabetes. There are many books on the market dealing with the medical aspects of diabetes but this is the first to deal with the emotional aspects. It is well-balanced and offers insight into the struggle and survival of this disease. I LOVE it and suggest everyone touched by diabetes read it. There is much to reflect on in these pages.

5 comments about A Whole New Life: An Illness and a Healing (Scribner Classics).

1. THis is a great inspirational book for anyone suffering from a major life changing injury.



2. The best compliment I can provide is I'm buying more copies to give to friends. The book is thought provoking as well as extraordinarily uplifting.



3. Should be mandatory reading of all Medical Students and Residents. Disease process as seen and documentd by a patient. The physical, emotional, and spiritual swings a patient goes through during a long protracted illness.



4. 
   This is a book about severe illness and recovery. It is a true story of hope and healing told without self-pity. Price writes of being faced with a diagnosis of severe cancer of the spine. "Some vital impulse spared me needing to reiterate the world's most frequent and pointless question in the face of disaster - Why? Why me? I never asked it; the only answer is of course: Why not?"
   
   In the same candid, sometimes funny, yet always affecting words, the popular and prolific author tells of his battle with disease. First struck down in 1984, he suffered through surgery, days of agonizing pain and was eventually confined to a wheelchair, unable to function professionally or personally.
   
   He later sought treatment with a hypnotist at Duke University's psychiatric department with beneficial results. Throughout, Price gives credit to the power of prayer, which he calls "the first strong prop beneath my own collapse."
   
   This is not only the story of an illness and recovery, it is the saga of resolve when confronted with a frightening enemy, and it is a tale of family and friendships, the human network that supports us.
   
   Highly recommended.
   
   - Gail Cooke



5. A very honest emotional description of experiences while dealing with a cancer, a surgery, radiation, learning how to live with pain as a companion, learning how to live as a "gimp"--word used by the author, and many other superbly described experiences. Just the right touch, just the right doze. Very subtle and lithe. Joy to read.

No comments about Ryan's Story.

5 comments about Fathers Aren't Supposed to Die: Five Brothers Reunite To Say Good-bye.

1. This book may be small but it is a memoir packed with information. It was a very good read on many levels..family relationships and death and dying; those two are the main themes. The author writes with a hint of mystery and I liked that touch to the memoir.



2. ( )...The only words that miss the mark of literaryexcellenceare on the cover of T.M. Shine's remarkable tale.

   Thisain't no how-to anything or a cry on Oprah's wide shoulders. This is something wonderfully other.

   If Elizabeth Kubler-Ross met Carl Hiaasen, T.M. Shine would be their bastard child. This book is laugh out loud funny, except when it's ripping your guts out.

   Bill Moyers sells Shine short when he alliterates in his testimonial that "Fathers . . ." is "marvelous, moving and memorable."

   It is marvelous and moving. Quite so. But there are whole pages you'll hope aren't memorable, because feeling their wrenching impact once is as much as a person ought to bear.

   Nice going Mr. Shine. Now please remind the folks at Amazon.com that people who read shouldn't be judged by their books' covers. END




3. I bought this book shortly after the death of my own father, and the subsequent reawakening of my friendship with my sister. I found the emotions and the passions in this book to resonate very deeply within my being - helping me to heal, since I learned that my feelings are common, valid and shared.



4. This is a poignant, compelling story that those of us who are baby-boomers will soon experience ourselves, if we haven't already. Mr. Shine bears all - his personal pain, frustrations and annoyances - dealing with the inevitable death of his father and realizing the experience is bringing him close to his brothers once again and the past they share. He indicts the medical community that, he felt, treated his father as a temporary occupant of a hospital bed. Like impatient FAA air traffic controllers, nurses and doctors were unwilling to be inconvenienced by adult children who were reluctant to let the scheduled departure take off on time. A quick and fulfilling read.



5. I've read Shine since he wrote for The Miami Herald's Tropic Magazine. He's an undiscovered master. This book takes his readers on a painful but rewarding journey--the death of his father. It's entirely worth your time, even at double the price.

No comments about On A Roll: Reflections from America's Wheelchair Dude with the Winning Attitude.

5 comments about Nola: A Memoir of Faith, Art, and Madness.

1. I have so often experienced some of the feelings, thoughts, and ideas that Nola and her brother Robin Hemley share in this touching book. Robin shows us sides of her that are at turns comical, beautiful, and eventaully tragic. She was a beautiful person who died young, but should not be forgotten. Her memory will live on in this powerful and penetrating biography.



2. I'm the author of "Fevers of the Mind", a memoir about bipolar disorder. "Nola" is truly an excellent account of the author's sister's struggle with schizophrenia. Nola, the woman, is a complex, almost mystical person who is both extremely talented and unique. The reader is also offered an intimate description of Nola's family and their complex interactions. The writing is first rate- highly detailed, fluid, and pleasing to read. Overall, an excellent book. Probably would be enjoyed by anyone who likes quality nonfiction.



3. I interviewed Robin Hemley five years ago for a start-up literary magazine. Unfortunately, financial woes prevented the magazine from ever actually starting up. It's too bad the interview was never published b/c his thoughtful responses offer tremendous advice and insights for aspiring writers.

   Be sure to check out Nola -- it's an excellent read.

   Here's Part I of the interview:

   Q: What have you found to be some common weaknesses in the work of young, aspiring writers?

   Hemley: All of the weaknesses I�m about to mention are syndromes I suffered from (and sometimes still do), so I have plenty of first-hand knowledge. When I first started writing, I wanted to dress like a writer and hang-out at coffee shops, and make profound statements, but I didn�t care for writing that much. I also tended to wait for inspiration to strike. Now I think that inspiration is much over-rated. I�d prefer to work through the natural frustrations of writing and work towards inspiration rather than waiting for it to knock me over � a rare occurrence. Young writers also tend to be wary of revision, in my experience, but the more I write, the more I value revision. I like to quote Auden�s adage about poetry � �A poem is never finished, merely abandoned.� And of course, sometimes writers want to write but not read. And I think that�s a mistake. No one writes in a vacuum. The techniques of other writers can sometimes be our best teachers. Along those same lines, sometimes writers (young and old) want to publish their work in literary magazines, but don�t want to read them. And it think that�s a mistake, both professionally and culturally. We have a lot of wonderful literary magazines in this country with very low subscription bases.

   Q: Conversely, what are some of the strengths shared in the work of today�s young writers?

   Hemley: I�ve been noticing a kind of open-mindedness in young writers in terms of form and content that I didn�t notice when I was in grad school fifteen years ago. What was valued when I was in grad school was a kind of hyper-realism, brand name fiction people called it, or K-mart fiction. This seemed to be the province of North American writers, and while Magical Realism was valued, that was something that South American writers wrote. I think those false boundaries have been eroded, and that many young writers are exploring the magical and mysterious. I think we�ve always had North American writers who�ve written as magically as any South American writer, but I think that in our writing classes at least, a certain kind of bland and bloodless psychologically real story was held up as a kind of model � we were taught to be almost ironically detached from our characters. Bobbie Ann Mason comes to mind as the model for this kind of writing, as opposed to someone like Toni Morrison. This might all be in my imagination, but I think there�s a tendency in the better young writers now to acknowledge mystery in fiction.

   There�s also been this boom in short short stories over the last ten years. Robert Shapard and James Thomas� collections of short shorts (Sudden Fiction, Sudden Fiction Continued, and Sudden Fiction International) have sort of blazed a trail, as well as the late Jerome Stern�s �World�s Best Short Short Story Contest.� This form sometimes lends itself to absurdity and whimsy, and the young writers I�ve taught have done some of their best work in this form. It teaches them a lot about revision, and the importance of finding the right words. And it allows them to experiment. If a short short doesn�t work, that seems less of a tragedy than a novel not working.

   Q: What advice, then, would you give to a group of twentysomethings who all yearned to be successful writers of fiction and poetry?

   Hemley: I think my advice is more or less embedded in my previous answers. I feel a little sheepish giving advice, but I can add that the writing life is generally a bit of a struggle. It�s important to try not to give in to self-doubts, which are natural. Even the most successful writers suffer from numbing self-doubt, and one must work past that. On the other hand, one must constantly see oneself as a student, a kind of supplicant to the form, rather than its master. For me at least, I�m learning to write all over again with each new project I undertake. I also try not to give in to petty jealousies or career frustrations � someone else�s success does not undermine your own.

   Q: If you had to write a biography, whom would you choose to write about?

   Hemley: Actually, in a sense I�ve just completed a biography of my sister Nola, who was 11 years older than me and who died in 1973 of a prescription drug overdose. She was a spiritually-obsessed person, and in my book I tried to rediscover who she was, with the help, in part, of an autobiography she wrote during the last year of her life.

   But, if by biography, you mean someone famous, I love reading biographies, but I don�t think I�d be the right person to write a biography. One of my favorite biographies is Ernst Pawell�s biography of Kafka, The Nightmare of Reason. But if I had to write a biography, I suppose I�d choose either More of The 3 Stooges or Houdini (both of whom I�m related to, though Moe only through the marriage of a cousin). But Houdini has had plenty written about him already . . . so I guess I�d have to settle for Moe.

   Q: Other than the books you�ve read, who or what have been some of the significant influences on your own writing?

   Hemley: My parents were both writers, and they influenced me a great deal. My mother was always having me dictate little poems to her, and I was constantly making little books to sell to my relatives.




4. This is a continuation of my interview with Robin Hemley.

   Q: Among the famous authors of the past few centuries, whom do you consider to be the most boring to read?

   Hemley: For me, the hands-down winner is the French author Robbe-Grillet who could write a three-page description of a slice of tomato.

   And many literary theorists are quite adept at boring readers in the name of edification. But the list of those would be far too long.

   And even the most celebrated authors have written wonderful works as well as boring works. What we find boring changes over time. Shakespeare's epic poem, "Lucretia" comes to mind. In his own day, this was a famous work of his - I had to read it in college, and though I adore many of his plays, this poem was incredibly dry to me.

   Q: If you were asked to compile a three-book required reading list for the college students of America, which three books would you select?

   Hemley: Ack! I'd probably start with that biography you're forcing me to write.

   For me, that's one of those impossible questions. How could one possibly choose? Three books would be much too narrow for me. For that reason, I'd probably choose The Tao of Lao-Tze, The Illiad, and maybe the Old Testament. I'd want them taught in the original language, so the students would have to learn Chinese, Greek, and Aramaic. I might remove one of the latter two in favor of The Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology, which I used to read as a kid. It has an introduction by Robert Graves and is pretty comprehensive, thought the version I have does not include Judaeo-Christian mythology, and should before I'd want to use it. I know the term "mythology" is out of vogue, but I'd use it as long as all belief systems fell under that category. That might be a substantial education: culturally, historically, spiritually, and in terms of language.

   Q: What is the function of your work? Entertainment? Social message? Something else altogether?

   Hemley: I'd like my work to be both entertaining as well as working towards discoveries. I'm not a writer who has a message in mind when he writes. Personally, I'm after discoveries, not messages. The highest kind of discoveries, and the most elusive, are spiritual discoveries. And to me, this is what many literatures have their roots in, the Eleusinian mysteries of ancient Greece, or the ontological tales that most cultures share.

   Q: What is your greatest work?

   Hemley: We end with a trick question. I'd love to have a greatest work, but right now I only have a "goodest work." And right now, my goodest work is, of course, the last book I wrote, which is something I think most writers want to believe. The last work they completed is the best, and the next one will be even better.




5. This is simply the best non-fiction piece I have read in many years! In all seriousness, Nola compares with the "classic" non-fiction such as Capote's "Du Sang Froid" and Thompson's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Hemley presents his reader with a cacphony of stories and evidence about the life and death of an American icon - the family.

5 comments about ASCENT: how one quadriplegic fought for a full life and soared.

1. I am one of the few to have read the book after having met Bruce and Barbara and enjoyed their company and hospitality. At 75, he is still remarkable---and an excellent pilot of his van in which we were driven to lunch, then to view a hung exhibit of his stunning floral photographs, a few of which were reproduced in the book. But most importantly, Bruce is truly that kind of man of whom you can say, "Wheelchair? I hardly noticed!" And you will understand when you read the book; it's a marvelous autobiography that doesn't mince words and presents the challenges and successes as they happened. I couldn't put it down!



2. ASCENT: how one quadriplegic fought for a full life and soared
   
   It' inspiring and very well written. The photographs of the author's art and photography are an additional treat.



3. If ever there was a story of success against all the odds this is it. I found the book difficult to put down. Bruce's explanation of his treatment after the accident were heart-breaking, but his descriptions of soaring in his glider and his adventures in the African Bush were wonderfully captivating. He truly has achieved a number of things that able-bodied people cannot.
   Compelling reading, and a rare insight into the life of a disabled person.
   Strongly recommended.



4. This book is a wonderful inspiration to anyone who is going thru a debilitating injury or illness. While reading Mr. McGhie's story and how he has overcome so many challenges, I can see the fight and determination that my child, who lost a limb to cancer and subsequently acquired additional medical issues from chemo medication, has gone thru and overcome in direct parallel to Bruce McGhie's struggles and successes. They both met and overcome their challenges and have achieved a full and wonderful lives. Bruce McGhie's experiences and talent for putting feelings into words made me feel every pain and every triumph he achieved. Thank you for your voice and talent.



5. Bruce reveals that his life is richly fulfilling. Markedly not "normal", he details both his emotional and physical adjustments to achieve great satisfaction in his family, professional, and personal lives. Focussed beyond his circumstances, he invites us all to live courageously.

5 comments about I Was #87: A Deaf Woman's Ordeal of Misdiagnosis, Institutionalization, and Abuse.

1. This is an excellent recounting of the events of a life, but it is largely unemotional. The horrors of the primary school are not fully documented, leaving the reader with the impression that it must not have been all THAT bad - it was horrific, of course, but we don't see enough examples to really feel sympathy. Additionally, we never learn many personal things about the author, such as how she feels about her deafness (although this probably results from her stunted emotional growth) and why she felt compelled to write the book.
   
   It is a good book, however, and if it were not so difficult to track down I would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject matter. But because of the controversy surrounding its first printing, "I Was #87" is expensive and hard to find. Upon finally obtaining it, some readers may feel as I did - that the effort was greater than the book warranted.



2. Anne Bolander suffered from congenital hearing loss which her paternal grandmother attributed to prenatal exposure to a certain medication. Anne and her twin brother, Peter, born in 1954 become part of a large family. Sadly, their mother dies in 1957 and Anne has trouble navigating in the hearing world. Unable to remain in preschool because of her hyperactive behavior and inability to hear directions, her father, stepmother and paternal grandparents are ill-equipped to meet her needs.
   
   Misdiagnosed as retarded in October 1959 at Johns Hopkins, Anne then serves a five-year sentence at the Stoutamyre School. The "school" sounds like a medieval torture chamber; the children are not educated in academics nor taught self-care. Margie Stoutamyre, the school's director made, in the words of Anne's co-author, Adair N. Renning, Nurse Wretched Ratched of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" infamy look like Mary Poppins. Dickensian workhouses pale in comparison to this place.
   
   Children were beaten by Margie at the drop of a hat; if one so much as looked at someone else being beaten, they, too received a beating. Belts, whips and a board with holes were used; children could only use the bathroom three times a day and even then Margie allotted them a certain amount of time which she monitored with a stopwatch. Illnesses did not exempt one from beatings. In one memorable passage, Anne was forced to eat another child's vomit simply because she saw him vomit at the table.
   
   In addition to the beatings, children were locked in the root cellar for days; kept in a windowless seclusion room and even strapped to a chair. Anne Bolander literally survived in hell. Mealtimes were rigid affairs where one had to eat in a certain way and keep a straight spine at all times. Failure to do so resulted in beatings. Anne describes how some children were literally beaten to death and she even recounts how she saw a boy being pounded to death simply because he had diarrhea.
   
   Her grandmother was the only person who was kind to her. In 1964 she takes Anne out of Stoutamyre for a few days to enjoy the World's Fair. By 1965 Anne's father and stepmother have her discharged. Anne, in her words has exchanged one Margie for another. Pat, her stepmother treated her in the same brutal and erratic fashion that Margie did. The only girl in a houseful of brothers, Anne concluded that being male was the way to survive and that "love" meant "being beaten" because she had been told by Pat how much Margie "loved" her.
   
   The one bright spot in her life during that period was the 1965-1966 school year she spent at St. Mary's. Kind, loving nuns nurtured her and helped heal much of the harm that had been inflicted upon her. Sadly, she is forced to leave the place because her father has been transferred to another state.
   
   Anne's secondary and adult years are marked by social unawareness. She is easily mislead by those who are not well meaning and this pattern of gullible trusting follows her into the workplace. She thinks the nickname "Retard" is an honor because she wanted a nickname "like the other kids," not realizing the stigma attached. She steals gifts so as to gain popularity and is willing to do anything to have people like her. While understandable, the results are no less devastating.
   
   Anne graduates from high school in 1974 at the age of 20. She spends a summer in a hospital training program at a college in N.Y., but finds that the adjustment was more than she was then able to make. Anne exceeds her father's low expectations of her by not only graduating, but buying her own car and paying for the insurance herself after taking driving lessons. She spends the next number of years living in her own mobile home and with friends, some of whom use her.
   
   Luckily, Anne meets angels, such as Ruth and Glenn, who help her navigate tricky social terrain. Ruth encourages her to fix herself up; Glenn tells her what certain obscenities mean so she will no longer fall prey to the rude and mean spirited jokes her co-workers play. In time, Anne learns these things.
   
   Setbacks occur, such as when Anne is raped by her father in 1979. She spends December of 1980 in a hospital, sorting out the problems in her life, starting with Stoutamyre. By the time she is released in early 1981, Anne is ready to put her life together. She moves out of one bad household where she was being monetarily exploited; becomes active in the deaf community and reconnects with her youngest brother. In March of 1984, her father remarries and Anne has by then realized that with the exception of her youngest brother, she has to cut her losses where her family is concerned. The final blow was when her father and stepmother argued over her brother's surgery when her father said he was not going to spend any money on his son as he was no longer a child.
   
   A hard, intense and much needed book, Anne is the voice of inspiration. She has survived in hell and, like the phoenix risen up out of the ashes. This book makes me think of the passage from Scripture and related song, "On Eagles' Wings."



3. I am not a fan of reading books, but the title of this book caught my attention. I could not put this book down once I started reading it and finished it over a weekend. I recommended this book to my entire family and I hope everyone gets a chance to read it. I was so moved on how Anne survived through all of the horrible obstactles she faced. It is sad to think that all of her "supposeable friends" during that time in her life took advantage of her the way they did when she needed them the most. I feel like I know her and forever I will think of Anne. I wish her the best and I hope the future for her is the most rewarding, for she has earned it!!



4. I was #87 is a true story, neither my daughter or I could put this book down until we finished it. It is about a little girl who was severely abused and also diagnosed as being retarded when she was actually deaf and of above average intelligence. The determination and survival of this child is so riviting and also inspiring at the same time. It makes you thankful for what we do have in this life. You will realize that the day to day things we might think of as obstacles or problems are so trivial. I would reccomend this book to everyone. There is a limied supply since it is out of print but it is available through the library also.



5. I was so touched when I read Anne's book. She went through so much and I cannot tell you how brave I think she is. I wish her all the best. Thank-you Anne. Carole

4 comments about A Mother's Story.

1. Gloria Vanderbilt's novel isn't about Gloria, it's about Suicide and the aftermath of depression and grief. Even in the ever increasing, unwanted clique of suicide survivors, it's still fairly rare for those who have actually witnessed the suicide of our dearly loved ones to find help for our special sorrow. Suicide of a loved one is hard enough to deal with, but there's a distinctive anguish that must be dealt with when such a disturbing, shocking, and painful life-taking event is witnessed.
   
   Such an event separates us from the rest of society in an uncomfortable and agonizing way, and no one could have been more separated from her feelings than the last American Debutante: Gloria Vanderbilt. Raised to be a "lady", to never show strong emotions, to remain in control at all times, Gloria experienced many shattering events, but her "glass bubble" broke when her son committed suicide before her very eyes. Gloria had to break her glass bubble in order to survive, to deal with the overpowering emotion exclusive to survivors of suicide, and she poignantly shares her journey in this heartrending account of her son's life and death. Breaking her "bubble" was a gutsy act, one that perhaps you are facing now. I found strength in her words, and courageousness in her willingness to share her unique pain. Her story is about celebrating her son's life and accomplishments, remembering him as he was before his illness overtook his life, and about her courage to "break the glass bubble" and share her deep, heartfelt emotion and pain in order to help others in spite of her upbringing, which encouraged a lady to bottle up feelings.
   
   The stigma attached to suicide, and even those who are left behind, is often crippling. None felt this stigma more than a woman in constant "limelight", a woman of "old money" forced into a strict code of ethics that forbade public displays of emotion, or public displays of weakness. Uneducated people see suicide as a weakness, and apply this not just to the originator but to his/her family in his/her wake.
   
   I highly recommend this book for survivors of suicide. If you're looking for courage in this time of great need, please pick up a copy of this book. Also, do a google search for 'suicide survivors', and call your local Crisis Hotline for survivors groups in your area or phone numbers to call. You're not alone. There are groups of real people out there who share your unique pain, please contact them.



2. I read this book before I read her husband Wyatt Cooper's book, which was written decades before Gloria's book. I was confused to find that almost every single one of Gloria's 'memories' of her sons, mostly centering around Carter, obviously, were almost word for word taken from Wyatt Cooper's novel. This makes her book, titled A Mother's Story, so much more sad for me---does Gloria not have any memories about her sons that are her own?
   
   Aside from that, she spends quite A LOT of the book basically doing the poor little rich girl routine. I'm sure she's had pain in her life, but everyone has! She goes on and on about how she's locked in a bubble and can't feel any real love, everyone that she's ever tried loving is taken from her, etc, etc, etc.
   
   The book is really choppy; short passages taken from her diary, lifted memories, and she jumps back and forth to her son, Carter's suicide. After she describes the suicide she spends the rest of the book going on about how she had to see her surriviving son, Anderson, right in life and then she could be with Wyatt and Carter again. Very melodramtic, but it makes my heart break for Anderson--she quite obviously would rather be 'in heaven with Daddy and Carter' than paying attention to the son she still has.
   
   The only reason I gave this book two stars instead of one is because it is a mercifully quick read.



3. Gloria Vanderbilt describes herself as living from earliest childhood in an "unbreakable glass bubble," a sense of being isolated from people because she was unlovable and unworthy, unable to feel deep emotions. Though she knew happiness for the first time with her fourth husband Wyatt Cooper and her sons, she still felt tinges of being cut off from reality. Her husband's death started to crack the unbreakable bubble surrounding her soul, and it shattered completely and forever when she witnessed her son Carter commit suicide, when he was 23.
   
   She then was able to feel the deepest pain and guilt, and to acknowledge the boundless joy he had brought to her. She writes in a disjointed manner, flashing back and forth with journal entries and short reflections about events in her life leading up to Carter's death, which she describes in acute detail. Her musings are written to herself and to Carter, except for one chapter in which she reaches out to readers who are dealing with loss; she never imagined she could survive after her son's death, but she did, and given enough time, others will, too.
   
   This little book is short enough, and compelling enough, to read in one sitting. Her reflections are deeply personal, and yet universally understood.
   
   Kona



4. This book is an unexpected jewel that was given to me by a friend during a time in my life where I was struggling with myself and my path in life. Everyone can associate with the events and emotions conveyed in this touching account of a mother losing her son. Honest, personal, and moving, the author invites us into a sacred place and shares her tragedy with the world with loving care. At times I felt embarassed, as if I were trespassing into a private and personal memory. It is more than a book about loss and heart ache, it is a book about life.