1 comments about Movie Stars and Sensuous Scars: Essays on the Journey from Disability Shame to Disability Pride.

1. As an author and PhD student I take seriously the area of disability studies. This thought provoking book is an excellent way to consider those whom society deems different and the limitations we place which blocks an individual more than any physical disability could. I found the writing exemplary and the content utterly compelling.
   I would recommend this book not only to educators but to authors and writers who wish to add depth to their characterizations and develop an understanding of disability culture.

5 comments about The Magic Castle: A Mother's Harrowing True Story Of Her Adoptive Son's Multiple Personalities-- And The Triumph Of Healing.

1. This book was incredible in helping me to understand the torment and coping mechanisms of children who have been abused. Many people are too quick to judge and condemn rather than try to understand someone who is having difficulty coping with life. Carole Smith's book has opened a door for people who want to understand.
   
   Carole Smith is an incredible parent...a REAL parent who shows how to love when it isn't easy.
   
   Alex Smith is an amazing young man who had the courage to look within and come to terms with events over which he had no control. I applaud his courage and honesty in the face of more trauma than anyone should ever have to endure. His story will help many others.
   
   As caring humans we need to take a hard look at the "safeguards" we have in place to protect children. Thank God for people like Carole and Sam Smith who are willing to reach out to wonderful souls like Alex Smith.



2. this book is a little unbelievable.the horse connection is just unbelievable.its impossible to believe that such things can happen openly.however, the book is written well and kudos to the author for taking on such a challenge .the author is an angel for adopting alex when he was as wild as an animal .on the whole , the magic castle is worth a read but some people might not believe the things that happened to alex.



3. I know NOTHING about MPD and would not even begin to comment on that aspect of the book other than to say it was enlightening. That being said, I don't know if I believe the stories of abuse this child supposedly went through. It all seems a little far fetched to me.



4. If you're interested in learning more about Multiple Personality Disorder, this is NOT the place to start. To go a step further, if you're interested in learning more about the "experience" of MPD, this would be an option, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first. Why? Glad you asked:

   Although the book shows interesting information and honestly reflects on Alex's experiences (through his adopted mother), it is filled to the rim with motherly love and saturated with a seemingly overzealous adopted mother. This book is really about HER experience, not his. It's about HER taking the initiative and acting the heroine when she discovers her adopted son was the victim of Satanic Ritual Abuse and suffers from a severe dissociative disorder (MPD). It isn't until the end of the book that some pictures and therapy are discussed. So if you want to learn about a multiple's journey to triumph, save yourself some time and money (and occasionally difficult reading) and get something else.

   If, on the other hand, you're looking to see things from a foster-mom-who-doesn't-know-anything-about-MPD's point of view, this could be the book for you. I became tired and irritated as I tried to crawl through the pages that were dripping with, "Oh, my poor baby! Save him!" and "If you won't, I WILL!!" Pu-leeze. Once again, if you've read them all and you want a new one, here it is. Otherwise...you might very well get more information (and less sugar) from the back of a cereal box. :v(




5. This book is very graphic and very gruesome. I was very disturbed by the things I read. The abuse this child suffered was horrific, and you get to hear the details from the child's viewpoint. I found the stories of abuse to be so vile and horrifying that I even though this book was a gift, I am donating it to my local library. I read it once, and would never read it again because I found it so upsetting. To think that such evil exists in the world makes me physically ill. So be forewarned that this book is very disturbing, gruesome and upsetting.

2 comments about Will the Real John Callahan Please Stand Up?: A Quasi Memoir.

1. I don't know about you. But I get sick and tired of asking how someone is - and getting a tale of woe. Perhaps I am a bit hard on them. But frankly, having lived amid the so-called differently-abled for about 20 years...it is so remarkable that they are the least likely to complain; love John Callahan's books; laugh at themselves; and give me (a so-called "normal") the courage to go on. Thanks John! But could you please write some more books? We all really need them!!!



2. Humor beyond compare. This book belongs in every nursing home, living resources center, self-help library -- not to mention on the nightstand of anyone who's ailing and needs a good laugh. A prolific cartoonist, all of Callahan's books are excellent, and none of the cartoons repeat in any of his several volumes. The vision of John Callahan is monumental. Don't miss the laughter; it will make you well.

5 comments about Count Us In: Growing Up with Down Syndrome.

1. I've never read a book by people with Down Syndrome before, and haven't gotten to meet many people with Down Syndrome either, so it was a real pleasure to get to meet and understand what these two young men are thinking and feeling on a variety of topics from having Down Syndrome, school and interacting with others, what their dreams are for their future, how they feel about women, marriage, and children, etc.
   
   It was a hard book to sit down and read front to back because the book was structured as a series of quotes from both boys or conversations between them and their family members, and also because the way they phrase things is different from what I am used to, so I instead enjoyed reading a few chapters a day.
   
   I was a little taken aback at some of Jason's attitudes towards women at that time, but I appreciate that he was a high school student at that time and may have matured in his viewpoints since then - I know I am very different from when I was a high-schooler! People with strong religious convictions may prefer to read this book before handing it off to their teen with DS, since the views are largely secular.
   
   This was a valuable and unique look inside the heads of two strong young men who are working hard to be accepted and beloved contributors to society, and I am so glad they wrote this book to share their thoughts with us.



2. I read this book when my son was just a baby, and I was still full of misconceptions and misunderstandings about Down syndrome. The story of these two young men, told in their own words, did more to help me begin to envision a life full of hope and potential for my baby than any other book I'd read. I want to thank them for helping me learn, and grow as a person, and be a better mother to my own son.



3. i think this book should go to individuals to learn about issues that might be dealing with. these two advocates have learned a lot and how their parents has taught them i think i definitively recommend this book to go to many libraries and bookstores so that other men can learn how to do things on their own just like any other men. i am a women and i have down syndrome to i have read this it made me realize that having down syndrome is a celebration



4. I read this when my son was a baby and the book was new. I couldn't relate to ANYTHING about these boys lives. As a woman, I just couldn't relate to their male view of the world. We did not share any interests either. This book might be more appreciated by an adult male relative, professional, or family friend, but I wouldn't recommend it for a teen. It is nice that these two boys with DS are so capable, but their book would be more interesting for someone that shared their viewpoint and/or interests. If you are a woman, read something more uplifting.



5. This is a book written in their own words by two young men who have Down's Syndrome. They share the ups and down's of their lives . Although my son is only nine, I found this book very helpful because it gave me some preview of things to come. Because the book was written in the boys' own words, it gives a unique picture into the minds and lives of older children with Down syndrome. It also gave some insight into familiar problems, as well as some events that were unique to these boys who authored the book. I found myself wishing that my own son had a close friend to help guide him through the ups and downs that await him in his teenage years. Then I realised that I could actively seek out peers for him to become friendly with at my local Down syndrome chapter, and maybe I could find some friends that he could become close with in a similar fashion to the authors of this book. I highly recommend this book to all parents, caregivers, teachers and other professionals who work with children who have disabliities similar to Down Syndrome, because the experiences of these boys could cover a broad spectrum of disabilities, not only Down Syndrome. So many books are written from an outsider's prespective. This book comes straight from the sourcel.

4 comments about Signs of Life: A Memoir of Dying and Discovery.

1. My beloved father passed away on March 3, 2005 after living for 2 years with Stage IV lung cancer. I was his caretaker for the last 6 weeks of his life whe I moved to New York to care for him. This book is a beautiful heartfelt story of the author's experience with his own's mother's illness and death. I found it to be very cathartic and appreciated the beauty of his words. i even found things within to adapt when writing my dad's eulogy. If only i could write so well to write something beautiful for my father. Thank you Tim Brookes, bless your family and your mother, may she live though you all who loved her so. Lori



2. Tim Brookes offers a well written, engaging account of the dying and death process. My father was diagnosed with a brain tumor a few weeks ago and a dear friend put this book in my hands. It is a tribute to life and dignity in dying. As I write this we are still in the middle of searching for treatment and I find the words of this book comforting and a guide of sorts to the process of living, essentially with a death sentence. The author shines a light on a process we are all engaged in, as we all eventually face the dying process. This book would be helpful for family members as well as professionls...and not only those dealing with cancer.



3. When my grandmother was diagnosed terminally ill(suffering from COPD), the family chose hospice care instead of a nursing home. I went to the library to get a book on hospice and this is the book that carried me through the heartbreaking yet beautiful last week of my beloved Nany's life. I know that every dying experience is different, but there were similarities between the author's mother and my grandmother's. It gave me great comfort to read Mr. Brookes words as I sat beside my grandmother's bedside. Many thanks for putting into words what my family and I were observing and feeling.



4. Tim Brookes very eloquently voiced some of my own thoughts, feelings and struggles as I experienced my mother's death from cancer 2 months ago. It is a time of great intimacy and discovery about the very meaning of life. Our culture's beliefs and fears around death are interwoven with his very personal story, which he shares with great poignancy. This book is NOT a downer but a tribute to life. It is HIGHLY recommended for everyone, as death is a part of everyone's life

5 comments about Joni (Spanish edition).

1. I first read Joni in 1977, when I received it as a H.S. grad present. Having been born with disabilities due to German measles, I could identify w/ Joni a wee bit. Frustrations, anger, questions, etc. Yes, I could identify a little bit w/ her. But as I read her book, all I could think was "Wow!!" I certainly didn't have a problem now, did I? God most certainly used her in ways I could never imagine. I am SO thankful that Joni allowed God to use her in all the ways that He has. I know that I have benefitted from Joni and her organization's generosity. Thank You, Lord, for allowing the rest of us to learn so much from her!! May Ken and Joni Tada continue to be a blessing to so many people, and in return, be blessed themselves. Thank you, Joni, and thank you, Ken, for being who you are.



2. This book is an inspiring story of a teenager left paralyzed from the neck down after a diving accident, and how she finds the strength through her faith to go on living.
   
   Joni Eareckson came to national attention through her artwork, which she painted with a brush held between her teeth. It was a stunning image, her interview with Barbara Walters, the realization that someone left completely paralyzed could find a way to go on with her life.
   
   Joni's true life story has given hope to millions of people in the twenty-five years since it was first published.



3. Mary Anne Maxwell, RN Fort Myers Florida.
   I read "Joni" as I was graduating from Nurses training, and was doing a Rehabilitation Focus in Detroit, Michigan. Joni has touched my nursing interaction with clients, realizing that all clients are precious to God, and the cranky ones, have something to teach me, that is sometimes deep inside them. I have learned to accept them as they are, and invite them to grow, and to keep in touch with many thru the years. I went on to be a Hospice Nurse applying many insights of Joni's books to helping those who share their journey of chronic disease, and death. Joni is an inspiration to those who seek to give their BEST to others in their detours of health.



4. Our mother used to read us children's books every night, so we were surprised one night when she started to read to us from this book. We loved it almost at once. I don't think I'll ever forget the impression that was made on my mind when we read about Joni's story and her experiences. Even as a little child, I could understand her faith in God and how if I had my own troubles, that would help me too.
   
   This has got to be one of those books that is a rare treasure that many people don't find. It is an excellent book and a heartwarming story of faith, determination and hope. I'd reccomend it to anyone, especially to parents who want a good book to read with their families. It may not be as exciting Harry Potter, but the lessons I learned from it still help me each day!



5. This is one of those few stories that never leave you. Even after you have read the book, closed it and put it on the shelf, the story remains and you can't get it out of your head. A bright, energetic, full-of-life girl goes diving into the shallow water - an act that will forever change her life and ultimately change the lives of millions of others.
   
   Suddenly, this athletic, independent young girl is trapped in a body that will not move. Paralyzed from the shoulders down, she finds herself no longer independent, but fully dependent on the care of others for the simplest of tasks. Things we take for granted like wiping away tears, blowing your own nose or brushing your hair - now on someone else's time table, not your own.
   
   Understandably, this turn of events shakes her faith as she shakes her mental fists at God for dashing all her hopes and dreams for the future. Failed romances, rocky friendships, family heartaches - Joni holds nothing back in this insightful view into her world.
   
   Through her emotional and spiritual failings, the author shares her growth and understanding of God's plan for her life and the lives of others. Using her mouth to draw and paint, the author became an established artist long before people realized that the artist whose work they were admiring was completely paralyzed and unable to use her hands. This revelation thrust her into celebrity where she has been able to make more of an impact on the lives of others than she would have ever been able to have accomplished prior to her injury.
   
   Through her charity, Joni & Friends, the author has provided for wheelchairs for the disabled around the world and opened the doors of opportunity to wheelchair bound people everywhere.
   
   I've seen the author on Larry King a few times and always wondered, "how does that woman keep smiling and keep such an upbeat attitude?" It is hard to imagine a worse fate than what she has endured since her accident, yet after reading her personal account of her life since that fateful summer in 1967, the reader understands exactly why she smiles and truly has joy in her life. I picked up this book thinking it would be 'interesting' and nothing more - I was delightfully surprised to find this to be a page-turner I could not put down. Even though I've finished reading this autobiography, I doubt I will ever truly put this book down. This is a story that sticks with you long after you've closed the back cover.

5 comments about Brush with Darkness: Learning to Paint After Losing My Sight.

1. It took an incredible loss for Lisa Fittipaldi to become a winner. Her inability to see the world from the outside forces her to look within. The author entices you from the beginning by intimately sharing her painful discovery into who she really was, and wasn't. A brilliant career woman channels her intelligence, determination, and resourcefulness into finding an answer, but not knowing to what. As her health continues to deteriorate she explores every dimension imaginable desperately attempting to discover her purpose in life. Miracuously everything seems to flow together and manifests itself in every stroke of her brush. It is difficult to conceive that her images come from an internal memmory bank, eloquently transfering onto canvas. Just as skillfully she takes the reader through this process managing to explain the impossible. After reading all night I finished the book feeling refreshed and inspired. A remarkable woman!



2. This is a well-written story about a woman who, after being suddenly plunged into darkness, struggling with denial and profound depression, ultimately triumphs and goes on to soar into a life she could never have imagined. This is a truly inspirational story which has lessons for all of us.



3. As Lisa Fittipaldi's "art dealer extraordinaire," I was honored to be included in her touching account of how she overcame going blind and went on to produce such moving realism in her paintings. As I read the book, I found myself unable to put it down, despite the fact that I have known the artist for more than five years and thought I knew her whole story. This book shows Lisa's journey to re-enter the sighted world after going blind and how she used art to find that path. The following quotes from the jacket cover indicate how this book inspired Natalie Maines, Heloise, Kinky Freidman, and Rick Riordan.
   
   "This book goes far beyond learning how a blind painter creates her works of art. It is an honest, heartfelt look at a woman who struggles to overcome her own faults and fears to find her authentic self."
   - Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks
   
   "A truly inspirational story with highlights, lowlights, and lessons we can all learn from."
   - Heloise, international household hints columnist
   
   "Lisa Fittipaldi is a great artist who also happens to be blind. "A Brush with Darkness" is the story of how art imitates life, and how life imitates art, and how both are mirror reflections of the miracle that is the human spirit."
   - Kinky Friedman, singer, songwriter, and author
   
   "By turns poignant, enthralling, and uplifting, "A Brush with Darkness" is a tribute to human perseverance and creativity. Lisa Fittipaldi writes as she paints - with deft strokes and vibrant color."
   - Rick Riordan, Edgar Award-winning author



4. I recently had the pleasure of meeting the author and her husband. I thought she was inspiring after a short visit over breakfast. But until reading this book, I had only seen the tip of the iceberg! It is amazing that someone who has endured so much can remain so positive and create great works on canvas as well as create great impacts on the lives of others. There is so much inspiration in this book. This will be great for Christmas gifts!



5. A book and story like no other that I have read. The author becomes blind and then learns to paint, as the title indicates, but what the review and title do not reveal is that the author guides the reader through her personal journey toward self actualization. By her frankness in revealing the changes she endured, the emotions she felt and the methods that lead to her acceptance, the reader gets a great insight into their own life and how to handle personal problems. A marvelously insightful book by a mind that is creative, mature and certainly a genius. I could not wait to see what happened next and found myself reading the book late into the night.

2 comments about Tiger's Eye: A Memoir.

1. I have to disagree with the other reviewer with 5 stars. The book just didn't grab me as I hoped it would, and it was a bit of a struggle to complete. I thought about ditching it at around page 50, but continued on to see if it improved--which it did to a small extent. After reading other books about people with illnesses, I found that Tiger's Eye paled in comparison. Go for "It's Not About the Bike" by Lance Armstrong if you want a more gripping personal account of someone dealing and overcoming serious illness. Now that's a real page-turner!



2. Tiger's Eye is Inga Clendinnen's account of her diagnosis of a rare liver disease, her rapidly debilitating illness, finally a liver transplant and ultimate if precarious recovery. But that is like saying Moby Dick is about whaling. This historian from Australia has written a superb treatise full of hard truths on both illness and memory. After all, the truth is not always carried on angels' wings. Along the way she also has written fiction-- short stories-- and some of the history of Australia. After her diagnosis of Active Auto-Immune Hepatitis, she began writing this memoir on her laptop computer, not knowing if she would live or not. She writes searing accounts of her hospitalization: the good, the bad, the indifferent hospital personnel. The visitors who came late and leave early, to get back to their lives outside an institution.

   Ms. Clendinnen writes: "What distinguishes the healthy from the ill--which is a more significant division in any society than class or gender or possibly even homelessness--is that the healthy consider feeling well to be the normal state of things." Then there is memory and all the attendant problems. For example, two children of the same parents have different recollections of their parents, but they are both right. "Being ill had taught me how much of ourselves there is in all the stories we tell about the past." Ms. Clendinnen wanted to preserve the memories of her parents, to try to discover what they were like before she was born. The portraits, "as accurate as memory allows," the author would say, of her parents are the best thing I think in this book. Her descriptions of her mother Catherine, born in Melbourne in 1897-- and her futile attempts ever really to know her mother made my eyes water. Her mother's hard life was in some part her own making. Not all her sisters, for example, were as miserable as she. About her mother's death, Ms. Clendinnen writes "how could her life be ending when it had not yet begun? Bound from childhood in a net of unsought obligations, she fought hard, but with weapons which always turned and lacerated her own flesh. In the desolation of old age, with death imminent, I think she finally knew herself to have been trapped, and defeated, from the beginning."

   Ms. Clendinnen named this memoir Tiger's Eye after her favorite animal, the tiger, "because he was the only animal who did not acknowledge he was in a cage. . . I too was in a cage, with feeding times and washing times and bars at the side of my cot, and people coming to stare and prod, but the kaleidoscope of the horror of helplessness ceased to turn because I withdrew my consent from it." Like Melville's Ishmael, the now wiser writer lived to tell her tale: "Illness granted me a set of experiences otherwise unobtainable. It liberated me from the routines which would have delivered me, unchallenged and unchanged, to discreet death. Illness casts you out, but it also cuts you free. I will never take conventional expectations seriously again, and the clear prospect of death only makes living more engaging." There is so much to learn from Ms. Clendinnen's ordeal-- about illness, about courage, about getting on with our lives. A very fine book indeed.

5 comments about Up and Running: The Jami Goldman Story.

1. THis is a wonderful book. I knew Jami back in high school. We went to peer counseling camp together. She was just as she says, not very active. I am sure that today she is the same great spririted person I knew back when. She has survived and overcome.I read the book after seeing her on To Tell the Truth. I am proud to say that I know her. I truly recommend this book. It is quite a story of determination.



2. I was so shocked to know how she got both legs amputated. And I was so shocked to know that could happen to anybody. But her extraordinary strength of will to live gave me great courage to confront with my losses or unfortunates. While sensitively expressing a feminine part of her, she was also very competitive and eager to find her new life. Her optimism reminded me how profound our lives and possibilities are. This book will be a beautiful gift to share with all my precious friends. Thank you, Jami and Andrea.



3. Incredible personal narrative about what it's like to be average turned to handicapped turned to awesome source of power! I picked this book up in the library, reading back cover and was intrigued before looking at the picture on front cover and wondering, how? My brother is an amputee and I've witnessed first hand the strange way that people treat him, as an outsider from normal existance. Jami describes herself and the way others perceive her very clearly. This book is impossible to put down as you read about the terror of being stuck in a vehicle for 11 days and wondering why you haven't died yet. It is equally as difficult to put down as you read about Jami's determination to return to life as it was before the accident. This book is passionate, informed, relevant to today, romantic, inspirational, realistic, descriptive, adventurous, and well thought out. However, as a 7 months pregnant about to be first time mother, I do not recommend this book for readers under 18 years old.



4. As a single leg amputee I found it very easy to relate with a lot of the different trials and tribulations that Jami discussed in her inspirational story.I found on somedays not being able to put the book down just to see how she made it to the next step of her incredible journeys of adapting to her whole new world.It's also nice to know that no matter of ones differences from others, you are never alone.



5. This is the most amazing and inspirational story I have ever read.I read the book cover to cover. I couldn't put it down. I learned so much about living life to the fullest it made me excited about living again. I want to thank Jami for sharing her amazing journey with the world. I hope everyone gets the chance to read this wonderful book!

5 comments about Devil in the Details.

1. I just finished reading Jennifer Traig's incredibly engaging memoir. Who knew a book about a serious condition- OCD, more specifically srucpulosity- would be so entertaining, yet endearing? I was constantly reading parts of the books outloud to my husband, who was wondering why I was giggling.
   Traig is both a gifted and clever author as she gives us an inside peak into a world of extreme religion and cleanliness.
   The story was captivating, the writing wonderful, and yes, the devil is in the details. If you are considering buying this book, definitely buy it. Put a tissue on your head and read it!!



2. Is it wrong to fall over laughing when reading a book about a person with severe OCD? If so, I'm in some deep cosmic trouble, because this was hilarious.
   
   "Scenes" aptly describes the book because, as Traig herself makes clear, her battles with the disease were sporadic. Plus, the book has scattered through it various (also very funny) quizzes, proofs, sample SAT questions, and so forth that give insight into the OCD mind. Somehow, Traig helps us find humor in the horror of bloody, chapped hands, anorexia, and hair-pulling. It's almost a hat trick; I'm not sure how she did it.
   
   Traig and her family, as presented in the book, are immensely likable and weather the bizzare with good humor. There are colorful portraits of them as well as of Traig; no member of her immediate family is there as a mere prop to her own story, which is a real strength in the book, something that helps make it more substantial than many of the more "me-centric" memoirs.
   
   Religion plays a heavy part in this memoir, something that many readers may not expect, but it was the key piece of Traig's disorder. I personally found it fascinating to read about, as so many elements of Orthodox Judaism were unfamiliar to me, and, again, I thought it gave the book a good deal of substance. Some readers may be put off by this element of the unfamiliar, while others may find it intriguing (and it certainly makes this book stand out from any other OCD memoir). The book becomes not just a "book about a girl with OCD" but also a more profound look at a girl coming to terms with her identity and faith. And again-- to be able to make all of this side-splittingly funny reveals rare talent indeed!



3. Intrigued by the excellent art design on the cover of this book, I recently enjoyed stepping into the mind of author Traig as a young girl struggling with a mental disorder amongst other pains of growing up. She writes with a very sardonic tone, which suits the serious subject quite well, making it a fun read instead of a potentially dreary one. The only aspect that seemed slightly out of place was how she didn't really wrap the memoir up with any sense of finality. There was hardly any sense of the author in the present tense, aside from a few mentions of her religious life currently. Perhaps the intent was to create a snapshot of her as an adolescent, but it seems like an abrupt ending to the book regardless. Would definitely recommend to anyone interested in reading a sharply written memoir.



4. Jennifer Traig uses a distinctive comic voice throughout this book that makes it very easy to read. The author describes the trials and tribulations of growing up with OCD, and her anecdotes are both poignant and funny. She provides a non-clinical point of view, describing the impact of OCD on her everyday life. I would recommend this book and am looking forward to reading more works by Traig.



5. I really liked this book. A good read about growing up, religion, family and OCD. I just saw that the author has another book, and I'm ordering that one right now! Good read!