No comments about Letters to Sheri.

5 comments about The Book of Jesse: A Story of Youth, Illness, and Medicine.

1. The Book of Jesse is about the life, illness and death of a young man. It is equally the story of his father's efforts to care for his son in the face of serious and ultimately fatal illness. It is about the family's struggles and, most of all, about the mysteries of creativity and of human development as long as life is breathed. In his introduction, Michael Rowe says that the writer dons�"the mantle of creative artist while dealing in the coin of true story�; and let his readers decide whether he has written a good story, and a true story."

   In my view, this true story is also a good story. It is surprising that a reader should look forward to reading a book about the illness and death of a young man. Yet the book is intrinsically interesting and compelling, both in style and substance. The use of Jesse's drawings offers a symbolic focus that reminds us of the power and transcendence of art. The moving back and forth between events before and during Jesse's last illness and after his death, while confusing at times, also works because it helps to show the varying moods and tugs that his father and family encounter. The impact of modern technological medicine on patients, families, and medical staff is also well described.

   There are no easy answers here, and no manipulations either. The author's style is straightforward and honest. Despite the unanswered questions and the grieving that continues, this book leaves the reader with a sense of wholeness both about Jesse and his father's struggle to understand his son and himself.




2. The Book of Jesse by Michael Rowe is the story of a family's love and suffering as they watch and try to help their loved one struggle to stay alive.
   It is a book in which the author has shared his thoughts and feelings with us. In doing so, he has put into words what many of us have experienced in one way or another.
   As a retired member of the madical profession, I highly recommend it be read by everyone in the medical field. It will enhance and renew their empathy.
   To the author I say "God Bless you and your family for all that you did for Jesse."
   - Gloria M. Coughlin



3. I recommend this book from many perspectives: as a parent, a social worker and former health administrator, and as a relative of another young man who died from liver disease. I specifically recommend this book for the precise reasons that some readers will find themselves struggling with. The author exposes the unpretty side of medical care and in doing so, heightens our awareness of all too readily accepted medical practices and behavior. Rowe presents the uneasy complexities of two families grasping for precious moments with their shared loved one. And, a father's struggle to make sense out of devastation is sometimes hard to read. Self serving? Yes. Of course. It's a father's story about his son. However, the author need not apologize. In writing this book, he helps us know ourselves better; we can appreciate the sharp, difficult realities of illness better; we are challenged to see hope and beauty amidst the shards; and, we get to know - and learn from - a courageous young man, Jesse. This book should be required reading for medical students and professionals.



4. Life on an intensive care unit is such as to induce family members to forget that there is, or has ever been, normal life elsewhere. It is the great merit of Michael Rowe's book to remind the reader that his son Jesse had always attempted to build such a normal life for himself, even as a child battling numerous illnesses. Jesse did this by creating many drawings, and Rowe includes both reproductions and verbal analyses of them in the book. The effect is to normalize Jesse for us, to re-humanize him, to lift him out of the patient role, as he lies teetering between life and death on the ICU. I took care of my father during his critical illness of five-and-a-half years, and I can attest that the book eloquently captures the minute-by-minute feel of intensive caregiving, of love at full emergency arousal.



5. With a gentle but sure hand, Rowe guides us on a tour of a young man's talent and illness, and a father's profound hope and loss. The book is illustrated with pictures drawn by Jesse, which seem to range from a fascination with comic book heroes, to anguished representations of mortality--some of which are on par with works from the Vienna Secession. As such, Rowe sets upon a mission of collaboration with his late son, and introduces us to Jesse in the most intimate and graceful of fashions. At one point in the text, Rowe describes how he pretends to haggle over a painting of Jesse's with his other son, Daniel; although Rowe knows this is contest he must lose, he engages it to watch "the heat of [Daniel's] love draw Jesse from his shadows." This book represents a similar endeavor that meets its goals, and in so doing, effectively draws Jesse from the shadows of illness, medicine, and time, to our conscience.

5 comments about "Our Brown-Eyed Boy".

1. It's an honest look into one family's struggle with autism. It's written in a down to earth and folksy style and communicates with the language of the heart.



2. In reading use comments about Yanni's album "If I Could Tell You" I noticed this author advertised his book. Regardless of the book's merits, I think it should be rejected due to the author being a shallow, inappropriate capitalist.
   
   PS I'm proud of myself for not swearing at Mr. Mcandrew in this post.



3. Author doesn't believe in any biological interventions and feels you should just accept you kid's disability and get on with it. Needs to spell check his work also.



4. Jeff McAndrew tells the story of living with and loving his son Stephen, who happens to have autism. The straight-forward, open approach to a wide variety of topics should be of great help to other families dealing with this condition. I especially appreciated the addition of comments of others - parents and professionals - who also are concerned about children with disabilities. It's important to remember that interventions which are effective for one child with autism may not be at all helpful to another, and vice versa. Finding interventions that work, as well as a strong support network, can make a critical difference in a family's ability to enjoy and appreciate a special child such as Stephen.



5. Jeff's book "Our Brown-Eyed Boy" will stand the test of time. Although it has some minor editing problems, the content has character and vision. This parent's insights will be respected for the honesty and love that underlies the effort. I liked Jeff's poetry and pictures of his son at the end of the book. This added a very nice personal touch. I recommend the book to parents of autistic children and to all parents. I was inspired by his honesty.

No comments about The World Within Me: A Personal Journey to Spiritual Understanding.

1 comments about A Voice No Longer Silent.

1. I also have CP (cerebral palsy). CP has not affected me as severely as Jason Nelson, but I could definitely identify with him. As you can see by the title of my review, I feel that "A Voice No Longer Silent" is a must read for anyone with CP, a parent of a child with CP, or anyone who wants to learn more of what it is like living with a disability. Get ready for an incredible story written by an amazing person!!!

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5 comments about Under the Devil's Thumb.

1. Found this to be an ejoyable read. It fits on the shelf next to edward abbey and bill bryson quite nicely. I recently read an essay by David Gessner in Orion - Learning to Surf - find the article online and read that if you want a quick taste of the superb writing gessner is capable of. I found this book to be close to that level of greatness; no "desert solitaire" but thoroughly enjoyable. I don't understand the previous reviewers abhorrence of beer - those contradictions contribute to a rich life. But fair enough, if you are the type who will occasionally negate your lightweight hiking gear by packing in a bottle of wine to share around the campfire, you will love this book.
   Be Well,
   Art



2. After 143 pages of drinking in the great outdoors, on page 144 David blunders onto the idea that he might be an alcoholic. Gee, dyathink? This book sounds like work of a man who desperately wants his words or his life to mean something big. He must refer to "personal myths" a dozen times in this book. He uses an incident where he leaves his sick, laboring wife behind on a x/c ski trip, only to "rescue" her and carry her pack near the end as a launching pad into an essay on heroism and heros (a title he doesnt claim, but one gets the sense he thinks he deserves). Oh puhlease! David is obviously well-read and I think he has potential when he writes about something other than himself. But his personal essay is too personal, he is too shallow for me to care about his character, and he never does anything interesting to write about (unless you call ski-drinking interesting). His essays of "place" about his affection for his new home in the west ring hollow to me, as if he desperately wants to believe what he has written. The book has its good moments, he occasionally turns a few good paragraphs when he is talking about something other than himself. But they seem like window dressing when viewed in the context of the whole. This was a hard book to finish because I just didnt care.



3. It sounded good. And I could relate to parts of it, as a recent transplant to Denver and having just experienced the deaths of close relatives. But the pomposity was too much. Some interesting stuff, but a lot of disorganized rambling. It feels like Gessner is just trying too hard to write the book he wants to be so proud of. The word "narcissistic" pops up a lot in the book. Totally appropriately. Does the guy mention beer in every single essay in the book? Yes, David, you're cool - you carried beer along on your hike.



4. Though I enjoyed much of this book immensely, calling it a book would be a bit generous. Though its major theme of the importance of a person establishing connectedness to a place rings true, the disparate chapters and their topics do not lead to a book that is greater than the sum of its parts. It stands better as a series of essays. Some chapters are full of the overwrought musings of an overly sentimental tree hugger, others are just too downright giddy and reek of so much gosh gee willikers amazement as to be pure drivel. There is also a narcissistic tone to the book that detracts from many of the aithors very moving and genuine observations. However, other sections ring so true that they should be lifted straight out of the book and put on a travel brochure. Mr. Gessner is at his best when waxing eloquently about the past (his own or anyone else's) or when he is on his bike ( a kindred spirit with this reviewer), but when he drifts into reflections on the zen of the moment it seems just too drippingly forced for this rreviewers taste.



5. From start to finish, I was deeply moved by Gessner's insightful and creative prose. This is perhaps the greatest book I've ever read. Thank you, Mr. Gessner, for making an invaluable contribution to contemporary American literature.

No comments about The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up.

1 comments about On the Edge of Reality.

1. a good account of a person's struggle through mental illness. A good selection for a psych class, too!

No comments about Surviving A Stroke: Recovering and Adjusting to Living With Hypertension (Isis (Paperback Large Print)).