3 comments about To The Storm: The Odyssey of a Revolutionary Chinese Woman.

1. At first, Yue Daiyun and her husband were both relatively successful academics, professors at Beida University in Beijing. Yue's father-in-law was a well-respected and wealthy authority on Buddhism, an honored acquaintance of Mao Zedong himself, who had read his books. They were third-generation academics, more middle-class than Communist, yet devoted Party activists.
   
   Because of Yue's history and worldview, her autobiography definitely feels intellectual and academic. There is a very helpful Chronology section, a timeline so that the events of Yue's life can be seen in the context of Chinese history. Her account attempts to make sense out of both the events of her life and of the revolution. She was very aware of current events and what the future might have brought. She kept up with the news and public opinion. Yue's story combines the account of a guardedly emotional and psychological personal life with a very historical feel, as if she was recounting everything important that had happened. It is a shocked and forced coping with the kind of revolution she never could have predicted, that eventually made enemies even of devoted vanguard revolutionaries such as herself.
   
   Yue saw Jiang Qing (Mao's wife) as somewhat petty, since Jiang "furiously" publicly attacked a member of her own family with only spurious justification:
   
   "Hearing her talk on and on about such family members, I wondered how I could ever admire Jiang Qing as a revolutionary leader when she seemed so concerned with personal vendettas (p. 164)."
   
   Like many traditional Chinese, Yue considered family very important, and didn't partake in such vendettas even when her sister-in-law provided ample opportunity to.
   
   This is not a coming-of-age story. Yue came of age before Mao's revolution and the Cultural Revolution that followed, so she was initially surprised by the depths of disloyalty her comrades sank to in order to protect themselves. She did not consider such supposedly revolutionary backstabbing as socially expected like later generations would. Yet Yue kept a strangely unshakable faith in the allegedly revolutionary process of ruining individuals for the sake of the revolution, even when it was her who was denounced and punished. She never even questioned such rampant political scapegoating at all until long after she became a victim herself. Yue saw the effects of chaotic revolution gone violently wild, where even those who risked their lives working against the Guomindang were later condemned as enemies of the people.
   
   China was mostly a country of peasants. Mao was born and raised a peasant. So the purging and oppressive manipulation of the small and elite academic class was an ongoing struggle throughout her life. At one point she is condemned for Rightist tendencies. Later her husband, politically almost identical to Yue, is condemned for being too Leftist. Go figure. They survive decades of anti-academic purges and will-breaking programs designed to make them into impoverished peasants. The way that they survive throughout all the upheavals is inspiring, at times upsetting, but provides a detailed and cogent criticism of Maoism, although Yue remains a Marxist intellectual until the end.
   
   Like Out of the Night: The Memoir of Richard Julius Herman Krebs alias Jan Valtin (NABAT), this is an honest revolutionary's diary of self-deception and survival. Highly recommended to anyone interested in revolutionary politics, who wants to avoid the mistakes of the past.



2. The book was first published in 1985 and I had owned a used copy for at least 15 years but never read beyond a few pages. About a week ago I went to check who the author was on the internet and then dusted the book out and read through to the end. In the book is one of the most trustworthy account of what the political and social life was like in the Mao era, from the founding of the PRC to the post-Mao "Democracy Wall" Movement. The author, a teacher and now a Professor at Peking University had lived through all the political campaigns of the era. She didn't just write catering to the interests of Western readers, like quite a few did. Yet the honest account proves more convincing therefore more damning to the ludicrous and absurd combination of radicalist experiments and power struggles. A famous passage from the Chinese writer Wang Meng quoted at the beginning of the book sets the tone for the whole book:
   
   I have walked through these twenty-one years one step at a time, and I am convinced that not a single step was taken in vain. My only wish is that we firmly remember this lesson paid for in blood, tear, hardship, and unimaginable suffering so that the actual situation can recover its true features and be recorded in the annals of history.
   
   If you are interested in the era, the book is valuable. There probably isn't a Chinese translation of the book and I can guess why. I salute to this strong and courageous woman, now around 75 years old.



3. I just read this book and I cannot begin to describe the author, Yue Daiyuan's experiences and anguish during both the Anti-Rightist movement and Cultural Revolution in China. Her story is compelling and also reveals how indoctrinated and committed the young people during the early PRC period were to Communism and Mao Zedong. The book is one long record of the sad and horrendous events that were committed in the name of Revolution. If you're interested in modern Chinese history, this book is a must read since it provides so much first person account of what took place during the senseless period of the 1960's known as the Cultural Revolution.

No comments about Like Family: Growing Up in Other People's Houses, a Memoir.

1 comments about Confessions of an Adulterous Christian Woman: Lies That Got Me There; Truths That Brought Me Back.

1. After the Bible, this is one of the most remarkable books I've read. I highly recommend it to married people, divorced and separated people and those contemplating divorce. I truly think this short book can have a profound and life-changing impact on many, many readers.

5 comments about This Day: Diaries From American Women.

1. I've always enjoyed "journal" and "biography" books because it is such a voyeuristic pleasure to peek into others lives and learn that your own is not so unusual. I don't envy the job of the editors having to narrow their submissions down to those in the book - I'm sure they were all is interesting as those found here. I really enjoyed it and plan to make it a gift to my best friend.



2. I first read about this wonderful book on one of the services that provides reading guides for book clubs. I was intrigued by the premise, and knew I had to buy it. This is one book that did not let me down! I was captivated from the moment I began. I read in greed, hungering for the next diary entry. I completed it much too quickly, and had to re-read some entries. I found myself wondering about some of the women. (Many are still on my mind.) I am so pleased that book two is in the works. This is a book that is too good to miss.



3. I borrowed this book for a friend due she assured me that it was worth, then she told me 'page 146', was underlined "Harrison asks if he may play GameCube. I say no. No GameBoy either....", what the hell !?, poor Harrison.
   
   I must suppose that it is, after all, a good book.



4. I heard one of the editors of this book speak this morning, bought the book, and read it all in the same day. It is absolutely riveting, which is strange, because none of these women has a truly earthshattering day. Yet somehow, each one of these diaries or excerpts is a story in and of itself, and I found myself caught up in the trivialities of their daily lives. From sippy cups and string cheese to chocolate cravings to memorials to lost loved ones, each one of these women has so many stories to tell.

   Some ones that stick with me - the newly widowed woman writing her entries to her late husband, the funeral home director going to pick up a dead man and meeting his wife, the president of NOW cuddling with her children, a 60 year-old woman getting her GED, and the barista at Starbuck's with the lovely metaphors for her line of work. And oh so many more.

   What is nice about this book is that you could read it in bits and pieces (bathroom reading), or inhale it in one greedy gulp, as I did. I recommend it highly.




5. I read these diaries at one gulp. A great gift book for your favorite woman, you will find yourself between the pages. Miss America, Ravi Shankar's daughter, the President of NOW, a probation officer. Women from all walks of life and then some. Divorce, problem marriages, happy women, young women. It's all here.

5 comments about Motiba's Tattoos: A Granddaughter's Journey into her Indian Family's Past.

1. In this poignant and sometimes melancholy account of the passing of an era, Mira Kamdar tells the story of her beloved grandmother Motiba, a woman from the agrarian and pastoral culture of old Gujarat, showing how the changes in Motiba's life and family during the past seventy years are also emblematic of dramatic changes in Indian culture as a whole. Herself the daughter of Motiba's son Prabhakar (Pete) and Lois Christensen, the Danish-American cowgirl he married while a student in the United States in the 1960's, Kamdar is especially sensitive to nuances of culture, and she brings her Indian family to life within the context of the country's history--her grandparents' marriage, her grandfather's adoption of the values of Mahatma Gandhi, the emigration of the family to Burma to manage their businesses there in the 1930's, the bombing of Rangoon by the Japanese during World War II, the return to Bombay, and eventually, the emigration of several of Motiba's children to the United States.

   As she describes her own life, the author shifts her focus to that of the American immigrant experience. The tales of Indian history which infused her life as a child visiting in India eventually give way completely to tales of her life in the United States, as she moves with her parents and siblings throughout the west following her father's job changes. The significance of the death of Gandhi on her grandmother's life yields its place to the effects of the death of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King on her parents' and her own life. Her father's desire to have his family "fit in" becomes more important to him than teaching them the language and culture in which he grew up.

   Rich, warm, humorous, and earnest, Motiba's Tattoos recreates the universal story of an immigrant family's metamorphosis from one whose primary allegiance is to another culture to one in which opportunities to assimilate are recognized and embraced. In the process of becoming American, uniquely personal values may evolve and be treasured, while retention of the old traditions must become a conscious effort. What was an integral part of their family life, historically, evolves into pleasant memories and echoes of the old way of life as new generations appear--the final result of the Indian diaspora, which began in the mid-20th century and which continues, unabated, to the present day. Mary Whipple




2. Mira Kamdar writes about her Motiba because she was the last bastion of their family left in India. As long as Motiba was alive and living in India, India was "home". Now that she is gone, the Kamdars are forced to re-center their emotional homeland. This book was the authors attempt to maintain knowledge about her family history while simultaneouly redefining the meaning of being South Asian in the U.S.

   This story is a good one for the larger South Asian immigrant community and for other ethnic groups that have immigrated in the U.S. in the last 20-30 years. Since Ms. Kamdar's father came here in the late 1940's, he was a very early Indian emigrant, but now a majority of the family is in the U.S. This will also happen to other immigrant families and it requires a redefinition by all generations of what their culture is. The positive light that Ms. Kamdar sheds on the emerging South Asian-American youth "movement" and on the younger members of her own family is refreshing given the negative image common in the South Asian-American community about Westernizing influences - that has given us the term ABCDs and such.

   The difference between the current movement of people and ideas and previous emigrations of Indians abroad is well demonstrated by the Kamdar family. The Kamdars lived in Burma for a long time, but their spiritual and cultural center was always Gujarat. America has become a place which influences global culture and integrates the culture and ideas of its immigrants.




3. Mira Kamdar's family biography is the heart-warming and lovingly told tale of multiple generations of the Kamdar-Khara families. Beginning in the early twentieth century, in the small Kathiawar village of Gokhlana, we follow the lives and loves of this extended Jain family to the close of the twentieth century. Along the way we are allowed to share in the Kamdar-Khara families `adventures' and `mishaps', as a story that begins in the simple Gujarati villages of Kathiawar takes us on an enchanting journey through Rangoon and Bombay, ending in the vast suburban metropolises of the United States of America.

   At the heart of the story lies Motiba, grandmother of the author, a simple lady steeped in the fine traditions of Kathiawari-Jain culture, and witness to all the dramas that have shaped the lives of her large extended family through the twentieth century. Mira Kamdar beautifully brings to life Motiba's world as a young Jain girl growing up in the deeply traditional Jain villages of Kathiawar. Through Mira's retelling of the anecdotes of older family members, especially Motiba, we learn about the lives of Jain women in the early part of the century: How they lived, their position in society, the role of religion in the Jain village and the impact of the British and Mahatma Gandhi upon this pre-modern world.

   As the century moves on, the action switches to the British imperial possession of Burma and the cities of Akyub and Rangoon where many members of the Kamdar-Khara families, like other Indians, travelled in search of business opportunities and the hope for a more prosperous existence. Perhaps because the story of the Indian Diasporas in Burma is not as well known and documented as other Indian Diasporas experiences, the story of the Jain community in Burma is one of the most fascinating parts of the entire narrative. Here we discover how young Jain settlers in Burma built businesses and created new lives for themselves and their families and then saw it all swept away after the Japanese invasion during the Second World War and the consequent ethnic conflicts that gripped post-independence Burma. The poignancy of this section of the story is only heightened by Mira's interviews with the remnants of the once strong Indian community in Rangoon.

   But wherever Mira Kamdar's story takes us, and it proceeds to take us to Bombay, Oregon and Los Angeles, a number of overarching themes dominate the book. Firstly, how the descendants of turn-of-the-century Kathiawari-Jain families attempted to preserve and adapt their Jain identity in a modern and, more importantly, non-Jain world. We are witness to the struggles of Motiba's eldest son, Prabhakar or `Pete' as he is known in America, as he attempts to cope with life after emigrating to America and how both he and his family cope with his marriage to a white American girl from Oregon and the status of Prabhakar's children's as perceived half-castes. Secondly, we see how the impersonal forces of history interact with people's personal choices to shape their lives as well as the lives of the generations to follow. Whether it be the ravages of the Second World War, the Cold war or the Indian independence struggle the fate of this Jain family has been touched by external events. But Mira never lets the `external' dominate her narrative; instead she weaves the major events of the century into the fabric of her story whilst preserving the primacy of her chronicle as a family biography.

   The people and lives that Mira Kamdar has so affectionately described are not the lives of Maharajas, celebrated Indian independence fighters or Indian industrial magnates: There are no Nehrus, Tatas or Tagores amongst the Kamdar-Khara clan. But this, paradoxically, is the source of the very richness and beauty of Mira Kamdar's story. Mira Kamdar is telling the story of one Jain-Kathiawar family and how it has navigated the twentieth century. But this family is similar to hundreds and thousands of other Jain families who began the century in the pre-modern villages of Gujarat and who ended the century in the cosmopolitan cities of New York, Chicago, Toronto, London and Singapore. And this takes us to the heart of this book: How we, the younger generation of Jains, have a tendency to look at our silver-haired parents and grandparents and dismiss, or at the least never enquire, into their lives and experiences. We lose so much that sits just in front of us if we forget that our older relatives have lived fascinating lives, very different from our own, and have often made extraordinarily brave and difficult decisions to leave their homeland in search of a new future of which we are the ultimate beneficiaries. This then is the true joy of Mira Kamdar's book, reminding us all that within our own families are those who have lived through a history very different to our own and that we have much to discover by sitting down and learning from them and drawing upon their rich experiences and wisdom.

   Jay Sheth




4. Subtitled "A Granddaughter's Journey into her Indian Family's Past", Mira Kamdar give the reader a picture of a world that is increasingly getting smaller and a lifestyle that is fading into memory.

   Born in 1957, Mira Kamdar is the daughter of an Indian engineer who came to the United States to study and fell in love with the red-haired freckled daughter of Danish-American farmers. Their marriage was a happy one and their four children were raised in the United States but kept their ties to their father's world through lengthy visits to India and close knit family ties.

   The word "Motiba" means "grandmother" and Ms. Kamdar has chosen to tell her story by contrasting the differences between her own and her grandmother's life. For example, Motiba was abruptly taken out of school at the age of 9 where she had to live in a protected women's world until her marriage at age 15.

   The family was of the merchant caste and settled in Burma during the 1920s and 30s where they lived a luxurious life. But when War came to Burma, things changed. Not only did they lose their prosperous businesses, but they were forced to undergo unspeakable horrors as they fled for their lives back to India.

   There is much descriptive detail and a feel of history to this book. We also read about young Mira's feelings of living in two different worlds. We feel her discomfort at being different, and applaud the philosophy of her parents' marriage which they saw as way to bring peace and understanding into the world.

   I found the book interesting but not without flaws. For example, the title implies that we would learn a lot about the geometric tattoos that Motiba had on her face. The author does mention them but never did find out exactly what they meant. Also, there were whole sections about Ms. Kamdar's own life that never were explored. We learn she has two children but she doesn't mention her own husband or marriage.

   There were nice photographs. I savored them all. Some of them were a little small, but I did enjoy them. Also, the narrative structure, without one line of dialogue, was a little tiring for my eyes even though the book was only 275 pages long.

   Changes are occurring so rapidly now that it is hard to stop the thrust of globalization that we live with every day. There's e-mail and instant communication and mixture of peoples from all over the world. Ms. Kamdar's story makes all of this very real and is indeed a worthwhile read.




5. This journey quite literally around the world is as much a love letter from the writer to her children as it is a telling of a universal story of family evolution.

   What a treasure that Kamdar chose to trace her family's path as a way to explore the past century's economic, military and sociological history.

   If you choose to read this as a scholarly writing, you will gain great insight from Kamdar's subject. If instead you choose to read it as an epic cross-cultural tale, you won't be disappointed.

   Or you could buy it just for the recipies.

5 comments about Sophia Style.

1. I am Sophia Loren's number one fan and I have grown up with her and have read ever book available and this was a bit of a let down. I personally think Miss Donahue would have been better for a book on Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly because she does obviously not posses a similar, tall hourglass figure to her subject. I mean NO ONE does but nowhere in the book does she seem to demonstrate a knowledge of how rare it is for a woman of such incredible proportions to be have such an elegant wardrobe and awesome style. Those of us who are tall and hourglassy have no real place to look for clothing inspiration as everything these days is low rise and cut for stick straight, small busted figures with no waist to hip ratio like Gisele or madonna. Also as a costume archivist she should have done extensive research on Sophia's more decorative films (Heller, Breath of Scandal, madame, more than a miracle) to give us an indpeth account of these EXQUISITE unrivaled creations, how the garments were created and perhaps photos of the costumes now. THAT SAID the book is still very good, I just had hoped for new info but she does write well and did provide many unseen photos.



2. Now around 70, Sophia Loren is still the world's most beautiful woman. Her exquisite poised classic charm is the one of a kind that only comes every few centuries. This book celebrates the distinctive beauty and style that has stayed alluring for half a century. Loren is a stand out still. In a world that only sees beauty as a physical expression ... Loren and her contemporaries (Catherine Deneuve, Sophie Marceau, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, etc)tell us that it is much much more. There is a priceless asset in poise, character, dignity, class, that no amount of plastic surgery can compensate for. Beauty is not about not making mistakes but it is about having the kind of self-respect to come out of it a stronger, better person. For all her childhood ostracism of being illigetimate in Catholic Italy during its facist phase, Loren has blossomed and risen above her early roots. One has to admire that despite an international sophisticated glamorous acting career ... Loren has managed to stay married for close to 50 years to her one and only spouse, and took her role as a mother seriously to her two sons. Rather than delegate motherhood to nannies and assistants, Loren made her family, in particular her children, a top priority. You have to respect that and see that beauty truly is what beauty does.



3. ...Grace, Dignity and Humility is what separates one from everyone else. My own words after meeting and
   observing the Legendary Icon through the years. "Sophia Style" captures many wonderful, minute flashes of her
   incredible life experiences, along with the many era's that have made her who she is today. "Sophia Style" quite
   adequately displays her Grace, Dignity, Humility, Class and Awesome Exotic Beauty. Beauty that exudes
   deep from within, through the awesome one of a kind exotic Mediterranean bone structure. And beyond the
   ageless olive complection and voluptuous features, casting a bright aura far ahead of her. She may be, for the
   most part, reserved and to herself, but rises to the occasion of most gracious hospitality without hesitation. She
   has no enemies and lives outside the hullabaloo of Hollywood amidst horse ranches in a tree shrouded Garden of
   Eden she calls "La Concordia."

   In just observing her relationship and interaction with her son Edoardo, I have learned what it is like to not only
   truly be a parent, but a spiritual partner who actively participates in my children's lives.

   I received "Sophia Style" a couple of years ago, after first meeting her some decades ago. In dealing with a
   devastation within my own life, it was her words, wisdom and character that got me through when my own family
   failed me. Sometimes I kept her book near me to remind me to keep rising above it all. It was acting with Grace,
   Dignity and Humility that was inspired by her, that kept me from making incredibly horrible rash decisions.

   At her Lifetime Achievement Awards in 1994, I insisted that she work again. She grasped me with both
   hands in an incredible, yet most gracious way. And worked again she has, with five films since, including one
   written and directed by Edoardo. And of course this book by Deirdre Donahue. Hopefully, there'll be many
   more films, books and other treasures
   to follow. Viva La Bella Donna!!

   Affezionatissimo,
   Guiseppe (Peppi) Turco




4. Sophia Loren is so incredibly beautiful that Deirdre Donohue almost had to create this book in order to celebrate it! From her humble Italian beginnings to her mature beauty of today, there are photographs of her through it all, plus text to tell about her colorful life. My favorite photos are: Diva (p. 70) intersection of image (p. 88), at the Oscars (p. 96) and 1964 color photo (p. 109). If you love Sophia, do not miss "Sophia Style"!



5. Wow! Stylish photography and unseen glimpses of an exceptional beauty with a thesis that holds it all together. Recommended as a gift, a read, an adornment...it will propel the uninitiated into the video store for a reassessment of the great Loren!

5 comments about Comeback Season: How I Learned to Play the Game of Love.

1. So, as a native Hoosier having the pleasure to read Day's book, I have to say first that it was highly helpful to those of us that aren't rabid football fans (yes, believe it or not there are a few of us in central Indiana.) She explained the passion behind the sport in a way that I could relate to as a single - love. As a person who fully understands the plight of the young urban single professional, Day also does a great job of presenting what is a challenge for many young, bright, professional talented singles - struggling to find Mr. or Ms. Right. Although I'm not convinced there is a Mr. or Ms. Right for each and every one of us, I enjoyed reading Professor Day's plight, which many can fully understand. Every single should read this book (and also all those marrieds out there) to fully understand the challenges. And WAY TO GO for Day to hold out for Mr. Right instead of Mr. Right Now!!!



2. Cathy Day's "Comeback Season: How I learned to Play the Game of Love," offers a fresh and sophisticated examination of modern society. If you are looking for a run-of-the mill, cliche, quest for love story, than this is not the book for you. However, if you are someone looking for a great, character-driven story that seeks to examine what life is all about, particularly our sometimes troubling, virtual life of the 21st century, than this is definitely the book for you. With her smart and witty, but down-to earth, midwestern voice, Cathy Day serves as an excellent guide for all readers who are attempting to traverse through their own labyrinth of love. Without a doubt, you'll be cheering for Cathy Day, play-by-play, in this incredibly, well-written book. A must read for any individual who seeks to understand both 21st century life and its complex dating structure.



3. This is a wonderful book that's fully of humor and humanity. It's a title I've recommended to my friends and family as a (true!) story that hits close to home for any intellegent person looking for their soul mate. The book has resulted in a lot discussions about relationships and the many dating moments that we've all experienced trying to find the right one. Cathy - don't give up!



4. "Comeback Season" made me vaguely uncomfortable at first, for which I blame this simple fact: I'm a man. I don't read books about dating, especially women dating, not even if they have a catchy football angle. And to be utterly truthful, the last time I did any reading about football, I was thumbing idly through a year-old Sports Illustrated while waiting to get a cavity filled. So one would not think that I would even countenance reading a book such as this.
   
   However, after hearing a radio interview with the author, I was moved to check it out, in part because I, like Ms. Day at the beginning of her book, am 37, educated, and single, and I would be hard pressed to think of a single acquaintance of my own age who is stil, well, single. Like Ms. Day, I have spent an inordinate amount of time wondering what's wrong with me, not out of unhealthy self-absorbtion, but genuine concern.
   
   The difference between me and the author is that she decided to take action to change her life. And then she wrote this book. I assume you've read the synopsis already, so I won't dwell on the plotline, other than to say it is by turns funny and profoundly thought-provoking, a performance-art journal and a diary of 3 a.m. despair. It showed me a situation quite similar to my own, but from the perspective of a member of the opposite sex. And, no, guys, you'll find no feminist rants here, no man-hating or man-baiting. The most refreshing thing about the book, considering its subject matter, is its almost total lack of ideological or gender-based rancor and its refusal to indulge in victimology. Like her earlier novel, this memoir is peopled by fully-realized human beings, both women and men, who are by turns weak and courageous, despicable and generous; no heroes or heroines, nor blameless victims, nor mustache-twirling villains. Nor are there quick and easy self-help solutions: Cathy does not get a makeover, a new wardrobe, and a frontal lobotomy and immediately find the love of her life; nor does she halfheartedly embrace a bitter compromise. Instead, she finds her own core and an unknown strength of character with the help of her loving family and friends and the virtues she's learned from her sports heroes. She comes to terms with the past decisions she's made, and finds grace and meaning in her present life, without earth-shattering calamity, divine revelation, or Oprah. Rather, she finds that the simple, sometimes hackneyed, often maligned influences in our lives - football, family, friends, silly 70's rock songs - can lead us to our better, greater selves.



5. What a wonderful book this is. Cathy Day's search and struggle to find "the right one", like the fight of the Indianapolis Colts, is told so honestly, and in such beautiful prose, that it's impossible not to be beguiled by this book. The portraits of men, friends, and family members are precise and perfectly rendered. I'm not given to reading about dating, but this book is about so much more than that: it's about the desire and the need to--to steal a line from an old coach--"make something happen" in life.

5 comments about In the Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Myung Moon's Family.

1. Nansook Hong paints a painful picture of her marriage to HyoJin Moon, but she does not own up to the full truth of her parents' machinations to get her married into the Moon family. Eyewitnesses tell of Nansook visiting the Moon household and knowing full well of HyoJin's excesses in advance of her marriage. The Hongs wanted desperately for their family to be entwined with the Moon family, and after arranging for one child to be wed to the first Moon daughter, they pushed Nansook to marry a Moon son. Though I don't know all the motives, the point is that there was an agenda behind her marriage and probably this book that Ms. Hong has not been honest about. It is only too easy to paint an unflattering portrait of Rev Moon and his wife but at least some of this is suspect, given her own deceit.



2. The only people who can dismiss a book like this are the misguided followers of the hypocritical cult leader, Sun Myung Moon. As an atheist who currently attends the University of Bridgeport, I ate this book up in a day. It bears striking resemblance to Jon Krakauer's "Under the Banner of Heaven," which documents the underpinnings of another cult, Warren Jeffs' FLDS of Colorado City, AZ.
   
   I should be careful in my use of the term 'cult,' however. What is a cult? What is a religion? They are the same entity. That judgment simply lies in the eyes of the beholder. Just as Nansook Hong points out in the epologue, all religions claim that their way is the true path to heaven. The only difference between major religions like Roman Catholicism and Judaism, and 'cults' such as the FLDS, Jonestown, and the Unification Church is their size and level of acceptance by the public. In this way, the Pope and Sun Myung Moon are both equals. They are both equally nothing.
   
   It is clearly obvious that Sun Myung Moon is a madman who takes advantage of the socially vulnerable. This is he has such a hatred for communism - he preys on those affected by tragedy by giving them some type of bright future to look forward to. He prays on the weak. He is a con man. He claims to have spoken directly to Jesus in Korea as a young man, and has duped thousands around the world into believing he IS the second coming.
   
   The extremely brave Nansook Hong stood up for herself and left the Moon Compound to have a better life for herself and for her children. Any unificationist who claims to be a loving human being who would argue with her motives needs to look deep inside themselves. Sun Myung Moon's son Hyo Jin is an awful person. Nansook writes about being arranged in a marriage as a 15 year old girl, being coerced into coming to America as an illegal alien, being held against her will at East Garden, being abused, raped, and cheated on by the supposed 'Son of the Second Coming of Jesus,' and having to put up with drugs, alcohol abuse, and neglect for fourteen years of her life. Sun Myung Moon preaches to his followers about the importance of family and lineage, while his own dysfunctional family is the only one he should be paying any attention to. It is even documented in this biography as well as many other publications that Sun Myung Moon himself cheated on his wife and has a child with another woman. Both Sun Myung Moon and his eldest son are criminals, and need to be locked up. In my opinion, Moon got off light with his one year in prison for tax evasion.
   
   Unfortunately, I can hear the unificationsists already in my mind dismissing this book as 'the work of satan,' as I am going to try to show it to them next week. All I can really do is educate as many people as possible about how mentally ill and irresponsible Sun Myung Moon is and hope that his end is nearing...before more unfortunate people like Nansoon Hong are forced into a world of destruction at the hands of this 'True Family.'



3. == quote
   But, as Nansook Hong reveals in this devastating tell-all account, Sun Myung Moon does not live up to his own teachings. He has frequent affairs, which he rationalizes as "providential", that is, mandated by God.
   
   == end quote
   
   == quote
   
   "My own parents saw no evidence of sexual misconduct when they were each recruited independently to join the church in Seoul."
   (In the Shadow of the Moons, pp. 26-27)
   
   == end quote
   
   I know the UM since the mid 1970's and for a quite a long time the only accusation leveled against Rev. Moon was that he was married 4 times (while in fact he is only married 2 times) later those allegations of just being married 4 times was changed to having had sex with female followers.
   
   Chung Hwa Pak, one of Rev. Moon's first disciples, caused
   considerable controversy by confirming these accusations in a text widely circulated by critics (and later published in Japanese) called The Tragedy of the Six Marys. Pak, who had left the Unification Church, claimed that Rev. Moon practiced during the church's early years sex rituals with, among others, six married female disciples ("the six Marys") who were to have prepared the way for the virgin who would marry him and become the True Mother. The church vehemently denied the allegations. Pak eventually returned to the fold and, shortly before dying, recanted all the accusations in a second text he authored in 1995, called The Apostate.
   
   Similar accusations were discussed earlier in libel cases in Korea and not proved. In 1989, after a ten-year legal case, the Seoul District Criminal Court (79 ko dan 3372) convicted a protestant minister, Rev. Shin Sa-hun, of criminal libel after his accusations of sexual misconduct could not be proved. In another case decided by the Seoul District Civil Court (83 ga hap 3012), damages were paid by Tak Myung-hwan, a well-known critic of the Unification Church, to a woman who had been accused of having an illegitimate son with Rev. Moon and to her son.
   
   Corrections were published by the Christian newspapers Gidok Shinbo on October 8, 1983, and Hanhook Gidok Gongbo, on October 1, 1983, after printing similar accusations of sexual misconduct in the early Unification Church. Part of the retraction stated, "The article 'The Secret Sexual Practices of the Unification Religion' was a repetition of information published during the 1950s, and we have found it to have no basis in fact."



4. === quote
   
   Pay no attention to the negative criticisms by those who are obviously Moonies. This is should be required reading. Nansook Hong had the courage to endure and to finally escape the clutches of this dangerous cult led by the Korean flake who thinks he's God.
   
   === end
   
   Funny, so people should not listen to the story of those who are still within the UM, why is this?
   
   Also Rev. Moon himself doesn't claim to be God, this is always said by others, Rev.Moon stresses the point without God he would be nothing...



5. Pay no attention to the negative criticisms by those who are obviously Moonies. This is should be required reading. Nansook Hong had the courage to endure and to finally escape the clutches of this dangerous cult led by the Korean flake who thinks he's God. Not only is it run by one of the worlds most selfish and greediest families, they stand to gain even more under the President's Faith-Based program. Your tax dollars at work.

5 comments about Speaking Truth to Power.

1. One thing that we all wondered was: "Why did Hill wait until Thomas was being evaluated for a position on the Supreme Court to make these allegations?" And it turns out that she did not and only brought these issues to thefore when found by an investigation into Thomas' background.
   
   There were also a lot of details that were not apparent about the nature of the trial: 1. The congressional hearings were NOT conducted by attorneys, and so the usual rules of courtroom conduct and gathering evidence were not adhered to; 2. Some of the detailed nature of the ugliness toward people that are caught in the middle of congressional hearings (the documentary on Susan McDougal was another example of how the sheer hostility that politicians can display toward anyone that gets in the way); 3. Details of the statements that Thomas made to her. It was also more clear that the environment in which she was working (a person-- among MANY others-- trying to get thhe letters of recommendation and make the ties that would get her a job somewhere) might have made her a lot more timid in telling Thomas where to go with his remarks.
   
   On the bad side, I can say that Hill's tone was the faintest bit melodramatic-- and this makes me wonder just how serious the comment made to her were-- noting that she offered information about the content of his statements but not direct quotes.
   
   All in all, the book is very balanced and level-headed-- if a bit more wordy than necessary. (It could have been shortened by about 50 pages without missing anything-- although it was not nearly the verbose disaster of, say something written by Ayn Rand. On account of this, I'm taking off one star.)



2. At the beginning of the book Hill writes, "I did not choose the issue of sexual harassment, it chose me." And that is undoubtedly true. Anita Hill is a household name and her name immediately brings to mind the issue of sexual harassment. Hill describes how the issue chose her in this book.
   You can tell just how truthful this book is by the way in which it was written. This is not the best written book. But, Anita Hill puts on no airs, she just tells the truth and the way she saw it in a simple, understandable voice.
   And the truth is, she was put through the ringer by people in power who did not want to a) acknowledge that sexual harassment is a problem, and b) change the current widespread problem of sexual harassment and thus change our current power structure.
   It is interesting to note how Hill relates the problem of sexual harassment to other crimes committed against women which are also motivated by power and control. These comparisons ring a bell of truth.
   Hill also writes about how at times, when one is a ethnic minority and a woman, one has to choose between honoring their gender and honoring their race. Her analysis of this is enough to read the book.
   I recommend this book to those who are interested in getting to know the real Anita Hill, those who are interested in insider politics especially when it concerns problems unique to women, and those who are interested in the way that different minority groups bisect each other.
   The reason I didn't give this book a higher rating is because, as I mentioned, it's not the most well written book. I feel that at times the writing was circular and repetitive. The words don't leap off the page. However, also, at times the writing is very direct and potent and say the truth in a manner that is clear and concise. At those times, ideas leap off the page.



3. Anita Hill proves that she was telling the truth with this book and I always knew that she was.
   
   It's so sad that so many were able to demonize and scandalize this woman and her intentions, but in the end, the TRUTH always wins.
   
   This powerful autobiography is a MUST READ, a book that you won't be able to put down or to forget. I'm so glad I read it.
   
   
   
   



4. When this book first came out, I was drawn to the cover, because I knew that there were many messages for me in this book. Yet, I hesitated to read this, because I had not voiced what I felt about those hearings.

   I actually looked over my shoulders, when I glanced through this book, before buying it, because I had decided that so many people around me demanded my opinion of this tragedy.

   When I watched the hearing, while I sat next to others, for whatever reason I waited to say whether or not I believed Dr. Hill. I wanted to process it all, in the privacy of my own space.

   Watching her, on many levels I related to her. Yet, I had some unanswered questions that reading this book, along with other books that reference this tragedy helped me to make my own decisions about what happened.

   Dr. Hill put a voice to many of the challenges that I had, as professional African-American woman, who wanted to speak about many issues that too high a number of African-Americans refused to communicate. Before reading this book, I wanted to be free to speak against some socialized rules that I grew up with, that are common in African-American families. But, I wanted to communicate that I am proud of being African-American.

   And as a result of reading this book, I gained tremendous courage to fully live my life's mission, which is to guide women and girls to earn trust in themselves.

   To this day, as a journalist, if an editor argues against Anita Hill, I refuse to write for that paper.

   Thank you, Dr. Hill.




5. I am so glad I read this book - it gave me insight into what a wonderful woman Anita Hill is in explaining the ordeal she went through in testifying at "the hearings." I must admit that at the time, I didn't believe Hill's testaments; she appeared nervous and uncertain whereas Thomas appeared very sure of himself, was outraged, and even went so far as to cry before the Senate Committee and television cameras. Of course, I now realize that was just an act.

   Anyhow, I thought that after the hearings were over, Anita Hill went back home to Oklahoma and went on with her life, the ordeal forgotten. After reading this book, I had no idea that Hill endured further harassment from students at the university where she taught, faculty, the media, and people who never knew her nor she them. It was downright outrageous and disgusting.

   Hill writes eloquently about her roots, her upbringing in Oklahoma, her years at Yale Univ. Law School, and her job at the EEOC where she worked under Clarence Thomas and the harassment she endured from him, her subsequent career change all the way up until the hearings. It's all interesting and worth reading.

   Anita Hill is the catalyst for which the laws of sexual harassment have changed and claims for which are now taken very seriously. It is very unfortunate that she had to take such torment and emotional brutality as a result of it, as if harassment from Thomas wasn't enough in and of itself.

   That Thomas is now sitting on the highest court in the land for life, knowing the content of his character and demeanor, is indeed disturbing. But I hope that deep inside he is sorry and feels the utmost remorse and guilt for his mistreatment of Anita Hill and all his other victims.

   The truth always come out - maybe not today or tomorrow - but eventually it does. Thomas knows what he did, and the world knows what he did despite his "categorical" denials.

   It is my hope that Anita Hill finds the peace and happiness she deserves. Her life will never be the same, as she herself admits, but unfortunately almost all movers and shakers's lives were and are forever changed.

   An insightful and honest book, I recommend it highly.

5 comments about The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life.

1. Mr. Higham's book is ideal for a reader who is has previous knowledge of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor due to its underlying focus on the sensational aspects of their story. It is an enjoyable read, gossipy and interesting, but the "secret life" details can possibly detract a first-time reader from the historical importance of this 20th century couple. The mysteriousness of their story is part of our lingering fascination and this author captures the details of their purported darker sides.



2. I ordered it without realizing this is the exact same biography on the Duchess of Windsor I read about ten years ago but the book seems to have been so updated with new facts it really is worth buying the newer version. She really was a tenacious and riveting woman...no wonder the King left his throne for her. I would have done the same. I find the authors writing to be very unbiased...he does not seem to approve of the politics or the activities of the Duke and Duchess very much, but he gives a very balanced presentation of the facts. Like most people born after world war 2, anyone who supported the Nazi's was automatically evil in my mind but this book caused me to reconsider such a snap judgement. The arguments presented for why so muchof the European elite and American elite supported Hitler are very sound. Fascism was just another right wing philosophy...most of the royals and aristocrats who believed in Hitler were not interested in committing genocide. Hitler went off on the rails on his own in that aspect.
   
   In addition to being insightful and gossipy, this book made me revise some of my own opinions.



3. How History portrays Edward V111 and Mrs Simpson will probably vary somewhat - but this book from Charles Higham is an excellent starting point for history buffs.
   With the passing of time, more and documents are being made available for perusal from a wide range of sources. The Governments of Britain,Germany, Austria and Italy for starters.
   Then add Buckingham Palace letters and documents,and the views of FDR and the Whitehouse staff, Winston Churchill,Hitler et al.
   The level of research can make or break a biography and this one succeeds because of Higham's thoroughness.
   It has always been clear to me that the Duchess had no idea what she was embarking on when she became involved with Prince Edward.
   She was vilified,loathed, shut off from the Royal family.
   At various times during her life she experienced real despair and
   depression.
   Their lives became empty and meaningless - just endless rounds of entertaining and being entertained.
   Many of the upper class in England were Nazi sympathisers, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were no exception.
   It was this allegiance that was the root cause of all their problems, as British and American spys kept abreast of their activities,their friendships and of course the notoriety they received when visiting Germany did not go unnoticed.
   It was because of this concern they were in effect banished to
   the Bahamas and had their requests to travel abroad refused or at least severely curtailed.
   The Duke seemed to forget the promises he made when he abdicated. He was born to be King and the reality of NOT being King was something he never managed to adjust to. He thought that he and Wallis would return to England to live but his support of Germany and plotting with the Germans to again become King should Britain lose the war, was well known to George V1 and to Churchill, and thus a return to his homeland became an impossibility.
   The most revealing access to the character of the Duchess of Windsor were in her letters to her Aunt Bessie. On one occasion she was complaining bitterly about the Bahamas, and the house etc, never once mentioning the war and the hard times people were experiencing.
   On another occasion a visiting British friend mentioned the London bombings, loss of life etc and the Duchess' response was along the lines of why should she care, the British had made her life hell and she would never forgive them etc.
   Interestingly enough, Wallis was regarded as a spy of long standing, and her later annual trips to America were viewed with alarm by the US government and she was constantly under surveillance.
   Both the Windsors spoke fluent German and yet despite living in France for many years,they knew only a few words of French.
   This book shows Wallis as a woman of expensive tastes,very chic
   beautifully groomed, and a fine hostess of great taste and style.
   Many who knew them well noted that the Duke was besotted by her
   but she less so with him. Then again, when his final illness struck him down, the Duchess of Windsor was there for the Duke until the last.



4. This book came out about 12 years ago and it was presented in a beautiful hardcover jacket.I read it as a novel and it fascinated me.The writing and the pictures are great.The story on the other hand is about this unpleasant and ugly woman, who stole the heart of a king.Mr. Higham wrote it beautifully,unfortunately she was not a very likeable person.Whether some of the stories are true or not, we shall never know. Like the duke running around in diapers....Read it if you are interested in British History.Sadly Wallis is in it.The Duke on the other hand gave an impression of being somebody without character, extremely weak,and a puppet in Simpson's hands.



5. "The Duchess of Windsor: The Secret Life" purports to shed scandalous light on the life and times of Wallis Warfield Spencer Simpson Windsor. Higham paints the Duchess as a sometime spy, a Nazi-sympathizing party girl, and the dominating figure in the life of her weak, dim husband. At the same time, he touts her vaunted personal charm, fashionable elegance, and supposed genuine affection for the man who surrendered his throne to marry her.

   Unfortunately, the author's slapdash writing (replete with repetitive facts and anecdotes and endlessly laced with self-congratulatory details of his mostly unrevealing research) mean that "The Secret Life" doesn't even read well as mindless escapism. Higham's great revelations -- that the Duchess faked some details of her life as a military wife in China, and that the Windsors' contacts with various Fascist sympathizers were more substantial than they themselves were willing to reveal -- are hardly surprising in the context of a life devoted almost entirely to self-gratification and hedonistic consumption.

   "The Secret Life" fails to convince the reader of anything except the almost overwhelming mediocrity of its subject, and by extension her hapless consort. Nothing fades faster than news of yesterday's parties; much the same is true of the once glittering and romantic legend of the Duchess of Windsor.