5 comments about Diary of Frida Kahlo (Abradale Books).

1. There are some people for whom life itself is art, tragedy and all. Frida Kahlo was-is one of those people, her entire life was art in motion. I feel very lucky to have a copy of this personal work. There's darkness, humor, despair, love, warmth, sensuality, inspiration... The authors give a sensitive perspective on the journal entries along with translations in the back. Some may find this morbid but for me it is intensely life affirming, vibrant and beautiful. This is a book to be savored and revisited again and again.



2. I loved this book! I can't seem to put it down I do have to say that I would recommend it for billingual readers you will get a better understanding of the book. It is translated in english towards the back but, spanish readers will benifit the most out of the book because you will be able to understand Frida's humor about Diego. The first part of the diary is all in spanish and was written by Frida. The 2nd half is the english translation that will show a small replica of her drawings with the english translation. Some words are better left in spanish because the translation in english will not do them justice. Frida expresses her feelings so well that you can't help but feel her burning passion for diego and her lonliness. Frida was an intersting individual and her art is magnificent. She was an artist and a poet. Frida's diary is very morbid to say the least but, I love it. She expressed exactly what she felt at that exact moment. Her explanation to the way she sees each color is fantastic. I have gone through her paintings to see how many times she used the color Yellow. Buy the book to find out what this color means. Her physical pain is obvious and her paintings speak out for them selves. There is no doubt she was madly in love with diego above all. I learned much more about her through this diary. Please buy the Frida movie starring Selma Hayek things will make more sense to you. The author of this book uses every day language to translate her art. It is a must have book, I will definetly read it over and over. The book is absolutely a must have for Frida addicts like myself. I sometimes get lost while I'm reading it because I feel as if I can see and feel what she is describing. I absolutely love Frida and her artwork. Don't hesitate to buy this book it is worth every dollar you spend.



3. This book is simply beautiful. I especially love that it's a full color reproduction and then an English translation follows. If you are Frida devotee, I suggest getting this book.



4. for those who love the work of frida kahlo this book has lots to look at im very pleased that i found it



5. Frida Kahlo's diary has amplified my admiration for her. Her beautifully disturbing drawings and poetic words in this book are more than what I had expected. Though her handwriting is hard to read at times, the translations in the back are a big help. I shall cherish this book for a long time.

5 comments about Britney Spears' Heart to Heart.

1. Knowing what I know now, I feel bad for her. You could tell by reading it that she was getting tired of it. It is a good book and an inside look to how her "life" was in the beginning. Just wish she would have backed out OR at least listened to what she had wrote about.



2. The book is boring, and by buying it you are feeding the all time Hollywood mashine.... and make more profit for Britney ( does she need more money, than what she has? and still not happy? my suggestion she she should try an ordinary 8am-5pm job. Don`t waste your money. It is time for her to grow up.



3. I read this book to know Britney Spear life and I'm not dissapont. She tells a lot of her stories and she work very hard to be famous star in world. Her mother also wrote the book together and she is good model for Britney Spear. These womens have feet on ground and strong value. Iam very happy that Britney will now have her baby and be good mother like Lynn. Well done Britney!



4. Britney Spears as you already know is sweet, sensitive, and caring. This book broadcasts that. Its genuinly a good book. I wish I could write something like that!!!!



5. Not only is this a good item 4 Britney fanz, but also 4 motherz and daughterz. It tells otherwise untold tales about Britney, and what goes on in her life. It also shares advice for parents and teens about family realtionships.

5 comments about May Sarton: Biography.

1. If you've read her series of journals, this one pretty much de-bunks the "Myth of May"; I divide her life into pre-Judy and post-Judy (Peters makes clear that there wasn't really a whole lot of "ongoing Judy").
   First half for me wasn't as interesting, detailing May's social climbing; with the possible exception of Eva Le Gallienne, the rest of her celebs meant nothing to me. Foreshadows May's predatory nature, along with background of her dysfunctional childhood. For the second part, I'm assuming readers are familiar with her journals, and I'll try to keep spoilers to an absolute minimum ...
   Point #1: May and Judy were a couple only briefly (if really at all), May's continuous displays of concern in the journals notwithstanding, I'd chalk her efforts at including Judy up to guilt. (Same holds true for her "dear" Eleanor Blair, whom she used and discarded by the time the journals really got going.)
   Point #2: I read "Plant Dreaming Deep" (essays on Nelson) after the many daily journals. From that book, one would assume that May stayed in Nelson, chugging away at her writing day-after-day, during that period. Actually, she was there well under half the time, and carried out several (torrid) affairs.
   Point #3: "Journal of a Solitude" is the story of a middle-aged writer in rural NH, devoted to her animals and garden. May expresses a desire to move on from that location, her new home in Maine coming into play by the end of the book. Behind-the-scenes her life would've made a National Enquirer editor sit up and take notice! The townsfolk by then were relieved to be free of the drama, although the move to Maine almost falls through at one point.
   Point #4: Regarding her time in York as a whole -- it's hardly surprising her intestines acted up constantly, and her heart gave out, those "drinks" to which she refers were often doubles, and several at a go! Her personal life continued at a fevered pitch; several of the "friends" mentioned were either women hopelessly attracted to her (whom she enjoyed using) or ones she went after.
   One point I was hoping would be clarified: the role of her "protege" Susan - victim or predator? There's evidence of both.
   Peters makes a reasonable case that Norton eventually stopped editing altogether, shoving the submitted "final draft" straight into bookstores to meet deadlines, figuring her fans would buy anything by May Sarton, as long the stuff kept appearing. May does come to understand by the end that they were doing her no favors in the long run, royalties or not.
   To some fans all these salacious details are un-necessary, if downright mean. However, May made quite a bit of money portraying herself as a kindly, concerned old(er) lady, who could be a bit cranky due to age and illness; true in a sense, as she could be quite generous with her money, and helpful to some admirers. However, almost every single person figuring in her journals in a positive (or neutral) light came to realize how "expendable" they really were in her eyes; she'd led them into a false sense of security, though most were well aware of how other "friends" had fared.
   Towards the end, Peters quotes a reader of the journals: "May Sarton - lobsters and loneliness, diverticulitis and champagne."
   And here I thought it was only me!



2. I have to say, having read this book years ago, one effect has stayed with me: my shock at the author's gratuitous criticism of Sarton's closest associate and protege at the end of her life "acting" so grief-stricken at the funeral.
   No kidding. No class.
   It seemed to me to be a clue that the bitter tone of the book may have had its root in jealousy.



3. I've read all of May Sarton's journals, many of her novels, and a few of her books of poetry over the years, so I had these as a backdrop before delving into Margot Peter's biography. I had also been forewarned that as a biographer, Peters was purported to be less than kind. Even so, I was unprepared for what another reviewer rightly called the "sniping" and "potshots" she took at Sarton throughout the entirety of the book. There's no doubt that May Sarton had a complicated and sometimes ugly past, but Peters seems to go out of her way to characterize her subject negatively in nearly all accounts--the reason for which is not clear, unles she was hoping for a rather sensational best-seller. It is clear that she did quite a bit of research for this work, which is all the more disappointing in the end result. Overall, the writing itself is good but the biography is seriously marred by a style that is both intrusive and unecessarily harsh. Perhaps in the future there will be enough interest for a more thoroughly disinterested and academic work.



4. May Sarton's last journal "At Eighty-Two" was a rare view into the poignant grappling with the old age of a self-styled female curmudgeon, and in it she made cryptic references to the woman she had unwittingly agreed to allow as her biographer.
   
   So I read this book. I was not a Sarton fan, but a fan of journals and biographies. Peters' indifferent treatment of major characters and events, with loose ends and peculiar focus made me constantly wonder what possessed her to choose a subject she was so bored by and disdainful of. I was jarred by the casual sniping and potshots. Her theme throughout, although only haphazardly adhered to, was "she's not so hot, see, look at this..." Reading the book was like trying to have a cogent conversation with someone in an altered state. Unless you are similarly impaired, the lurches in logic, the disconnects, and the occasional random intensities make the experience unrewarding.
   
   In the prologue Ms. Peters warns coquettishly that the book is "strong medicine" not to be "taken internally" (whatever that means) by Sarton's fans. The warning is all in caps, no less, seemingly to emphasize just how amazing an expose she thinks she has written. Had she read any of Sarton's journals carefully, she would realize that the feet of clay, the raging and tears, the temperament that estranged people, were all much more clearly evoked by Sarton herself. Peters seems to have an ax to grind, the source of which she doesn't reveal, although she should, considering that she was the one who proposed the project, and considering that she does insert herself into the narrative. In one example, she says that she visited May in the spring of 1995 and noted that she had added a chair lift to her stairway (stifled yawn implied). In contrast, many months earlier an 82-year-old Sarton wrote an interesting commentary on the installation and use of that very device and what it meant to her.
   
   Peters' attempt to deflect criticism of her book as coming from blind fans of Sarton is transparent, and the book itself is so clumsily written it is embarrassing to read, like watching a drunk person stumble around a room.



5. Margot Peters' biography of May Sarton is a mess of facile psycho-babble and Harlequin romance narration. She reduces the details of this very complex life to pat conclusions ("May compulsively punished those who dared love her.") and achingly bad narrative ("Secretly, like a primrose opening in her heart, there was the thought that if she got abroad, Grace must join her."). Read this book to get a basic sense of the chronology of May Sarton's life, if you must, but do not let Peters' neat conclusions stand as the last word on the subject. Sarton's life and work, troubled as they both were, deserve more careful attention. She did herself a disservice (when she was quite old and ill) by choosing Peters as her "official" biographer.

5 comments about Alice Walker: A Life.

1. I wanted to love this book as I had been looking for so long for a book on Alice Walker's life. But Ms. White's writing style left me unmoved throughout the book, either that or I am in a coma. At one point Alice Walker lived in Mississippi with her white husband and young daughter post Martin Luther King's assassination. I never get a real feel for the danger or the courage it took to face the everyday for Alice and her family.
   The book was very disappointing.



2. This is really more of an acclamation than a review. It is simply the most inspirational book I have ever read. It deeply and personally touched me on so many levels and recalled many memories of my own life and childhood.
   
   I became aware of Ms. Walker with "The Color Purple" and loved it but had never read any of her other work and did not know much else about her life. Ms. White clearly shows her to be a woman of uncommon intellect, divine talent, genuine
   compassion and sterling integrity.
   
   After reading the book I recommended it to everybody I knew because I thought it was so powerful in its message and lesson about struggle, redemption and the power of love.
   
   It also rekindled my desire to become a serious and successful writer.
   
   It is truly phenomenal!
   
   Michael Sainte-Andress
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   



3. Inadequate. Superficial. Fawning. Sycophantic. And did I mention inadequate? Though very readable, with some interesting information about one of the most courageous and innovative writers of our time, this boot-licking "literary" biography does not do justice to Walker. White uses the book as a forum for sarcastic attacks on anyone who has ever disagreed with Walker or written a negative review of her work. Walker is an intelligent woman, a writer who takes chances in her life and in her works, who uses her writing to challenge many aspects of society. White seems to take more offense than Walker, unless we are not hearing the whole truth about Walker's reactions to her critics, when reviewers, critics, black male writers and others attack Walker's work.If everyone took Walker's writing with serene equanimity, she would not be doing her job, but she is surely not a candidate for the sainthood White would bestow on her. When several of Walker's personal, mentoring, and business relationships falter, White invariably blames the other party and pictures Walker as rising calmly above the fray. Can the woman, fine writer or not, really be that icily aloof or that innocent? Further, the biography barely covers Walker's life after publication and filming of The Color Purple, as though her important work ended there. And to nitpick a bit, I got very tired of paragraphs beginning with "To be sure..." I can only think that the enthusiasm other reviewers have expressed for this work is really respect for Walker and her work.



4. Well now, here I am on page 316 of this biography, over 100 pages to go, yet I felt compelled to scream, shout and holler about it! Evelyn C. White's expertly crafted, brilliant portrayal has lifted me up in much the same way that Alice Walker's poems, essays, and novels send me soaring.It is a celebration of not only Alice Walker's genius, but an affirmation of many unheralded black women writers as well. While riding a crowded subway, I found myself scraping the bottom of my purse for a scrap of paper in which to jot down the names of authors and works that I've overlooked, forgotten about, and/or never heard of. What an absolute JOY! Throughout this biography, I am reminded of why Alice Walker's work is so important, so necessary. I am astounded by her courage and bravery and genorosity. Where in the world would we be without an Alice Walker? Now, I must press on and finish the book, though I am conflicted--I don't know whether to go slowly to savor every single sentence and stretch out my experience for a few more days, or to hurry up so I can bask in the feeling of being utterly inspired.



5. If one were to ask, most people most closely identify Alice Walker with her extraordinary novel that was later made into a movie, The Color Purple. However, this complicated, deeply-intelligent child of southern roots has never shied away from controversial subjects in her writing, constantly tackling issues that call for attention. Often drawn to the rebellious factions of a changing society, Walker is fearless, throwing her considerable energy into ideas whose time has come, as well as important causes.
   
   The Georgia-born Walker showed her intelligence early, an avid learner who was drawn to educational pursuits and the written word. She has challenged racial, political and sexual boundaries, daring to bring such topics to light as FGM, aware that such practices cannot be eradicated until society as a whole acknowledges the horror of such acts perpetrated upon young African women. Yet Walker has tackled less predictable ground in her work as well, with more esoteric novels that envision a more utopian world (The Temple of My Familiar), giving reign to a creative vision that expands upon the conventional. Yet The Color Purple becomes the novel that defines Walker to most audiences.
   
   Walker has deep roots in the literary community and author Evelyn C White makes liberal use of quotations to illustrate Walker's impact on black literary society. As in life, these authors frequently draw strength and support from each other, breaking new ground and daring to speak about forbidden topics, family abuse, violence and the mutilation of women's bodies. In pursuit of an honest portrayal of the world she sees, Walker wields words as her most powerful tool.
   
   White has compiled an impressive biography, a fully-fleshed examination of Walker's life, both public and private, her personal struggles as a writer and her evolution as a woman. Walker is still an active writer, and, as such, a work-in-progress, with much to contribute as a female and an author who refuses to be intimidated or restricted by the world. In Walker's own words: "Love is big. Love can hold anger, love can hold pain, love can even hold hatred. It's all about love." Luan Gaines/2004

1 comments about The Lives of Agnes Smedley.

1. Just finished reading THE LIVES OF AGNES SMEDLEY. What a tremendous achievement! I was moved, fascinated, inspired, and impressed by it. Every bit of the years of the research by author Price comes through. I knew nothing about the Chinese Revolution, yet the history is as vivid as Agnes Smedley's humanity - her hopes, joys, loves, despairs, fears, and most strikingly - her growth as a human being. It's a life and a book I will never forget.

5 comments about Why History Matters: Life and Thought.

1. I cannot recommend Gerda Lerner's book highly enough. And it's very timely. People the world over are organizing around important issues and coming to realize that we must work TOGETHER to effect real change. Read Why History Matters to learn exactly why all oppressed peoples must work AS ONE to transform a patriarchal world that will, if left unchallenged, self destruct.



2. I cannot recommend Gerda Lerner's book highly enough. And it's very timely. People the world over are organizing around important issues and coming to realize that we must work TOGETHER to effect real change. Read Why History Matters to learn exactly why all oppressed peoples must work AS ONE to transform a patriarchal world that will, if left unchallenged, self destruct.



3. I cannot recommend Gerda Lerner's book highly enough. And it's very timely. People the world over are organizing around important issues and coming to realize that we must work TOGETHER to effect real change. Read Why History Matters to learn exactly why all oppressed peoples must work AS ONE to transform a patriarchal world that will, if left unchallenged, self destruct.



4. I used Lerner's book to conclude my graduate seminar in U.S. Women's History in part because it makes such a compelling case for why, in this postmodern moment, history does matter. Lerner does not pull punches; her memories of the holocaust and her return to Austria years later remind us of the burden of history. At the same time she makes a compelling case for a writing of history that is scholarly and rigerous yet personal and political. I use parts of her book in both graduate and undergraduate courses to articulate to students why history still matters and why we are not free from the burden of history. The book provokes fascinating discussion and, in the end, reminds many of us as to why we studied history in the first place. In the end it inspires as well as challenges.



5. I am quite astonished that no one has commented on the importance of Dr. Lerner's book. I propose that it be read in tandem with any other book that shows the treatment of women. Books ranging from "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant,which takes place in the Biblical era all the way to Anna Quindlan's "Black and Blue," which relates to an abused wife today, begin to have even more signficance when one becomes familiar with Lerner's thesis: women have suffered from a patriarchal society since time began, and by understanding our history, we should begin to realize the power and influence that HALF the population of the world could wield. Lerner's book is surely academic, but it is worth reading. Imagine if ALL women really determined we should strive for peace, equality, freedom, etc. Lerner is a cautious optimist about the future, sensing that the women's movement does suggest a new paradigm for the future. I read Lerner's book two years ago and I find it relates to nearly every book I have read, fiction and non-fiction, since.

No comments about Growing Pains: The Autobiography of Emily Carr.

No comments about Stolen Youth: Five Women's Survival in the Holocaust.

5 comments about Madonna.

1. I quite enjoyed Andrew Morton's take on the life and career of Madonna. From her modest Italian-American upbringing, to her days as a dance major in Ann Arbor (who knew?), to her early days in New York (which sound like something out of "Rent"), the book's first half reads like a Horatio Alger success story. Once a recording contract and MTV come calling, her career trajectory is pure nostalgia for any kid of the '80s. You'll remember where you were when you first saw the video for "Lucky Star," first heard about (or saw) the MTV video music awards performance of "Like A Virgin," and recall the monstrosity of her marriage to Sean Penn. Most likely you didn't see her movies... I know I didn't... but her music will act as a soundtrack to her life and yours.
   
   What's not to love? Although I am not a particular fan of Madonna (Ray of Light and Confessions on the Dance Floor are two exceptions), her career is certainly interesting. And, like any icon, her life is connected to your life. That is what makes these bios fun.



2. Andrew Morton's fascinating biography of Madonna is well researched and elegantly written. Her life has been thoroughly chronicled in several lesser biographies, but Mr Morton, during a candid interview with the Archbishop of Dublin, was given unprecedented access to a previously unpublished letter that related to the star's earliest attempt to unsuccessfully adopt from Ireland. Handwritten on parchment and in immaculate Gaelic script, it is a literary light illuminating Madonna's sincere desire to embrace not only the concept of adoption but also the selfless act itself. It is in stark contrast to the raunchy, erotically-energized Madonna seen in explicit videos and heard in steamy lyrics, and for the first time we are able to glean the 'real' Madonna; not the vixen of popular culture but a vulnerable woman in search of fulfilment. Morton himself describes the letter as 'a celebration of this saintly songbird's empathy and passion.' The poignant document, quoted on page 78, reads:
   
   'National Council for Adoption
   26 Kildare Street
   Dublin 2
   Ireland
   October 27 2003
   
   Dear Ms Madonna
   
   The National Council for Adoption would like to thank you for your recent enquiry expressing interest in adopting.
   
   Unfortunately, there are no 25-year-old Irish males registered with our organisation, and even if there were, we would be slightly hesitant to supply the '157 strong-shouldered, six-packed, sun-tanned, slow-loving, shamrock-shaking sugar-studs' that you so generously offered to nurture.
   
   To mitigate your undoubted disappointment, the Council has arranged for the Eveready Company to send you a truckload of AAAs and a download of Enya singing 'Batteries Are A Girl's Best Friend'.
   
   Yours sincerely
   
   Phil O'Pastry
   
   CEO National Council for Adoption
   Dublin'
   
   The pathos embodied in this unique correspondence brought a lump to my throat and a stye to my eye.



3. Fiona Apple once sang "everybody wants to be Madonna but no one wants to pay the price". And the price Madonna/Madge PAID - Oh dear! Since her 1981/2 club hit "Everybody" to the very first video "Burning Up" ... no other female singer has been able to eclipse Madonna. Not Britney, Jessica, Pink, Alannis, J.Lo, etc... They have come close but Madonna is the genuine article for which no replica is possible. Madonna is the Patron Saint of Ambition. Nothing less. Her numerous incarnations and transformations keep us getting and intrigued.
   
   The teenage Madonna ate the whole Big Apple before becoming the Queen of the Pop World. And she inspired alot of fresh faced girls just out of high school to say YES to their dreams and have the courage of heart to jump on a plane to big cities all around the world, never looking back!
   
   When the 17 year old Madonna Ciccone ran off to New York in the summer of 1977 ... a cab driver dropped her off at Times Square, the center of everything. Now she remains in pop culture the epicentre of what it means to be cultural icon. She inspired the Spice Girls (based on various versions of herself), Sex and the City, and many other attempts to be versions of her.
   
   Madonna was once called the Gold Standard of Timeless Blonde Ambition. And it's obvious why. The material girl is still strong over 20 years later! She was born under one hell of a lucky star!



4. I really liked this book. I thought that the book was well written without a slant either way. It was really insightful
   to the ambition involved with achieving a goal.



5. Andrew Morton will always be known as the guy who wrote a groundbreaking biography of Princess Di. And he will be known for nothing else, apparently. At least, he won't be remembered for "Madonna," a quickie biography that covers no new ground and -- horrors! -- makes a once-controversial pop icon... boring.
   
   Madonna Louisa Ciccone started off as a motherless child, whose mom (also called Madonna) died of breast cancer. But she rapidly turned from pitiful to outrageous, travelling to NYC to become a dancer. Instead, she became a blossoming singer, an aspiring actress, and one of the first big stars to grace MTV.
   
   But more than her music was the controversy that surrounded her: Madonna dated men such as Michael Jackson, JFK Jr., Prince, and then-hot rapper Vanilla Ice, and married actor Sean Penn, while still pursuing relationships with other men and women. After their tumultuous union fell apart, she created the then-shocking book "Sex," the peak of her sexually-charged career. But then her life took a more domestic turn, with children, marriage and religion (in about that order).
   
   It's not hard to have an opinion on Madonna -- either you love her or hate her. But if the only exposure to Madonna was through this book, it would be difficult to decide which. Morton paints Madonna in bland hues, describing her exploits, affairs and then-shocking concerts in the most uninspired prose imaginable. However, not once does he reveal anything new -- despite input from lovers and friends, Morton can only add detail to what people already knew.
   
   There are some interesting facets of her rise to stardom, particularly how she and her pals changed the NYC club life, and the odd details of her first recordings. For example, she wasn't pictured on her first album, in the hopes that she would be thought to be black. But once we get back to Madonna's personal life, things get dull.
   
   Morton himself seems to presume too much on his knowledge of Madonna: he constantly claims that she was miserable, depressed, et cetera. Apparently he disapproves of her wild past. Entertainingly, he claims that Madonna is just a "Catholic girl who wants to get married." If that is how "just Catholic girls" live, then I want to know why I'm not having that much fun.
   
   Yet, at the same time, he glosses over most of her present, peaceful, monogamous life -- when she gets involved with Guy Ritchie and has her second child, he loses interest and crams the last several years into a matter of pages. One would think that her first solid relationship and her children would be worthy of a little more attention.
   
   Nobody expected Pulitzer-worthy journalism in "Madonna." But surely Andrew Morton could have done better than a tepid recounting of what her fans already knew.

1 comments about The Hanging of Angélique: The Untold Story of Canadian Slavery and the Burning of Old Montréal (Race in the Atlantic World, 1700-1900) (Race in the ... (Race in the Atlantic World, 1700-1900).

1. A case had been built against Marie-Joseph Angelique based on innuendo, insinuation, hearsay and Angelique's bad reputation.Under severe torture, the 29-year-old woman, who previously proclaimed her innocence admitted to setting fire to the home of her owner. This fire consumed 46 buildings in Old Montreal. After the grisly execution Angelique's corpse was left hanging for two hours for all to see, then was burnt. That should have been the end of Angelique but 270 years later she has arisen. Thanks to Afua Cooper.
   In fact through her thorough research Ms Cooper delves into much of the historical occurences of the time. She puts to rest that myth that there was no slavery in Canada. She opens wide the doors of an unjust justice system.
   This is not just Black history but Canadian - even world history. It should be required reading for all students of history.