5 comments about The Shadow Man: A Daughter's Search for Her Father.

1. For a lengthy review of this book written by Marjorie Steinfels O'Brien in the prestigious magazine Commonweal, go to the magazine's archives. The review is truly sui generis !



2. Much as this reader enjoyed Mary Gordon's other writing, especially Final Payments, he must fault the writer for this maundering, meandering piece of work. Bloviated with rhetorical questions, she plows the same ground over and over again, bemoaning her fate, and crying out, "Why? Why?" One is tempted to respond, "Because. Because." Without the self-conscious and self-serving rhetorical questions, this book would be 1/3 shorter, and it would be improved. If you've ever fantasized about being a psychiatrist, wondering what it would be like to listen at length to someone who refuses to accept life, this book should satisfy you. For the rest of us, let's hope that Gordon finally accepts herself. Frankly, Kathryne Harrison's The Kiss was more fully honest and better written.



3. Author Mary Gordon's intimate biography of her father is told as an account of the author's own adventure in researching and recalling the embarrassing facts of her father's real life. Most of the drama comes in the author's feelings of betrayal, guilt, and disillusionment, so the book functions more as an autobiography, as is emphasized by a lengthy addition describing the author's mother's life.

   Gordon has an engaging, lucid style, and the first half of the book has some suspense as she pores over records and searches out witnesses for the truth about her father's unusual life. But ultimately the self-pity becomes wearying, and one wishes the author could gain some perspective and be grateful for her blessings.




4. This book is very much in the same vein as Geoffrey Wolff's Duke of Deception... a man who was a failure as a person yet a loving father. A chilling portrait of the ambivalence of knowing one's imperfect parent.



5. A reader , July 10, 1997 5 stars A Daughter's Search for Her Father :

   This person has got to be an insider!

5 comments about Dear Exile : The True Story of Two Friends Separated (for a Year) by an Ocean.

1. This is a great book. I don't read very much. It is hard for me to find a book that is really interesting to me, but this one kept my interest, and it kept me turning the pages. I really wanted to keep going to know what happens next.
   
   This is a great gift too. After reading it, I sent it to my girlfriends because I think it says a lot about friendships.



2. I'm going through the process of applying with the Peace Corps. I loved the candid nature of this book, and I found that it said a lot about friendship as well as the Peace Corps. This book is a quick read, and hard to put down. I appreciated having a window into one person's PC experience. And, I enjoyed identifying with the close friendship shared by these two women.



3. A great book. I loved reading the letters between the two friends and their different styles of writing. I hope their friendship will always endure. I look foward to reading more by both. I've already read Candy and Me by Hilary. I hope to hear more from K8.



4. A great book. I loved reading the letters between the two friends and their different styles of writing. I hope their friendship will always endure. I look foward to reading more by both. I've already read Candy and Me by Hilary. I hope to hear more from K8.



5. This is about as perfect as a book can be. I won't recap the concept; plenty of other reviewers have summed it up. But I want to express my unbounded admiration for this book. I would never have imagined that a set of letters between friends could make for fascinating, hard-to-put-down reading, but this set of letters does. In spades. These women's lives are just plain interesting--Kate's, in part, because she's in a situation most of us know little or nothing about and Hilary's, in part, because she's in a situation most of us know all too well. There's more going on here, though, than just the fact of being interesting. The friendship between these two comes alive on the page; the insights about the world and about each other that the women reveal are meaningful; the wit each writer possesses is sharp and on target. I loved the book. I'm giving it to everyone I know for Christmas because they're all going to love it, too.

2 comments about She Who Was Lost Is Remembered: Healing from Incest Through Creativity (New Leaf Series).

1. Incredible healing book. I found this book at the library and the day that I could buy my own copy was a happy day. I think that every survivor of childhood sexual abuse should have this book and am constantly mentioning it and am constantly appalled that more survivors don't know about it and don't have it. So healing. Great for helping you in your own healing process and for ideas on your own creative healing journey.



2. The combination of getting to see/read the women's art/writing and reading about their own interpretation of how their healing has walked with their art is really powerful. The writing styles of the women vary hugely as they talk about their creativity and the diversity ensures that somewhere in this book a chord will be struck with the reader. The verbal and visual images are extremely strong and efeective. But perhaps the significant message comes from seeing how these women have created and gained something so strong out of the devastating experience of incest.

5 comments about Fire Child: The life & Magic of Maxine Sanders 'Witch Queen'.

1. The long awaited autobiography of Maxine Sanders does not pull any punches! Until now the only available works were the difficult to obtain Maxine: Witch Queen or the almost impossibly elusive Ecstatic Mother. The influence of Maxine Sanders on the development of the Wiccan tradition has long been overshadowed by Alex Sanders and others, when in fact Maxine has more claim to being the "first lady of Wicca" than any other high priestess in the history of the modern Craft movement.
   
   This book reflects Maxine's character. It is not an easy read, and it certainly slays a herd of sacred cows! Nevertheless, shining through the humour and sadness found in equal measure, is a sense of the inspiration which flows through Maxine and has inspired so many people into the Wiccan path. As can be seen from the accounts of her life with Alex, if he was the mind, she was the heart. Maxine was the pre-eminent priestess during the decades when Wicca went from being a small elite club to being a global spirituality.
   
   So what stands out in Maxine's tale of her magickal life and the people who have populated it? Her early life and the influence of her family in shaping Maxine's future are well documented. However it is when she reaches the influence of Alex and how the two of them interacted that things quickly become more revealing (happily this is from chapter 3 onwards!). Maxine is very honest about how her shyness was almost painfully clear during her early exposure to the media. What is more surprising is her revelation that Sharon Tate was initiated into Wicca during the filming of `Eye of the Devil'.
   
   It would be too easy to recount lots of fascinating details from this book, presented from a unique perspective from the point of view of the development of Wiccan and modern paganism. However it is more appropriate to look at what the book says about Maxine. Here is a woman of courage, who has been to hell and back many times, and is still around to tell the tale. Not only that but she has grown strong in the fires of testing which she has been repeatedly exposed to through her life. Maxine is also very honest, admitting her own mistakes and failings in a way that many people would find difficult to.
   
   Firechild is a wonderful book that is very difficult to put down. It will give you a completely different view of the development of Wicca, and many of the people within it. As such it is a very important book for everyone interested in the history of modern paganism (whichever tradition) and of course everyone whose work, beliefs and practices have been inspired, in one way or another, by Maxine - which quite possibly includes all of us.(Only those suffering from extreme arrogance or who prefer to bury their head in the sand, will tell themselves differently)



2. Fire Child is one of those books that are necessary to an understanding of fondational things. In this book the reader can catch a glimpse of Wicca in the early days of the Alexandrian and Gardnerian period. Much has been written about Gerald Gardner, but comparatively little on Alex Sanders. Fire Child helps to correct this oversight, and brings to light two important figures - Maxine and Alex.
   
   I think the book is an important contribution, and is a good study to add to a history of the rise & fall of Wicca. Old Timer's in the Craft will most likely enjoy the memories stirred by Fire Child, and newbies can catch a glimpse of Wicca before it became diluted and heavily customized by a new generation of practitioners.
   
   The Craft community has recently lost several of its elders, such as Doreen Valiente and Stewart Farrar. Others have long ago left the Craft for a variety of personal reasons. As Maxine notes near the end of the book, the growth of numbers in Wicca has not kept up with the lineage trained & available teachers, which has left much in the hands of the "self-initiated" who turned to an eclectic gathering of what is available in print. It is encouraging to read in Fire Child that some elders are still with us, and that Maxine remains a witch, and still believes in the old magic.



3. In the 1960s, when Pagan Witchcraft started to gain widespread media attention, Maxine Sanders (b. 1948?) was one of its visible faces. A tall willowy young woman with bleached blonde hair, she was married in 1965 to Alex Sanders (1926-1988) for whom the Alexandrian tradition is named.
   
   He was older, charming, verbal - she was photographed, he was recorded. That's her on the cover of my early hardback edition of Stewart Farrar's 1971 book What Witches Do, long hair flowing, eyes downcast towards the chalice.
   
   Now she talks -- in print as opposed to classes and lectures -- in a valuable autobiography, Fire Child: The Life & Magic of Maxine Sanders, 'Witch Queen'
   The book is not what it could have been. Material is not always straight-forwardly organized, punctuation is erratic and unclear, and words usedly mistakenly ("taught" for "taut," that sort of thing). I fault the publisher.
   
   
   Still, this is an important book. Sanders gave her life to the Craft in a way that few have, and she admits she paid a price: two failed marriages (Sanders, in the end, preferred men), financial hardship in the early years, breast cancer, and, most of all, the hardship of being always on-call in her role as priestess.
   
   "Marriage with Alex had been rather like a working relationship. Unconsciously, we sacrificed the more personal and sharing aspects of a normal marriage."
   
   To read Fire Child is follow a trail of ups and initiations, rituals and happenings, magical politics, festivals and and visions.
   
   Yet it is also a frank admission of the dangers of magickal religion. Coming from a background of intense, small-group work, she is prone to opinions such as these:
   
   "The modern Craft is a victim of its own success. Its tremendous growth since the heady days of the 1960s has outstripped the availability of experienced and reputable teachers, who in former days would themselves have served an arduous apprenticeship before being judged worthy to passon the tradition - and then only to a few."
   
   (And she admits that even in her own group that rule was not always followed.)
   
   Witchcraft is so often perceived as a young person's religion that it is good to read a mature priestess's thoughts. Maxine Sander has gone through the fires - media celebrity, high-profile religious leadership, magic, suffering. Her book is valuable - "full and candid," to quote Ronald Hutton's cover blurb. I recommend it.



4. I finished reading Maxine Sanders' new autobiography, "Fire Child," the other day. I have to say I keep thinking about it.
   
   Maxine Sanders was a teenager when she fell in love with Alex Sanders, the founder of the Alexandrian Wicca denomination. Alex ended up marrying Maxine and they had two children together (a daughter and a son.) Maxine was and still is considered to be the Witch Queen, the High Priestess of Alexandrian Wicca by many people.
   
   Maxine is very honest and open in this book about her relationship with Alex. As an outsider, it's painful to hear about as it's clear Maxine loved Alex deeply while he does not seem to have reciprocated. Maxine is also very clear in her account that there was a good reason for this -- Alex was primarily gay although he wanted a wife and kids. And like many young women who marry too early and end up separated from their philandering husbands, it is after Maxine moves out of Alex's shadow that she really begins to blossom as a woman to be reckoned with.
   
   Alex was not Maxine's introduction to alternative spiritual paths and occultism (although he was the one who brought Maxine into the witchcraft community.) Maxine's mother was a dabbler in all things related to alternative religions, and through her mother Maxine met and became involved in quite a few different groups including an offshoot of Gurdjieff's teachings, an Indonesian cult called Subud, Spiritualism, an Egyptian group, and Roman Catholicism among others. It was actually through Maxine's mother that she came in contact with Alex (first as a child and then later as a teenager).
   
   The book chronicles Maxine's rapid immersion in Wicca once she got involved with Alex -- she was an initiated third degree Witch Queen before she had reached her twentieth birthday. She talks about Alex's constant publicity seeking and what it was like not only speaking publicly about witchcraft but performing rituals for the cameras. She recounts a number of interesting apparently supernatural incidents that she witnessed and how she dealt (or didn't deal) with them. Her life has definitely been colourful!
   
   One interesting thing that I took out of this book is how to Maxine (and apparently also to Alex) Wicca was a flexible enough religion to practice side-by-side alongside other religions and magickal systems. When Alex and Maxine had their children, they sought out Christian baptisms for them. They also joined and participated in a number of other spiritual and magickal groups including Christian ones. Even after the couple had split, Maxine became quite involved in a liberal Catholic church group while simultaneously running and teaching a Wiccan coven.
   
   Another thing that I found interesting was the confirmation that Alex was primarily interested in men for his romantic relationships. I had heard that Alex was likely bisexual, but after reading Maxine's account of her life with him there's little doubt that Alex was mostly on the gay side of the bisexuality spectrum. He also clearly didn't feel that homosexuality or single-gender covens wouldn't work in Wicca as Maxine recounts how Alex ran a male-only coven at one point. (She "helped out" in one ritual as the High Priestess -- the only woman present!)
   
   "Fire Child" is an interesting read and will undoubtedly spur discussions of Wiccan history for years to come. As with most new historical information, there are new questions that will come up while other ones have been settled thanks to Maxine's honesty.



5. Fire Child will be of great interest to insiders - people who practice Wicca. I don't think it will make a great impression on outsiders, except those who have a fondness for British eccentrics.
   
   And it needed an editor to catch the grammatical errors and smooth out the prose.

5 comments about Five-Finger Discount: A Crooked Family History.

1. If you don't find yourself howling out loud at some passages in this book, then you don't get the east coast sense of humor at all ( finding humor in the absurd, the miserable and the horrible). And well, frankly, I question your horrible taste.
   
   Stapinski's book is very moving, funny and well written. Massive corruption, police brutality, toxic waste, armies of invading rats, packs of wild dogs, and mysterious odors - Jersey City had it all. This book sent me into fits.
   
   
   



2. I was amazed by the vehemence of the reviews of this book, both positive and negative. I was also surprised by the number of reviews. I think that, in itself, tells you that the book is worth reading.
   
   Like many of the reviewers, I was born and raised in Jersey City (born in 1955). That would make me ten years older than the author, so our time in Jesey City pretty much paralleled each other. Was my family like Ms. Stapinski's? No. Can I relate to that which she is writing? Absolutely! I grew up in the Heights section of Jersey City on Waverly Street right off of Central Avenue and near Pershing Field. It was not downtown Jersey City, but we had enough characters of our own. For those who grew up in Jesey City and cannot relate to Ms. Stapinski and her story, well, good for you. But if you were not aware of, or did not see the things she writes about in Jersey City, you were either naive, sheltered, or a liar.
   
   In the 1960s and 1970s Jersey City was not a "model city." But then again, what large city was doing well, especially in the 1970s? For all it's faults, I would not have wanted to grow up anywhere else.
   
   "Five Fingered Discount" is one woman's recollection of her childhood. It is not the definitive history of Jersey City. Jersey City is like any other large city; it has it's good points and bad points. If you happen to remember more of the good points, wonderful, but it doesn't mean the bad ones didn't exist. If you know nothing about Jersey City, but would like some interesting reading, I recommend this book. If you are from another large urban area in the U.S., I am sure you will find Ms. Stapinski's story familiar. Jersey City has not cornered the market on urban dysfunction!



3. I was reading some reviews here and was surprised that they found this book "offensive", because either they knew better part of the city or Stapinski's family members stole, could not drive, drank, etc. WHY????? Haven't you stole an ashtray from downtown cafe once? Ever? Or haven't you taken a bunch of ketcup packets from fastfood joint? .. OK, all I'm saying is to lighten up a little. I think tragedies and craziness of her family are written here with great humor and affection. And who doesn't have one crazy person in their family? I could feel lump in my throat when I read the part where her daddy died. If you like to read something filled with morals and displines, then this book is not for you. But if you like to laugh and cry over real people with vivid characters, you should try this one.



4. Stapinski relates growing up in Jersey City in a fresh and honest way. And her recounting of the blighted history of Jersey City politics is a head-shaking hoot. As for the popularity of her opinions about JC and its denizens, well, that has no bearing on whether this book is a great read; it is.
   
   I loved the sheer humanity of this book.



5. I've come to know and appreciate Jersey City on my own, since I became a volunteer historian at The Stanley Theatre 6 years ago. I've had to go the JC Public Library and had the pleasure of going thru the NJ Room, as well as meeting great people (Cynthia, Bruce, and Leon Yost -'Jersey Citians'(?). I've grown up in urban areas (i.e, Newark/Irvington), and now live in the suburbs in another County, but have come to appreciate Jersey City very much.
   
   Jersey City has some wonderful historic sites, as well as areas that have been revitalized by citizens who take pride in their communities. I'm sure that the folks who've taken exception to many aspects of this book have their own arguments, that are probably even valid. But Ms. Stapinski's story is HER family story, the good, bad, and ugly.
   
   There are wonderful Jersey City Arcadia-published books on various historical aspects, but Ms. Stapinski's personal account with "Five Finger Discount" was close to home for me, because my paternal grandfather was somewhat like her Grandpa, and my grandfather was sent to Trenton State Prison in the 1960's for illegal gambling, as well as not naming names.
   
   I also read her "Baby Plays Around" and if nothing else, one has to admit that Ms. Stapinski's candor and raw emotion comes through in both published works.

2 comments about The Rigoberta Menchu Controversy.

1. It's quite predictable that a person who reveals uncomfortable truths about US militarism will have some sort of "controversy" stirred up about their work. Pentagon public relations personnel and their allies in academia are constantly working to cast doubt over the suffering of humans (Guatemalan, Colombian, Laotian, East Timorese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Iraqi, Afghani, etc.) caused by US war-making. As the other reviewer noted, Stoll's book provides convenient (and grotesque) excuses for the Guatemalan forces whose operations of village destruction were as depraved as that of the Nazi destruction of Russian villages. No doubt, the Nazis would've appreciated the efforts of a figure like Stoll to cast doubt on the leading spokesperson of the people they oppressed.
   I'm glad Arturo Arias' book includes essays by people like Eduardo Galeano, who understand well the US history of robbing Latin America and butchering people who resist. As far as Stoll's essay in response goes, I wonder if he's truly interested in hearing the voices of other indigenous people. I imagine he or some fellow traveller would invest more time and effort in trying to discredit other victims of this slaughter. Much more worthwhile, and ethical, would be to reveal the obvious deceptions of the Guatemalan government and dictators like Rios Montt. Even more constructive would be if US academics like Stoll used their positions of privilege to critique the role of the US government in arming and supporting the blood-letting that our tax dollars sponsored.
   I wonder if Stoll is currently working on a book to create some sort of scandal around the work of Bishop Juan Gerardi who wrote "Guatemala, Never Again!", a report on Guatemala's human rights violations. Maybe the fact that Gerardi was murdered two days after he turned in the report disuades Stoll from spending his time on such an endeavor; but I'm sure if Gerardi had gotten the same sort of world attention, the apologists of US hegemony would've found one way or another to smear him.
   
   For people who sympathize with the courageous and important work of Menchu, sharing "I, Rigoberta" or her beautiful children's books with others would be a fitting response to the work of Stoll. There is also an excellent DVD called "When the Mountains Tremble" that features Menchu, other indigenous Guatemalans (including members of the resistance), and comments from a military officer proudly boasting of the extermination campaigns.
   
   Stoll should be ashamed of himself. Fortunately, his work won't pass the test of time, while the words of Menchu will live on.
   "Our current history is woven into our previous 500 years when our people survived malnutrition, discrimination and oppression. For indigenous people, it's not exactly a bad time in history. It's a time that has vindicated us, that shines a bright light on the future. And I am absolutely sure that in many countries in the Americas there will always be Indians. We hope this is so, but it depends on everyone. Many people take pride in the culture of the Americas and the world view of the Indian people, but please don't make us idols; because we're not myths of the past or present. We are active communities. As long as one Indian is alive in the Americas, or the world, there shines a bright hope and lives an original thought." -Rigoberta Menchu, from the epilogue to "When the Mountains Tremble"



2. What makes this book important is that every essay is different. Some contributors side with Rigoberta Menchu, others with David Stoll, while still others take a bigger picture view and otherwise make significant contributions to the debate. What comes out of this book is that Mr. Stoll did not clearly explain the important points he was trying to make in "Rigoberta Menchu and the Story of All Poor Guatemalans" (otherwise the controversy surrounding his book would not have been so large) and that he left some important points out, such as why the Guatemalan Army committed large-scale massacres in areas with no documented guerrilla presense, or the reality that there are land squabbles between different indigenous groups due to the fact that white ladinos own a vast majority of the most arable land. Due to these shortcomings, the bottom line for many contributors to this book is that Mr. Stoll takes responsibility away from the Guatemalan army and government just at a time when specific apologies and reparations from them are so urgently needed to move the country forward after the 30 year civil war and subsequent peace accords. At the end of the book, however, Mr. Stoll offers a response that more clearly spells out the points he was trying to make, the main one being that thousands of indigenous voices were not included in the nation's dialogue due to the guerrilla's effort to use Rigoberta as the country's only indigenous spokesperson. This book includes essential background information about "I, Rigoberta Menchu", "Rigoberta Menchu and the Story of All Poor Guatemalans" and other aspects of the debate. Raises many universal themes and issues important outside of Guatemala.

5 comments about Dr. Frau.

1. I read this book with great interest; I find the Amish and Mennonite to be beacons of true Christianity in this era of materialism and hedonism, and am always seeking to gain a better understanding of them. That, of course, leads me to seek out books like Dr. Frau, yet at the same time it places me in the unfortunate position of creating the demand for books that pry into their personal lives.
   
   This book deals with one of the most guarded aspects of Old Order Amish and Mennonite life--the birth of children. The author of course understands this fully and deals with the actual births in a brief and respectful manner; the stories focus primarily on the circumstances surrounding particular births, such as driving through heavy rain or blizzards, having to hurry between several births on the same day, etc. There are also some stories about her medical practice in general, attending to non-Amish/Mennonites, and rural life.
   
   Unfortunately, I can't say that the author is a particularly good writer, or a natural storyteller. The stories were inconsistant, at times somewhat mundane, and in the end I was left with the sense that this book wasn't entirely complete.



2. This is one of my absolute favorite books. The stories are a fascinating look both at the life of Amish people and human nature. These chapters will make you laugh, feel and think. You can't go wrong with this book and Dr. Kaiser's second book, "Detour" if you have any interest in Amish life and culture.



3. It's been awhile since I've read this book, but I really enjoyed it. Dr Kaiser's book takes you inside Amish homes where she delivers their babies. What really struck me was the fact that many Amish women keep working...canning food...sewing...cooking... right up until the time they are ready to lay down and push the baby out! Dr Kaiser fights her way through snow storms, battles attacking farm dogs and deals with some quirky Amish people which makes for some very entertaining reading!



4. Dr. Kaiser was a no-nonsense country doctor for many years in the Pennsylvania Dutch country. She delivered babies at home for the Old-Order Amish and Mennonites, sometimes arriving at the farmhouse by sleigh, if necessary. She writes with astonishing detail about her patients, their humor and lifestyle. Dr. Kaiser got stuck in mud, snow, was sometimes unavoidably to late to get the baby delivered, but she always treated her patients with deep respect and loving care.



5. A truly educational experience in the first person. Grace Kaiser has done an excellent job of documenting her many years of experience as a Practicing Physician living amongst the Amish people. She leaves nothing to the imagination on her birthing experiences. Learned much from reading this book of short stories.

5 comments about Faith and Betrayal: A Pioneer Woman's Passage in the American West.

1. "Faith and Betrayal" tells the story of Jean Rio Baker, an Englishwoman who converted to Mormonism and emigrated to Utah in the early 1850s. The main primary source material for any understanding of Mrs. Baker's life is her emigrant journal. The journal itself covers an emigration period of nine months, is largely silent for the eighteen years that Mrs. Baker was in Utah, contains an entry at the end of that period alluding to Mrs. Baker's economic and religious disappointment during her time in Utah, and ends with a few entries made after she settled in California with other family members. Mrs. Baker's journal has been excerpted or included in several anthologies and collections, including "Saints without Halos" and "Audacious Women."
   
   As a literary and historical document, Mrs. Baker's journal stands on its own, and a book-length treatment of her life would seem to be of questionable value absent the discovery or production of additional primary source material. However, Sally Denton provides little in the way of scholarship or original research in her book. Ms. Denton states at the outset her frustration that the L.D.S. church has gotten so much mileage out of the journal as a representation of the Mormon emigrant experience while failing to give equal billing to the "loss of faith" portion that is the crux of Ms. Denton's book. Ms. Denton states that the purpose of her book is to "restore" Mrs. Baker's voice that the L.D.S. church has "distorted."
   
   Unfortunately, what the reader hears more often than not is Ms. Denton's voice, a voice that oftentimes is not only unsupported by the historical record, but is contrary to it in many respects. Not content with providing a running paraphrase of Mrs. Baker's journal, Ms. Denton cannot resist padding the journal to make Mrs. Baker a more active participant in the events described in the journal. However, Ms. Denton's use of dramatic license becomes more problematic in relation to the absence of journal entries during Mrs. Baker's time in Utah. Based on the one journal entry expressing Mrs. Baker's disappointment with life as it turned out in Utah, Ms. Denton attempts to detail the course of Mrs. Baker's disillusionment over the past eighteen years for which the journal is otherwise silent. Ms. Denton attributes very specific attitudes and beliefs to Mrs. Baker that find no support in the record: in Ms. Denton's telling, Mrs. Baker is personally repulsed by and vehemently opposed to polygamy, the Mountain Meadows Massacre, the Mormon doctrine of salvation, the Mormon principle of consecration, etc. Ms. Denton explains away Mrs. Baker's actual silence on any one of these topics by asserting that the atmosphere in nineteenth-century Mormon society was so repressive that a free-thinking woman like Mrs. Baker was sufficiently intimidated from confiding her innermost thoughts to her private journal. With this sleight of hand, Ms. Denton effectively turns Mrs. Baker into an empty vessel onto which Ms. Denton can project Ms. Denton's personal objections to the Mormon religion and experience as well as many of her modern-day sensibilities. Yet Ms. Denton represents Mrs. Baker's undocumented feelings and views on particular items with such certainty and specificity that one wonders whether Ms. Denton is channeling Mrs. Baker's spirit.
   
   Many of Ms. Denton's factual assertions about Mrs. Baker's life and family are demonstrably false. Key among these is Ms. Denton's portrayal of Mrs. Baker and several of her children's removal to California as a calculated and dangerous "escape from Mormonism." The journal itself makes clear that Mrs. Baker accompanied a sick friend to California as a personal nurse, and had intended to return to Utah but was persuaded by her resident son to stay in California. Ms. Denton supports her "escape" storyline by vague references to family history or tradition, but only ends up contradicting herself. For instance, she claims that certain of Mrs. Baker's sons previously fled Utah for California under cover of night in order to avoid Mormon assassin squads. Her purported source for this assertion is unidentified California Baker descendants. Yet later on, Ms. Denton asserts that those same descendants had no knowledge that their ancestors were either Mormon or had come to California by way of Utah. Further, L.D.S. Endowment House records show that one of the "escaping" Baker sons was back in Utah several years later receiving his Mormon endowment ordinance. The journal itself indicates that the sons left for economic, not religious reasons. In this, as in other significant instances (beyond the limited scope of this review), Ms. Denton ignores contrary facts that do not advance her pre-determined storyline.
   
   The book in part appears to be a vehicle for Ms. Denton to expound on nineteenth-century Mormon society. Ms. Denton goes beyond critical examination to demonstrate an unveiled contempt for all aspects of Mormon history, experience and belief, as well as a superficial and incomplete understanding of them. The factual mistakes are numerous and fundamental. She is unable to concede any good-faith aspects or motivations to either the religious system or its actors, and her nineteenth-century Utah is populated almost exclusively by abusive manipulators or easily-led dupes. This is due in large part to her uncritical reliance on the sensationalistic, anti-Mormon literature of the era.
   
   In the end, Ms. Denton's book is not so much history as it is a polemic, at times veering off into the realm of historical fiction. There is little to no original scholarship evident. Ms. Denton relies on secondary or tertiary sources, freely projects or psychologizes, asserts unverifiable or suspect facts, and refers to uncited and unidentified "family members" as sources. In other words, an independent researcher would be at a loss to verify or fact check Ms. Denton's narrative as it applies to Mrs. Baker, and would have to duplicate Ms. Denton's original research, such as it is, from scratch. Those readers interested in Mrs. Baker's life and journal would be better served by reading Mrs. Baker's account in her own words, which are more engaging in any case, rather than having it filtered and skewed by a compromised intermediary with a personal agenda.



2. As the PW review states, the book is riddled with factual errors--large and small. It is also full of the author's anti-religious and anti-Mormon prejudice; events and people are always cast in the dimmest light (except the author's own ancestor and family) and Denton seems unable to imagine a religious worldview. I would have like more direct quoting from Jean Rio Baker's journals and a more dispassionate point of view that accounted for the reason people of the 19th century were so compelled to leave their home countries to emigrate to Utah and take part in what Mormonism seemed to promise. I bought this book to get a sense--from Jean Rio Baker--of who she was and why she converted to Mormonism, but the factual errors and value judgments cloud the book's credibility so much that it did not really address those issues.



3. I was so glad to be able to read this book. I have a Great grandmother who was put on a ship at the age of 13 from Denmark, sent to the Mormans all alone, no other family member came. Her mother and father divorced in Denmark, over this desire of my great grandmother's mother to join the Mormans, she herself never came to America. This left my Great Grandmother to fend for herself. I had never been able to understand how this could possibly have happened, until I read this account. Like Jean Rio, she came to dispise the Morman Faith and her descendents in general refered to themselves as "Jack Mormans".



4. I was totally captivated with the life of this lady who left her wealthy & comfortable home in England to join up with the Mormon's. That is after they paint a rosy picture of their "Promised Land in Utah Territory". But they certainly failed to mention a few minor things that would take place.
   
   I was raised a Mormon and left it over 35 years ago to become a Bible believing Christian. I was certainly never taught what really happened in the early formative years and this book brings out the true events.
   
   I always wondered how the church could grow as it did and this book explains all of that. It brings out the perverted cult it really was and the hardships put upon this woman after joining. She was never told she would have to give all her possessions & money. Brigham Young lived quite well from the funds given in Utah, while the others lived in stark poverty. They never told the people in England before they left for the new world of the polygamy, poverty, communal living etc... & so much more.
   
   Sally tells the story well, between the entries in the journal & without animosity as she certainly could.
   
   This was a fascinating work and after reading this book I will read the book Sally Denton wrote on the Mountain Meadows Massacre. She has done her homework in the background and setting of this book and I am sure she will do well in the next one.



5. I was anticipating a wonderful diary of an amazing journey by an Englishwoman of privilege over the Western Plains of the American West--what I got was a narrative history of the Mormon religion and its ups and downs. Having read many diaries of Pioneer women, this one attracted me because Jean Rio started out in England with a small fortune at her disposal. I was disappointed that so much of the book was wasted on Brigham Young and so little of it on Jean.

5 comments about Killer Angel: A Short Biography of Planned Parenthood's Founder, Margaret Sanger.

1. It's easy to understand the motives, purpose, and actions of Planned Parenthood in light of its founder. Short, easy to read, and helpful for pro-lifers who are fighting PP at any level.



2. The only thing worse than this book, is someone actually believing it to be based on facts. It is a wicked defamation of Ms Sanger's character for the author to express a pro-life platform.
   
   "No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her own body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose conscientiously whether she will or will not be a mother." --Margaret Sanger



3. This is an excellent primer and succinct summary of the truth about the origins of "Planned Parenthood." Anyone who wants to know the truth about America's disgraceful abortion mills, should begin with this book. You can trust Grant to tell you the truth, in contrast to the communist propaganda we usually get fed! Thank you George!



4. There's no original research here; as is clear from the footnotes, the author has just taken material from standard biographies of Sanger and used it to present her in the most negative light possible. Sanger did favor eugenics (as did most people in her era), and she was a socialist, and she had a rather unorthodox family life. There isn't much argument about the facts. But to use these facts to portray her as a monster of iniquity (and a worse murderer than Stalin or Hitler) is just silly, unless you regard a blastocyst as the moral equivalent of a human being.



5. Her views were just as monstrous as Hitler's, because they came from the same philosophical genetic line of thinking. Her own words condemn her. She indeed targeted the poor and down-trodden of society with the same views as the Third Reich. She saw the black community as hitler saw the disabled of Germany "useless eaters." Read this book to find out what she really believed. Don't just listen to the emotional-laden lies of Planned Parenthood and their misinformed rabble,[..]
   
   I've never seen pro abortionists deal with the real facts concerning Margaret Sanger. The facts are presented in books like "Killer Angel," but they can't "handle" the facts. All they can do is appeal to the emotions-- "Oh the starving children..." etc. So... their solution is that the children are better off dead, than starving! Good argument!? No. Stupid argument -- just an appeal to the emotions. "Starving Children?" "Abused Children?" Why change the argument? No one said that anti-abortionists were pro starvation or pro abuse. What greater abuse can you have than the killing of innocent children? What you actually have is a promoting and philosophical acceptance of, and practice of genocide for convenience-sake. Shame on anyone who would try to defend what Margaret Sanger said and lived for. You may as well try to defend Hitler himself!

3 comments about Haunted Heart: A Biography of Susannah McCorkle.

1. Haunted Heart by Linda Dahl is a biography of American cabaret singer Susannah McCorkle, who took her own life in May of 2001. The author seems to have had extensive cooperation of family members and friends in researching the book. McCorkle suffered from depression and bipolar disorder all of her adult life, and part of her childhood as well. Much of the book is given over to her illness.
   
   Like many women, McCorkle was dissatisfied with her physical appearance, this combined with her mental illness no doubt contributed to her unhappiness. She was a large woman, though well-proportioned and not at all unattractive, but far from her own ideal of feminine beauty.
   
   The author says McCorkle was in love with the idea of being in love (as in the song), she also seems to have been in love with the idea of being a cabaret singer. None of her many romances was entirely satisfactory, despite the fact that she was twice married to men who seem to have been loving and caring. Though a respected professional singer for over twenty years - winning several record of the year awards, her career was not actually very successful. She had a loyal, but small, following among New York's cabaret set, but was not otherwise highly sought after.
   
   The shortcomings of both her personal and professional lives seem to have been related to an inability to compromise. Though, for example, her husband lived in Schenectady, NY, she insisted on living in New York City - even when not performing there. Likewise, she often complained about people talking during her shows and the noise of waiters serving food and drinks. She failed to accept the idea that a cabaret singer is supposed to "put butts on chairs", as someone puts it in the book, not give a master class on the subtlety of Cole Porter lyrics!
   
   Susannah McCorkle comes across as having been a "user", viewing others merely as ways to achieve her goals - particularly musicians, critics, club owners, and others connected with the music business. Repeatedly, she is shown cultivating those whom she feels can advance her career, while ignoring, even dismissing, others. Many people helped her get started, paying for demo tapes, for example, or by encouraging owners of small restaurants and clubs to let her sing, if only for tips. Yet, there was no mention of her having helped others get started later on.
   
   One story near the end of the book struck me as typical of her manipulative behavior. The manager of her favorite venue, the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel in New York remarked, that in Autumn of 2000, she had acted affectionate to him, even giving him a hug, which she had never done before. Later on in the book it comes up that she had taken pains to be affectionate with him, suggesting it was a conscious effort to do so, not a spontaneous act of friendship. Only months before she died, she was still "playing" people she thought were useful.
   
   Significantly, she had few friends among professional musicians, though several friends were amateur musicians. For the most part, her close associates were writers and others connected with the arts and show business. Many of her acquaintances were themselves involved in psychotherapy, both as patients and practitioners.
   
   McCorkle began her career as a writer, only later becoming a singer. She continued to write throughout her singing career, and worked (unsuccessfully) to become a novelist. Her singing style and careful phrasing reflected her interest in words and story telling. She often sought out original lyrics to old songs, and even taught herself Portuguese in order to translate Brazilian songs, so popular in clubs during the 70s and 80s.
   
   The book itself is a little scholarly, perhaps, and not always easy to follow - for example, when the author quotes someone who is quoting someone else. I would have appreciated more frequent date references since the author attempts to intertwine McCorkle's career and personal life with the progress of her illness. The book is a well-documented and carefully researched biography of a person with a troubled personal and professional life. Recommended.



2. This is an exhaustive biography of the jazz/cabaret singer Susannah McCorkle. The book features a blow-by-blow account of McCorkle's musical career and psychological processes. Why "psychological processes?" Susannah struggled with bipolar disorder for at least all of her adult life, if not longer. She took her life at the age of 55. It is therefore very relevant to showcase her mental state as a major focus of the book. I found it exhausting to read about all of her ups and downs. Think of how Susannah must have felt to live through them!
   
   The other focus of the book of course, is a detailed account of her musical career. McCorkle started out as an aspiring author and one day in early adulthood heard a Billie Holiday recording and decided she wanted to sing jazz. Even though she still wrote short stories with some success, Susannah then started on the road to become a prominent, although always struggling, singer. I felt I was with Susannah as I read about her career and life. The author, Linda Dahl, brings this woman into sharp focus.
   
   To me, one moral of this biography is, "take your meds, folks." Ms McCorkle was not taking her prescribed medicines when she died. I can't help but wonder if the outcome could have turned out differently.



3. HAUNTED HEART: A BIOGRAPHY OF SUSANNAH MCCORKLE isn't likely to reach the general interest, non-musical reader, for her name is likely to prove familiar only to those with an in-depth interest in female jazz vocalists. This audience, however, will find HAUNTED HEART a brilliant expose of a troubled American songbird, surveying her many achievements as she devleoped her own style and performed in venues around the world while struggling with bipolar disorder. From her emotional ups and downs to her influences on singers of the 70s through the 90s, HAUNTED HEART is a key piece of musical history not to be missed.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch