5 comments about Creeker: A Woman's Journey (Women in Southern Culture).

1. This is just a great book. Being born and raised in a Coal Camp in McDowell County, West Virginia really made me appreciate the descriptive style of writing which captures the true spirit of the "holler." When I finished the book I celebrated by cooking up a big pot of pinto beans and baked a big ol' pan of cornbread. Thank you for such a wonderful book.



2. "Over the course of my life, I have been lucky in that I have seldom managed to get exactly what I wanted; instead, I have most often been able to grow to appreciate what I got." You find out all the things the author strove for during her youth that never seemed to materialize...except for her studies when she always did well except for a very short period of time.
   
   Linda Scott has told about her life that is most revealing and about a place in Appalachia in Eastern Kentucky that is so well explained that you know exactly what her hometown area looks like and how everyone lived. The twists and turns in her life are like a corkscrew where changes are constant, but purpose remains strong. The author is the most down-to-earth academician I have ever known including my brother who is a retired professor. If you want a marvelous reading experience, then get this book. I guarantee it!



3. I loved this book. It really tells the story of my people.



4. I was born in Paintsville (home of Loretta Lynn) and had to move away when I was 4. Reading this book took me back to my Grandma's front porch and the well outside. It reminded me of church outhouses and dinner on the ground. Made me want to throw rocks in the creek off the bridge at Grandma's and walk up to the family graveyard to wonder about my ancestor's lives. If you are from Eastern Kentucky, this book will make you proud to say "warsh" and "tard." If you aren't from there, read it anyway. It might make you appreciate us "hillbillies" a little more.



5. As a long-time enthusiast of Appalachian literature, I was eagerly aniticipating reading 'Creeker'. Though I didn't care much for the stereotypical title, I thought I would be able to make it past it to enjoy a unique brand of literature.

   Boy, was I wrong!

   This book typifies the apologist mentality that premeates Appalachia and keeps the ignorant serfs on the proverbial feudal land.

   If you're a true fan of Appalachian literature, stick with the true masters, Bobbie Ann Mason and Lee Smith.

1 comments about Great Women Masters of Art (Great Masters of Art).

1. This book is one in a finely done current art series, and every volume is a beauty! This one, "Great Women Masters" may be the best, since a large number of the artists here are not well known. Sure, there are Cassett, O'Keefe, and a few other very famous names, but perhaps the best descriptions and paintings are by pre-20th Century Artists,some from the 1500's,and especially some English Pre-Raphaelites. There are many,many color reproductions, descriptions of the lives of the artists, even very small color pictures at the book page corners, all which makes this a very special series, this being my favorite. Also, the size is rectangular and portable, not too heavy..All in all, just about perfect!

5 comments about The Golden Girls of MGM: Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly and Others.

1. It's not often that I venture forth to offer a review on Amazon, but I was so upset with this book that I had to speak up. I checked this book out of my University library to help with research for a film exhibit I am working on. I was hoping to find an at most academic and at least intelligent, or reliably informative retelling of the lives of these famous actresses within, how they were perceived by the viewing public, and the effect they had on the film industry during their tenures as stars. What I got was a sensationalist account concerned only with detailing every sexual encounter these women ever had, and taking delight in citing most of them as gay or bisexual, something that is not offensive to me but seems particularly overemphasized in this book.
   
   Why is it important to know that several of these women didn't wear underwear on the set? This book is full of lascivious quotes from male film stars about the sexual appetites of all of these women, and time and time again I found myself questioning the legitimacy of these sources, not to mention the bias of what these men were saying considering attitudes about women at the time. Perhaps even more offensive, in Wayne's account none of these women are allowed to succeed on their own without men. Instead Wayne depicts their careers as driven primarily by sex, and there is no real examination of how these women succeeded based on their own talents or business savvy. They need men to land roles in films, they need men to fulfill whatever emotional void is in their life, and don't forget they prey on men like the vamps many portrayed on screen to fulfill their rampant sexual appetites. But I kept asking, over and over, so what? The dreaded question that every historian or biographer should strive to answer to justify the time and money spent into publishing any paper or book. The drivel presented here doesn't even attempt to answer this question.
   
   There's no denying that none of these film stars were saints, but what does this book honestly add to any serious or intelligent discussion of film? Whether or not these actresses were as oversexualized as Wayne takes delight in portraying them, they are fascinating subjects who captured the imaginations of millions through their revolutionary presence on screen, whether through sheer talent, manipulation of their images, or both. They were acting during one of the most fruitful times for women in Hollywood in many cases, when women were allowed to be sexual and independent creatures who strove for what they wanted in their roles on screen. But instead of even attempting to point this out, Wayne is almost offensively interested in cataloging everything that supposedly went on in their bedrooms.
   
   This book read like the worst of gossip columns with no analysis that even the more disappointing biographies I have read for this project made sure to offer. Further, the endless catalog of love affairs reads like a laundry list, making the writing bland and boring no matter how tantalizing the questionable subject matter attempts to be.



2. i have read the book and i keep wondering if any of this really true. it is just pure specualtion. idle gossip. but it was fun reading it. why was so much attention given to grace kelly when she only made a couple pictures with MGM. katharine hepburn was a much bigger star and the author gave her a couple of pages. just not enough.



3. Miss Wayne clearly did not investigate the rumors that fills this book. Many of her facts are not validated and that many more are known to be just rumor. The typographical errors abound, i.e. Wiltshire Boulevard in Los Angeles - it is Wilshire Boulevard. Her dates are deplorable - i.e. Esther Williams and Fernando Lamas were married for 22 years from 1969 until his death in 1982 - that's 13 years, Miss Wayne!
   
   As an avid collector of classic movies and the literature of the Golden Age of Hollywood, this book has no value to this or any other collector!



4. Jane Ellen Wayne's book "The Golden Girls of M-G-M" will not be everyone's cup of tea. The author seems to take serious advantage of the fact that most of these women are no longer around to protect their reputations, and thus this book is full of vulgar details more at home in the National Enquirer than a deceptively-stylish biography tribute book (which this purports to be). Though to be fair, Ms Wayne is somewhat sympathetic to each of the ladies she features here, but the book is riddled with typographical errors, misspelled names and wrong information. This book will probably never help Miss Wayne ascend the upper-echelon of biographers.
   
   Covering as much dirt as possible, each actress gets a chapter (Jeanette MacDonald, Norma Shearer, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Judy Garland, Ava Gardner, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor). There is also a `Naughty-But-Nice' section in the back, comprising of mini-chapters devoted to Hedy Lamarr, Katharine Hepburn, Esther Williams, Debbie Reynolds and June Allyson.
   
   There are so many wonderful biographies available on these ladies, but I'm afraid this isn't one of them.



5. While we all know that these celebrity histories relate many falacies, some shocking tid-bits are true. For instance, it has been well known that Mickey Rooney, as baby-faced and non-sexual as he may seem, was quite the ladies' man. As a 16 year old he had an affair with a much older Norma Shearer (quickly broken up by Louis B. Mayer to avoid scandal). As for Hedy Lamarr, read about the admitted bi-sexuality and orgies in her own words... "Ecstacy and Me," her autobiography, does not hide that she acutally is an arrogant nymphomaniac, and she seems to be rather quite proud of it! We all agree that there are false rumors that are attributed to these actors and actresses, but let's not forget that a lot of them brought sensationalism and scandal on their own. That is what makes their stories so fascinating, and that is why we read them.

5 comments about I'm Not the New Me.

1. I thought this book would be good--but I was very frustrated by this book. I tried on two different occasions to get into this memoir but I gave up each time. I know I won't try again that's for sure.



2. After viewing all the reader feedback, I was eargerly anticipating the arrival of this book. I'm sorry to say I purchased this one. For those of you who can tolerate frequent (not rare or even occasional) profanity in the form of "f" this etc...this book is one you can get through. This read more like a version of "Bridget Jones Diary" with occasional references to the weight loss journey. The author uses comedy to poke fun at her experiences and, I believe we can all find things to heartily laugh at in this book. But for me, comedy doesn't come in the form of crudeness, or belittling others so the one or two laughs didn't overshadow the more frequent cringes. I don't doubt some will enjoy this book. But for others, please know that if you're looking for a clean read, full of insights and exploration of a weight loss journey, this may not be one for you.



3. I thought this book was kind of cute. It has no tips on losing weight. It is just one woman's story about dealing with life in realtion to diet issues. It was not an inspiration to me but for the price. I thought it was a decent break from dealing with my own life.



4. Wendy's book is way more honest about the ups and downs of weight loss than all the "nothing tastes as good as thin feels" b.s. I've read elsewhere. I laughed all the way through this. If you're looking for a weight-loss cheerleader this isn't the book for you, but if you want to hear what the experience is like from the perspective of a sharp, witty writer, then read this book. Wendy dismantles the fantasy that weight loss suddenly transforms all of life's other worries; at the same time, she shows how her willingness to blog about her own experiences connects her to a huge community of other women. Great reading.



5. Just the Weight Watchers cards in the middle of this book almost make it worth the purchase price! They are SO FUNNY...
   
   But the rest of the book....ehh...just ok.

No comments about The Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb: An American Slave (Wisconsin Studies in Autobiography).

5 comments about The Woman Who Wouldn't Talk: Why I Refused to Testify Against the Clintons & What I Learned in Jail.

1. Of all the people who have hated Bill and/or Hillary Clinton, only one will he not shake hands with anymore. That is Kenneth Starr. This book illustrates the depths of what this man will do for political reasons, at the tax payers expense. It is despicable.



2. It is now 2007. I bought this book in Feb. 2003. Even now, if someone were to ask me who I would list among the most couragous individuals of my generation, I would place first Susan McDougal.
   
   Yes, there are many lately who have actually died, but I am impressed with Susan because she could have gotten out of it so easily and she chose the narrow path.
   
   Many people here have said that every American should read this book. I agree, but want to go one step further. This should be REQUIRED READING in every high school in America, with discussions of students/teachers about what happened and why. We don't seem to understand anymore that this Democracy/Republic we have is a fragile thing and is premised on the balance of powers-each section balancing and working together for the good of all.
   
   We don't have to agree, but WE DO HAVE TO PLAY NICE. Playing nice is exactly what DID NOT HAPPEN with the Republicans during the Clinton administration. Susan's experience should be an historic example of what can take place, even in a Democracy, when there is enough money and power at stake and the people don't use their own eyes and voices.
   
   We must all be vigiliant that one party does not get the sort of cart-blanche that the Republicans enjoyed for so long. Please people, everything we stand for is at stake.
   
   
   ... and no, I am not a Democrat.



3. Robert Fiske, the original independent counsel, found no evidence of wrongdoing by Bill or Hillary Clinton, and being a man of integrity, he so reported. The Republicans then had him replaced with Kenneth Starr, who cared little about the truth in his quest to nail the Clintons.
   
   Susan McDougal was between a rock and a very hard place. The Office of the Independent Counsel (OIC) was demanding her testimony against President Clinton, and made it clear that only testimony incriminating Bill and/or Hillary Clinton was acceptable. Because Kenneth Starr's OIC was interested only in nailing the Clintons, Susan was led to believe that she would be charged with perjury if she told the unacceptable truth that she knew of no wrongdoing by the Clintons.
   
   Faced with the choice of telling the truth and being jailed for perjury (since her lawyers were no match for the OIC's), or committing perjury to gain her own freedom, she refused to testify, and was jailed for civil contempt, and when she had been in jail for nearly 18 months (the maximum time for civil contempt) the OIC charged her with criminal contempt and obstruction of justice in retribution for her refusal to commit the perjury they wanted.
   
   The story of Susan's jail time, and her reasons for believing that the OIC intervened to make her jail conditions as cruel as possible, should be read by every American.
   
   watziznaym@gmail.com



4. This book is an autobiography of McDougal, tracing her family life, her 8-year marriage at 20 to then 35-year-old Jim McDougal, her divorce, her ongoing conflict with the Office of the Independent Council in the investigation of Whitewater, her time in jail, her trial in California for theft from Zubin and Nancy Mehta, and the brief aftermath of her court- and jail-oriented life.
   
   Whatever the reader believes McDougal's guilt to be in Whitewater, Madison Guaranty and the Mehta cases, she seems to have a bigger problem of attaching herself to people who need her, but don't care about her. Her husband, an untreated manic-depressive for his adult life, was an entrepreneur, mostly, it seems, because he couldn't keep his attention on anything long enough to settle into a long-term endeavour. He was constantly starting up businesses, real estate deals and companies, banks and financial institutions, losing interest and committing himself to something else just when it was crunch time. Leaving Susan in charge against her will, and apparently against her natural abilities, the businesses would fail due to lack of attention and follow-through. According to the book, the Clinton investment in Whitewater, was a partnership in just such an undertaking. The $300,000 small business loan she signed for from David Hale, she writes, was another example of what she usually did: she did what Jim McDougal told her to do and believed it was the right thing to do. With Nancy Mehta, she writes, she again attached herself to someone needy and mercurial, and who would, when it suited her, turn on and betray the author out of spite and malice.
   
   The book traces the Whitewater investigation in some detail and Jim McDougal's part in the issues at hand, and I am not going to do that here. Where this book resonates is in how she seemed to be maliciously prosecuted by Starr and the OIC. They insisted that she offer them information on the Clintons, and if she did, they would give her "blanket immunity," which included the Mehta charges in California. Though she considered giving them what they wanted to hear, others had and had been paid "walking around money," etc., and had many of their crimes forgiven, a friend told her, "Susan, if you do this, you will be lying for the rest of your life." And that's why she went to jail for civil contempt for 18 months and then withstood a trial on criminal contempt after the impeachment trial of Clinton was over.
   
   The interesting thing about this book was highlighted to me when I told a friend about what I was reading, and he said, "Why would she testify against her friends?" People seem to have an idea that she was staunchly protecting the Clintons, who were her close friends, but that is not the case, according to her book. She knew them through Jim McDougal, who'd been an Arkansas political operative, but she was not close to either Bill or Hillary. She does not maintain contact with them after her marriage, and, frankly, never got along that well with Hillary, whom she found to be withdrawn and perhaps cold at times. She heard about her presidential pardon for the Whitewater guilty verdicts on television. She refused to testify, not to help them but because she felt it would be wrong for her to lie to the OIC to save herself, because she didn't know anything that the Clintons had done wrong, and because she had seen what the OIC did to people who didn't testify in the way that they wanted (perjury charges, etc.).
   
   The time that McDougal spent in jail is well detailed and focuses on the women in jail and their sad situations. She found most of the women to have come from violent and sexually abusive situations, where they had left home or been taken from their homes and had become a kind of detritus of humanity. She writes movingly of the sad case of an Arkansas woman who was convicted of killing her children and was executed, presenting a human and loving picture of the mother, that reminded me of Sister Helen Prejean's Dead Man Walking.
   
   This is all an underlying theme to McDougal's book, her religious beliefs based on love and charity, rather than heavy "justice" and judgment. The religious hypocrisy of the OIC attorneys and associates sickens her, as they make "the walkin' around folks'" lives miserable and then speak in press interviews about how they pray whilst jogging, etc. Whatever you think of McDougal, that she was a serial grifter, that she hooked on too hard to people who weren't worthy of trust and was manipulated, that she is "spinning" her own part in all these issues, a lively and compelling portrait of a woman who cares for "the least among us" surfaces in this book in an amazing way.
   
   Because I live in Arkansas, I found the book to be loaded with "local color" and information. I recommend it.



5. I was disposed to like Whitewater figure and Kenneth Starr nemesis Susan McDougal before I ever read her book and have long felt that a justice system which rewards those who tell prosecutors what they want to hear (immunity, plea bargaining) and penalizes those who insist on their innocence or their right to a jury trial, is flawed. So I'm not exactly unbiased. But who is?
   
   The first part of McDougal's emotionally engaging narrative covers childhood, then marriage to real estate developer and founder of the ill-fated Madison Guaranty S&L, Jim McDougal. The Marriage and various businesses failed and she embarked on a romance with Madison Guaranty employee then lawyer, Pat Harris, and a claustrophobic employee/friend relationship with Nancy Mehta.
   
   Outgoing and shy, loud and retiring, depending on the company, McDougal does not come across as the sort of person to go to jail rather than answer questions. One minute her life is going along willy nilly, from one controlling, needy, demanding personality to another, when wham! Suddenly neurotic, vesuvial Mehta is charging her with grand larceny and the Office of the Independent Counsel is offering dire threats and deliverance from all - including the Mehta charges, which hardly seems within their purview. Friendly and likable, McDougal seems primarily characterized by her optimistic naivety. She even looks forward to her first session with the OIC: "I felt that there were a lot of false statements and ridiculous rumors, particularly about Madison, that I could help clear up."
   
   But her get-out-of-jail-free card comes with a catch - testimony against the Clintons. McDougal does a fine job of describing her flabbergasted outrage and her dawning awareness of the trap closing around her. Aghast after the first Whitewater trial when she was convicted of things "I was not even aware had happened until ten years later," McDougal begins to fear the OIC will stop at nothing to get Clinton. It was not bravery, she says again, that made her clam up, but the certainty that Starr would indict her for perjury if she insisted on the truth - she didn't know anything bad about the Clintons. She knew she might go to jail for contempt, but she never dreamed it would be for the full 18 months allowable by law.
   
   The second half - prison - is riveting, horrifying and inspiring. Her first jail was easy, comparatively. The food was lousy, but she made friends. The worst hardship was lack of reading material - the only book inmates were allowed was the Bible. But no sooner does she say on the phone, " `I could do the whole eighteen months here,' " than she's whisked off to a mental ward in a federal facility and from there to lockdown (23 hours a day solitary confinement) on "Murderer's Row". There were seven prisons in all, but however bad things got (sadistic guards, overflowing toilets, body cavity searches, sensory deprivation) McDougal always found some interest to sustain her - usually one or more of the inmates who, needless to say, all had lives immeasurably worse than hers.
   
   On her release, the OIC filed criminal contempt and obstruction of justice charges against her and she still had the Mehta charges to face. Triumphing against both, McDougal spares an ounce of sympathy for Nancy Mehta, but her flush of victory against Starr and the OIC is unadulterated glee and great fun to read. In the end, McDougal says jail was good for her. She still hates the people who put her there and believes they were behind many of the special humiliations and privations she endured, but "there's no doubt in my mind that I'm a far better person than I was before."
   
   Spiked with emotional peaks and valleys, McDougal's memoir is compulsively readable - and believable.

5 comments about Why the Best Man for the Job Is A Woman: The Unique Female Qualities of Leadership.

1. Why women should buy this book? Are they really in need for this kind of "confidence boost" or we already know that women can compete head-to-head with men?

   My advice is simple: If you need this book, then you should look for a career where you don't need to compete with anyone, neither man or woman.




2. This is a wonderful book that should bolster the confidence of all the women who read it. But I would add one very important item: women show far too much humility about their talents and skills. If we want people to value our skills, we must first show that we value ourselves - by making sure our accomplishments are visible to targeted audiences. If we want people to hire us, buy from us, and invest in our companies, they have to know who we are, what we have accomplished and why they should do business with us! Self-promotion is not bragging. It is a valuable business tool that careerwomen must add to their strategies for success.



3. Save your money! The authors hopelessly biased style and language is a big turn-off. Any useful information is obscured by the overly general "truths" about the innate supperiority of women to men. I found this book to be a BIG dissapointment. There are much better books out there that offer similar substance with a more positive and believable tone. Get one of them!



4. Esther Wachs brings something to the table with this one. Writing in a style that's both lucid and engaging, she unpacks the mysteries of how the feminine mystique is shaping the digital age. Useful, check that please, ESSENTIAL reading for men too!



5. This fresh look at women professionals is both entertaining and informative. An excellent reporter and writer, Esther Wachs Book provides in-depth profiles of women CEOs and business leaders (many of whom rarely speak to the press) as she shows how traditionally "female" qualities are assets in today's business climate. A fast, fascinating read!

1 comments about Women of the Bible: 52 Stories for Prayer and Reflection.

1. I have been going to Bible Study for a lot of years, and I am finding that I absolutely LOVE the stories in this book. We read the story, and then the corresponding message from the bible. Then we discuss the story and it is so informative! I love this book!

3 comments about East Toward Dawn: A Woman's Solo Journey Around the World (Adventura Books).

1. I bought the book after hearing an excerpt on public radio program Sound and Spirit. I was drawn to buy it because the experience of the author in the loss of her son. I had recently had a loss of a grandson due to suicide and was interested in reading more. I found the author had an interesting story but I really didn't glean anything more profound than what had been quoted. I gave it 4 stars because it was still well written. It just didn't really give anything to me.



2. When I saw the title and description of the book I jumped at it because I turned 60 this year and have yearned to do something special to mark the passage. When I saw that she had bought an around the world airline ticket good for a year, I expected a nomadic sort of ramble to strange countries and adventures. I was disappointed to realize that this trip was relatively short and had a set itinerary. Even though she went to exotic places, she had been to some of them before, and she had friends or acquaintances in all of them who put her up and took her around. A nice middle class academic on vacation. Her introspective moments were sometimes moving, but I tended to skip over the poetry quoting and philosophizing. This isn't really a bad read. I guess I was expecting something more exciting and insightful.



3. I found this a fascinating book on two levels. The journey around the world visiting and sometimes traveling with friends was an absorbing story in itself. But the inner journey-the "solo" journey- was a moving and uplifting experience. Everyone has those special birthdays-30, 40, and in the author's case, 60, when one tends to take stock of one's life. The trip was a chance to both see a part of the world we rarely get to see as well as to look back with the author at the process of becoming the person who is taking this trip. I believe a great many people will enjoy taking these journies with Ms Watkins.

2 comments about At Eighty-Two: A Journal.

1. Sarton's last several journals are, in my opinion, not worth the money. That she attempted to continue writing when she had to dictate her thoughts put much too much of a strain upon her, I feel. Sarton was a competent, sometimes excellent, writer in her earlier years, but these final few journals are more painful to read than illuminating. House By the Sea began the decline of quality of her journals, it seemed to me, perhaps due to my frustration with Sarton's apparent inability to comprehend how dangerous allowing Judy Matlack, her longtime lover and companion, to wander about unsupervised was when it was clear to any reasonably perceptive reader that Matlack was so senile that she needed near-constant supervision. Sarton, however, clearly alternated between concern for Matlack and frustration with her that arose from denial of the seriousness of Matlack's condition. In the end, it was quite sad to witness such clear evidence of Sarton's inability to consider realistically the needs of others, which ultimately foreshadowed her eventual inability to stop trying to write when doing so was clearly beyond her sadly diminished capabilities.
   
   The succeeding journals, chronicling Sarton's gradual deterioration and accompanying fury and frustration at her decline, are wrenching and not particularly enlightening unless witnessing a once-effective writer's diminishment intrigues you for some perverse reason.
   
   Stick with Sarton's earlier works, Plant Dreaming Deep or Journal Of a Solitude.



2. At Eighty-Two is an incredible though painful final journal from Sarton. If you are reading Sarton for the first time, read Journal of a Solitude or (my favorite) Recovering first, and then turn to this one. Sarton deals in this journal primarily with the diminishment of old age. Being quite ill at the time, she occassionally comes accross quite bitter, but perhaps this is what makes this journal so poignant and so important for a society that either forgets about or romantizes old age.