5 comments about 1185 Park Avenue: A Memoir.

1. Beneath the glamour of New York's Upper East Side in the mid-twentieth century lies a world filled with psychoanalysts, infidelity and lack of affection within families. Anne Roiphe poignantly tells her memoir in 1185 Park Avenue. Young Anne is the granddaughter of the Jewish immigrant who created the Van Heusen shirt company, who grows up on the privileged Park Avenue, her life filled with her mother's bridge games, her brother's asthma, two unloving parents and a nanny named Greta.
   
   Raised mainly by the nanny, Anne and her brother shared a bathroom yet were never close. Johnny, the terminally allergic and more serious sibling, often pushed Anne away, frequently expressing his resentment at her existence. Anne turns to each of her parents individually for love and acknowledgement but is consistently shut out. Her mother spends her days laying in bed or playing canasta with her Park Avenue confidants, while her father practically lives at the club, taking up company with various women.
   
   As Anne grows up and begins to experience life on her own, away from Park Avenue, she resents her former lifestyle and longs to live in a loft in Brooklyn. Throughout her life, she continues to cling desperately to men who cheat on her, men who steal her mother's money and emotionally abusive men, in her desperate attempt at love.
   
   A recurring theme of this memoir is Anne's desire to feel affection and her desire for true love. Despite never feeling these emotions from anyone close to her, Anne continues to speak affectionately of her mother, hugging her father when he shoved her away and laughing at her brother's jokes as he constantly insulted her. She is almost delusional in her perception on relationships, leading the reader to sympathize with her pitiful existence.
   
   The characters in Anne's family became well-developed, though quite unlikable, including her father, mother and brother, Johnny. However, her extended family played an important role in hers and her family's lives, but their characters were only described briefly. This could be indicative of her attitude towards her extended family; they were involved in her life solely because they were family, but she was completely apathetic to their existence.
   
   Overall, Anne Roiphe's memoir was insightful into the upper class life of Manhattan, but her lack of any meaningful relationships was disconcerting and leaves readers wanting more, wanting her to finally be loved. The memoir was engaging, grabbing hold of the readers' emotions, dragging them into the other side of the nation's upper crust.



2. Anne Roiphe wrote a brillant memoir that I can't stop thinking about, and a very interesting psychological portrait of her very disturbed family and odd upbringing.



3. I don't understand the negative reviews posted about this book. Granted, the author's style is a bit overblown at times, but the story and aspecially the characters were fascinating and honestly portrayed. The author has a wonderful eye for detail and captured a lot of the sense of assimilated Jewry with which I am familiar. This book deserves to be read, and I will be passing my copy around to my extended family.



4. I noticed this book on a friend's bookshelf in his 1185 Park Avenue apartment. Interested in the the building, its neighborhood, and its original milieu, I began to read. To my dismay, I found that Roiphe's book is primarily a recounting of a series of embarrassing and painful episodes from the author's privileged past: foolish and unlikable people hurting themselves and each other, again and again. Except perhaps as catharsis for the author, the point of the exercise is unclear: there are no insights to be found here.



5. As with all of Anne Roiphe's books, 1185 PARK AVENUE is powerfully written. The title refers to the address of the apartment building in which she was raised.

   Still, as beautiful as her prose is to read, this is a difficult book. Her family was not a happy one, to say the least. And her personal history will not be of universal interest, appealing mostly to people of similar Jewish ancestry.

   Yet there is no question but, that on a broader basis, 1185 PARK AVENUE offers a singular examination of a particular population. Inescapably, Roiphe had a sad childhood.

5 comments about The Burning of Bridget Cleary: A True Story.

1. A 113 year old murder mystery equal to the tale of Lizzy Borden and almost every bit as violent as the actions of "Jack the Ripper." The Burning of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke becomes a contemporary 19th century postscript of the "Salem Witch Trials."
   
   Unlike those cases of notoriety, the main suspects in this case were ..."Irish Fairies!" Irish Fairies that is, with the assistance of poor Bridget Cleary's husband (and several family members).
   
   In 1895, Michael Cleary beat, and then set his wife, Bridget on fire in their "salubrious Irish cottage." Michael took it upon himself to "exorcise" the Fairies from her with a good dose of cleansing fire and just for good measure, added an accelerant of paraffin oil from a near by lamp. Surely the Fairies vacated the premisis after that but, unfortunately ... so did the life of Bridget.
   
   Superstition, premeditated murder or, lustfull kiling...you be the judge.
   
   The reality of a hangman's noose ironically over shadowed the world of demonic fairies and Michael Cleary (and family members) withdrew their plea of "Not Guilty" and opted to plead to the charge of "Manslaughter"( at least, the suffix portion of that word describes the real act).
   
   For that plea, Michael Cleary received 5 years and was subsequnetly released early for "Good Behavior."
   
   Angela Bourke did a superb job of introducing the reader to the cultural aspects of Irish lore, and superstition (especially in Chapter 2). She weaves this world of Fairies and Celtic superstions throughout the book and it's tragic story. However, much of her information seemed out of order and tended to bogg down the flow of the case story that she was trying to portray. It was as though, the book became a mixture of college text, and historical biography. Despite the interesting information put forth by the author, the book is not necessarily a smooth read. Had Ms. Bourke utilized a different style of writing, the story would have been much more exciting to follow.
   
   If, you are a student of turn of the century murder cases, or a collector of Celtic lore, then this book would be a good one to have at least, for reference material.



2. Just in time for Halloween, I finished reading The Burning of Bridget Cleary. The book is a very good narrative and analysis of the mysterious death of 26-year-old Bridget Cleary on March 15, 1895 in Ballyvadlea, Ireland. Apparently Bridget was believed by her family to have been taken away by "the fairies" and a sickly changeling left in her place. In the course of trying to determine if the Bridget in his house was really his wife, her husband Michael exploded into a rage and Bridget either caught fire or was intentionally ignited. Author Angela Bourke expertly places us in the politics and culture of the time, helping us to understand what might have caused seemingly rational people to behave in a way that is nearly inexplainable. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in history, folklore, true crime, the supernatural, or sociology.



3. You would hardly believe that this is not a novel. The story is gripping and the author's telling of it is masterful. Bourke not only relates the facts of the case, she evokes the spirit of the age. What is more, she skillfully portrays how folk beliefs and superstitions are intimately intertwined with power and the status quo. In a quasi-religious kind of way, the folk beliefs of the community in the novel form the basis of control. In our 21st century world, driven by empirical evidence, the rule of rational law is paramount. In the absence of such laws, folk beliefs functioned to shape society and were used to legitimise the punishment of those who stepped outside the bounds of the status quo. This book is truly fascinating and a must-read for anyone interested in human belief systems and the way they shape society. On top of what we can learn from it, it is also just a truly wonderful story, horrific, poignant and altogether human.



4. THE BURNING OF BRIDGET CLEARY catches the eye immediately with its eerie (hardcover) illustration of a ghostly woman floating in midair superimposed over a man's stern, shadowy face. Lovers of all things Irish will find this horrifying true story of the life and death of Bridget Cleary of County Tipperary particularly disturbing, set as it is in the bucolic Irish countryside of the late 19th Century.
   
   Visitors to Ireland will be aware of what author Angela Bourke calls "townlands." An inexact term, it describes rural places that are not on any map. Certainly not towns, nor even villages or hamlets, these places consist of a few adjacent farmsteads and perhaps a freestanding house or two, set off from other such places by fields, and perhaps by a large boulder carved with the name of the place. Populated by only a few families, who living cheek-by-jowl for hundreds of years are interlinked but independent, such places exist "there but not there," a reality which has informed the Irish mind and character for generations.
   
   Ms. Bourke, a lecturer in Irish history, uses the death of Bridget Cleary as a paradigm for cultural change and disruption. Bridget Cleary died in 1895 because the "modern" Social Darwinist linearly organized, scientific, English-speaking and aggressively concrete universe of the late Victorian era butted heads with the "traditional" non-linear, symbological Gaelic-speaking world it was supplanting.
   
   At first glance, Bridget and Michael Cleary would seem to have been thoroughly "modern." Both Michael and Bridget were educated and literate. She was a trained dressmaker who owned her own Singer machine. He was a tradesman, a cooper, who worked in a large commercial brewery. For their time and place they were affluent. They lived in the newest and most modern house in Ballyvadlea, a place in the south riding of County Tipperary.
   
   There were a few disquieting elements in their lives. They were childless after six years of marriage, the focus of much stigma in staunchly Catholic Ireland at the time. They were close friends with William Simpson, the despised local "Emergencyman" or landlord's agent, a Protestant. Ballyvadlea, though only a few miles from the modernized town of Fethard, still had a percentage of primarily Irish-speaking inhabitants amongst its small population.
   
   Bridget was contemporaneously described as "very pretty" (the local collective memory nowadays describes her as "sexy"), and stylish (she made her own fashionable clothes and wore gold earrings). She was also described as "stubborn" and "headstrong," probably a difficult and somewhat vain young woman. These traits could not have endeared her to the people of Ballyvadlea, mostly her rustic relatives, among whom she had grown up. There were also backbiting whispers that the attractive, engaging Bridget might have been having an affair with the handsome, dandified William Simpson, a rumor which, even if untrue, would have caused outrage in their spouses, both of whom were older.
   
   In March 1895, Bridget caught a cold which soon developed into a serious respiratory infection. The odds are that today's modern medicine would have stopped the illness in it's tracks. Antibiotics not having been discovered, the Clearys were forced to rely on an assortment of patent medicines, and sought the aid of the local Health Service Doctor, a notorious drunk, who did not come when called.
   
   In the interim, the untreated Bridget became more and more "demanding" and "excitable." This is understandable, considering that any minor illness could become a life-threatening condition very easily in that time and place. Bridget was no doubt frightened at the possibility that she might die. Unfortunately, Michael Cleary's father passed away suddenly at this point, adding to the overall level of tension in the house.
   
   The five days the doctor stayed away allowed Bridget's illness to run rampant. Finally arriving, he prescribed some medication and went on his way. When Bridget did not improve, Michael revisited the doctor, a confrontation which ended in a shouting match. Disgusted, Michael chose to visit the local "quack doctor" (traditional herbalists were so called because of their association with farmyards). When the quack visited Bridget, whom he knew well, he reacted to her appearance and behavior by saying, "That's not Bridgie!" a comment which soon convinced the locals that the woman in the sickbed was not Michael Cleary's wife but a fairy changeling.
   
   Bridget Cleary's "treatment" then degenerated into a kind of exorcism, which involved forcing her to ingest various foul decoctions of herbs, dousing her with unspeakable liquids, subjecting her to ongoing verbal and physical abuse, the drawing and twisting of her body, and the infliction of pain by various methods in order to drive away the changeling. In the end, her husband immolated her.
   
   The contemporary press leaped on the lurid tale of "The Tipperary Witch Burning" with as much interest as the story would excite today on any media network. Bridget's death made headlines throughout the world. Ms. Bourke argues convincingly that the horrified reaction of the Great British public to the "primitive" mentality demonstrated by Michael Cleary (and by extension in the British mind, all the Irish) was a major element in defeating the Ireland Home Rule bill then before Parliament.
   
   Bourke is also convincing in demonstrating that the burning of Bridget Cleary had more than just political ramifications. It was a pyrrhic victory of the timeless and magical world of ancient Irish traditions over the regimented modern world of the emerging twentienth century. It was specifically a patriarchial act: The men of that traditional world acted to punish a young woman who had stepped beyond the invisible but very real bounds that constrained females in their culture. It is telling that the people of Ballyvadlea let the British authorities themselves bury Bridget, a lifelong neighbor and relation.
   
   Now remembered mostly in a Tipperary children's rhyme, THE BURNING OF BRIDGET CLEARY is a fascinating look at a world in the midst of transition.



5. This should have been a compelling story. Instead the reader has to piece the details of the crime together as the author goes off on endless tangents. These tangents are supposed to illustrate historical and folklorical Ireland. The crime surely could have been a very fascinating read if it weren't for the abundance of nonsense that overhwelms it. Some of the history and folklore is certainly relevant but there is much too much. I found myself skipping through stories of Oscar Wilde (?!) just to get to the next portion of the murder tale. This book is unclear and verbose at the same time. A decent true crime writer could very easily have made this incredible story into a readable account..even while including history.

5 comments about Breaking Clean.

1. Judy Blunt blew me away with this wonderful memoir. Details so crisp and clean, almost too stark. She reminds me of Annie Dillard in her ability to look at nature dispassionately while allowing the reader to absorb the sometimes horrifying details that challenge you emotionally. She also looks at her own life in that same dispassionate manner, giving the reader the same kind of space to make emotional connections. I love this book so much I talk about it when I teach memoir writing. It deserves more attention than it's getting.



2. Amazingly raw biography of a life about which most US citizens have no understanding. Eloquent breathtaking descriptive writing.



3. 
   Judy Blunt's Breaking Clean is a clear, concise picture we get from her life in northeastern Montana, a small town called Malta. She provides great detail with vivid memories and she uses the memories of others to connect with readers. The book was awarded thePen/Jeraud Fund Award for work in progress and the 2001 Whiting Writers' Award.
   
   She begins with her home, and engages the reader into a trip down memory lane. And if you have never read or experienced what a Montana blizzard is like, you will gain tremendous insight into one, the Blizzard of 1964, and its massive impact on the ranch and livestock. Blunt goes into enough detail and information that keeps the reader fully informed without asking more questions. A chapter on fighting fire was another of nature's forces she experienced.
   
   We learn about the school in a small town, horses, pets, teenage lifestyle, to marriage and harvesting and divorce. The sequence of stories is told well.
   
   This is an insightful memoir, descriptive, and emotional....MzRizz



4. eloquent...evocative writing.With the mid-20th century as the setting Blunt brings her land, her emotions, her experiences alive with an honesty that is at once brutal and tender. This is an all absorbing story of self awareness and liberation; I read the book through twice without stopping.



5. WOW. What a woman. I was especially curious to read this book since Jeff and his family are from Montana, and lived in Missoula for quite some time. It is too bad life still isn't like that in a sense. Seems more things have gotten in the way and it is falling apart. Kids don't know the meaning of "going to play".
   
   I applaud her for not sticking with the marriage. The in-laws were a bit much. Knowing the land would never be her's was a bit much.
   
   Good read but not one to be taken lightly and def not a beach read.

5 comments about Trust No One: The Glamorous Life and Bizarre Death of Doris Duke.

1. Please don't buy this book. Its a rehash of info already covered in the mansfield and pony duke bios. Also the concluding chapters are just brutal as this clumsy author attempts to speculate on the motives of the motley crew surrounding doris at the end. An unconvincing, tacky, insensitive book that gives us no insight into the complex woman doris duke was.



2. It was very informative and much different than any movies I've seen on her life. I really enjoyed it.



3. The only reason I gave this one a '2' was that it's a very interesting look into Doris Duke's life with alot of insider perspective(one of the co-writers was her chef). However, this book looks entirely unedited and had atrocious spelling, grammer, mistakes ALL OVER and it was unacceptable.
   
   BIGGEST EXAMPLE: The author's name is spelled differently on the front cover and side binding. Was there ANYONE proofreading this book?
   
   Doris' was constantly spelled Doris'ss or Doris's and words didn't have spaces in between them.



4. I did not find the book particularly written well. It does not keep your interest going. There are no photos. But even more than this, is the subject matter--Doris Duke. I find her to be a very bad example of a human being. Who cares who much money she gave out. She was self absorbed and has made no significant contribution to this world.



5. After touring Doris Duke's summer home in Newport, RI, I became increasing intrigued with Ms. Duke. So I sought a book about her life and I came across Trust No One. At first, I felt the initial chapters were plodding and dry, but I realized after reading a few chapters this foundation was needed to understand the woman Doris Duke became. The first chapters did a thorough background on Doris' father and mother, Buck and Nanaline Duke. Doris' father was the love of her life and he taught her how to become an astute business woman before he died when she was 13 years old. Doris Duke was a very complex woman. She was a philanthropist, and a very saavy businesswoman who multiplied her fortune by billions. She was also an avid art collector, a self-taught botanist and, last but not least, a fine jazz musician. Doris was also very flawed: she was an alcoholic; a drug abuser; and, was anorexic. All of this is explained in great detail in the book. It was factual, but yet there was a human side to the story, and I found it to be a great read. In the end, money cannot buy happiness or love - not even for Doris Duke. (Written by Kathee Duncan)

5 comments about The First Elizabeth.

1. Erickson gets one star for a lively and readable writing style. She's great at engaging the reader.
   
   I'd give her zero for accurate substance.
   
   If you examine her body of work, you find that she's a Mary Tudor apologist and that bias informs every line of this "biography" of Elizabeth as she revels in gossip and ignores accomplishments.
   
   Erickson should stick to novels, because that's what she's writing here. She misrepresents facts and her editorial slant colours every line. Nearly any other biography would give you a better idea of what really went on.



2. Carolly Erickson has done her homework on the Tudors of England and in her 1984 biography of Queen Elizabeth (1533-1603)
   does a fine biographical profile.
   Elizabeth's mother Anne Boleyn died at the stake failing to produce a male heir for the cruel HENRY VIII. Her only chld was Elizabeth who ruled Britain from 1558 to her death in 1603.
   Elizabeth had a difficult and dangerous life dealing with such
   enemies as:
   1. The might of Spain and France.
   2. Various Catholic groups wanting to assasinate the Protestant leaning queen.
   3. Personal enemies include her half-sister Queen Bloody Mary
   who at times had Elizabeth imprisoned in the tower. She burned
   Protestants at the stake in her short reign from 1546-1553 following the death of her half-brother Edward VI (son of Henry and Jane Seymour). Another enemy was Mary Queen of Scots who Elizabeth had executed in 1587.
   4. Elizabeth was very intelligent, crafty and skilled in survival in a dangerous time of civil war, various rebellions and complicated international political and religious warfare.
   Erickson is good at writing Elizabeth's story focusing on her many love affairs most notably with the Earl of Leicester.
   Elizabeth's reign is well told in this biography which is a good place for a burgeoning interest in Tudor History to bloom.
   The book is one of the finest I have read on Elizabeth. I can
   recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good story well told about one of the great female rulers in history!



3. I tend to read mostly fiction, but for some reason earlier this year I decided to foray into biographies. This book gives you a peek into Elizabethan life, gives you insight into Elizabeth I's personality, and you learn quite a lot of history, scandals, and rumours-of-the-day along the way.

   This book reads more like a biographical novel than a pure biography, which, considering the subject matter is about 500-years old, probably means some license was taken with dialogue, etc., however, I think the style makes the subject infinitely more memorable.




4. The major difference in "The First Elizabeth" by Carolly Erickson and "The Life of Elizabeth I" by Alison Weir is stylistic. Both women are thoroughly versed in the life of their royal subject, and obviously enthusiastic about her as well.

   Erickson's style, however, leans more toward novelistic narrative. She seems to be sitting with you, telling you a story about this great monarch with her infamous "virgin" status, her political adeptness, her fearsome temper, her penchant for swearing oaths that made one's blood freeze, and her ability to command deep love and adoration from her subjects.

   This style is especially appealing for those for whom this biography is their first foray into Tudor biography. It introduces the major players in the queen's life thoroughly so that one is well acquainted with Robert Dudley, Cecil and Walsingham, as well as Mary I and the many other colorful characters that populated the Queen's life. You also get a real feel for the terror and uncertainty of Elizabeth's youth, when she lived in fear of death at the hands of her unstable, Catholic sister.

   Erickson adroitly paints a stunning (and sometimes shocking) picture of life at court - and what a life it must have been. Living at the various castles Elizabeth moved between (they changed castles regularly so that the one previously used could be cleaned and "aired out") was far from our 21st century idea of luxury, and when you read about the trials and travails inherent in the Queen's annual "progresses", you'll never gripe about rush-hour traffic again!

   Again, I would recommend this to anyone starting out to read about Elizabeth I, and to the reader already familiar with the life of the greatest queen of England. Those of the latter group might find that the author falls in love a bit too much with her subject (and who wouldn't, as this lady is one of the most fascinating people in history). In some places towards the end the flow of the narrative (going from event to event) isn't quite as seamless as it could be (you feel as though you are jumping from one to the other without a lead-in sentence/paragraph) but never mind that. Erickson does a marvelous job of painting a portrait of the life and times of Elizabeth and it's a most pleasurable learning experience and enjoyable read.

   After finishing "Elizabeth I", the reader would do well to continue on with Weir's biography mentioned above. I started with Weir and am now committed to reading Erickson's extensive series on the Tudors, including "Great Harry", "Mistress Anne", etc.




5. A great book about a Queen whose story reads more like "The Godfather" than you'd guess.

   Elizabeth I, thrust onto the throne while her country was still in the midst of it's centuries-long emergence from Roman rule, turned England into Great Britain through a heady mixture of guile, guts, and British steel(How's that for rhetoric?).

   It's a great book, as are most of Erickson's titles.

5 comments about Aman: The Story of a Somali Girl.

1. I love the book one of my favorites but it took quite a while to get there. Other than that, I am pleased.



2. If you are looking for well written literature, this is not you.
   It has some interesting cultural observations, but it is important not to generalise that the cultural practices described in this book are true of all Somali women.
   I have known, and been friends with, a number of Somali women who have not experienced the horrific practices described in this book.



3. Aman takes you through all the good and bad traditions of her country! If you like to travel to Somalia but you can never make it, read this book!



4. I began reading this book for a research project and became enraptured. It will transport you to the time and place Aman speaks of. Not only did i fall in love with her story and the charaters in the story, but two years later, many of the historical facts and truths of somalia have really stuck with me. Poignant and at times painful, this book is unforgatable and enlightening.



5. I thought this book was very unrealistic and insulting,for one thing the girl's name is spelt wrong.i had trouble finishing off the book because it was so boring overall I thought this book was a waste of paper.

5 comments about Soiled Doves: Prostitution in the Early West (Women of the West).

1. While I was on a tour with a busload of history teachers, I found this gem in a State Historical Site bookstore. It made what would be an otherwise long and tedious bus trip, a joy! It was an easy read, yet very scholarly and unbiased view into a slice of life we hadn't known much about. So many of the teachers were interested in the bits and pieces that I was telling them about the book, that our professors had me get up and give an impromptu report on the bus' microphone. This book became the "Talk of the 10 day tour". I have since purchased 4 other of Anne Seagraves' books. They are fascinating, BUT "Soiled Doves" has still been our favorite!



2. I LOVE social history, and Anne Seagraves delivers. I have gone on to order most of her other books and they are just fun little reads. The author gives you a glimpse into the daily lives of facinating woman history has forgotten. It's fun to see that life wasn't all it seemed back in the old west, in fact it was pretty full of drama and excitement for most of these unusual women. I cannot recommend these books enough!



3. I just finished reading this book and found it quite captivating. If you want a Reader's Digest version of a Soiled Dove's environment, this will interest you. In my travels, I have had the opportunity to speak with a number of "Soiled Doves" and discussed the business aspect of prostitution.
   
   Work for yourself and you are an independent contractor.
   
   Work for a pimp or a Madame...and let them be your Business Manager.
   
   If the doves learned a skill, they could bump up their prices.
   
   One dove mentioned in this book did not want to lease office space (for lack of a better phrase) and provided remote services in the open. She knew how to reduce her overhead costs.
   
   No pun intended.
   
   Aside from it being an unorthodox business, these women knew the fundamentals of economics -supply and demand.
   
   The author made mention to various Madams in this book and I found it intriguing, but not surprising, that many of them paid-off officials to keep their business in operation. These women were survivors in an era when the rights of women were limited at best.
   
   These women provide an interesting twist to the phrase "by any means necessary."



4. Soiled Doves is an uncommon view of the early American West. Author Anne Seagraves tastefully lifts the veil on prostitution -which is neither glamorized nor portrayed in such a manner so as to make Soiled Doves unreadable.
   
   Seagraves recounts the stories of real "working girls" - some personalities are recognizable, others are not familiar - all are interesting and yet sad. The short stories cast light on the various classes of the "trade", their impact on the economy and culture of the West.
   
   Soiled Doves includes lots of pictures, which add personality to the text.
   
   Although the subject matter is handled carefully, the book is likely not appropriate for all readers. I would rate the book a heavy PG-13 or light R.
   
   My only criticism of the book is that Seagraves tends to let absolutes creep into her writing, using "all" and "every" instead of "most" and "generally". This is a minor annoyance. A few reviewers are critical of the sophistication of the writing -I am not. The book is a compilation of short stories - it is not a dissertation. Author Seagraves does include a bibliography and a list of journals, magazines and dissertations for the reader who wishes to read more about the subject.
   
   Four stars.



5. The author's list of acknowledgements fills a page at the opening of this historical account of prostitution in the early West. She has clearly done her research. And her book is a window into a subject often alluded to in the literature of the frontier but seldom if ever revealed in any depth.

   The West was a man's world where, according to Seagrave, men often outnumbered women 50 to 1. Employment opportunities being few for uneducated young women, a great many found their way to the brothels in the red light districts of cities, cow towns and mining camps. The author describes these establishments from the most genteel down to the most squalid. She also characterizes the role of the madam, an entrepreneur whose business contributed to the local economy while being at the same time illegal and an object of outrage among the community's socially respectable.

   Much of the book is devoted to profiles of individual madams, often known for their sharp business sense and their generosity, while contributing freely to local charitable organizations. The book includes many period photographs, including studio portraits of well established madams and the women who worked for them. One chapter is devoted to the special plight of Chinese prostitutes who lived under conditions of slavery in Western states into the early 20th century.

   While the book is informative, a reader may sometimes question its accuracy as history. Myth and legend have a way of mingling with documented fact, and while all of this is interesting, the author isn't scrupulous about distinguishing between them. Because the book tends to dramatize the lives of the women it discusses, a reader looking for an analysis of prostitution in the larger picture of Western social history will probably find a lot of questions unanswered. Still, the book opens up a subject that is too seldom regarded with the historical interest it deserves.

5 comments about Sisterhood of Faith: 365 Life-Changing Stories about Women Who Made a Difference.

1. Shirley Brosius has written a beautiful and important book that I would highly receommend for every woman (and even man!). SISTERHOOD OF FAITH provides a stunning array of strong Christian women (365 in all) who have powerfully influenced the world for the better. From Abigail Adams to Catherine Marshall and more, Brosius insightfully captures the essence of their different committment and courage, and she reveals their power through her words. Each woman's story also includes a helpful Biblical verse and a question for thought. My wife and I very much appreciated their stories and the way in which they inspired our own. In a society that is often rocked by demeaning culture, Brosius's book shines as an example of love, courage and risk. It is, indeed, a beautiful and inspiring work.



2. I highly reccomend this book, it shares very interesting stories about others experiences with life, very upbeat and inspiring.



3. This just a great book, and I liked the way it was delieved so fast.



4. At first glance, I thought this was just another devotional book written by the women on the cover. It surprised me that it is not a devo but a collection of inspirational short stories, written by the author, about women who have made -- some who are making -- a difference in the world. Then I discovered the alphabetical order of names, making it an easy reference to locate a woman and read about her. The enormous variety of women was a surprise; one funded a seminary, "Biddy" Chambers published her husband's sermons, one was a martyr for Christ, some were preachers, monarchs, reformers, stay-at-home moms who founded companies, others today are singers, songwriters, and evangelists, and one is our First Lady. What a surprise to discover the scores of websites and resources listed in the back. I'm pleasantly surprised with the easy-to-read format and challenging "My Response" question at the end of each short story.
   
   As a professional speaker and writer on child behavior, I recognize many of my colleagues. This book is well-written and enlightening. It's definitely a delight and a keeper!
   
   The Birth to Five Book: Confident Childrearing Right from the Start



5. I was so inspired by the pages of Sisterhood of Faith. Each page tells of women making a difference for the cause of Christ. Sometimes we look at our lives and struggle with our day to day issues. When I begin my morning reading a page from this book it helps me put my life into perspective. The women of this book took their ordinary lives and focused their efforts towards the cause of Christ. If you are a housewife that needs encouragement, a woman in ministry who is struggling with her call or someone who wants to start her day being uplifted, this is the book for you! You have got to have it!

5 comments about At Home in the Vineyard: Cultivating a Winery, an Industry, and a Life.

1. Well, except when the weather deals them an unwelcome clout....
   
   I live smack dab in the middle of wine country (California) myself, but am no vintner. And it happens I took a scouting trip to the McMinnville vicinity in Oregon last year, thinking it a prospective new home. So, when I spied the lush, green-vined cover of AT HOME IN THE VINEYARD, I was hooked and had to investigate one woman's (and her family's) experiences establishing and nurturing grapes from plant to bottle.
   
   Susan Sokol Blosser writes a chatty, wide-ranging history beginning in late 1970, when she gave birth to her first son and her then-husband Bill "closed the deal on our first piece of vineyard land." She traces the stages of the vineyard and the winery that was built later with an easy, honest style that disarms and charms. It is soon apparent that this woman is an engine of energy. During the years her three children are small, she mainly toils in the vineyard, tilling, planting, picking, spraying, fertilizing, etc. But she also finds time to join the school board and various associations. She also teaches briefly at a McMinnville college. Later, she is twice a candidate for state public office, once losing by a questionable "whisker." As the family wine business expands, so does the wine industry in Oregon. Susan and Bill do their part to uphold and promote the burgeoning reputation Oregon wine slowly acquires -- particularly its Pinot Noir which grows full-bodied in the cooler Northwest climate. In 1990, Susan takes over from Bill as president of their winery and slowly refinances and then gains full ownership of the enterprise. She changes winemakers to improve quality. She travels widely and often to see distributors and explore new markets. She modernizes the labels on their bottles and gains national attention with a blended white wine. She deals with lawsuits and legislative hurdles. She also decides to shift to organic operations and embraces sustainable agriculture. Then, in the early years of the new millennium, she decides she will focus on gradually handing over the reins of power to the son and daughter who have decided to follow their parents into the family business.
   
   While the author relates the chronology of the vineyard and winery she owns and manages, she doesn't ignore the personal side. AT HOME IN THE VINEYARD includes some cute anecdotes about farm pets, and it mentions family concerns such as her father's Alzheimer's without dwelling on them. At one point, I wondered how in the world anyone could juggle so many balls in the air -- family, business, many friendships, and political activism. Something seemed bound to tumble. Well, something did, and the author unflinchingly, and without wallowing, tackles the changes in her life after the children grew up and left the nest.
   
   For anyone who has ever considered starting up a winery, AT HOME IN THE VINEYARD illustrates the kind of commitment and fortitude such an undertaking requires. But even if you aren't planning on being the entrepreneur that all the members of the Sokol Blosser family are; if you seek stories about rural life, want to know more about the Willamette Valley, or are interested in one outspoken and undaunted woman's adventures as a corporate executive, then snag a copy of AT HOME IN THE VINEYARD and -- maybe with a glass of wine in hand -- imbibe it cover to cover.



2. Pour a glass of Evolution Wine and kick back with this entertaining memoir. If the technical aspects of starting and maintaining a business is not a favorite reading topic there is still plenty of life drama going on that is highly readable and easy to relate to. Having lived in Oregon for 22 years and seen (and tasted) the state's wine industry mature I was fascinated with finding out the inside story. If you live in Oregon you might enjoy a few "I was there" moments when the author describes the wonderful concert series in her vineyard. Ah yes...Johnny Mathis under the full moon. Wonderful memory, wonderful book.



3. I found Hargrave's autobiography pompous and dull, but Susan Sokol Blosser's account of building a life in the Dundee Hills of Oregon speaks to me on many levels--as a woman working in the wine industry, a woman working with her husband, a woman running her own business, and a mother. Susan turns her trials into triumphs and exercises a sense of humor along the way. From the Great Goose Experiment to the day her tearful son rides his bike all the way to school by himself, this is a story that will transport you into "The Life" of owning a vineyard and winery, with a judicial salting of reality and romance.



4. This book, down to the "pioneer" theme,and dustjacket synopsis, seems to owe a significant debt to Louisa Thomas Hargrave's The Vineyard, which covered similar territory at a similar time on Long Island's North Fork.



5. This is a brilliant book written by a highly intelligent and unusual woman. It is probably headed towards becoming a minor classic. Like all great books it is not easy to classify. At its most superficial it purports to be a history of the Oregon wine industry, a subject of limited interest. At another level it is a business autobiography by a woman who heads a successful Oregon winery, a subject of slightly wider appeal. Yet both levels simply form a frame to answer more eternal questions: who am I and how did I get to be who I am? At that deeper level the book may come to have a more lasting life.
   
   Emerging into adulthood in the early 1970's the author and her husband bought land in Oregon and planted grape vines which ultimately led to the Sokol-Blosser Winery. That they were in their early twenties with no business experience, no knowledge of the wine industry, and no knowledge of agricultural did not then occur to them as an insurmountable obstacle. Nearly forty years later after taking over the business from her husband, surviving the disinvestment of her brothers, droughts, rain storms, a volcanic eruption, separation from business partners, 20% interest rates, three children, a three-legged cat, recalcitrant geese, a mid-life divorce, love unexpectedly found anew, success in business and failure in politics, the author recounts with great honesty the trials and tribulations of a woman's life in the second half of the 20th century as mother, wife, and CEO.
   
   While the author ascribes the emerging success of her business mainly to determination and some luck, her intelligence and judgment shine through and provide a more convincing explanation. That no rancor invades the author's tale, despite many instances where bitterness and acrimony would be a natural response, suggests that her skill and judgment in negotiating difficult situations may have counted more heavily than simple determination. The author's seriousness is often leavened with humor. It is a book well worth reading.

5 comments about Madam Secretary: A Memoir.

1. This is a great audio that peeks candidly into the life of a very famous person. If nothing else you should listen to it to get some historical relevance to a living leader. It is provocative and glimpses into the jet setting life and yet manages to down to the details of how she manages to get a professional blow dry for her very difficult to manage hair. This audio puts a nice twist on a very powerful lady. Better than the book.



2. This is a very good bio ;read by the author which gives it some extra interest and dimension. This could have been a dry tome except for the little glimpses of Ms. Albright and her human side and how she used her humaanity to affect world policy. Further proof that " if women ruled the world..." is something to be considered. I believe that while Ms. Albright was at the helm as secretary of state , we were all a little bit safer.



3. An admireable lady with lots of guts! She has accomplished some feats that would be nearly impossible for most of us. Learn the real facts about Madam Secretary!



4. This tape provides a very good personal history of her as a person but, unfortunately, very little with respect to analysis of policies and issues when she was foreign secretary. There is very little discussion as to how and why major foreign policy decisions were made, interaction of the main players in these decisions, what goals (short and long term) were and other aspects involving foreign policy decisions and strategies. All these should have been discussed. Is this not why someone buys a book like this to begin with? It's as if the book defeats its purpose.



5. I really enjoyed this book, Madeleine Albright has a great sense of humour and this book is for everyone, who is interested in foreign affairs (and memoirs).