5 comments about Under a Wing: A Memoir.

1. Reeve Lindbergh gives a most interesting overview of her very famous parents - her father with his eccentric behavior - her mother with her focus on life through the eyes of a true poet. Her parents would be proud of her writing skills and her father would probably have given her rare praise for this particular book as well as her others. Kathleen Wyatt



2. I really have enjoyed reading Reeve's memoir of her family. She has an amazing memory and can describe details of any past situation like it just happened minutes ago. I am always amazed by people who can do that (especially since I am not one of them). I come from a famous family too and enjoyed reading this book because I have always been fascinated at hearing about someone elses recollections of the past. Reeve's family experience isnt much different than my own family's and in some cases I laugh because some of the stories she has told (i.e. burping a fountain pen) is the same as my familys. My grandfather, who's stories are much the same as Charles Lindberg's, was also raised in Minnesota (St. Paul & Hallepin) so I was delighted to hear Reeve inform the reader of her father's recollections of this same period and place.
   
   Reeve writes her book in a way which makes you feel like your her best friend. She opens her soul to you and pours out all that makes her happy and sad. Although I am confident that this book will be considered one of the best memoirs of its time, I am sure that her family will be very glad she wrote it because she has unearthed the legends of her family's past and how it made them who they are. This is truly a great book...



3. What I especially like about Reeve Lindbergh's memoir is its candid and utterly sincere tone. This is not a dusty historical treatise; it is a simple sharing of thoughts and experiences. The reader is drawn into the life of a young girl with remarkable and famous parents. We already had an idea of what it was like to live with Charles Lindbergh from the diaries of his wife, Anne Morrow. Now Reeve's book gives another view, helping to round out the picture. Along the way she presents us with snapshot images that offer glimpses into his character. Charles Lindbergh wasn't an easy man to understand; and if he is difficult for us adults to get a handle on, what was it like for his offspring? Reeve tells us in her straightforward and heartwarming manner. This book should be an essential part of any Lindbergh fan's library. I highly recommend it.
   
   Richard Salva--author of Soul Journey from Lincoln to Lindbergh [UNABRIDGED]



4. Reeve Lindbergh tells stories that we want to hear about everyday life with her famous, complicated father and her intelligent, artistic mother. Reeve's delicate, precise prose is reminiscent of her mother's style of writing. A reviewer said of Anne Lindbergh that she "combed" her life for meaning and the daughter seems tuned into that same compulsion. It helps that she writes with as much insight as did her mother. The passage that describes the hours mother and daughter spent together after the death of Reeve's child is heartbreakingly revealing of the private Anne and her anguish after the kidnapping and death of her own child. Reeve's reminiscences of flying with her father (she was not an enthusiast) and her longing for her enigmatic father are poignant. She does not avoid discussing Lindbergh's perceived anti-Semitism; she does not attempt to defend him but rather keeps her emphasis on the effect this controversy had (and has) on her connection with him. I challenge any daughter to read Reeve's account of her visit to her father's childhood home without weeping.



5. There can be no doubt that Reeve Lindbergh's memoir is the most touching book about that family that I have read. Through her eyes we go beyond the covers of other books and see what it really meant to be a Lindbergh.

   They were almost a closed society onto themselves, yet they still experienced the same joys and sorrows as the rest of us. We find the man who was depised as an isolationist to be a concerned and loving father who read to his children.

   We dine with the children at their grandmother's house and we soar above the Connecticut house on Saturdays. The famed aviator at the controls and a bored child in the rear seat.

   After reading this book I felt very attached to this famous family. Being the same age as Reeve herself, my only knowledge of the Lindbergh's was the famous flight and the kidnapping as I read in history books. Now, after this book, I feel as though I have become part of them.

   It can only be summed up in one word, wonderful.

5 comments about Trauma Junkie: Memoirs of an Emergency Flight Nurse.

1. I loved this book! As a new nurse it's always awesome to hear about other specialties in Nursing. I actually would go to bed at night and have dreams I was a flight nures! Very well written and exciting!



2. I've just finished reading Janice's book. I couldn't put it down. Her style of writing is a smooth read, and the way she described the events were described well enough for a non-medical person to follow. I appreciated the insights into her emotions as she went through the day to day activities of a flight nurse. An excellent read.



3. as an RN who's been thru trauma the way this is written is dull. i don't know who thought reading this was a good prep for skills. there's better out there.



4. Great Book. I bought the book and read in one sitting. We need more
   nurses like Janice.



5. Great book for anyone interested in flight nursing. I couldn't put it down!

5 comments about Superstud: Or How I Became a 24-Year-Old Virgin.

1. Disclaimer: I knew Paul back in the day. Sure, it was mostly just one semester at USC. We lived on the same floor of the same apartment building. We hung out a bit, and yes, Paul once accompanied me as a "third wheel" on a date. The event wasn't traumatic enough to make it into his book, thankfully! Alas, I've had no contact with the author for many a year, so this isn't a log-rolling review.
   
   Paul, Paul, Paul...Wow, this is a horrifyingly honest book. Herr Feig goes into gory details about his love life that are both captivating and unexpected. You expect a recounting of bad dates, young women who used him as a ticket to meet better-looking, hipper guys, and Paul has his moments. But, as other reviewers have mentioned, Paul's actual dating life falls right into the bell-curve. Most of us seriously "date" between one and five others during our undergraduate term in college. Paul's right there in the middle of that. But what turns this upside down is the inner workings of Paul's mind, explored in forehead-slapping detail. It is compelling, and not just because I remember little bits of his neurosis poking through during the three months we spent bits of time together. No, Paul holds nothing back. This isn't a screed about how unfair women can be to geeks. This isn't about surface faux pas that create sitcom-esque misunderstanding, ruining any chance at love. This isn't even about a quest to get laid.
   
   This is about a raging conflict in Paul's mind between the world as it is and the way he chose to perceive it for so many years.
   
   See, Paul's funny. He's got a gift. Some comedians, like Lenny Bruce and George Carlin are funny because they express your Id, your uninhibited desires. Paul's humor when I knew him was so much about anxiety, and it was so good, you could easily think that the funny comments were meant to mock the anxieties he was addressing. He once saw me hug a girl I was dating as we returned to our apartment. He was literally twitching as he went on an hilarious rant about public displays of affection and how they could be so disturbing to onlookers. But by the end, it was clear that his comments, like this book, were honest expressions of how he felt then and there. Paul's battle with the realities of sex are heartbreakingly funny and cringe-worthy. We are talking about a guy who eroticized Tampex instructions but must not have understood the line drawings because he later fails to understand the basics of female anatomy.
   
   And that is what makes this book so compelling. It is so unflinchingly honest. We all go through the trauma of trying to find love. We all think we want sex or affection or just to be alone for a while. We all think at some point that we've found something special and then discover that no matter how good it looks on paper, it just doesn't feel comfortable. It is strange and messy and humiliating and, ultimately, just part of the journey. But Paul's trip should remind us all that whatever our journey-whether better or worse than his-we have to feel comfortable in our own skin before we can feel comfortable against someone else's. And slowly, while nearly breaking his own neck, Paul lets go of his denial, his fear, and comes to terms with the imperfections of the journey to find love.
   
   He never finds love in this book, by the way. But he does find a way to share intimacy, to let himself finally enjoy to some degree the comfort of companionship.
   
   I think I can speak for many who knew him back then: it wasn't all that much easier even if you weren't having neurotic conversations with God. The ironies were just as rich. What Paul Feig does is tell the story so honestly and so completely. And most of all, he makes it very funny. Kudos.



2. This was a very entertaining and well-written book. However, by the time Paul Feig is 24 and still a virgin, it's impossible to have any sympathy for him because he had a MILLION opportunities to get laid, all throughout the book! Girls were throwing themselves at him again and again, when he was in high school, but it was HE who refused to "go all the way" - he chickened out numerous times with different girlfriends, and he comes off as a young man who was both horny all the time, and afraid of actually having sex for some reason. It's truly baffling. It can't be blamed on a lack of social skills because he's able to get steady girlfriends, over and over, but almost all of his relationships wind up falling apart because HE refuses to have sex! It seems like he deliberately sabotages his chances to do so, repeatedly. Maybe it had something to do with his strict Christian upbringing. Or - as it is hinted at in the book, but not explicitly stated - maybe he preferred masturbation to sex with a real woman. It's a strange case. But nevertheless it's a really entertaining and well-written book, very clever and witty, and full of funny stories and anecdotes from the writer's childhood.



3. Feig has done what is seemingly impossible: He has topped his first book.
   
   The relatability of Feig's experiences is again the main attraction. This book is about the "Kick Me" growing up and dealing with the problems of libido and the need for sexual satisfaction. These stories rang true, because Feig's experiences are shared ones that a lot of young adult males have. This book is about him having sex, but like most guys, he wants it to be right when it happens. For example, we have the story of his first overeager girlfriend, who he escapes only by moving to California for the summer. Feig's description of the circumstances and the actual experience of his first time is one of the most authentic accounts I have ever found in print.
   
   As in "Kick Me", Feig's way with words makes the essays in this book snappy and humorous. The turns of phrase are what can make an ordinary sentence laugh out lound funny. It is no wonder that he is a part of the team that created 'Freaks and Geeks'.
   
   I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know what adolescent and young adult males' lives are really like. The book will make the reader laugh, but also cringe with recognition of things that he himself or a fellow man has done.



4. Do you laugh at awkward situations? Cringe in empathy towards another's embarrassment while enjoying it in some strange way?
   
   Feig is a great story teller.



5. This book, as well as his first book (Kick Me), was very funny. I enjoyed it and so did everyone I have lent it to.

5 comments about When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down.

1. Morgan's book is a nice personal account of how the modern politics of race and gender impact black women and men in the United States. The writing is fun and engaging, and the subject matter highly relevant. In particular, the book's exploration and critique of the antagonism between feminism and hip-hop and its discussion of the historical origins and continued impact of the STRONGBLACKWOMAN identity are interesting and deeply thoughtful. Morgan's willingness to ask and respond to some of the tough questions that feminists sometimes prefer to avoid -- questions like "Can you be a good feminist and admit out loud that there are things you kinda dig about patriarchy?" -- and her support for male reproductive choice mark her as an independent mind who has thought hard and come to her own conclusions about the sticky issues at the heart of the feminist project.
   
   The book also had its weaker points -- it was a bit lacking in terms of theoretical grounding (although I guess this is, in part, what makes it so readable =) ), and Morgan's personal anecdotes about hobnobbing with the rich and famous were a bit alienating and sometimes seemed to work at odds with her 'keep it real' philosophy. Nevertheless, Chickenheads is definitely worth a read.



2. I recently went to a hip-hop symposium where Joan Morgan and a few other activists were speaking. When I first heard the title, I was a little turned off, but after hearing her speaks about her experiences and how they've shaped her perspective...I decided to purchase it. And I'm so glad I did!!! This book is excellent!! Additionally, she annotates so many other wonderful peices written about hip-hop, gender relations, feminism, misogyny, etc you almost want to buy the book to guide your future reading on the subject.



3. This book is a must for any 'older schooled' hip hop female heads worldwide. Morgan has a wonderful street/hip hop rhetoric that speaks to women who have a love for this thing called hip hop and life. Ladies pay attention to her words! She is rough, rugged raw and honest. Mama's, try this book out on your daughters, you may need to read it with them or break Morgans pearls of wisdom down for them as their heads bob in and out of the book either agreeing, disagreeing or shooting looks of confusion. She hits the chicken head directly on the head, there is a little bit of chicken head in every women, depending on how you define chicken head and your own personal beliefs pertaining to the f word.



4. This book effortlessly addresses the many issues that have infiltrated the minds of black women in the hip hop culture...Products of absentee fathers, failed relationships, and questionable loyalty to our black men...Jane Morgan gives it to you straight with no chaser, not afraid to share her own experiences to let her audience know that she is not just an observer of the conflicting issues that leave many successful black women wondering "what the hell is wrong with me", but allows her experience to serve as a reference to the countless women like myself who seldom feel alone in their thoughts, their struggles and their quest to balance their independence in the face of sexism that has plagued the hip hop culture. Salut to Joan Morgan!!!!



5. I believe this book is recommended reading for anyone who loves Hip Hope and/or anyone who questions and/or struggles with the place of Black women in this mordern Hip Hop age, while staying true to Black Feminist thoughts. I found myself agreeing with Morgan, but mostly enjoying her fun and playful writing.

3 comments about Sky Dancer: The Secret Life & Songs of the Lady Yeshe Tsogyel.

1. This book is a wonderful addition to the library of any Tantrik practitioners. Yeshe Tsogyel was an incarnation of the Goddess Sarasvati, and this book documents her life and adventures. I found it a little tough to get into the language at first, but then I was hooked!



2. Keith Dowman has had the extraordinary good fortune of learning (and learning well) from very skilled teachers, among the best really, including Namkhai Norbu Rinpoche and Dudjom Rinpoche. The reader of Dowman's translation benefits much from the depth of his learning and engagement with the material.
   
   And what material! What a joy it is to read psychotropic hagiography, the revelation of many gifted hands. (This text is a terma, or what Gurdjieff might call a 'legominism.' Interested?) In short: first order reading of first order importance for men and women engaged in the Tantric Buddhist path, and those interested therein.
   
   A weakness: I found some of Dowman's exclamations on gender in the commentary a bit undercooked. Just to listen in, I would love to share a pot of coffee with him and Judith Simmer-Brown (have you read her book Dakini's Warm Breath yet? Good stuff, mate!). At least Dowman's honest and well-intentioned.
   
   Thinley Norbu Rinpoche's forward is perhaps as indelible as any other aspect of this text; the interested reader may wish to explore his volume Magic Dance, regarding the manifestation of the dakini.
   
   Finally: Tarthang Tulku's translation of this biography, entitled Mother of Knowledge, is very much worth the reader's time and attention.
   
   Homage to the dakinis!



3. yeshe tsogyal. apology accepted if you don't know of her. she is the consumate female yogi, and the events of her life-story, with its sweet and bitter struggles as a stunning village-beauty offerred in marriage to the king of tibet, to her tantric initiation and education and subsequent practice (under the guidance of her consort padmasambhava, the mystic yogi credited with bringing tantra to tibet), all serve to exemplify the triumph over ignorance and suffering. this book is heavy at times (she went through some tuff stuff) but you will be a better woman for reading it (males and females alike!)

5 comments about The Other Side of the Sky: A Memoir.

1. My daughter read this book, and this is what she had to say about it:
   "This was a very exciting, sorrowful, detailed story. It inspired me. I recommend this book to people of all ages who love non-fiction adventure. This book has almost everything a reader could want. I always wanted to know what was going to happen next in the story. Farah Ahmedi, the writer and main character of this book, detailed the story so much you could picture yourself in her spot; although, you would never WANT to be in her place in real life.
   
   'The Story of my Life' was extemely sad at some points. Losing almost her whole family, getting caught up in the war, losing a leg, escaping from Afgahnistan. Sometimes during the book I almost cried and other times, I laughed in happiness. The book had many different moods.
   
   The message, (or theme) of the book for me was 'Never be afraid of starting again, or beginning a new life'. Of course for everyone this is different, all of us have a different point of view. But this was mine.
   But to come to an end with this review, I really enjoyed every word from beginning to end!! Highly Recommended."



2. I am reading this book with my class at school. I love it! I look forward to it everyday. This is a story that every American needs to hear because it is living proof of how much we have been given. When you realize that many people in the world have had to deal with the things that Farah did, the everyday dramas in your life are put into a totally new perspective. This book is real. It happened to real people, it teaches real lessons, and that is why it leaves any hollow fiction or fantasy behind.



3. When seven-year-old Farah Ahmedi stepped on a landmine in her native Afghanistan, she thought her life was over. The hospital in her war-torn city only tried to keep her alive until German doctors made their regular monthly visit, airlifting the most crucial cases to heal in their own country.
   
   Away from her family and culture, Farah fell apart.
   
   Then, as she began to heal, she made friends with a German woman, who informally adopted Farah like one of her own. Gradually, Farah began to learn the language and enjoy the peaceful, beautiful country -- making it just as shocking when she was returned to her family two years later.
   
   Suddenly, nothing Farah's family or country can offer her seems good enough. The little girl had become used to a better life, and she was determined to live it again.
   
   That wish kept her determination driven over the next few years, when war ravaged her family and her home. Left with nothing but a crippled daughter, Farah's mother hovered on the brink of madness and wanted to give up. But Farah, who had had a peek of what life could be, believed the two were destined to live in America through a special program for Afghan widows and orphans.
   
   After numerous obstacles - including 9/11 - the two finally get their wish. But their struggle is far from over, as they find themselves in the midst of a culture clash with the general American public. Farah's mother is still battling mental demons, and Farah herself not only has to learn to speak and read English, but read altogether, as her Afghan education had fallen apart during wartime.
   
   Above all, Farah learns, there is always a higher power out there, willing to help you during your most desperate times, sending relief in the form of a person destined to cross your life's path.
   
   This simply told story is a powerful testament to the atrocities that can be endured without breaking. Farah Ahmedi is one extraordinary teenager, destined to do great things.



4. I got Farad's audio book because we have been working in relief and development in Afganistan since 1984. It is a well narrated book, an uplifting account the suffering of a child and of people who come into our lives and believe in us, love us and walk with us through the difficulties of life in Afghanistan, Pakistan and in America.
   
   Farad, a young, Hazara girl, has lived an unbelievable life before reaching the age of 15. Her story is a first hand picture of the devastation of a beautiful country destroyed by war and ethnic conflict. She and her family were caught in the middle. She stepped on a landmine as she was going to school in Kabul. She was in the second grade and things went downhill from there.
   
   This is a story of suffering and pain but finding strength to respond when it seemed impossible. This is a story of faith and people practically living out their faith. It is the story of a young girl who has a dream.



5. This book is great reading for teeens through adults. It is an easy read - can be read in 1-2 days. The story is gripping and suspenseful and really gives one an understanding of life in turbulent Afghanistan and the difficulty refugees encountered to make their way out. My husband and I read the book and enjoyed it as did my daughters, ages 19 and 17.

5 comments about Accidentally on Purpose: A One-Night Stand, My Unplanned Parenthood, and Loving the Best Mistake I Ever Made.

1. I loved this book! Some might wonder why I, a 50 year old "yuppie", now workaholic, who doesn't have have children and has never been pregnant, was so drawn to her story. Simple, Mary Pols is a gifted storyteller. Perhaps her work as a film critic helped her write her own story in such a beautiful and descriptive way that reading it feels as if you are watching a movie; a movie with 3 dimensional characters in scenery that comes alive on each page from the coast of Maine to the San Francisco Bay Area.
   
   After reading a few of the other reviews, I disagree about her treatment of Matt. Not only do I think she was just as hard on herself whenever writing about her frustrations with him, she is quick to express her admiration of his good qualities. Mary consistently refers to his age and anyone living in this century knows that it is not unusual for men to grow out of their slacker tendencies a little later than they may have 10 or 20 years ago.
   
   Knocked up just in time - indeed. Mary Pol's story is one that reminds us that some things just happen for a reason. In her case, Dolan. He is the kid he is because his mother and father made a mistake that turned out to be anything but - a mistake.
   
   I am looking forward to the next installment or a novel or whatever Mary Pols writes.



2. Mary's story, unique in so many ways, is also the story of our generation: the challenges that we face in our search for love and companionship, challenges seemingly quite different from those of our parents' generation. Her story has a universality about it, with many scenes early in the book that will strike a chord with 30-something and 40-something readers. And at the same time the details with which her story unfolds are soley her own: from her connection with places, in particular with the coast of Maine, a muse ripe for weaving into a story of life's obstacles, of life's beauty, and ultimately of an acceptance of both; to her own misgivings about her unusual circumstances under which she has brought a wonderful child into this world. Myself, not normally a devouring reader unless a book be written in no-nonsense language, and its story compelling, finished this one in only a handful of subway commute-rides. It's the kind of story one wants to share with others. When I finished it I promptly gave it to a young woman sitting nearby me on the train, who I had noticed had been reading the book-cover's provocative subtitle. I hope the book is now making the rounds of New York City and to places beyond, the way it should be.



3. Mary Pols entered motherhood by the backdoor - at the age of forty, a one-night stand with a man ten years her junior left her pregnant. At times both hysterically funny and deeply moving, Pols writes wryly about the challenges of parenting not only her newborn son, but also his chronically immature father. From the struggles of becoming a mother to the heartbreak of losing her elderly parents, Pols has written an engaging and memorable memoir.



4. This is one of the few times that I have read a book based on a family I know. I grew up around the corner from the Pols and was friends/contemporaries of the older group of the six children. I do not know Mary but I certainly understand the family dynamic.
   I read this book in one day-I lauughed and I cried. I was angry with her for her lack of understandingin some situations and I was proud of her for her understanding in other ways.
   This is a painfully real, honest memoir that tells a sometimes hard story but Mary reveals so much of her soul it is hard to not be entranced and engaged. How brave to be so brutally honest about one's shortcomings and fears.
   She paints a sometimes unattractive picture of the baby's father but I do understand that she was writing about her feelings-she would not tell you that she was always fair or politically correct-it just is what it is. Her son may read the book and think she was hard on his father but I doubt that. I think that he will see the truth of his mother's struggle in bringing him into the world and how both his parents fought to make him safe and happy. It was hard and very real-I'm glad she told the story.



5. Though I really enjoyed this book for a variety of reasons, it concerns me that Pols was so ruthless and revealing about her relationship with her son's father. Although she certainly does not paint herself as the perfect mate or parent, she is not gracious about her son's father's (perceived) failings. I just thought it brutal, and more than a little indecorous to go into such detail about their sexual behavior and how he doesn't measure up in so many ways. How unkind a picture to bequeath her son! I think the rationale that it is for "art's sake" is thin, and symptomatic of our boundry-less popular culture. Sure, Pols is honest about her own warts, but that doesn't mitigate the cruel overexposure she has subjected her son and his father to.
   
   That said, it is often funny and definitely a page-turner.

2 comments about What Rhymes with Bastard?.

1. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A well written romp through a doomed relationship including many embarrassing and endearing details. By the end I had laughed and cringed and felt involved in the story like I would with a dear friend. I recommend it.



2. I really wanted to like this book. Really. I liked the character. But I was also really impatient and annoyed with her. Ok. So her husband wants to go out and sleep with lots of women and then tell her about it. And she agreed to this arrangement. So in my book this doesn't really make him a [...]. It makes her kind of dumb. I mean, the signs were there. He wasn't all that much in college. And she still went for him. So, without being all Dr. Phil or anything - um... he was honest. She said she was ok with it. So out of the two of them...he was honest. She wasn't. I get annoyed by people playing the victim when they agreed to the circumstances and went into them fully knowing what was going on.
   
   She also makes me mad. I had to leave the UK - her home country - because my visa expired, even though I had a job and was trying to make a contribution to society there. She is unemployed, but won't take "any" job - oh, no, she has high standards. She also hangs out with heroine addicts and various prostitutes. And I had to leave England. I just can't get over that.
   
   So yeah, thinking about it now, I think I'm just really annoyed by the character and her story. Which disappoints me because I wanted to like it. I just think she's kind of a hazard, and way too drama. Her memoir is compared to Bridget Jones. Bridget Jones is adorably neurotic. This chick is dangerously crazy. That doesn't make it "edgier". That makes it intervention-worthy.

5 comments about Geisha: A Life.

1. This is a beautiful story about a little girl who became one of the most famous geisha in Japan. Mineko, which is her adopted geisha name not her birth name, moved into the Iwasaki geisha house when she was only five years old. She started her artistic training when she was merely six. At a time when most five and six year olds in America are starting kindergarden, playing video games and sports, Mineko was already "working." Her passion and greatest devotion became the dance.
   
   This biography came out in 2002 which may or may not have been around the time Memoirs of a Geisha published as well. Both novels are strikingly similar I noticed, especially when it dealt with World War II. But this novel, as opposed to Memoirs, is an actual biography.
   
   The Japanese terminology is so fascinating to learn and explained very well. I learned that geisha in training were called maiko, or "women of dance," and geisha or geiko actually means "women of art." For a period of twenty five years (from age five until twenty-nine), Mineko practiced all the traditional and ancient customs including dance forms, music, and tea ceremonies (ochaya). Maiko is simply amazing. Despite learning traditional customs she is also an incredibly skilled business woman. She worked 7 days a week, 365 days a year, from the time she was fifteen until she was twenty-one. In the Iwasaki okiya she was the hardest working and most devoted geisha.
   
   Her experience with love was also very humorous. Because she worked so intently she viewed most men as business transactions and nothing more. One man, by the name of Toshio, eventually changed her views. After visiting her multiple times he finally expressed his love for her, which she just scolded him as a young child (despite him being twice as old) and he was also married! Toshio explained they were both in a loveless marriage, but Maiko didn't want to hear of it; she refused him completely. Finally she told him, after his countless advances, if he came to the Gion Kobu every day for three years then maybe she would consider it. She pretty much figured that was that.
   
   He came every single day for three years. But despite this their romance became rocky and unstable. He never left his wife. She later met a young painter, Jin, that won her over.
   
   When Mineko decided to retire at the "old age" of twenty-nine, she was sent thousands of letters from her adoring fans. She met kings and queens, royalty, presidents, diplomats, politicians, and celebrities from everywhere in the world. Her assets were in the millions. She opened up her own club, then later sold it. She decided to get her art license and became an art dealer.
   
   The beauty of this novel is how truthful and painful it was for her to grow up. I didn't really feel that she ever had a childhood, she always worked and trained every day. Her training did pay off because she was so incredibly popular, but there was still a hint of sadness in my opinion.



2. I found this book to be extremely intriguing and informative. Quite possibly fabricated in some aspects, but when your trying to learn about a culture that has so much secrecy behind it you read into whatever you can find. The secrecy is probably what makes it so fascinating to begin with!
   
   In attempts to preserve something thats so important to a culture the author may or may not have been entirely truthful with things. A case of "what should be" or what is expected of the geisha vs. what actually exists. The depiction over the years of the geisha has resulted in a bit of a smeared reputation, I think her desire to preserve the name may have overwhelmed the actual fact. Not to mention the desire to market the concept probably alters the cultural differences to an "americanized" standard that will sell books.
   
   Regardless I enjoyed this book very much I suspect there is truth beyond the story, but who really knows?



3. I LOVED this book. If you are interested in Geisha's you must read this one. It details everything about a Geisha's life. Plus tells you what is truth and what is fiction. The way the author express things is just lovely. I really recommend this book.



4. After first reading Memoirs of a Geisha, by Authur Golden, I wanted to find out how accurate it was. After reading Geisha, A life, I felt that the author Mineko Iwasaki truly represented herself. From her book you can tell that the she is an authentic Geisha wanting to dispel inaccuracies that Memoirs of a Geisha created. It is disappointing to know that society is so willing to accept inaccuracies regarding women and their accomplishments.



5. One of the reasons Mineko "came out" and decided to write this book was to set the misrepresentation of Geisha culture by Arthur Golden, whom she sued for the publishing of Memoirs of A Geisha (and settled out of court).
   
   The biggest items in contest were the facts that the concept of the Mizuage as a fee for a deflowering ceremony of a girl only applies to the oiran and tayu (prostitutes), not Geishas (where the word stands for the amount of money made by appearances over a period of time) and the notion that Geishas don't provide sex, only company. These were two items that was misrepresented by Golden.
   
   If by definition, an autobiography is to be a revealing self-portrait, then Geisha, A Life succeeds brilliantly. As readers, it is human nature, I think, to seek common ground and find people we can identify with when we pick up a book, especially a biography. However, if one can accept that the act of reading can also serve as an insight to individuals whom he or she will never cross paths with, then the absence of common ground no longer becomes an issue.
   
   Like many others here, I found this book through the controversial source for Golden's Memoirs of A Geisha. I was hoping to read about the witty conversations Geishas are reknown for. Certainly, Iwakasi- who never lets up from constantly reminding us, until the very final page- portraying herself as the greatest legend in the Geisha culture in the last hundred years, would be positively emanating with wit in every page.
   
   There was none.
   
   Instead, we are treated to a 300-page reiteration of a narrator who continues to win in almost every situation. She is No.1, inspiring jealousy in her colleagues; she excels in her dance, she instills mass hysteria and adoration from her numerous fan clubs; she is highly in demand in the Gion kobu; people sneak photos and out-takes of her into posters, commercials, and annual events, she makes so much money that she owned over three hundred kimonos worth tens of thousands of dollars, she comes from an aristocratic family (and yet, curiously, she had to "chose" a hard life of work at the age of five, separating from her family which she points out, was the only time she was truly happy in life).
   
   Even when she was at the point of retiring, not only does a good-looking younger man ask for her hand in marriage, but she keeps all her appointments, have an affair with a married superstar, and manages to make the Queen of England jealous enough to send the Duke of Edinburgh to the doghouse for paying too much attention to our heroine.
   
   She openly admits she doesn't like people. She is impetulant and spoiled from a young age. There is a unfortunate dearth of any humane voice in her narration. At the same time, she overworks herself because she wants to be liked by everyone.
   
   If all of this doesn't seem to add up, it's because the root of the story lies in one line, imparted to Mineko by her father at the beginning and the end of his life. "The samurai betrays no weakness even when starving. Pride above all."
   
   Given this filter, you begin to realize that you have to read this autobiography as if it was selectively recounted with a heavily prejudiced pen, often in the writer's favor.
   
   The only big dramatic moment occurs on Page 159, when our author pays a visit to her Onesan (the mentoring older sister to a maiko at the Okiya) who also turns out to be her real sister. She finds their mother hunched over like a maid, cleaning something. The older sister enters and screams "This is the [...] who sold us and killed Masayuki." Our author cries and runs out of the house.
   
   So the reader first thinks "whatever happened to making her own decision at five years old to lead a superstar life of a Geisha? I guess I'll find out in the next chapter."
   
   We never do.
   
   It immediately jumps back to the busy schedule of our triumphant heroine. All we have to go by is the closing chapter line "I never went back. Some proprieties were just not worth it."
   
   There is never a Geisha that equals Mineko in the narration. We are told there is a graceful beauty who was an exquisite dancer in the Gion district. Her name is Satoharu, but she is only alluded to in passing. Why? We get a glimpse of the reason on pg 232, as Mineko pleads with her Okiya mother Masako to dress down when they go meet Mineko's love interest. Here is a 21 year old superstar Geisha at the top of her game, with men falling all over her, and she is begging a 47 year old woman to go in everyday clothes because she couldn't bear being outdone?
   
   A person who doesn't like competition can tell a story only one way.
   
   One of the inherent problems of a non-fiction account of Japanese culture is that the subject is known to be extremely insulated as a community. Even if they beg to differ, or they are put off by a gross misrepresentation of the facts, we, as non-Japanese people, will never know. I think this sets the stage for a free-for-all, with the prize going to the person who choses to speak.
   
   And that's how I made it through the last hundred pages. It became more of game for me as a reader, to see how the narrator could continue to cram yet another example of self-glorification into her story.
   
   In this, she did not disappoint.

5 comments about House of Testosterone: One Mom's Survival in a Household of Males.

1. I, too, am the mother of three boys and thought that this book would be right up my alley. Not so. It was boring. I mean BORING. I kept it in the bathroom to read in bits and pieces only on principal that I bought it. I was totally bummed. :(



2. When we found out we were expecting our 3rd baby boy in 4 years, family & friends immediately starting referring to our home as the House of Boys. Naturally for Mother's Day this year, I received a copy of this book. After a special homemade breakfast (compliments of my sweet boys), I wiped the left over syrup off my jammies, put the dinosaurs & race cars on the night table that our youngest son brought in to help me "eat" with, and picked up "House of Testosterone". A couple hours later after many laughs and even some tears, I had finished the book and was calling all my Mommie friends telling them about this book. My copy of "House of Testosterone" is now on rotation through my family & friends with boys or girls...Mommie's with girls can read it and appreciate it just as much as we Mommie's blessed with boys! :)
   It would make a great gift for a baby shower, birthday, next Mother's Day, or even for yourself! :)



3. Absolutely hilarious! I found myself laughing so hard, my husband had to come and check on me. Her expression of daily life in a house of boys shares the humor, exhaustion, isolation, and love that are part of every moms' existence. It's a fun, quick read that left me feeling like I am not the lone woman trapped in a world of poop humor.



4. My hubby bought me this on vacation as a joke. From the very first page I laughed and laughed. My hubby and all 3 of my sons looked at me as if I was from another planet. I stayed up all night and read right through the whole book. It is great to know that I am not alone. Feeling left out and out of place in a home full of men. Like the author I am the mother of 3 boys (4) if you include my dear hubby. We also have a male dog and cat. This book was very entertaining and helped with the mom guilt of not understanding the men of my household.



5. I stumbled upon House of Testosterone at the grocery store a couple of months ago, and couldn't pass it up! I am also the mom of three sons (no girls), and laughed my way through to the last page (where I cried). I have a photo of my oldest son at about age 4, dressed in his "Rainbow Man" outfit, very similar to the little guy on the book cover. My son had a red hand-me-down shirt with an appliqueed cloud and rainbow, and we just happened to have a pair of tube socks with red, blue and yellow stripes; and Rainbow Man was born. Every boy wants to be a superhero.
   
   As soon as I finished the book (now that my boys are grown and out of the house, I can finish a book quickly), I gave it to my younger sister, who is the mom of four boys, no girls, knowing that she would also enjoy it.