2 comments about Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It: The Memoir of Jo Ann Gibson Robinson.

1. This is a great first-hand account of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It gives great insight on the emotions of the boycotters, and the determination that kept them going. The book is a little slow at times, but it's well worth it in the end. It really shows the intricate details that made the boycott successful.



2. Robinson's book is truly a memoir, and I find this to be both a strength and a weakness. It gives the book strength because it is a complete personal account. Every piece of information is direct from not only a first hand observer, but moreover a participant. However it weakens the book because at points too much information was detailed. Especially information about already well documented events.

5 comments about Baby Love.

1. I wanted to like this book. I was open to whatever revelations Rebecca Walker wanted to share about her journey to motherhood from a complicated past. By the time I finished the book, I was disgusted by her incredible narcissism. (And no, a memoir is certainly not narcissistic by definition, folks.)
   
   Walker's claim that "one" can never love their adopted child as much as their biological child has already been addressed, so here are two other examples: She tells her mother that she has to apologize to Rebecca again for all her mistakes, and that if she won't apologize, Rebecca won't include her mother in her new life with the baby. Alice says, I've apologized enough to you, and if you want to cut me out, go for it. Rebecca then spends several pages railing against her mother for what she now describes as Alice cutting Rebecca out of her life. Like, "Did you hear what she just said! She said she could live without me! What kind of mother...?!" And no, it doesn't escape me that Rebecca has built her career on selling her mother down the river. She'll sell out her mother, but she'll keep her helpful last name.
   
   Walker has a vague wish for a natural birth, but only if it's going to be a polytheistic fiesta that honors her partner's penis (don't ask), not if it might actually hurt or be hard, God no! Everything is all about Rebecca's comfort and pleasure. So, when she learned that her mother felt depressed when she was pregnant with Rebecca in segregated, race-hate 1960s Mississippi, Rebecca takes that as an excuse to up her dosage of anti-depressants, because depression must be genetic! When her hospital birth ends up with the baby in the ICU, does Rebecca consider the extent to which those pills, her epidural, or her real pregnancy and birth choices may have effected that result? Of course not! That might force Rebecca to take some -- key word -- responsibility for the outcome. Instead, Rebecca blames natural childbirth! Not that she had, or even attempted, a natural childbirth-- but she thought about it! So the concept of natural childbirth gets the blame for her baby's emergency birth and two weeks in ICU.
   
   Alice Walker may be a jerk outside her writing, but she's a saint inside her writing. Rebecca Walker is a jerk inside her writing. Save your money for another Alice Walker book.



2. Baby Love was so helpful and enjoyable and captured several things I am going through. I am 37, recently married and pregnant w my love- also a son. I have read several pregnancy books but this book truly captured things I felt and was afraid to admit. The author is like an honest friend helping one laugh and feel calm and centered as baby takes over body. It helped the same way the show "sex and the city" helped when single and living in NYC.
   I am hoping for a sequal about life w her son.
   Readers are in for a treat!



3. Just read an review on this in a British paper. It is about time that someone tells the truth about what damage the 60's approach to feminism has done.
   
   I can't wait to read it.



4. I found this book unbelievably self-indulgent, self-absorbed, and narcissistic. It is very difficult to empathize with an author this unlikeable. She destructively airs her dirty family laundry and yet claims to desire reconcilation, implies that her loving, devoted partner is nothing more than a sperm donor, and implies that her stepson will never be as loved or important as her unborn biologic child. With family like this, who needs enemies? Its laughable how she asserts over and over how "independent" she is. I would argue the exact opposite. She's a healthy young woman who has amassed her own little army of spiritual healers, herbalists, homeopaths, birthing teachers, gurus, masseuses, physicians, midwives, psychiatrists, doumas, etc She doesn't seem to be able to make a single decision or advance one step without involving everyone, getting second and third opinions and then second guessing everyone including herself. This is independence? The rest of us go about our lives making difficult decisions every day without the luxury of a paid staff attending to every concern. Its almost comical if it weren't so pathetic. She has no insight into her own neediness. Her "poor me" attitude is whiny, tiresome, and out of touch with reality. She needs to learn to think and do for herself. That is independence.
   
   In addition, the title is completely misleading. The author writes in the book that she has wanted to have a baby for over 10 years. She describes how life events and relationships were not conducive to doing so. My decision to buy the book was based entirely on the false premise of a woman deciding to have a baby after years of ambivalence. What ambivalence? The subtitle has nothing to do with this book.
   
   This was a tiresome read which tried my patience.



5. this might possibly be the book for you (I'm "ambivalent" about whether she actually matured). A truly self-absorbed young woman becomes pregnant, and suddenly things she's feeling become "truths" about the world -- such as the fact that "you" [meaning everyone] do not feel the same about an adopted child as about a biological one. Now, this may be how she felt, but that's not how she wrote it -- she wrote it as a universal truth, and that's where I gave up with her. She hasn't found truths about the world -- she's found how she views the worls, but sadly, for Rebecca Walker, if she thinks it, it must be true -- whether or not it contradicts other people's experiences, whether or not she's completely full of self-absorbed caca. Rebecca Walker is surely searching for something in this life, and possibly the birth of her son opened her eyes to the fact that the world does not revolve around her -- but I'm just not sure. At the very end of the book, RW writes that Glen was there for her, and they were both there for the baby, but nowhere does she write that she was there for Glen. Glen in this memoir is little more than the provider of sperm and anything else RW wanted. If I were her life partner, I would be saddened by how I little I figured in this story of the birth of their son. She also only refers to her ex-partner as one who cheated on her. That may be true -- but it is cold and only possibly tells half the story. But of course, in Rebecca Walker's world, the only story worth telling, is hers.

1 comments about Moving the Mountain: Women Working for Social Change (Women's Lives, Women's Work).

1. I thought that this book was one of a kind! I loved it I used it for a report on Ellen Barker for a Human Relations class and it was exackly what i was looking for!

5 comments about Miss American Pie: A Diary of Love, Secrets and Growing Up in the 1970s.

1. I'm only giving it a two because I actually finished it. This book is not literary genius. It is just a diary and that's all. The topic was exciting to me - reason I ordered the book - and I was so totally dissapointed by the writing style. A better idea for the author would have been to use the diary to create a novel. It was simplistic, but as I said I did finish it and know it could have been a better novel if written as such.



2. What did those song lyrics mean anyway? I didn't find the answer in this book.
   
   Although Margaret went through her adolesence in the 70's and I experienced mine in the 50's, we had some common themes. Every teenage girl sometimes feels others have answers to which we ouselves don't have access.
   
   It was interesting to read of Margaret's search for spirituality and her daily thoughts of how well she was living according to her beliefs.
   
   Margaret longed for a nickname but did not want to be called Peggy. Later when a special boy called her Maggie, she thought that was a good fit. As the book progressed, Maggie became more interested in boys, but she could not make a commitment to any one boy.
   
   I was surprised that Maggie's parents gave her so much freedom and did not punish her for smoking and drinking. I was also surprised that Maggie thought of herself as unpopular although she had dates with a number of boys and was elected homecoming queen.
   
   It was easy for the reader to question Margaret's friend Tommy's sexuality, but Margaret had not even thought that Tommy might be gay until his mother mentioned it to her. The mother's remarks upset Margaret, but she continued to love Tommy dearly even into adulthood.
   
   This book was laugh-out-loud funny in many places. The incident I remember as the funniest was when Maggie popped into Tommy's kitchen following her jogging one day, ran upstairs to use his bathroom, took a swig of water from a glass in the bathroom while she was there - and got a bonus with her mouthful of water.
   
   Because this book was compiled from the author's actual teenage diaries, we are treated to the actual daily thoughts of a teenager in the 70's - rather than the way the author remembers her teen years from the perspective of an adult.



3. First off, our decade's obsession with blogging has little in common with the art of keeping a diary, and anyone who doubts that might do well to read this book. A diary is normally a private thing, an exercise in personal meditation, a record of a life and those who pass through it, written by one's self, for one's self, and it's not often someone openly invites complete strangers to see something that is by nature so personal, and yet writer Margaret Sartor has bravely done just that, and done it in a way we all can feel guilt free over even as we read what were once some of her innermost thoughts and experiences as she grew up seeking God, love, and self-understanding in the emerging "New South" of the 1970's.
   
   Whereas often because they ARE so personal diaries can be boring and leave a reader feeling simultaneously included and excluded, Margaret Sartor's writings from age twelve in 1972 thru age eighteen in the summer of 1977 are not only welcoming but annotated to the point where we grasp who everyone she interacts with is and feel some enlightenment as to each person's motivations. There is her family, consisting of her father, who along with his brothers is one of the town of Montgomery, Louisiana's most well-known doctors; her mother, a beautiful and complex woman; her two older sisters, younger brother, and late in the diary, a new baby sister, who comes along when her parents are well into middle-age. Margaret Sartor is frank about many things, her feelings for boys among them, but no other subject preoccupies her quite so much as her quest for a relationship with God. Even in the Bible Belt of the deep south of two generations ago I doubt many people Margaret's age were so keenly motivated to seek out God or to do more to grasp something tangible about the nature of this force. Margaret's spirituality takes several forms but most often finds expression in the charismatic brand of the local faith. She tells of prayer meetings and youth revivals, about the casting out of demons and miracles performed that grew attendees legs out to equal length. She seems to be a soul simultaneously in awe of all this and puzzled as to why if she is truly in the Almighty's presence, she feels a lack of perfect contentment.
   
   As Margaret ages, religion is gradually pushed aside and instead we read of her infatuations with one young man or another, her confusions, her worries and very often her dreams, which she records almost nightly and which are almost always interesting in themselves. Margaret gains national recognition for her work with her school's cheerleading squad, and seeks early admission to a college out of state, proving to herself and others that she has the power to achieve her goals. As Margaret's story unwinds installment by installment, the tales of those peripheral to her become almost as interesting as her own life. There is her best friend, who comes out of the closet in small town Louisiana in the `70's; there is the racial integration struggle going on, at times violently, in the background; there is an aunt who kills herself, and another relative who was lobotomized and as a consequence became an obese misfit; and there is the restless shiver felt by all as a region little changed over generations moves toward a modern age much different from the past.
   
   Margaret Sartor's entries are often brief. They are simply quick, easily-read bits of information that say much in a short space. In its entirety her diary is unique, candid, and always fascinating. Maybe it will inspire others to publish similar records of their lives. Till then, Miss American Pie remains a darn good read.



4. I suppose in this "reality" obsessed culture we now live in anybody can get their diary published and have it lauded as an important piece of modern literature or a work of brilliance or any of the myriad cliched accolades critics vomit up.
   
   Well I don't get it. Miss American Pie is a dull, dull, dull read. The forward is promising and I thought Sartor's teenage musings would be profound or intriguing or at the least interesting but it's not. Sartor is a spoiled rich kid whose father is a doctor and mother is an artist. She has several horses, equally well off friends and an obviously successful future ahead of her.
   
   Her diary entries, if you can call them that, average two to three sentences at the most. Entries range from "May 20: I feel really bad," to "February 6: BAD headache today," to "April 1: Stella is unhappy at her job". She mopes around because she thinks she's ugly or because her best friend likes a guy she likes or because her hair is frizzy. There isn't anything of substance to make this a worthwhile read or shed some new light on adolescence. I understand it's a diary of a teenage girl but it's still boring.
   
   If a diary is to be published, it should be dynamic, intriguing, shedding new light on the protagonist or a particular situation or a period of time. Miss American Pie fails on all counts. It doesn't help that no one has a clue who Margaret Sartor is either.
   
   Miss American Pie could have been more effective if it was written as an actual memoir instead of the dull, dull, ramblings of a teenage girl's diary.



5. This was a good book. It is an actual journal of the author written in the seventies. I graduated from high school and college in the seventies so I could relate to many of the references made in the journal. I think today's girls could also relate, though, because the themes in the journals are the same struggles that today's teens go through.
   
   It starts when Margaret is in the seventh grade and goes through her senior year. At first the entries are brief and some are quite funny. Later they get more poignant.
   
   Margaret is boy crazy, bored, rebellious, and is trying to figure out what she believes. In the seventies, we had many issues involving desegregation, drugs, sex -- it was the era of the sexual revolution, feminism, and the big mega-churches were founded and grew in that decade. I laughed at many of the entries, especially when she would write of some profound event and not elaborate and the next entry would be something very trivial.
   
   For example: November 8 -- Nixon was elected president. November 9 -- Everyone says me and Vernon would make a good couple. (Nixon being elected president was exciting and had worldwide ramifications but her and Vernon being a good couple didn't last more than a week.) Another example: August 8 -- President Nixon resigned; made appointment to get my hair cut.
   
   I love that entry. It is such a teen statement. MISS AMERICAN PIE is realistic and fun to read. Plus, it makes you want to start a journal, too.
   
   Reviewed by: Marta Morrison

4 comments about The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker: An Erotic Memoir.

1. Even more an account of an empowered woman retaking control over her life than it is simply a "sex" memoir, "The Butcher" is an inspiring account no matter your gender.
   
   Her bold, frank writing recalls Chandler, though obviously with a lot more sex. A great read for any woman wanting to dust off any shackles holding her down, or for anyone else who simply wants the turn on. She puts all other erotic writers to shame.



2. It's pretty evident that Suzanne Portnoy has been having a great time discovering her "sexual self" in this tome. The book however, has no redeeming value at all. By the end of this book it's pretty clear that she hasn't learned ANYTHING and will continue to make the same mistakes over and over again. Yes, she f*#@s and s)&#s her way around London, but after the first couple of stories, it just seems to be the same thing OVER AND OVER ad nauseum. The writing isn't even erotic. I'm no prude. I like porn as much as the next guy. But the way this woman writes is REALLY annoying.
   
   A memoir, yes. Erotic, no.
   
   She should stick to PR.
   
   Avoid at all costs.



3. There are a number of recent books on a very similar theme: putting excitement back into your sex life, especially once you've reached middle-age. The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker covers the erotic journey of a woman after she is freed from the shackles of her prior life, where she had spent years as the dutiful wife and mother. For those who have reached a crossroads in their life and are looking to recapture their sexuality and their physical sensuality while they still can, this may be an eye opening book. This book covers the journey of a suddenly single mother. Others, such as 16 Keys to a Wild and Exciting Sex Life: A Couple's Guide for Couples, Swinging: Shared Pleasures Between the Covers and Doin One for the Team: Years in the Swinging Lifestyle cover the same topic for married couples. All were written by real people about their real experiences and reflect a very current phenomena in society. I recommend this book as an interesting view into a very real happening in the world today, as many people in their 30's, 40's, 50's and beyond have refused to relinquish their sexuality and retire to a rocking chair and watch life pass them by.



4. This is the kind of journey of self-discovery through sex that makes (Sex and the City's) Samantha look like a downright prude! But it's so easy to get drawn in by Suzanne Portnoy's upbeat personality and frank voice, you forget that you're reading about someone steaming up the windows in a VW or bending over in the bathroom of a London club. In fact, you might find yourself recalling moments of revelation in the book that have nothing to do with sex: an internet liaison, once a far-flung fantasy who serves spaghetti on paper plates, the anxiety of awaiting phone calls from a war zone, the death of a lover. This is a rollicking read. It could make women feel more empowered. As for men, they'll just get h*rny.

5 comments about Love, Ellen: A Mother/Daughter Journey.

1. I cannot stress how much this book has changed my life.
   
   When I first came out of the closet, it was obvious that while my mother was trying to accept this, she was having a hard time of it. After reading only the introduction to this book, I raced to her room and asked her to read it.
   
   My mother is an incredibly busy woman, and I have given her many books to read over the years. This is the very first time she ever finished one I brought to her attention, and it had a profound impact on our relationship.
   
   Betty DeGeneres gives family members a story they can relate to, a new way of looking at it, and resources for them to check out... But it is by no means a dry account. It is deeply personal and deeply touching, and I can never thank Ms. Betty enough for writing it.



2. gave me insight into the feelings a mom would have learning of a childs homosexuality. An easy read.



3. A great book for Ellen lovers, and parents of gay and lesbian people, and for really anyone. Book came fast and it is a great read!



4. Love Ellen is a beautiful story about the unbreakable bond between mother and daughter. No matter how difficult the challenges faced by either Betty or Ellen their love has always remained strong proven in this eye opening book. So many times we read about celebrities lives and are only shown a small portion of their emotions as though they need to hide their most sensitive side from public view. Love Ellen is an exception to that as we see a side of both women as they truly are: sensitive, emotional and very human. Read for yourself the laughter, sadness and tears as you explore their journey together. You will come away with the realization that no matter how difficult your own struggles there is help for you if only you can open your heart and trust. As you get to know the DeGeneres family you will realize they are just as ordinary as the rest of us. I highly recommend this book for those who need help coming out, loved ones needing a better understanding of homosexuality and that it is not a choice, but rather just another side of many individuals and also to fans of Ellen's who just want to explore who she is and how she made some of the most difficult decisions of her life. This book is a very real account of the understanding we, as human beings who all share so much in this world, need to accept.



5. What is it like to have a child who is gay? In this book, Betty DeGeneres describes the moment that her daughter Ellen came out to her and admitted the secret which she kept from her mother for 20 years. After learning that her daughter was gay, Betty herself was forced to keep this secret for 20 more years, before Ellen came out to the world. This is a book about a mother's unconditional love for her daughter and about how her daughter's sexual orientation caused a complete change in her life. It is also about Ellen's family and how she went from being a sweet, funny little girl from New Orleans to being one of the top actess/comediennes of our times. It is also about how mother and daughter went from keeping Ellen's homosexuality a secret to how they became activists in the gay/lesbian movement. Throughout the book, the loving and positive spirit of both Ellen and Betty become very evident.

5 comments about Welcome to My Country.

1. Lauren Slater presents a vivid tale of a therapist' s sojourn, examining mental illness from both an insider's and outsider' s perspective. Slater takes us on a journey through her own work in hospital settings, culminating in a personal coda. She confronts unbelievable countertransference at Mount Vernon, the same place she was hospitalized, with a client suffering from a similar constellation of symptoms. She is unique in the mental health community, populated by professionals attempting to abstract themselves from their clientele in the name of objectivity. Although, my psychoanalytic frame dictates an objective stance, I was deeply touched by her sincere humanism and willingness to explore the subjective world of her clients' alien worlds.
   
   Before exploring the clients, their illnesses, the therapist and the treatment interventions, I feel compelled to comment on Slater's unique writing style. Her prose is the result of the ability to paint from a diverse palette of lexicon, style, theory and foremost, metaphor. I was whisked through her world, experience and firm theoretical grounding, giving way to a clear image of her thought process and orientation as a therapist. Her writing style is lush and sensual, like her unique approach to therapy, crossing boundaries rarely trespassed by the orthodox therapist. At certain points, I was left questioning whether this was bravery, or a misguided foraging into the taboo realm, which leads to dual relationships.
   
   Often, clients with Axis Two disorders, such as Peter, have a wide repertoire of tactics at their disposal, testing the boundaries and weaknesses of the attendant therapist. I conferred with one of my colleagues, and they agreed that some of her sexual imagery, in describing herself as well as Peter was a bit much, to say the least. For example, she states, "I imagined myself in sequins, my crotch sprayed silver, as I, nude, gyrated to the beat of his voice" (p. 53). Later, she asserts, "in his admission of pain he was now naked; he had pressed himself against me and I wanted to celebrate, not violate, this stance" (p. 59). The list of sexually charged metaphors is simply too long for this brief review. However, a few more examples might help to make my point. She goes on to say, "and I, well, I grew to love him and love the strength in his slow surrender" (p. 61). Sometimes, I was overwhelmed with laughter, writing in the margins "this is too much". For example, try this sentence on for size: "it is a dangerous thing for us, we people who grow up sucking the steel nipples of this country's missiles, many think living in the world is living in war, women who think their bodies are Molotov cocktails that must be detonated, destroyed, before they are munched up by their own metabolism" (p. 62). In the words of George Orwell, "The writer either has a meaning and cannot express it, or he inadvertently says something else, or he is almost indifferent as to whether his words mean anything or not"(Orwell, 1950). Simply stated, although she is an Ivy Leaguer, her metaphors are mixed as "people sucking steel nipples" clash with munching metabolisms. This is not an isolated example of where I felt metaphors mixed, and poetry superseded the message. Frankly, my impression of Peter was summarized in the margins as, "he is a sociopath", "she's turned on" and "he's got her where he wants her". Perhaps, this is too simplistic, however this was my reaction.
   
   Nevertheless, her work and description of the schizophrenic clients is noteworthy. It helps the shed light on the discombobulated world of the schizophrenic, and her daring and adventurous discarding of the banal "activities of daily living" foisted upon her clientele. I think there is a connection between R.D. Laing's views on insanity and Slater's subjective willingness to voyage into the mind of madness. Perhaps, it is because they both have a grain of insanity within their own minds. However, as Aldous Huxley once stated, "sanity is a matter of degree"(Levy, 1997). I found the hospital settings, frightening, rigid and mundane, until Slater injected some humanity into their sterile milieu. Perhaps, this comes partially from her being a former mental patient and seeing things from the inside looking out as well as the outside looking in.
   
   In contrast to Maslow, Slater's vision as well as her life is circular, not linear. Like so many of us, she finds herself walking down the same path and confronting the past and its ghosts. Emotionally, this resonated with me on a personal and intellectual level. Her client, Linda Cogswell, is described as bulimic and borderline among other things. Slater courageously admits, that she to was diagnosed with an eating disorder and a borderline personality as well as hospitalized at the same facility in which she treated Linda. Lauren Slater allows the reader to catch a glimpse of her unique beauty, and talent as a therapist and person, readily admitting identification with the client. Vis `a vis identifying with Slater as a multifaceted human being, I was able to readily accept the notion that borderline personalities and mental illness involve people as opposed to categorical descriptions. Lauren Slater renews a sense of humanity in writing about her clients, their illnesses, herself as a therapist and her unique approach to therapy. I enjoyed this novel a great deal and was enlightened, entertained and invigorated by her refreshing memoir of madness.
   
   
   
   
   References
   Levy, D.A. (1997)., Tools of critical thinking: metathoughts for psychology. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
   Orwell, G. (1950). Shooting an elephant and other essays. London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.



2. Her work is not a work of non-fiction. She admits that she has changed the identities she has written about and confounded their settings. Therefore "Welcome To My Country" should be regarded as a work of fiction. But that is nothing to spit on.
   I must confess that I feel a sense of dread and perverse anticipation when I look back on my reading of this book. Doctor Slater engages in what can only be called the art of vulnerability. She peels back the petals of many, many roses until we find, with a bit of shock, that the most central rose is both hers and our own. Her prose is cool but her spirit is warm. The theme of the erotic is constant through out this book and in all of its episodes. I was bewildered by this until in a sequence that lies near the end of the work she reveals exactly what country we are being welcomed to. Her own confessions are gut wrenching and are the kinds of expostulations that make me cringe as if I was being compelled to pay ear to the screechings of fingernails dragged across the surface of a black board.
   There is a great beauty in this book. There is also something slightly clumsy and sweaty as Doctor Slater strives to make sense of the madness of her clients and her own madness.
   A memoir of madness. Whose?
   I will return to this book often.



3. Read this in the library of Slater's secondary school when I was in hs, but didn't know it was by a graduate. Looked at it from that perspective of knowing who it was by this time w/out knowing that I had read it. I knew that I had read it because I remembered Marie's cracking peach nail polish. I have remembered that image forever; it has been echoing in my mind. I think that I was skimming the book, and hadn't read the personal part before too. So, if I remembered parts of the book after probably 7 years, this has to be an extraordinarily poetic book. After I read the book, I remember thinking maybe I should become a psychologist (i really don't know what i am going to do yet, but the book really did make an impression on me nevertheless). So, this book deserves really to be in any library, and not on the basis of the author graduating from that school! The author comes across as being very compassionate and well spoken. She writes like an angel.



4. Lauren Slater has guts. We've had decades and decades of first hand accounts of mental illness by those who have worked with the afflicted, but Slater is singular in her unwillingness to spare the layman's sensibilities.
   
   Slater's book is a first hand account of her journey through life with a house full of schizophrenics, some doomed and some just in the reach of redemption. She herself is driven to the emotional brink trying to bring something whole out of these irretrievably wounded people. In one scene she practically breaks down trying to convince a group of schizophrenics that the imaginary UFO they want to take off in as a group simply isn't there. She works with a borderline sociopath male chauvinist, every inch the ruthless alphamale, who brutalizes his girlfriend and in his spare time watches sadomasochistic pornography films--all symptoms of his underlying terror of the feminine. Miraculously, despite her disgust with this guy, she gets somewhere with him.
   
   This is not light reading but necessary reading.



5. Welcome to My Country is a beautifully written narrative about psychotherapist Lauren Slater's challening work with mental patients in Boston. She goes to greath lengths to get inside the minds of each patient, following their schizophrenic dreams and fears, their history, and treatment. Her prose is vivid and poetic, albeit a little overwritten at times. Her metaphors are far-fetched, but the language is astounding. The ending is a bit short, but works well. The reader does not get a true grasp of Slater's own private struggle with mental illness, but it is touched on enough to show how her compassion and experiences set the groundwork for her entrance into the mental health field. It is more lyrical essay than psychological text. For all intents and purposes, this book seems to have more to do with Slater recognizing her own voice and self in her patients (much countertransference) than the patients themselves. However, the memoir, at its most basic point, is a fascinating study into Slater's own psyche.

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.

5 comments about Having Faith.

1. Sandra Steingraber is a scientist and writer whose early cancer has led her to explore the possible environmental causes of cancer and teratogens in our chemically laced environment. In this book, she talks about her own pregnancy and what happens to the developing life within in a very thorough, and beautiful, way.



2. This book starts out as very scientific and a bit dull, but picks up and keeps you reading. I admire the author for doing so much detailed research and yet being very happy and optimistic towards her own childbearing. An inspirational and eye-opening book that I would recommend to all my friends, especially young women.



3. This book is FASCINATING. If you pick it up you won't put it down. Everyone should read this book, but especially those considering having children. (I do not recommend this book to pregnant women, it could be very upsetting)
   
   The book is beautifully written, personal, scientific, and life changing. I particularly appreciate the author's perspective that the onis to protect children from toxic chemicals that cause birth defects should be societal, not personal. It is insane that we have accepted that due to mercury pollution as a result of coal burning women and children should have to stop eating nutritious fish.



4. I loved this story, both as a scientific narrative and a touching personal story. I'm thinking about pregnancy, and this book awakened me to many of the dangers of toxins in the environment I hadn't even contemplated before. I'm so glad that Steingraber told the full story of fish in the diets of pregnant women, for example: that a food with such healthy fats and potential for fetal brain development has instead been rendered toxic by not just mercury pollution, but POPs like DDT as well. And anyone who wants to breastfeed should be aware of how toxins are magnified not just over the course of fetal development, but within the content of mother's milk as well. Steingraber seeks to educate us not to make us take action indiviually, but collectively: healthy food and a healthy environment should be the right of every pregnant woman, mother, father and child. It should be ours for the taking, because we adults deserve the right to have children, and those children deserve the healthiest world possible, starting in the microcosm of the womb. As an adopted child, a pregnant woman, a nursing mother and a biologist, Steingraber tells every woman's story of conception and birth to inspire all humans with a vision of taking action to create a healthier world. It's a lovely telling that everyone - not just mothers-to-be - should read.



5. This book is one of the most informative books you will read about pregnancy and the early months of your baby's life and not with the information that you will find in your other books. Instead this book begins to unravel the mysteries of the womb and the world while captivating all of the magic. The author guides you through information that is sometimes scary, sometimes ecstatic and in a lesser writer's hands might be overwhelming, but instead is inspirational. Beautifully written--you won't be able to put it down!

5 comments about House Rules: A Memoir.

1. Read this book! If you work with children in any capacity, this is a must read. The writing is powerful and you walk away from it better understanding the effects of verbal, emotional, and mental abuse.
   
   Calling out crazy is a brave thing to do, especially when there is a lot on the line. Rachel - Kudos for finding your voice and using it!



2. It's hard to know what to say after reading memoirs of abuse. Saying that I loved this book doesn't seem right somehow, because it is a sad and troubling portrayal of a person's real life, and it was somewhat of a disturbing book to read. But I did love the way Sontag wrote about her family, the way she put it all out there and let the reader experience what she (unfortunately) experienced in her life. I have no doubt that her father was every bit as terrifying as she made him sound, probably more so, and reading this book simply made me feel sad for her. I actually truly feel for Sontag, because when I was growing up, I went through similar types of things with my father... he wasn't anywhere NEAR as abusive and controlling as hers, but he did do some of the same kinds of controlling and abnormal behaviors with myself, my mom, and my brothers and sister. So coming from that perspective, I truly understand and appreciate her telling this story and needing to tell it in order to heal from her past. At the end of the book, Sontag explores her relationships with her mother and sister as they stand now, and I truly hope, for her sake, that those three women are able to patch up their relationships with each other and lean on each other. I've learned through my life that the only people you can really count on are your family - and when some members of your family are less than ideal, you really need to stick by those family members who ARE there for you. So I hope that they can forge a friendship with one another from here on out.
   
   I'd definitely recommend this book, especially if you like memoirs, this one is a really good, quick read.



3. I couldn't put it down. I think most dysfunctional families have a core of mental illness or mental instability. This was a fascinating look at parents who were able to function in the world and even appeared to be well outside the home but, were unable to parent effectively or have healthy interactions in their most intimate relationships. Most people think that middle class parents who hold down jobs must naturally be doing well by their children. Some people mention that because these children had expensive vacations and all of their physical needs taken care of that they shouldn't "complain" that they were mentally abused by mentally ill or unstable parents. A child gets their entire first picture of themselves, the world, right and wrong, and everything else from their parents. This book shines a light on how that first picture being presented in a dysfunctional family may affect children and therefore the adults they become. It was a great read.



4. House Rules raises a compelling question about the effects emotional abuse from a parent can have on a child. Rachel's father is a well respected doctor, takes his family on expensive trips, and even sends Rachel to wilderness camp. But in the privacy of their home he is overbearing and controlling to the point of recording his daughter's phone calls and conversations. He also insists on her hair and nails being a certain length, and verbally abuses Rachel until she is even eventually removed from her home for a while. Most damaging of all, Rachel documents her father's drugging her mother with lithium to keep her passive. Even after reading all of this, I felt kind of a detachment from the story. I was excited to read about it to gain some insight into all of the controversy surrounding this book, but compared to the outstanding memoir, The Glass Castle, House Rules falls short. Sontag does not allow the reader to feel for her, for some reason the story feels more like she wrote it as a series of facts. I think it would have helped for her to divulge more about her parents past and what may have led her father to such an extreme behavior. Don't get me wrong, I think some of the things he did are awful, but required more depth and detail for such a book.



5. Not many reviewers made mention that this is a story of mental illness much more than emotional or physical abuse in my mind. Rachel lived with a very unbalanced father and a weak mother who probably had no tools to deal with her own worthlessness and the constant demeaning by the father. Even though she was a trained social worker, Rachel's Mom wanted to keep peace and it came at a high price. I believe every word of this memoir and was glad to see it written so that Rachel could rid herself of any guilt that she could have done anything differently. She was a child and not capable, until as an adult, to go back and see how this affected her and how she now has good coping skills.