5 comments about Quivers: A Life.

1. I am a big Howard Stern fan and I just had to read this book. I found it to be enjoyable in the begining (Robin's early life), but I got bored about three quarters way through. The book is written by her, so we miss some outside views on how she really is in her life outside of the studio.
   I found the book a little self serving and you get the impression she thinks very highly of herself.
   I would recommend the book if you get it for a good price on the used self.



2. Forget the website advertising with Negative ratings.
   If you are interested in the show, this is an interesting book.



3. I read this book a few years ago and it has stuck with me ever since.
   
   Truth be told, I was only interested in Robin Quivers because she was on Howard Stern's show. She was entertaining in her own right but I was a bit annoyed at her constant agreeing with him (or what I thought was that. If these critics bothered listening to Howard's show, they'd know that she agreed with him about half the time - if that!) and by that laugh.
   
   BUT after reading her autobiography, I came to like her just as much as Howard and developed much respect for her work ethic and her determination to overcome huge obstacles.
   
   Unlike *some* celebrities, who just about make a living from the fact that they were molested as a child, Robin dealt with it and moved on. She proved time and again on Howard's radio show (as well as on TV and the few videos that Howard made over the years) that she could have people joke about it and she took the teasing like a champ.
   
   Robin's and Howard's paths zigzagged towards each other and they've been inseparable ever since. (And, according to her, she was tricked into the military and when she wanted to get out of it, she realized she couldn't - not without being dishonorably discharged. It's the only reason why she served.)
   
   Robin fought against some pretty bad odds, got her priorities straight and has been on the right track ever since.



4. After hearing Howard Stern play a few snippets from the audiobook edition of co-host Robin Quiver's autobiography on his radio show a little while back, I knew I hadda give the whole shebang a listen. When I finally did take a listen, I was a bit bummed by Robin's unusually unemotional reading of her life's story. Fortunately, the harrowing ordeals and trials she went through in life-- from coping with parental abuse and neglect as a kid, to toughing out a nightmarish stint in the U.S. Air Force, to an enlightening membership in a cult-like outfit, to a rarely-ever-dull working relationship with the man who would be the King of All Media, to battles of will against insufferable coworkers-- were quite compelling, and for the most part took my mind off of her less-than-rousing recitations.
   
   But even though I received a fair amount of enjoyment listening to this audio presentation, I think Robin missed a golden opportunity to make this into one of the funniest audiobooks of all time! I can just see it: Jackie Martling does the reading in his "snooty royalty Robin" voice (along with his "Kingfish" impression as Robin's ham-handed dad), while Fred Norris works the goofy sound effects carts and plays the "Robin's News" theme at just the right moments. Tell me that wouldn't have been a hoot...
   
   `Late



5. this book was incredible for me to read and really changed my life. i related to so manyu of the things that Robin went through even though i am neither female, black or in her age group. Robin is an extremely intelligent woman who overcame a lot of BS to get to where she is. i highly reccomend this book.

4 comments about Women of Wisdom.

1. 
   The second edition of Tsultrim Allione's Women of Wisdom features, at the request of her many readers, a much expanded spiritual autobiography, enriched by photographs not included in the first edition. This and the Introduction comprise over a third of the book, and are in a sense a resonating complement and counterpart to the biographies of female Tibetan teachers and adepts which Tsultrim Allione sought out and translated. In keeping with the Buddha's dictim that we should endorse only those things we have actually experienced as true, Allione's life has been a journey to spiritual truth underwritten and ratified by her faithfulness to her own experience-- her need to bear and rear children, to embrace but also to leave marriages, to stay true to the essence of the Tibetan teachers and teachings she sought out from her teens-- and from all of that, to create Tara Mandala, a retreat center whose wellsprings include North
   American First Peoples' teachings, families, feminine spiritualities, healing of earth and of bodies, and deep dedication to preserving and transmitting several Tibetan lineages.
   One of the threads woven into the tapestry of Allione's life is her pursuit of the life and teachings of Machig Lapdron, the 12th century teacher who first formalized the Chod ceremony for feeding rather than murdering demons. Allione's forthcoming book, Feeding Your Demons, as well as her oral teachings in the already available CD series, Cutting Through Fear, develop the ways in which this approach to personal and collective darkness contrasts with the more dualistic western myth of the hero who slays the dragon. But Allione has discovered another body of Machig's work: extensive, subtle and practical teachings on the Prajnaparamita Sutra and on the nature of mind, and in the years to come we are sure to see more teaching on this topic from this gifted scholar-practitioner.
   In 2007, Allione was recognized in Tibet as an emanation of Machig Lapdron. So, Women of Wisdom contains a book within a book of books, and tracings of a particular life within a much larger lifestream-- teachings brought forward for our times that encourage us to not be afraid! to dive directly into those things we fear most! and to join with each other in the quest to discover our own truths, and express them by art and ritual and service and fully experiencing the life of the body. This is a book to take to bed with you, to let seep into your dreams. Read it, and take heart.



2. There is a hunger among women practitioners for the stories of other women who have gone on before them. Often these stories have been lost or over time turned to silence.
   
   Tsultrim Allione, founder of Tara Mandala, a 600 acree retreat center in South West Colorado, sets out with this book to reclaim some of those lost voices. She was initiated on this journey with the death of her daughter from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Prior to becoming a mother to four children, Tsultrim had been one of the first American women to take vows. For four years she lived in the Himalayas as a nun devoted to in depth practice. Later she returned her vows and became a mother and with the death of one of her twins began the search for stories to sustain her during unbearable times.
   
   In Women of Wisdom she uncovers and chronicles the stories of several of the more well-known women practioners, saints, and delogues, but what is particularly compelling is her own story. She writes openly and honesty with remarkable ease.
   
   It is a must for anyone who wrestles with integrating Buddhist practice with the demands of a modern life.



3. This is a lovely collection of sacred biographies of Tibetan Buddhist yoginis. The author, a former Buddhist nun, provides an extensive introduction including an autobiographical account-virtually a 7th biography. She provides much valuable information about the Buddha families, biography vs. sacred biography or hagiography, and Tibetan traditions and terminology such as delogs (people who die and come back to life), Togdens (Tibetan yogis), etc. The six sacred biographies included here vary considerably in length (2 are quite long and 4 are rather short) and in nature (some include much more hyperbole and others are more historical). The author states on p. 54 that "Goodness is not necessarily truth." She also provides a prolog and extremely valuable endnotes for each chapter, suggesting that (p. 215) the reason for embedding teachings into a biography is to make them come to life.
   
   She also provides psychological explanations for a number of otherwise fantastic descriptions and activities, frequently based upon the writings of Jung's disciple Esther Harding:
   p. 147: "When we think of a demon, we generally think of an external spirit which attacks us, but Machig realized the true nature of demons is the internal functioning of the ego...all four demons are thought-processes which block a state of clear, unattached awareness."
   p. 195 note 62: "If we understand the serpentine underwater Nagas as a manifestation of Machig's unconscious, as part of her own mind, this assumption being based on the idea that our environment is a manifestation of our karma and our own projection." Other contemporary books support such a view: Loren Pederson's "Dark Hearts," George Weinberg's "Invisible Masters," & John Sanford's "Invisible Partners."
   
   Further, she also clears up the ambiguity about Tibetan Buddhist practitioners consuming meat:
   p. 194 note 54: "the Buddha did not teach strict vegetarianism, but rather that all meat one eats should have passed through at least three hands before a Buddhist should consume it...if a Tantric practitioner eats the meat of an animal with awareness and transcendent insight into the true nature of reality, this creates a connection between the animal and the yogi, and therefore the animal will have a much better chance of reaching a higher rebirth than if it had not been killed and offered to the yogi or yogini. Also...it symbolizes going beyond the limitations of vows and conventional `goodness,' and transformation of poison and dangerous substances into a means for enlightenment. Therefore a big piece of meant would be an appropriate offering for a Tantric initiation." Interestingly, this practice parallels that of Kabbalah where practitioners raise the spiritual level of animals by eating them with proper kavvanah (mystical intention).



4. There is a time when women shall have names. The time of consciouness rising, when the wisdom of all life perceiving will be received by humankind.
   
   This text will be recognized - by those who sense that they are called - as an entry point to the evolution of consciousness found in the divine feminine; the source of all inspiration to the Buddhas.
   
   Those who feel a hunger for echoes of the great women spiritual leaders of Buddhism will find great inspiration in this book. It is a personal, fascinating, warm, and inspirational book.
   
   The stories are translated by Tsultrim and her Tibetean associates with a tremendous respect for the meaning in the original sacred texts.
   
   I recommend this work highly to anyone who desires to connect with Buddhism's sacred center, the Prajna Paramita. I recommend it to anyone who perceives that Buddhism has misplaced its joyously empty center, and who senses a chance for a more complete knowing of their own divine spirituality.

5 comments about Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions: Second Edition (Owlet Book).

1. These are comments on the essay "Alice Walker: Do You Know This Woman? She Knows You" in this book.
   
   What has made Alice Walker such a good writer?
   
   Alice Walker grew up living with suffering first hand. She writes on the topics she understands from personal experience.
   She didn't turn her head away from the suffering all around her and she listened carefully to the suffering of her ancestors.
   She has lived with chronic disease that constantly reminds her of life's fragility, finiteness, and pain.
   She lost sight early on in one eye and is constantly reminded that all her senses are not to be taken for granted.
   She grew up with significant facial scars that showed her how the world treats people with unusual appearance, and made her particularly aware of appearances.
   
   She has experienced many loves over her lifetime. She has focused on and brought attention to people who have not traditionally been shown love.
   She has done regular work, speaking engagements, and activism activities that bring attention to genuinely controversial and dangerous issues.
   She lives and experiences lifestyles that many people still disapprove.
   She challenges the major religions and blasphemes regularly without apology, suggesting that helping others is a higher ideal than worshiping a deity.
   She suggests there is the potential for redemption in the people commonly expected to be unredeemable.
   
   When she has been criticized or pressured to be silent, she has continued to write and publish, discussing unpleasant and uncomfortable issues.
   She has voiced her objections to unjust, unfair, and cruel systems. Her protagonists often do the same.
   She believes that well-presented ideas can change the world. And if they can't, it's still better to err on the side of trying.
   
   In the interview that Gloria Steinam conducted with Alice Walker, Ms. Walker said, "I'm not sure a bad person can write a good book. If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for?" I agree.
   
   Art does so many good things. It records the epiphanies, moments of progress, and moments of joy for us to pull out and replay in our times of need. There are so many times when there seems to be slow progress, moves backwards, silence, or numbing indifference. Thank goodness that we can pull out the artworks we love - to add music to ideas, color to darkness, and hope to silence. Beauty, wisdom, & genuinely good feelings.
   
   If you would like to be a good writer like Alice Walker, consider her example, and live a life that would make a worthwhile story to read.



2. This review is not a review of the whole book. For focus, it is a review of "Ruth's Song (Because She Could Not Sing It)," a memoir essay written by Gloria Steinem about her mother who suffered from serious mental illness throughout Gloria's entire life. But before I focus on that essay, I want to mention that this book also contains an essay "Alice Walker: Do You Know This Woman? She Knows You" written in 1982 before The Color Purple won the Pulitzer Prize the following year.
   
   If you are trying to decide whether you want to buy this book, pick it up in the book store and read Gloria's essay on her mother's detailed history of mental illnesses. "Write what you know" is a common adage, and it rings true here. If you want to understand what energized Gloria to take on a life of advocacy promoting women's rights and equality, reading this essay will help you easily understand how her personal suffering has given her such robust motivation for so many years to combat the forces Gloria believes led her mother to become mentally disabled, to varying degrees, for all of Gloria's life. Gloria starts by inquiring into the mysteries of what led her uncle and mother to shut down and completely change from the outgoing and incredibly bright people they were in their young adulthood (her uncle a brilliant electrical engineer, and her mother a math teacher who once taught college calculus) to meeker and lower functioning older adults. She notes that the family was concerned about her uncle, but not as engaged in trying to remedy her mother's ailments.
   
   Gloria lives with the hindsight that she did not know in her youth how to possibly help her mother better, "Assuming there to be no other alternative, I took her home and never tried again," and "Perhaps the worst thing about suffering is that it finally hardens the hearts of those around it," and "For many years, I was obsessed with the fear that I would end up in a house like that one in Toledo. Now, I'm obsessed instead with the things I could have done for my mother while she was alive, or the things I should have said to her. I still don't understand why so many, many years passed before I saw my mother as a person, and before I understood that many of the forces in her life were patterns women share." Gloria spent many years growing up with only herself and her mother in the home while her mother suffered from agoraphobia (primarily suffered by women), terrors, delusions and many other cognitive deficiencies. Her mother suffered from depression and other mental roadblocks, spent time in sanatoriums, was drug dependent, and could not work outside the home.
   
   Please, please read it if you or any woman you care about has either suffered from mental illness, or if they "became a different person" at some point in their life. I have a female relative that all my uncles could not understand why she "changed so drastically" and fell into never ending depression, drug dependency and general dysfunction. But I understand many of the likely reasons for those declines, declines that our extended familial environment contributed to more than most of my family ever realized or were willing to acknowledge.
   
   Gloria's mother, Ruth, sold her only home so Gloria could go to college. She encouraged both Gloria and her sister to leave home for "four years of independence she herself had never had." Before certain events happened to Ruth, Ruth was one of the first female journalists and went to dances when her religion and community told her the music was sinful. Why does Gloria share this private and painful family history? I believe she wants to help teach other women how to tell their own stories. Each woman is best at telling her own story. But when they cannot or do not sing their own song, sometimes others sing it for them, to share their beauty. Gloria concludes with, "At least we're now asking questions about all the Ruths in all our family mysteries. If her song inspires that, I think she would be the first to say: It was worth the singing."
   
   A beautiful coincidence: my mother's mother was a musician named Ruth.



3. This courageous book should have all those mean-spirited feminism bashers running for the hills. Some popular accusations against feminism is that the movement has created a so-called backlash against men. If this imaginary backlash exists, however, I have yet to see any examples of it. The backlash against women and feminism (led by a minority of cowardly, insecure men and women who hate their own sex) is what Steinem details in in her powerful memoir/essay collection. She takes her readers back to a time when sexism against women was a fact of life and full work still only got them half pay.
   
   Honestly and empathetically, Ms. Steinem takes us through her own evolution--from a journalist proud to "write like a man" and ashamed of covering "womens' issues"--to a passionate activist, willing to take on every issue. If you've ever wondered why all the ranting, women-hating anti-feminists STILL abhor Gloria with such irrational fervor, read this book. She presents each of her points in a perfectly calm and reasonable way. Never is there an attempt to force her readers to agree. Gloria Steinem, does not blame anything on men or make any affront on their dignity. She simply questions, unobtrusively, why certain inequalities still exist.
   
   If you're looking a feminist's account of "life in the trenches," you won't be disapointed with Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions. Gloria is an inspiration for everyone to reach their full potential.



4. Gloria is a witty woman who tells it like it is. Her adventures are funny and thought-provoking. I particularly enjoyed the story in which she was a Playboy bunny back when there were PLayboy clubs with bunny waitresses and coatgirls. She encourages women to step outside the box and think for themselves.



5. There was often grumbling in certain circles that Gloria Steinem had so much attention paid to her because she was pretty. If that was the only factor, Steinem's popularity would have waned, not because she lost her looks (she never did) but because of the fickleness of the media and the "next pretty face." Steinem is smart, brave, funny and a damn good writer. "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions", her 1983 book of collected essays proves it in spades.

   In early 1993, I had the privilege of seeing Gloria Steinem speak at Mount Holyoke College. I had to take the bus from UMASS to get there, and the place was packed. They closed the doors at one point saying it was too full, but they ended up letting most people in. When Ms. Steinem took the stage, she urged all those who were standing in the back to come up and join her onstage so that they could sit. This is the kindness and warmth that Steinem raidates. Many people in the audience were clutching copies of her books for her to sign. As this was the era of "Revolution from Within," that book was everywhere. But I also saw many copies of "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions" as well. By then the book was 10 years old, but I can understand why people held onto it. This is a great book of essays written over the years. The book touches upon topics such as abortion rights, Jackie Onassis, Alice Walker, Steinem's college reunion, Steinem's own relationship with her mother and the famous expose of Steinem's undercover work at the Playboy Club in the early 60's. Having a journalism background, Steinem's prose is clear and concise. This is no rhetoric-filled theory-based polemic, but a balanced and fair look at the world from the perspective of an extraordinary woman. Also included in this collection is the wonderfully wry, "If Men Could Menstruate." The second edition of this book has some updated comments from Steinem that reflect on the essays more than a decade after the book was published.

   For all those who condemn feminism yet really know nothing about it, read this book. For those who are looking for a book of unique, well-written and enlightening essays, read this book. For those of us who discovered this book long ago and have fond memories, read it again.

3 comments about Shakespeare's Wife.

1. Once again, I've read a biography about a historical figure that the author seems to know very little or nothing about. My impression while reading this "biography" was that the author's real intent was to write her own opinions about Shakespeare's plays under the disguise of calling her work a biography about his wife. There are many comparisons to Mrs. Shakespeare's wife from his plays, but nothing is fact. There are too many "maybes" to call this a biography about Shakespeare's wife. The author's true strength comes in recounting the lives of women during Shakespeare's time, but there again, nothing is certain about what Ann did or did not do. Was he present at the birth and deaths of his children? The assumption that it was possible is not enough for me. What his feelings may have been about the death of his son is not enough for me. I find the sections on literary comparisons tedious; the sections on the lives of women at the time are fascinating. That the author is very knowledgeable about English history and Shakespeare is unquestionable, but that the author has hard historical facts about his wife is questionable.



2. Greer is well known as a significant feminist writer (The Female Eunuch) and general social critic. She also holds a doctorate in English literature and enjoys a less generally known reputation as a competent literary scholar. She has a long-standing interest in Shakespeare and his works. Here she takes on a difficult task: Telling the story of Ann Hathaway's life and her marriage to Shakespeare.
   
   Hard facts about Shakespeare himself are notoriously few, but there are far fewer about Hathaway. During their lifetimes few if any people kept personal journals or diaries, letters were few and seldom contained personal revelations (for one thing, paper was quite expensive and there was no public mail). So collections of private and personal papers of any kind are simply not available, making it practically impossible to gain insight into the inner world of even public figures of the time, let alone ordinary people such as Hathaway or that "common player" Shakespeare himself. This is a monumental problem facing all who seek to portray the life of anyone who lived before relatively recent times.
   
   Authors are driven to public records of various kinds such as court and tax records, deeds, church records, wills, charters and the like which they then supplement with more or less informed inference and, very often, speculation. Biographers of Shakespeare have done this for years (indeed for centuries) and in the process have created a very unfavorable portrait of Hathaway. She is the older and unscrupulous man-hunter who traps young Will into marriage. She contributes nothing to his life, much less to his work, and he must abandon her to realize his creative destiny. There is no hard evidence for any of this and Greer sets out to challenge it.
   
   Greer, of course, is also constrained by a lack of hard facts, even more so because Hathaway's life left fewer traces in the records. To build her picture of Hathaway, Greer examines the records of Stratford and other relevant environs to build a picture of the sorts of lives led by women like Hathaway (and by their men) in their contemporary social context. The effort is multi-layered, deeply informed and occasionally compelling as Greer creates a rich picture of the common life of the time.
   
   Greer argues strongly that, except for Shakespeare's unusually young age, Hathaway's marriage was not unusual in its time, that Hathaway and her clan were probably a step up for the Shakespeares, that Hathaway was neither ugly nor a shrew, that she did not drive Shakespeare away and that there was probably love between Ann and Will, at least initially. In addition, Hathaway made a living for herself and children in Stratford while Shakespeare was in London or on the road and repaired and kept up the ramshackle house (New Place) that Shakespeare bought. She was also almost certainly literate. In fact, Greer argues, Shakespeare probably wrote one of the sonnets (No. 145) for her and possibly others as well. Hathaway may also have played the pivotal roll in the publication of the First Folio.
   
   Greer's point, as I take it, is that a "good" Ann Hathaway is at least as readily inferred from the limited evidence as is the "bad" Ann Hathaway of tradition. This point she amply demonstrates, with some strictures on the biases and carelessness of traditional biographers along the way. Greer's arguments are strong and based on great knowledge of the time and its culture and (to me at least) are persuasive. In the end, however, Greer's position too is circumstantial. Given the state of the evidence, I doubt that more is possible.
   
   A final word: This is a good and deeply learned book, unusually so for a book intended for the general reader. It is well and clearly written, with great attention to, and respect for, evidence. It is careful in its inferences. It is neither wild nor flashy and it does not "read like a novel." It requires time and attention but will repay them.



3. This book, ostensibly about Ann Hathaway Shakespeare (1556-1623), is packed with fascinating research, but a lot of it is not about Ann directly, and some of the connections are a bit tenuous. Because of this, I found it a difficult book to get into; but having finished it, I think it was worth the effort--it is important, provocative, and very informative, especially about the lives of Stratford women who were peers and contemporaries of Ann. It also sheds a little light on the mysterious woman who was Shakespeare's wife.
   
   Greer aims to rescue Ann Hathaway from the traditional view that she coerced William Shakespeare into marrying her, that he consequently left her and the children to seek his fortune in London, and that he ultimately slighted her in his will. Greer examines the evidence (or lack thereof) for each of these points, and advances (sometimes many) alternative interpretations, often based on meticulous details about similar women.
   
   Against the first point, Greer persuasively argues that Ann didn't entrap Shakespeare by pregnancy, but rather he wooed her, although Ann had "good reason to resist Will's advances: he was too young; he had been trained to no trade that we know of, and his family, having nursed pretensions beyond their means, had run into serious financial trouble." He probably stood to gain more from the match that she did: "Will was certainly young and witty, possibly handsome, but he had nothing else to offer the kind of girl, who, as a sober, industrious, patient, frugal wife, would help him repair his family's ruined fortunes." The young lovers probably weren't forced into marriage, but instead followed the tradition of handfasting (a family wedding ceremony), then consummating the union, and upon pregnancy going to church to solemnize the marriage. By the end of Elizabeth I's reign, the Anglican church would have (mostly) ended this practice, but handfasting was still common in 1582, as borne out by the examples and statistics that Greer musters.
   
   After William went away to London, but before he became successful, Ann must have supported herself and her children, probably by brewing ale, curing bacon, and baking bread, with perhaps some haberdashery on the side. She may also have been instrumental in the brilliant match of their eldest, Susanna, to the physician John Hall. Greer suggests that a condition of the match may well have been making Susanna the sole heiress of William Shakespeare's estate. If so, then Will leaving Ann only the "second best bed" in his will would not be a slight, as it is usually interpreted. Aside from the bed (which was probably their marriage bed and quite valuable) and a possible dower right of one-third of the estate, Ann would have been able to choose things from their personal effects before his death. Some of Will's papers, revisions of the plays and so forth, were conceivably among those things; and Ann (probably literate, as Greer argues early in the book) could have been an important part of the First Folio project.
   
   In the process of rehabilitating Ann, Greer sometimes goes too far, I think, in the other direction, disparaging Ann's husband (and some of his biographers, like Stephen Greenblatt). In addition to the often sarcastic references to "the Bard" and "the bardolators," she reverses the usual interpretation of his leaving Stratford as escaping his wife:
   "Ann Shakespeare could have been confident of her ability to support herself and her children, but not if she had also to deal with a layabout husband good for nothing but spinning verses . . . When the chance arose to send him off to London in the train of some dignitary or filling in for someone in a group of players, she could well have jumped at it and sent him south with her blessing."
   
   In spite of the shortcomings of her book, Germaine Greer should be applauded for this fascinating and important study about the woman who was Shakespeare's wife.

5 comments about Afrodita: Cuentos, Recetas y Otros Afrodisiacos.

1. I wanted to read this book since the first time it was published in 1997 but I think I was to young to have appreciated. Now that I finished it I just can say it was a real feast for the mind and soul, it was just the best meal I ever had. Isabel Allende writes after a terrible moment in her life which was the dead of ther daughter Paula but she does it with so much passion, such zeal for life as if celebrating it together with love and lovemaking, just couldn't help but devouring the book in 3 nights. Is not only a novel (if you can call it that way) but is also a cooking book with so many exquisite recipes that you would like to try with your partner (or on your partner) at once. If you happen to speak spanish native or have a good knowledge of this language I'd recommend you to buy the spanish version to enjoy Isabel Allende at her best.



2. Es inevitable, no arrepentirse de las cosas de las que se arrepiente la autora.
   Las recetas están bastante bien introducidas en el texto, aunque lo veo un poco forzado, no hay una unidad, son historias aisladas que a veces no pegan demasiado bien con la receta en cuestión y te quedas un poco a medias, ( en la receta y en la historia), pero es ameno y original.
   A mi entender éste y los demás libros de Isabel Allende, pecan un poco de "aburguesados" y ésto no me gusta demasiado, tniendo en cuenta que pretende escribir precisamente para un público no burgués.
   Tampoco me gusta la excesiva diferencia entre las ediciones existentes. La calidad del papel y de las ilustraciones es abismal, no así los precios.Que también pecan de "burgueses".



3. Es sobresabido que nosotros los latinos o al menos una gran parte de nosotros TODO lo festejamos alrededor de la comida, y creo que en este libro se hace un honor al ejercicio de convivir en familia
   
   No esperes encontrar la gran historia, pero si una perfecta y maravillosa narracion sobre comida e interesantes recetas



4. To me, this book is just a waist of time!



5. As I am a person that likes to eat desserts (especially) chocolate I would really even Love it more to explore in a book written by such a succesfull author as Isabelle Allende... It seems a delicious book to explore in, there it has so delicious and beautiful things to eat and read in...

5 comments about Diana, An Amazing Life: The People Cover Stories, 1981-1997.

1. This is the book to own. I enjoyed every bit of it and would recommend it to everyone.



2. Kind of a start to finish collection of selected People Diana covers/articles. It's nice to look through and read (would make a nice keepsake for the Diana fan)- especially if you missed some issues like I certainly did- but not really worth buying if you still have the original copies in good condition. I don't regret buying it but had hoped for just a bit more than a buyer gets here. There was a paperback edition out at first, haven't seen it recently, only slightly cheaper but this version would be the one to get for durability.



3. Hi, I bought my People Magazine Tribute to Diana at local B&N Bookstore and i am so happy that I did!!! I love the history of Diana,s life from the begining as alittle girl, meeting Charlas, the engaement, the births of William and HARRY,diana,s sister in-law Sarah, her marriage troubles and diana rising up a Pheonix the fire bird.I am so glad Dodi made Diana so happy. I love all the colour photos!!! BIG CHEERS TO PEOPLE MAGAZINE!!!!



4. I really enjoyed this re-visit to the People covers! It was a great way to look back!



5. THIS WAS AN EXCELLANT BOOK WITH BEAUTIFUL PICTURES AND ARTICLES AND IT LEFT YOU FEELING LIKE YOU KNEW THE PRINCESS FROM THE BEGINNING OF HER LIFE TO THE END. AN EXCELLENT TRIBUTE TO HER LIFE.

5 comments about My Private Life: Real Experiences of a Dominant Woman.

1. I was initially drawn to this book due to the title, "My Private Life", having somewhat of a private life Myself with balancing My time between being a professional manager and an occasional Domme. We learn a little about Mistress Nan, learning that She is a wife, a mother, a professional Woman, and has live in Female and male slaves. That's about it though. I really wish she would have showed us more of a glimpse into the private inner workings of her life, regarding Her relationship with Her husband, etc.
   
   Having said all that, I did enjoy the book. Although I am a straight Woman Myself, the scenes that She described with Her female submissives were interesting. I am typically not a fan of the "overly sexual" bdsm scenes that seem so fake and nauseating. This book described more the power exchange within each scene and was not overly sexual.
   
   The book has many frequent spanking scenes, between Mistress Nan and both male and female submissives.
   
   One interesting thing about the book as well is the use of a slave memoir within the text, with one chapter being a summary from one of Her slaves.
   
   I feel that the book seemed realistic, especially the multiple chapters of the different characters.
   
   I recommend the book, especially for those into lesbian scenes, bondage, whips, spanking and caning.



2. I received this book for a birthday gift and I was pleasantly suprised. Mistress Nan is real and very honest with every scene and in her own desires as well. I don't want to spoil the book, however every scene she describes you can "feel" some of the pain and humiliation that her slaves endure...espically Alex. There are 8 chapters dedicated to her, describing their various scenes/relationship and how Mistress Nan is on her own personal conquest to "break" her.



3. This book is a great peak in to some aspects of the BDSM world of one Mistress. It shows her journey in a way that most books miss. I trully enjoyed it on several levels.



4. First let me say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Nan is not the stereotyped femdom you might be thinking of though she can clearly dress up and put on a well-scripted and eleborate scene. The descriptions are not pornographic though they are careful to mention both physical and emotional aspects of the scenes. There are both male and female submissives and bottoms discussed throughout the book, the most extreme scene involve Nana and her primary female lover (she also has a husband). It should stimulate your mind and your groin so be prepared. I would have been better if Nan had gotten more personal -- why she does it, what it feels like to her, how she has changed over time -- as the title suggests.



5. This is the first book I've ever read that I feel is real. This woman has experienced what she has written about. It is NOT fantasy. She has honed her skills to a point that she is an expert at the exchange of power that is paramount to a BDSM scene. This book isn't all about pain or bondage. This book isn't all about fantasies. This book is about power, control and sensuality. You hear about her feelings while she is doing what she is doing. You hear about what her bottoms are feeling. You learn how she gets into their heads and hearts. I'm amazed at the candor with which she writes. This woman is obviously gifted with an amazing power, and is amazingly generous in sharing it with the public.

No comments about Victorian Lady Travellers.

No comments about Mountain Wolf Woman, Sister of Crashing Thunder: The Autobiography of a Winnebago Indian (Ann Arbor Paperbacks).

2 comments about El pais bajo mi piel.

1. Gioconda is another magnificent representative of the Latin American generation of authors that emerged in the seventies and eighties amidst social turmoils. Gioconda's artistry of words and poetry are evident throughout this book. Also the book arrangement, i.e. two threads set at two different time periods of her life, if not innovative fits nicely to convey her passionate, powerfully feminine message. This is perhaps the strongest point in this autobiography: the utmost defense of "las compañeras" in her struggle for equality and respect.
   
   Other little jewels are Gioconda's experience with iconic men like Torrijos and Fidel. These two anecdotes deserve to be in a study of the human condition: even in an egalitarian or progressive mind, machismo can be present.
   
   My 4 out of 5 star rate for this book is related to the author's ambiguous political position after the collapse of Sandinismo. In the last part of the book her message comes forth blurred by Gioconda's comfortable upper middle-class life in a serene Californian homestead. Suddenly, all that life-commitment with the revolution becomes a Sunday afternoon TV movie on "Oxygen" or "We". Then several pages, filled with apparently extensively meditated explanations, try to justify why she chose comfort to revolution. Personally, I think she closed the circle (as she likes to repeat through her book): she came back to her cradle in a solacing environment. Eventually, she goes back to Nicaragua to plunge back into "people's struggle" while being aware that she can always return to his Californian refuge. Not exactly a revolutionary life.



2. I've read the book (in its extremely sensitive and emphatic German translation immediately after my wife finished reading it and told me that it was a must for me to read!)

   The "must" was worthwhile because of the incredible breadth of Belli's writing expressiveness and intensity of the emotions expressed. In this respect I felt with her and for her in all her moods, life situations, her frustrations and her moments of joy.

   Reading it in that way, it is truthful, self-critical, just fascinating.

   But....and the BUT is my critical BUT.....where Belli, whose dairy-like autobiography this is (because otherwise whe would never have been able to reconstract the three decades of her life she talks about in "The Country Under My Skin" where she recalls all those names an situations with the accuracy as she does), the political aspect being portrayed in the book is strikingly unfair
   and is in severe contradiction to what is known to have actually happened between the terribel '72 earthquake and the end of the millenium as regards the Sandinistas and their revolution and the latter-day developments.
   The political stance Ms. Belli takes throughout her narrative is heavily lop-sided, if not naïve. Ms. Belli, who has in many ways "run into her hated enemy's arms" by living in the US, and does not really appear to have had any qualms about it, nor about passing on pure hear-say about political intrigues and movemements, acribically puts down dates and names and improper behaviour of the so-called enemies of the revolution, but she does not find any need to set right the warped political picture her Sandinista ideologists have slyly - and successfully - embedded in her mind.

   Ms. Belli should stick to writing her very beautiful prose - and stop loving her country by lashing out at phantoms, and painting a halo of "libertador" on irrespressive revolutionaries like Castro at al.....Nicaragua has not stopped suffering from the aftereffects of power-obsessed personalities, much as as it had been suffering from the Somoza nightmare.
   To be sure that I am not just blowing off steam for the sake of criticism, I have once again taken time and consulted credible sources on the actual facts of Nicaraguas transition from Somozism to Sandinism-Tercereistas and the years that followed....and have tried to do this without being blind on one eye...

   What I have finally found to be a representative truth does certainly not identify with many aspects Ms. Belli sets forth in her autobiography.
   Personally, I love South America. My mother tongues were English and Spanish, having spent my childhood in Venezuela, Argentina, Perú and Colombia.