5 comments about Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love.

1. I've always been a Courtney Love/ Kurt Cobain fan and looked forward to this book. I was VERY disappointed with it. It's supposed to be made like a "scrapbook" and there are handwritten notes, etc. throughout the book which would be nice if Courtney's handwriting were legible. It's terribly messy and the book is put together badly too. Everything is scattered, nothing is in order, pictures and notes are upside down, sideways, etc. having to turn the book every which way just to see things. Nothing makes sense in this book and she even says she didn't see the reason for doing the book at all. A BIG disappointment! :-(



2. This book is absolutely amazing. Very good design, editing....You don't get tired of reading it , watching it, stare at it. Very entertaining. The book is pretty big, I though it was smaller. Love the pictures, notes, poems, songs, letters, documents...
   
   Amazing. ***** 5 stars



3. The book is absolutely great and I received it with no problem.
   Courtney Love is a rock goddess and with this book you can follow her life from a young age to the Hole era.
   You can really get inside Courtney's head and looks at life through her eyes. The poems and songs are beautiful.



4. Is there any celebrity who provokes such polarizing reactions as Courtney Love? I, for one, am a fan, of both her work (as a musician and an actress) and of her persona. She's an enigma ... constantly defying expectations, contradicting herself, self-destructing and then rising from the ashes.
   
   As for this book ... as the Amazon review says, it's not really a diary as much as it is a scrapbook. And although the (excellent) graphic design of the book makes it look as if its content were pieced together with tape and scissors and glue, it's really a meticulously gathered collection of carefully chosen mementos that chronicle Courtney's life.
   
   After reading the book, my opinion of Courtney really hasn't changed so much. I've always thought of her as a sensitive, wounded, intelligent, ambitious, needy and occasionally vicious woman, and all that is evident here. As is her inability to decide whether or not she wants to be a frightening outcast or a high-society fashionista.
   
   If you're a fan, this book is probably worth buying. But instead of offering many answers, it only really contributes to Courtney's mystique.



5. This is with a doubt, one of the coolest Coffee Table books out there.
   It's a pick-up Guilty Pleasure type of book. The notes/poems in her hand writing is very cool. To see her personal thoughts through her eyes is a Bonus! Allot of pics most fan's never seen. Just a all-around awesome book that isn't super long and drawn out. You walk away with a sense you've seen the Brilliance and the madness of this Under-Rated Talent!
   
   I Highly recommend this book to all Rock fans.
   10/10

5 comments about Zoya's Story: An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom.

1. Zoya's story begins with her childhood in the war torn country of Afghanistan as the daughter of brave and free thinking parents who tried their best to make life better for women. Unfortunately, they were murdered by Muslim fundamentalists who were trying to put the country back in the dark ages after the Russian occupation. Much to the detriment of not only women but then entire world came the infamous Taliban who's immense cruelty is shocking and who today are regaining their foothold not only in Afghanistan but Pakistan too.
   
   Today Zoya follows in her mothers footsteps and has dedicated her life to RAWA-Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. Her life is in constant danger but despite it all she continues to live and work in the repressive and violent environment of the Middle East. For this she must be commended.



2. If you've been unable to make sense out of the conflicting regimes and wars in Afghanistan during the past 2 decades, this intimate account of one young woman's life will help put it in a human prospective. Zoya is the nom de guerre of a 23-year old Afghan woman who fled her homeland after her parents were murdered on orders of the thuggish Mujahideen.
   
   I found the first part of the book more interesting than the last, as Zoya describes her life as a lively little girl playing in the streets of Kabul and as the beloved only child of educated parents. She becomes gradually aware that her parents are involved in clandestine activities to undermine the increasingly repressive political regime. One day her father, and somewhat later, her mother simply disappear. As more women are victimised in the streets and in their own homes, Zoya and her grandmother decide to take refuge in Pakistan. There Zoya grows to adulthood and joins the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA).
   
   Zoya is involved in assisting Afghan refugees and later becomes a spokeswoman and fund-raiser for the organization. There are brief accounts of secret travels to Afghanistan to photograph Taliban activities such as the cutting off of hands. I wish Zoya had been less vague about the work of her organisation and her actual role in it, but it is apparently necessary for reasons of personal security. Considering the venomous hate-mail she & RAWA received from American supporters & former friends after 9/11, it is understandable and very sad that they cannot afford to trust anyone.



3. I read this story about Zoya, the young Afghan woman and her story of refuge in Pakistan and trips into Afghanistan. This is an OK story, although I prefer My Forbidden Face, another Afghan woman's story. Zoya's comments about the Mujalideen being as bad as the Taliban has some truth. Her resistance to these two regimes through RAWA is brave and principled. It goes to show that Afghan society is very traditional in the sense of repressing woman throughout society. The Soviet regime was probably the best in representing women in the society, but of course they were invaders and Zoya was not happy about their occupation of the country.
   
   This is a pretty basic story detailing the crimes of the Mujalideen and the Taliban. Zoya loses both parents, probably to the Mujalideen. Then she is forced to flee and her opposition to the Taliban makes up the latter part of this book.
   Hers is a difficult position. Friends in RAWA place her in a school and she becomes liberated with knowledge. She refuses to leave her countrymen and lives in a refugee camp. Her life is spent for the betterment of her countrymen, including women.
   
   I like the other book better, but this is an OK read about the difficulties faced by Afghan women.



4. Having grown up with the priviledges of living in the United States one can only imagine the devestation this amazing young woman has gone through in her short, inspiring life.
   At the tender age of 7, this courageous girl already started her early beginnings helping her mother work for RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan). Living in a country that had been overtaken by the Russians in what they called "the puppet regime", one couldn't imagine that life could get worse in this destitute country, ravaged by war and poverty. "The bleeding wound" Gorbachav called it.
   Zoya's graphic, heroic and saddening story told with such detail brings you to a life, I would say you "could just imagine", but I can't imagine that life. orphaned at a young age, under two controlling fundamentalist Moslem regimes, life in Afghanistan only seems to grow worse. Under the control of the Taliban, you will read of the most inhumane, torturous treatment. The taking of lives. I always knew how awful the Taliban was, but I never knew from an individual's personal experience what it was REALLY like to live there.
   This incredible young woman has done so much for the woman and people of Afghanistan, helping refugees, teaching women to read and write in a country where 90% of the women are illiterate, spreading the words of freedom, where her life can be taken at any time. Zoya is a true hero and inspiration.
   There is one line in the book that I will never forget, and I believe it is how Zoya truelly loves and feels for her country. It is a line from an old Afghan folklore "I am ready to die for my love, but I want my love to be ready to die for my country." This is the passion Zoya lives with on her crusade to make life better for people in Afghanistan.



5. zoyas story is a tale of one girl whose mother was an advocate for womens rights, and she followed suit after her mothers death and after discouraging life changes. living under the taliban was a historically tragic event for all women who endured this horrific regime that ruled afghanistan without mercy or compassion for women or their rights. zoyas entire life has been uprooted and yet she has such a strong heart and mind and will not let her people suffer alone, he courage and strength is a guide to those who have equally or more suffered and lost all theyve ever had. an example to live by, a great inside look into an awful time in afghanistans history. this book will also take you into pakistan where many refugees fled, and zoya continued to be a help to many people.

2 comments about The Diary Of Anais Nin, Volume 2 (1934-1939).

1. Anais Nin began a letter to her father, on the ship that carried her, her mother and brothers, away from him, away from Europe and to New York City. She was 11 at the time. The letter was never sent (her mother did not think it appropriate), but instead developed into a diary that would become legendary by the time she reached her late 20s. Henry Miller helped feed the legend by stating that, once published, Anais Nin's diary would take its place beside the great literary revelations of the century. Upon publication in the 1960s, many critics, and audiences alike, felt that the acclaim was justified. Though original plans called for the publication of only one volume, demand was so great that seven volumes in all would be eventually be published; then, of course, the "unexpurgated" versions would be published in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

   In the first volume of the diary, we meet Anais Nin living outside of Paris with her husband, banker Hugh Guiler. She has just published her study of DH Lawrence and is about to meet Henry Miller and his fascinating and dramatic wife, June. All characters from the previous volume factor into this second installment, but many new people are introduced. Gonzalo, a Peruvian Marxist, and his wife Helba, are the most interesting new characters. Famous Freudian analyst Otto Rank is also depicted. Anais works with Rank in New York; she struggles to understand whether she is meant to be an analyst or a writer. Yes, in what strikes me as an odd occurence, Anais Nin - with no formal training - is allowed to take on patients.

   Of the first two volumes, I'd have to say that this is my favorite. There is more movement, and with World War II as a backdrop, there is more social conscience on display. "Politics, all of them," Anais writes in an astute observation that, sadly, is still true 70 years later, "seemed rotten to the core and all based on economics, not humanitarianism." Indeed, in this volume Anais seems more aware of the world around her and less preoccupied with herself, well, a little less so. But, as with all other volumes in this series of diaries, and just about all of Anais Nin's literature, the reader is wise to look more for poetic truth than literal reality. What I mean is, the diaries of Anais Nin are most likely not verbatim transcriptions of the manuscript versions (the difference between this original series and the unexpurgated versions pretty much proves this point). They are something closer to being stylized, masterfully edited "memory books" and persona self-creation. But it's an entertaining, romantic, and often beautiful persona.

   Andrew Parodi




2. This book has so much wisdom. I find myself reading it very slowly to stop and really think about what she has to say. This volume of her diary is more disconnected than the one prior, but the insight is much more profound.

5 comments about At Home in the World: A Memoir.

1. Forget any news you've heard about this, and simply start reading it for the grand achievement that it is - a heartfelt memoir of a precocious young female writer who grew up sheltered in New Hampshire, was one of the first women to attend Exeter, was driven, smart, silly, shy, very concerned about the world, and (as often happens) fated to not quite fit in...
   
   and who suddenly, at the impressionable age of 19, was lured to live with an older famous male author, and she thought she finally, for once, had found her place to fit in.
   
   And then, she suddenly lost it and went tumbling into confusion.
   
   Joyce Maynard is an exceptional story-teller, writer, and memoirist. In memoir-writing, the most important detail is NOT what you put in as much as what you leave out - you have to sort through a thousand incidents and keep out the melodrama while finding the small details that show rather than tell.
   
   When Joyce Maynard talks about the letters she writes to magazine editors as a teenager to try to get published, the way her mother taught her; when she writes about how she spelled "penis" wrong in an essay about sex; when she describes the little-girl dress she wears the first time she meets her future lover J.D. Salinger, when she describes the sound of the racecars zooming after he tells her he doesn't want to have children with her -- these seemingly minor details tell us so much about how she felt at the time, and about the dark blessing of being "discovered" at 19.
   
   This is simply Joyce Maynard's poignant coming-of-age story, and there are no superfluous details. It's not written in a salacious way. However, when reviewers found out she was writing such a book, they went ballistic - after all, it might end up as a tell-all about J.D. Salinger, and it might also just be an attempt by Maynard to make money off of his name. There was some reason to believe it could turn out that way: She definitely had spent a lot of her life writing about herself (then again, that's what you do when you are destined, first by the adults around you, then by your inner voice, to become a writer, and you drop out of college to do so.)
   
   But it's never salacious. It includes only the details that are relevant to Maynard's feelings, story, and life. It is a wonderfully written both that will make you sometimes proud, sometimes sad, sometimes shocked. It also tells of the very subtle dangers of exploitation. To me, it made me feel a little better about being a writer, but I don't know if everyone would get that out of it. It definitely didn't make me feel better about a certain male author whose writing I love, but that's the breaks. (And yes, I know it's only her side.)
   
   An added bonus is the bit of "journalistic" research Maynard does at the end...there is kind of a bombshell in it, one that the newspapers seemed to prefer not to talk about while excoriating her. Again, it's her side, and we all must keep that in mind. Still, it's an extremely well-written memoir that she probably couldn't have written until she'd attained the proper distance.
   
   For one brief shining moment, this bright young woman had thought, at 19, that she had everything set for the rest of her life - and then her lover/newfound idol suddenly sent her away. Even if it wasn't a famous reclusive male author, the story would definitely be worth telling.



2. One central question which bothers a lot of readers of this book is, "Should it have ever been written?" Or to say this another way. Doesn't the very writing of it involve a betrayal, and an exploitation, the betrayal of the strong desire of J.D. Salinger for privacy, and the exploitation of his legendary secrecy by Joyce Maynard in order to promote herself and this book?
   The answer to this question is not a simple or non- ambiguous one. For as Maynard claims in this book she herself was misled, betrayed and abandoned by Salinger. When he a world- famous author wrote to her a seventeen year old prize- winning essayist , and invited her to visit and live with him- wasn't he exploiting her? And didn't he exploit her by taking her out of the environment normal for a person of her age, promise her a long- term future with him, and then kick her out?
   Maynard clearly feels that Salinger used and exploited her. And many will feel she is right. Many too will take pleasure in seeing the legendary writer shown to be petty, selfish and just as phony as the adults Holden Caufield condemned.
   Maynard in this book tells her own story. She tells about her relation to her brilliant alcoholic father and her poetry reciting and teaching mother. And too she tells of her older sister from whom she was long estranged. Her story is written with clarity and quiet correctness and it is of interest in itself.
   Yet the real interest in this book , and the reason for its publication is what it tells about Salinger. And this suggests that the ambitious young woman and would- be - writer who went to live with the older man is now an ambitious- would- be more popular writer.
   And this leads to a painful truth for Joyce Maynard if not necessarily for her readers.
   Though so many years have gone by, and she has published memoirs and novels and is a known writer, she is still nowhere close and never will be to what Salinger was long before she met him i.e. a legendary writer a unique one- of - a - kind writer whose books are specially loved.
   Maynard may have listened to Salinger's writing- lessons and learned something including to be true to her own experience- but she could not learn his genius from him. And she does not in this book rival or replace or cancel it.
   He may not have been wonderful to her, and this especially so in the chilling moment when she after all the years of not seeing him , returns to his Cornish New Hampshire home and confronts and accuses him of having exploited her. ( His response is tremendous anger at her.) But he remains the legendary writer. And she will never have anything like the voice, the humor the ability to bring sheer delight to readers the way he does.
   If Maynard is to be blamed for writing about someone who cared above all not to be written about, perhaps we readers too are to blame for wanting to know the 'sordid details' and the true nature of Salinger. And this when our not necessarily kind curiosity goes nowhere near to explaining the Salinger genius.



3. Ms. M has every right to write the book she did.
   
   though i would not like to be in a relationship with Ms. M, i find her books interesting and educational.



4. Memoir writing has become a cliche nowadays but this was one of the first I'd ever read, based on an excerpt I saw in a magazine -- plus all the publicity surrounding the publication of the book. I've reread it a few times and each time I am struck by her bravery in not just exposing Mr. Salinger for what he is, but for her showing how her own naivete and insecurity contributed to the whole affair. This book bashes no one person, and as she has pointed out, the affair is only part of her story. I found her account of her relationships with her parents, husband and children equally fascinating and I applaud her for speaking her truth as a woman. Many women can relate to her overwhelming feelings of shame and inadequacy even in the midst of stunning achievment and even more importantly, to how she took control of them. Not in some kind of magaziney, self-help fashion but in a truthful way. I read Catcher in the Rye in college and failed to see what the big deal was. Since reading this book, I've seen Ms. Maynard's work in several magazines and enjoy the honesty she brings to them.



5. At Home in the World is a very disturbing, yet very fine book. It is an honest account of a talented, but emotionally challenged woman trying to keep her head above water. Maynard does an excellent job of portraying her family, something that many do not have the ability to pull off. Objectivity is usually not a trait when a child becomes an adult and begins to have a fuller understanding of her parents.
   
   Because Maynard sometimes contributes to her own problems doesn't take away any of the value of the book. Her writing is suburb as always. The book also shows that success at a young age does mean happiness. Hers is a sad story, but one that should be read. She is, without any doubt, a brillant woman.

5 comments about Crossing to Avalon: A Woman's Midlife Quest for the Sacred Feminine.

1. This book DID literally hit me over the head - in a book shop! I was browsing through the books and this novel fell off the top shelf landing on my head before it hit the floor. At the time I was more interested in the books I had under my arm so I placed it back on the shelf....but 6 months later I regretted that decision and trackedit down.
   
   I have a large interest in Avalon - I find that era particularily fascinating and this book was a great insight but more importantly it was just a great read about one womens journey and connection to Avalon. There are so few books like this around (that I can find) - I am grateful this one smacked me over the head to be noticed, lol!



2. This book was appreciated from perspective of a younger woman also, so not only midlife women will enjoy! Made me think!



3. I just read this book as I approach my 60th birthday and am having some discomfort with reaching that age. I had read Crones Don't Whine several years ago also by this author, but didn't connect it when I purchased Crossing to Avalon.
   I found this book so interesting, enlightening, and helpful that it will go on the shelf with other books I lend out but always want back. I was able to connect the Goddess ideas with the Jungian archetypes and then directly to how I feel personally in a more direct way than with any previous books I've read. I would highly recommend this book. I'm not sure if it would have made the same great impression on me if I hadn't earlier done some reading on these subjects.



4. Crossing to Avalon is part of the Goddess Movement that many women are finding after being raised in male-dominated religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The Goddess of Ms. Bolen is almost a material, earthy Person as opposed to the spiritual sky God. The author makes several interesting points about opening oneself to Spirit and accepting the Body as sacred as a monstrance or a shrine. Other reviewers have given their opinions on the strengths of this book, so I will not repeat them here.
   
   The book has many of the same weaknesses as others in the Goddess genre. Avalon posits that before the horrible men got into power and forced their horrible male gods on us, everyone worshipped a Goddess figure and celebrated female things like menstruation, menopause, birth, etc. There was little violence and women ruled over men with their profound wisdom and magic powers.
   
   It does not bother Ms. Bolen, who is a psychiatrist, that there was no writing from these times and therefore no way to really know what the people said or did about almost anything. Feminist spirituality devotees can write a novel about a little figurine that looks like a pregnant (or perhaps obese) female and turn it into the Venus of Willendorf. Reality on the historical front is not as important as creating a misanthropic mythology that puts the Female front and center. I doubt Ms. Bolen would be as open-minded about the medical information she reads in psychiatric review journals. She would want footnotes and facts and testing done, something that is not a part of Goddess History.
   
   I found Ms. Bolen's musings on pregnancy, birth, breast feeding, and menstruation to be fanciful. I doubt that it was "patriarchy" that decided to call menstruation "the curse." I imagine it was coined by women who were sick and tired of bloating and cramping every single month and feeling exhausted and bitchy. There is a reason the birth control pill that allows a woman to bleed only once or twice a year is wildly popular. A lot of male-created religions have menstrual taboos and I used to think they were ridiculous until I thought, "perhaps women started them to give us an excuse to take a break once a month. 'Make dinner? I'm on my period; you know I can't touch your food/go to the mosque/have sex with you for a week!'"
   
   Ms. Bolen's ideology of Body as Sacred ignores that it is our Body that we have in common with every other mammal, and it is only our Minds that have evolved beyond them. A dog menstruates, gives birth, and suckles. It is precisely our Body that gives us a disadvantage to men -- before antibiotics and hospital births, women died years and years before men. Before chemical birth control a woman could expect to become pregnant every year until menopause, and traditional families all over the world had more kids than you can count with your fingers. Before formula, children sometimes died because their mothers did not make enough milk to sustain them. Women are on the average smaller, weaker, and slower than men. This sort of feminist spirituality seems to take what makes us vulnerable to "patriarchal oppression" and celebrate it. It reminds me of Buffy the Vampire, where anorexic Sarah Michelle Gellar would fight off males who could have snapped her neck in a second and not broken a sweat. THAT is the reality of the female body.
   
   I admit that I hold to an Aristotelian view of the Primacy of the Mind and not the Body, and I am not an epiphenominalist as I think Jean Bolen appears to be. This influences the way I read books like this. I get the impression as I read that Ms. Bolen is soooo spiritual that she can miss that "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Women consoling each other becomes a Goddess infusion in her mind, rather than the very physical brain response that people and animals get when touched and comforted. The fact that the author is a psychiatrist interests me, since she does not appear to hold that emotions and responses are related to a physical brain but are instead part of a numinous Thing that lives within us, perhaps the Goddess.



5. You know, I have to say - this book is awesome - especially if you are a woman.
   
   I am not.
   
   THIS BOOK IS
   --------------- P R E T E N T I O U S !!! -----------------
   as all get-out!
   
   I am reading this as a women's studies requirement at a "womens centered" university I attend (what can I say?).I am struggling to read this book and find parallels to the male journey... argh. If you are a guy, skip this!
   I know all of you are going to click on the "no" helpful voting button for this review - I don't care.CLICK IT TWICE FOR ALL I GIVE A RATS TUSHY. I just spent more than 800 bucks AND WASTED 3 MONTHS OF MY LIFE to take this class called the 'Psychology of Women' that took me on a womans mid life spiritual quest. Men, stay away from this book. Women, bare your teeth and vote NO to this review because I am evil. Thank you.

1 comments about Never Sang for Hitler: The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888-1976.

1. To date this book is the "definitive Lehmann" biography. Previous books did not have access to sources now available, or were oriented to Lehmann, "The Beloved Voice". They really cannot be compared to this, as they had other agendas in mind. Thus we do no find detailed analyses of her roles or her recordings, something thoroughly done by Lehmann herself and others, but much more about her personal life. There is more space devoted to Lehmann in exile, her pupils, her family life, and a fuller account of her behavior towards the Nazis, and the famous meeting with Goering. Not all of this is complimentary, far from it. This is about Lehmann, an intelligent but fallible human being making her way thru a competitive profession during a turbulent era. But when all is done, Kater does tell us what is that makes Lehmann still a beloved icon by many, even those who know only her records. It is not just the unique vocal timbre, but her ability to personify each piece she sings so that we encounter the "Ewigweibliche" of German song, with her uncanny and natural gift to infuse all she sings with the most deeply felt tones. I can only think of one or two others who can compare with her in this regard. That is what Lehmann's greatness is all about.

5 comments about American Priestess: The Extraordinary Story of Anna Spafford and the American Colony in Jerusalem.

1. Here is an extraordinary story about an international group of people who immigrated to Jerusalem to await the Second Coming led by Anna and Horatio Spafford beginning in 1881. The American Colony as they were known settled in a compound situated in the Old City in the Arab Quarter between the Damascus Gate and Herod's Gate. Jane Geniesse writes with fairness about the leader, charismatic Anna Spafford, who was appalling in many ways but also the positive force in developing welcome and lasting social services for any of the local people in need. (Of course much can be accomplished with mostly unpaid workers who are dependent on their leader for food, shelter and salvation.)
   This was like reading three books: Immigration to America, tough times in Chicago and Protestant Evangelism (and dipping into the till); The growth of The American Colony with its vague religious ideas; and The Middle East spanning the two world wars. Her research on the Spaffords, their descendents,the civil, military and religious personalities who lived through the political turmoil of the region resulted in a broad portrait of that era.
   The American Colony Hotel on the grounds of the compound continues to be a favored setting for celebrities,spies, diplomats,journalists, tourists and politicians. Until her death in June, 2008, Valentine Vesper, the granddaughter-in-law of the Spaffords and proprietor, lived there. Be sure to go on-line to tour this beautiful hotel.



2. Jane Geniesse has painted an intriguing portrait of a fascinatingly complex woman. Whether a tyrant or saint, Anna Spafford's Christian Zionism and her devotees won the admiration of Jews and Muslims even as she scandalized mainstream Christians and the US State Department with her unorthodox practices and beliefs. There was no room in her "American colony" for boundaries of national, racial, religious or social attachment that might limit its good works. The "colony" became a model of energetic competence and non-proselytizing Christian universalism, even running hospitals for the Turks in war when America was fighting on the other side. A thought-provoking primer on what makes a difference in relations with the "other."
   
   John W. Kiser ("The Monks of Tibhirine," "Commander of the Faithful: the Life and Times of Emir Abd el-Kader")



3. Adding to Furman Baldwin's commentary on "American Priestess" by Jane Fletcher Geniesse, I too am a 3rd generation descendant of the first wave of members who joined Anna Spaford's American Colony in Jerusalem. Our fathers, Furman and Norman,were sons of Reverend Edward F. Baldwin who with four of his children became early members. Also my mother was 9 years old when her parent and siblings from Nas, Sweden joined the "Overcomers" in 1891.
   
   Like cousin Furman,I learned more about our family background from the book than from our parents and all who knew them, combined.
   
   The story at times shocking, is meticulously researched as to characters and covers decades of fascinating social, economic and historic background from the mid 1800's to modern times. The author's deft use of language is a refreshing force to expand one's vocabulary.
   
   Without sharing much credit for many positive accomplishments of the American Colony, founder/leader Anna kept tight reins on the colonists by revealing to them her divine guidance undergirded by faith, ego and nepotism. The saga is a revealation of the depth and breadth of human potential for good and evil.
   
   If after reading the book, I'd be pleased to hear from any other descendants of the colonists with new informatioin to add. Norman T. Baldwin (baljunor@aol.com).



4. This a very unusual story with serious implications. Full of surprises, it is the work of an experienced historian who can really write. Enjoy the story and gain a better understanding of why America behaves as it does in the Middle East.



5. Jane Geniesse tells a fast-moving, rigorously reseaarched tale of a Chicago society woman who loses her children in a cross-Atlantic shipwreck, later accompanies her deadbeat husband, wiped out in the Chicago fire, to Jerusalem at the head of a group of evangelical believers in the imminence of Armageddon. Her husband dies and she becomes the leader of the group, which persists in the Holy Land for decades through many adventures and leaves behind the American Colony hotel, still a Jerusalem landmark.
   
   
   
   
   

5 comments about No More Words : A Journal of My Mother, Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

1. Reeve surely has Ann's gene for writing. This book should be read by all who still have parents alive and will be faced with their eventual death and by those who have already lost a loved one. Alzheimers and dimentia are a death before dying. It is hardest on those left behind and gilt and worry are only some of the emotions one has to deal with during the dying process. Reeve caught the essence of her mother and was fortunate to be able to have 24/7 caregivers to help her through this ordeal.
   This book is a tribute to Ann and to Reeve's Sister.



2. This is a touching memoir of the time when Reeve Lindbergh was helping to take care of her aging mother, the famous Anne Morrow Lindbergh in the last year(s) of her life. This book is a look inside the private lives of a very well known family during a difficult transition in their lives.
   
   The story is about how Reeve is trying to make sense of this time. It contains her thoughts and reflections and fears about the change in her mother's condition. I appreciate the honesty in which this book is written, I feel like the author held nothing back in relating her story. I was surprised and delighted at the openness of it. She wrote about things in dealing with this situation that people think, but would rarely admit to.
   
   I found this book to be very comforting, as I recently experienced a similar situation in my own family. There were so many times, as I read this, I was shaking my head thinking....I know exactly what you're saying. Throughout the ordeal, there are sad times, but there were also light and funny times as well. Dealing with the aging and decline of a loved one that you have known so well all of your life is difficult. They change, and when it happens, we don't always know how to deal with it or what to think, and we wonder what they are thinking. It's hard and it's confusing when you are trying to guess at what is going on in their world. Reeve writes beautifully about it all.
   
   I had not picked this book with the intention of experiencing what I did...the comfort of reading about someone else going through a similar situation as me. I initially picked this book because I love Anne Morrow Lindbergh's book 'Gift of the Sea' and I wanted to read more about her life. Once again, as I am a firm believer of...the right books come along at just the precise moment that we need them and so often they come in an unexpected way as this one did for me.



3. Reeve Lindberg has succeeded in giving us a marvelous journey through the last two years of her mother's life. It is also a very helpful description of what it is to deal with someone who is deep in the fog of an Alzheimer's like state. I plan to give copies to many of my friends, most especially those with elderly parents. Reeve's language is lovely and crisp in the strokes of its portraits. It is easy to see she that is her mother's daughter. I am so happy to have discovered this book and I would recommend it to anyone who is seeing or will see an elderly parent or friend through his or her last days and months. Tasha Halpert



4. This is a fast reading book concerning Mrs. Charles Lindbergh's last few years of life. Written by youngest Lindbergh sibling, Reeve, she tells of living on her own farm in Vermont, with a smaller house on the property her mother lived in during that time. Reeve Lindbergh is a wonderful writer - she doesn't need the famous last name to prove that. When she isn't writing about her mother, which is riveting for some reason, her writing of anything else in the book has such a fresh, emotional spirit behind her words. Anne Morrow Lindbergh, a legend in her own time both in flying, her husband, and her many published works, did not talk much in her last years. It is a story of how the family felt and coped with her condition, letting go of the vibrant mother they once knew. An excellent book for those who have been a caregiver to a parent or sibling. Anne M.L. was such a famous figure, it was both interesting and heartwrenching to have the privilege of reading about her day to day living. Thank you, Reeve Lindbergh, for sharing this story that you could have kept to yourself, but chose to share. It's a book that will be remembered long after it's read.



5. I have read Reeve Lindbergh's work before in her memoir, "Under A Wing". I was surprised at her candor regarding her father, and what was equally clear was her fondness for her mother. "No More Words", which records the last 17 trying and rewarding months of her mother's life, is a tender tribute that is notable for what it includes and for what it omits.

   The only photograph of Mrs. Lindbergh is the one that appears on the cover. The photograph depicts a young woman at the start of what would prove to be a life as fascinating as it was lengthy. The closing months of this woman's life are chronicled above all else with a great deal of respect. This is a most private family event, and just as the book is devoid of any pictures for the voyeur, the narrative too is informative without taking away any of the dignity of her mother. This would seem to be an obvious manner to write of one's parent, but a person does not have to look far to find books written with sales as the first goal, and exploitation of the subject left unconsidered.

   Reeve Lindbergh is a poet, she is reflective, and these aspects of her personality provide a narrative that is unique. This book is not simply a diary; it is not a chronological description of the systematic health decline of her mother. It is more of a story that is driven by the limited interactions she was able to have with her mother, and the memories that were either hers or recollections of her mother's life. This is not a sugarcoated story of what was a very trying time. The book is a balanced memoir about how difficult it is to deal with not only the death of a parent, but also the very real difficulties and frustrations that caring for an elderly, ill parent involves. Mrs. Lindbergh had the best care available which took much of the moment-to-moment care off of the family. It did not remove many of the difficulties, and the reader can easily imagine what it would entail to care for a parent with little, or no outside help.

   This is a very contemplative book that moves at an associated pace.

5 comments about Loaded: Women and Addiction.

1. I'm shocked to read the other reviews of this book. I found it repetitive and lacking in insight. Perhaps because the author never really got or stayed sober, she lacks the necessary perspective on addiction to write about it with any clarity or originality. Her blurred, romanticized, and narcissistic take on her life felt like she was writing with a glass of wine in hand. Editors and friends need to stop encouraging writers to churn out memoirs before they have digested their own experience.



2. This book is `loaded!' Though I'm not an addict, the writing craft and strength alone had me flipping madly through this book. . . Too quickly to really give justice to it's depth. Talbot shows a space that people tend to be uncomfortable with by candidly and delicately taking the reader directly into the heart of addiction. The intelligent courage within the pages of this book has me on my own journey of self-reflection targeting some of my own vulnerabilities, leaving me running lines like "I wonder, then, do we only see our own location within the geography of distance?" through my mind again and again. The book has replaced 'The Year of Magical Thinking' to become my newest literary treasure.



3. This book takes its shirt off and stands up on the bar, not in a stroke of exhibitionism, but with a sobering vulnerability to expose the naked truth of one's life. It pulls us across forbidden borders and pushes at limitation, demanding more then a socially manufactured script for a life. It takes you on journeys of insatiable yearning to the edges of continents, where one confronts the gravity of loss, and the demand for flight. It pauses within paradox, where Ph.D.s and toolbelts dance, where neon lit classrooms, smokey cowboy bars, a constellation of stars on a child's ceiling, and a married man's bed, come to signify the many worlds one can occupy in any given day. But mostly, it is a testament to the intangible grief for a former self, both wanting to still be her and simultaneously let her go. The stories evoke compassion and awe for both self and others. It is a brave book, and I respect it.



4. "Loaded" is a journey about searching for significance in every passing moment. It's the real story about love and leaving. It addresses the whole truths women experience but don't want to talk about. Your eyes will open, your heart will hurt, and your past will come back.



5. Jill Talbot has lived the life your mother always warned you about. "Loaded" is the rare cautionary tale, sometimes seductive, often harrowing, that doesn't pretend there are easy answers to our most pressing questions or a comforting moral to every story. In other words, it's one of the most honest true stories I've ever read.

5 comments about Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D.

1. A friend of mine insisted I read this book, knowing I was in a serious downward spiral cycle and desperately needed to come out of it. I wish I read this years ago.
   
   I am 27 years old and was diagnosed with bi-polar two years ago. I am a mother of two. My eldest is nine and my youngest a year and a half. For a long while, years, I was successful. I worked two jobs, went to school, managed a law firm, became a paralegal, did criminal defense, passed the LSAT, all the while being a mother and of course, sabotaging every relationship I had, eventual spiraling out of control, ... you get the idea, I'm sure.
   
   Because of this book, I am now on the right track. I had talked myself completely out of my diagnosis, as a result becoming much more insane and out of control, until one day I decided to just crack the book...see what my friend was raving about. Lizzie's description of her breakdown, the way her mind and body felt adjusting to the drugs, being paranoid--it was like she was writing my life, and she really understood. I knew then that I had to get back on medication and stop self medicating. It took time but I did. I've been taking my Lithium close to everyday. My life is completely changing. My "prognosis" as my doctor described in a report I got a copy of in my medical records, was fair to poor. But, now I think it's looking like I could do something with my life, and most importantly I am a great mother again. I think every family member should be required to read this book, in hopes they would understand a bit better.
   
   In response to my drastic change my son recently commented, "Mom, I can tell your medicine is working, because you're my mom again. You're starting to do all the things you used to that make me know you love me."
   
   So please, if you are bi-polar, think you might be, have been told you are, or have a family member or friend that is, you must read this book. It will change your perspective completely, and may even change your life.



2. book was well written, easy for lay person to follow, insightfull and for the most part inspiring



3. As someone who also suffers from bipolar disorder, this book hit very close to home. Lizzie Simon gave us a nice break from the typical scientific terminology, and replaced it with the emotional and mental hardships and experiences that people diagnosed with bipolar disorder know all too well. Her bipolar roadtrip provided comfort and understanding to all of us. Thanks Lizzie



4. I absolutely love this book! When one reads about bipolar, it is usually medical information describing the characteristics and treatments of and for this illness. This raw engaging view from a wise young woman gives the reader a first hand view of the interior landscape of bipolar illness. We go on a journey of discovery with Lizzie. And an amazing journey it is. There is so much misinformation and stigma on mental illness. This book helps to bring forth the reality of the illness and gives one hope. There is still much to unfold in the arena of mental illness, but it is like any other illness, it is an illness! It's so stigmatized because there are so many unknowns. Do we stigmatize cancer, epilepsy, diabetes?! I have a friend who is bipolar and have always struggled to understand it and now the door has opened. I am also currently in the wake of standing by another individual struggling with this illness and have gained greater compassion and coping skills from this book. My own family has a lineage of mental illness, though no one ever truly "coped" with it. I grew up in fear and misunderstanding. Thank you Lizzie for bringing forth truth, understanding and demystifying as best as possible the land of bipolar! This is truly a must read!



5. This is not a scientific book. It is simply one woman's attempt to help us understand what goes on in the mind of a bi-polar person. It helped me better understand but most importantly, sympathize with any one who has the disease. I recommend it if you want a personal account of bi-polar.