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 Shanghai Diary: A Young Girl's Journey from Hitler's Hate to War-Torn China.

1. Being impacted by Hitler's regime about the same age as Ursula Bacon, I can easily empathize with her tribulations. I had not been familiar with the events reflected in "The Shanghai Diaries." Ergo, I am grateful to the author for sharing her life story. She is a keen observant; her insight and hindsight are remarkable.
   
   Ursula Bacon's last sentence is "All in all, I have been one lucky girl-child." This conclusive statement is indicative of Ursula's soundness of judgment. Ursula and her parents managed to get out from Germany, In May 1939. As refugees, sheltered in Hongkew, a restricted area in Shanghai, China, Ursula and her parents were living under most primitive conditions. The family was very cognizant of their predicament, but was more concerned and was lamenting the fate of those who were left behind in Germany. Her father said: "This is not a paradise, but we don't have to worry about the Gestapo, the SS. Compared to Hitler's death camps, his butchers, his ovens, his gas chambers - we had merely been inconvenienced!" Ursula's mother believed that complaining: "Dig us deeper into the black hole of despair." Ursula deemed life to be a gift and meaningful, even in times of adversity. She manifested appreciation for the beauty of nature. She often reminisce the creative aura of her childhood. She values greatly any act of human kindness in her new surroundings, in a strange land. Plato (427-347) said "A grateful mind is a great mind; it eventually attracts to itself great things" As the only Holocaust survivor of my immediate family, Ursula's assertion that she is lucky is most appropriate. She and her beloved parents survived the war; they survived Hitler.
   
   I was profoundly impressed by Ursula's husband, Wolf, saying: "I shall never hate anybody ever! Not a group, not an individual!" To hear such a positive statement from a person who was compelled, by Hitler's racist policy, to leave the country of his birth - and had been subjected to unjustifiable hardship - is highly commendable. This is indicative of Wolf's character and prudence. Despite my being dehumanized and tortured under the Nazi yoke, I shall not hate either!
   
   The Shanghai Diaries widens my horizon' it fortifies my adherence to. the values my murdered dear father had instilled in me:"Hate Hatred and shun violence."
   
   Alter Wiener, author "From A Name to A Number"



2. I am not a reader of novels, mostly technical material. Recently I was engaged to direct a video interview with Ursula Bacon. Not familiar with her I went to Powell's Books in Portland and found a copy of her book Shanghai Diary. I had only planned to pick out a few facts to give me an idea of how to shoot the interview. Once I started reading I had to buy it. This is a book I read from cover to cover. But not a book for the weak of heart.
   
   On May 23, 2008 I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Ursula. She is as "sharp as a tack." During the videoing the moderator introduced her and from then on it was all Ursula. She related numerous stories that were almost word for work from the book. What a memory.
   
   After we finished with the video she talked with all the crew and signed a copy of Shanghai Diary for the studio library. Of course I had her sign my copy too. What a gracious lady. I'm looking forward to reading her other works and our next studio session.



3. Between 1938 and 1941, approximately 18,000 to 20,000 Jews found a safe haven from Hitler's havoc in the one city that did not require visas, police certificates, or proof of financial independence: Shanghai.
   
   In the past decade, a number of these refugees have decided to pen their memoirs. One highly readable account of the era between Jewish immigration and expulsion, is Ursula Bacon's Shanghai Diary. She offers an interesting account of her efforts to adjust to her challenging and strange new life and to make sense of the past, present, and future, while living in Shanghai between 1938 and 1946.
   
   At age 11, Bacon, the only child of a Jewish family, arrived from Germany in 1938 to start a new life. Mr. Bacon had been a successful businessman in Germany, but now he eeks out a living in his Shanghai wallpapering business. Mrs. Bacon finds odd jobs using her sewing skills. Despite earning a meager living, Bacon describes the many hardships her family still faces: suffering numerous indignities, food shortages, living in fear of the many rampant diseases and the lack of medicine, difficulties in finding living quarters and their inadequate size, and other daily struggles. Undeniably, young Miss Bacon was learning enough for a lifetime in only a short time. She attends a Catholic school, where most classes were taught in French. At home and on the streets, she learns to speak Mandarin Chinese and befriends a Buddhist monk. Ursula also learns English in school and on the streets. Eventually she too finds a job, as a governess and tutor to three concubines. While they learn from her, she also learns from them: Chinese views of sex, marriage, and women. It is a tender age to be learning why healthy baby girls are left in local trash bins!
   
   Although these difficult years in Shanghai far surpassed what they had imagined, the Bacon family had no idea much worse life in Germany had become in their absence. Ironically, the Bacons also had no way of knowing that life in Shanghai was about to take a turn for the worse and that they would end up in a ghetto even though they were 8,000 miles away from Hitler! The approximately 18,000 to 20,000 Shanghai Jews were forced in a Hong Kew slum in an area that totaled less then one square mile. As with many families, the Bacons lived in a single room, which they divided with a bed sheet and rented the "second room" to a young couple. There is no longer any such thing as privacy, which was difficult for a young lady Ursula's age.
   
   Ghettoization and its new "rules" made it difficult for many men to continue their work, further reducing family incomes. Many Jews died from malnutrition, the horrendous sanitation situation, lack of medicine, shootings, and bombings. The economic pressures and health concerns required people to live by their wits now, more than anything else.
   
   Through all these challenges, the Bacons try to remain optimistic and to view their time in Shanghai as temporary, until they receive their American visas. While her youth is an asset in that regard, the author also receives excellent advice from some wise adult friends. Some of my favorite quotes include: "If you let the past live your life, the present will have no meaning, and the future is impossible." And "after this time comes another." These words will serve expats -or anyone-- well.
   
   While some readers and critics have suggested that there are a number of inaccuracies in Bacon's story--for example, one Shanghai historican claims that Bacon never swam through the filthy Huang Pu river in the dark and actually rescued American airmen-- the book is still a highly readable memoir of an interesting time in a fascinating city. Bacon provides us with an insider's view of WWII-era Jewish Shanghai that makes enjoyable airplane, vacation, or rainy day reading.



4. I loved reading this memoir. It was an easy read that was character driven and suspenseful. The language was not unnecessarily pretentious, and getting into the story was easy. Further, I knew nothing before reading this book about the European Jews who found a haven of sorts in Shanghai during WWII. While they suffered many indignities, shortages of food, medicine, shelter, and clothing, they were much better off than the European Jews who went to their deaths in the camps. Ironically, they also fared better than non-Jewish citizens of countries allied against Hitler and Japan during the Japanese occupation. Non Jewish civilians of the allied countries or captured POWS participated in tragedies like the Bataan death march. They were interred in Japanese prison camps and subjected to grueling forced labor. There they starved, froze, and died of injury and disease probably in greater number than the Shanghai Jews. The Shanghai Jews were subjected to some but not a great deal of forced labor. They were required to police their own ghetto and dig the occassional ditch. Jews did die because of a lack of medicine, sanitation and adequate nutrition. However, many Chinese civilians suffered the same losses even before the war. Still this does not excuse the ghettoization of the Jews into terribly crowded conditions, rules that precluded most of them from earning a living even though they had skills or precluded them from owning property. Luckily aid from Jews in the U.S., Canada, Australia and South Africa could reach them. For some this was their only means of support and they lived wretched lives. However, the narrator and her family arrived a little better off than most, and her father was a well liked industrious and optimistic businessman. Her mother took in mending and used her excellent seamstress skills to earn money. She tolerated her reduced circumstances without complaint and focused on the sunnier future she was sure would follow the war's end. When the author's father could not work much after the Japanese occupation, their circumstances were reduced. Because the ghetto was seriously overcrowded most occupants could afford little more space than 100 sq. ft. for every three people. Sanitation was completely lacking, and the description of the "honeypots" was truly odoriferous. Imagine several people suffering from amebic dysyntary using the same water closet outfitted with a rustic chamber pot. The author could have let her story fall into the trap of excessive sentimentality, but she did not. For this and her family's optimism I give her Kudos. I gave this four stars instead of five, because I don't think it rises to the literary level of a five star book. Still I highly recommend it. It is a great novel to take on an airplane, a vacation, or to read on an inclement afternoon. It can be read in a few hours.



5. Several months ago I saw the author, Ursula Bacon, on BookTv (C-Span 2). I was very impressed with her; her lecture was excellent; and the true story of her life from the age of 10 to 18 was compelling. So, I immediately ordered her book. But the book sat on my desk for weeks making me feel guilty about not reading it. I too am a writer. So, finally after completing one book and revising another one, I took a break. And what a break that was--when I was transported to the CHINA of 1938-1946! Ms. Bacon, an only child of a Jewish family, left Germany with her parents as Hitler and his cohorts were rounding up Jews and transporting them to Death Camps.
   
   By the time Vati, Dad, and Mutti, Mom, were looking for countries to immigrate to, every country had closed its doors to German Jews except Shanghai, China. And Shanghai was a total mess, worse than anything most Americans would ever see. But Ursula's family lived in the filthy disease-ridden slums and survived by bartering their few possessions for food. Ursula, up until then a very sheltered child, attended a Catholic school where most classes were taught in French. And most of the time she remained optimistic, made many European and Chinese friends of all ages, learned to speak Mandarin Chinese, encouraged her Mutti, and helped Vati with his business endeavors.
   
   Ursula became an adult before becoming a teen! And she encountered many bizarre situations which she handled better than most adults. The worst was when she was 12 or 13 and killed a drunken Japanese soldier with her bare hands when he attacked her as she walked home from a friend's house late at night. She didn't tell her parents, though, because she didn't want to burden them with additional worries.
   
   This intriguing and inspiring survival tale is about Jewish refuges in China during WW II, though it depicts the color of Shanghai and the many nationalities struggling to survive their wartorn world. I didn't want SHANGHAI DIARY to end! However, I couldn't wait to finish it, so I could pass it on to an friend whose daughter adopted the most delightful Chinese girl who I predict will someday be an important leader in some capacity.
   
   The world has grown so small today that every American should go out of his or her way to become acquainted with other cultures and religions. And every American teenager should be given the opportunity to live in a foreign country to learn new languages and cultures. I give this wonderful book MORE than FIVE STARS! And I hope parents will share it with their teens and high school teachers will use it in their classes. Thanks, Ursula! K.J. McWilliams, book reviewer as well as author of Pirates, The Journal of Leroy Jeremiah Jones, a Fugitive Slave, The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo, and The Journal of Darien Dexter Duff, an Emancipated Slave, winner of the Young Adult Fiction 2003 Royal Palm Literary Award.

5 comments about Infinite Variety: The Life and Legend of the Marchesa Casati (Definitive Edition).

1. "I loved 'Infinite Variety' for the way the authors brought the Marchesa Casati vividly to life."--Robert Fulford, author of 'The Triumph of Narrative: Storytelling in the Age of Mass Culture'



2. 'This book about the Marchesa Casati (1881-1957) is called "The Definitive Edition" about a lady of extravagant leisures. It is an excellent book reviving the roaring twenties in Europe and gives you a fairly good insight of the lifestyle of the truly rich and famous through to the 1940s. Part of this set was the Marchesa Casati, who is a source of inspiration to this very day for fashion designers, artists and wealthy heirs. So if you squander your vast inheritance, at least do it in style!' (review from Elegant Lifestyle)



3. "'Infinite Variety' is a thoroughly unbiased and well-researched biography. The 'Definitive Edition' includes a plethora of new information as well as artwork and photos. Thanks to the efforts of Ryersson and Yaccarino, the story of the Marchesa Casati, with all its splendor, will continue to astonish.--Jonathan Williams, Gothic Beauty Magazine



4. "Mesmerizing and revealing, 'Infinite Variety' is the definitive account of the Italian femme scandaleuse. A great glimpse, and more, into the life of a larger-than-life individual."-Mar Yvette (Clear Magazine)



5. "'Infinite Variety: The Definitive Edition' provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the bizarre and spectacular life that Casati led...All you fashion-conscious history buffs will love the in-depth exploration the authors take into Casati's stylish life."-Denise Dandeneau (Zink Magazine)

   "This meticulously researched and completely updated biography vividly details Luisa Casati's extravagant life...Fashionistas, art history buffs, aficionados of Belle Époque and Jazz Age culture-and general readers-will be pleased."-Lorraine Thompson (Primo Magazine)

5 comments about Dragon Thunder: My Life with Chögyam Trungpa.

1. I really wanted to like this book. I am a practicing Tibetan Buddhist of the Drikung Kagyu lineage, and I really wanted to come away from this book with a better understanding of Chogyam Trungpa. I wanted to be able to stop thinking of him as a womanizing drunk.
   
   Unfortunately, this book didn't help me. The author spends a great deal of time explaining away Trungpa's behavior by stating that he just wasn't like other people and that the normal rules didn't apply to him. It felt like someone who is abused making excuses for her abuser. I didn't gain any clearer dharmic understanding of Trungpa's outrageous actions or his reasons for having affair after affair after affair, drinking to excess, or taking drugs.
   
   Brilliant teacher he may have been, but from what I read in this book, he doesn't strike me as any sort of a dharmic role model or a spiritual friend on whom I could rely.
   
   In addition to not feeling like I gained any sort of higher understanding of the main character, I feel that the book dragged on and on and on. It read at times like a list of dates and places, overly specific and uninteresting. The author seemed to be trying to account for every event in her and Trungpa's lives and explain how and why it showed Trungpa's brilliance. It got boring long before the book concluded.
   
   I give this book three stars because some of it is very interesting, and it gives a decent account of how Shambhala Buddhism came to be, but it doesn't offer any sort of scintillating window into who Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche was.



2. this is a good read because mukpo doesn't try to convince anyone, including herself, of anything. she tells her story as it happened and is happening, willingly opening herself to possible criticism and raised eyebrows. this is a real life, a real marriage, not, as her husband said, "one of those suburban couples" who pretend everything is real when it isn't. trungpa may have had some issues, but he profoundly impacted many lives. whether his impact was positive or negative is irrelevant--buddhism does not judge.



3. "Enlightened Master"
   "Egomaniac"
   "Genius"
   "Fraud"
   "Compassionate"
   "Cruel"
   
   It is difficult to imagine one person attracting so many different sobriquets.
   
   Yet Chögyam Trungpa gathered all of these and many more.
   
   A recognized reincarnation of the Tenth Trungpa, he came to India after the Chinese invasion of Tibet and faced enormous hardships. He eventually came to Britain and met and married the sixteen-year-old Diana Probus, who took the name Diana Mukpo, and finally wrote this extraordinary memoir, almost twenty years after his death. They were married for a tumultuous period of seventeen years during which he established meditation centers throughout Europe and North America, attracted a large number of students and founded Naropa in Boulder, Colorado, the first Buddhist-inspired University in the United States.
   
   Chögyam Trungpa was a key figure in the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism in the West, and apart from the testimony of his personal students, he has left a substantial body of written works, many of which are widely recognized to be spiritual masterpieces. He was always controversial and heavy alcohol abuse contributed to his early demise.
   
   I never met Chögyam, but I well remember many of my Buddhist friends being scandalized by his behavior. Most of them had acquired an extraordinarily ascetic view of Buddhism that many still hold today. The idea that an Enlightened Master may smoke, drink and have sex is anathema. They have an idea of the way that a spiritual being should behave, and if he or she does not, well that simply proves that they are not enlightened! I have known so many people who never realized that this view of spirituality is a projection based on just one spiritual current. There are many others, and it is a sad reality that rather than practicing tolerance, many of the different spiritual schools and traditions really dislike each other.
   
   This book paints an intimate portrait of a master of "crazy wisdom." It is particularly fascinating to see the juxtaposition of the early life of someone born into a life of privilege in England, with a man born in poverty half a world away. And what an unusual and complex man he was, with a colorful and powerful personality. Not only was he someone who transmitted teachings, he was also believed to be someone who found and uncovered lost poetic and philosophical treasures.
   
   This is a very personal book, but it is not a rose-colored one. Diana was not only Rinpoche's wife she was also his student, and he did many things that must have been very hard on her. There was evidently a clash of cultures and even though she was very young when they got married, she was concerned about some of the questionable decisions that were being made. Though at the end of it all, she says that she has "no regrets." The book gives some extraordinary insights into the inner workings of Tibetan Buddhism during its early encounter with the West. Though not designed to be a book of teachings, it contains a great many acute observations about the Buddhist path.
   
   This is a book that will be of interest not only to Buddhists, but also to anyone who would like to learn more about the development of meditation and spirituality in the West.
   
   
   
   Richard G. Petty, MD, author of Healing, Meaning and Purpose: The Magical Power of the Emerging Laws of Life



4. This is an amazing and compelling story. One of the few spiritual bios that is a total pageturner!



5. I was a close student of Trungpa Rinpoche for 16 years. I never closed a door in Diana's face; I did spend a bit of time caring for Taggie, yet even though I was "close in" to Rinpoche's family, I did not appreciate or have much empathy for Diana's challenges or for the fact that she was facing them at such a young age. Now at 60, having raised 4 children and being grandfather to 4, I humbly beg her forgiveness and bow to her strong Dharma Heart.
   This book is a generous and bold revelation of life with a rare Great Being. It will help any spiritual seeker break out of their limited notions of spiritual life and practice.
   The way in which Diana perservered in preserving and strenghtening her own spirit under extraordinary circumstances will be an inspiring example for any reader. It with help you develop a mature relationship to meet your own challenges on the path.

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.

5 comments about First There Is a Mountain: A Yoga Romance.

1. Many 10 to 15 year practitioners of Iyengar Yoga categorize themselves as "rank beginners." What many Western students have to learn is that the practice of Yoga demands humility. There are cultural distinctions so foreign to the way in which we learn in the West, that one has to be open. Under a gifted and disciplined teacher, requirements include a deep surrender of the self. Kadetsky's study of the Iyengar's and her effort to delve into the richly complex background of Yoga in India are hampered by her own obstacles regarding self-understanding, humility and a surrender to discipline. She has skills of research, of following leads toward interesting discoveries in the evolution of Iyengar Yoga and the gradual refinement of the Iyengar family's present school and method. But, one reads this text feeling that she fails to see (or partially perceives) what some can gather from what she does not finish, from where she does not go. Her written experience is like watching someone encounter a breathlessly beautiful rose, which holds up the whole universe, inside and out, to the viewer. You can feel that she is drawn, entranced, yet torn by conflicting, unresolved problems of the self. She loves the beauty she experiences - even though eyes may be color-blind and the fragrance is barely registered. She knows this and exposes her limitations to all: as Iyengar pushes this realization into her, fully extending her into pashimotanasana - "the pose of the West."



2. I will most likely never travel to India. But, as a student of yoga, I was able to catch a glimpse of what a western yoga practitioner might expect and ultimately experience in India. Having read and studied about Iyengar, Krishnamacharya and Pattabhi Jois as yoga icons, it was fascinating to read of them as humans and sometimes tyrrants/rivals. Kadetsky's personal story lingered in the background...oozed out as honey from between the printed lines. I enjoyed the imagery and the human quality that Kadetsky imparted the reader.
   
   Surprisingly, after the read, I felt new inspiration for my personal yoga practice. I am so grateful for the masters that have given us a sense of history, but am overjoyed that the practice ultimately becomes our own. Kadetsky illustrated that wonderfully.



3. excellent exploration of the history of hatha yoga, with emphasis on the 20th century, and the author's own experiences. Fascinating - I could not put it down.



4. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in yoga. A wonderful memoir which includes some interesting highlights of the history of physical yoga.



5. First There is a Mountain, by Elizabeth Kandetsky,
   Reviewed by Malcolm McLean, RYT
   
   Here is a powerful tale of a yogi's quest for truth - the truth of her own life, revealed in her own body, accessed and then uplifted though yoga. The truth of her guru BKS Iyengar, clouded in legend and rivalries, and here pierced with the eye of a conscientious journalist. She has woven a rich tapestry from the threads of her own life, her yoga practice and experience with Iyengar, and the story of yoga.
   
   Kandetsky paints an intimate and candid portrait of life at the Iyengar school in Pune. She describes the tremendous power of yoga practice in this setting, as it worked on her own life at every level. She does not flinch from showing the tyrannical, often capricious attitudes of Iyengar and his daughter Geeta, and son Prashant. She shines light on the petty rivalries between Iyengar and other great yoga masters, on their roots in nationalism and other struggles for patronage and prestige. She investigates the origins of yoga, and raises sincere doubts about the legends of its antiquity.
   
   From this clarity of unrelenting objectivity combined with the understanding in her own cells, she offers a powerful validation of yoga. Despite the contradictions and falsehoods around yoga, she shows how it meets her needs -- and the different needs in India and the West, as it continues to grow, mutate, and reach millions of people.
   
   Towards the end of the book, she describes her last class with the master -- after she had admitted learning another system - the Ashtanga system of Pattabhi Jois, his lifelong rival. She was challenged to perform the scorned series in front of Iyengar, who nevertheless could not resist, as she went along through the despised "jumpings", teaching it to her as he saw it might be done. She described the experience as a great healing of her own sense of fragmentation, as a child of divorce and family rivalry, knowing that her great teacher still loved her even though she had, as one person put it "danced with another and then told him he liked it."
   
   I remembered the highly criticized error of placing my hand alongside the foot in triangle (Iyengar style) rather than grasping the big toe in Ashtanga class. Or breathing ujjayi in good Asthanga style, to the complaint of an imperious workshop leader, about "this business of breathing like a horse!"
   
   Yoga, like every other human endeavour, shares the human attribute of yawning political divides, insufficiency of otherness.
   
   Though I have never met him, I thought of how BKS Iyengar had cast his light and his attitudes into my life, since 1986, through teachers who learned from him directly, or indirectly. Now, thanks to this lucid and powerful book, I feel privileged to know Iyengar more deeply than I ever thought possible.

5 comments about Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin: Writers Running Wild in the Twenties.

1. An engaging, entertaining read by a skillful writer. . .but if you want a thorough, complex picture of these four women (Parker, Ferber, Z. Fitzgerald, Millay) and their circles, you'll be better off reading a full-scale biography of each, one that places them in historical and literary context. This book's final paragraph sums up both its strengths and its shortcomings -- the ending is crisp and breezy, but it offers no thoughtful conclusions. Instead, it basically says (and I'm paraphrasing), "and so the 1920s ended and passed into history and the people described here went on and lived the rest of their lives." What we have overall is a well-phrased and smoothly-organized collection of largely unanalyzed details.
   
   If you knew nothing about these writers beyond what you read here, you'd conclude that most of leading artistic lights of 1920s New York were shallow, self-centered, silly sots, and you'd wonder how on earth they managed to write anything at all, let alone stuff that is held up decades later as examples of significant art. (The only person who doesn't seem to have been an exasperating wastrel is Ferber, and you could easily come away from "Bobbed Hair" believing that her work is the least worth reading.) If it's really true that these largely despicable, aimless people are nonetheless artists worth our continued time and attention, then I wish "Bobbed Hair" had spent more time examining and explicating this paradox. As it is, we end up with details, details everywhere and not a point to make.
   
   But then again, perhaps I'm trying to turn this book into something it's not: it's not a scholarly biography, never claimed to be, and doesn't have to be. On its own terms, it's quite fun. So if you want a dishy tiptoe through the 1920s tulips, buy this book. If you want context and in-depth analysis, buy something else.



2. With BOBBED HAIR AND BATHTUB GIN writer Marion Meade takes the reader on a decade-long tour of the lives of four women who helped make the 1920s roar: Edna Ferber (1895-1968); Zelda Sayer Fitzgerald (1900-1948); Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950); and Dorothy Parker (1893-1967.) Although all four were distinctly different, all four shared certain traits. They were of a generation of women who considered themselves "emancipated." Generally based in New York City, all four proved globetrotters to at least some extent. And all four were writers, and their work was shaped by the decade just as it shaped the decade in turn.
   
   The 1920s saw Edna Ferber rise from the status of a commercial hack to the critically lauded author of such novels as SO BIG and SHOW BOAT and co-author of such plays as THE ROYAL FAMILY. Determinedly independent, Ferber's character would cast an even longer shadow than her works, setting a pattern for single, hard-working, career women that would last decades. Zelda Sayer Fitzgerald, wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald, was Ferber's polar opposite: a woman whose career was marriage but who didn't feel it should crimp her style. Along with husband Scott, she would party her way into self-destruction--and provide significant inspiration to Fitzgerald's novels as well. As the 1920s passed, Zelda would discover a gift for prose and publish several short works, but mental illness began to claim her as the decade came to a close.
   
   Edna St. Vincent Millay was a critic's darling who--when she wasn't writing poetry--spent much of the decade sleeping with any one, male or female, who appealed to her. As well known for her personal charm and eccentricity as for her work, Millay endured numerous difficulties in the decade before emerging as America's most highly regarded poet and then, rather perversely, find critical reaction began to turn against her in the face of works by the likes of T.S. Eliot. And then, of course, there is the truly legendary Dorothy Parker, who began the decade as a drama critic and slowly rose to fame through her remarkably funny and acid poetry. A truly dark figure, like Zelda Fitzgerald and Millay she too would struggle with a host of inner demons ranging from alcohol to drugs to bad relationships.
   
   These four women, their lovers, husbands, publishers, and associates crisscross throughout the book in an interesting counterpoint. The result is always readable, always entertaining, but it does contain certain flaws. Although Meade does provide background and does give notes as to what became of them in later years, her story begins with 1920 and stops with 1930; there is little context. That said, the portraits involved are somewhat superficial; all four of these women are worthy of stand-alone biographies, and indeed all but Ferber have received major, widely available, and well-received biographies.
   
   That said, however, BOBBED HAIR AND BATHTUB GIN is an enjoyable book that does indeed seem to capture a feel for the 1920s, a decade in which the sky seemed the limit for women, the arts, society, and indeed the entire nation. Although they were hardly the only noted women of the era, Edna Ferber, Zelda Fitzgerald, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Dorothy Parker were in many ways indicative of the decade--and this is a wild and very entertaining romp through their early successes and failures. Recommended.
   
   GFT, Amazon Reviewer



3. A wonderful view into the lives of women writers in the 1920's focusing mainly on Edna Ferber, Zelda Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker and Edna St. Vincent Millay. The writing is wonderful, easy to follow, and it almost reads like a novel itself. A great introduction to the biographies of these ladies, Meade doesn't weight the account down with esoteric references to peripheral literary characters. Her focus is sharp and vivid, and I liked that she organized events chronologically, breaking up the chapters by year. She paints these women so multi-dimensionally that I found myself missing them, like characters in a great novel, once I had finished the book.



4. A breezy, fast read which skims the surface of Prohibition Days. If you enjoy learning about that crazy time before Wall Street "laid an egg" you will like this book.



5. Extremely well written, as is all Meade's stuff, and you'll walk away considerably wider of eye over these lives of recently enfranchised famous flappers learning how to deal with their new status as full members of society. Some of them did not deal well.
   
   Meade also wrote a great bio of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

5 comments about In Code: A Mathematical Journey.

1. This is the second book I've read on my own, self study of cryptography. But I remember from the book, "Secrets and Lies" by Bruce Schneier that new cryptography systems occur often. It is not possible to foresee all attacks that would break the security. That said, even though Ms. Flannery's encryption method had a vulnerability it still is interesting enough to learn from. That is why I wish she would have described the thinking process behind the math of her main algorithm. Sure the appendix has all the math (Which I still need to go through.), but if she would have described the encryption algorithm as she did her journey learning cryptography, the book would be phenomenal.
   
   Again, the book is great and I give it 5 stars. She explains complex math in a way that is both interesting and understandable. And even though I wanted more explanation about the main algorithm, at least all the math (including Mathematica code) is in the appendix. I guess this was done because the book's main focus is supposed to be the story. But don't let that deter you, this is a math book too. And while it is fundamental math topics, the math is not watered down. It is presented in a way in which you can understand and learn from it.
   
   I highly recommend this book. It shows with some hard work and a basic math understanding, you can still contribute and discover things. I have been working with logarithmic spirals trying to find a use for them in cryptography. I had worked at it hard and realized after all the work I still don't have a proven solution. But reading this book by Ms. Flannery, you see that it is more about the journey.



2. Miss Flannery book is great. I remember the interesting puzzles littered through the book. Otherwise an inspiring story which doesn't abstract away achievement by attributing it to the authors intelligence.
   
   I found it a delightful read. I would strongly recommend that you buy a copy to gift to your 15 year old kid/niece/nephew....



3. everybody knows that number theory is notoriously abstract and at times, completely unfathomnable to the layman's mind and at worst the realm of the pure intellect. But Sarah and her dad has done a excellent job in breaking that notion!



4. If you know any youngster who's interested in math, do them a favor and buy them this book. Heck, even if they don't care about math, buy them this book anyway. I don't see how anyone who doesn't have a brick between their ears can fail to be inspired by the curiosity and enthusiasm of this down-to-earth young lady.



5. 
   In Code is written by Sarah Flannery (who won Ireland's Young Scientist of the Year Award at the age of 16). Part biography, it discusses this young woman's remarkable journey to mathematical celebrity, beginning from her solving logic brainteasers from a very young age. Cultivated and influenced in large part by her mathematician father, Sarah attempts to develop a new algorithm that encrypts/decodes more quickly than RSA, the standard public key algorithm.
   
   This book provides a detailed discussing of cryptography and mathematics and includes various technical questions/references that stumped me. As another reviewer wrote, "she digs deeply into number theory." Nevertheless, her fluid and engaging writing made up for these hurdles.
   
   All in all, a definite read!

5 comments about Going Overboard: The Misadventures of a Military Wife.

1. I was so excited to read this book, especially after meeting Sarah Smiley when she was a guest speaker at a military spouses group I was a part of. However, after reading the book, I was disappointed. While I admire her honesty (although I wonder how much of that "honesty" is driven by the need to spice up the book to improve with sales"), I would be so embarrased if I were Sarah. I am a military brat AND a military wife and have dealt with my own deployments. My husband deployed when our son was just 5 weeks old and our daughter was 2 1/2. I DID NOT FALL APART!! Nowhere near!! It's difficult, yes but there's no honor in the way she behaved! I'm teetering between sympathy for Sarah and disgrace. What a mess! I really expected more from the book though! I'm glad I didn't spend much on it!



2. I love Sara Smiley! This book is so refreshing after reading so many serious or do this and not this military wife books out there. I think my experiences with military life and deployment are funny. It is what it is but I knew that getting married to my soldier. This book entertained me so much i bought it twice (one to pass around) and the other I have to keep to read again. Thanks for the great book!! HIGHLY recommended. You can find a lot of how to's and guides online but for entertainment on what it is REALLY like to be a military wife is right in the book!



3. This book was written for idiots! Should be considered a fiction novel. Don't waste your time if you want to read a book about military wives read either "Under the Sabers" or "Home Fires Burning". This author should stick to writing magazine columns.



4. Sarah Smiley does a wonderful job of relating military family life. It's great to know that there are other women and families out there who are dealing with the same everyday issues. I love that she's unafraid to put her feelings and actions out in print for the rest of us to read. It's great knowing that I'm not the only one who hates waiting at Pass and Tag or who has family and friends who have no clue about our lives as military spouses. I can't wait to read more from this entertaining writer!



5. Awesome, funny quick read, could not put this book down. I loved it and wanted more, write more!!! It is great to hear or read about other peoples "adventures" with military life and put a humorous spin on it instead of dwelling on the negative! I loved it and would love a sequel or more stories!!

No comments about Occupied with Nonviolence: A Palestinian Woman Speaks.