Reviews (107)

Not great.....
Death Be Not Proud by John Gunther Senior is the story of his son's struggle with a brain tumor. It is actually quite interesting and the writing is good. I rate this book low because it is hard to spympathize with Johnny. His father, the author, is terribly biased and makes Johnny sound like a god among grasshoppers. It almost makes me, being a 15 year old, feel inferior. We never really see the Johnny actually being a kid. Sure we read that he plays games and has friends, but these details are minimal and minor. All we ever read ia about Johnny's Intelligence and Bravery, but never the fear he had over the tumor or how hard it was for him.

Though some have called thee Might and Dreadful; thou art not so
The quote in the title for this review is given to me by John Donne, who wrote the poem of same name. It starts this memoir, and another poem ends it.
Gone
Gone
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Subjects:  1. 1929-1947    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Brain    6. Gunther, John,    7. Health    8. Literary    9. Medical    10. Patients    11. Pediatric Neurology    12. Pediatric Oncology    13. Pediatrics    14. Specific Groups - General    15. Tumors    16. Tumors in adolescence    17. United States    18. Biography & Autobiography / General    19. Gunther, John    20. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (174)

good, but not as brutal as it is made out to be
THis book is pretty mild...the scenes in which the boys are abused by the guards are mostly cut off and non descriptive. one of the spotlight reviews points out the last part of this book is probably fantasy, and I tend to agree. I would think that it would be next to impossible to pull off what they did to those guys, and even if they did try to switch it like they did, then i would think the way they did it would have nothing to do with their trial results. I think that this was a good attempt and a great story, but would have worked better as a fictional piece...read it and see for yourself.

Shades of Frey
I agree with M. Cormier's review and believe this is partly true. It was an interesting book, well written but does not seem to be entirely true. It could be, but after James Frey's "memoir" all the non-fiction books I read are suspect. Non-fiction will never be the same.

Meat, Potatoes, and Salad
Sleepers is one of those books that the reader can get through very quickly. It is difficult not to become involved with the characters and with the plot. The book is well-written, and incredibly powerful. I give it four stars, not to take anything away from the book, but because I don't consider it to be a perfect book. It was quite an enjoyable read, and I definitely recommend it.
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Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Case studies    4. Criminals    5. Gangs    6. Literary    7. Murder - General    8. New York    9. New York (N.Y.)    10. New York (State)    11. Specific Groups - General    12. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Editorial Review

Susan Orlean, Read more

Reviews (20)

Nothing to get excited about
Susan Orlean, notable to most as a writer for The New Yorker, became the literary "It" girl in 2003 with the help of the movie "Adaptation" (the movie based on her book The Orchid Thief). In an attempt to capitalize on that book, "Bullfighter..." was released.
vastly overrated
Look at the cover of this book and you'll see who and what it's really about.It's all about SO; her subject matter is irrelevant both to her and, consequently, to the reader.Worse, even her style, which seems to sucker in a lot of poeple, is not exactly her own.If you want to read what she's read, and cribbed from, track down a copy of Mr. Personality, by Mark Singer, also a New Yorker writer but a far finer one.Really, I don't see how SO can pass MS in the NYer's hallways and not hide her head in shame.Singer is by far the more human writer.He reserves his style for his short Talk of the Town pieces, drifting it to the side for his longer, more important pices.Unlike SO, he knows when to take it down a notch in order to add some real heart and feeling to his writing.SO's stuff, from one story to the next, is stylistically the same beginning to end.Half.com often has copies of Singer's book.When you find it, be sure to check out what's on the cover; it ain't a picture of Singer.

Non-fiction at its finest
Like her predecessor Joan Didion, Susan Orlean writes of the wide range of human experience--from a traveling gospel group in the South to a budding basketball star--and in doing so presents a portrait of America that is both comprehensive and engaging. What's even better is that she does it without ever being sentimental.Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. General    5. Social Science    6. Sociology    7. Specific Groups - General    8. United States    9. Women's Studies - General    10. Current Events / General   

Reviews (59)

Loved it and hated it
My daughter was diagnosed with CF 4 months ago at the age of 2.5 yrs.I was immediately drawn to books written from the parent perspective (it seems most are written by young adults who have it), and I first read "From a Taste of Salt" and then "Alex".
excelant and touching
i bought this book because my best friend also had lost her life struggling with cf at the young age of 19.i always knew what cf was but never new how life threating it really was.this book was touching and reminded me of my memories with phylicia (1986-2005) she lived life in such a fullfilling way.she qouted in her year book her senior yr of high school one year before she passed "living life as if you are dying is never acually living at all".this book was very touching and i hope other people get a chance to read this book also.

excellent service
will definetly be doing business again with this company. books arrived on time (before expected date) and in the promised condition. i recommend people tp do business with this company. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1971-1980    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Cystic fibrosis in children    7. Deford, Alexandra    8. Deford, Alexandra,    9. Health    10. Literary    11. Medical - General    12. Patients    13. Specific Groups - General    14. Terminally ill children    15. United States    16. Women    17. Child care & upbringing   

Reviews (38)

A MUST READ FOR ANYONE TOUCHED BY THE DISEASE CALLED DEPRESSION
THIS IS HANDS DOWN THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ ON THE SUBJECT. NOT ONLY DOES IT COME TO US IN FIRST PERSON, IT IS WRITTEN BY A WOMEN WHOSE GIFTED USE OF IMAGERY HELP US TO COME AS CLOSE TO KNOWING WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO SUFFER FROM DEPRESSION AS ONE CAN WITHOUT EXPERIENCING IT. I HAVE ALREADY TOLD 10 OF MY FRIENDS TO GO OUT AND BUY THIS.
One of the best books abot Depression I have ever read
This is a book from the inside out, meaning the author writes well about the subject because it comes from within. I have read several books about depression, and this is the one that has impressed me the most. Honest, well-written, and it tells it like it is. At times I found myself disagreeing with the author's actions (but who am I to judge) as if she was a character (see, it reads like a good book, a novel even, definitely not self-help and never ever patronizing), but I always appreciated her honesty and "straightford-ness." Somehow I found this book at the time I needed it the most, when I had given up all hope of getting better. I'm still not convinced I will, but this book has me rooting for the author. I am ever grateful and thankful it exists.
Hope for those who suffer
I read this book shortly after it was released.My first thought was "Wow, someone understands how I feel."It is an excellent book for those around us who do not understand depression and the mental and physical problems that accompany it.I have read this book several times.I have also recommended it to many including my counselor.Tracy Thompson helped remove the stigma associated with mentai illness. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Case studies    5. Depressed persons    6. Depression    7. Depression (Psychology)    8. Depression, Mental    9. Specific Groups - General    10. Thompson, Tracy    11. United States    12. Coping with personal problems    13. Psychology / Depression   

Editorial Review

A young woman named Julia Butterfly Hill climbed a 200-foot redwood in December 1997. She didn't come down for 738 days. The tree, dubbed Luna, grows in the coastal hills of Northern California, on land owned by the Maxxam Corporation. In 1985 Maxxam acquired the previous landlord, Pacific Lumber, then proceeded to "liquidate its assets" to pay off the debt--in other words, clear-cut the old-growth redwood forest. Environmentalists charged the company with harvesting timber at a nonsustainable level.Earth First! in particular devised tree sit-ins to protest the logging.When Hill arrived on the scene after traveling cross-country on a whim, loggers were preparing to clear-cut the hillside where Luna had been growing for 1,000 years. Read more

Reviews (78)

Interesting Read
I read this in one day, it's almost as if reading a letter from a friend. I had heard about the woman who sat in a Redwood Tree in California, and after seeing the documentary about it, I had to read the book. The writing isn't outstanding, but I got everything I'd hoped for: A detailed description of life in Luna, which is amazing to say the least, and a much better insight on the activism to preserve old growth forests. I couldn't put it down. Read it for another perspective on life, and to learn more about Julia Butterfly Hill: A truly amazing activist.

Saving our environment
I had seen the documentary and was interested to read the book.It was enjoyable, well written and an interesting report of a woman's total belief in what she was doing, along with her lessons in dealing with the very personal issues and fears that arose in her.An easy read and worthwhile.
Julia Butterfly Hill:A Woman Literally Up a Tree
Julia Butterfly Hill's father taught her a good lesson early in her life.The lesson was to stand up for what you believe in and not to give up.Julia obviously took this to heart.In her mid twenties she was looking for a meaning in her life.So she sold many of her valuables, "hit the road", and came into contact with an organization that was involved in the fight to save the redwoods.One of their main actions against the chopping of these trees is to put people up in a tree on a small platform for about a week.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. California    4. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    5. Environmental Protection    6. Forest Conservation    7. Humboldt County    8. Luna (Calif. : Tree)    9. Nature    10. Nature/Ecology    11. Old growth forest conservation    12. Regional Subjects - West    13. Specific Groups - General    14. Women    15. Women conservationists    16. Biography & Autobiography / General    17. Conservation of the environment   

Reviews (53)

A true account of what happened
There is only one person that knows what actually happened before, during and after the horrific accident that left most of the world in shock and disbelief and that is Trevor Rees-Jones.
From the source
I have always wondered what kind of a person Trevor Rees-Jones was and his book gave an in-depth view of him, personally and professionally . . . in his own words. An Indepth View of a Royal Tragedy
Although somewhat hard to follow ; this is a book definitely worth reading.An indepth look , from the only survivor of a car crash that changed history!What could be more exciting.Somewhat rough around the edges;but ,nevertheless honest and telling Never knowing how these fateful events would unfold as they left the Ritz with Dodi Fayed and Princess Diana , TrevorRead more

Subjects:  1. 1961-    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Bodyguards    7. Death and burial    8. Diana,    9. Europe - Great Britain - General    10. General    11. Great Britain    12. Princess of Wales,    13. Princesses    14. Specific Groups - General    15. Traffic accident victims    16. Al Fayed, Dodi    17. Al Fayed, Mohamed    18. Current Events / General    19. Diana    20. Rees-Jones, Trevor   

Reviews (64)

BOOK NOT HERE YET
Tough to review this book SINCE I HAVEN'T RECEIVED IT YET!!

She's not there, an altered view
Complete genesis for this author from family man to SRS and eventual acceptance by friends, employer and family.This was an easy and enjoyable read which makes an interesting case study.(She's not there, Zombies)

Beautiful, Sad, Funny, and True
Jennifer Finney Boylan puts a human face on a condition that many of us only know from TV or other stories. Her memior is truly one of the most engaging, thoughtful, and honest stories I have ever read. As someone who had never given much thought to the transgendered society, I walked away from this book with a new understanding and respect for the bravery in which transgendered people must ultimately possess in order to become who they are supposed to be.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. General    5. Personal Memoirs    6. Specific Groups - General    7. Biography & Autobiography / General    8. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (10)

Interesting personal perspective
This is a most interesting, personal account of "how", "what", and some "why" a person has become what he is in the moment. The perspective is intensely genuine, as much as the author is capable. I found this a fascinating view into the life of a physical, although necessarily remote, personality and his attempts to deal with his own evolution. It seems that many of the other reviews(printed here) have approached the writing from their OWN perspective. I do not feel that that is valid and appreciate Mr. Shaw's revelations and insight into a whole world that is both limited and international. How delightful to find that these fantasy figures are also real people and have distinct and impressive talents beyond what most perceive as their "genre". Thank you Mr. Shaw.

Missing Core
This book starts out in a fast and exciting pace, but halfway through one begins to wonder "where is it all going?" Aiden Shaw tells an incredible narrative in a comprehensive, easy to read, subtlety poetic form.However, it's void of any and all emotion.Even in scenes of breakdown or crying, all the reader is offered is the notion he was crying but in no way do we know how he was feeling, other than obviously sad.I thought by reading this I would get an exclusive look inside the life of a porn star and hustler, gain a perspective and a respect for a niche of men whose lifestyles aren't something I would approve or emulate. But all I really got was a tremendous list of what the author had done, disastrously, from point A to B to C.In the end, I'm glad to have read this book as it gives the feeling of being let in on a secret.However, the secret isn't all together too interesting and lacks that personal edge in which I was hoping to find.

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
The person who wrote the main Amazon review clearly misunderstood Shaw. I hate to think they might influence other people, especially if they turn young readers away. Those inexperienced in Shaw's world can learn a lot from his brave portrayal of how not to live life. He does this not by preaching, but in a much more clever way, Shaw shows from the inside, the pit falls, the drug come-downs, and the ruined relationships that can coincide with the lifestyle he chose. My Undoing is refreshing, heartbreakingly honest, sincere, very funny, and most of all very well written. He puts himself on the line, while most prefer to hide behind pretense and propriety. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    5. Gay Studies    6. Homosexuality    7. Personal Memoirs    8. Pornography    9. Specific Groups - Male Gay Studies    10. Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts    11. Biography: general   

Reviews (44)

Evocative True-Crime Narrative
In this third-person narrative, Jeanine Cummins describes her family's horrendous experience with murder and its aftermath.While on a visit with his family to St. Louis, the author's brother, Tom Cummins, meets up with his teenage cousins Julie and Robin for a last-minute, after-hours jaunt. They end up at an old, abandoned bridge called The Chain of Rocks.It spans the Mississippi River, and that's where their nightmare begins.
Lots of adjectives, adverbs, and cliches
The story itself was interesting, but the book is not well written.The author pads out half her sentences with adjectives and adverbs that are meant to add feeling that she apparently doesn't believe the facts will convey.She also seems unaware of the many cliches she uses.A potentially compelling story, written in an irritating, amateurish style.

prose magnifique et hallucinatoire
Jeanine Cummins reads like a dream--seemingly effortless, splendidly scintillating, her prose carefully drawn: her account of the crime itself is almost hallucinatory in its vividness, and her narrative arcs to encompass each emotion of this terribly sad tale of the death of cousins and the arrest of her brother.This reads like the literary offspring of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" that it is--except that Cummins doesn't need to draw upon elements of fiction for her facts; only her lovely prose, which captures so well its subject, owes to fiction its spare, gorgeous manifestation here. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Case studies    3. Missouri    4. Murder    5. Murder - General    6. Specific Groups - General    7. True Crime    8. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Editorial Review

When Read more

Reviews (27)

How many of us have the same story?
I could have written this book but I didn't. It's taken me nearly 60 years to do what Andrew Tobias did in his 20s. How many "best little boys" are out there somewhere? The personal telling of his story - with delving soul-searching analysis and a great geal of humor - makes this a necessity for anyone who has lived a secret life and learned the accepted norms of society in the days when there were no real choices.

Outdated and Overhyped
I bought this book because I thought I'd relate with the author's choice of the title "The Best Little Boy in the World".It took me less than fifty pages to realize that this was one of the worst books I've ever read.I can imagine that this book probably made a lot of difference when it was written, but today, I like to think we've progressed beyond the self-loathing, hatred of our own nature, and belittling of anyone that isn't like us to make this book less relevant for today.If I was recommending a book to a teenager to help them with their coming out process, I definitely would not recommend this book.I mean, come on, coming out is traumatic enough as it is, why would I want to make it worse by suggesting they read a book that will only put them down and make them feel worse about themselves?

Self-loathing and superior
The other readers pegged it nicely: this book is self-loathing and superior. I read this when I was fourteen and, fourteen years later, found myself rereading it when I cleaned out my closet. I can't believe the arrogance and myopia of its WASP narrator. This book is internalized homophobia coupled with upper middle class snobbery at its worst. No doubt if the author was born in Nazi Germany sixty years ago, he would be Hitler's right hand man in his pink triangle quest to oppress homosexuals, or at least, those too limp wristed and "icky" for Andrew Tobias' liking. I'm aghast other readers are recommending his book for those coming out of the closet. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1947-    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Gay Studies    5. Gay men    6. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    7. Parenting - General    8. Reid, John,    9. Social Science    10. Specific Groups - Male Gay Studies    11. United States    12. Family & Relationships / Parenting    13. Fiction    14. Reid, John   

Reviews (5)

Seeking the adventure you never had?Make this book it's map!
God what a beautiful collection of real life stories and ones about women that way up most braggart adventures of men!(and I say that as a guy folks!). I was in a state of awe & envy throughout, fell dangerously in love with 3 out of 4 of the characters and am left disappointed only by my own world in result. This book is highly detailed and revealing of ins and outs of secret minds, hearts, places, women, individuals, religion, history and in many ways is scarily telling about truths of all. Its a gorgeous voyage and I give this book away too often but its one of those you know? Men or women I dare you to call yourself the same by its end!

Golden Legends
In 1954 Lesley Blanch, a hard-headed romantic, brought out her affectionate studies of four determined women who followed their dreams Eastward without regard for consequences.Even the demure Aimee, abducted and sold as a slave, doggedly created a life for herself within a Turkish seraglio.Recent muddled books on these women often verge on either the pornographic or the bathetic; Blanch's account was light-hearted; her humor, sympathy, and realism tempered her admiration.This was a best-seller in 1954, and is still immensely readable -- even if Blanch spoke more languages than some annoyed reviewers, and was not suitably PC for 2003.Her autobiography is excellent too.

Fascinating lives of western women in exotic locales
These accounts of four western women and how they lived in exotic lands serve best as an introduction, not as a particularly authoritative reference.Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Literary    5. Specific Groups - General    6. Women   

Editorial Review

Stephen Fry is not making this up! Fry started out as a dishonorable schoolboy inclined to lies, pranks, bringing decaying moles to school as a science exhibit, theft, suicide attempts, the illicit pursuit of candy and lads, a genius for mischief, and a neurotic life of crime that sent him straight to Pucklechurch Prison and Cambridge University, where he vaulted to fame along with actress Emma Thompson. He wound up starring as Oscar Wilde in the film Read more

Reviews (46)

Like Wodehouse?You'll Like This.
Fry is a Wodehouse-worshipper, and his elegant prose shows it.This discursive, digressive, sometimes profane and endlessly entertaining bio covers Fry's youth (with much reminiscing about Public School days in the manner of Wodehouse's Psmith) and the development of his areligious (anti-religious?) and homosexual tendencies... well, they're more than tendencies, really, as you'll see.
not bad, but . . .
Most of this autobiography was quite enjoyable. Stephen Fry is clearly a gifted writer, and based on this book I might try some of his fiction. However, a great deal of the middle of this book, say 100 pages or more, are devoted to his explaining and defending and preaching on his homosexuality. The picture of Dorian Fry
...Everything about this "autobiography" is constructed, fake and banal. This book is basically an endless enumeration of boyhood traumas, mostly related to Fry's homosexuality. We read uninspired, mandatory descriptions on how lucky he is with his parents and how he caused them so much pain. But most pages are devoted to anecdotes illustrating what a witty and tormented genius he actually is. Read more

Subjects:  1. 1957-    2. 20th century    3. Actors    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Childhood Memoir    9. Childhood and youth    10. Comedians    11. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    12. Fry, Stephen,    13. Great Britain    14. Literary    15. Novelists, English    16. Specific Groups - Male Gay Studies    17. Fiction / General    18. Fry, Stephen   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (39)

Our obligation as a White (at least I think I am. . .)
I began to read this book upon recommendation from my librarian. I became enthralled with it as a reader, yet felt that it was my duty as a citizen of the United States and a southerner to ingest it. Growing up in the SC and VA exposed me to an education in history that was white washed and I am angry about that. This book brought an understanding home to me of the African journey in a way that years of research hasn't. I appreciated the author's acknowledgement of his own discomfort.
Just as good, if not better, than Ball's book
Readers reluctant to read THE HAIRSTONS because of its similarity to Edward Ball's SLAVES IN THE FAMILY should not be dissuaded. In some ways, this is a better book.
Amazing story of shared history, forgiveness and reconciliation...
When Henry Wiencek was doing background work for a book on old houses, he visited a plantation home in North Carolina called Cooleemee.Cooleemee has been owned continuously by the Hairston family, and the present owner is Judge Peter W. Hairston.Wiencek asked Hairston if he knew of any descendents of Cooleemee slaves, and he was introduced to Squire Hairston.This chance encounter lead Wiencek on a seven year odyssey to discover the history of not just the white Hairston family, but the black Hairston's as well.The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White is an incredibly fascinating book that reflects not just the history of one family, but the story of our nation.Fortunately for his readers, Wiencek writes this historical narrative to read like a novel.
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Subjects:  1. African American families    2. Biography    3. History    4. History: American    5. Slaveholders    6. Slavery    7. Slaves    8. Southern States    9. U.S. Local History - Southern States    10. United States - General    11. Black studies    12. Family history    13. Hairston family    14. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    15. USA   

Editorial Review

An inspirational tale that was nearly buried beneath the detritus of time (namely floods and fires), Read more

Reviews (16)

Beautiful Jim Key
Entertaining and lively read--plus it is a true account of an amazing horse and trainer.

A wonderful book
This book is one of the most interesting that I have ever read.The story looks as if it is only the story of a very talented or possibly very intelligent horse (she leaves that distinction to the reader to decide for themselves)and teaches the reader much more than that.Underneath the story of Beautiful Jim Key is a true history lesson.Mim gives an in depth look at the evolution of the humane organizations as well as insight into life of during the period surrounding the Civil War.
Superb!
This was a nice break from my more scholarly reading, and yet I learned a LOT from it.
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Subjects:  1. 1833-1909    2. Beautiful Jim Key (Horse)    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Case studies    5. Europe - Germany    6. Historical - U.S.    7. History    8. History: World    9. Horses    10. Humane education    11. Key, William,    12. Specific Groups - General    13. Sports - General    14. Training    15. United States    16. History / Germany