Reviews (37)

My Forbidden Face : Growing Up Under the Taliban - A Young Woman's Story
My Forbidden Face : Growing Up Under the Taliban - A Young Woman's Story, is a firsthand account of a young girl under the Taliban. The Book begins as 16 year old Latifa, and ends when she is twenty one. I thought this book was very well written, and very enjoyable. I thought the book was kind of fluffy, meaning that, though it gave us information about the Taliban, and what it was like living under it, it was still not giving us a lot of detail. Sure, she talks about the rights they took away from women, and the depression it caused her and millions other women in the country, but I think she could have been a bit more focused on her life before the Taliban took over Afghanistan, as it is a biography.
What a story!
This book provides a first-hand account of daily life in Afghanistan under the Taliban.Latifa (a pseudonym made necessary by death threats to the author and her family members) lived with her family in a middle-class area of Kabul.Her country had been at war her entire life.Over the years, Latifa and her family members struggled to be apolitical just so they could survive the frequent regime changes.One of her brothers served in the army under the Soviets, only to become a political prisoner under the regime; another was sent to university in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on a Soviet scholarship.When the Taliban took over Kabul, Latifa found herself virtually imprisoned in her apartment, forbidden by the Taliban from attending the university where she had just passed her entrance exams. Her sister had been an airline stewardess and her mother a doctor, but both were forbidden from continuing their professions.Her father was a businessman, whose Kabul warehouses were being continually destroyed in battle.
A girl comingof age in Afghanistan under the Taliban tells her story.
I was able to wad through the Spanish version of this book, La cara robada. So, its fairly easy to read and kind of basic. Latifa is 20 years old and has never known anything except war; first the Soviets then the Taliban. Her mother is a nurse and her sister is a flight attendant. When the Taliban come to power they lose their jobs and Latifa has to put her dream of going to university to become a journalist on hold. Through Latifa's eyes we see what it's like to live under the Taliban. Her mother, the nurse, has to treat patients in secret (including the wives of some Taliban) and then she has to travel, at great peril, to Pakistan for her own medical treatment. All education is banned, except the Madrasah, Qu'ran school for boys. A teacher friend of Latifa's family is severely beaten for holding a secret school for girls.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Afghanistan    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Historical - General    6. Islamic fundamentalism    7. Social conditions    8. Specific Groups - General    9. Women    10. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (28)

A Phenominal Read
Jane Stern's Ambulance Girl is an amazing story of a woman who, late in life, decides to become an EMT to save her from herself. A depressed hyphochondriac, Stern can't seem to find a reason to get out of bed in the morning. But after starting to see a new psychiatrist, that "volunteers needed" sign posted at the fire station catches her eye. Filled with humor, laughter, quirk, and sadness, Stern's story brings to life the adventures of those wonderful men and women who save lives everyday.Mrs. Stern throws herself on the line with this one, willing to have the world critique her unabashedly. Ambulance Girl is a very light read, and Stern's sarcasm is what gets her and her audience through the troubling times she goes through.Her entire life gets thrown out of whack, and while becoming an EMT saves her, there's a time when she realizes that she can't save everyone, and it becomes tough again.It's the cycle that every person goes through: believing in themselves, letting that confidence get away with them, having everything ripped away, and having to start right back at the beginning again.It's a universal truth and Stern does a great job at making herself seem human in this aspect.This book will make you laugh and cry all at the same time, while saying to yourself, "I know how that feels."While not all of us are going to become Emergency Medical Technicians, we all have our monsters to face and we're all going to have to find a way to face them.Stern's story makes us realize that we're not alone. If only we all could be as brave as Stern and decide it's time to attempt to knock down the walls that keep us from living the life we want to live.

inspiring, honest and funny
This book will provide good laughs for all, but I especially recommend it to anyone who is considering volunteering for a rescue squad.I was most impressed with the honesty of the book, even moreso than the humor, which is also excellent.In addressing the freaky world of small town EMT life, this book fills a void in the stacks of books that rate higher only in their shock value.If you have any questions about whether you are "cut out" for volunteering, or can handle becoming an EMT, you will find much to inspire and make you think in these pages.I don't think it will answer all your questions or allay all your fears, but in many ways you will be better off for having read it, and more prepared.

All female EMT's are Ambulance Girls
I loved this book. It was so funny! It reminded me of how i was when I went through EMT school. I also watched the Lifetime Movie and it was great also. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Connecticut    6. Emergency medical technicians    7. General    8. Medical - Other Personnel    9. Specific Groups - General    10. Stern, Jane    11. Women    12. Biography & Autobiography / General    13. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (5)

A refreshing new history source for all 12 Step people
I was contacted by Hazelden and asked to review and, if possible, endorse this book. Flattered, I nonetheless wondered why they would select an A.A. historian for a book devoted primarily to the woman who founded Al-Anon. However, I reviewed the A.A. portion carefully and thoroughly enjoyed the entire book. It is well written. But I never expected to use it as often as I have in my recent A.A. history titles. We are now blessed to have some 12 biographies of Bill Wilson--some good, some not so good, and some just the usual fluff. But there is so much to learn and report still about Bill's conversion experiences, about his childhood connection with the Congregational Church, and about other elements of particular interest to those of us who are Christians and are seeking to unearth the real elements of the early A.A. Christian fellowship and story. Consequently when I undertook my three most recent AA history titles - A New Way Out, A New Way In, and The Conversion of Bill W. -- I found myself constantly turning to the details this fine author had laid out in the course of telling the story of the wife of A.A.'s founder. I found it to be truthful, carefully researched, and well-written; and I now know I shall be using it frequently as an historical reference resource concerning early A.A. It is not a book that blasts Bill, nor is it a book that fails to convey the difficulties Lois faced. It is a book which helps to show us the real Bill Wilson in relation to the A.A. program of recovery.

From a Grateful Friend of Lois
The story of Bill Wilson is an amazing one.And it's one that so many are familiar with.But many within Alanon are not as familiar with our co-founder, Lois Wilson.Mr. Borchert has written an intimate story of this courageous and loving woman.I highly recommend this book to anyone in either AA or Alanon who is interested in the origins of these amazing programs of recovery!
Awesome
I identified, I re-felt the pain, I laughed, I cried and felt overwheling gratitude for the lives of Lois and Bill as the writer took me through the unfolding of their lives as the wonderful gift of AA and then Al-Anon emerged. What a gift! Suburbly written.
Read more

Subjects:  1. 1894-1988    2. Al-Anon Family Group Headquart    3. Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc    4. Alcohol And Health    5. Alcoholics    6. Alcoholics Anonymous    7. Alcoholics' spouses    8. Biography    9. Biography & Autobiography    10. Biography / Autobiography    11. Biography/Autobiography    12. Family relationships    13. General    14. Lois,    15. Recovery    16. Specific Groups - General    17. Substance Abuse & Addictions - Alcoholism    18. United States    19. W., Bill    20. Women    21. Self-Help / Alcoholism   

Editorial Review

When Daniel Mendelsohn was growing up, he "secretly imagined a place where all the people were other boys, and where all the stores and books and songs and movies and restaurants were by boys, about other boys. It would be a place where somehow the outside reality of the world that met your eyes and ears could finally be made to match the inner, hidden reality of what you knew yourself to be." And while he's found that place in Manhattan's Chelsea district, Mendelsohn has only one foot there--his other foot is in suburban New Jersey, where he acts as a masculine role model ("not exactly a father but a man who would be present") to the young son of a close friend. Read more

Reviews (30)

Dull and Pretentious
I'm always reluctant to write a nasty review as the reviewed book usually represents years of work for the author, but after suffering through this book I feel little sympathy. Mr. Mendelsohn wears his learning heavily and forces the weight on his innocent readers. The result is a bit like being forced to listen to the nasal blatherings of NPR's Michael Silverblatt for hours on end. Tedious, precious, and ultimately pointless, find a better use for your time.

An academic who writes.... and writes....and
This is in some ways a notable book, but to be brief (if blunt)- Mendelsohn resembles the sort of person who doesn't realize that his smooth chatter isn't the most fascinating of disquistions for his auditors, and while not exactly a bore he isn't really even the most fascinating person in the room. I suppose my unenthusiastic reaction to the book is due to the rather clumsy unfolding of his ideas, and the gloss he imposes upon them in order to make them seem less "studied" yet still worthy of a genuine scholar. Sometimes he seems merely shallow, and as a child of priviledge he can make one grow tired of some his rants, such as the one about his ancestor's experiences prior to the Holocaust that was published in the NY Times magazine. This is a man who will never tire of writing about himself- not a bad thing, but economically priviledged people in the heart of the establishment never seem quite so dynamic as they believe us to believe them. Not a towering intellect nor quite a great stylist, he is nevertheless an entertaining writer and, in small pieces, a charming guide through his own life. If only he were a bit more interestingly "elusive"...

SEDUCTIVE IN STYLE, CHALLENGING IN CONTENT
Perhaps the best thing I can say about this gorgeous and provocative book is that the author has crafted such movingly expressive arguments for his beliefs that even when I disagreed with those beliefs (for instance, his sense that sexual fidelity not worth making any personal sacrifices to maintain), I found myself taking a moment to question myself because I was so seduced by the beauty of his writing style that I almost felt compelled to agree with his content. This is a challenging work of art that, in the end, is less a broad social argument than one man's highly personal search for meaning in his own life. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. General    3. Historical - U.S.    4. Literary Criticism    5. Specific Groups - Male Gay Studies    6. Biography & Autobiography / General    7. Modern fiction   

Reviews (72)

Nothing Special
I have had this book for a few years but have not been able to read it till recently.The story is quite interesting and astonishing (especially as it is a true story) but the writing is somewhat repetetive - I think this is done to make the story longer - and the Firefighter seems to be too full of himself always going on how great he is and how well he did what a good leader he is ...... and so on.Entertaining and interesting but the way the story is written spoils it.

caught in the middle
I am a full time firefighter/engineer in a small town with three stations. This book does a great job of telling the inside story of what happened to our country on 9-11 and also an insight to the world of firefighters, for those with no prior knowledge. My only real frustration in reading this book, is that some of the detail on this thought, or that thought, becomes a little mundane. In one passage, he dwells for a long paragraph, on a sliver of illumination from an emergency light, that some how ended up sharing the void. All in all, it is a great book, but the same story could have been told with out the hovering over so many tiny details. But then you'd have a book only three quarters the length.

One Man's View--
I am a little surprised by the negative reviews of this book--perhaps some reviewers don't personally know any firefighters--and that is the point of this book: an inside look at how one firefighter(albeit a chief) experienced and survived the attack and collapse of the World Trade Center.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Fire Dept    5. Fire fighters    6. Historical - U.S.    7. New York    8. New York (N.Y.)    9. New York (State)    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    12. Rescue work    13. September 11 Terrorist Attacks    14. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001    15. Specific Groups - General    16. World Trade Center (New York,    17. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Reviews (7)

Savage Tales!
Whenever you are disgusted with the disgraceful passive-aggressive, anti-confrontational, and indirectly rude bahavior which characterizes our present age, open Mr. Kirchner's excellent tome of warriors! These were people who weren't afraid to go into harm's way. They solved their conflicts with blades, bullets, and bare fists! No "sensitivity training" for these worthy fighters! The author has compiled his list of his favorite fighting men and women, from antiquity to the present. We all have our own list that we would compile in a similar manner, but this list is damned good! I would have included more U.S. Marines, Vikings, Medieval Knights, and Samurai, but this not my book! In here you will find a number of well-known heros and rogues, and many more who should be better known than they are. Here is a sampling:
Real-life action heroes
A quick, interesting, and fun read! Kirchner profiles 50 of the deadliest solo fighters of all time in 44 chapters, from brawlers to duelists (both sword and gun varieties) to fighter pilots. On occasion two or more warriors are listed in a single chapter. While one could argue whether or not these men and women truly represent the top 50, you cannot argue that their heroic tales are anything less than fascinating (if a bit pithy in some cases). This fun book has a smattering of historical photos as well as illustrations from the author to give readers a good idea of what these folks looked like too. Despite the title, it is not only about deadly men. A few women are list too. For example, exploits the American Revolutionary and Indian fighter Hannah Duston, and the scandalous life of 17th century swordswoman Julie La Maupin are included as well.
a good overview
Deadliest Men is not an indepth study, nor does it claim to be.I particually enjoyed it because it is an overview that has inspired me to read more about some of the subjects.I also learned about some that I otherwise would not have chosen to investigate.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Combat    4. Courage    5. Heroes    6. History    7. History: World    8. Honor    9. Martial Arts & Self-Defense    10. Military - Pictorial    11. Military - United States    12. Specific Groups - General    13. Dictionaries of biography (Who's Who)    14. History of specific subjects    15. Sports & Recreation / Martial Arts & Self-Defense    16. True Stories    17. USA    18. Warfare & Defence    19. Self-Defense   

Reviews (3)

An Interesting Perspesctive on the Scots-Irish in the USA
I found this book at a Scottish Festival in February and picked it up because my ancestors were Scots-Irish who lived in PA before the Civil War.I thought the book would help me to understand the reasons the Scots-Irish came to America, their migration, and their life.Little did I realize that it would give me genealogical support for 3 of my ancestors, Galbraiths who were founders of a Presbytery in Donegal County, PA.
Research Historian
Billy Kennedy is one of the first writers of Ulster Scot or Scot-irish history to truly understand and document his findings.
This isn't really history
Billy Kennedy loves to recount every tale @ the Scotch-Irish he finds under every rural outhouse in the hill-billy South--and he never documents where he actually found it!This is not history-its myth & fable to make Scotch-Irish protestants feel warm and fuzzy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Ethnic Studies - General    4. General    5. History - U.S.    6. United States - 18th Century    7. Ethnic studies    8. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    9. Immigrants    10. Irish Americans    11. Kentucky    12. Pennsylvania    13. Scots-Irish    14. Scottish Americans    15. USA   

Reviews (30)

A reader is correct.It isn't about Aids.
Nor was it supposed to be a book about AIDS.Doty writes magnificently about the loss of a loved one, and the grief, in its many forms, that follows.
A Gorgeous Exploration of Grief...and moving on
HEAVEN'S COAST is Mark Doty's his first prose book and a stirring and stunning memoir of his year of grief following the death of his lover of a dozen years Wally Roberts.With this book Doty has created a genuine masterpiece.It is a brilliant and accessible memoir conveying sorrow without clich� and making sense of death through the beauty of writing.Death is no longer simply tragic but attains a variety of meanings that result in new levels of acceptance and understanding.His powerful emotional exactitude is culled from a brilliant mastery of language and a precise usage of metaphor.The combination transforms human loss into a redemptive art form.HEAVEN'S COAST is one of the most moving, beautiful, and poignant books to emerge on AIDS and more importantly on loss and grief.

this book is not about AIDS
AIDS is a tragedy for the individual who experiences it, and for those who love them. But even if you have suffered at its hands, no-one should let you off the hook when you banalise it like this. 'Heaven's Coast' is over-written, self-important and embarrassing. I can only suppose that those who praise this writer's use of language come from the "more metaphors=more emotion" school of literature he favours, but like all self-indulgent writing, the effect of Doty's style is to cheat the genuine feeling behind it of a distinctive vocabulary, and to cheapen the suffering it depicts. There's something distasteful about watching someone using illness as an excuse to strike postures as hollow and self-regarding as this: 'Is this my work? To point at the world and say: look, see how darkly it sparkles?' From the precious rhetorical question to that faux-profound dark/light inversion, this is a typical instance of the book's extended masterclass in bad writing. If these were the outpourings of someone under the pressure of grief, they might be excusable, but Doty has worked hard to produce writing this overloaded: 'Wild, glimmering, watery horizons of sun, the watchful seals and shimmered flurries of snow seem to me to have more to do with the life of my spirit.' Even a teenager who'd just been taught about assonance and alliteration would balk at that sentence. This book, despite the horrors it sometimes documents, ends up reading like one long, shrill assertion of its own marvellous sensitivity, inviting the reader to congratulate themselves on their special ability to share in it. Sometimes bad writing is also morally questionable, and this is one of those times. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. AIDS (Disease)    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Health    7. Health Care Delivery    8. Literary    9. Massachusetts    10. Patients    11. Provincetown    12. Roberts, Wally,    13. Specific Groups - Male Gay Studies    14. d. 1993    15. Biography & Autobiography / General    16. Coping with death & bereavement    17. Coping with illness    18. Essays, journals, letters & other prose works   

Editorial Review

Paul Monette first made a name for himself in 1978 with his debut novel, Read more

Reviews (45)

Taps into the rage many of us felt growing up gay
I give this book 5 stars because of the intimate way in which I related to the story told here. I am not sure if a non-gay person would enjoy this quite as much, although I'm sure they would find it a worthwhile read. An important read, really, for straight and gay alike, because it explains by example how many of us felt violated and suppressed growing up in a society that had little tolerance for homosexuality. True, things have changed now, (though not enough), but this book details the state of growing up gay in 20th century America, and all that it entailed, written lavishly and flowingly.

Not incredibly written, but profoundly important
As a twenty year old heterosexual male I found this book to very insightful. Monette illuminates both the sturglles and the shame of the homosexual community. I understood that it was hard to be gay, but this book has really helped to show me that this strife comes not from any inherent feeling attached to homosexuality but is a result instead of the prejudice and hate of the public, many of whom are supposed closet cases. I think that eventually America's continuing and blatant homophobia will be seen in the same light that we now view the cross burning and racial pogroms that dominated our contry for centuries. I wish you all strength and courage in your battle against these evil forces. Thank you.

Important text in gay literature
Becoming a Man is the National Book Award winning memoir by Paul Monette, and was a landmark text in the literature associated with HIV. This book was, in many ways, the "little book that could," beating out such non-fiction heavyweights as David McCullough for the NBA.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Gay Studies    4. Gay men    5. General    6. Human Sexuality    7. Monette, Paul    8. Social Science    9. Sociology    10. Specific Groups - Male Gay Studies    11. United States    12. Social Science / Gay Studies    13. Reading Group Guide   

Editorial Review

Helen and Scott Nearing wrote Living the Good Life and many other best-selling books about working hard, living simply and self-sufficiently while saving time for fun and pursuits of the intellect. This is a book written by Helen after Scott died (at 100 years old!), and is a story of love and living and dying on one's own terms, at peace with the world and with one's own heart. Inspiring and moving, this is a "how-to" book about facing life with delight and with eyes open. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Bio of an odd couple
Scott and Helen Nearing spent half a century building stone houses, growing their food, and making a living on primitive homesteads in Vermont and Maine.Scott died at age 100 in the 1980s.Helen lasted another 10 years or so and this is her account of her life before Scott and their life together.
A Natural Conclusion
Having chronicled their lives to this point, it's only natural that Helen Nearing should tell the story of Scott's passing. Beautifully written, I almost enjoyed this book more than any of the Nearing books that came before.
We are fortunate that Helen left us this book
When your 100-year old husband of 55 years has passed on and you, at 88, can see your own end, and when you have spent most of those years seeking and living the good life, and when you take the time and trouble to record your thoughts for posterity, it is surely worthwhile for us, the readers, to take note and reflect on what might be of value in our own goal of living the good life. This is not a biography of the husband, Scott, nor an autobiography of Helen but it is offered as a tribute to Scott's being as Helen knew it. She wants Scott to be remembered as an unassuming, kindly, wise, husband as well as a principled, uncompromising, intellectual radical; she also wants to share with us his peaceful, intentioned, and premeditated ending. Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Country life    4. Essays    5. Nearing, Helen    6. New England    7. Sociology - Rural    8. Specific Groups - General    9. Biography: general    10. Environmentalist thought & ideology    11. USA   

Features

• Audiobook
• Unabridged

Subjects:  1. Criminal Law - General    2. Law    3. Personal Memoirs    4. Political Freedom & Security - Law Enforcement    5. Specific Groups - General    6. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    7. Biography & Autobiography / General    8. Biography & Autobiography/Personal Memoirs    9. Political Science/Political Freedom & Security - Law Enforcement    10. Unabridged Audio / Autobiography/Biography   

Editorial Review

One of the most beloved figures in country music (non-music division), Nudie Cohn was born a million metaphoric miles from the birthplace of the hillbilly sound. His remarkable journey--from tailor's apprentice in his birthplace of Kiev, Russia, to America's undisputed king of Western wear--is lovingly documented in Read more

Subjects:  1. 1902-1984    2. 20th century    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Cohn, Nudie,    8. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    9. Fashion    10. Fashion design    11. Fashion designers    12. History    13. Nudie's Rodeo Tailors    14. Rich & Famous    15. Specific Groups - General    16. United States    17. Biography & Autobiography / General    18. Sculpture & other three-dimensional art forms   

Reviews (9)

Insightful though vague
Dorman's book illuminates the inner world of a young girl with schizophrenia. Although there are no cut and dry explanations given for how she ended up the way she did, the book illustrates how life experiences can detour someone from the norm when they have never been exposed to a different social dynamic.
absolutely preposterous!
I wonder if schizophrenia is a correct diagnosis for this woman, it sounds more like a personality disorder. Schizophrenia is a REAL brain dysfunction that up to now, doesn't have a "cure" and medications help some symptoms but the illness doesn't go away. It is irresponsible of a physician to attribute his sessions "curative" powers without any clear methodology. Pharmacotherapy is not about drug companies, is about quality of life, I wonder who can wait 20 years and see someone 6 days a week to "improve". Again I doubt this person had schizophrenia.

Valued contribution to psychiatric medicine
Dante's Cure: A Journey Out Of Madness by Daniel Dorman (Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine University of California at Los Angeles) traces the history of Catherine, a woman suffering from severe schizophrenia in the 1970s and was admitting at a UCLA hospital as an adolescent anorexic who was suicidal and heard murderous voices in her head. Dr. Dorman describe's Catherine's condition, her background, and moments of interpretative breakthroughs, and his work with her in resistance to collegial pressures to medicate Catherine. Dr. Dorman set up in private practice and continued his sessions with Catherine. Gradually she was able to begin a recovery, live in an apartment, attend college, and eventually qualified as a psychiatric nurse. Of special interest is Dr. Dorman's epilogue setting out his rationale in opposition to the dominant psychiatric view of schizophrenia as a "brain disorder" requiring medication. He persuasively advocates a humanist, patient-doctor collaborationist approach as illustrated by his years of work with Catherine. Dante's Cure is a welcome and valued contribution to psychiatric medicine and a recommended addition to personal, professional, and Mental Health Studies library collections.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Case Studies    3. General    4. Medical    5. Mental Illness    6. Mental health    7. Penney, Catherine Louise,    8. Psychotherapy    9. Schizophrenia    10. Specific Groups - General    11. Treatment    12. Psychology & Psychiatry / General   

Editorial Review

This is the author's account of her struggle for life against stage IV metastatic breast cancer, which usually translates to a death sentence. The struggle, described with down-to-earth honesty and directness, is both horrifying and inspiring. Particularly grueling was the bone marrow transplant she went through in a last-ditch effort to save her life. Almost dead from huge doses of chemotherapy that destroyed her immune system along with the cancer cells, she had to stay in isolation for 25 days while her harvested bone marrow cells brought her back from the brink. Middlebrook survived a remarkable test of endurance. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Seeing the Crab: A Memoir of Dying
This is a wonderful and inspirational book. It follows the story of a woman with cancer. Its a very deep story. The author makes you ask yourself if you can end with cancer. Christina is a very strong and admirable woman. As soon as you read it you will not want to put it down.

A guide to being real with beloveds who have cancer.
By describing her experience with illness so candidly, Middlebrook offers a profound mirror for those of us who have beloveds with cancer. I was able to see how my dread of this disease, and of my best friend suffering and dying from it, was keeping me from being authentic with her. I recommend this book for anyone who has a loved one on the cancer journey, when you are ready to get real.

An eloquent and chilling account of a battle with cancer.
Ms. Middlebrook is told in 1991 that she has Stage IV (terminal) breast cancer.Her memoir spares nothing. She is relentless and graphical in her descriptions of the disease and, most especially, its treatment. The account is powerful and very personal.Not just in the detailing of her experience with the disease and the dramatic and extreme treatments, but also in her sharing of her feelings about her interactions with friends, family members and strangers. Ms Middlebrook's prose is vivid and, I found, often moving. The reader gains a new appreciation for what it is like to come to grips with ones mortality. Despite the seeming grimness of the subject matter, the message is somehow uplifting while being totally honest about the ultimate outcome for the author ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Breast    5. Breast cancer    6. Cancer    7. Diseases - Cancer    8. Health    9. Health & Fitness    10. Middlebrook, Christina    11. Patients    12. Specific Groups    13. United States    14. Biography: general   

Reviews (8)

When the system works against you, turn it against itself
Acosta's book on the left wing Chicano civil rights movement and his involvement in it as a defense attorney provides some incisive and entertaining insight into U.S. social history.
Kansas
Re-Saturday Review of Literature Correction
Re-Saturday Review of LiteratureRead more

Subjects:  1. Acosta, Oscar Zeta    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. California    7. Ethnic identity    8. General    9. Hispanic Americans In The U.S.    10. Historical - General    11. Lawyers & Judges    12. Los Angeles    13. Mexican Americans    14. People of Color    15. Politics and government    16. Biography & Autobiography / Lawyers & Judges    17. Ethnic studies    18. History of specific racial & ethnic groups    19. Population & demography    20. USA   

Editorial Review

The 30th anniversary edition of this classic memoir about growing up in Spanish Harlem includes an afterword reminding us that its streets are even meaner now, thanks to crack cocaine and the dismantling of government poverty programs. As a dark-skinned Puerto Rican, born in 1928, Piri Thomas faced with painful immediacy the absurd contradictions of America's racial attitudes (among people of all colors) in a time of wrenching social change. Three decades have not dimmed the luster of his jazzy prose, rich in Hispanic rhythms and beat-generation slang. ... Read more

Reviews (46)

Still a classic!
My mother had this book for one of her college courses while I was in junior high so I gave it a try and loved it. It came up as a recommendation for me on Amazon recently and I went to dig it out but couldn't find it so I ordered a new copy. I just finished it and ten years later it was even better than I remember (being that I'm that much older and that much wiser.) This book is a classic and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys an honest, gritty and above all, true story of growing up on the streets.

Powerful
A brutally honest story that is hard to put down. My favorite book of all time.

Excellent Book
Very good book, very well written and related. I advise also to all the readers that buy the book titled: Tu Alto Precio... Mi Gran Valor, writing by the puertorican writer Miguel Amadeus. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1928-    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Ethnic Studies - General    6. Hispanic American Sociology    7. Literary    8. New York    9. New York (N.Y.)    10. New York (State)    11. Puerto Ricans    12. Social Science    13. Sociologists    14. Specific Groups - General    15. Thomas, Piri,    16. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs    17. Modern fiction    18. North America    19. Thomas, Piri   

Reviews (23)

Important voice to be heard
Slim to none is the diary of an anorexia patient, Jennifer Hendricks. This is a difficult and frustrating read. Jenny is totally confused through must of the book, due, not only by her severe eating disorder, but also through all the crazy "therapies" to try to heal her. It is an important story to be told to see just how misunderstood the disease was, even by doctors. Everyone had a different idea on how to heal Jenny, and most of them exceeding is only making her worse. The worst shame of it all is that Jenny tried so hard for so long and spent most of those years that she writes about, in one hospital or another. The last years of her life are revolved around her troubled thoughts and lost hopes of a normal life. I think this book is important for all doctors and families of people struggling with eating disorders. Also, anyone who is studying about eating disorders. As far as the story part of the book goes, it is repetitious, especially in the beginning, but keep reading, it is worth it in the end.

Like reading my own diaries from the past
I am a recovering anorexic. I was hospitalized numerous times before something inside of my mine just snapped and I was ready to let go. Really ready. And I am one of the very few lucky ones.
If I could give it less than one star I would
I'm sorry, but there is nooooooooooooo way this book is better than Wasted.As a memoir junkie, I read pretty much everything that comes out, and as an ED sufferer Iof course read every ED memoir.I could barely even make it through this one; the only reason I did is that I paid for it in hardcover.It is ridiculously trite, annoying, and the dialogue is almost laughably bad. It's just absurd; I rolled my eyes so much I felt like I could twirl pasties with them.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Anorexia nervosa    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Diaries    5. Eating Disorders - Anorexia Nervosa    6. Hendricks, Jennifer    7. Mental health    8. Patients    9. Psychology    10. Psychoneuroses    11. Psychopathology - General    12. Specific Groups - General    13. United States    14. Women    15. Biography: general    16. Eating disorders & therapy    17. Self-Help / Eating Disorders