Reviews (6)

MustRead
This book is a must read for anyone who has had a family member suffer a TBI (traumatic brain injury)and I wish those who don't deal with TBI's to read it so they have an understanding of those who do have one.I have a son who suffered one and even though his wasn't as severe as Rachel's, there were parts of Rachel's problems that he also dealt with.
smartest memoir of the year
Atop all the courageous acts in this story, the final and most lasting one is Karen Brennan's commitment of her story to print. In her turmoil's depths, she attests to uncomfortable truths and confesses her impassioned dismay that love is sometimes mixed with guilt, that hope is a hairsbreadth from dread, that the cruelest and most unjust penalty is in another light a largesse with unending rewards. Most impressive is the revelatory presentation of an active mind (or perhaps two minds) learning, reformulating, performing. In her new role as caregiver researching her daughter's brain injury, Brennan confronts anew terms she had understood as fiction instructor and critical theorist: reading this, you'll come to know that what you appreciate in your favorite author or in your best friend's letters is your own innate complicity in a good act of perserveration or confabulation or dissociation. The gradual reunderstanding of memory and narrative is a thrill to experience. A moving story of rebirth and courage
Karen Brennan's Being With Rachel ... tells of a family's changes when a 25-year-old daughter is gravely injured in a motorcycle accident. Her mother's account of her daughter's slow recovery, determination to walk again, and lasting brain injuries makes for a moving story of rebirth and courage. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Amnesia    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Brain damage    7. Brennan, Rachel    8. Diseases - Nervous System (incl. Brain)    9. General    10. Healing    11. Health    12. Patients    13. Personal Memoirs    14. Specific Groups - Special Needs    15. Utah    16. Women    17. Family & Health    18. Women's studies   

Reviews (28)

Enthralling, With A Surprise Ending
David did an exceptional job detailing every step of his BMT (bone marrow transplant). His courage was inspiring, and the tremendous support from his family was touching. Personally, I think his mother should receive an award for her devotion. Horribly interesting
This well-written book describes a doctor's experience within a system in which he had previously flourished.He was faced with an impossible decision between conservative and agressive treatment for a rare disease, and was essentially forced to make a leap of faith.It calls into question the notion of informed consent -- often there is no definitive informtion to aid the patient into making the right decision.

suspenseful page-turner
Biro is a writer and a dermatologist (not sure which order he'd put those in himself), and he's written a gripping account of surviving a life threatening disease. From the earliest stages, through the difficult decision to proceed with a bone marrow transplant, and the agonizing months of treatment and recovery that follow, he takes the reader by the hand through an emotionally and physically harrowing ordeal. Through it all, his life hangs in the balance, and he's written his story so well that you have to keep reminding yourself that he's had to survive the experience to write the book you're reading.Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Medical - General    5. Medical - Physicians    6. Specific Groups - Special Needs    7. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (12)

Middle Aged?Still Blame Your Parents?Buy This Book
While the writing is certainly readable, it isn't without frustration.There were times I wanted to shake the author out of her deulded state.I do think there comes a point in your life when you have to accept the things that have happened and move on.Parents are not perfect.Find me a person who thinks their parents made all the correct child rearing decisions.That person is lying.While the author does not blame all her troubles on her family, these are the moments that scream the loudest.It's okay to pout about your parents and how they raised you, but to write a book about it after the age of nineteen suggests a deeper problem.

hard to put down
I am a therapist and work at an inpatient psychiatric facility. I often read first person accounts of therapy or life with mental illness, etc. I found this book refreshingly free of jargon and diagnosis. It also provided an interesting perspective on the changes that have occurred in mental health treatment since the 1960s. The author's depiction of herself at the brink of adulthood so closely describes many persons that I see today. The fact that she has walked so far away from the life she led then is encouragement both for today's 'patients' and for all the therapists who seek to help them. It was hard for me to put the book down; I read it in 2 days.

not bad
there's a lot here i liked.... but i have a complaint about this book... and perhaps it will be viewed as very superficial, yet nontheless it had an effect on me (and a few other readers i've spoken with)... it's the cover.... i'm really bothered by the glamorization of smoking on the cover. okay, so it's in the story... but still, book covers are ads, and when smoking is glamourized in other ads, it is viewed as irresponsible. i think that's the case here as well. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. General    5. Psychotherapy - General    6. Specific Groups - Special Needs    7. Women    8. Biography: general    9. Psychotherapy   

Editorial Review

Walter Payton's premature passing forced a rethinking of hisautobiography that completely sidesteps the self-importance that dominatessports memoirs in general. Read more

Reviews (33)

Long Live Walter
Walter Payton was a phenomenal football player.He spent all 13 of his years playing for the bears.The Bears drafted him in 1975 from Jackson State University.Walter Payton broke a lot of records in his time; he had 125 career touchdowns which is seventh on the all time scoring list.Walter Payton only missed one game in his entire 13 year career.Overall I thought that this was a great autobiography.I highly recommend this book if you are interested in Walter Payton. He was a great athlete and will be missed very much.

Sweetness
An incredible book for a incredible man.Being a fan, I was skeptical before I started.I thought this book would not really come together since Walter died before it was completed.I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to others, fan or not.

Never die easy, but always be humble
The theme of this book could be that while it is important to "Never Die Easy" it is perhaps even more important to be humble about your success.
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Subjects:  1. 1954-1999    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Blacks And Sports    7. Football    8. Football players    9. Payton, Walter,    10. People of Color    11. Specific Groups - Special Needs    12. Sports - Football    13. Sports - General    14. United States    15. American football    16. Biography & Autobiography / Sports    17. Biography: sport    18. USA   

Reviews (18)

I'm with Leslie.
Hate to say it, but I found myself doing the same thing as the reviewer named Leslie: leafing through the book, searching for passages about the author's husband's illness, and not passages where in which she talks about herself. I wasdisappointed by this book, and found it nearly impossible to care about the people in it. I thought I would have been left thinking more about what became of them and wondering about the author and her family's well-being, but all I thought was, eh.

BORING
I read this book to read about a man with anorexia, not about the boring life of a woman married to him. I skimmed through the whole book to try to find the tiny paragraphs scattered throughout that are actually about his eating disorder. In my opinion, she uses his eating disorder to tell the dull, dry tale of her own life. Don't read this book, even if you don't care about reading about eating disorders.

Who's the story about?
I was a little unhappy with this book. Not because the author isn't a decent writer, but because from the description of the book I thought this book was about the life of amale anorexic. The book, however, is mostly about the authors life (wife of the anorexic), not her husband. I did not buy this book to read about the life of a wife of an anorexic, but to take a rare look into the life of a male anorexic. This book jsut didn't provide that. It is still, over all, a good book, which is why I still gave it 3 stars. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anorexia nervosa    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Eating Disorders    7. Eating Disorders - Anorexia Nervosa    8. Family relationships    9. Lawrence, Barbara Kent    10. Marriage    11. Medical - General    12. Patients    13. Specific Groups - Special Needs    14. Women    15. Bulimia   

Subjects:  1. (Isabella Lucy),    2. 1831-1904    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Bird, Isabella L    5. Correspondence    6. England    7. General    8. Historical - British    9. Specific Groups - Special Needs    10. Travel    11. Travelers    12. Voyages around the world    13. Women travelers    14. Women's Studies - General   

Reviews (3)

A great book on dealing with, but not curing, autism
This book is a wonderful story about a family dealing with a severely handicapped child.The anger, love and desperation all show through Josh's journal entries.Noah never does get better, and you can see the pain this causes his family.There is still no treatment that cures all autistic children, so there are still many families like the Greenfelds.

BEAUTIFUL BOY, ETERNAL BOY
Noah Jiro Greenfeld, born 7/1/66 appeared to develop normally for the first few months of his life.His story, told from the pages of his own father's diary, is a chronicle of heartbreak and sorrow over watching this child deteriorate in his development.Noah does not walk until he is 27 months old; his speech, seemingly normal the first year of his life virtually comes to a grinding halt before he stops walking; he engages in bizarre, self-stimulating activities such as lint-chasing, curtain chewing and finger flexing.Josh laments that for every accomplishment Noah makes, another skill is lost.Noah is nonverbal for themost part during the years 1966-1971, the period this book covers. A true story of a boy who triumphs over Autism
Josh Greenfeld is a parent and a writer who tells us of his expierience in rasing an autistic child through the first five years of his life.In a time when autism was fairly new to medicine He includes personal feelings, difficulties family frustrations, and the resentment of doctors who seem tocare nothing of the child, but more for labeling and blaming. This bookis a must for people who are dealing with an autistic child or know someonewho is. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1966-    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Brain-damaged children    5. Child Care/Parenting    6. Family relationships    7. Greenfeld, Noah Jiro,    8. Specific Groups - Special Needs    9. United States    10. Greenfeld, Noah Jiro   

Reviews (2)

Is this a man or a jellyfish?
What a narcissistic, poison pen account of a misspent life biting the very hands which fed him.He attacks his father for every misfortune in his life.Yet by the author's own admission he acknowledges his father supported him for most of his adult life. One questions the veracity of the "facts" of Mr.Spalding's supposed experiences as the author did not seek, nor did he receive any releases from the people he mentions by their actual names. The author blames his parents and ADD for a wasted life.By the time one is in their fifties it is a bit late to blame one's parents for their own shortcomings and problems. As an adult one is responsible for the life they lead and the choices they make.Not once does the author own his actions.He is drifting alright---like a jellyfish stinging all those who cared for him to the best of their abilities, and then blaming them for his shortcomings. Sadly it appears this man is trying to simultaneously ride the coat tails of his brilliant and widely respected father whilst blaming him for his ADD.The sad fact is this man obviously lacks a conscience and has written a book which attests to this fact. Just a typical vanity press publication---totally self serving and an injustice to those who truly suffer and endure ADD every day without the advantages Mr. Spalding has had at his disposal for most of his life.Don't waste your money.

a unique experience
"Drifting Too Far From Shore" is a true story that reads like a wild ride of fiction. Michael Spalding shares his life story to date, and how he dealt with Attention Deficit Disorder before it was even a recognized condition. Growing up in the 50's and 60's proved to be a challenge that children today are blessed with escaping. If there had been treatments for Michael earlier, he might have led one very different life.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. General    5. Personal Memoirs    6. Self-Help & Practical Interests    7. Attention-deficit disorder in    8. Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity    9. Specific Groups - Special Needs    10. Great Britain   

Reviews (5)

Highly recommended
Highly recommeded reading, well written. A doctor's perspective when faced himself with a potentially lethal diagnosis. Geoffrey Kurland takes you along for this trip with humor and a high dose of reality. His story helps the reader put things in perspective.

power of the human mind and spirit
Our family was inspired by the stamina and ability to reach for the stars that doctor Kurland demonstrated in his book. It was quite helpful in dealing with our own personal fight against a difficult illness. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone dealing with disease and irony.As a doctor he has an aura of magnetic strength and is highly regarded in his profession. We tip our hats off to you!

Pleasure, inspiration AND education.
Nonfiction with all the excitement of a novel.It reads easily, stays on track, holds the reader's interest and has to have wide appeal.How a physician barely survives a frightening disease and manages to achieve some lifelong dreams in the face of extreme adversity.It offers special insight to all of us as potential patients or medical providers, with some special appeal to runners and endurance athletes. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Diseases - Cancer    4. Health    5. Kurland, Geoffrey    6. Leukemia    7. Medical    8. Medical - General    9. Medical - Physicians    10. Patients    11. Pediatricians    12. Pennsylvania    13. Pittsburgh    14. Specific Groups - Special Needs    15. Biography & Autobiography / Medical   

Reviews (2)

Bill W on Bill W
This is an autobiography of Bill Wilson, one of the co-founders of AA.It is an edited transcript of recordings he made during September, 1954, at the Hotel Bedford in the company of a man named Ed Bierstadt.The bookcontains interesting anecdotes on Bill's first forty years of life. Thepurpose of his recording these stories was to describe his childhooddevelopment and how it related to his personality development andsubsequent descent into alcoholism. It ends abruptly at his speech beforethe Oxford Group.The Afterword briefly describes the ensuing thirtysixyears and contains many footnotes referring to other books of interestabout Bill W and the history of AA.This book is very refreshing andavoids the controversies that plague so many of the other biographiesrecently published.To read the account of Bill's spiritual experienceagain, in his own words, is extremely compelling.There are also severalappendices which flesh out many of the references in the story.

Bill W on Bill W
This is the story of AA co-founder Bill Wilson's first forty years of life set forth in his own words recorded at the Hotel Bedford during September, 1954.He is assisted by Ed Bierstadt.The book is a wonderful compilationof anecdotes told in Bill's own words in an effort to shed light upon howhis experiences led to his personality development which contributed to hisfall into alcoholism.It is refreshing and free of controversial argumentsfound in some of the more recent biographies.The description of hisspiritual experience once again by the man himself is very uplifting.Theafterword and appendices nicely flesh out this historical account of thistruly special man to whom so many owe their lives. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alcohol Abuse    2. Alcoholics    3. Alcoholics Anonymous    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Recovery    7. Self-Help    8. Specific Groups - Special Needs    9. Substance Abuse & Addictions - Alcoholism    10. Twelve-Step Programs    11. W., Bill    12. Addiction & therapy    13. Alcoholism    14. Biography: general    15. Coping with drug & alcohol abuse    16. Self-Help / Substance Abuse   

Editorial Review

In her early 50s, Australian historian Inga Clendinnen fell ill with acute liver disease. "'Fall' is the appropriate word," she writes. "It is ... like falling down Alice's rabbit hole into a world which might resemble this solid one, but which operates on quite different principles." Her imaginative, unconventional memoir mirrors the hallucinatory nature of this world as she mingles reminiscences, fiction, hospital sketches, and family profiles to chart the course of her physical and mental life from diagnosis through a successful liver transplant and recovery. Read more

Reviews (2)

Slow going
I have to disagree with the other reviewer with 5 stars.The book just didn't grab me as I hoped it would, and it was a bit of a struggle to complete.I thought about ditching it at around page 50, but continued on to see if it improved--which it did to a small extent.After reading other books about people with illnesses, I found that Tiger's Eye paled in comparison.Go for "It's Not About the Bike" by Lance Armstrong if you want a more gripping personal account of someone dealing and overcoming serious illness.Now that's a real page-turner!

Hour of Lead, Remembered
Tiger's Eye is Inga Clendinnen's account of her diagnosis of a rare liver disease, her rapidly debilitating illness, finally a liver transplant and ultimate if precarious recovery. But that is like saying Moby Dick is about whaling. This historian from Australia has written a superb treatise full of hard truths on both illness and memory. After all, the truth is not always carried on angels' wings. Along the way she also has written fiction-- short stories-- and some of the history of Australia. After her diagnosis of Active Auto-Immune Hepatitis, she began writing this memoir on her laptop computer, not knowing if she would live or not. She writes searing accounts of her hospitalization: the good, the bad, the indifferent hospital personnel. The visitors who came late and leave early, to get back to their lives outside an institution. Read more

Subjects:  1. Australia    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Chronic active hepatitis    7. Clendinnen, Inga    8. Diseases Of The Liver And Biliary Tract    9. Health    10. Literary    11. Medical - General    12. Patients    13. Sociology Of Women    14. Specific Groups - Special Needs    15. Women    16. Women historians    17. Biography & Autobiography / Literary    18. History of medicine    19. Women's studies   

Reviews (1)

Amazing Story
This is an amazing story about a highly talented man, Tony Deblois. To fully understand his talent and the reality of his achievments, buy his CD from www.cdfreedom/com or contact his mother in Boston. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography And Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Case studies    7. Composers & Musicians - General    8. Handicapped    9. Musicians    10. Savant syndrome    11. Savants (Savant syndrome)    12. Specific Groups - Special Needs    13. Biography & Autobiography / Composers & Musicians   

Reviews (16)

a courageous, determined girl
Lisa is a brave and intelligent person. The words she writes of her cancer experience are from inside her soul, they are real.She dares to speak of her fear.You can hear her fear and her courage to fight fear.She insists on explaining this life changing event.She describes cancer's potential and how paraylzing an experience can be. I myself am a (2) time Hodgkins Disease survivor. I can relate to Lisa in many, many ways.The title, "Only When I Sleep," says it all. I strongly encourage anyone to read this book to hear words of a cancer experience and the meaning of a cancer survivor.Those who have experienced cancer and read this book will applaud Lisa for her strength to overcome adversity and commend her for not letting her experience go unnoticed. That yes, Cancer is life changing, it will try to take you down, but for many not without a fight.With a loving support system, you can overcome.
A MUST READ!!!!
This is a wonderful book. It will make you cry, but will also bring joy to your heart and a smile to your face. It makes you realize the "choices" Lisa and her family had to make to survive where very hard for her and her family. You will admire her strength, courage, and her determination to beat this. You see first hand how it effects everyone in her family. How the love of her husband, parents, family members and friends are unconditional. It shows us how the small things we all take for granted can be taken away from us in seconds and our world can be turned upside down. How Lisa never gave up and if you "believe" anything is possible. A MUST READ!!!!
This is a wonderful book. It will make you cry, but will also bring joy to your heart and a smile to your face. It makes you realize the "choices" Lisa and her family had to make to survive where very hard for her and her family. You will admire her strength, courage, and her determination to beat this. You see first hand how it effects everyone in her family. How the love of her husband, parents, family members and friends are unconditional. It shows us how the small things we all take for granted can be taken away from us in seconds and our world can be turned upside down. How Lisa never gave up and if you "believe" anything is possible.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1971-    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Cancer    5. Diseases - Cancer    6. Health    7. Health/Fitness    8. Lymphomas    9. Medical    10. Medical - General    11. Oncology    12. Patients    13. Shaw-Brawley, Lisa,    14. Specific Groups - Special Needs    15. United States    16. Health & Fitness / Diseases / Cancer   

Reviews (22)

Review of Vaginal Nerve Stimulation
The book is well written and describes depression well. Depression sometimes does not respond to drugs or ECT. The VNS can help greatly with these patients.The process of implantation and how the VNS works is described well. This book should be of great value to depressed patients who have been unable to get effective treatment for their illness. It also describes how a support team will be formed by your doctor and the manufacturer of the VNS.
VNS IS NOT A MAGIC BULLET!
After reading this book about 8 months ago, I asked my psychiatrist at my HMO if I could get the implant.To my surprise, he said "yes".It was unexpectedly easy for me to get the procedure, which I had done about 7 months ago.I was one of 2people in my Northern California HMO to have received the implant for depression. Sensitive, insightful,inspirational, educational--a great read-AAA+
I have never read a book about depression by somone who truly understands the suffering. Mr. Donovan has been there and back. I identified with everything he wrote. His book is very informative and guides the reader through the entire process of vagus nerve stimulation therapy via a first hand experience. He demystifies this rather simple procedure, while managing the readers expectations. I wish the book was longer, it was so wonderful to read. I finally have new hope for my depression with the FDA approved procedure of vagus nerve stimulation therapy.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs    2. Depression    3. Psychology    4. Self-Help / Depression    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Care    7. Depressed persons    8. Electroconvulsive therapy    9. Personal Memoirs    10. Self-Help    11. Specific Groups - Special Needs    12. Treatment    13. Vagus nerve   

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Deaf    4. Deafness    5. Education    6. Education Of Hearing-Impaired Students    7. Handicapped    8. Jacobs, Leo M    9. Psychological aspects    10. Services For The Physically Challenged    11. Special Education - Communicative Disorders    12. Specific Groups - Special Needs    13. United States    14. Biography: general    15. Disability: social aspects   

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. DeVries, Diane    4. People with disabilities    5. Psychology    6. Social Science    7. Social conditions    8. Sociology    9. Sociology - General    10. Specific Groups - Special Needs    11. Statistics    12. United States    13. Women    14. Women with disabilities    15. Coping with disability    16. Social & cultural anthropology    17. Social Science / Anthropology / General    18. Women's studies    19. c 1970 to c 1980    20. c 1980 to c 1990    21. c 1990 to c 2000   

Editorial Review

This memoir about a "boy possessed" reads like a cross between Read more

Reviews (16)

A 'wicked' sense of humour
A very honest and funny insight into the mind of an adolescent still caught partially in a childlike, literal understanding of the world, as he progresses to the more rational world of an adult.It's fascinating to see how the author's interpretation and understanding of his affliction are influenced by his environment, in this case his Catholic faith.A true life bildungsroman with both funny and poignant moments, this book has universal appeal.What resonated with me was seeing how our childlike interpretations so significantly effect our development (and no doubt continue to do so).One is left wondering whether this particular guy's crazy interpretations of events were such a bad thing for him after all. A really enjoyable read.

Poorly written and not very interesting
I ordered this book with high extectations.I heard the author interviewed on a local radio station and read the reviews on this website.It all seemed quite positive.I ordered a copy for myself and for members of my bookclub.Unfortunately, the book really is dreadful.I returned all copies to Amazon for a refund.This is the first time I've ever done that.There are two problems with the book.First, it is poorly written.You as the reader will have to work hard to get through it. Most sentences have a strange and painful construction.There is a beginning clause followed by a comma, then another clause elaborating on the first clause, then another comma with a third clause elaborating on either the first or the second clause.Get the idea.Do you want to read a whole book like this?Worse, what could have been an interesting story comes across as dull and lifeless.Clearly the writer thinks plopping down all these abbreviated ancedotes of people and things from his life will be very entertaining.Sadly, it reads as a rambling scattershot. Order the book and you will work hard to read it while asking yourself why you are spending your time doing it

Contemporary Classic
At first you don't think young Stevie Kissing is going to win. But somehow, in the strangest of adolescent maneuverings, he does. You must read this memoir to find out how. And you will rarely stop when you begin reading. In Running with the Devil, an older, wiser Steve Kissing looks back with brilliant narrative drive to a delusional childhood. He chronicles the unruly effects of not a lapsed Catholic childhood, but one that was given to inadvertant bouts of, well, hallucinations, bad dreams, and unreliable goals. And he captures in utter poignancy and hilarity what it means to feel ostracized and clearly puzzled by a strange affliction obsessing him.Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Demonology    5. Epilepsy    6. General    7. Neurology - General    8. Personal Memoirs    9. Religious    10. Specific Groups - Special Needs    11. Diseases & disorders    12. Mind, Body, Spirit    13. Neurology & clinical neurophysiology    14. Religion & Beliefs    15. Religion / General    16. Religion / Inspirational    17. Satanism & demonology   

Reviews (2)

Terri's Story by Diana Lynne
I have read this book last month.A friend lent me her copy but I had to give it back, so I just purchased one of my own to re-read since it contains valuable information.It is an insightful read that every person shopuld at least read once in their lifetime (like very soon!).Everyone at Word On Wheels dot org has read it since it came out, and they have said the same as I.She is a great author.

Terri's Story
I have followed the Terri Schiavo story for many years and find this book one of the most well written accounts.This is an excellent book and I would recommend it.I am rating this book 5 stars. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Legal System    3. Political Advocacy    4. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    5. Politics / Current Events    6. Specific Groups - Special Needs    7. 21st century    8. Euthanasia    9. True Stories   

Editorial Review

"Marriage doesn't just break down," observes Taylor, a distinguished ex-Read more

Reviews (21)

MEN DON'T USUALLY WRITE ABOUT PERSONAL STUFF....
I remember reding about this book when it was first published, but really had no interest in reading about yet another failed marriage.Too depressing.But then after reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls and learning that this author is her current husband, my interest was piqued.I LOVED The Glass Castle and was very curious about John Taylor as her husband.So I bought, and read, this book.
Honest and Brutal look at one Marriage
After having read the book, then read some of the reviews, I was suprised at how outraged some people were at this story. This is probably the most realistic viewpoint about a relationship that I have read in a long time. Does that mean that every man cheats on his wife? No. Does that mean that every woman wants "maintennance" for the rest of her life? No. What it does mean is that sometimes people make mistakes (in this case, several of them), but they must go on. Granted, there were several times where I found myself angry at the author for his actions, but who am I to judge someone elses misfortunes, when we all have skeletons in our closet.

Is it autobiography? Or not?
While the author's writing style is compelling, this story's narrator is not totally credible. The reader may find themselves wondering, as I did, whether this book is truly autobiographical, or a fictionalized and air-brushed version of "One Marriage." Either way, what about the WIFE's side of the story?Numerous infidelities prove that the husband in this relationship certainly lacked committment. It sounds to me as if he didn't think seriously about his marriage until his lack of conviction contributed to its end. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Divorce    6. Divorced men    7. General    8. Psychology    9. Specific Groups - Special Needs    10. United States    11. Family & Relationships / Divorce   

Reviews (2)

The Voice of Experience
Dr. Mollette shares his experiences, after his wife was diagnosed with MS, with clarity and refreshing honesty.He gives down-to-earth advice for care givers in an open and compassionate manner. Silent Struggler
This is an honest and touching account of what it is like to be a caregiver.The author is the spouse of a patient with advanced Multiple Sclerosis.One day this diagnosis given to his wife not only changed her life, but also changed his life. The author talks about how to care for the disabled in most every way imaginable, from eating and sleeping, to talking and sharing intimacy.As the story in the book evolved, so did the s