Average customer rating:
- Nice man, wandering story...
- ****LOVED IT****
- MEASURE OF A MAN does not measure up
- SPIRITUAL "Of, Relating to, Consisting of, or Affecting the Spirit" MERRIAM-WEBSTER
- Books
|
The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah's Book Club)
Sidney Poitier
Manufacturer: HarperSanFrancisco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Actors & Actresses
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Entertainers
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
African-American & Black
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ethnic & National
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Movies
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Road (Oprah's Book Club)
-
The Secret
-
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
-
The Pursuit of Happyness
-
Middlesex: A Novel (Oprah's Book Club)
ASIN: 0061357901
Release Date: 2007-01-26 |
Book Description
"I have no wish to play the pontificating fool, pretending that I've suddenly come up with the answers to all life's questions. Quite that contrary, I began this book as an exploration, an exercise in self-questing. In other words, I wanted to find out, as I looked back at a long and complicated life, with many twists and turns, how well I've done at measuring up to the values I myself have set."
—Sidney Poitier
In this luminous memoir, a true American icon looks back on his celebrated life and career. His body of work is arguably the most morally significant in cinematic history, and the power and influence of that work are indicative of the character of the man behind the many storied roles. Sidney Poitier here explores these elements of character and personal values to take his own measure—as a man, as a husband and a father, and as an actor.
Poitier credits his parents and his childhood on tiny Cat Island in the Bahamas for equipping him with the unflinching sense of right and wrong and of self-worth that he has never surrendered and that have dramatically shaped his world. "In the kind of place where I grew up," recalls Poitier, "what's coming at you is the sound of the sea and the smell of the wind and momma's voice and the voice of your dad and the craziness of your brothers and sisters...and that's it." Without television, radio, and material distractions to obscure what matters most, he could enjoy the simple things, endure the long commitments, and find true meaning in his life.
Poitier was uncompromising as he pursued a personal and public life that would honor his upbringing and the invaluable legacy of his parents. Just a few years after his introduction to indoor plumbing and the automobile, Poitier broke racial barrier after racial barrier to launch a pioneering acting career. Committed to the notion that what one does for a living articulates to who one is, Poitier played only forceful and affecting characters who said something positive, useful, and lasting about the human condition.
Here is Poitier's own introspective look at what has informed his performances and his life. Poitier explores the nature of sacrifice and commitment, price and humility, rage and forgiveness, and paying the price for artistic integrity. What emerges is a picture of a man in the face of limits—his own and the world's. A triumph of the spirit, The Measure of a Man captures the essential Poitier.
Customer Reviews:
Nice man, wandering story..........2007-10-04
I had to force myself to finish this book, simply because I didn't want to waste my money by leaving it when I was tempted to. It was interesting to realize that an actor whose work I had appreciated came from such a spare beginning, but by halfway through the book, the continuous wandering asides and disclaimers of the author so overwhelmed the narrative that I could barely tolerate it. It seems to me that the story could have been told to greater effect with half the words!
****LOVED IT****.......2007-09-24
Kept me interested...I really enjoyed this book...I couldn't put the book down until I finished reading it!!!!
MEASURE OF A MAN does not measure up.......2007-09-21
Wow, a book about Sidney Poitier. An outstanding actor with a book that just does not give him true justice. The reading tends to be dry and lacks substance. His life struggles could have been the story of any man or woman, black or white. The writing and editing are weak in some sections.
You should rent or buy one of Poitier's movies instead. His movie roles show his true skills.
SPIRITUAL "Of, Relating to, Consisting of, or Affecting the Spirit" MERRIAM-WEBSTER.......2007-08-30
I've always been smitten with Poitier's voice--his diction and control on film, the flow of his words as they travel in and around ideas during interviews--so I read THE MEASURE OF A MAN with an ear for his voice. I wondered, Is it translatable to print? It is, but that means allowing Poitier's thoughts to meander until they find their point, and that his thoughts are less formulated (or formal) and more "in his own words," than they might be if they were written by a biographer. (I read just enough "You know?"s "You hear me when I tell you?"s and "You follow?"s to feel like he was talking to me, but not too many to be annoyed.) I read to imagine what it might be like to have a conversation with Poitier. The book reinforced what I already knew--I'd be as intimidated as heck--but it also gave me the courage to think I'd be able to speak my mind.
As an editor, I read Poitier's book because I wanted to know how he defines a "spiritual" autobiography. Is it a I-Was-A-Sinner-But-I-Found-Jesus-And-Now-I'm-Saved chronology? Is it about how Christianity or another faith influenced his life? Neither. Poitier examines the people, events, circumstances, beliefs, and so on, which have related to, consisted of, or affected his "spirit," and, in doing so, he writes about childhood experiences in the Bahamas, his changing perceptions of his parents, how he adapts to living in the United States, his approach to acting and filmmaking, and his attitude toward fatherhood. He also shares a debate a friend and he had about the Basic Truth of Nature, a debate worth every second of reading it takes to get to.
Is THE MEASURE OF A MAN going to satisfy readers interested only in Poitier's film career? No, but I urge them to read it anyway, if for no other reason than to find out how his "spirit" influenced the films he starred in.
Books.......2007-08-21
I purchased this book for my daughter and she loved it!
She is a teacher and plans to teach this story in her English class fall 2007.
A great story with a great moral.
Book Description
What would you do to inherit a million dollars? Would you be willing to change your life? Jason Stevens is about to find out in Jim Stovall's The Ultimate Gift. Red Stevens has died, and the older members of his family receive their millions with greedy anticipation. But a different fate awaits young Jason, whom Stevens, his great-uncle, believes may be the last vestige of hope in the family. "Although to date your life seems to be a sorry excuse for anything I would call promising, there does seem to be a spark of something in you that I hope we can fan into a flame. For that reason, I am not making you an instant millionaire." What Stevens does give Jason leads to The Ultimate Gift. Young and old will take this timeless tale to heart.
Customer Reviews:
life enhancing experience.......2007-10-10
A close friend gave me the book and the minute I opened it I knew I would not be able to put it down. It is a very fast read and it is packed full of valuable insights. As soon as I finished it I went on line and ordered a copy for each of my adolescent grandchildren. I believe there is something to be gained from each chapter. The book held my interest to the end.
Read the book, watch the movie - both will inspire!.......2007-10-01
I received this book as a gift shortly after watching the movie by the same name - I was greatly impressed with the movie and anxious to read the book (since everyone knows that the book is always better than the movie). This book is no exception to that rule - an outstanding read and it was as easy to read as the movie was to watch. This is a novel, a work of fiction that drives home some real life points! The premise of the book is about what's really important in life - is it what we build with our hands or the money and worldly success we achieve, or is it something more than that, something that isn't tangible and can't be bought or sold for any amount of money? In his final will, a dying wealthy man tries to communicate from the grave the true meaning of life to a family member who up until this point hasn't got a clue!
I would think that this book could probably be read to children in upper elementary school and could be read by 7th or 8th graders on their own. The book should be read by parents first so that they can engage their children in conversation along the way. While the book isn't overtly Christian, you'll find that the lessons taught in this novel are very similar to the wisdom shared in the Book of Proverbs and throughout Scripture. Stovall isn't preaching, but he sure can drive a point home with this story; and these twelve "gifts" passed from one generation to the next are essential for each and every one of us to learn as well.
While some say that the movie isn't as good as the book, I say that they are a pretty good compliment of each other. The movie takes various liberties with the book to get this message on screen, but you won't be disappointed with either. The book is written to provoke thought and discussion and families should use them as tools to teach valuable life lessons to their children - Red Stevens would have wanted it that way!
The Ultimate Gift DVD.......2007-09-27
The Ultimate Gift you sent me was a total disaster. I ordered the movie edition and you sent me a book and a promotional DVD. I did not receive the movie edition of the Ultimate Gift. Unfortunately I had ordered it to take on a bus trip that I was directing and I had not taken the time to watch what you sent me, thinking it was the movie edition. When I put it in the DVD player with everyone on the bus eager to watch the movie there was only the promotional disc. Needless to say I was embarrassed and not too happy. Fortunately along the way I was able to purchase the DVD that I thought I was buying from Amazon at a much higher price. I have ordered from Amazon before and have been very pleased but not this time.
A Timely Gift.......2007-09-24
Several copies of The Ultimate Gift were placed on a table at my workplace. A handwritten note read, "Take one and pass it on." The title was intriguing and never one to pass up something free or an opportunity to read, I took one.
Having gained knowledge of most of these gifts through the ups and downs of life, I enjoyed the validations, while unfortunately identifying with Uncle Red's mistakes. I am grateful to the person who made it possible to have a copy of the book.
I titled this review 'a timely gift' because I received in time read it and mail it to my son as a gift for his 26th birthday. Like Uncle Red, wishing to provide, I robbed my children of many of the gifts. I am hoping the book will make a difference in my son's life as he is not a happy person even though he has many blessings. When and if I am in touch with my prodigal daughter, I will share The Ultimate Gift with her, also. It is my goal to share copies of The Ultimate Gift with many, many young persons.
Good , but not terrific.......2007-09-19
The reviews I read promised an inspiring book. It was not to be. It was an interesting premise and story. But the lack of detailed story left me disappointed. Reading the story from the lawyer's view did not give us an opportunity to really travel the road to enlightenment. I felt I was reading the summary, not the story.
A movie of the book is coming out soon. I dare say, I see an immense opprtunity for the movie to outshine the book.
Amazon.com
Best known for tackling controversial issues through richly told fictional accounts, Jodi Picoult's 14th novel, Nineteen Minutes, deals with the truth and consequences of a smalltown high-school shooting. Set in Sterling, New Hampshire, Picoult offers reads a glimpse of what would cause a 17-year-old to wake up one day, load his backpack with four guns, and kill nine students and one teacher in the span of nineteen minutes. As with any Picoult novel, the answers are never black and white, and it is her exceptional ability to blur the lines between right and wrong that make this author such a captivating storyteller.
On Peter Houghton's first day of kindergarten, he watched helplessly as an older boy ripped his lunch box out of his hands and threw it out the window. From that day on, his life was a series of humiliations, from having his pants pulled down in the cafeteria, to being called a freak at every turn. But can endless bullying justify murder? As Picoult attempts to answer this question, she shows us all sides of the equation, from the ruthless jock who loses his ability to speak after being shot in the head, to the mother who both blames and pities herself for producing what most would call a monster. Surrounding Peter's story is that of Josie Cornier, a former friend whose acceptance into the popular crowd hangs on a string that makes it impossible for her to reconcile her beliefs with her actions.
At times, Nineteen Minutes can seem tediously stereotypical-- jocks versus nerds, parent versus child, teacher versus student. Part of Picoult's gift is showing us the subtleties of these common dynamics, and the startling effects they often have on the moral landscape. As Peter's mother says at the end of this spellbinding novel, "Everyone would remember Peter for nineteen minutes of his life, but what about the other nine million?" --Gisele Toueg
Book Description
In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five....In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it.
In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.
Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens -- until the day its complacency is shattered by a shocking act of violence. In the aftermath, the town's residents must not only seek justice in order to begin healing but also come to terms with the role they played in the tragedy. For them, the lines between truth and fiction, right and wrong, insider and outsider have been obscured forever. Josie Cormier, the teenage daughter of the judge sitting on the case, could be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. And as the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show, destroying the closest of friendships and families.
Nineteen Minutes is New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult's most raw, honest, and important novel yet. Told with the straightforward style for which she has become known, it asks simple questions that have no easy
answers: Can your own child become a mystery to you? What does it mean to be different in our society? Is it ever okay for a victim to strike back? And who -- if anyone -- has the right to judge someone else?
Customer Reviews:
A must read for mature teens and adults!.......2007-10-07
This isn't normally the type of book I would read but I'm glad I picked it up. It wasn't always easy to get through. Ms. Picoult is a good writer but the subject matter was difficult. It definitely helped the reader empathize with someone that had been bullied throughout school. Not that there is ever any justification for what the main character did in the book (as in real life) but I do believe that parents, for the most part, are in the dark as to how their children behave at school. Sometimes I'm not sure they care-as long as their kid is popular and not the victim. I almost felt like purchasing the book for every school teacher in our town! Most teachers have lost touch with their empathy muscle towards their students. When my son was being bullied and didn't want to leave class with the other students, the teacher told him to 'not be a wimp'. We've spent the last week looking for alternative schools from the public school system. The school system is so concerned about how they 'rate' educationally they seem unconcerned about how the kids are doing emotionally.
I can see this book being made into a movie. If it is, I hope it's done well, in a way that will affect positive change. It has the potential to do so.
too real, is it really fiction.......2007-10-07
I read this book a few months ago after the VA Tech. shooting it was just coincedental it came out too close to the time. But, also my son is a senior in his HS. This book was very hard for me to read because of the topic.
It was eary it also because the child was so close to my son's age. The author was talking about 9/11 and the child was the same age and put into prospective.
The story about a boy who has been bullied every since he was kindergarten. The boy was good friend to his parents friend until he showed a weapon. The parent freaked and did not want him hanging with her daughter. He stayed friends in secret until high school. She became popular and wanted to be in the in-crowd, he felt rejected. He then went to the school and shot everyone in sight. The story goes back and forth in time to explain all person's involved why this happended.
This is a very good book. But very hard if you have a HS student.
Do teachers sit back and do nothing. Or do we the parents have to insist something has to be done. Why is it some kids just hope it will stop and others just snap. The book had a lot to say just like her other book sister's keeper. This book should be read by everyone that is associated with schools. The parents, teachers, students, etc.
Great book club read.
Absolutely amazing, stereotypes or not.......2007-10-05
I don't have much to say that hasn't been said in all of the other glowing reviews of this book. Mostly what I have to say is a comment on the criticism I've frequently seen about this book, that the characters are too stereotyped.
The fact of the matter is, the sympathetic characters in this book - the ones you feel for throughout the story, and cry for at the end - are NOT the stereotypes here. Peter is someone you can understand and relate to - you get his family dynamics, why his parents became so lost in raising him despite their best intentions, and how Peter's only mistake in growing up was always being *just a little bit* different. He's not your stereotypical 'nerd' with tape on his glasses, getting straight A's, and a member of the chess club. He tries to fit in at times, even participating in making fun of other uncool kids - yet at times shows wisdom beyond his years in recognizing that maybe that's not worth the price he has to pay in feeling even worse about himself.
Rather --the stereotypes in this book are the popular kids - the jocks, the pretty girls, etc. And the fact of the matter is, these stereotypes are VERY MUCH alive and real in high schools. The kids at schools that bully others do very little to humanize themselves to their victims, so Jodie Picoult quite brilliantly does very little to humanize them either, effectively making them much, much more accountable for their actions, and making us see them the way their victims do. These are kids that, plain and simply, are old enough to know better. These are kids who have parents who will turn a blind eye to the fact that their children are being cruel, and say 'kids will be kids,' while their kids' victims suffer silently and the administration turns a blind eye. Yet when something tragic finally happens - the bullies' victim finally fights back, no matter how misguided their attempt at revenge - the parents blame everyone but themselves and their own children. Jodie Picoult hearbreakingly shows that too many high schools' policies on bullying have not evolved along with the insanity that guns, MySpace, & IMing have made kids capable of. Bullying is no longer about knocking the nerd's glasses off in the hall because he raised his hand one too many times in class today, or stealing his lunch money every once in awhile - No, the stakes are now much, much higher.
I recently heard Jodie Picoult speak and was extremely impressed by her commitment to actually going out and addressing this problem - she has visited many high schools where students had read the book to discuss it with them and discuss ways to address bullying. I really and truly believe that this book should be required reading in every highschool - the country would be a much, much better place. Yet quite tellingly - Ms. Picoult said that her book has actually been banned in at least one high school. When will we learn?
Out of the 6 books of hers I have read, this is by far my favorite and, if it's not already clear, has left a very lasting impression on me.
WWWWOOOOWWWW!!!.......2007-10-05
What a great book! I could not put it down! I read it in a week. I love Jodi Picoult books. She writes awesome.
Never would have been the judge.......2007-10-04
I found Picoult's novel engaging, disturbing, and riveting on many levels. This book should make every parent of a teenage - whether a popular kid or an outsider - look very hard at their child's life. It is that good and that realistic.
It is excellent in all but one respect. There is no way that Judge Cormier would have heard this case. None whatsoever. In the real world, she never would have been assigned the case in the first place. As a lawyer, I have seen the inside of many courtrooms and judges are recused for far less than this. This one incredibly important detail very nearly negates all the good in this story.
Nonetheless, the message in this novel is important. Watch your children. Talk to you children. They are not necessarily the people you think they are. They are not necessarily the people THEY think they are.
Book Description
The United States is one of the most religious places on earth, but it is also a nation of shocking religious illiteracy.
- Only 10 percent of American teenagers can name all five major world religions and 15 percent cannot name any.
- Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe that the Bible holds the answers to all or most of life's basic questions, yet only half of American adults can name even one of the four gospels and most Americans cannot name the first book of the Bible.
Despite this lack of basic knowledge, politicians and pundits continue to root public policy arguments in religious rhetoric whose meanings are missed—or misinterpreted—by the vast majority of Americans.
"We have a major civic problem on our hands," says religion scholar Stephen Prothero. He makes the provocative case that to remedy this problem, we should return to teaching religion in the public schools. Alongside "reading, writing, and arithmetic," religion ought to become the "Fourth R" of American education.
Many believe that America's descent into religious illiteracy was the doing of activist judges and secularists hell-bent on banishing religion from the public square. Prothero reveals that this is a profound misunderstanding. "In one of the great ironies of American religious history," Prothero writes, "it was the nation's most fervent people of faith who steered us down the road to religious illiteracy. Just how that happened is one of the stories this book has to tell."
Prothero avoids the trap of religious relativism by addressing both the core tenets of the world's major religions and the real differences among them. Complete with a dictionary of the key beliefs, characters, and stories of Christianity, Islam, and other religions, Religious Literacy reveals what every American needs to know in order to confront the domestic and foreign challenges facing this country today.
Customer Reviews:
A misleading book, should have been titled "Christian Literacy".......2007-10-08
I was so upset with this book. Even the cover is misleading. The first half of this work is basically a history of Christianity in AMERICA (and often you feel that the author is waxing nalstalgic for the good 'ol days of "Christian" America) and then the second half is a mediocre dictionary of Religion. Money would be better spend on a cheap dictionary of Eastern or world religion. If this book had been marketed as "Religious Literacy for Christians" I would understand the direction of the book. As it is, I felt like this book was marketed as an attempt to pull in the reader (such as myself) who is interested in expanding their comprehension of WORLD religions, but once having your attention it tries to convice you that we are living in a Christian country and that it has always been so.
Makes the case but never tells us *what* we need to know.......2007-09-27
Despite the lack of religion taught in public schools or the anti-relgion impressions given by the media, America is a very religious nation. It was founded by religious people and it's history is entwined with religon. Even today, politicians frequently invoke religion and cite scriptural references and most Americans will report that they regularly attend religious services and pray. The problem is that not many of those people actually have much religious knowledge (an assertion supported by a just-released Sept 2007 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center). Few can name all Ten Commandments or any Apostles, not to mention even cursory knowledge about Eastern religions. Contrast this with Europeans, who have broad religious knowledge but don't attend church or pray. Mr. Prothero explains how religion factored in early American life, the affects of secularism and how America shifted away from valuing religious knowledge, and clears up the confusion over the legalities of teaching religion. He also makes a case for the need for greater religious literacy without showing any favoritism.
The problem is that the title is terribly misleading: "Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know - and Doesn't" infers that this book will tell us what we NEED to know. It doesn't. It sounds like I know more about scriptures and my own church than most people do about theirs, but I know very little about other churches. I would like to learn some basics about Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Christian religions such as the Catholics, Protestants, and Evangelicals and was hoping for summaries to help me better understand. All the book has to offer is a "dictionary" that was nice, but not really what I was hoping for. I already agree with the author that knowledge of religion is lacking - myself included - but the book doesn't really take the next step. Mr. Prothero complains that even many churches today teach only broad "touchy-feely" concepts like "love" and "Jesus" but fail to impart a deeper understanding, but he's guilty of the same sin.
The discussions of religion in Colonial America and how we became a secular nation was interesting, but I think most people who pick up this book will also agree with the author, and as such it ends up being little more than preaching to the choir.
disguised argument.... .......2007-09-13
The title is misleading. I expected to be educated regarding the myriad religions in the world, many of them with a substantial presence in the United States. Instead, the author works to convince the reader The Bible should be required study in America's public schools. The author did place much of the blame for religious illiteracy on religion itself and not so much on secularism. He also did not mention America's woeful failing regarding science literacy, but then this is a book whose emphasis is religion.
Americans most certainly are ignorant regarding religion, even their own, but this book does not live up to the goal stated in its title. The title should have been "My argument for Bible Study in public schools."
Teach ABOUT Religion instead of Teaching Religion ..........2007-09-02
A persuasive argument for teaching about religion, not proselytizing. Author Stephen Prothero traces the degradation in religious knowledge, not necessarily observance, in the United States over the past 150 years.
Nowadays, the gods of Political Correctness must be appeased. People are reluctant to bring up or discuss the topic of religion. As a result, it has largely left the school system. He offers some salient examples of illiteracy and ignorance with regard to basic religious concepts (for example, some people believe that the epistles were the wives of the apostles!!).
Prothero spends more time making his argument than advancing solutions, the chief example of which is restoring education about religion in the public schools and beyond. He makes a salient point and differentiation between teaching about religion and pushing religious beliefs on to people. It is a persuasive case and timely, since so many modern conflicts and foreign-policy issues are shaped by religious belief.
The majority of the book is comprised of a glossary of religious concepts and terms. This alone provides a valuable reference. There is also a quiz in the Appendix so that readers can gauge their own degree of religious literacy.
A thought-provoking and persuasive book!
Important yes -- but a Fourth R?.......2007-09-01
The Professor of Religion effectively proves that we need more religious education. Yes, his department of religion should be more important but is there not a crying need for the more basic Three Rs to be taken care of first before we divert resources?
And what about the lack of Financial Literacy? Not knowing about Whahhabism could certainly hurt us again, but not understanding the dangers to borrowers and the economy contained in the fine print in sub-prime real estate loans could, it turns out, drive us into recession (some economists think recession will hit us next year) and that could even hurt us more.
The application of limited educational resources should be well balanced. It comes down to a question of priorities. And the author of this fine book is overstating the priority of his department and career field.
Book Description
Do you know the real Paula Deen? You may think you know the butter-loving, finger-licking, joke-cracking queen of melt-in-your-mouth Southern cuisine. You may have even visited The Lady & Sons to taste for yourself the down-home delicacies that made her famous and even heard some version of her Cinderella story (a single mom with two teenage sons started a brown-bag lunch business with $200 and wound up with a thriving restaurant, a fairy-tale second marriage, and wildly popular television shows), but you have never heard the intimate details of her often bumpy road to fame and fortune.
Courageously honest, downright inspiring, and just a little bit saucy, Paula shares the highs and lows of her life in the inimitable charming and irreverent style that you know from her television shows and personal appearances. She talks about long childhood summers spent in a bathing suit and roller skates and hard years living in the back of her father's gas station; a buzzing high school social life of sleepovers, parties, cheerleading, and boys; and a difficult marriage. The death of her beloved parents precipitated a debilitating agoraphobia that crippled her for years. But even when the going got tough, Paula never lost the good grace and sense of humor that would eventually help carry her to success and stardom. Of course, you can't get by on charm alone: as Paula has learned, you need plenty of willpower, hard work, and, above all, the love and support of family and friends to finance, sustain, and run a successful restaurant.
In each chapter, Paula shares new recipes: there's serious comfort food like her momma's Chocolate-Dippy Doughnuts, Courage Chili for when you know life's going to get tough, Sexy Oxtails for seducing that special someone, and the recipe for her new mother-in-law's Banana Nut Delight Cake that Paula finally got just right. And you'll love the never-before-seen photos of her family.
In this memoir, Paula Deen speaks as frankly and intimately as few women in the public eye have ever dared. Whether she's telling tales of good times or bad, her story is proof that the old-fashioned American dream is alive and kicking, and there still is such a thing as a real-life happy ending.
Customer Reviews:
I loved this book!!!.......2007-09-19
I loved Paula Deen from the first time I watched her show on "Food TV". However there was so much about her life that I did not know. Reading this book really brought me in to her personal life--what is important to her, her battle with agoraphobia, and even some of her mistakes. I read this book while I was on vacation--could'nt put it down!!!! She has such a funny way of telling you about her life--her usual Paula Deen craziness!!!! LOVED IT!!
Paula's book is cookin'.......2007-09-12
This book was so easy and fun to read. Paula's writes like she talks. I admired her courage in starting a business. She never allowed herself have the option of giving up.
It Aint All ABout the Cookin.......2007-09-07
If you have enjoyed Paula Dean cookbooks and her cooking shows, you will enjoy this book. I found out so much about Paula Dean and her struggle to fame. As I read this book, I could just hear her voice and her laughter and Laugh I did. There are also a few recipes in the book that I have found to be excellent.
Paula Dean and her handsome boys are to be applauded for their stick-to-ativeness..and God bless the entire family. May the Dean/Weaver family always be a hugh success.
You don't have to love cooking to enjoy the book. If you want honesty and humor, this is the book.
Loved this book!.......2007-09-05
Paula does a great job of giving you a sense of her roots. She also shares many of her personal struggles - some of which were probably not that easy to discuss publicly. She's brutally honest about her low times and bad decisions that she's made. As the reader she will make you feel as if you are a trusted friend in which she's chosen to confide.
I think Paula is a courageous woman who has earned every bit of her success.
Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin'.......2007-09-04
I just LOVED this book!! Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. It's been a long time since I've done that with a book. I felt like Paula was right here with me. She made me feel like I was part of her life. I laughed and cried and what's gone on in her life and continues to go on. She's a remarkable lady. I wish I could meet her someday; but since I probably won't, this was the next best thing. Paula you are a "hoot"!! I just love you girl, and keep on being yourself!
Amazon.com
It's difficult to imagine a harder first act to follow than The Kite Runner: a debut novel by an unknown writer about a country many readers knew little about that has gone on to have over four million copies in print worldwide. But when preview copies of Khaled Hosseini's second novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, started circulating at Amazon.com, readers reacted with a unanimous enthusiasm that few of us could remember seeing before. As special as The Kite Runner was, those readers said, A Thousand Splendid Suns is more so, bringing Hosseini's compassionate storytelling and his sense of personal and national tragedy to a tale of two women that is weighted equally with despair and grave hope.
We wanted to spread the word on the book as widely, and as soon, as we could. See below for an exclusive excerpt from A Thousand Splendid Suns and early reviews of the book from some of our top customer reviewers.--The Editors
|
An Exclusive Excerpt from A Thousand Splendid Suns |
We have arranged with the publisher to make an exclusive excerpt of A Thousand Splendid Suns available on Amazon.com. Click here to read a scene from the novel. It's not the opening scene, but rather one from a crucial moment later in the book when Mariam, one of the novel's two main characters, steps into a new role.
|
Early Buzz from Amazon.com Top Reviewers |
We queried our top 100 customer reviewers as of March 6, 2007, and asked them to read A Thousand Splendid Suns and share their thoughts. We've included these early reviews below in the order they were received. For the sake of space, we've only included a brief excerpt of each reviewer's response, but each review is available for reading in its entirety by clicking the "Read the review" link.
Joanna Daneman:
"His style is deceptively simple and clear, the characters drawn deftly and swiftly, his themes elemental and huge. This is a brilliant writer and I look forward to more of his work." Read Joanna Daneman's review
Seth J. Frantzman:
"Khaled Hosseini has done it again with 'A Thousand Splendid Sons', presenting a new, dashing and dark tale of two generations of women trapped in a loveless marriage, bracketed by great events." Read Seth J. Frantzman's review
Donald Mitchell:
"Khaled Hosseini has succeeded in capturing many important historical and contemporary themes in a way that will make your heart ache again and again. Why will your reaction be so strong? It's because you'll identify closely with the suffering of almost all the characters, a reaction that's very rare to a modern novel." Read Donald Mitchell's review
Lawrance M. Bernabo:
"All things considered, following up on a successful first novel is probably harder than coming up with the original effort and Hosseini could have rested on his laurels in the manner of Harper Lee, but as "A Thousand Splendid Suns" amply proves, this native of Kabul has more stories to tell about the land of Afghanistan." Read Lawrance M. Bernabo's review
Amanda Richards:
"There are parts of this book that will have grown men surreptitiously blotting the tears that are on the verge of overflowing their ducts, and by the time you get to the middle, you won't be able to put it down. Hosseini's simple but richly descriptive prose makes for an engrossing read, and in my opinion, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is among the best I have ever read. This is definitely not one to be missed." Read Amanda Richards's review
N. Durham:
"All that being said, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is a bit more enjoyable than Hosseini's previous "The Kite Runner", and once again he manages to give we readers another glimpse of a world that we know little about but frequently condemn and discard. However, if you were one of the many that for some reason absolutely loved "The Kite Runner", chances are that you'll love this as well." Read N. Durham's review
John Kwok:
"Khaled Hosseini's "A Thousand Splendid Suns" is a genuine instant literary classic, and one destined to be remembered as one of 2007's best novels. It should be compared favorably to such legendary Russian novels like "War and Peace" and "Doctor Zhivago"." Read John Kwok's review
Thomas Duff:
"Normally I'm more of an action-adventure type reader when it comes to novels and recreational reading. But I was given the chance to read A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (author of The Kite Runner), so I decided to try something out of my normal genre. I am *so* glad I did. This is a stunning and moving novel of life and love in Afghanistan over a 30 year period." Read Thomas Duff's review
Charles Ashbacher:
"This book manages to simultaneously capture the history of Afghanistan over the last thirty years and how women are treated in conservative Islamic societies.... In many ways it is a sad book, your heart goes out to these two women in their hopeless struggle to have a decent life with a brutal man in an unforgiving, intolerant society." Read Charles Ashbacher's review
W. Boudville:
"Hosseini presents a piognant view into the recent tortured decades of the Afghan experience. From the 1970s, under a king, to the Soviet takeover, to the years of resistance. And then the rise and fall of the Taliban. An American reader will recognise many of the main political events. But to many Americans, Afghanistan and its peoples and religion remain an opaque and troubling mystery." Read W. Boudville's review
Mark Baker:
"I tend to read plot heavy books, so this character study was a definite change of pace for me. I found the first half slow going at times, mainly because I knew where the story was going. Once I got into the second half, things really picked up. The ending was very bittersweet. I couldn't think of a better way to end it." Read Mark Baker's review
Grady Harp:
"Hosseini takes us behind those walls for forty some years of Afghanistan's bloody history and while he does not spare us any of the descriptions of the terror that continues to besiege that country, he does offer us a story that speaks so tenderly about the fragile beauty of love and devotion and lasting impression people make on people." Read Grady Harp's review
Robert P. Beveridge:
"When I was actively reading it, the pages kept turning, and more than once I found myself foregoing food or sleep temporarily to get in just one more chapter. When I had put it down, however, I felt no particular compulsion to pick it back up again. It's a good book, and a relatively well-written one, but it's not a great book. Enjoyable without leaving a lasting impression." Read Robert P. Beveridge's review
B. Marold:
"While the events in Afghanistan and the wider world create a familiar framework for the stories of these two women, it is nothing more than a framework. The warp and weft of everyday life, and the interaction of the two women and their close relatives is the heartbeat of the story." Read B. Marold's review
Daniel Jolley:
"Khaled Hosseini has written a majestic, sweeping, emotionally powerful story that provides the reader with a most telling window into Afghan society over the past thirty-odd years. It's also a moving story of friendship and sacrifice, giving Western readers a rare glimpse into the suffering and mistreatment of Afghan women that began long before the Taliban came to power." Read Daniel Jolley's review
Book Description
After 103 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and with four million copies of The Kite Runner shipped, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel that confirms his place as one of the most important literary writers today.
Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love.
Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival.
A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.
Customer Reviews:
A Thousand Splendid Suns.......2007-10-10
This book was excellent; even better than The Kite Runner. What an eye opener to the series of horrific acts that befall women in the middle east.
A vibrant, intense, and emotionally wrenching book.......2007-10-09
"A Thousand Splendid Suns" is a gripping novel that left me with a profound respect for women who struggle and flourish under restrictive regimes and repressive religions. I could almost feel the pain, fear, anger, frustration, hope and courage these women endure each and every day. The author faithfully delivers an emotionally taut epic that will strike a chord with many. I hated and loved this story all at the same time.
Tragic Journey of Love.......2007-10-08
A Thousand Splendid Suns is an absolutely wonderful story about the things that keep us going, even when our world falls apart. You will find yourself pulled into this tragic story, unable to put the book down. This book will touch your heart on a very real level. I can't wait to read it again.
terrific book, but left with some mixed feelings.......2007-10-08
I just finished this audiobook in a straight 10-hour period while I listened to my iPod as I refinished my deck. This book certainly does not leave your emotions untouched and most certainly gets you involved intimately with the characters that Hosseini develops. It is difficult at this point to catalog the full range of emotions that I felt while reading this book. Righteous indignation may be the main emotion I can recall from most of the pages. How much I, as a man, wanted to swoop in and solve away all of their problems with my western life of abundance. On examining this particular desire, perhaps the true message of this book comes out. It is written completely and totally in a worldview that is very different from us Western readers. The themes of survival, fate, endurance, are not ones that come to the fore in our minds. Concepts so important to us in this part of the world such as ambition, achievement, and discovery of dreams keep a place in the forefront of our minds.
This is particularly pointed in my mind, since I had just visited DisneyWorld days before reading this book. Their theme is that every girl wants to be a princess and at one point they had the audience chant that "Dreams come true" and remarked how every boy wants to be a pirate and every girl a princess. The interesting thing is what our dreams are. They are not the dream shared by the characters in the novel of independence, a motherhood, and freedom from fear. This disney dream is the idea that we will be exalted above our peers, that our extreme abundance will be greater than the extreme abundance of those around us. That our difference, our individuality will give us significance, only possible at the expense of others.
This is perhaps why the novel hit me as such an unfamiliar, foreign thing. I was depressed by how everything seemed to go bad for the characters on how there was not a hero -- not a constant juxtaposition of good and bad, of hope and disappointment, that is such a similar genre or phrase used in our modern stories. Eventually as the story waged on, it seemed that surely the scars created in the characters must be too deep, too unrecoverable for there to be a happy, Disney style ending. So at some point in reading this book I became very frustrated with the seeming desolateness of the emotional landscape, the lack of a knight in shining armor that I wanted to project myself in to the story.
In the end, however, I found that redemption was there. When Lila thought of Miriam as a young girl and I thought of the hopes and dreams of a young girl and how tragically shattered they were, this touched deep inside me and created a desire to be a father who nurtured and protected the sanctity of his child's dreams. Not dreams to be a princess, but dreams to be a mother themselves dreams to be free from fear and dreams to hope and a future. I closed the book resolute to make these dreams a reality for all daughters.
Strong but disturbing.......2007-10-07
After The Kite Runner, I looked forward to Hosseini's next book. From a literary standpoint, A Thousand Splendid Suns certainly did not disappoint. He weaved personal stories into the social and historic framework of Afghanistan, and the result was wonderful. This is a very sad book, though. Also, while the character of Mariam was strong and endearing, I couldn't feel quite as strongly about Laila.
Book Description
A sensational addition to the Dresden Files adventures-from a USA Today bestselling author.
Professional wizard Harry Dresden is investigating a series of deaths in Chicago. Someone is killing practitioners of magic, those incapable of becoming full-fledged wizards. Shockingly, all the evidence points to Harry's half-brother, Thomas, as the murderer. Determined to clear his sibling's name, Harry uncovers a conspiracy within the White Council of Wizards that threatens not only him, but his nearest and dearest, too...
Customer Reviews:
Best yet.......2007-10-08
Any series featuring a single main character runs a risk of getting stale, following a formula. I'm delighted to say that has not only NOT happened with White Knight, it's the best book yet.
Harry Dresden grows emotionally. His relationships with his brother and Murphy change and develop in both heartbreaking and heartwarming ways. And the main plot gets more exciting and more engrossing in each book, something that rarely occurs. My only complaint (as usual) is that it will be so long before the next book!
Great as always!.......2007-09-22
Jim does it again! Harry Dresden continues to grow and evolve as a character. Fast paced and I couldn't put it down!
Dead or Disappeared.......2007-09-21
White Night (2007) is the ninth Urban Fantasy novel in the Dresden Files series, following Proven Guilty. In the previous volume, Harry fetched Molly Carpenter back from Arctis Tor, with a little help from his friends. He took her back to her family, but she decided to turn herself in to the White Council for violations of the Fourth Law.
At the trial, the Merlin arbitrarily convicted her of using black magic and sentenced her to death. Harry pointed out that the Gatekeeper hadn't yet cast his vote. Then Ebenezar McCoy arrived with survivors of the Warden training group accompanied by Molly's father Michael. Merlin reconsidered his verdict and Molly became Harry's apprentice.
In this novel, Sergeant Murphy has a probable suicide, but she rides a hunch and calls in Harry. He checks out the scene and casts a spell at a particular place on the wall. The notation "EXODUS 22:18" appears and Karrin knows the victim was murdered.
Suddenly, Murphy strikes out with a foot sweep and a young woman -- little more than a girl -- becomes visible and falls to the floor. Harry's apprentice Molly hasn't done as he told her and now she has a few bruises and pains to remind her to obey her master. Not that she is going to pay attention, but one more lesson won't hurt . . . much!
Harry does congratulate her on the invisibility spell, but points out that both he and Sergeant Murphy had noticed a few out-of-place sounds and smells. Molly needs to put in some extra practice, but she is improving. Molly goes home happy, but aching in several places.
In this story, Harry and Murphy find other victims around Chicago and elsewhere. Most of the Chicago victims belong to a witch group known as Ordo Lebes, which Dresden translates in his correspondence course Latin as "Order of the Big Pot". Karrin, however, suggests that a better interpretation would be "Order of the Cauldron". But one victim does not belong to this order.
Harry also discovers that one of the Ordo Lebes is Helen Beckitt, whom he has had problems with in the past. Although she cooperates with Harry and Murphy and doesn't even deny her prison record, Dresden just can't bring himself to trust her. When he discovers that she works for John Marcone, both Harry and Murphy become suspicious of her behavior.
Harry meets another old acquaintance on this case. Elaine had been his first girl, but they had parted after Harry killed their mentor. While the White Council ruled that the killing was in self-defense, Elaine was already gone. Yet she had not forgotten him and even followed his career path as a consulting wizard.
This story also has a minor side plot involving the fallen angel Lasciel. The shadow of Lasciel residing in his mind provides some useful services, such as translation of dead languages, but is still trying to seduce him to the evil side. It occurs to Harry that such seduction can go both ways and he treats "Lash" as an almost trusted friend. Some surprising changes occur.
While Harry doesn't really like being a Warden of the White Council, he hasn't considered it as a handicap. Then a mysterious Grey Cloak is noticed as somehow involved with the dead witches and everybody is afraid to tell Harry. And his brother Thomas is often observed with these victims shortly before their death or disappearances. Being an enforcer for the Council is bad enough without the paranormal community wondering whether you are responsible for these passings.
Highly recommended for Butcher fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of preternatural creatures, paranormal individuals, and strange happenings.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Another winner.......2007-09-17
The Dresden File books have maintained their quality and readability. This one is no exception. Love the way these stories play out.
Love harry but need more Bob the Skull.......2007-09-05
I love this series and enjoy the way it is going. Harry is amusing and this one does not disappoint. I do miss Bob the Skull. He was not featured as much in this one and i miss that... just my own personal quirk.
Average customer rating:
- Funny and profound
- Grace (Eventually) thoughts on Faith
- Not her best, but still brilliant
- No thank you, no good.
- She's the Best
|
Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith
Anne Lamott
Manufacturer: Riverhead Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Authors
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Religious
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Women
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Personal Transformation
| Self-Help
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Christian Living
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Women's Issues
| Christian Living
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Spirituality
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Lamott, Anne
| ( L )
| Authors, A-Z
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
-
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith
-
Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith
-
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
-
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
ASIN: 1594489424
Release Date: 2007-03-20 |
Amazon.com
Through Anne Lamott's many books (including six novels, her bestselling parenting memoir, Operating Instructions, and her popular guide to writing, Bird by Bird) the subject she keeps returning to is her faith, her deeply personal--"erratic," she says--journey in Christianity. Her latest book, Grace (Eventually), is her third collection of her "thoughts on faith," and she took the time to answer a few of our questions.
Questions for Anne Lamott
Amazon.com: This is your third book on faith. How has your perspective changed since you wrote your first one?
Lamott: I wrote my first book on faith when Bill Clinton was president, and I was in a much better mood. I wrote Plan B during the run-up to war in Iraq, and the ensuing catastrophe, so I was very angry, but trying to reconcile that pain and hostility to Jesus's insistence that we are made of love, to love, and be loved, to forgive and be forgiven. Some days went better than others. Also, my son Sam was in his early teens, and that was a LOT easier than when he turned 16 and 17, his ages when I was writing the pieces in Grace (Eventually).
In general, I think Grace (Eventually) is a less angry book. I like how I'm aging, except that my back hurts more often, my knees crack like twigs when I squat, and my memory fails more frequently, in more public and therefore humiliating ways. But I think I complain less. As my best friend said when she was dying, and I was obsessing about my butt, "You just don't have that kind of time."
Amazon.com: What does grace mean for you? How can we better communicate it to each other?
Lamott: Grace is that extra bit of help when you think you are really doomed; also, not coincidentally, when you have finally run out of good ideas on how to proceed, and on how better to control the people or circumstances that are frustrating or defeating you. I experience Grace as a cool ribbon of fresh air when I feel spiritually claustrophobic. Sometimes I experience it as water-wings, something holding me up when I am afraid that I'm going down, or the tide is carrying me away. I know that Grace meets us whereever we are, but does not leave us where it found us. Sometimes it is so small--a couple of seconds relief here, several extra inches there. I wish it were big and obvious, like sky-writing. Oh, well. Grace is not something I DO, or can chase down; but it is something I can receive, when I stop trying to be in charge.
We communicate grace to one another by holding space for people when they are hurt or terrified, instead of trying to fix them, or manage their emotions for them. We offer ourselves as silent companionship, or gentle listening when someone feels very alone. We get people glasses of water when they are thirsty.
Amazon.com: Many of the essays in Grace (Eventually) first appeared in Salon, the online magazine, and that's the way that many readers first found you. How do you see the Internet changing the way people read and write?
Lamott: The Internet makes everything so immediate and spontaneous, which I totally love--UNLESS it has to do with the immediacy of people's negative response to me. Several of the Salon pieces in Grace--for instance, the story about the horrible fight with my son, and the piece about turning the other cheek while being ripped off by The Carpet Guy--generated a couple hundred letters, many of them extremely hostile. Perhaps "spewy" would be a better description. I also sometimes get knee-jerk responses to my mentions of Jesus in my Salon pieces that seem to lump me in the same tradition as Jerry Falwell. But for the most part, I love the populism and egalitarian nature of the Internet: everyone counts the same.
Amazon.com: What stories do people tell you, when they've read your books or know you are a writer?
Lamott: People tell me how relieved they are that I try to tell the truth about how hard it can be to be a mother, or a daughter, or an American in these times. They tell me stories about how awful their own teenagers can be, or how awful they themselves behaved towards their kids or parents; how hard it was to finally be able to adore their mothers, or to forgive their fathers. They tell me their sobriety dates. They whisper to me that they are Christians, too.
Also, they ask if I am able to read their manuscripts, and the name of my agent, and my e-mail address. They ask if we are going to survive the current political difficulties--and I promise them we are. They ask how old my son is now--17 and a half--and how he is doing, which is fantastically, after some of the hard months I wrote about in Grace.
Amazon.com:What lessons do you think you can pass on to others: to your readers, to your son? What lessons does it seem like people have to learn for themselves?
Lamott: All I have to offer is my own truth, my own experience, strength and hope. I can pass on the tool of a God Box, and how for 20 years I have been putting tiny notes in mine and promising God I will keep my sticky fingers off the controls until I hear God's wisdom: sometimes I get an answer because the phone rings, or the mail comes, but at any rate, during every single terrible problem and tragedy, I have been given enough guidance and stamina and even humor to bear up, and be transformed, for the good. I always tell Sam that if you want to make God laugh, tell Her your plans. I tell Sam that if he listens to his best thinking, he will suffer: and to listen to his heart instead, to listen in the silence, and to seek wise counsel.
Amazon.com: You've written nearly a dozen books (including an incredibly popular guide to writing): does writing get any easier? Does it get harder?
Lamott: In a very important way, writing gets easier, because I've been doing it full time now for thirty-plus years, and just as you would get better and better if you practiced your scales on a piano, I've gotten better, and can try harder and harder pieces. But writing is always hard. It does not come naturally to me at all. I sit down at the same time every day, which lets my subconscious realize it's time to get to work. I give myself very short assignments, and let myself write really terrible first drafts. But I grapple with the exact same problems every writer does, which is having equal proportions of self-loathing and grandiosity. I sort of live by the Nike ads: Just Do It. So I sit down. I show up. I do it by pre-arrangement with myself, because I know I'll feel sad and terrible if I shirk on that days writing. I do it as a debt of honor, to myself, and to whatever it is that has given me this gift of being able to tell stories, and to make people laugh. Laughter is carbonated holiness. Other people's good writing is medicine for me, and I hope mine is too, for my readers.
Book Description
The sharp, funny, and heartfelt follow-up to her bestselling Plan B, Anne Lamott's newest collection is a personal exploration of the faith and grace all around us.
In Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, Lamott examines the ways we're caught in life's most daunting predicaments: love, mothering, work, politics, and maybe toughest of all, evolving from who we are to who we were meant to be. This is a complicated process for most of us, and Lamott turns her wit and honesty inward to describe her own intimate, bumpy, and unconventional road to grace and faith.
"I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things," she writes in one of her essays, "that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace's arrival. But no, it's clog and slog and scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark."
Whether she's writing about her unsuccessful efforts to get her money back from an obstinate carpet salesman, grappling with the tectonic shifts in her relationship with her son as he matures, trying to maintain her faith and humor during politically challenging times, or helping a close friend die with dignity, Lamott seeks out both the divinity and the humanity in herself and everything around her. Throughout these essays, she writes of her struggle to find the essence of her faith, which she uncovers in the unlikeliest places. By turns insightful and hilarious, pointed and poignant, Grace (Eventually) is Anne Lamott at her perceptive and irreverent best.
Customer Reviews:
Funny and profound.......2007-08-12
Anne Lamott is honest and engaging. This book is a beautiful testament to a real life lived in faith and hope in the midst of inevitable disappointments and hardships.
Grace (Eventually) thoughts on Faith.......2007-08-08
I bought this book thinking I would get an inspiritial read. Instead I found that the title totally misrepresented the book. This is nothing but a self-centered, self-indulgent, whiny bunch of writings from a drug user/alcoholic, over age hippy, feeling (what?). Certainaly not faith!
Title should read "Poor Me, I can't Think Straight"
Not her best, but still brilliant.......2007-08-01
One of the most popular voices in contemporary spirituality, Anne Lamott has a remarkable gift at handling serious and unfunny topics - religion, motherhood, eating disorders, death - in a witty and disarming way.
Lamott's new book, "Grace Eventually: Further Thoughts On Faith," is a collection of essays, many of which Lamott wrote as a columnist for Salon.com. If you haven't read anything by Lamott before, the best places to start would be "Traveling Mercies" (her bestselling memoir), and "Bird by Bird," (one of the best guide to writing anywhere, another bestseller). But the two things you should know before reading Anne Lamott is that 1) she is an incredible prose artist, quirky and profound, with a style that seems all her own. And 2) she is almost completely neurotic.
"Grace Eventually," is a special book in that Lamott's description of ordinary events make them feel sacred. She is a writer with an ability to make the reader pay attention, feel present, and tune in to the story taking place around them. Although she refers to Jesus consistently, there is little that seems orthodox about Lamott's spiritual journey, and perhaps that is one of the reasons she has such a wide readership.
You'd have to be made out of granite not to find something that moves you in this unique collection of essays. You would also need to adhere to Lamott's precise and strident political positions not to find at least one portion of this book infuriating. Either way, "Grace Eventually" is a provocative and unique read, and any avid reader owes it to themselves to become familiar with one of the country's top writers.
No thank you, no good........2007-07-25
I read another one of Anne's books. The first one I did not like much, and really did not want to read this one, but when you already own it, you feel you must with 16 dollars into the book. It was some repeating of stories I really did not like in the first place, there were a few highlights or good moments, but not enough. I still feel bad for her, but most times I was like "get over it." Now I loved Donald Miller's book, which was along the same mindset, but he seemed deep or maybe just a man. Sorry Anne, you are twice if not more the writer that I am, but I was just not into the book.
She's the Best.......2007-07-25
Her words are equivalent to the phrase "A sight for sore eyes." My copy now has so many underlines and dog ears that I just don't know where to start with quotable quotes--
"IT FEELS AS IF SOMEONE FINALLY CRACKED OPEN A WINDOW THAT HAD BEEN JAMMED."
"...taught me a willingness to help clean up the mess we've made is a crucial part of adult living; that our scary, selfish, damging behavior litters the planet."
"...we get mad at each other, over and over, then we apologize, become friends again: I see how each time this is redemption. How amazing it is to share that."
"Joy is the best makeup."
"Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine."
I use this like a Bible when I need to be called to a higher place. It soothes me, calms me down, and calls me to a (much) higher place. Buy this, Bird By Bird, and the other two from this series. They are GIFTS.
Amazon.com
Jacob Jankowski says: "I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other." At the beginning of Water for Elephants, he is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. His life wasn't always like this, however, because Jacob ran away and joined the circus when he was twenty-one. It wasn't a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. His parents were killed in an auto accident one week before he was to sit for his veterinary medicine exams at Cornell. He buried his parents, learned that they left him nothing because they had mortgaged everything to pay his tuition, returned to school, went to the exams, and didn't write a single word. He walked out without completing the test and wound up on a circus train. The circus he joins, in Depression-era America, is second-rate at best. With Ringling Brothers as the standard, Benzini Brothers is far down the scale and pale by comparison.
Water for Elephants is the story of Jacob's life with this circus. Sara Gruen spares no detail in chronicling the squalid, filthy, brutish circumstances in which he finds himself. The animals are mangy, underfed or fed rotten food, and abused. Jacob, once it becomes known that he has veterinary skills, is put in charge of the "menagerie" and all its ills. Uncle Al, the circus impresario, is a self-serving, venal creep who slaps people around because he can. August, the animal trainer, is a certified paranoid schizophrenic whose occasional flights into madness and brutality often have Jacob as their object. Jacob is the only person in the book who has a handle on a moral compass and as his reward he spends most of the novel beaten, broken, concussed, bleeding, swollen and hungover. He is the self-appointed Protector of the Downtrodden, and... he falls in love with Marlena, crazy August's wife. Not his best idea.
The most interesting aspect of the book is all the circus lore that Gruen has so carefully researched. She has all the right vocabulary: grifters, roustabouts, workers, cooch tent, rubes, First of May, what the band plays when there's trouble, Jamaican ginger paralysis, life on a circus train, set-up and take-down, being run out of town by the "revenooers" or the cops, and losing all your hooch. There is one glorious passage about Marlena and Rosie, the bull elephant, that truly evokes the magic a circus can create. It is easy to see Marlena's and Rosie's pink sequins under the Big Top and to imagine their perfect choreography as they perform unbelievable stunts. The crowd loves it--and so will the reader. The ending is absolutely ludicrous and really quite lovely. --Valerie Ryan
Book Description
Though he may not speak of them, the memories still dwell inside Jacob Jankowski's ninety-something-year-old mind. Memories of himself as a young man, tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. Memories of a world filled with freaks and clowns, with wonder and pain and anger and passion; a world with its own narrow, irrational rules, its own way of life, and its own way of death. The world of the circus: to Jacob it was both salvation and a living hell.
Jacob was there because his luck had run out—orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on this locomotive "ship of fools." It was the early part of the Great Depression, and everyone in this third-rate circus was lucky to have any job at all. Marlena, the star of the equestrian act, was there because she fell in love with the wrong man, a handsome circus boss with a wide mean streak. And Rosie the elephant was there because she was the great gray hope, the new act that was going to be the salvation of the circus; the only problem was, Rosie didn't have an act—in fact, she couldn't even follow instructions. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and ultimately, it was their only hope for survival.
Surprising, poignant, and funny, Water for Elephants is that rare novel with a story so engrossing, one is reluctant to put it down; with characters so engaging, they continue to live long after the last page has been turned; with a world built of wonder, a world so real, one starts to breathe its air.
Customer Reviews:
Simple compelling storytelling.......2007-10-11
This is a great story about love and the passage of time. I normally do not read fiction, but took a chance on this book, and I'm so glad I did. The straight forward story telling keeps you in the moment. I thought about this tale long after I had finished reading it. I would recommend it to anyone.
Fun Read.......2007-10-10
I'm very glad I picked up this book. There are moments that made me tear up and moments I laughed out loud. Other than some rather gratuitous sex, really good read.
Wonderful Story.......2007-10-10
This book was a wonderful story and left me with a bit of hope. Even in the dark moments I could not turn away from it. Lots of genuine characters that made me feel as though I could reach out and touch them at times. It reminded me of circus visits and riding on elephants as a child with my face painted and a bag of cotton candy in hand! Though I normally do not like historical novels I loved this one.
water for elephants.......2007-10-10
Wonderful story. Dark mood. This was a quick read for me and I absolutely loved the writing style and the storyline.
Great read!.......2007-10-10
Stayed up all night to get this amazing book finished. Was an excellent read, and now, its being passed around my office to spread the joy with others! :)
Average customer rating:
- A real ho-hummer, unfortunately
- Absolute rubbish
- Is It Me?
- A pedestrian effort
- Not one of his best, but still decent.
|
Obsession (Alex Delaware Novels)
Jonathan Kellerman
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Psychological & Suspense
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Suspense
| Thrillers
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Kellerman, Jonathan
| ( K )
| Authors, A-Z
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Invisible Prey
-
The Overlook (Harry Bosch)
-
The 6th Target
-
Simple Genius
-
Step on a Crack
ASIN: 0345452631
Release Date: 2007-03-27 |
Book Description
With scores of millions of books in print, translation into two dozen languages, and one of the most popular heroes in contemporary fiction to his name, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman is the unequivocal “master of the psychological thriller” (People). In his newest novel Kellerman delivers a tour de force–poignant, dark, and chilling–that illuminates a shadowy world where impulse rules.
Tanya Bigelow was a solemn little girl when Dr. Alex Delaware successfully treated her obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Now, at nineteen, she still seems older than her years–but her problems go beyond hyper-maturity. Patty Bigelow, Tanya’s aunt and adoptive mother, has made a deathbed confession of murder and urged the young woman to seek Delaware’s help. The doctor recalls Patty as a selfless E.R. nurse struggling to raise a child on her own–a woman seemingly incapable of the “terrible thing” she has admitted. But for Tanya’s peace of mind, Delaware agrees to investigate, and he enlists LAPD detective Milo Sturgis in the search for the phantom victim of a crime that may never have occurred.
Armed with only the vaguest details, psychologist and cop follow a trail twisting from L.A.’s sleaziest low-rent districts to its overblown mansions, retracing Patty and Tanya’s nomadic and increasingly puzzling life to the doorsteps of a sullen heroin addict; a randy real-estate broker; and a brilliant, enigmatic physics student. Suddenly a very real murder tears open a terrifying tunnel into the past, where secrets–and bodies–are buried. As the tension mounts, Delaware and Sturgis uncover a tangled history of desperation, vengeance, and death–a legacy of evil that refuses to die.
Dramatic, action-packed, and filled with the psychological detail that only Jonathan Kellerman can provide, Obsession is a whodunit, a whydunit–and something unique: a did-it-even-happen? This is Kellerman at his heart-racing best.
Customer Reviews:
A real ho-hummer, unfortunately.......2007-09-12
About half-way through this book, I realized I didn't really care who did it. Or why. Or about any of the characters in the plot-line other than our regulars -- Alex, Milo, and Robin. I think the initial plot device, a vague deathbed confession from an unlikely murderer, was a good idea. The rest of the plot was a hot mess, involving characters discussed, but never really "present" in the book. I have loved many of Jonathan Kellerman's books, but this one didn't deliver.
Absolute rubbish.......2007-08-30
That's it. Jonathanan Kellerman I gave you one last try, and you failed. This has to be the worst book I have read by anyone in years. A convoluted nonsensical plot with so much padding the author should be in the upholstery business. At least half the book is taken up by poorly developed characters arguing about whether this or that happened, or perhaps it was that or this, or perhaps none of the above. And at the end I simply did not care who had done what to whom and why. In fact I wonder if the author felt the same way.
Thomas H Cook and Dennis Lehane, you have nothing to fear from this author. You guys rule.
Is It Me?.......2007-08-29
I always love the Alex Delaware novels, and I would never tell anybody not to read this latest entry in the series. And that is despite my ongoing complaint about Kellerman's ridiculous attention to every street in Los Angeles by name (what does this mean to a reader in Poughkeepsie?).
My problem with Obsession is that I simply could not keep the characters straight. I don't know whether this is a fault of my own as a reader, or whether, as it seemed to me, they are endless stock characters of such variety and of such little interest that I kept confusing them in my mind. It got so I had to keep turning back to make sure the gentle giant erstwhile bodyguard was who I thought he was; the sicko serial killer/would-be music impresario, who had TWO names, was indeed himself; the FBI informant, what was his name? who weaves in and out of the book in a confusing manner, and all sorts of other peripheral and confusing characters.
The main plot is easy enough, but as other reviewers have said, Why would the LAPD care? A dying nurse of stellar reputation confesses, or seems to confess, on her deathbed that she killed somebody. Her daughter, Tanya, an uptight, hard-to-like highly implausible character, wants her name cleared. Alex once treated Tanya; he wants to help. Milo, although on a much-needed and rare vacation, agrees to give up all his personal time to follow a trillion fruitless leads. Petra is always a wonderful addition to the series; she is very real. Robin doesn't bother me as much as she bothers other reviewers. I just find her annoying. And the puppy? Well I'm a dog lover, so I enjoyed her antics, figuring that in real life, the Kellermans have gotten themselves a bulldog puppy!
As stated above, I wouldn't tell anybody not to read this book, but I found it extremely confusing and the ending very lame. I like the series so much, and even with all the confusion, Kellerman is fun to read, so hence the lukewarm recommendation.
A pedestrian effort.......2007-08-29
I felt Kellerman delivered a boilerplate thriller with Obsession. The murder mystery centered around a "possible" crime uttered by a dying woman, which seems pretty flimsy but in true Alex/Milo form they kept digging and made something of it. The psychological aspect was also rather weak, as Kellerman focused this time on OCD, which didn't seem relevant to the murder mystery aspect. If it did, then I missed it, but it certainly wasn't obvious. Kellerman has always been so good at intertwining the psychological aspects with the murder mystery, but he just falls short here.
I also found most of the new characters uninteresting, and the existing ones stale.
Petra seemed tired and bored at times.
The entire Bedard family was annoying. I didn't find myself rooting for Kyle despite his good intentions and goofy parents.
Tanya generated very little sympathy, and how many college kids refer to their mother as "Mommy"?
Robin was window dressing - a few short riffs on her working at the shop, going out to eat, etc. Nothing on their evolving relationship.
Issac Gomez, who has potential, was dismissed early.
The Mario Fortuno storyline was clumsy, and could have been more interesting if fleshed out further.
The interrogation of Fisk seemed too ordered and convenient (dumb con tells all).
And finally names. Where does he come up with Mary Whitbread?
In summary, it was a boilerplate, pedestrian effort by an author I love. The whole effort seemed rushed and lacked his normal attention to detail.
Not one of his best, but still decent........2007-08-24
Jonathan Kellerman has set the bar for psychological thrillers, and he's set it high. Unfortunately, Obsession, the latest in the Alex Delaware series, falls short of his previous achievements.
While the usual elements are there -- a previous client needs help, and Delaware and his detective pal Milo Sturgis jump to the rescue -- things feel a bit stale. Everything is just a bit tepid. Their reason for becoming involved in the mystery (a dying request from Sturgis' lover's co-worker) is tenuous at best. Because there is no immediate crime to investigate, just the suspicion of one, things start off slow. And the character development seems to stagnate. Robin, Delaware's live-in love, is a mere two-dimensional place holder with no personality of her own, and nothing new about Delaware's or Sturgis' personalities is revealed.
The young girl they're interceding on behalf of is annoying and simple (does this college-aged girl REALLY call her mother "Mommy" ALL the time???). I wanted her to be guilty of something, just because she bugged me so much. Bad news when the reader is cheering for culpability on the part of the who's supposed to be protected.
All in all, a decently plotted and written mystery, but that spark of excitement and frisson of fear that accompanies most of Kellerman's books is missing.
Books:
- The New Saint Joseph Sunday Missal & Hymnal/Black/No. 820/22-B
- The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (New York Review Books Classics)
- The Red Badge of Courage & "The Veteran" (Modern Library Classics)
- The Saint of Incipient Insanities: A Novel
- The Sea Captain's Wife: A True Story of Love, Race, and War in the Nineteenth Century
- The Stanislaski Brothers (Two Complete Novels: Mikhail and Alex)
- The Stanley Kubrick Archives
- The Things They Carried
- The Ultimate Gift (The Ultimate Series #1)
- The Ultimate Gift (The Ultimate Series #1)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Emc & the Printed Circuit Board: Design, Theory, & Layout Made Simple
- Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
- Survey of Accounting
- The Unruly Life of Woody Allen: A Biography
- Wiley IFRS 2007: Interpretation and Application of International Financial Reporting Standards
- Body of Lies: A Novel
- A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials
- FASB, Statement of Financial Accounting Concepts 1-6
- Unfunded Pension Systems: Ageing and Migration, Volume 264
- Silence of the Sea / Le Silence de la Mer: A Novel of French Resistance during the Second World War
