Perfect: A Novel

Book Description

Isabelle Lee has a problem, and it's not just Ape Face, her sister, or group therapy for an eating disorder, or even that her father died and her mother is depressed and in denial. It's that Ashley, the most popular girl in school, is inviting Isabelle to join her at lunch and at sleepovers at her house, and this is presenting Isabelle with a dilemma. Pretty Ashley has moved Isabelle up the social ladder, but is it worth keeping the secret they share?

Caught in the orbit of popularity and appearances, Isabelle must navigate a world with mixed messages, false hopes, and potentially harmful turns, while coping with her own flailing family and emotions. The author brings a depth of characterization, humor, and a real adolescent's voice to this multileveled story about the desire to be perfect in an imperfect world.

Customer Reviews:

The Perfect Read!!!.......2007-09-08

I absolutely loved reading this book.Throughout the whole story you feel like you're actually there,like the story is very real.I recommend this book for teen girls and moms.I was at the bookstore one day looking for a book and when I saw perfect I knew I just had to read it!You will love it!

Unrealistic........2007-07-14

This book was very unrealistic.
It annoyed me from the very beginning. It is simple to tell that the author knows nothing about eating disorders.
An eating disorder is something someone has for life. Yes, they can control it, but by the end, this girl was suddenly "cured" of her bulimia.

Also, overused events. Average girl vs. popular girl, then becoming friends, as well as the whole "Perfect, prettiest girl in school". Dead parent. Annoying siblings, ratting on you. No creativity.

And, if anyone is curious, I do have an eating disorder.

definitely perfect!.......2007-06-04

I really loved this book! Its about a thirteen year old girl named Isabelle Lee. Her father died about two years ago, and nothing has been okay since then. She has a depressed mother who cries herself to sleep and an annoying, lonely little sister. The thing is, nobody ever talks about the problems they have. Isabelle and her family try to pretend everything's always perfect, even when it's not. Sadness about her father leads Isabelle into binging and purging. When her little sister catches her making herself throw up, her mom makes her go to an eating disorder therapy group for teen girls. isabelle is shocked to see ashley, the most popular, "perfect" girl in school there. the two become good friends and they binge and purge together. Isabelle learns that Ashley's life is far from perfect. Even though Ashley seems so "together" on the outside, she struggles with body image, family issues, and schoolwork. I won't spoil the ending for you, but let's just say that Isabelle learns a lot of things. One, she learns that just because someone looks perfect on the outside, it doesn't always mean everything's okay for that person (like Ashley.) She also learns that saying everything is "fine" is just a coverup, and it's important to talk about things and not keep feelings bottled up. The author, Natalie Friend, is an incredible writer who seems to know exactly how teens think. Her words will make you laugh, cry, and pray for Natalie's family. I recommend this book for anyone in middle or high school. It's a really fantastic book!

Ok Book, Great Message.......2007-05-24

Perfect by Natasha Friend is about the eight grader Isabelle Lee. She and her family are still recovering from the death of their beloved father. Nothing has been the same since the funeral; his pictures stripped from the walls and a mother who cries herself to sleep every night. Then there is "Group", which Isabelle attends after her sister, April (or known as Ape Face) tells on Isabelle when she is caught making herself throw up. Unhappily she goes to "Group" and is quite surprised when the most popular girl in her grade, Ashley Barnum, goes with the same problem. The two quickly become good friends as Isabelle fights her addiction and tries to make things right at home.

I think this book was ok, really gross, but ok. I never understood why people would make themselves sick like that but this book has shown me that people who believe their lives are too messed up; they turn to something that distracts them from the things that go bad in their life. I saw how addicting it was and how hard it is for people to stop, even when they know they are hurting themselves and those they love. I am happy with the ending and I think this would be a good book for teenage girls to read.

perfect is deffinitally unperfect...........2007-05-15

umm this book is horrible..this book has hints for having an eating disorder if you want your kid having problems like isabelles then get your kid this book.. but if you dont want your kid having to deal with balemia and almost getting raped then dont let our child read this bookk...

Average customer rating:

a novel on friendship and love
Captivating!
I loved this book
Delightful
A Story Well Worth the Read

If You Lived Here: A Novel
Dana Sachs
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Psychological & Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The House on Dream Street: Memoir of an American Woman in Vietnam (Adventura Books)
Finding Katherine: A Spiritual Journey to Vietnam and Motherhood
Beyond the Blue
When You Were Born in Vietnam: A Memory Book for Children Adopted from Vietnam
Children of the Dragon: Selected Tales from Vietnam

ASIN: 0061130486
Release Date: 2007-02-27

Book Description

At forty-two, Shelley Marino desperately wants a child. Though she and her older husband, Martin, have tried during the course of their marriage, their only hope now is adoption. Martin, who has seen his share of heartbreak, can't reconcile what Shelley wants with what he knows about the world, and as the father of two grown children from a previous marriage, he is not sure he can bear the emotional challenge of fatherhood again. To love is to risk loss and Martin suddenly decides that is a gamble he can't afford to take.

The pain of great loss is something that Mai, a woman who emigrated from Vietnam more than twenty years ago, knows all too well. Though Mai has attained all of the accoutrements of the American dream—a healthy business, an SUV, a house of her own—she has not allowed herself to forget the family tragedy that forced her to leave Vietnam. She has distanced herself from her life and from everyone around her—until she meets Shelley. Their budding friendship forces Mai to make a decision that will put her face-to-face with the world she left behind so long ago. And in the course of the journey the two women must make together, Shelley, too, confronts choices that will reverberate for the rest of her life.

Lyrical and moving, If You Lived Here takes the reader on a journey as well, from loss to love, and shows how new beginnings can heal old wounds.

Customer Reviews:

a novel on friendship and love.......2007-06-27

Adoption is a special way of understanding feelings of other people. When you start this process you need support and help. The reactions of people around you make it clear who really cares for you who loves you
This is what happened to the two women in the novel

Captivating!.......2007-05-19

A wonderful, luminous novel, beautifully written, deals with a multiplicity of topics and settings. Goes right to the heart of each and delivers truth - what more can one ask for?

I loved this book.......2007-04-18

This story swept me up in the first few pages, and took me all the way to the end. The characters are enganging and the prose is beautiful. Two women are on a trek - a Vietnamese woman toward a past that shames her, and an American woman toward a child she hopes to adopt. I don't want to spoil the end for you.

Delightful.......2007-04-06

The first third of this novel takes place in North Carolina and is a pleasure to read. It introduces some interesting people, starts engaging plots, and is occasionally quite funny. The rest of the novel takes place in Vietnam and is simply and absolutely wonderful. Partly, I got more invested in the characters and the delightful turns of their intertwined stories. But equally important are the off-hand descriptions of Vietnamese culture that make everything so vivid. I actually hoped for traffic on my bus-ride home so I could read a little more.

A Story Well Worth the Read.......2007-04-02

Dana Sachs' first novel "If You Lived Here" tells a wonderful and gripping story of two very diverse women, one from Wilmington, N.C. and the other a Vietnamese/American living in Wilmington, who come together for their own separate reasons. Sachs's descriptions of life in Hanoi, as the two women journey together, makes the reader feel as if he or she is there also. The sights, the smells and the people are all brought to life. This is truly a warm, heartfelt story and I hope Sachs will be coming forth with many more.

Average customer rating:

Need for Spiritual Change
Really Bad. Don't Buy
Thought Provoking
Spiritually Uplifting
Powerful Insights

Nexus: A Neo Novel
Deborah Morrison , and Arvind Singh
Manufacturer: Manor House Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don't
Quantum Success: The Astounding Science of Wealth and Happiness
The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World
The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief
The Law of Attraction: The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham

ASIN: 0978107004

Book Description

Nexus offers an engaging and insightful journey of an odd mix of people drawn together to a spiritual retreat to overcome personal pain. This book will please readers of spiritual, new age, inspirational, self-help and visionary fiction books. It weaves insights within the narrative like The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield and The Peaceful Warrior series by Dan Millman.

Starting with a dramatic suicide scene through intimate details of the struggle of Logan Andrews with depression and despair, we are brought on a journey of inner struggle and personal transformation. The reader is transported to a spiritual retreat where the experiences of people at the retreat provide illuminating life lessons. The tone of book creates an authentic journey that is both exploratory and insightful.

The overriding theme in Nexus is mystical in its nature, narrating experiences of deeper connection felt with one another and all of life. This is poignantly highlighted in key passages, including Logan's empathy for a dying fish in Chapter 6.

Customer Reviews:

Need for Spiritual Change.......2007-07-01

I've read many spiritual books and this one really spoke to me with a story that communicated about both the highs and lows of spiritual life through the touching journey of people at a retreat center. Each person in the story is dealing with their own sorrow from the depression-despair of Logan, Sarah's loss of direction and Muriel's desire to be comforted in her old age. Steven is fixated on his money-making schemes and in order for him to experience growth, he needs to connect to the path of love.

The story speaks of something deeper - a need for spiritual change. It isn't always stated on the surface and you have to dig deeper to recognize that as the central theme of this book. Yet you feel this impulse motivating the communication between teachers and students at the retreat center and the experiences there allude to a deeper bond - to the Nexus that connects us all through our heart where empathy and compassion can grow with experiences of our Oneness. The compassion Logan shows for a dying fish vividly captures this theme. This vision of non-duality is always there beneath the surface though our ego stands in the way of its realization.

The message in this book is beautiful and so I want others to know about it. Through spiritual books like this, we can delve into consciousness transformation and share it with others.

Really Bad. Don't Buy.......2007-06-30

I made the mistake of purchasing this book because it was referenced in a review for The Road (an amazing fiction currently on the best seller list). Now I realize I was probably led into buying it by one of the authors' friends or supporters. The 5 star reviews are bias, to say the least! The dialogue is beyond bad. It is stilted and at times downright silly. I love top quality spiritual writings like "The Power of Now" by E. Tolle or the writings of D. Chopra. It's not that I am spiritually closed, I just know very bad writing when I see it.
This "fiction" is an attempt to flesh out the spiritual teachings of the two authors through poorly crafted, one dimensional characters. I would rather drink flax oil and fast for a week to better my soul than read this kind of stuff. I anticipate receiving some unsupportive votes for this review, and these will likely come from the friends of the authors who have written the 5 star reviews. So be it. I'd rather be honest and save the potential Amazon customer some money!

Thought Provoking.......2007-05-30

NEXUS is an absorbing guide to the dazzling universe of spirituality! Written in the appealing genre of a new age novel I found NEXUS to be a remarkable psychological and spiritual adventure filled with mystery, enchantment, romance, insights, as well as being highly realistic in terms of life's joys and sorrows. I just couldn't put the book down!!!

The diverse assortment of characters were realistic, and the plot was deep, lively and fast paced throughout. NEXUS WORKED AT VERY DEEP LEVELS OF MY MIND TO PENETRATE MY SUBCONSCIOUS AND TO EXPAND AND INSPIRE MY SUPERCONSCIOUS MIND. WHAT AN EXPERIENCE!!!

By carefully reading NEXUS and reflecting on the philosophical insights inherent throughout the book I found that I could tap into my deepest inner centre of being- my inner source of strength, wisdom and compassion...what a discovery!!!

I heard about NEXUS from a friend and that is why I bought the book. I told another friend about NEXUS but she had already just finished reading it and was most impressed.

It seems that people everywhere are suddenly experiencing an intense attraction to NEXUS, one of the most valuable books I've read in a long time.

Another new age novel that I highly recommend is The Saint, the Surfer, and the CEO: A Remarkable Story About Living Your Heart's Desires

Spiritually Uplifting.......2007-05-21

Every once in a while you come across a book that resonates at a deeper soulful level. "Nexus: A Neo Novel" is one of those books that touches you through a spiritual journey of transformation of people in the book. Their transformation is an inner one at the level of their heart and psyche.

For Logan Andrews the transformation requires that he move from negative thoughts and emotions to positive ones. This task is fraught with difficulties, since even at a spiritual retreat intended to help people find the centre of their being called the Nexus, Logan is confronted with his greatest loss as he meets his ex, Sarah.

I really liked the sub-plot with Steven, an arrogant millionaire, who at first is irritating but in time he grows on you and becomes an endearing person. Steven believes that money is the answer to life's problems but has he lost his way?

Even though the writers of "Nexus" have their own unique voice, still this book reminds me of other visionary writers like James Redfield, Carlos Castaneda and Dan Millman. I highly recommend "Nexus" as a deeply moving experience of personal transformation whose message spiritual readers will most appreciate.

Powerful Insights.......2007-04-23

The appeal of "Nexus" lies in an original story that is fast-paced and chock-full of powerful insights. This book is about transformation as an organic process.

The novel is unique as a collaborative effort by two authors who have successfully integrated their writing into an inspiring narrative. This book explores the ups and downs of spiritual life through the journey of people at a spiritual retreat and we can relate their experiences to our own life.

I love this book for its piercing insights and a memorable soulful journey. "Nexus" reminds me of books like "The Celestine Prophecy," "The Life of Pi" and "The Alchemist" - some other books that I've enjoyed reading.

Average customer rating:

Foolish, obnoxious, and unbelievable
The title should be "Olivia"
A good read.
Shallow Characters
It was ok, but...

Ruby: A Novel
Ann Hood
Manufacturer: Picador USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Friendship | Women's Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine: A Novel
Properties of Water
Do Not Go Gentle: My Search for Miracles in a Cynical Time
The Knitting Circle: A Novel
THREE-LEGGED HORSE (Bantam New Fiction)

ASIN: 0312195532

Customer Reviews:

Foolish, obnoxious, and unbelievable.......2006-03-26

What a waste of time it was listening to this book.

The plot outline makes sense, but the novel's progress is ruined by unlikeable characters and a poor grasp of realistic dialog.

Who the hell makes or sells fancy hats anymore in today's world?

Why was Olivia so blase about David's jog that morning--if she was that head-over-heels about him she'd automatically hug and kiss him goodbye, perhaps say I Love You each time they parted.

How on earth could Olivia afford to just up and leave her one job and hang around the summerhouse all year, meanwhile theoretically paying 2 mortgages? The author doesn't mention the provisions of David's estate.

Why was there virtually no details of the trial or conviction of Amanda for manslaughter? Would such a girl actually take a fruitloaf to a grieving widow in that situation? How gauche.

Where were this woman's loving friends and family during Olivia's mourning? They seemed to either be telling her to buck up, flaunting their own marriages and pregnancies, or callously fixing her up with some nobody when she's lost her soulmate.

Are we really supposed to believe Olivia (educated, relatively privilaged) is that naive? Trusting a street kid to behave and refrain from theft, drugs and fornication, and to also give up her own baby to Olivia? She doesn't even catch on when Ruby steals her most valuable, personal possessions from her.

The whole adoption plotline bothered me. These open-adoption plans seem rather risky. In my time pregnant teens in the Northeast actually had 3 options: abortion, adoption, or keeping the child and going on public assistance. In Ruby, both Olivia and Ruby seem to want the best of both options: keeping the baby with Olivia but giving the birth mother visitation rights. This is too messy a stipulation--it requires extreme maturity on both parties. Neither Olivia nor Ruby seemed very mature, let alone responsible, to me.

I know the character grieved over her husband, "in her own way",
yet I was shocked and horrified when she killed a cat, a poor sweet neighbor's pet, yet didn't bother to shed one tear of regret that she'd been a mini-Amanda herself.

I don't think real teens talk like Ruby,and the supporting character's dialog sounded like they were from a made-for-cable TV movie.

Not much in this book rang true, and I simply could not sympathize with anyone in it, or their actions. Could have been handled so much better, too bad--the premise was great.

The title should be "Olivia".......2005-02-04

Ann Hood should be declared a saint by all married men (along with Dr. Laura since she published The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands last year). The main character in Ruby is not Ruby, is Olivia. She had been married for only a few months when her husband is killed while jogging. That very morning, when he tried to get intimate, Olivia shunned him away, and suggested that he go for a run. After his death, this is a regret that Olivia cannot shake away. Many a woman (including me) will heed her implied advice after reading this book.

So Olivia is devastated and goes to their summer house on the coast in Rhode Island to prepare it for sale. While there, she meets Ruby. Ruby is 15 going on 40, and very pregnant. Olivia starts fantasizing about keeping Ruby's baby, as it had been hers and David's dream to have a child. But Ruby is a bit of a con-artist, and the process is not going to be smooth sailing.

The beauty about the story is not so much about Olivia getting the baby as it is about Olivia getting a family. It was heartwarming to see the evolution of Olivia and Ruby's relationship, from distrust, to antagonism, to acceptance, to full support. I loved the ending.

I wasn't too happy about a few unsatisfying details in the story:

* David falling in love at first sight with Olivia, the milliner who sold him the hat he was supposed to give to his girlfriend on Valentine's Day. He gave her the hat and proceeded to break up with her. How shallow! I never warmed up to him.

* Olivia's unrealistic retreat to the beach house in RI. She has a business to run and an apartment in NYC, yet she has the means to close them up without subletting. Was she so independently wealthy?

* There is a three-year-old in the story that says things like: "We've never eaten in here. [...] Honest to God, we never eat in here. Not in a million years". OK, how many three-year-olds do you know that say "we've never eaten"? I know many an adult that says "we've never ate".

* Olivia and Ruby's fight in the parking lot at the A&W. No matter how stoned those kids were, no one came to Ruby's defense?

* Rex's visit to the beach house in the middle of the night. Hmmm...

* The cassette tape. I will not into details so as not to spoil this part.

In any event, this was a pretty good novel, that read like a breeze. I don't think it is stellar, but I enjoyed the pace. The style reminded me a bit of Laurie Colwin's fabulous novels, maybe because of the New England setting, maybe because the simple, fresh dialog, maybe because of the strong women friendships.

A good read........2001-01-24

Olivia and Ruby meet under very unusual circumstances. Olivia is staying at a beach house that she and her husband planned to live in together. He was tragically killed and she is trying to come to terms with her grief. She finds Ruby in her kitchen drinking a glass of water. Ruby is 15, pregnant, and has no place to go. Although suspicious of her, Olivia lets her stay in her house and gradually they form a bond.

Olivia decides that the best thing for everyone is for her to adopt Ruby's baby. But will Ruby keep her word? Even tho she's only 15, there are times when she seems to think that it will be possible for her to keep her baby.

Their relationship goes through many stages from the distrust in the beginning to true friendship at the end. It is a marvelous book.

Shallow Characters.......2000-11-08

Ann Hood's novel about a pregnant teenager and a mourning widow was full of shallow characters and a jumbled plot. The conversations were simple and provided little insight into what each character was feeling. I forced myself to finish this book and was not surprised when the end was exactly what I had expected.

It was ok, but..........2000-07-02

I bought this book with great anticipation, as it had been highly recommended by a friend. I have to say, I was more than a little disappointed. I couldn't bring myself to like Ruby or Olivia, and by the end of the book was hoping that NEITHER of them got to keep the baby. Olivia was shallow, self centered, and only seemed to want the baby to fill the void left by her husband's death. Ruby was rude, obnoxiously naive, and only seemed to want the baby to force her boyfriend to stay with her. If this is a true sampling of Ms. Hood's writing, you can bet I won't be reading anymore!

Average customer rating:

Sympathy for a killer?
Superb writing and subdued tone make for an awesome combination...
Julius Winsome : A Novel
a very good read
For Dog's Sake

Julius Winsome: A Novel
Gerard Donovan
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Psychological & Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

A Life in Smoke: A Memoir
The Private Lives of the Impressionists
Unconfessed
The Terror: A Novel
A Three Dog Life

ASIN: 158567849X
Release Date: 2006-10-19

Book Description

Living alone with his dog in the remote cabin in the woods, Julius Winsome is not unlike the barren winter lands that he inhabits: remote, vacant, inscrutable. But when his dog Hobbes is killed by hunters, their carelessness—or is it cruelty?—sets Julius's precarious mindset on end.

He is at once more alone than he has ever been; he was at first with his father, until he died; then with Claire, until she disappeared with another man into a more normal life in town; and then with Hobbes, who eased the sorrow of Claire's departure. Now Hobbes is gone.

Julius is left with what his father left behind: the cabin that he was raised in; a lifetime of books, lining every wall of his home, which have been Julius's lifelong friends and confidantes; and his great-grandfather's rifle from World War I, which Julius had been trained to shoot with uncanny skill and with the utmost reluctance. But with the death of his dog, Julius's reluctance has reached its end. More and more, simply and furtively, it is revenge that is creeping into his mind.

Fresh snow is on the ground as the hunters lumber into his sights. They're well within the old gun's range. They pause, and they're locked into the crosshairs. Julius's finger traces the trigger. Will he pull it? And what will that accomplish? What if he simply has nothing left to lose?

Customer Reviews:

Sympathy for a killer?.......2007-05-18

This book is confusing, I'm not sure about the message he's trying to send. Very well written, it draws you in immediately and keeps you there unitl the end. However, the story itself is a bit flawed. I'm not sure if the writer is a peta activist, an anti-gunner, or a criminal sympathizer. But I shouldn't try to pigeonhole the writer, it would just be nice to know the message he's trying to convey. So this guys dog was killed without reason. Does this means he should kill every hunter he sees for revenge? He almost appears to be a member of a fundraising group and he wrote this book, so the proceeds would support peta, the anti-gun activists, and criminal sympathizers, because they seem to have the same logic! I must add though, oddly enough, I still liked this book. I just wish he would have conveyed his message better, it's so well written that you want to like it, despite it's shortcomings.

Superb writing and subdued tone make for an awesome combination..........2007-04-30

Julius Winsome is a soft-spoken, methodical character study that never accelerates beyond a gentle gait but is able to keep you turning pages nonetheless.

From a distance Julius would appear to be no different than one might expect of man who lives alone in a remote cabin in the woods of Northern Maine. Quiet, pensive and perhaps a bit odd. But you certainly wouldn't suppose him to be the type to bring fear and panic to your small town - or would you?

Julius' father, a man scarred by war and incapable of providing guidance beyond cryptic philosophies handed down by his equally blemished father, long ago set Julius's moral compass. As you get to know Julius you learn that his father's guidance, and years of living alone after his death, have done little to prepare him to deal with the loves and losses each adult ultimately faces. Consequently, when Julius experiences the loss of his dog he seeks retribution in the calm, matter-of-fact way one approaches an arithmetic problem. Though emotion plays a minor role in his actions, it is not enough to stem the gruesome tide. For Julius, 1 + 2 must always equal 3.

The writing is sparse yet superb. The characters are heavy yet approachable. The story is quick yet involved. The result is an enthralling expose on the fall of an ostensibly normal man who is doomed by his inability to allow emotions or morality to impact fundamental decisions.

Julius Winsome : A Novel.......2007-03-27

I have no idea what review i read that compelled me to buy this book. It starts off rather sad and lonely and spirals downward from there.
I am pretty sure the storyline is disfunctional enough to make Oprahs List

a very good read.......2007-03-18

...with an improbable ending. The author puts you in the mostly lonely world of a cabin in the Main woods, but does not even try to put you in the mind of the person who grew up and lives there, a device which stretches any empathy for his crimes, but still gives appreciation of our most important values.

For Dog's Sake.......2007-03-17

Okay, guy's dog is killed by somebody, and this flips out the protaganist, who becomes a serial killer, shooting hapless hunters in the woods around his secluded cabin. That is the plot. Granted, Donovan is a gifted writer, and the intermixing of Shakespeare, instilled in him by a emotionally dry father, is at times brilliant. Yet, one keeps coming back to the dry plot which, in the end, is unfulfilling. Five stars is way too much for this thin book without a satisfying or satisfactory ending more fit for a short story perhaps than a novel.

Average customer rating:

Small town suspense
Highly recommended
Ok suspense with too many unanswered questions
"The test of literature is, I suppose, whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it." E. Drew
Ouch!

Dahlia's Gone: A Novel
Katie Estill
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Winter's Bone: A Novel
Evening Would Find Me
The Overlook (Harry Bosch)
Water for Elephants: A Novel

ASIN: 0312358350
Release Date: 2007-01-09

Book Description

“A promise can change a life. Even a small, casual promise extended without much thought or contemplation.” So learns Sand Williams, who has returned to her childhood home in the Ozarks for a much- needed rest after years of working abroad as a journalist. She and her husband, Frank, a hydrologist who loves caves, have moved into a cabin that Sand inherited from her father on the beautiful Seven Point River. A mile upstream from Sand lives Norah Everston, and the two women couldn’t be more different. The only thing they have in common is the boundary of their land, but when Norah asks Sand to look in on her children when she and her husband go traveling, Sand reluctantly agrees, because she grew up in the Ozarks believing that you helped your neighbor out.

The kids are Timothy and Dahlia, the children of Norah and Lyman by previous marriages. Lyman’s daughter, Dahlia, eighteen and a winsome blonde, is working to raise funds for college, while Norah’s son, Timothy, a big, handsome boy described as “"slow,”" goes to a special class in high school. The teenagers have never fully adjusted to their parents’ marriage, and the family is also divided by the subject of religion and the very strict church that Norah and Timothy faithfully attend. The teenagers have never been left alone before, and Norah, who doesn’t like Sand very much, has asked her to look after them for convenience sake.

Dahlia’s Gone is the story of three remarkable women whose lives are profoundly changed by the murder of Dahlia Everston: Sand, who makes the grisly discovery;, Norah, the victim’s grieving step-mother, who comes to blame Sand for the tragedy;, and Patty Callahan, who leads the investigation of Dahlia’s brutal murder. Patti, the only female deputy in Weleda County, is a woman of secrets, secrets that include her intimate and influential relationship with Sand’s deceased father, who was the owner and publisher of the local newspaper.

This mesmerizing narrative beautifully and suspensefully explores the aftermath of tragedy, and the process of facing the truth. In Dahlia’s Gone, Katie Estill has created brought to life three unforgettable characters whose lives intersect in both dramatic and mysterious ways. Dahlia’s Gone looks unflinchingly at what’s been lost, but in the end this is a story about redemption, the beauty of hope, and the soul-healing friendship that can be forged among women.

Customer Reviews:

Small town suspense.......2007-04-29

Reviewed by AJ Cooper for Reader Views (4/07)

This is a story of three strong women brought together by the most horrific of circumstances. Sand is the married, free-spirited, next-door-neighbor to Norah. Norah is the mother of two, a son and stepdaughter. Patti is the divorced, local police officer.

The first line, "A promise can change a life." stopped me in my tracks and I realized just how true a statement that really is. The disappointment of the first line hits home when Dahlia, Nora's stepdaughter is found dead in her bed with her stepbrother, Timothy downstairs watching television. Norah the stepmother of Dahlia has made Sand promise she will check-up on her kids while she takes a trip with her husband. Sand thought she was doing the right thing in agreeing to help her neighbor since they had watched Sand's house while she was away with her husband. Because of the terrible storm that was going through the area at the time of the discovery Sand was enlisted by the local police to take the crime pictures.

The murder ripped the entire town apart and everyone expected that a stranger must have committed this horrible crime. This is an intimate view of the workings of a small town and how quickly the town took sides, many were against Sand because she was after all suppose to be keeping an eye on the kids. The revelation of the killer just about broke the back of the entire town.

I could not stop reading this book. The suspense grabbed me and never let go until I read the last word. No one ever expects something bad to happen in their small town and when it does it turns everything upside down. Anyone that enjoys a good mystery will find "Dahlia's Gone" a real pleasure. The words are so descriptive and I can really picture in my mind what is going on. I will be recommending this book to my family and friends.

Highly recommended.......2007-03-24

A young, beautiful girl is brutally murdered--and the lives of three women are forever changed.

Sand Williams discovers Dahlia's body. She sees her childhood Ozark home through eyes that have seen the world and has come to understand both its beauty and its shortcomings. Sand has a foundation of a wonderful marriage, even as she struggles to find her place in the home she left so many years before.

Norah Everston, Dahlia's grief-stricken stepmother, finds her entire belief system challenged, and indeed, her entire world altered after the murder. Her fundamentalist faith and son hold center stage, coming ahead of her marriage, and even the pursuit of truth.

Patti Callahan, the lone female deputy in the county, becomes responsible for the investigation. And for Patti, there's conviction and dreams--all wrapped up in one package.

The author's involvement in helping to stop violence against women lends credence to much of the story, and indeed, it's that personal involvement that eventually inspired the creation of Dahlia's Gone. The remarkable intersection of three disparate lives tells a separate story--of women, of respect, and of hope for a future.

More than an intriguing mystery, Katie Estill pulls us into the lives of these women who each must find her own way of coping with tragedy. Readers who've never experienced the Ozarks are exposed to their simplicity and intricacy through Estill's words.

Armchair Interviews says: This is a story you won't soon forget.

Ok suspense with too many unanswered questions.......2007-02-21

Dahlia's Gone by Katie Estill is the story of three women trying to cope with the brutal murder of a young woman within their midst. Norah asks her neighbor Sand to watch over her son Timothy and step-daughter Dahlia while going on vacation with her husband. While checking up on the teens, Sand finds Dahlia's body, and Patti steps in to investigate the girl's death. The murderer is never truly in doubt, so the suspense comes from waiting for the truth to come out and be accepted by the main characters. Norah and Sand are each superficial and self-righteous in their own ways, making them hard to empathize with. Patti is just downright odd. The narration in her chapters is almost stream of consciousness making it hard to follow at times. Estill creates some intriguing characters, but there are too many plot points that dribble off into nothing. Why was Sand at the doctor? What are Sand and her husband going to do with the ghostfish? What's with Merlee's dad's teeth? The relationship between Sand and her husband was passionate and strong enough to carry its own book; but the few instances here are wasted. The best suspense in the book comes at the tailend when Norah's actions come into question, but the resolution seems awkward. One other quibble with the book: the representation of the church in the book seems extremely prejudice and biased. The writing seems as though the writer was reaching for higher themes that unfortunately were beyond her grasp.

"The test of literature is, I suppose, whether we ourselves live more intensely for the reading of it." E. Drew.......2007-02-19

A gorgeous book, both in appearance and in the skillful writing. I couldn't put it down! The characters were so real, I feel like I've made some friends ( and some that I don't care to meet again) LOL .
Katie Estill's skills are remarkable and the Ozarks pictures that she paints are equally as appealing as is the 'flow' of the story she weaves.
The psychological nuances are wonderful, making the novel timeless in it's appeal. I plan to tell everyone I meet about this wonderful book!

Ouch!.......2007-02-16

If I was beat any more over the head with metaphors from this book, it would be considered abuse. Water, darkness, truth, purity, righteousness, the oil and water mix between the sexes. Picked up on all that, but there wasn't a lot left over to help connect the dots. Give me more. Perhaps her writing is too sophisticated? Maybe I'm just too obtuse? In the end, didn't matter. All I was concerned with was getting it over with. Thank goodness it was short.

Average customer rating:

feeling yesterday's time
Southern Cooking & Heritage
Jimmy, I Can Feel Your Spirit
Awesome Read
Crystelle Mourning is a must-read!

Crystelle Mourning: A Novel
Eisa Nefertari Ulen
Manufacturer: Atria
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Third Girl from the Left
All Aunt Hagar's Children: Stories
When the Levees Broke
The Known World
The Pursuit of Happyness

ASIN: 0743277589

Book Description

This profound and intense debut novel is the story of a young African American woman from West Philadelphia who finds her path to a bright future in gentrified Brooklyn, New York, blocked when she can't let go of the love she lost.

Crystelle has a well-employed fiancé and a life in New York City that most young professionals would envy. She has come a long way from skipping rope on the cracked sidewalks of the rough Philadelphia neighborhood where she was raised by a loving mother and grandfather. She experienced good times and bad in equal measure in a community where people worked, played, and sometimes fought hard too. She didn't leave the past behind her though. A ghost from those West Philly days haunts her, a spirit whose presence in her dreams is as welcome as it is unsettling. That spirit is Jimmie, her high school sweetheart -- the one who she watched get gunned down one hot, unforgettable night all those years ago.

Unnerved by her dreams of Jimmie and the suspicion that she may be pregnant, Crystelle takes a train back to her old neighborhood to reconnect with friends and family. There, with the help of Jimmie's mother -- a woman who Crystelle loves like family and who makes a prison visit to the young man who murdered her son -- Crystelle comes to grips with the memory that haunts her and learns the power of forgiveness and the need to move on.

With its deeply resonant depictions of urban African American life and the cultural forces that challenge and sustain their communities, Crystelle Mourning is a triumphant, lyrical beginning to a bright new talent in fiction.

Customer Reviews:

feeling yesterday's time.......2007-02-17

Crystelle Mourning is refreshing. Eisa Ulen's poetic prose engaged me from the first page. It sang. The moment the words hit my senses, all distracting thoughts disappeared and I was there with the character, feeling the time and space and emotion.

Ulen skillfully melds worlds--seamlessly--shifting time effortlessly. I could see the kids playing in the street and almost felt the days when my girlfriends would sit and cornrow my hair. All my senses were alive, including the ever present feeling of lose. I felt the mourning; I felt it woven into daily life and memories--into the things we never say. But it wasn't overwhelmingly sad, it was like a presence...an unexplainable presence that stood by me as I read. It sat next to me. It almost spoke to me.

Although I'm sure it could be argued that Crystelle was seeing the real ghost of Jimmie, I felt at the end that the apparition was her--like it was Jimmie inside her--stepping outside to comfort her and save her from her inner turmoil. I felt like she was comforting herself in this way, so she could deal with the pain...like introspective or subconscious self-therapy.

Ulen touched on many issues, including how we view death, healing, pregnancy, child rearing, mental shackles from slavery, to name a few. This work is impressive and will stand the test of time. It is a complex piece worthy of a roundtable discussion. She is one deep author. Bravo!

Southern Cooking & Heritage.......2007-02-11

Carolyn Quick Tillery follows up her last cookbook with yet another book rich in culture and history, mixed with good ole down home cooking. SOUTHERN HOMECOMING TRADITIONS: Recipes and Remembrances, and African-American Heritage Cookbook is centered on famous black institutions in Atlanta, GA: Morehouse, Spelman, Morris Brown College, Clark-Atlanta University, Interdenominational Theological Center, and Morehouse School of Medicine, also collectively known as the Atlanta University Center, which make up the largest historically black educational complex in the world.

SOUTHERN HOMECOMING TRADITIONS is not simply a cookbook, as one would expect, but holds a portion of history that should be preserved. The addition of proverbs gives the book a special touch which enhance the message of coming together as a race and celebrating African-American heritage and its importance to our collegiate system, specifically that of black colleges and universities. Tillery has created a wonderful niche for herself, and a much needed one for our community, one that mixes history with food. I will be buying this book (as well as the three before it) for the cooks in my family and as gifts for friends. It is sure to be a favorite among black historians and cooks.

Reviewed by Tee C. Royal
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Jimmy, I Can Feel Your Spirit.......2006-10-26

Crystelle Mourning, the much anticipated debut of Eisa Nefertari Ulen, is part coming-of-age story with a bit of mysticism on the periphery. Crystelle is a young woman who experiences the death of her childhood sweetheart, Jimmy, during their senior year of high school in Philadelphia in the 1980s. Young, foolish and hot-headed he got himself killed on the West Philly streets by a boy they all grew up with in the neighborhood. Never coming to grips with her grief, Crystelle finds herself five years later after graduating from college, and working for an ad agency in New York City, experiencing bouts of depression and continual dreams of Jimmy. These are not ordinary dreams but actual visions of Jimmy talking to her, tweaking her memories and bringing to the forefront the underlying angst she has carried for so long.

Hamp is the young man Crystelle is practically engaged to, an urban black professional; the perfect man who wants to marry her. He is the kind of man you go to college to obtain a MRS; everything should be perfect, yet Jimmy is haunting her in a "Ghost" like state, taking her back to the streets of West Philly where they laughed, played and loved. In a constant being of discontent, Crystelle returns to the scene of the crime and to a home where a loving widowed grandfather and bitter mother reside. In flashbacks and dreams, Crystelle remembers the boy who loved her. Jimmy's death affected so many people; Crystelle, his mother, Brenda, who has left his room the same, and his father, James, who has withdrawn in to himself.

Ulen spent great detail on conversations that were sometimes repetitive and at times I had to reread to discern between the here and now and an actual dream. Reading this book intermittently was like being in a perpetual dream state like the main character, Crystelle. The language was poetic and fluid; the writing rich with metaphors and imagery thereby setting it apart from most contemporary urban literature in the market. This novel is an admirable debut and I look forward to the author's next offering.

Dera R. Williams
APOOOO BookClub
[...]

Awesome Read.......2006-10-02

Eisa is truly a talented storyteller. While reading the book, I really felt connected with Crystelle and felt every part of her journey towards peace. Awesome to say the least!

Crystelle Mourning is a must-read!.......2006-08-30

From the first page I could not put this book down. Very nostalgic and romantic -- Eisa is an amazing story-teller!

I Died Laughing: Funeral Education With a Light Touch

Average customer rating:

A funny yet useful little book
Lots of jokes and some info too
Humorists will be especially pleased

I Died Laughing: Funeral Education With a Light Touch
Lisa Carlson
Manufacturer: Upper Access
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Comic Strips | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

Essays | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Grief & Bereavement | Death & Grief | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Comics & Graphic Novels | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Caring for the Dead: Your Final Act of Love
Dealing Creatively With Death: A Manual of Death Education and Simple Burial
The American Way of Death Revisited
Coming to Rest: A Guide to Caring for Our Own Dead, an Alternative to the Commercial Funeral
Profits of Death: An Insider Exposes the Death Care Industries

ASIN: 0942679253

Book Description

The author, a long-time consumer advocate, has regaled her audience for years with funeral humor as an ice-breaker for discussion of consumer issues in dealing with the funeral industry. This book is full of her favorite jokes and witticisms, with each chapter ending with a few pages called "But Seriously . . . " with important consumer information. This book is a fund-raiser for Funeral Consumers Alliance, a nonprofit consumer organization, and many famous artists contributed their cartoons and illustrations in support of that cause. These include the late Edward Gorey, Rina Piccolo, and P.S. Mueller.

Customer Reviews:

A funny yet useful little book.......2002-06-08

Death is not a topic many of us enjoy talking about, and as a result many people are unprepared for the business side of death once it strikes close to home. The underlying goal of this little book is to increase readers' knowledge of death, funerals, and the like. Thus, there is information on burial vaults, caskets, funeral homes, cremation, etc.; much of this information is useful and interesting. There are even money-saving tips for families in financial straits. Surrounding these tips and suggestions, though, are an assortment of humorous remarks and stories: famous last words, cartoons, jokes, funny epitaphs, poems, and recollections. You will also find "A Dying Person's Bill of Rights" and--my favorite--a list of suggestions for "Putting the 'Fun' Back in Funerals." This book is in no way irreverent or disrespectful of the dead and those who mourn for them, and there are no religious overtones that might upset certain readers. This short little book (it can easily be read in half an hour) will certainly not make you an expert on funerals, but there is some good information to be found on the serious pages scattered throughout the book, not least of which is a discussion of the information funeral homes are required by law to give you in writing before you make any buying decision. The author emphasizes the fact that you are not required to accept everything the funeral director recommends and stresses the importance of reading through the price guidelines and relevant information before making your decision. No matter how much we deny it, death is a part of life we all must face, and this little book celebrates life through its humor and makes death a little easier for people to consider and talk about.

Lots of jokes and some info too.......2002-01-03

This book has tons of jokes and cartoons with a death theme. Most of them are pretty funny. Interspersed are some 'but seriously' pages with real information about various aspects of death, dying and funerals. There is a table of contents in the front so you can go right to the serious stuff if you want. There is also a good list of funeral directors in the back of the book.

Humorists will be especially pleased.......2001-08-06

Most of us should have a little more death and funeral-related information in our knowledge base, and it would be a good idea to get it before we actually need it. But who wants to read about dying? I knew I'd need some guidance in this area eventually, so when I saw Ms. Carlson's book I thought I'd give it a read. Her "But Seriously..." sections contained all the information I'm likely to need, surrounded by pages and pages of humor, good humor. Jokes and cartoons -- there's something for everyone in "I Died Laughing: Funeral Education with a Light Touch." Humorists will be especially pleased.

Average customer rating:

Gob's Grief
fascinating
Mostly trashy, with a little good writing
Unusual and impressive
A Great Book

Gob's Grief: A Novel
Chris Adrian
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Popular Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Book Clubs | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Children's Hospital
Against the Day
The Echo Maker: A Novel
The People of Paper
What Is the What

ASIN: 0375726241
Release Date: 2002-03-12

Amazon.com

Unlike many a novelist, Chris Adrian isn't intimidated by history. Indeed, he treats historical events as raw material, to be reshaped and reconfigured through the processes of the imagination. It's an endeavor that would please Walt Whitman, one of the central characters in this challenging debut, Gob's Grief. Nor is the good gray poet the only "real" character--both Abraham Lincoln and radical feminist Victoria Woodhull put in appearances, giving an extra twist of verisimilitude to Adrian's rendering of America circa 1863, where the Civil War rages and the dead proliferate like weeds.

Gob's Grief opens with the story of Tomo, the fictional son of Woodhull. At age 11, he dreams of escaping Homer, Ohio, to join the fighting. Unable to convince his twin brother, Gob, to accompany him, Tomo finally sets out alone and is promptly killed by a bullet through the skull. His twin never recovers from this loss. In thrall to his grief, Gob grows up to become a doctor, dedicating himself to healing the war's wounded. And by night, he toils away at a more unlikely corrective: a time machine that will eradicate death and bring back all the lost soldiers. His sidekick in this project is none other than Whitman, who shares his desire to resurrect those millions of departed souls: "Their marvelous passion would go out from them in waves, transforming time, history, and destiny, unmurdering Lincoln, unfighting the war, unkilling all the six hundred thousand."

Gob's Grief is an ambitious and occasionally convoluted story, which remains true to the stubborn mysticism of thinkers like Whitman and Woodhull. Cutting back and forth between characters and historical moments, Adrian never pretends to retrospective detachment. Indeed, his novel will appeal to fans of John Dos Passos or E.L. Doctorow--writers who borrow from history but repay their debt in the form of fictional insight. --Ellen Williams

Book Description

In the summer of 1863, Gob and Tomo Woodhull, eleven-year-old twin sons of Victoria Woodhull, agree to together forsake their home and family in Licking County, Ohio, for the glories of the Union Army. But on the night of their departure for the war, Gob suffers a change of heart, and Tomo is forced to leave his brother behind. Tomo falls in as a bugler with the Ninth Ohio Volunteers and briefly revels in camp life; but when he is shot clean through the eye in his very first battle, Gob is left to endure the guilt and grief that will later come to fuel his obsession with building a vast machine that will bring Tomo–indeed, all the Civil War dead–back to life.
Epic in scope yet emotionally intimate, Gob’s Grief creates a world both fantastic and familiar and populates it with characters who breath on the page, capturing the spirit of a fevered nation populated with lost brothers and lost souls.

Download Description

In 1863, 11-year-old Tomo Woodhill runs off to fight in the Civil War, during which he takes a bullet in the eye and dies. His brother, Gob, grows up in a state of grief. As an adult studying to be a doctor in New York City, he has an idea to build a machine that might bring Tomo, indeed, all the war dead, back to life.

Customer Reviews:

Gob's Grief.......2007-03-29

Chris Adrian's novels came to my attention through the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and I hastened to order both of them. I found Gob's Grief fascinating in its use of Civil War period history, and skillful in its weaving of hopes and griefs in the two fictional Woodhull brothers. There is a refreshing frankness and earthiness about the incidents which is convincing and appealing. The novel leaves things more tentative and open than the adventure of Fraser's COLD MOUNTAIN with its ironic interruption of a quest.

fascinating.......2005-09-29

among the multitude the men and women i perceive one picking me out by secret and divine signs

Mostly trashy, with a little good writing.......2004-05-15

"Gob's Grief" by Chris Adrian is a very ambitious first novel that tries to explore the Civil War, and the question of the afterlife, but Adrian falls flat on his face with the spiritualist crap that has been overdone to death. Basically, Gob Woodhull, fictional son of the real Victoria Woodhull, an early feminist, tries to bring back his dead brother, who died at 11 in war. The prose in this book usually borders on ridicious. I mean, really, did anybody really see an eleven year old as a proper solider? Anyway, Gob and a cast of other characters build a weird machine, bring a weird boy named Pickie to life. Then Pickie helps to build a large weird machine, and they use that to bring Tomo back. The ending is interesting, but the rest of the book is tedious crap. Adrian could have done much better.

Unusual and impressive.......2004-02-19

A boy, Tomo, runs off to battle during the Civil War, leaving his hesitant twin brother Gob behind, and is almost instantly killed. A few years later we meet Gob once again, now a doctor driven by guilt and loss to construct a fantastic machine that will bring Tomo (and all the thousands of Civil War dead) back to life. Others are driven to join Gob's quest--the poet Walt Whitman, who hears the voice of a dead soldier in his head; Dr. Will Fie, literally followed by ghosts through the streets, and beautiful Maci Trufant, who flees her father's madness only to find her own left hand becoming the instrument for her dead brother's frantic communications, scribbled from somewhere beyond the grave.

GOB'S GRIEF is a strikingly emotional and original novel, set in a time when Americans were seemingly drowning in anguish, desperately trying to make sense of a country that had turned on itself. Elements of romance, history, horror, spiritualism and magic realism are ambitiously combined, with mixed results--sometimes the book feels repetitious and overstuffed, and some elements simply never quite manage to fit. However, as a whole, this is a memorable debut novel from a talented writer. I'll be looking for his name again.

A Great Book.......2003-07-02

this is one of the most imaginative and beautifully written books I have ever read. The opening chapters dealing with the death of Tomo are some of the most heartbreaking and disturbing words ever written about War.

The tale of Gob, Macie, Dr. Fie, Pickie, and Walt Whitman is very engrossing. The obsession with conquering death permeates every chapter. The feelings of grief and despair are palpable.

The ending, while it may leave some disappointed, was handled very well. With a tale of this scope and subject I was very leary of how the ending would be done, but I was not disappointed.

Amazon.com

Without the third season of MTV's The Real World, set in San Francisco, Pedro Zamora would have lived and died quietly, a Cuban immigrant who became an AIDS educator after his HIV diagnosis at the age of 17. But in 1993, he and seven others were selected for the cast of The Real World, and Pedro's battle with AIDS, his irrepressible good nature, his love affair with Sean Sasser, and his growing friendship with his housemates would become public knowledge. When Pedro succumbed to complications of AIDS in November 1994, news of his death was carried on every major network and made international headlines. Thousands of letters arrived from around the world. Even President Clinton applauded Pedro's bravery in speaking out to young people about AIDS prevention and self-esteem. Judd Winick, a struggling cartoonist, had also been chosen for that season of The Real World, and became Pedro's roommate and close friend. His cartoon memoir tells the story of their friendship and serves as a vivid memorial to a bright-eyed and gifted man who made more of his 22 years of life than most of us could make of 80. --Regina Marler

Book Description

"You are eighteen years old. You get up in front of a thousand people--your classmates, your friends, basically the people who make up your entire existence--and announce, 'I'm HIV positive.'"Told entirely in sequential art, here is the story of the life-changing friendship between the author, a cartoonist from Long Island, and Pedro Zamora, an HIV-positive AIDS activist, which was filmed day by day on MTV's Real World San Francisco. As a speaker and educator, a guest on many talk shows (including Oprah), and when his tragic death received front-page coverage in the press, Pedro taught a generation that AIDS was not a punishment for moral defects or a mere killer that reduced humans to wraiths. Rather, he showed how those afflicted with the disease could live and love nobly with intelligence, humor and great humanity. Judd Winick's compelling memoir allows each of us to experience the vitally important message Pedro brought us.Inspiring, moving, informative, and instantly accessible, Pedro and Me could become one of the books that defines a generation.

Customer Reviews:

funny-sad-moving.......2007-09-09

i have been a fan of the real world show ever sense the first one but it
wasn't until the real world:san francisco show that i became a true fan.
when i first saw pedro i thought there is a interesting person, it wasn't
until i saw the show that i saw just how interesting he was. i heard of hiv/aids and i read about it but i never understood what it was until pedro came along. i use to believe what every one else believed that hiv/aids was catchable, that you could get it just by touching someone but
then pedro came along and taught me and the world that it's not true.
pedro became not just a person i saw on the tv but a friend, a brother,
i felt like he was apart of my family and i still do. i am so glad judd
wrote this book, now every one who didn't watch the real world san francisco show will know what a great and loving person pedro was. i wish
i got to meet him because there is so many things i want to say to him like thank you, thank you pedro for teaching me that i shouldn't be afraid
of the person who has hiv/aids i should be loving and kinder to the person
who has this disease because that person could be a friend of mine or one
of my brothers or sisters or it could be me.

"Pedro and Me" is poignant and powerful........2007-03-19

Pedro and Me is a graphic novel that describes the friendship between two men who became friends while they were roommates on the MTV show The Real World. The author of Pedro and Me, Judd Winick, was a struggling cartoonist and was one of the roommates. Winick's friend and roommate, Pedro Zamora, was HIV positive and although only in his 20's, was a nationally known AIDS activist. Zamora died of AIDS within months after the taping of the show was completed.

In the summer of 1994, my husband and I had a college student, Susan, living with us. She was an intern working in the area,and we had offered our guest room to her for the summer. She became a part of our family; one of her favorite television shows was MTV's The Real World. Although my husband and I had not planned to watch the program, its compelling storyline of a young AIDS activist living with a group of strangers in downtown San Francisco drew us in, and we watched every episode. (Honestly, we felt a little silly watching a show designed for the "20-something" demographic.)

Having watched the television show, however, I was curious to see how Winick would bring his experiences to the graphic novel format. As a gifted artist and writer, Winick focuses briefly on what viewers saw "on-camera." Instead, he allows us to see beyond the show to the real friendship between the two men. His book, similar to Art Spiegelman's Maus I and Maus II, examines the human condition, and explores the subject of death with a sensitivity one finds in the best works of literature. When Zamora dies, readers grieve for the young man who had so much to offer the world. Readers grieve for Winick, too, who had the privilege of becoming Zamora's friend, only to lose him to AIDS within months of the beginning of that friendship.

Far from being "just a comic book," Pedro and Me is poignant and powerful and deserves to be on library and media center shelves across the country. Educating about AIDS without preaching, Winick has written and illustrated a masterful work of literature. Although some people have criticized Winick for being an "opportunist" and a "publicity hound," I see nothing of the sort. I believe Pedro and Me is a heartfelt tribute to a friend who changed Winick's life forever. This beautiful book touches the heart. I have recommended it to my husband and to my teenage sons; as a school library media specialist, I will recommend it to my young adult students.

A truly touching portrait..........2006-10-16

Judd Winick's "Pedro and Me" does what the most highly regarded graphic novels do-it captures a particular moment in time and depicts the human condition like the best in literature and film do, much like art spiegelman's acclaimed "Maus," another highly regarded story told in sequential art.
Through Winick's telling of the friendship between he and Pedro Zamora, we are able to see beyond what was depicted on camera during the season of MTV's "The Real World" where they met and became friends. Winick focuses minimal time on showing what we saw during the show's run and includes depictions of some of the other housemates, but briefly. This is not a retelling of what happened during that "Real World" season--if you want that, then buy the DVD's. Instead, the building friendship and cameraderie between Winick and Zamora is what is offered here. The loss of Zamora is seen as all the more tragic when depicted by Winick, as you feel as though the two really had just gotten to know each other. As I remember, much of Zamora's onscreen time on that season of "The Real World" was spent on Pedro as a serious young man/AIDS educator, but here we get to see Pedro as a laughing, jovial sort full of cameraderie and quotable witticisms. The telling of his childhood as a Cuban immigrant and the loss of his mother are especially touching. Everyone should read this book. It is a beautiful work.

a great book!.......2005-12-27

I barely remembered the show real world when pedro was on. I happened to find this book in a library when I was waiting for the bus. I read this book in one sitting. It is a beautiful story about Pedro. It also tells a lot about the real world experience. I do think that this book should be read by all teenage students for the way it was written. It is written in a cartoon style..........anyone could read it, it really has a lot of information about aids prevention with out getting all preachy. When I finished reading this book , I felt emotionally drained. I really wish I could have met Pedro.

I also wish that MTV would release the whole season on dvd.

Wonderfully haunting.........2004-11-17

I have never seen 'The Real World', nor had I heard of Pedro. I merely picked this book up on a whim, and discovered an amazing tale of friendship, both beautifully drawn and exceptionally realised. Brief, but hard to forget.

Winick's life has obviously changed after meeting Pedro, and I am suprised so many reviewers feel that he is capitalising on Pedro's death. Rather, Winick strikes me as having a great amount of love and admiration for his former friend, all the while using the comic medium to become a voice for Pedro's cause. Essentially the work is looking to promote AIDS awareness and direct a future that is increasingly knowledgable and embracing of non-normative sexualities.

The art is quite lovely; somewhat like Craig Thompson's 'Blankets', although the comic couldn't be more different. I thought the layouts were quite innovative and the whole piece was quite an achievement and obviously completely heartfelt, which is so uncommon in the comic genre.

However, I did feel that the time in the house was skipped over quite briefly to focus on his death. While the exploration of his demise was important, I think it is also essential to portray more of his household interactions, considering they were the basis for the friendship.

Additionally, the comic's cover is a real led-down point for Winick. It is poorly designed, old-fashioned and quite unappealing. It does not really exhibit the true wonder of this comic, which is a shame, because it is quite masterful.

Irrespective of this, I could not recommend this work enough. It is beautiful and deep, aching and gentle. I really admired it.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books