The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah's Book Club)

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:

****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.

Never cared for the man, but his book is great........2007-08-12

I have my preferences as to actors. Poitier was never in a prominent standing. But, then neither were a few others; like John Wayne. Not saying they both weren't good actors, just two of the many I didn't watch much.
Having said that, I find Mr. Poitier's book an interesting read. I feel it was well worth the money.

[...]

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

Average customer rating:

Enlightening.
Fantastic book. Recommend for all ages!
Easy to read, hard to digest
Painful but Poignant
A must read

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Ishmael Beah
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Road (Oprah's Book Club)
Infidel
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time

ASIN: 0374105235
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Book Description

My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life.
“Why did you leave Sierra Leone?”
“Because there is a war.”
“You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?”
“Yes, all the time.”
“Cool.”
I smile a little.
“You should tell us about it sometime.”
“Yes, sometime.”

This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.

What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.

In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.

This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.

Customer Reviews:

Enlightening........2007-10-03

I think this is a wonderful book, so moving and beautifully written that you wonder how a person can manage to lead a "normal" life after experiencing what he has been through. The author tells the story matter-of-factly without whining or complaining about the hand he's been dealt. Because of this, it makes the story even more impressive.

Not just a good read, a book that enlightens is a must-read.

Fantastic book. Recommend for all ages!.......2007-10-02

This book is truly amazing. It is almost unbelievable to read about the lives of people like Ishmael, but it's true, and it's happening today. Yes, in some parts it is certainly hard to read, but it's worth it. It is better to be shocked and scarred by this book than ignorant to it. Ishmael is a wonderfully optimistic person, and I think we can all learn a lot from his courage. In his own words, Ishmael is not an expert on the history of Sierra Lione, but by putting a face and name to this story, you will still learn a lot from him! I recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

Easy to read, hard to digest.......2007-10-02

I read this book on my flight to D.C. a couple of months ago. It was probably the fastest I have ever read a book. It was very easy to understand and painted an incredibly vivid picture in my mind. The content is important and the way Beah wrote his story makes it accessible to all.

Painful but Poignant.......2007-09-27

This book is not for the fainthearted who wants a feel good story; this is tough book to read, however, it is an important book to read as well. So often us here in the west are isolated from the fact that there are tough places to live on this planet, places where people are forced to do unspeakable acts and are exposed to unimaginable acts of violence.
This book takes on the voyage of a young man named Ishmael, who lived in the war torn country of Sierra Leone. His life is completely turned upside down by the civil war in that country. Ishmaels story is first a story of losing his family, than of losing his innocence as he is forced to fight for the Countries Army that's fighting the "rebels". After that the story focuses on his rehabilitation in a place called Freetown and eventually his new life in the United States (although I would like to know more about how he is today).
The most amazing part of this story as an American who simply didn't understand the truth, is that this Ishmael was 12 years old and was killing people, not because he was an animal, but because he was drugged and forced to become one merely to survive. This is a concept that as westerners we look on and go oh that's too bad, but do we really take the time to understand that this happens all the time in the same world we live in? Do we take the time to understand that there is big world out there and for the most part it isn't that safe little havens we take for granted? I challenge anyone who reads this book to be able to look at the world the same again.

A must read.......2007-09-26

This book is very graphic in its detail of events. It will put you right there on the front line and in the eyes of danger. I felt as though I was there experiencing all that he had. Then again I could never imagine experiencing all that he did. Its a touching story that will bring back to reality on the issues that have been going on for ages.

Average customer rating:

Fascinating story....but read about peaceful Muslims also
YOu GO ,GIRL
Great book!
Outstanding - must read
Spellbinding autobiography and history

Infidel
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
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While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within

ASIN: 0743289684

Book Description

In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of The Caged Virgin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West.

One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist's murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie Submission.

Infidel is the eagerly awaited story of the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished -- and sometimes reviled -- political superstar and champion of free speech. With a gimlet eye and measured, often ironic, voice, Hirsi Ali recounts the evolution of her beliefs, her ironclad will, and her extraordinary resolve to fight injustice done in the name of religion. Raised in a strict Muslim family and extended clan, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries largely ruled by despots. In her early twenties, she escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Even though she is under constant threat -- demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from her family and clan -- she refuses to be silenced.

Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright little girl evolved out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no story could be timelier or more significant.

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating story....but read about peaceful Muslims also.......2007-10-02

InfidelThis is a fascinating story by a courageous woman and gives us valuable insight into life in many Middle Eastern countries. I highly recommend it. At the same time I have visited other Muslim countries and have women friends who have a totally different life with freedom and choices, so I would recommend reading other books about women and Islam. Many of our Muslim friends are working for peace, tolerance and interfaith dialog here in the US and in other countries.

YOu GO ,GIRL.......2007-10-02

College Club reviewed your autobiography and you put us to shame-your accomplishments despite yourcultural restrictions...searching for a God of Love-You did find yourself- AND courageous enough to take a stand - God does love you and blesses you You have opened the door for many women and more WILL follow. May you continue your crusade for women;s rights

Great book!.......2007-09-28

This is a wonderful book about Ayaan's life story. It grabs your attention from beginning to end. I definitely recommend this book especially to individuals who love women studies!

Outstanding - must read.......2007-09-24

This is a brave, honest and intelligent book written by the courageous, honest and intelligent women. "Infidel" is a "coming of age" story, written by women who grew up as a devoted Muslim, saw the Islam world "from inside out" and was gradually able to open her mind, question her faith and her world - and find the answers that contradicted everything she learned before.
Ayaan Ali continues to tell the truth and fight for her ideals; and even though sometimes the style of this book made me wish for more editing, most of the time I realized that this uneven style makes the book and its message more genuine and potent. Very powerful book, absolute necessary reading for anybody who is interested in current political affairs or Islam religion.

Spellbinding autobiography and history.......2007-09-23

It is rare to find autobiography as absorbing as this. Not only because of the author's unusual path from the desert of Somalia to the USA via the Netherlands, but also on account of the engaging writing style. Clear and descriptive, the narrative of her eventful life had a profound impact on this reader. Born and raised in Somalia, she spent part of her youth in neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Kenya, describing through the eyes of a child what it was like to live there.

She makes the history of Somalia come alive under the dictatorship of Siad Barre, explaining the clan system and comparing the relaxed Muslim practice in that country with the strictness of Saudi Arabia and the hypocrisy and racism that go along with it. The short experience of Ethiopia and later the long stay in Kenya, both predominantly Christian countries, were different again and she really captivates one's attention with the places and the people. One of the most salient memories she recalls is the obsessive anti-Semitism in Saudi Arabia. Where her family lived in the city of Riyadh, Jews were blamed for everything.

A sub-theme of the book is the increased radicalization of Muslims, partly because of the failures and the suffering brought about by Barre and the chaos of the civil war that unseated him. She noted this radicalization taking place amongst Somalis and others in Kenya where she spent most of her adolescence. This radical strain was brought to Africa by Arabs and Iranians, both Sunni and Shia, also reflecting the failure of secular ideologies and bad government in the dictatorships of the Muslim world.

There are sympathetic but honest portrayals of her family and friends: her mother who showed healthy signs of independence early in life but eventually lost hope and became embittered, her loving and tolerant but mostly absent father, her brother who stayed in Kenya and her sister who, when she couldn't cope in Holland, died tragically after returning to Kenya.

Instead of stirring up feelings against Islam, this book makes one contemplate the location of each individual's birth, how little free choice there really is in a closed society, the powerful hold of your community's history and culture, the difficulty of resisting brainwashing and how grateful people in free societies ought to be for the blessings that a lot of us take for granted.

The book is also about a second journey - the one from a stifling experience of oppressive religion to enlightenment and an embrace of Western values like individual freedom, freedom of speech and the rule of law. The fact that the individual mattered and had a right to life, to choice and freedom, was a joyful discovery.

This theme interweaves with the history she so deftly chronicles: the collapse of Somalia, the slow decline in Kenya, Dutch politics in the face of dysfunctional multiculturalism that however well intended, harms individuals in the immigrant communities and society as a whole. More information of what is going down in The Netherlands and Europe as a whole is available in While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer and Menace in Europe by Claire Berlinski.

It is humbling to read of the author's wonderment at Holland where even the police were friendly and helpful, and everything worked. She clearly loves The Netherlands; her words radiate with gratitude and appreciation of Dutch culture and society. I especially enjoyed the account of her studies at the University of Leiden where she discovered the great Western philosophers.

Infidel is the story of a life that has experienced mutilation, war, deprivation, tragedy, adventure, drastic adaptation and inspiring achievements, by an unusually courageous, empathic and resourceful individual. There are 11 black & white plates of family and other people who played a part in her life. As far as leaving Islam is concerned, I recommend the following informative books by two equally courageous women: Because They Hate by Brigitte Gabriel and Now They Call Me Infidel by Nonie Darwish.

Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin'

Average customer rating:

I loved this book!!!
Paula's book is cookin'
It Aint All ABout the Cookin
Loved this book!
Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin'

Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin'
Paula Deen , and Sherry Suib Cohen
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Deen Bros. Cookbook
Paula Deen Celebrates!: Best Dishes and Best Wishes for the Best Times of Your Life
Everyday Pasta
Paula Deen's 2008 Calendar
Christmas with Paula Deen: Recipes and Stories from My Favorite Holiday

ASIN: 0743292855
Release Date: 2007-04-03

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!

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

Average customer rating:

Highly Recommended!
Easy reading style, uninspiring content
FUNNY BUT NOT ENOUGH!
What a wonderful adventure
Refreshing and witty

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
Elizabeth Gilbert
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Water for Elephants: A Novel
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel
The Glass Castle: A Memoir

ASIN: 0143038419

Book Description

This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls “Anne Lamott's hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister”) is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.

Customer Reviews:

Highly Recommended!.......2007-10-03

Intelligently written. That is how FABULOUS this book is! I can't wait to share this book with my friends! Entertaining and fun read! When I bought this book I also took the How to be a Super Hot Woman: 339 Tips to Make Every Man Fall in Love with You and Every Woman Envy You and I am very happy to have read both books!

Easy reading style, uninspiring content.......2007-10-03

Her writing style is fluid, but her precious self-indulgence made it a painful read and embodies the entitlement "all-about-me" vein in the current culture in North America. That this book is currently #4 on the Amazon best-seller list is disheartening because it reminds me of how this generation of women in America could make a difference but instead are focused on getting their lattes in their SUVs on their way to yoga class. Me, me, me! Try reading "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson to see what one person can accomplish in the world as a stark contrast to Gilbert's self-centered story.

FUNNY BUT NOT ENOUGH!.......2007-10-02

I thought the writing was entertaining and very genuine but not mature enough. I couldn't wait to finish the book .... I had to scan through the last few pages.

What a wonderful adventure.......2007-10-02

Most people can relate to the break-up of a relationship and the physical/emotional drain we experience. I'd recommend this to the singles, the marrieds, and the inbetween. Straight or gay. It's not just a book about divorce but self discovery.

Refreshing and witty.......2007-10-02

This is the only book I have read that I started reading again as soon as I finished it. I didn't want it to end. Her description of Italians and their love affair with food and life is delicious. I laughed out loud at her description of all her efforts to overcome her depression. I could so identify with her analogy of depression and lonliness crawling in bed with her, old friends. I was a little disappointed in the "South Pacific"
ending. It left me wondering what was going to happen to her when she returns to "real life".

Average customer rating:

THANK YOU JEANETTE and your entire family for sharing your life!
Absolutely amazing!
The Glass Castle
Best book I have read in a long time!
Couldn't Put It Down

The Glass Castle: A Memoir
Jeannette Walls
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 074324754X

Amazon.com

Jeannette Walls's father always called her "Mountain Goat" and there's perhaps no more apt nickname for a girl who navigated a sheer and towering cliff of childhood both daily and stoically. In The Glass Castle, Walls chronicles her upbringing at the hands of eccentric, nomadic parents--Rose Mary, her frustrated-artist mother, and Rex, her brilliant, alcoholic father. To call the elder Walls's childrearing style laissez faire would be putting it mildly. As Rose Mary and Rex, motivated by whims and paranoia, uprooted their kids time and again, the youngsters (Walls, her brother and two sisters) were left largely to their own devices. But while Rex and Rose Mary firmly believed children learned best from their own mistakes, they themselves never seemed to do so, repeating the same disastrous patterns that eventually landed them on the streets. Walls describes in fascinating detail what it was to be a child in this family, from the embarrassing (wearing shoes held together with safety pins; using markers to color her skin in an effort to camouflage holes in her pants) to the horrific (being told, after a creepy uncle pleasured himself in close proximity, that sexual assault is a crime of perception; and being pimped by her father at a bar). Though Walls has well earned the right to complain, at no point does she play the victim. In fact, Walls' removed, nonjudgmental stance is initially startling, since many of the circumstances she describes could be categorized as abusive (and unquestioningly neglectful). But on the contrary, Walls respects her parents' knack for making hardships feel like adventures, and her love for them--despite their overwhelming self-absorption--resonates from cover to cover. --Brangien Davis

Book Description

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.

Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town -- and the family -- Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.

What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story. A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, she lives in New York and Long Island and is married to the writer John Taylor.

TO INQUIRE ABOUT SCHEDULING JEANNETTE WALLS FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS PLEASE CONTACT:

Keppler Speakers

Dustin L. Jones

Associate, College & University Division

703.516.4000 (P)

703.516.4819 (F)

Customer Reviews:

THANK YOU JEANETTE and your entire family for sharing your life!.......2007-10-03

An excellent book so engrossing I could not put it down. I love to read, but this book has moved me and stayed with me longer than any other. This book shows that you can break the chains that bind when you are focused. I've been in recovery many years and I appreciate the work involved in writing, along with courage in sharing, such intimate details of a family history. I will be recommending this book for years to come. Thanks again.

Absolutely amazing!.......2007-10-02

An amazing account of how one can overcome her/his circumstances instead of "blaming" the parents. A real page turner and so well written. I had put off reading this book for many months (thinking it would be too depressing to read) until a co-worker said, "It's really a good book."

The Glass Castle.......2007-10-01

Moving story. Uncomfortable to think the young woman would deny the existence of Mother when seen on street until you hear her story. It's a story of child neglect mixed so strangely with child love. Parents- child like themselves.

Best book I have read in a long time!.......2007-09-30

I am a bookworm. I read a lot of books. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls had me mesmirized from the beginning...The intro ...where she looks out of the window of a car and sees her mother rummaging through a dumpster was the hook. How children could grow up like she did seems amazing! She made me rethink the struggles(I thought)I had growing up...nothing like what she went through. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

Couldn't Put It Down.......2007-09-30

Although the author's self-absorbed and psychologically damaged parents appear to have raised their children with almost complete disregard for their welfare, she never allows the reader to lose sight of their humanity. In doing so, she creates a mesmerizing portrait of remarkably complex characters - and becomes a sympathetic character herself. I highly recommend this book.

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

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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.

Average customer rating:

Absolutely Fantastic
Greatest Book Ever on Einstein
Good, comprehensive look at the man...
good but too long
You don't have to be an Einstein to enjoy this book!

Einstein: His Life and Universe
Walter Isaacson
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Scientists | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

History of Science | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

Relativity | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel
The Assault on Reason

ASIN: 0743264738
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Amazon.com

As a scientist, Albert Einstein is undoubtedly the most epic among 20th-century thinkers. Albert Einstein as a man, however, has been a much harder portrait to paint, and what we know of him as a husband, father, and friend is fragmentary at best. With Einstein: His Life and Universe, Walter Isaacson (author of the bestselling biographies Benjamin Franklin and Kissinger) brings Einstein's experience of life, love, and intellectual discovery into brilliant focus. The book is the first biography to tackle Einstein's enormous volume of personal correspondence that heretofore had been sealed from the public, and it's hard to imagine another book that could do such a richly textured and complicated life as Einstein's the same thoughtful justice. Isaacson is a master of the form and this latest opus is at once arresting and wonderfully revelatory. --Anne Bartholomew

Read "The Light-Beam Rider," the first chapter of Walter Isaacson's Einstein: His Life and Universe.

Five Questions for Walter Isaacson

Amazon.com: What kind of scientific education did you have to give yourself to be able to understand and explain Einstein's ideas?

Isaacson: I've always loved science, and I had a group of great physicists--such as Brian Greene, Lawrence Krauss, and Murray Gell-Mann--who tutored me, helped me learn the physics, and checked various versions of my book. I also learned the tensor calculus underlying general relativity, but tried to avoid spending too much time on it in the book. I wanted to capture the imaginative beauty of Einstein's scientific leaps, but I hope folks who want to delve more deeply into the science will read Einstein books by such scientists as Abraham Pais, Jeremy Bernstein, Brian Greene, and others.

Amazon.com: That Einstein was a clerk in the Swiss Patent Office when he revolutionized our understanding of the physical world has often been treated as ironic or even absurd. But you argue that in many ways his time there fostered his discoveries. Could you explain?

Isaacson: I think he was lucky to be at the patent office rather than serving as an acolyte in the academy trying to please senior professors and teach the conventional wisdom. As a patent examiner, he got to visualize the physical realities underlying scientific concepts. He had a boss who told him to question every premise and assumption. And as Peter Galison shows in Einstein's Clocks, Poincare's Maps, many of the patent applications involved synchronizing clocks using signals that traveled at the speed of light. So with his office-mate Michele Besso as a sounding board, he was primed to make the leap to special relativity.

Amazon.com: That time in the patent office makes him sound far more like a practical scientist and tinkerer than the usual image of the wild-haired professor, and more like your previous biographical subject, the multitalented but eminently earthly Benjamin Franklin. Did you see connections between them?

Isaacson: I like writing about creativity, and that's what Franklin and Einstein shared. They also had great curiosity and imagination. But Franklin was a more practical man who was not very theoretical, and Einstein was the opposite in that regard.

Amazon.com: Of the many legends that have accumulated around Einstein, what did you find to be least true? Most true?

Isaacson: The least true legend is that he failed math as a schoolboy. He was actually great in math, because he could visualize equations. He knew they were nature's brushstrokes for painting her wonders. For example, he could look at Maxwell's equations and marvel at what it would be like to ride alongside a light wave, and he could look at Max Planck's equations about radiation and realize that Planck's constant meant that light was a particle as well as a wave. The most true legend is how rebellious and defiant of authority he was. You see it in his politics, his personal life, and his science.

Amazon.com: At Time and CNN and the Aspen Institute, you've worked with many of the leading thinkers and leaders of the day. Now that you've had the chance to get to know Einstein so well, did he remind you of anyone from our day who shares at least some of his remarkable qualities?

Isaacson: There are many creative scientists, most notably Stephen Hawking, who wrote the essay on Einstein as "Person of the Century" when I was editor of Time. In the world of technology, Steve Jobs has the same creative imagination and ability to think differently that distinguished Einstein, and Bill Gates has the same intellectual intensity. I wish I knew politicians who had the creativity and human instincts of Einstein, or for that matter the wise feel for our common values of Benjamin Franklin.

More to Explore

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life

Kissinger: A Biography
The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made

Book Description

By the author of the acclaimed bestseller Benjamin Franklin, this is the first full biography of Albert Einstein since all of his papers have become available.

How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson's biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom.

Based on newly released personal letters of Einstein, this book explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk -- a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn't get a teaching job or a doctorate -- became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom and the universe. His success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marveling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a morality and politics based on respect for free minds, free spirits, and free individuals.

These traits are just as vital for this new century of globalization, in which our success will depend on our creativity, as they were for the beginning of the last century, when Einstein helped usher in the modern age.

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely Fantastic.......2007-10-03

This biography reads like a story, creating suspense and other emotions that you experince while reading fiction. Einstein provides great insight into Einstein's mind and life. Highly recommended.

Greatest Book Ever on Einstein.......2007-10-03

I am 75 years old and have read over a dozen books on Einstein and his work, including his own. This is the best book ever on the personal life and tribulations of a great scientist as he trys to get his work done. With all the flaws and worts of a human the scientist struggles on.

Good, comprehensive look at the man..........2007-10-03

This is a good, comprehensive look at the life and career of Einstein. It is a bit long winded. But, the details are enlightening and well researched and documented. And, I learned a lot I didn't know about his life, times, and mentality.

I recommend the book to fans and those who want to understand what made this genius tick.

good but too long.......2007-10-01

This is really a good book. Mostly becuase Einstein was a great man and did amazing work. But it is not a great book becuase it gets too bogged down in his personal life. When the author is describing his miracle year of 1905 and then ten years later his theory of general relativitiy there is a sense of excitement and wonder. Unfortanately after that the book wanders around aimlessly. I really did not want to hear every tedious detail of his divorce or his (at times) acrimonious relationship with his first wife. It all feels like filler and a distraction from the amazing work that this man did. I'm sad to say but Einstein's personal life is not anywhere near as exciting as his great discoveries and to devote almost the entire book to his personal life seems like a waste of time.

You don't have to be an Einstein to enjoy this book!.......2007-10-01

You don't have to be an Einstein to enjoy this book but I sure wish that I would have taken physics instead of chemistry at junior college...Isaacson did a good job of trying to dummy up Einstein's discoveries so that JBODS like me could appreciate his genius but I do admit to having re-read a few sections here and there...
Forget the geeky stereotypes that one leans toward when thinking of scientists - Einstein was a rebel and cool in every sense of the word. His humanity and adherence to the principle of individual freedom made him a great man beyond just the science that he pioneered.
I especially enjoyed the way that religion, philosophy and science came together when developing and testing new theories. And the last chapter about Einstein's brain was entertaining in a macabre kind of way...

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time

Average customer rating:

A change your life book
Buy it, read it, pass it on, give as a gift
Three cups of tea
If only we all took the step to reach out
A true inspiration

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
Greg Mortenson , and David Oliver Relin
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Thousand Splendid Suns
Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
Water for Elephants: A Novel
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Suite Francaise

ASIN: 0143038257

Book Description

The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban's backyard

Anyone who despairs of the individual's power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan's treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson's quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.

Customer Reviews:

A change your life book.......2007-10-02

This book was required reading for all incoming freshmen in Montana's university system this year, and my book club chose it last spring. At first I had a hard time "getting into" it. The first 50 pages or so I considered not finishing it...there were so many foreign names and places that half the time I couldn't put the letter sounds together to make words I could even understand...BUT THEN!
This book really grasps your soul. Every time I sat down to read I felt a wave of goosebumps over my excitement with this story.
This book is very motivational also. Everything you'll read makes so much sense about changing the world through education, but you'll also find yourself finding lessons and motivation for your own life as well.
I ABSOLUTELY loved this book. I've recommended it to everyone and I've passed my copy on to a friend. I also had the honor of hearing Greg Mortenson speak at a small community library, and he told his story to us like we were friends and family. It was wonderful!
You must read this book!

Buy it, read it, pass it on, give as a gift.......2007-10-01

For everything else that has already been said about this book. I agree. I also have to add that it is a page-turner. I had a hard time putting it down. I didn't expect that. I expect to be inspired and then, be unable to finish this worthy book. Instead, I was fascinated, enthralled, encouraged and rooting for Greg. I'm not finished the book yet, but I came online to order a copy for a friend. I highly recommend it.

Three cups of tea.......2007-09-30

I rated this book 5 stars. I had no idea who Greg Mortenson was until my
wife recommended his book to me. My only familiarity with Pakinstan and
Afhganistan was what I read about these countries in the news about the
Afghanistan-Iraq wars. I have a totally different concept of the people of these two countries after having read Greg's book. They are peaceful, loving, caring, intelligent people interested in the welfare of their children, whether male or female, and intent on educating them and
preparing them for the rest of their lives. I was so glad I read this book. It really opened my eyes.

If only we all took the step to reach out.......2007-09-30

Magnificient! If only we all took the step to reach out and make this world a better place for each unique human being on this earth. I couldn't put this book down because Greg is actually doing it on an amazingly large scale. If only each child in the world had the opportunity for education.....we can erase if only

A true inspiration.......2007-09-30

Greg Mortenson deserves a Nobel Peace Prize and this book tells the story of a real hero. I could hardly believe one person could be so devoted, brave, lucky, and true! It also tells of the Muslim people as generous human beings - the other side of the terrorists we read about in the papers all of the time. It's also another reminder of how fortunate we are in this country - especially the women

Average customer rating:

The Year of Magical Thinking
Do not read this book for empathy or comfort
Hip Hip.....Hmmmm
A meditation on acceptance of loss
Many meanings, great depth

The Year of Magical Thinking
Joan Didion
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

The History of Love: A Novel
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel
A Million Little Pieces
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
On Beauty

ASIN: 1400078431
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Book Description

From one of America’s iconic writers, a stunning book of electric honesty and passion. Joan Didion explores an intensely personal yet universal experience: a portrait of a marriage--and a life, in good times and bad--that will speak to anyone who has ever loved a husband or wife or child.

Customer Reviews:

The Year of Magical Thinking.......2007-10-01

A well-written book and a good sharing of personal emotions. Sometimes seemed like name-dropping at it's best (or worst) but I suppose if you know all the best people you mention them and their effect on your life.

Do not read this book for empathy or comfort.......2007-09-27

After my mother died this summer, this book was recommended to me. I am not familiar with Joan Didion (and I won't be in my future readings), but this book was horrible. I feel sorry that her daughter suffered, but I didn't care to read about that. I wanted to read about how she felt about the sudden loss of her husband. I was told she was so "real" in her writing. Whoever edited this book liked things unfinished. Very disappointed at the waste of time and money spent on this book.

Hip Hip.....Hmmmm.......2007-09-26

The Year of Magical Thinking was both magical and mundane. As I read Joan Didion's winning but somber prose and understood that this was her first book written without her deceased husband's help, I thought of a comment he made to her "Don't tell me ever again you can't write." (p. 166). Although a voracious reader I had not heard of either Joan or her husband, John Gregory Dunne, before this book. I'd like to read more of her work.

What impacted me was reading and for some reason remembering, for the umpteenth time, a failed relationship I'd had well over a decade before and how it marked me. Somehow, was it the book's theme or the prose of the author?, I realized that the trauma had later led me to a beautiful gift that I never would have had without the breakup. The Year of Magical Thinking freed me from something that had long hurt me. Was this my way Lexington Avenue crossing (p. 225)? Was this my leis left at St. John the Divine (p. 226)? The book helped me see what I'd been blind to for years. As well, chapter 16 was candid and impressive as it dealt with her successful husband's concern that he had "frittered away" his life. It seems that her reconstruction of his final days discovered a feared futility. Finally, in chapter 17 Didion expresses, after relating their life's events, activities and relationships, what she learned from and about grief.

Didion and Dunne, who were married for 40 years, inhabited a world I know little about. They reported from Democratic and Republican political conventions, were successful novelists and screen-play writers, lived in Malibu and New York, ate out as a way of life and would send the laundry out to be done. In their world they would decide on the buying and selling of a home by flying to Hawaii to think about it. Paris on a whim was easily accomplished. I was intrigued when she wrote of his time in Princeton and mentioned that he thought the Nassoons to be absurd (p. 144). Am I supposed to know who they were? Do I as the reader need to look that up? It seems from reading they lived on their terms and left little room for religion or a deep quest for meaning outside of their own lives. I find it sad that she could would so easily dismiss near death experiences and look for omens from falling bird poop, all the while not believing in He who watches the sparrows (p.227), a biblical reference for God. I don't pretend to know her religious/spiritual attitude, but The Year of Magical Thinking, a book on death and grief, does not spare one page for the subject.

There are other Death and Grief books I've read: A Grief Observed, A Severe Mercy, A View from a Hearse, etc. all of which present death via memoir. I am continually buoyed by C.S. Lewis' fictional The Last Battle, which concludes the Narnia series. As Aslan (who represents God) comes to judge all those in Narnia and bring about its demise, many go through the door into Aslan's country. From there it is "Further up and Further In" as friends are reunited and magic begins:

"There was a real railway accident," said Aslan softly. "Your father and mother and all of you are--as you used to call it in the Shadowlands--dead. The term is over: Holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning."

And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One and the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before. (The Last Battle, final page)

Didion's work, while it brought healing to me, could finally only take me to her study of geology for buoyant hope and left eternal darkness for her husband and for her daughter Quintana, who was ill throughout the book and died just months after John Gregory Dunne did.

And there was very little that was magical about that.

A meditation on acceptance of loss.......2007-09-25

I have read many, many, many novels about death, but only this beautiful piece of nonfiction has come close to capturing the glancing, circular path we tread after a crucial person in our life dies... the way we tiptoe around and around, ignoring the central truth, which is that death is the end and no one is coming back. When we finally reach that truth, we really begin to grieve, and as Didion shares in the book, sometimes it takes a year.

For me, it's taken longer. I read this book on a family vacation less than two years after we lost my mother. I would dip into it, then look up at my family around me, wanting so much to read out loud to them. I especially wanted them to hear the part where she feels she has to save a pair of her husband's running shoes because he will need them when he comes back. That made so much sense to me. Maybe I just needed to tell my family that I wasn't the only one plagued by magical thinking, waiting for Mom to pop up and explain that she was back, now, I'm not sure.

But I kept my mouth closed, went back to the book, left them to play cards and plan which wineries to visit and walk their own circular paths towards acceptance of this unacceptable loss. I've passed the book on to every member of the family in the years since.

Many meanings, great depth.......2007-09-17

The book itself was part of the grieving of this brave woman.

She does not flinch from reliving the pain or the agonizingly problematic issues surrounding it. Death, which her child at an early age already sensed as a presence and called the Broken Man, becomes actually the presence of utter absence, where a dividing line between one reality and another seems to have interposed itself like the cut of a knife through Time.

How does one describe the Void? And really, didn't she say it right at the beginning - that words were inadequate to the task she had set herself? Beyond the prose and the meaning that we think we have gleaned from it, we find other meanings, or hints of possible meanings - as if we were looking down into a pool where light seems to be lurking, where it plays with darkness in an unending choreography in multiple layers down into the depths ...

In a prismatic refraction of consciousness, Didion relives her thoughts and actions with an air of clinical detachment that merely intensifies the stark reality of her grieving. She describes her mental state - one of disorientation and distortion - unsparingly. Her subjective consciousness synthesizes past and present in an almost Joycean manner; but here, the past may come alive and leap out dangerously like a wild beast in a nightmare, and the present, like a deep quarry pit of black water, is filled with bottomless pain. In her first year, she manages to function only with great effort, and only by working hard to avoid "memory triggers" that would take her back, suck her into the vortex, as she calls it.

The book ventures far beyond her personal grief, in an allusive manner that can only be called poetic. Using the dry medical terminology of doctors and their reports almost as a foil, Didion brings us face to face with the imponderables. "Life changes in the instant." And after that instant, the minutiae of one's life are seen, in hindsight, to have had mysterious significance. Time itself, its eternal aspect, is a character in this book, as are all the ultimate metaphysical questions of life's meaning or lack thereof.

It is a book that will repay rereading. But it hurts, and it leaves many questions unanswered. It is not an easy book.

Undeniably, though, it is moving, and it is deep. Deep like the movements of the earth far below the surface, deep like the ocean that brings in the tide ... A work of love, of sorrow, of pain and very human yearning. The last paragraph says it all.

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