Baby's Day Out in Southern California: Fun Places to Go With Babies and Toddlers
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Great for any age.
  • Not your typical guide
  • Great resource for any location
  • Southern California tour guide especially geared towards par
  • A Survival book for the S. Cal. Parent
Baby's Day Out in Southern California: Fun Places to Go With Babies and Toddlers
JoBea Holt
Manufacturer: Gem Guides Book Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Babies & Toddlers | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
PacificPacific | West | Regions | United States | Travel | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1889786365

Book Description

Revised second edition of this popular travel and adventure guide for exploring, learning, and having fun with babies and toddlers in Southern California. More than a travel guide, Baby's Day Out is an educational activity book filled with creative ideas to introduce babies and toddlers to a world of new experiences, sights and sounds. More than 200 appropriate places to take babies and toddlers are featured with complete information, directions, hours, accommodations and "Good Things to See and Hear." Line art "Picture Guides" of objects, plants and living creatures toddlers may encounter are great learning aids. Websites, suggested reading and fun neighborhood activities are suggested as well. Whether the destination is a well-known museum, garden or zoo or an offbeat activity such as the schoolbus yard or a racetrack to picnic and see the horses' morning workout, each new experience is designed to enhance a child's later ability to learn and reason, while creating fun adventures for parents and child to experience together. For parents, grandparents, caregivers, and day care or nursery school teachers. And, it makes a great baby shower gift!

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Great for any age........2006-04-30

This book is filled with fun things to do at any age and for anyone who has some time to spend in the L.A. area. We visit there often and sometimes we are looking for more to do than just the big theme parks. There are so many things that I wouldn't have known about, much less how and where to find them. A treasure for anyone, local or tourist.

5 out of 5 stars Not your typical guide.......2005-03-04

Baby's Day Out in Southern California provides a wide range of age-appropriate excursions. Crammed to the bursting point with places to go, things to see and do, special events, ideas for activities and related reading, this excellent book is one of the most innovative, detailed and practical guides around.

Although the contents are arranged by type of place (i.e., museums, aquariums, farms and ponies, flying), it also offers site maps, making it easy to plan a day around a particular location or a specific interest. Listings include physical and Web addresses, phone numbers, directions, what to see and do, hours, parking, admission and membership information, related locations, nearby places and blank space for your own comments. Additional sections contain events by the month, packing lists and road games.

Its most valuable feature is its ability to look at potential places from a child's perspective. Among the 224 sites listed in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego and Santa Barbara/Ventura counties are fire stations, school bus yards, museums, libraries, gardens and nature centers, truck stops, farms, theaters and convention centers.

This is one of the best travel reference guides you could acquire if you have young children.

5 out of 5 stars Great resource for any location.......2004-05-04

I grew up in the San Fernando Valley and never knew about 90% of the places suggested in this book! In addition to the usual spots (Disneyland, parks, etc), the book suggests creative places like the schoolbus depot and construction sites (from a safe distance, of course!). "Baby's Day Out" really made me look at the world through my babies' eyes, where everything is a new and fascinating experience. For example, when I drive on the highway now, I point out the trucks passing by to my kids and they love watching the different sizes and colors. Before this book, I never would have thought about trucks on the highway as a field trip experience. This book is also very practical, providing all the necessary information, including Thomas Guide map pages, hours, prices, parking, everything! As an added bonus for me, Holt even tells me when they're enough room for my double stroller (with twin 18-month old boys, that is a big plus for me). I live in New Jersey now and bought this book while on vacation in Los Angeles. I wish they would write a book like this for us folks in the east coast.

5 out of 5 stars Southern California tour guide especially geared towards par.......2003-09-30

Finally there is a Southern California tour guide especially geared towards parents of babies and toddlers. Your children learn best through first hand experiences and Baby's Day Out is chock full of great places for the young (and not so young) to experience the things they love like animals, trains, parks, aquariums, tide pools, hands-on museums and more. My 10 year old and 61/2 year old twins still love to visit many of the places listed in JoBea Way's comprehensive guide. They also have a list of many new places for us to visit as well.

The book is broken down into eleven chapters covering major areas of interest for young children: Museums, Our City, Gardens and Nature, The Zoo, Aquariums, Trains and more. There are over 224 separate sites reviewed. Locations covered include the expected Los Angeles and San Diego Zoos as well as many less well known places like the Goodyear Blimp Airfield, Tierra Rejada Farm and Pasadena Unified School Bus Lot.

The book includes many helpful tips for making outings more enjoyable and each review contains a concise description, directions with Thomas Guide page references, and cross references to both similar sites and nearby attractions. Easy to spot icons let parents know if the locations can accommodate single and or double wide strollers (most do), and whether gift shops, snack shops or picnic areas are available so parents can plan accordingly. I love the lists of children's books on topic related to each entry and the special pages with simple graphics of animals or things that go, etc. These pages are designed for young children's use before, during or after their visits. For example, the first picture pages are of cars and trucks children might see on the way to their visit.

The final chapter includes a month-by-month "Things to Look For" section featuring holiday, special events and seasonal changes to watch for geared to Southern California. There are comprehensive listings of Fourth of July displays, Holiday lights, Farmer's Markets and more. These lists alone are a great resource whether you have young children or not.

The number and variety of places listed is truly impressive. Our family has been enjoying working our way through the book and finding many new favorites. I plan to give this book as a shower gift to all my pregnant friends and think the book is a great resource for parents of school age children and teachers also.

5 out of 5 stars A Survival book for the S. Cal. Parent.......2003-07-31

Whether you are from S. Cal or just visiting, this is the book for anyone wanting to have an enjoyable day with their children in Southern California. It is filled with ideas and facts about more than just the usual L.A. attractions. And it is geared toward the parent with young children and what is fun and appropriate for them. After I used it once, I don't go anywhere without this book. I just leave it in the car. You'll never be at a loss for places to go and the best way to see them. It is obvious that Dr. Holt did her research and has been to all of these places firsthand. There are no blind recommendations and her ideas for fun and free adventures really inspired me to get out there and explore with my children. Buy this book and you are on the road to years of hassle free outings with your kids.
Number Our Days: Culture and Community Among Elderly Jews in an American Ghetto
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Great, informative and funny book!
  • Stilted and Plodding
  • Stilted and Plodding
  • Excellent book to read.
  • wonderful
Number Our Days: Culture and Community Among Elderly Jews in an American Ghetto
Barbara Myerhoff
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Jewish | World | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0452011221

Book Description

When noted anthropologist Barbara Myerhoff received a grant to explore the process of aging, she decided to study some elderly Jews from Venice, California, rather than to report on a more exotic people. The story of the rituals and lives of these remarkable old people is, as Bel Kaufman said, "one of those rare books that leave the reader somehow changed."

Here Dr. Myerhoff records the stories of a culture that seems to give people the strength to face enormous daily problems -- poverty, neglect, loneliness, poor health, inadequate housing and physical danger. The tale is a poignant one, funny and often wise, with implications for all of us about the importance of ritual, the agonies of aging, and the indomitable human spirit.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Great, informative and funny book!.......2003-06-09

This book is an excellent study of the Jewish elderly living in Venice. I had to read it for an anthropology class at UCLA, and, considering it is an ethnography (which are usually dull and straight-forward) it is a really great book! Barbara Myerhoff makes her book extremely interesting to read, especially because of the comical episodes that happen within the context. Her book not only provides a study of the elderly, but also what it means to be a Jew who has survivor's guilt (from the holocaust). The book shows how the elderly are neglected, outcast members of society. A lot of mainstream media is focused towards our youth. Almost all of us will experience old age, and this book addresses that issue. I highly recommend this book, and to see the short film (which won an oscar).

2 out of 5 stars Stilted and Plodding.......2003-04-21

I love to read, but I doubt that this is the kind of book I would have ever read on my own free will. For each little point the author inexplicably feels compelled to ramble for 5 pages. Existing existentials? Symbolic cultural polarities? What the heck is that supposed to mean? Get to the point dude. The text should have been at most, a third its actual length...Indeed the setting is glum, Schmuel is OK but most of the others are portrayed as relentlessly vicious and petty. Not the kind of people you would want to hang around with or get to know for that matter. But none of this matters if the book is at least, overall, interesting and achieves its goals. I am sorry to say that it neither manages to be the former (except for rare instances)or accomplish the latter. Unless its goal is to leave the reader with a vaguely depressing emptiness. What a shame. I have heard that the Prof. Myerhoff, may she RIP, was a dedicated and talented teacher, who while unable to write well in all her books at least had her heart in the right place. Perhaps I would find her other works more enjoyable and would have seen greater titles had she not passed away so quickly.

Anyways I harbor no bad feelings against her. No, the real fault lies with my ... professor, who along with legions of his ... colleagues across the nation, torture countless students with overblown and hyperverbose books and lectures. Take my advice. AVOID THESE CLASSES AT ALL COSTS!

2 out of 5 stars Stilted and Plodding.......2003-04-21

I love to read, but I doubt that this is the kind of book I would have ever read on my own free will. For each little point the author inexplicably feels compelled to ramble for 5 pages. Existing existentials? Symbolic cultural polarities? What the heck is that supposed to mean? Get to the point dude. The text should have been at most, a third its actual length...Indeed the setting is glum, Schmuel is OK but most of the others are portrayed as relentlessly vicious and petty. Not the kind of people you would want to hang around with or get to know for that matter. But none of this matters if the book is at least, overall, interesting and achieves its goals. I am sorry to say that it neither manages to be the former (except for rare instances)or accomplish the latter. Unless its goal is to leave the reader with a vaguely depressing emptiness. What a shame. I have heard that the Prof. Myerhoff, may she RIP, was a dedicated and talented teacher, who while unable to write well in all her books at least had her heart in the right place. Perhaps I would find her other works more enjoyable and would have seen greater titles had she not passed away so quickly.

Anyways I harbor no bad feelings against her. No, the real fault lies with my idiot professor, who along with legions of his moronic colleagues across the nation, torture countless students with overblown and hyperverbose books and lectures. Take my advice. AVOID THESE CLASSES AT ALL COSTS!

5 out of 5 stars Excellent book to read........2002-06-11

I was required to read this book for an Anthropology class I took at Temple University and this was a great book. The Professor even went as far as locating the video through our video library for the class to view and it was interesting as well. This book was great! I would recommend it for reading even if you don't have to read it for a class!

Loved It!

5 out of 5 stars wonderful.......2000-09-27

I read this book a while ago and reread it every few years. It is wonderful and moving, unsparing but kind. I often buy it for friends.
My So-Called Digital Life: 2,000 Teenagers, 300 Cameras, and 30 Days to Document Their World
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • I recommend this book
  • How insightful!
My So-Called Digital Life: 2,000 Teenagers, 300 Cameras, and 30 Days to Document Their World
Bob Pletka
Manufacturer: Santa Monica Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1595800050

Book Description

The result of a unique project organized by a school administrator, this photo essay captures the daily lives of a large group of California high school students. Two thousand students from across the state were given digital cameras and a time limit of one month to document, in pictures and words, their day-to-day experiences. As a part of the event, some students were bussed to schools in different parts of the state, including inner cities or rural or suburban areas. All of the students were able to communicate with each other over the Internet, sharing text, audio, photos, and video. Professional photographers, teachers, historians, and community leaders accompanied and advised the students, but the images, thoughts, fears, and hopes are theirs alone. This complex project tracks the students as they take on issues of identity, education, alienation, safety, technology, family, work, and friendship.

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5 out of 5 stars I recommend this book.......2006-04-05

This book is likable for several different reasons....It provides a social anthropology of children and teens and allows readers to peer into the lives of diverse teens. Some quotes are eye opening and others are confirming of my perceptions of teens. The photos selected are very good and stand on their own merit. I like how this book is written and photographed by teens, so it's not like those dense theses by ivory tower scholars writing about what they think teens arelike.

5 out of 5 stars How insightful!.......2005-10-28

I never realized how much life has changed for teens....this is a must read for anyone on marketing to teens.
A Night On the Ground A Day in the Open
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • A beautiful book
A Night On the Ground A Day in the Open
Doug Robinson
Manufacturer: Mountain N\' Air Books-Author
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1879415143
Release Date: 2004-05-03

Book Description

"Doug Robinson is John Muir meets Jack Kerouac, a nineteenth century mountain man on a 21st century journey. A seeker and a visionary... he is that rare treasure: a mountain man who can write, and writes like a poet. His writing is filled with passion, pain and profound insight." - William Broyles Jr. author of the screen play for Apollo 13

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A beautiful book.......2006-11-08

This set of articles, originally written for magazines and catlalogues, is one of the most eloquent collections of mountain writing I've yet come upon. The book is divided up into chapters such as 'Climbing with Style', which features articles about "the whole art of natural protection" written at the the start of the clean climbing revolution, and 'Further Aborad' which includes the authors account of a climb on Ama Dablam.

One of the features I most enoyed about the book was the introductions to various historical figures such as Smoke Blanchard and Royal Robbins. And the memoir style accounts of what it was like for a small band of climbers to live in the mountains away from civilization getting their kicks out of the "simple joys" and living in bare subsistence, long before climbing turned into the popular sport which it might be called today.

Doug Robinson is well qualified to write what he does, and his style is nice and clear without being base. Most of it is written in an autobiographical style, dealing with developments on the climbing and skiing scene for wenty odd years. If you are partial to a bit of Dharma Bums then get this book. Also anyone interested in the history of the Sierra Nevada.
Memory and Imagination: The Legacy of Maidu Indian Artist Frank Day
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Memory and Imagination: The Legacy of Maidu Indian Artist Frank Day
    Rebecca J. Dobkins , Carey T. Caldwell , Frank Day , and Frank R. Lapena
    Manufacturer: University of Washington Press
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    In Pursuit of a Legend: 72 Days in California Bigfoot Country
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • In Californian Bigfoot country without leaving your house
    • Great read, not the typical bigfoot book.
    • A very enjoyable read.
    • An entertaining travelogue centered around this great mystery
    • I would recommend book though it is more about camping
    In Pursuit of a Legend: 72 Days in California Bigfoot Country
    T., A. Wilson
    Manufacturer: Iceni Books
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    Book Description

    Backpacking into the heart of California Bigfoot Country, a wildland firefighter and a struggling writer seek evidence of the legendary Bigfoot. They hope to solve the mystery-for themselves if for no one else. An early track find of 21-inch footprints offers as much intrigue as it does doubt. Are they even prepared to believe in the creature that may have left the tracks? And what to make of grunts late into the night and rocks being smashed together? This is their true story unlike any other. It is a side of nature-and mankind-unknown to all but a very few.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars In Californian Bigfoot country without leaving your house.......2006-05-11

    I felt like I was hiking with the author in the CA wilderness, it was great. This book is detailed and thoughtful and told by a conservationist and wildlife lover who is truly concerned about the environment and what man has shamefully done to it in a very short period of time. One review said this book was about camping as much as anything else which is partly true but it wasn't boring by any means and doesn't get into beginner lessons on how to start a fire etc.(in fact TA Wilson doesn't use fire in the wild). The only thing I didn't like was the use of fictitious names for places because I like to envision where I am as a reader and even pinpoint it on the map sometimes, but I understand why he did it. He loves the land and doesn't want people tramping all over it because of his book. I don't want to give anything away, I just want to say that it was a pleasure to read and I really hope that it is completely true because I want to believe it very much. I hope Wilson does a sequel or even a series of books on Bigfoot because this one was exhilarating to read and takes you to a place out under the stars that is a mystery to most of us 9 to 5 couch surfers.

    5 out of 5 stars Great read, not the typical bigfoot book........2006-02-23

    I had my doubts when buying this book, I really enjoy the sightings type of bigfoot book but this was a pleasant surprise. The day to day description of the author's trips into the wilderness make for very interesting reading! Although he does not use the real names for any locations (to protect them) you still get a good feel for the forest's of California. The story kept me interested up to and including the end with many harrowing moments. I will not give anything away but just take my word for it, if you are interested in the bigfoot/sasquatch phoenomena, this would make an excellent addition to your collection.

    4 out of 5 stars A very enjoyable read........2006-01-13

    I didn't really know what to expect when I picked this book up and started reading, which may have been good since I didn't go in with any preconceived notions.

    I found the book to be thoroughly enjoying, and thought Mr. Wilson did a wonderful job of taking the reader into the far reaches of the wilds in search of sasquatch, allowing one to journey far into the California wilds without leaving the comforts of home.

    His encounters with what could possibly be a North American Primate are few and far-between and since this is a non-fiction book, that should be expected. I have spent countless hours in the Oregon wilderness and have never seen one, so I would have been highly suspicious if Mr. Wilson's experiences with the creature were more than what was described in the book.

    While I enjoyed the feeling created by the writer, that I was with TA and JT, hiking vicariously through the Sierra right alongside them, I did have trouble with TA referring to his failures as a writer a little too often. Sometimes it was needed to describe his frame of mind, but at others it detracted from the adventure a bit.

    I also know by travelling through Oregon's wilderness areas that man can be a destructive force on the landscape. However, I also feel that many more outdoorsmen and women have a great respect for nature than Wilson realizes, and that his contempt for many things human was somewhat misplaced. Many of us have found ourselves in the situation of having to pick up trash in the wilderness left by careless others, but we've also seen other conscientious people doing the exact same thing. At times it seemed like Mr. Wilson felt that he and JT were the only ones with the right to journey into these areas.

    Overall though, a good read and one I'd read again sometime.

    5 out of 5 stars An entertaining travelogue centered around this great mystery.......2005-11-06

    This is a really excellent book, a great read for a cold fall evening. First-time author Wilson weaves a story of a 72-day jaunt into the backwoods of the California Sierra Mountains and points further north. He and his friend, a firefighter named JT, encounter a strange set of tracks, 21 inches long, that do not appear to be of bears. After JT leaves to fight a raging forest fire, Wilson has several strange encounters on the trail alone, including a strange call in the middle of the night, a dung sample he cannot identify, some strange happenings on the trail and a possible sighting of his own. Wilson's style of writing is comfortable and easy to read, and the book really takes us deep into the territory he is exploring. We can almost picture the trails he takes into the mountains of the High Sierras and the other points he explores. This book is highly recommended even for those who are non-believers. It can be ordered through amazon.com

    3 out of 5 stars I would recommend book though it is more about camping.......2005-10-21

    The author makes his personal problems and opinions of paramount importance in his book. He seems to hate human beings, horses (or atleast their riders), campfires, and publishers. He does have a realistic view of bigfoot, in my opinion, and his adventures are somewhat drawn out but interesting. He provides abundant details into his personal life which is unusual so his honesty is somewhat refreshing and interesting.
    A Day in the Life of California
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • Another good book in the series
    A Day in the Life of California

    Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

    GeneralGeneral | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Another good book in the series.......2006-04-09

    I purchased this one after reading a day in the life of america, again loved the photopraphy and adjoining stories.
    Blue Days, Black Nights: A Memoir
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    Blue Days, Black Nights: A Memoir
    Ron Nyswaner
    Manufacturer: Advocate Books
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    "A brilliant and inspirational vision of love, death and spiritual redemption in 20th Century America. Ron Nyswaner's account of his struggle with real life demons great and small is gripping, harrowing and sometimes shockingly intimate. It is heartbreaking and yes-it is also very, very funny indeed. It delivers an emotional intensity that fiction, by comparison, can only hope to achieve."-Jonathan Demme

    "Ron Nyswaner's courageous and exquisitely written memoir speaks to us all on the mysteries of whom we love and why. The book reminds me most of Somerset Maugham's classic, Of Human Bondage-for true passion has an involuntary nature, so well depicted here. Ron Nyswaner is a poet of the secret self, and his first book marks a stellar debut."-Laura Shaine Cunningham, author of Sleeping Arrangements, Beautiful Bodies, A Place In the Country, and Dreams of Rescue

    A wrong turn down a one-way street in the shadow of the Sunset Strip's Chateau Marmont leads Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia, Soldier's Girl) on a journey that will nearly drown him in the intoxicating, impulsive, maddening, tragic, and transformative nature of love. Despite the success of his latest film, Ron has been fighting depression and contemplating self-destruction. "I don't want a mediocre, empty life," he tells his psychiatrist-acupuncturist-herbalist after halfheartedly attempting to hang himself with a belt. Then, on a trip from his home in upstate New York to Los Angeles, Ron meets and falls for world-weary Johann, a Latin-quoting, leather-clad hustler with a vague, European accent. In the next year Johann will teach him many things: how to make a crack pipe out of a soda can, how to come down from a crystal meth binge, how to walk down a city street as if he owns it, how to beg for "more" in Hungarian, and how to lose oneself utterly in reckless passion. If he can survive it, loving Johann might be Ron's salvation.

    Ron Nyswaner wrote the screenplays for Mrs. Soffel, Swing Shift, Philadelphia, (for which he received an Academy Award nomination,) and Soldier's Girl. He lives in Woodstock, N.Y.

    Customer Reviews:

    3 out of 5 stars One can't blame James Frey for making stuff up..........2006-02-05

    ...because addiction is basically boring to all but the addict, and all addictions are pretty much the same. So are all hustlers, at least when they're hustling. Which doesn't leave Ron Nyswaner much to work with. So we get the FEELINGS OF INADEQUACY!!! (The guy's an Oscar nominee; excuse me if I don't weep too much for him.) And the LONELINESS!!! And the SELF-MUTILATION!!! And the SHADY CHARACTERS!!! and the BOASTING DISGUISED AS CONFESSING!!! (He didn't just insult his agent's top client while under the influence; we must know that it was BETTE MIDLER, and that LIBERACE was there, too.) And all of it smothered with SELF-IMPORTANCE like so much schlag. Meanwhile, Johann, the hustler, remains such a caricature of macho detachment that we have a hard time feeling for him, or believing that Nyswaner feels for him -- especially as, until it's too late, Nyswaner misses that the kid is an addict who could use some real, here-and-now help from an older, well-to-do, well-connected American. (Johann is an undocumented immigrant; Nyswaner seems not to want to know any of the difficulties attendant on this.) In the end, the greatest amount of caring and savvy that Nyswaner shows is in planning Johann's funeral. But, having discharged my impatience with the same old self-centered story, I must say that Nyswaner writes extremely well, with a screenwriter's gift for keeping things clear and keeping things moving. One is certainly caught up, but one is also disappointed with the shallow interactions and the self-dramatizing leading to no great revelations. No wonder James Frey decided to spice up his memoir. On the evidence of "Blue Days, Black Nights," I would pretty much say one has to.

    4 out of 5 stars well written & tender.......2006-01-03

    it's too bad that this book has gone largely unnoticed, as I am the first person to write a review in 3 months, while a book like A Million Little Pieces (a lie fron page 1 onward) flies off the shelves.
    Nyswaner is a talented writer, and I look forward to his future work. Although my experiences with addiction do not mirror the authors, I did relate alot to his insecurities, and certain othger things. He could have elaborated on somethings, but in all, it was a worthwhile, entertaining, and thought provoking read.--just what a book is suppossed to do.

    5 out of 5 stars A tribute to a troubled man.......2005-10-13

    Nyswaner's memoir purports to be the tale of his depressed (blue) days, from which he seeks escape with alcohol and drugs, culminating in rock-bottom blackout (black) nights. It's an intriguing hook because Nyswaner has been highly successful as the screenwriter for Philadelpia and other award-winning movies, so of course we'd love to read about his rock-bottom days, right? The book isn't really about Nyswaner's self-destruction, though--it is a tribute to the teetotaling larger-than-life male prostitute who comes into Nyswaner's life for less than a year. This book is the tale of Nyswaner's friendship with a man he pays for sex, sex which he can only have when he is strung out on drugs. The book's prologue opens with the hustler's death, so from the minute we enter Nyswaner's life, we know their time is limited.

    As a reader, I was touched by Nyswaner's addiction, his search for himself, his continual attempts to find happiness through chemicals, and his devotion to the hustler Johann. There's a beautiful story in here, even if Nyswaner's relationship with Johann was mostly one-sided. Highly recommended.

    5 out of 5 stars One man's searching and fearless moral inventory of himself.......2005-03-25

    These memoirs by a talented screenwriter sometimes read like an implausible and unsellable film script. Nyswaner is so honest about his personal tragedies, disappointments, and shortcomings, it is hard to believe this self-awareness was so hard-won. He has the humble wisdom of someone who has managed to find grace in some of life's most graceless circumstances. His success as a film writer is back-story. How he as a small-town boy from a working class western Pennsylvania family achieved this success is not really explained. This is really the story of his descent into a personal hell of alcoholism, drug addiction, depression, self-loathing, and suicidal despair...and of his eventual recovery. If his recovery is not exactly phoenix-like, it will strike readers who have been through similar experiences as authentic. Nyswaner is, after all, an accomplished writer. He is no sloganeer or New Age spiritual salesman. His story ends not with blissful optimism, but on a note of cautious but grounded hope.

    At the heart of his life's story is his journey toward love. And key to what he learns about this powerful human experience is his relationship with a prostitute he knew as Johann. BLUE DAYS, BLACK NIGHTS begins with Nyswaner's account of Johann's funeral, so it is not "spoiling the plot" to say Johann dies tragically and prematurely and that his death is a pivotal moment in Nyswaner's journey. Nyswaner does not glamorize or vilify Johann's life as a prostitute, nor does he describe it in patronizing terms. It may be hard for some readers to believe that what Nyswaner felt for Johann could accurately be described as love. And it's clear that Nyswaner himself shares in such incredulousness. The biggest question Nyswaner seems to ask (and I believe successfully answers) is, Can love exist in relationships that are not completely honest? Nyswaner seems to be saying that imperfect love perfectly accessed opens a person's heart to deeper and more authentic levels of love. It is through facing the death and loss of Johann that Nyswaner is able to find the love he needs to care for his aging and dying parents and rebuild his damaged life.

    All this is to say, BLUE DAYS, BLACK NIGHTS has much to teach not just people who've been damaged by drugs and sex addiction, but also anyone who has ever failed to be completely honest with himself. It's a profoundly moving story, one I'm sure I'll read again and continue to learn from.

    3 out of 5 stars Oddly Detached and Devoid of Emotion.......2005-02-25

    Ron Nyswaner does a great job with imagery in his autobiography -you can almost see the sunset on a crisp Fall day in Upstate New York or feel the chill of Hungary. Unfortunately, this attention to detail does not always translate to his life experiences. After perfunctory descriptions of the seedy world of male prostitutes and West Hollywood Drug Dealers, Mr. Nyswaner continues to be victimized by Johann (real name Tomas) and sinks into a world of indulgent self-pity. Mr. Nyswaner mentions being "tortured" by failing to sell a screenplay but he is so high on methamphetamine most of the time that I'm surprised he could sit still and write. We also get nary a detail of Mr. Nyswaner's recovery. But I do give him points for his honesty and guts in writing freely about his life as a gay man. It's too bad that even after reading this book, I know next to nothing about this man.
    A Day With a Chumash (Day With)
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      A Day With a Chumash (Day With)
      Georgia Lee
      Manufacturer: Runestone Press
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Library Binding

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      ASIN: 0822519186
      Adobe Days
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        Adobe Days
        Sarah Bixby Smith
        Manufacturer: University of Nebraska Press
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback

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        CaliforniaCalifornia | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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        ASIN: 0803291787

        Book Description

        In this rollicking reminiscence Sarah Bixby Smith tells of Los Angeles when it was “a little frontier town” and “Bunker Hill Avenue was the end of the settlement, a row of scattered houses along the ridge.” She came there in 1878 at the age of seven from the San Justo Rancho in Monterey County. Sarah recalls daily life in town and at San Justo and neighboring ranches in the bygone era of the adobes. Exerting a strong pull on her imagination, as it will on the reader’s, is the story of how her family drove sheep and cattle from Illinois to the Pacific Coast in the 1850s. The daughter of a pioneering woolgrower, Sarah Bixby Smith became a leading citizen of California.

        In her foreword to the Bison Book edition, Gloria Ricci Lothrop discusses, among other things, the value of Adobe Days in helping to fill in the "silent history" of women and children in the Old West.

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