Lights, Camera, Sex!
by Christy Canyon
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (March, 2003)
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Reviews (23)

Porn is for Losers.
I CAN NOT TELL YOU HOW MANY LIVES HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY THE PORN MOVIE INDUSTRY.HOW MANY HAVE DIED FROM AIDS OR DRUG OVERDOSES JUST BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT TAKE IT IT ANYMORE, UNDRESSING IN FRONT OF AFILM CREW AND DOING SEX ACTS.HOW THEY NEEDED THE MONEY TO LIVE BECAUSE THEIR OWN HOME LIFE WAS SO BAD THAT THEY RAN AWAY AND COULD NOT FIND A JOB. HOW THEY LOST THEIR HOPES AND DREAMS ONLY TO STRUGGLE IN A BUSINESS FOR SO LONG AND THEN END IT ALL BECAUSE IT JUST WAS NOT WORTH IT.IF THIS WOMAN WHO WROTE THIS BOOK IS WISE, SHE WILL GET OUT OF THIS WHILE SHE CAN, BECAUSE THE PORN MOVIE INDUSTRY ONLY DESTROYS LIVES.

Great
Dear Christy,

I LOVE your book. The way you look at yourself in a non-victim-way, the combining of childhood memories with backstage-images of now and then: great. I know most of the characters you are writing about and always wished to take a look behind the scene. And I guess, no one could have told this better than you do.
So: thanx.

Robert

Personal, and personally done, by the author
This wonderful book relates, in Christy's own words, the early years of her career.They are her own words, they are not edited, and dramatized by an editor that would take the feeling and tone away.

Using experiences from her childhood we can get the idea of things from her childhood that effected her career and how she got into the adult entertainment industry.

Told in her own words and edited by her own hands, this is an up close and personal account of her career.

Very few other tell-all authors have done likewise.

... Read more

Isbn: 0972747001
Sales Rank: 5932

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs : A Low Culture Manifesto
by Chuck Klosterman
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (26 August, 2003)
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Editorial Review

There's quite a bit of intelligent analysis and thought-provoking insight packed into the pages of Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, which is a little surprising considering how darn stupid most of Klosterman's subject matter actually is. Klosterman, one of the few members of the so-called "Generation X" to proudly embrace that label and the stereotypical image of disaffected slackers that often accompanies it, takes the reader on a witty and highly entertaining tour through portions of pop culture not usually subjected to analysis and presents his thoughts on Saved by the Bell, Billy Joel, amateur porn, MTV's The Real World, and much more. It would be easy in dealing with such subject matter to simply pile on some undergraduate level deconstruction, make a few jokes, and have yourself a clever little book. But Klosterman goes deeper than that, often employing his own life spent as a member of the lowbrow target demographic to measure the cultural impact of his subjects. While the book never quite lives up to the use of the word "manifesto" in the title (it's really more of a survey mixed with elements of memoir), there is much here to entertain and illuminate, particularly passages on the psychoses and motivations of breakfast cereal mascots, the difference between Celtic fans and Laker fans, and The Empire Strikes Back. Sections on a Guns n' Roses tribute band, The Sims, and soccer feel more like magazine pieces included to fill space than part of a cohesive whole. But when you're talking about a book based on a section of cultural history so reliant on a lack of attention span, even the incongruities feel somehow appropriate. --John Moe ... Read more

Reviews (50)

Sexand more
The book reads quickly and well, as you're drawn into finding his jaded and barbed opinions on all these cultural icons. It'll go quick, and give you a new lens to view what's popular around us.

Klostermansprinkled through the book are some very insightful and brillant comments and insights about the human experience.


And also About Sex I love this such a good book: "Sex and the perfect lover" by Mabel Iam

Best Book Ever
I read this book on a plane flight home from Philadelphia. It is perhaps the "best book ever written". I put this in quotes because for the most part that is a vast overstatement and cliche platitude which a person could easily use to describe this book. The only difference is, I mean it!!!

There were moments where I cried laughing and I think the woman next to me (who was watching Shrek II on her portable DVD player) may have thought I was a lunatic.

I can't wait to read the new book which, by the way, you can buy here at Amazon.com.

P.S. Chuck, if you are reading this... come to LA and I will buy you a beer.

Great!
Chuck Klosterman writes with the world weary hum of David Rakoff (...) and the irreverence of David Sedaris (Naked). The result is enjoyable and carries an added tone reminiscent of novelists Rikki Lee Travolta (My Fractured Life) and Nick Hornby (High Fidelity). ... Read more

Isbn: 0743236009
Subjects:  1. 1970-    2. Civilization    3. Culture    4. Pop Arts / Pop Culture    5. Popular Culture - General    6. Popular culture    7. Social Science    8. Sociology    9. United States    10. Humor / General   

My Fractured Life
by Rikki Lee Travolta
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (15 October, 2002)
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Reviews (14)

Full Of Suprises Like "Memento"
"My Fractured Life" by Rikki Lee Travolta is an awe inspiring literary experience to put it lightly.There is a gritty authenticity that resonates from the way the stories are voiced.They are far more than just words on a page.The most awe-inspiring thing is the full circle surprises.Over and over Travolta lulls us into thinking he is wandering away from loose ends, then he comes back to them with a flourish for shocking revelations. The chapter "Nailing Neve Campbell" was exactly like that.My jaw dropped when I read the revelations.This is a book that you have to read cover to cover and it does draw you right in right away.I read the book in just a few nights.I'm reading it a second time and am already discovering things I overlooked the first time.I have to compare it to "The Usual Suspects" and "Memento".

Of Heroes and Demons
A touching story about a wounded soul in a world of
deception and false beauty.Uniquely original.A
human adventure with the intensity of THE DA VINCI
CODE, LOVELY BONES, and FATHER JOE. A story all will
enjoy.

Coming of Age
Creating a manic episode on alive on paper, author Rikki Lee Travolta proves himself an ingenious fountain of creativity in his coming of age novel My Fractured Life.Equally riddled with lusty dramatic angst and cavalier sarcastic humor, the book is sweetly intoxicating with cult classic bravado and bestseller panache.Providing a safe harbor for the forgotten wit and stylistic flourishes of merry prankster Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and the self-poisoning tongue of mournful sad prince John Steinbeck (East of Eden), Travolta brings the understated minimalist grandeur of internalized euphoria, fear, humor, rage, and pleasure into a modern world.His voice is comfortingly familiar and erotically original within the same evocations. The author introduces us to the friendship of two contrasting young people desperate to find acceptance in the unforgiving world of fashion and Hollywood glamour.In sad irony we are coaxed to care for one of the two, only to witness their tragic, self-inflicted demise.The true story then unravels, the story of a good person as told through the eyes of the friend who failed to save them. My Fractured Life is to literature what Jim Morrison was to music.Travolta ranks in the same elite as contemporaries John Grisham (Bleachers), Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club), Dean Koontz (Intensity). Janet Fitch (White Oleander), the late John Kennedy Toole (A Confederacy of Dunces), and Dan Brown (Da Vinci Code). ... Read more

Isbn: 0741412675
Sales Rank: 11343
Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. General    5. Alcohol use    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Celebrities    8. Drug abuse    9. Drug addiction & substance abuse    10. Entertainment & Performing Arts    11. Hollywood   

Traci Lords: Underneath It All
by Traci Lords
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (08 July, 2003)
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Editorial Review

Nora Kuzma was a troubled teenager from Steubenville, Ohio; Traci Lords was the underage skin mag/porn queen who became the centerpiece of the adult video industry's greatest scandal. In reality, they were one and the same, the subject of this slick, if thin autobiography. But what's striking here is not the familiar storyline--confused, sexually abused teen falls in with drugs and the wrong Southern California crowd, forges fake IDs to become Penthouse Pet of the Month at 16 and the '80s hottest adult star, then arrested as focus of the Reagan administration's crackdown on porn, only to become reborn as cleaned-up, psychoanalyzed/rehabed purveyor of legitimate film, TV, and music career. Rather, what's striking is Lords's capacity for denial, compartmentalization, and myopia when it serves her ends.

Her scandalous tenure in the skin trade--undeniably the sole basis for her infamy and subsequent legitimate career--is glossed over here in a few score pages, with more attention paid to the heavy-metal musicians that dotted her life than the motivations and machinations of the Feds who literally changed her life; Slash's snake gets more ink here than Attorney General Ed Meese. Quick to ladle generous sympathy on her own plight, she heaps little but scorn upon those from the seedy past of her porn-star alter-ego, yet seems to have had few qualms about formally adopting that moniker as her legal name. --Jerry McCulley ... Read more

Reviews (60)

The Issues Of Abuse
Prior to reading "UNDERNEATH IT ALL" by Traci Lords, I had read "NIGHTMARES ECHO" by Katlyn Stewart. In NE the author explains the reasons that some women of abuse (and in some cases men) turn to prostitution, stripping etc. They believe their bodies are soiled and find their own inner self worth is void. Traci Lords explains it further in this book, making you understand the inner workings of a child of abuse and how they look at themselves.
I rate both of the above books highly. I also want to say that I find it very courageous of traci Lords to write a tell all book to help others.

Don't Take This Chick Home To Meet Your Mother!!!
At an age when most 16 year old girls are dreaming about their first kiss Traci Lords was performing in XXX Rated Adult Movies.She takes no responsiblity for her actions and blames her troubled childhood for what she became . Sadly and tragically there are many girls who are sexually abused at a young age yet few of them go into the porn industry. From reading this book it appears that Ms. Lords wants it both ways(no pun intended) She displays a contempt for the porn industry yet one gets the impression that she enjoyed all of the attention, fame and money that came with it.And just like any other "has been" sex symbolshe writes a book about her life. This is one ex porn Queen who should seriously consider changing her name (for the second time!!!) and getting her hair dyed black so nobody will recognize her as the starlet in the XXX rated movies they used to drool over.

Don'tBlame Me
It seems so funny that everything bad in her life was always
somebody else's fault.She takes responsibility for nothing
she's done.There are alot of us out there who were molested and raped as children and didn't turn into pornstars at 15.I
have a hard time seeing her as the victim she's so desperately
trying to play.Don't bother reading this book unless you want
to read 281 pages of "Poor Me".She should read Jenna Jamesons
book to see how one takes responsibility for ones actions without blaming everyone but the woman in the mirror. ... Read more

Isbn: 0060508205
Subjects:  1. Actors    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Children in pornography    7. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    8. Lords, Traci    9. Personal Memoirs    10. Pornography    11. United States    12. Women    13. Biography & Autobiography / Women   

The Los Angeles Diaries : A Memoir
by James Brown
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (16 September, 2003)
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Reviews (11)

Gripping, Honest & Humorous At Times!
This memoir has a bit of every emotion in it, as a good memoir should have!The author reveals his life, his struggles, and his family destiny with gusto.I couldn't put it down!

One of the best drug/booze confessions

Jimmy: I read the book in one long gulp. I thought the writing was wonderful. But you can understand that the book poses some questions. For instance, how can an irresponsible alchoholic, and drug addict get through college like you did? How does the same person, who can't be trusted to tell the truth for two minutes, get to be a professor? How come you were never busted for drug use and purchase, from the age of nine to well into your thirties?
Jimmy, I'm a musician, and you know we're very suspicios people, especially about drug lore. In another booze memoir, "Dry", Augusten Burroughs has a disclaimer at the beginning of his AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR, "SOME EVENTS AND PEOPLE HAVE BEEN FICTIONALIZED." So Jimmy you have my deep respect for you as a writer.....now I'd like to see the documentation for the book.

I like the honesty
I thoroughly enjoyed this memoir.James Brown is brutally honest about his life and the fact that he is not sure what he is doing or why he is doing it.

I knew this memoir would be gritty and frankly explore the world of addiction.For me, this was the most important part as it does not glorify addiction, but rather explains how this horrible disease "can just happen" to a person.

While I would have liked the book to be a little longer, the writing was honest and down to earth and the story was fascinating and rang all too true.

Wonderful memoir about life and addiction.A must read. ... Read more

Isbn: 0060521511
Sales Rank: 120964
Subjects:  1. 1957-    2. 20th century    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Brown, James,    8. California    9. Family    10. Family relationships    11. General    12. Homes and haunts    13. Los Angeles    14. Novelists, American    15. Personal Memoirs    16. Regional Subjects - West    17. Suicide victims    18. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right
by AlFranken
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (29 August, 2003)
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Editorial Review

Having previously dissected the factual inaccuracies of a single bellicose talk show host inRush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot, Al Franken takes his fight to a larger foe: President George W. Bush, the Bush Administration, Ann Coulter, Bill O’Reilly, and scores of other conservatives whom, he says, are playing loose with the facts. It's a lot of ground to cover, as evidenced by the 43 chapters in Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, but the results are often entertaining and insightful. Franken occupies a unique place in the modern political dialogue as perhaps the media's only comedy writer and performer who is also a Harvard fellow as well as a liberal political commentator. This unique and vaguely lonely position lends a charming quixotic quality to adventures such as a tense encounter with the Fox News staff at the National Press Club, a challenge to fisticuffs with National Review Editor Rich Lowry, and an oddly sweet admissions visit to ultra-conservative Bob Jones University (with a young research assistant posing as his son when Franken's real-life son refuses to participate in the charade). Less useful are comic book dramatizations of "Supply Side Jesus" and a fictitious Vietnam War story featuring the numerous righties who, Franken intimates, improperly avoided service. And Franken's criticisms of conservative talk show hosts Sean Hannity, O’Reilly, and columnist Coulter, while admirable in their attention to detail, fail to shed much new light on people who have built careers on broad arguments and relentless self-aggrandizement. But Franken is at his best, and most compellingly readable, when he backs off the wackiness and the personal grudges and writes about more personal matters such as the political circus surrounding the memorial service of the late Senator Paul Wellstone. But even on these more serious topics, Franken's wit is still present and, in fact, grows sharper. In a time when much political discourse is composed of rage and shouting, it's refreshing that Al Franken is able to shout in a witty manner. --John Moe ... Read more

Reviews (2988)

Public Service to readers
May 22nd, 2005, ChronWatch.com reports interesting testimony in court proceedings against the author. To summarize the report, Franken is inundated with libel suits from this book. The path to safety is for the author to testify that this book is not meant to be truthful, it is a fictional joke book. Case dismissed. Isn't this IRONIC!! A book with this title is full of lies??!! The Michael Moore school of journalism welcomes another graduate!I can visualize Moore and Franken seated side by side with former President Carter at the 2008 Dem convention, watching Whoopi delight the crowd with her keen political insight as Kutcher applauds in the background. Laterwe see GOP raise Senate count from 55 to 80!

Everyone is a Liar, A Fair & Balanced Review
From the time you got caught with your hand in the cookie jar at age 3..."Honey, are you taking that cookie I told you not to take?"..."No, Mommy" (while your hand is still in the jar)...to my grandson, who after eating his half of the fries last week, informed me that his tardy brother "didn't like fries"...and during all of humanity, people have learned to lie.At a college party, researchers videoed the conversations, then isolated selected students and showed them the video.The students had to admit, just during meaningless conversation, they lied an average of 50% of the time they spoke.I forgot the real statistic, so I'm lying, but that's close.

In any event, lying is part of life, whether you're a death row felon or the Pope (sorry to break this to the Catholics).The idea is to be the most convincing liar, and that means a liar who is so good at it, he has even deluded himself (He believes his own...well, you know what I mean).

Anyway, since I expect politicians (or anybody else) to lie, I feel guilty that I am not current on the specific lying situation in the highest levels of government, as I certainly should be.I will say that whenever I do read or hear political statements on either side, I hear a lot more polemics than I think are represented in the general public.Academic political scientists assure us that the good old US is hopelessly reddish-blue and centrist, even on abortion, sexual orientation, and other supposedly devisive issues.

Now that I got that out of the way, may I compliment Al Franken on his audio presentation, which was not only extremely funny, but (if he's not lying) very well researched.I'll have to admit, even I realized after only seeing Hannity & Colmes once, that Colmes was pretty wimpy with his liberal rebuttals (not near as good a liar as Hannity).Extrapolating from that controlled study of 1, the rest of Franken's inspired work MUST be true.

A Lying Liar makes it big!Franken play fast and loose!

"Franken says that the Republican party as a whole, is a racist party and finds every excuse he can to justify that label. He scoffs at the party of Lincoln that freed the slaves and disregards the fact that more Republicans than Democrats voted for the civil rights bill.

Franken thinks the Trent Lott comment about Strom Thurmond (Lott said that things would have been better off had Thurmond ) was racist and see's it fit to indict the Republican party with racism. The issue wasn't as black and white (pardon the pun) as Franken dishonestly represents it however. He of course doesn't mention the liberal pundits that supported Lott in saying it was just a freaking offhanded comment at the mans birthday party for Christ sakes, nor does Franken mention the conservatives that hammered down on him over it. Rich Lowry elaborates on the latter point:

Franken deals with the Trent Lott/Strom Thurmond controversy without noting that conservatives helped publicize Lott's comments and called for him to step aside, including National Review. If you are writing a book about conservatives, this would seem a pretty important datum to include. But Franken bulldozes on. He argues that Republicans are "racist," (p. 255) and only make gestures toward blacks to try - futilely - to avoid appearing too "overtly racist." (p. 256) (Later, he does say that not "all Republicans are racist," in what, in this book, qualifies as a generous concession.) (p. 259) He suggests -- sort of jokingly, but not really -- that the Bush tax cuts were motivated by racial bigotry. And he notes that black poverty declined under Clinton without mentioning the Republican-sponsored welfare reform of 1996 that had a big hand in this trend.

Lowry continues:

--Franken partly rests his case for the racism of the Republican party on the defeat of Sen. Max Cleland in Georgia in 2002. He quotes Cleland saying that his defeat was the result of a backlash against a change in the state flag in 2001 by then-Gov. Roy Barnes, a Democrat, to de-emphasize the St. Andrew's Cross - a symbol of segregation - in the state flag. Franken says that Cleland was undone by a "racist avalanche." Cleland himself alleges in the book that the Republican party did push-polling on the issue of the flag, thus doing him in. Franken offers no evidence for Cleland's outrageous claim, I assume because there is none. (Franken didn't even bother to check with the Georgia GOP official mentioned by name as the mastermind of the push-polling - what were those research assistants doing?)

Sonny Perdue, who would defeat Barnes for governor, didn't oppose the change in the flag, but called for a referendum on it. It was on the ballot on March 2, and the Barnes flag won. (CORRECTION: I was wrong about the Barnes flag. It actually lost a couple of weeks ago to yet another version of the Georgia flag, which seems broadly acceptable to all sides. As the Palm Beach Post put it in this story, "Black and white voters across Georgia finally have a flag on which they can agree." I regret the error.)

The only candidate I am aware of who featured the old flag and his support for it on his campaign literature in 2002 was a Democrat, Mike Snow from Northwest Georgia. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in October 2002, "Nearly two years after the fact, a majority of Georgia voters either favor the change made in the state flag-or say they don't care." All of this hardly adds up to a "racist avalanche" burying Cleland.

Also, during this "racist avalanche," Georgia was re-electing a black attorney general and a black labor commissioner. When I tried to figure out why Franken would leave this fact out of his account of the 2002 election, I came up with a few possibilities: a) he didn't know; b) he worried it wouldn't fit his thesis; c) his editor demanded that he trim 28 words from his final manuscript and these just happened to be the ones; d) Franken figured the Georgia "racist avalanche" buried a white candidate, but spared black candidates -- you know, that happens in racist avalanches all the time.

What possibly, then, could have led to the defeat of Max Cleland if not racism? Franken and other liberals have complained bitterly about a tough ad against him which featured Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. Cleland wasn't "pictured with" the two as Franken says. (p. 254) If we're being sticklers for accuracy, neither was Cleland wounded by a "VC grenade," as Franken maintains. (p.163) The ad didn't morph Cleland into either of these figures, or say that he supported them, or question his patriotism. Bin Laden and Hussein were used to illustrate the point that the U.S. was facing threats to its security. It then explained that Cleland had voted 11 times against a homeland security bill that would have given President Bush freedom from union strictures in creating and running the new department. Cleland was voting against a bill sponsored by his popular Senate colleague Zell Miller, a Democrat, setting himself up perfectly for the charge that he was voting with Daschle and the unions against Georgia common sense. If you can't criticize the Senate votes of a Senator in a Senate race, what can you criticize? Cleland had also made himself vulnerable on national security, taxes, and social issues.

Franken mentions none of this because he is so busy advancing his unsupportable racism allegation. In doing so, he relies on a stereotype of Southerners that should be fading into nonexistence. As Zell Miller notes in his book, in 1990 there were 565 African-American officeholders in the South. In 2000, there were 5,579. Georgia has elected seven African-American to statewide office, this in a state that is 70 percent white. There is no other word for Franken's stilted account of all this except dishonest."

http://www.lyingliar.com/lies/racism.htm ... Read more

Isbn: 0525947647
Subjects:  1. 2001-    2. Conservatism    3. General    4. Humor    5. Political Doctrines    6. Political Ideologies - Conservatism & Liberalism    7. Political aspects    8. Politics - Current Events    9. Politics and government    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Right and left (Political science)    12. Topic - Political    13. Truthfulness and falsehood    14. U.S. Practical Politics    15. United States   

Raw Talent: The Adult Film Industry As Seen by Its Most Popular Male Star
by Jerry Butler, Robert Rimmer, Catherine Tavel
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (01 August, 1991)
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Reviews (19)

CONFESSIONS OF A PORN STAR
I just finshed reading this book and while there is afair amount of dirt on the porn industry, I thought there would be more. There is some good stuff in here (one part in which he descibes going down on a certain female porn star who isn't too clean made me so sick I had to put the book down for a moment).I felt that he was a lot harder on the women (no pun intended) than on his male counterparts. Also, there are a few things that
seem absolutely absurd (for instance, he was masturbating since the age of three?!!!). Still, a decent behind-the-scenes look
of the porn industry.

ONE THE BEST SPEAKS OUT!
I was a big fan of Jerry Butler back in the eighties / early nineties. The guy had looks, skills and was popular with the ladies. At the same time, the man had moral and ethical issues about being in a business that renders the sex act to its lowest common denominator.
If you always wanted to know the gossip and the "deep in the down" about some of the women you spent your teens and early adulthood fantasizing over... buy Jerry's book! For me, it was great reading about Nina Hartley, Jeannie Pepper, Angel Kelly, Kay Parker, etc. in a non-porno context, finding out about what they thought, how they lived and what they wanted from the adult film business other than money.
Most importantly, although Jerry is no longer a supporter of the "porn industry", he isn't a basher either (like the hypocritical Tracy Lords).

Buy the book and relive those "golden days" of porn! Before silicone implants, bad bleach jobs, overwhelming tattoos and piercings and obnoxious Okie redneck performers became your standard porno fare!

A porn star who hates porn yet can't quit
Jerry Butler's autobiography quotes him:"This is what I'd tell young people about porno: how you can die,or commit suicide,or become a drug addict,or how you can become even more lonely and insecure than you already are". This immature troubled young man couldn't make it as a hockey player due to his temper so tried his good looks in Hollywood to find that he was only good enough for X-rated sex movies. He became addicted to drugs. He was already highly sexual so sex was no problem until he ran into women he didn't like,gay men who annoyed him,etc. This book has a few typos & a lot left out- like what happened to him after 1990 ? It also has more than it's share of lies including certain facts regarding the size of his penis,how many films he made with Shauna Grant,how much drug intake he had,etc. He made no secret of how unhappy he is with the fact that women are more highly paid. He also made no secret of how much he couldn't hold on to a woman due to his emotional problems. His confused rambling didn't seem anything more than a sad story of a man who wrote a book to make money and commit career suicide at the same time. Jerry Butler wants to be a porn actor yet he despises all the ugliness that comes with it so he wrote a book that lets the world know the flaws of many female costars then cheated on his wife then published the book. Thirteen years later in 2003, we are left to wonder WHAT HAPPENED TO JERRY BUTLER ? Somehow we still want to know because he is intelligent & caring enough to realize just how messed up he is emotionally for doing porn. He agrees with Traci Lords & other porn stars= it is better to watch porn than to perform in it & take all the risks. ... Read more

Isbn: 087975642X
Sales Rank: 928629
Subjects:  1. Biography/Autobiography    2. Film & Video - General    3. General    4. Motion Pictures Of Specific Genres    5. Pornography    6. Sociology   

Cosmopolitan: A Bartender's Life
by TOBY CECCHINI
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (07 October, 2003)
list price: $21.95
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Reviews (15)

pretentious moi ?
I bought this book thinking it would be as great as "kitchen confidential" by anthony burdain

What pretentious language ! Cecchini never uses a small word where an obscure one will do which makes for an annoying read ... "heavily bibilous" for example I guess he means drunk ...
when Iread windy sentences like "I was relieved of my obligation of politesse of any kind" Ithink "hey Buddy get over yourself ! "

this book neededthe heavy blue pencil of an editor

Parisian-wannabe pours drinks for those he's too good for
Toby Cecchini's lavish and loving descriptions of alcohol really make you want to have a drink; in fact, I'm a beer-only guy, and found myself hankering for a martini or Manhattan while I read Cosmopolitan.Not with the author, though, who maintains the effete and disdainful tone of a French snob throughout.There isn't a single instance in this book's 238 pages where a $10,000 word and/or a French turn of phrase wasn't substituted for the $10 version, regardless of the fit.This was as goofy as it was distracting, and I can't imagine it endears the smarmy author to anyone who reads this.

Case in point: "I always marveled at the élan with which he pulled off that simple action; my efforts at duplicating this maneuver always end with me bludgeoning the recalcitrant glacier mercilessly as chips fly helter skelter."Um, call me crazy, but isn't that a mite highfalutin to describe watching someone chip ice?And while describing the staff at a restaurant where he used to work: "Even now, at the remove of more than a decade, it is easy to conjure, but difficult to summarize, the atmosphere of that floor, its peculiar combination of superfluous terror and incestuous, striving kinesis."Pal, the only reason it might be "difficult to summarize" a bunch of the interaction between a bunch of waiters, cooks, and bartenders, is because you're trying too hard.The last time I saw this much use of the word "lovely" was when I brought our daughter to my grandmother's senior center,

It gets worse.There is an obnoxious Europhilic tone throughout Cosmopolitan, as if all Americans are yokels undeserving of the drinks he pours (sorry, "the gustatory libations he decants")- Cecchini fantasizes of his dream bar, which among other things, only accepts Euros; he refuses to serve a Cosmopolitan to a customer who asks for a "Cosmo"; he sizes up customers approaching his bar, and thinks through some gift of human insight he knows everything about them from just their walk or drink order; he describes a wine argument with a friend, during which Cecchini referred to a Pomerol as a Pommard- the friend gloated about it for two years (anyone call for an Ambiguously Gay Duo?).There are many instances when Cecchini describes standing behind the bar and observing his customers from a pompous distance, having a laugh or a shake of his head at the human condition, as if he's so above their depredations because of the two foot wall of oak between them.

On the plus side, this guy clearly loves his craft, and brings enough experience and perspective to the table to keep his audience interested.I wouldn't have thought there were this many aspects to discuss about bartending, and was pleasantly surprised by the wealth of topics: the adulation met by workers at a city hot spot; the difficulties of entering the NYC restaurant business (this book is a cautionary tale against getting in the New York food game); the process of stocking the bar's alcohol in a way to ensure only those crowds you want; the art of being a good listener without getting too involved; crowd control; interesting and unpredictable barflies; andthe chemistry necessary between two bartenders working the same shift.

Cacchini almost redeems himself with a couple of uncharacteristically humble stories at the end: the first describes his morbid curiosity and horror at hosting a raunchy bachelor at his bar, and his struggles to get closer to observe the action, while at the same time maintaining professionalism.The second involves a trip to Europe, stumbling into a family-run bar and getting swept up in a week of unconditional hospitality.These two anecdotes aren't enough, though, to bring this snob back to Earth.

Excellent Premise
The premise of "COSMOPOLITAN" is excellent: life of the hangers on and random passers by at a bar from the prospective of the bartender. TOBY CECCHINI does an excellent job with the story telling. There are elements of RIKKI LEE TRAVOLTA's "MY FRACTURED LIFE" in the details provided in the observation of others and the sitting around talking feel. The two have a very similar feel and tone and should mutually appeal. There are also a few elements of AGUSTEN BURROUGHS' "DRY" but not as many as I expected. ... Read more

Isbn: 0767912098
Sales Rank: 82634
Subjects:  1. 1963-    2. Bartenders    3. Bartending    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Cecchini, Toby,    9. General    10. Miscellanea    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Biography & Autobiography / General   

A Million Little Pieces
by JAMES FREY
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (15 April, 2003)
list price: $22.95
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Editorial Review

The electrifying opening of James Frey's debut memoir, A Million Little Pieces, smash-cuts to the then 23-year-old author on a Chicago-bound plane "covered with a colorful mixture of spit, snot, urine, vomit and blood." Wanted by authorities in three states, without ID or any money, his face mangled and missing four front teeth, Frey is on a steep descent from a dark marathon of drug abuse. His stunned family checks him into a famed Minnesota drug treatment center where a doctor promises "he will be dead within a few days" if he starts to use again, and where Frey spends two agonizing months of detox confronting "The Fury" head on:

I want a drink. I want fifty drinks. I want a bottle of the purest, strongest, most destructive, most poisonous alcohol on Earth. I want fifty bottles of it. I want crack, dirty and yellow and filled with formaldehyde. I want a pile of powder meth, five hundred hits of acid, a garbage bag filled with mushrooms, a tube of glue bigger than a truck, a pool of gas large enough to drown in. I want something anything whatever however as much as I can.

One of the more harrowing sections is when Frey submits to major dental surgery without the benefit of anesthesia or painkillers (he fights the mind-blowing waves of "bayonet" pain by digging his fingers into two old tennis balls until his nails crack). His fellow patients include a damaged crack addict with whom Frey wades into an ill-fated relationship, a federal judge, a former championship boxer, and a mobster (who, upon his release, throws a hilarious surf-and-turf bacchanal, complete with pay-per-view boxing). In the book's epilogue, when Frey ticks off a terse update on everyone, you can almost hear the Jim Carroll Band's brutal survivor's lament "People Who Died" kicking in on the soundtrack of the inevitable film adaptation.

The rage-fueled memoir is kept in check by Frey's cool, minimalist style. Like his steady mantra, "I am an Alcoholic and I am a drug Addict and I am a Criminal," Frey's use of repetition takes on a crisp, lyrical quality which lends itself to the surreal experience. The book could have benefited from being a bit leaner. Nearly 400 pages is a long time to spend under Frey's influence, and the stylistic acrobatics (no quotation marks, random capitalization, left-aligned text, wild paragraph breaks) may seem too self-conscious for some readers, but beyond the literary fireworks lurks a fierce debut. --Brad Thomas Parsons ... Read more

Reviews (277)

How to turn a screenplay into a memoir
First, let me say I enjoyed this book as a work of pure entertainment, but as a serious memoir I couldn't get past how many techniques the author uses from his training as a hollywood script writer (Kissing a Fool starring David Shwimmer) I enjoyed the opening with him passed out on the plane, even as I wondered why any airline would allow him to fly in such a catatonic state. I didn't start to question the integrity of the author until dentist scene that seemed a gratiutious scene to show how tough the author is, but many books on screenplay writing talk about the importance of creating early identification by making your hero suffer and suffer he does, although the pain is always external, and we never get to know about the author's vulnerabilty.Still, I was willing to go with it until the introduction of the love interest when he describes their first meeting after she dropped a stack of books to the floor and they locked eyes as he helped her pick them up.I suppose this could happen in real life, but the only time I've ever seen it is in the movies, but it was the introduction of Leonard that I really started to question the authenticity of his story. Leonard is his mafiso friend who is able to reach the narrator because he understands the narrator's pain.He says, for example, he watched his own father figure gunned down right in front of him in Vegas where he held him gasping his last breath, and made him promise to play at the golf course where he worked as a lawnmower all his life.And maybe this happens in real life too, but if anyone told me this story, inside or outside of a rehab facilty, I would at least mention a remote possibility this person might be making this up.James Frey does not.He believes everything he is told by this character, as everything starts to fall into the classic hollywood three act structure, including a chase scene in the final act to save a crack whore with a heart of gold.I give this a single star as a memoir, but as I screenplay I would give it four. I am interested to see what his new book about Leonard is like, and if there will be another chase scene in the final act.

A Book Full of RAW, INTENSE Feeling
A MILLION LITTLE PIECES is written very well, in a way that captures the 'feeling' of Frey's experience like a song. His writing style is very descriptive, and lacks punctuation at points, resulting in long sentences that communicate the feeling of desperation and helplessness that Frey must have felt. His words are full of feeling, and the story made me feel quite emotional.

For some people it will ring true, and match their own experience of life.

It does contain some descriptively gruesome points that really let you 'feel' the pain of un-anaesthetized tooth removal - not nice if you're squeamish. This harks back to the pain his body is suffering as a result of his abuses.

We are reminded that James experiences a lot of pain and suffering for his addictions with painfully descriptive passages of nasty hallucinations and sensations, yet there are many descriptions of the positive qualities of drugs as well -- the way drugs make you feel at the time. Frey captures the way his long-term/short-term priorities shift in favor of the short-term, the next fix, and then documents how hard it is to shift them back.

A MILLION LITTLE PIECES is one of those books where you love the person the main character loves, you get upset when something bad happens, and you feel like you've met real people and then miss them when you've finished, but try it for yourself! Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "THE LOSERS' CLUB: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez, a funny, highly engaging little novel I can't stop thinking about.

One in a Million
Every addict has their story and this is Frey's.This book in no way tells one how to face addiction and how to approach recovery.This is simply one person's story and very well told.

Frey is angry, hostile and his life is a mess.He reaches the point where he knows his alcohol and drug use are killing him and if he uses again he will most likely die.He also tells himself that there is no program, no steps, nothing that can save him from his addiction thus putting Frey in an ugly corner which most call hitting bottom.I can't use and I can't not use and I will die if I use...Frey prepares to die and sees no way out.

This book is a memoir of his stay in a rehab, his story in the rehab and ultimately his whole story is told in the book.Other stories are told in this book when Frey has conversations with other patients.There are a million stories.There are people with nothing in common beyond the fact that they are addicts and their lives are in complete chaos.

Through other characters Frey also approaches the question, "Are there some things experienced in life so horrible that there is just no getting over it?"From one female patient who's mother sold her daughter's body at the age of 14 for drugs and eventually got hooked on drugs herself.To the young man who's pain of his father's molesting him is so fierce he lives in a constant state of pain and fear.

Frey is extremely sick physically and mentally.He is full of an intense anger he has had since he can remember which he refers to as 'The Fury'.He is resistant to any help, believes in nothing that is offered to him to aid him in recovery.But slowly Frey starts finding peace of mind.Through communicating with his parents, through the guys he becomes friends with on the unit, the feelings he has for Lilly on the female unit and very important by a small gift his brother gives him.A small book but powerful enough to give Frey calm and hope.

You don't need to be an addict by any means to read this book.This is a terrific contribution by James Frey.Brave. ... Read more

Isbn: 0385507755
Subjects:  1. 1969-    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Drug addicts    7. Frey, James,    8. Literary    9. Minnesota    10. Narcotic addicts    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Rehabilitation    13. Specific Groups - General    14. Substance Abuse & Addictions - General    15. Biography & Autobiography / Literary    16. Frey, James    17. Reading Group Guide   

Dry: A Memoir
by Augusten Burroughs
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (02 June, 2003)
list price: $24.95 -- our price: $16.47
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Editorial Review

Fans of Augusten Burroughs's darkly funny memoir Running with Scissors were left wondering at the end of that book what would become of young Augusten after his squalid and fascinating childhood ended. In Dry, we find that although adult Augusten is doing well professionally, earning a handsome living as an ad writer for a top New York agency, Burroughs's personal life is a disaster. His apartment is a sea of empty Dewar's bottles, he stays out all night boozing, and he dabs cologne on his tongue in an unsuccessful attempt to mask the stench of alcohol on his breath at work. When his employer insists he seek help, Burroughs ships out to Minnesota for detoxification, counseling, and amusingly told anecdotes about the use of stuffed animals in group therapy. But after a month of such treatment, he's back in Manhattan and tenuously sober. And while its one thing to lay off the sauce in rehab, Burroughs learns that it's quite another to resume your former life while avoiding the alcohol that your former life was based around. This quest to remain sober is made dramatically more difficult, and the tale more harrowing, when Burroughs begins an ill-advised romance with a crack addict. Certainly the "recovered alcoholic fighting to stay sober" tale is not new territory for a memoirist. But Burroughs's account transcends clichés: it doesn't adhere to the traditional "temptation narrowly resisted" storyline and it features, in Burroughs himself, a central character that is sympathetic even when he's neither likable nor admirable. But what ultimately makes this memoir such a terrific read is a brilliant and candid sense of humor that manages to stay dry even when recalling events where the author was anything but. --John Moe ... Read more

Reviews (163)

How "Dry" IAm...
I'm giving "Dry" three stars, because I'll admit I enjoyed reading it, but it was definitely in a "book I love to hate" way. Yes, Augusten Burroughs had a bizarre childhood/adolescence ("Running With Scissors"), but as an adult he has been on a roll benefiting from "Magical Thinking" - making wads of money as an ad man, and success with his best-selling books. So I can only roll my eyes at"Dry", his rehab story. It seems beyond obvious to me that Mr. Burroughs alcoholic suffering is a direct result of his own cynicism, self-absorption, shallowness and vanity; not to mention his lack of consideration for others, even as they try to help him. So if there's going to be a pity party, it would have to be for his business partner Greer, who knocks herself out to cover for him, despite his cavalier attitude. Then there is "Pighead", Augusten's former lover who is dying of AIDS. The rare moments when Burroughs gives Pighead his time and attention, he acts positively magnanimous about it. Seems to me the wrong person was nicknamed "Pighead".

The rehab treatment itself - therapy, AA meetings, etc. is essentially your typical garden variety psychobabble. These sections of the book must have written themselves; at least, I felt as though I'd read them many times before.

I'd recommend "Magical Thinking" over this and Burrough's other books. It features a variety of stories, so that if one doesn't appeal, the next one might. Plus, if you read it carefully, you may even catch a glimmer of (GASP!) maturity poking through.

After Running with Scissors this story comes as no surprise.
I strongly recommend following Running with Scissors with Dry.This is Burroughs memoir.Now an adult in New York his life is falling apart.It is no surprise Burroughs turned to alcohol after all he had gone through in life.But now he must be accountable for himself.In his professional life he is given no choice but to face his drinking problem.

Burroughs tells this story in the same tone of Running with Scissors, witty, funny but a serious subject.In this book you will not find the story of a man who faces his drinking problem, gets help and lives happily ever after.Here you will read about his real recovery and all it's obsticles to stay Dry. A quick spin through detox and rehab and back to New York where he now has to attend his 12 step meetings and out patient groups.Once again sex comes into the story diverting Burroughs from his recovery.There are sad truths about addiction in this book and I found his experience of facing life sober very honest.

A Good Read
Augusten Burroughs is a good, solid writer.I enjoyed this better than "Scissors", but I do recommend reading that first to have some perspective on his crazy, early life and thus explanation for his struggles.This one had a touching side to it that I enjoyed.

Otherwise, if you're in the market for clever, well-written memoirs by someone with a more "jacked up" life than yourself, these are the books for you! ... Read more

Isbn: 0312272057
Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Advertising agencies    3. Alcohol use    4. American Essays    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Biography / Autobiography    8. Biography/Autobiography    9. Burroughs, Augusten    10. Copy writers    11. Literary    12. Manhattan (New York, N.Y.)    13. New York    14. New York (State)    15. Novelists, American    16. Personal Memoirs    17. Social life and customs    18. United States    19. Biography & Autobiography / General    20. Substance Abuse & Addictions - Alcoholism    21. Recovery    22. Reading Group Guide   

Maneater : A Novel
by Gigi Levangie Grazer
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (06 June, 2003)
list price: $21.95 -- our price: $14.93
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Editorial Review

Gigi Levangie Grazer has written one previous novel (Rescue Me), helped pen the screenplay for Stepmom, and, not least, is married to Hollywood uber-producer Brian Grazer (he of the wacky hair and the not-so-wacky partnership with Ron Howard). At first glance, Mrs. Grazer appears to be a complete parvenu as a novelist. Maneater rips off every girl-power/shopaholic source from early Tama Janowitz right up to Sex and the City. Her prose can be ungrammatical, her plot hopelessly predictable, and her characters paper-thin. But Grazer has a secret weapon: her preternaturally acid powers of observation. When she writes about the freaky mores of Hollywood, the book exerts an irresistible pull. Thirtyish LA It girl Clarissa Alpert reflects on her shallow, jobless, mateless (but fabulous!) life, and decides it's high time she was married. She and her four best friends (hello, Sarah Jessica Parker and company) hatch a plan to snag the cutest, hottest young producer in town. What ensues is hardly new territory, but the book is enlivened by Grazer's amazing ability to nail down pop culture ephemera. To wit: "Clarissa was sentimental--she liked saving messages from old friends and C-level celebrities. She had an answering tape collection that dated all the way back to babydoll dresses, sparkle dust and Hole." Her eye for detail--and her refusal ever to make Clarissa lovable, or even likable--make Maneater a hypnotic read. This is fiction-as-gigantic-chocolate-bar. Halfway through, you feel a little off color, but there's no way you're going to stop. --Claire Dederer ... Read more

Reviews (48)

Maneater: A Novel
At first I'll admit I didn't know what to think of this book. I'd
read the storyline before I bought the book and decided it was
hilarious. I think it took me a little time to get used to Clarissa
Alpert's character. Her bluntness and total disregard for people's
feelings. Her manipulative nature she used around men. Also her
colourful, yet limited vocabulary. She loves to swear!

I'm glad Gigi included an apology in the dedications. I think it was
needed to her family. Not every reader is used to a barrage of
offensive language, that is so much Clarissa's character. I think
most people rather polite meaningful conversation between characters
that is more momorable once the reader reaches the final pages.
Rather then loud-mouthed gutter talk that isn't memorable and is soon
forgotten. The use of language is also de-grading to the characters,
who might have some admirable qualities to them, if it wasn't for
their foul mouth. However I think purhaps someone who might not pick
up a book and read as often as people who enjoy reading might,
could appreciate the language. I guess it just depends the kind of
circumstances one is raised in. Offensive language is less tolerated
or necessary in pleasent homes, then that of someone who has a rough
life and so might have a need to swear more then usual. I mean we all
swear, I don't deny it, it just depends how often we use these words.

I forgive Gigi for the language. She is just accomodating for
everyone, so her book isn't just targeted to certain people. That is
a good idea.

I wonder what pocessed Gigi to write a book like this? I could be
wrong but I think it is based on friends or people she has known, or
knows, or seen around in Hollywood. She is very brave then. I
wouldn't risk writing a book like this based loosely on Hollywood
stars. Too me, it would be too risky. I'd end up offending someone
and being sued, I can just see it, no matter what my innocent
intentions were. It would be unintentional, but it would be
so easy to do. Everyone is different - not everyone has a sense of
humour, but most people have some dilemma usually in the media worth
exploring. Thus you have this satirical novel. Written by an ideal
women who would have seen it all being the wife of producing genius
Brian Grazer. She has a great vantage point.

If this book is based on Gigi's friends, then it makes me think of
another movie. 'Deconstructing Harry'. Directed by Woody Allen. I
haven't seen it. The storyline being Harry writes a best-selling
novel about his friends and his friends don't like it!!!

I'd also really like to know what a 'Maneater' is.

I like how this book is for Brian Grazer. A maneater's dream. I can
imagine that. Most women might want Brian. He's just so full of life.
I'm sure Gigi counts her blessings every night that he is hers. I
think I would if I was married to Brian!! Lucky Gigi!!

I also love the pink cover and the fork in the groomsmen's back. That
would hurt! But it is the best illustration to describe Clarissa's
manipulative, pupetry behaviour she pocesses with men. It is very
cute! I'm sure if I was a man in this book Clarissa would have me
eating out of her hand in no time. I'm not very fussy when it comes
to women. I wouldn't like to have a fork in my back, but Clarissa
loves to eat so that's what will happen if I wasn't careful. Watch
your back guys!! This woman will eat you alive!! Thank goodness she
isn't real!! It takes a certain man to play her games. You have to
know what you are in for when you meet Clarissa otherwise you have no
hope of coming out unscathed. The men in this book are legends!! You
have to watch them!! I love it!!

Since this is such a pink book, I can imagine it in 'Elle Wood's
collection. Reese Witherspoon's creation from 'Legally Blonde'. Elle
loves pink too!

I found this book easy to read and very enjoyable. It has some
brilliant ideas followed by some impressive surprises you'd never
guess!! Plus some fantastic descriptions of characters and actions.
One that I loved of many, comes from page 192 below...

"There was such a mucus buildup in Clarissa's sinus cavity she felt
she would drown in her own snot if she didn't blow her nose in the
next five seconds".

Even though I remember a sentence that people could sneeze
at, 'Maneater' must not be used as a tissue. It's a lot better then
that.

Gigi you are a pure genius!! I hang on your every word. I didn't rush
through this book. Just savoured it like a good meal, and wine. I
love champagne the best! On Friday 11th July I read from Chapter 11
page 121 to Chapter 20 page 217. Then on Sunday I read from there to
the end. So I was truely ingrossed in the life of Clarissa and her
friends.

This is a crazy book. It really is, but so worth reading! I'm so glad
I got a copy of it. I love famous people writing books. This is a
book worth getting your teeth into. (not literally though). It is
easy to read and not too hard to digest. It is just plain fun!

Thank you Gigi for this book. I look forward to watching the movie
now in development. I have no real idea of who would play Clarissa or
anyone else. But I'm sure you'd find someone absolutely born for the
role. I'd also love to see Brian in the producing credits to this
film, but he may not do this. But to me it would be perfect. A
husband and wife team. So sweet.

Gigi, I feel honoured to have your invaluable books in my collection. I wouldn't
ever be without them now. Keep writing and making movies of your
work. I love books then watching the movie later. They are my
favorite types of books.

Well done Gigi! 'Maneater' is a well cooked novel worthy of
everyone's consumption. To be devoured with the eyes. Sure not to
give anyone indigestion. Eat up and read up everyone!

Wonderful
I simply could not put this book down for a week! It was fun and creative. It showed a swanky lifestlye with a heartwarming style. I loved it!

YUCK!!!
I try usually to give a writer some respect and finish the book. But this garbage was beyond endurance. The main character was horrible and after 20 pages I threw in the towel and the book. I am not even going to trade it for a new book. I am going to dump it in the trash where it belongs. Wouldn't want some other unsuspecting poor thing to pick it up.
I don't mind a heroine having some character flaws but this was just too much. I used to live in L.A and I didn't like the shallow social climbers then and I don't like them in the book. I thought it would be a hilarious send up(those desperate girls are begging for it) but it wasn't funny at all. I guess her famous connected husband pulled some strings to get this insipid poorly written book published. ... Read more

Isbn: 0743226852
Subjects:  1. American Light Romantic Fiction    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. General    5. Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif    6. Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.)    7. Love stories    8. Motion picture industry    9. Romance - General    10. Fiction / General   

The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 May, 1991)
list price: $6.99 -- our price: $6.29
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Editorial Review

Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. It begins,

"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them."

His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation. ... Read more

Reviews (2543)

Catcher in the Rye
The Catcher in the Rye follows a teenage boy who is searching for understanding. Holden wants to find someone, anyone who will relate to him only to find himself annoyed by the phoniness of the world. The adolescence that was stolen from him by the death of the brother he idolized, forces Holden to realize he only wishes to be able to preserve the innocence of the world. Wishing he could become the "catcher in the rye" and save children from growing up. Although I cannot really relate to the character, I can relate to being frustrated with the trivialness of the world. I would recommend this book to any high school students that have yet to find themselves. It is a quick read and gives insight to growing up and finding your true self.

Forget Phony Books
The Catcher in the Rye, -by J. D. Salinger
I am glad I finally read The Catcher in the Rye.Everyone always talked about it, how great it was, and now I can really appreciate it.J. D. Salinger really understands what teens are thinking, because I could definitely relate with this book.The experiences and thoughts remain the same over all the years since it was first published (1951) to the present.
The main character, Holden, is a confused teen-aged boy that everyone can relate to.He tries to put on a big tough guy attitude but he is really just a good guy.He loves his sister Phoebe and his parents, no matter how much he disagrees with them.He is against all the evils in the world, tries to rub out all the "f*** you" signs and helps little kids put on their skates.
He is passed from one boarding school to another, just trying to fit in.He is smart, but doesn't get good grades.He makes a few friends here and there, but just finds people to be too phony. He also has to watch out for perverty guys and womanizing creeps like his old roommate, Stradlater.
He spends his Christmas break being an adult, sleeping in hotels and hanging out in bars.This only helps him to discover that this is not happiness and decides to leave it all.In every kids fantasy he dreams of moving away to a peaceful cabin in the middle of nowhere, away from all the jerk taxi drivers.It takes the innocence and stubborn love of his sister Phoebe to convince him to stay.
This is an excellent book that I recommend reading a.s.a.p..I regret not reading it earlier and this is a "must" book to read before graduating from high school.

Pointless
After reading this novel, I wonder what possesed me to finish it.The point of the story was virtually nonexistent.Salinger's supposedly great work is boring and unintelligent.Anyone who has a highly opinionated friend or sibling has already lived this story to some extent.If you are looking for a deep or meaningful novel, I suggest reading Brave New World, Walden Two, or anything by Chuck Palahniuk or Geroge Orwell instead. ... Read more

Isbn: 0316769487
Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. Literature - Classics / Criticism    4. Literature: Classics    5. Fiction / Classics   

The Fortress of Solitude : A Novel
by JONATHAN LETHEM
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (16 September, 2003)
list price: $26.00 -- our price: $16.38
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Reviews (88)

promising, but inconsistant
I want to like this book, I truly do. There are moments so real, sometimes gleefull and sometimes heartbreaking, that it's such a disappointment when ingredients of pure make believe are winded into the same story. I won't go into detail on this to avoid ruining the story, but suffice it to say that what turns out to be a large part of this otherwise truthful and emotionally gripping story of two friends makes a mockery of the whole story. The writing style also shifts throughout the book, and there are some parts (Liner Notes) which are dragged on entirely too long to allow the story to flow. All in all I think it was worth the read for a few moments which nearly brought a tear to my eye, but it won't be on my "must read" recommendations to others.

Filled With Great Meaning
Set in the Bronx amid a period of integration and spanning decades, "FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE" is not only a fascinating book but an impacting and meaning-filled one at that. The title of the book is a reference to comic hero Superman's secret layer in which he may try to escape for the briefest of moments the pains and pressures of the world's reliance on him. It is a deliberate reference and one of multiple meanings. Most obvious is the use of comic heroes as figures of authority for a character who lacks such role models in his real life. On a more figurative level, the reference is to everyone's need to escape the feeling of being alone in a crowded world by seeking out a place to literally be alone away. Judged on impact and merit, "FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE" is in the same league as "MY FRACTURED LIFE" and "ATONEMENT."

Wow
This book changed my life. Really a fabulous blend of social history, memoir, popular culture (music, movies, comics), and sweetness. ... Read more

Isbn: 0385500696
Sales Rank: 15485
Subjects:  1. Brooklyn (New York, N.Y.)    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. General    5. Literary    6. Male friendship    7. Popular American Fiction    8. Race relations    9. Teenage boys    10. Fiction / Literary   

Atonement : A Novel
by IAN MCEWAN
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (25 February, 2003)
list price: $14.00 -- our price: $11.20
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Editorial Review

Ian McEwan's Booker Prize-nominated Atonement is his first novel since Amsterdam took home the prize in 1998. But while Amsterdam was a slim, sleek piece, Atonement is a more sturdy, more ambitious work, allowing McEwan more room to play, think, and experiment.

We meet 13-year-old Briony Tallis in the summer of 1935, as she attempts to stage a production of her new drama "The Trials of Arabella" to welcome home her older, idolized brother Leon. But she soon discovers that her cousins, the glamorous Lola and the twin boys Jackson and Pierrot, aren't up to the task, and directorial ambitions are abandoned as more interesting prospects of preoccupation come onto the scene. The charlady's son, Robbie Turner, appears to be forcing Briony's sister Cecilia to strip in the fountain and sends her obscene letters; Leon has brought home a dim chocolate magnate keen for a war to promote his new "Army Ammo" chocolate bar; and upstairs, Briony's migraine-stricken mother Emily keeps tabs on the house from her bed. Soon, secrets emerge that change the lives of everyone present....

The interwar, upper-middle-class setting of the book's long, masterfully sustained opening section might recall Virginia Woolf or Henry Green, but as we move forward--eventually to the turn of the 21st century--the novel's central concerns emerge, and McEwan's voice becomes clear, even personal. For at heart, Atonement is about the pleasures, pains, and dangers of writing, and perhaps even more, about the challenge of controlling what readers make of your writing. McEwan shouldn't have any doubts about readers of Atonement: this is a thoughtful, provocative, and at times moving book that will have readers applauding. --Alan Stewart, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Reviews (485)

Simply a masterpiece.
This is the first book written by McEwan I've read, but it certainly won't be my last. In Atonement, a 13 year old girl does something dramatic that she'll regret for the rest of her life. Her actions greatly affect the lives of her sister Cecilia, and Cecilia's friend childhood friend Robbie.

This book is superbly written; the prose is just wonderful. McEwan does an excellent job of describing the characters, and letting us see things through their eyes. The story itself is very entertaining, and has some twists in it to keep you guessing. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves literature.

enjoyed the book up until the end
Atonement is a well-written book, and it is a book that gives the reader a lot to think about. However, although it is thought provoking, there's not enough plot and there's no satisfying solution to the central problem of the story. The end just fizzles.

I don't understand the hype about a twist at the end, or as some people put it, a "shocking" ending. The identity of the rapist is obvious from the moment the crime is committed. It also was no great surprise to me about the author. There is enough foreshadowing that it is not a surprise, and certainly not "shocking".

It isn't entirely believable that Cecilia and Robbie would focus their anger on Briony. Where is their anger for the real rapist? The whole book focuses on Briony as being the "criminal", the one who did wrong, but what about the rapist? His crime is two-fold: 1) he committed the rape and 2) he allowed another man to be punished for his crime. And what about Lola? She had to have known the true identity of her rapist. Yes, it was too dark to see on the night she was raped, but it was the second time she was attacked. The first attack happened when she was in the bathtub, and since nobody takes a bath in pitch black darkness, she had to have known the identity of her attacker. That time she blamed her twin brothers for attacking her, and the second time she allowed Robbie to be sent to jail for raping her. Lola's crime is odious: she places blame on people she knows are innocent. At least Briony didn't know Robbie was innocent. Lola and Paul are the criminals here, but where is their atonement? The real criminals go free, and all of the hate is placed on a little girl who saw a man of Robbie's height on a darkened night and had reasons to believe, though mistakenly, that Robbie was the attacker. The one who is asked to atone is the girl who, as a 13-year-old child, who was too young and immature to understand what was happening.

Stays the Course
ATONEMENT is not a run of the mill novel. Ian McEwan writes with a fresh and unique style. His style though has a melancholy sadness to it much like Rikki Lee Travolta's MY FRACTURED LIFE. There are also similar aspects to SECRET LIFE OF BEES, but where Sue Monk Kidd finds a way to turn that frown upside down for a happy uplifting turn, McEwan stays the course with the sadness like Travolta. I certainly enjoyed this book and appreciate the alternative approach to storytelling. McEwan earns my praise. ... Read more

Isbn: 038572179X
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Literary    4. Psychological    5. Fiction / Literary    6. Reading Group Guide   

The Only Girl in the Car : A Memoir
by KATHY DOBIE
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (04 March, 2003)
list price: $23.95 -- our price: $16.29
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Reviews (31)

Brutally honest
This memoir is a brutally honest account of a young girl's burgeoning sexuality.I can't begin to imagine the soul searching and courage it took to commit this story to paper. The accounts of the other kids in her school and neighborhood were downright harrowing, a reminder of just how cruel children can be.

The author's descriptions of her family life were bursting with colorful detail.Growing up a single child, I couldn't help but feel envy at the full house and close relationship the author obviously has with her siblings.

I definitely recommend this book.

What would your narrative say?
Kathy Dobie is a powerful yet simple writer. The prologue immediately pulls you in and touches each of your senses as well as your memory and empathy as the story develops.

It is fascinating to watch the old and young Kathy make the connections about how the past and present combine to who you are. If there is any one lack in this memoir is that once the "definitive moment" actually takes place I don't feel I completely understand how the protagonist really grew past it. We know what she does at 17 and where she is now but I found myself wanting to know what the 20 years in between were like. Now granted, that would have been a really long memoir!

This is a very well written memoir and I love the quote, "What narrative has this person fashioned to help him or her survive?" Kathy Dobie is speaking of those that she now writes about but it is about herself and all of us. We all create a story about ourselves but it is up to each of us to decide how true it really is.

This ia great read.

Very difficult read...
But only because of the subject matter.The book is well written, and obviously very well thought out.Her candor is unflinching, and I can only imagine how difficult this book must have been to write.

One thing that stood out to me about this book, is that Dobie didn't waste all of her pages with blame.I'm sure there is regret and quite a bit of pain associated with a childhood such as hers, but she just stated the facts.She told her story from beginning to end and drew you into her world.

I read this book with a sense of being an eavesdropper.I stood on the street in front of her house... I met her childhood friend.... I stood outside the car that night.... such is her writing.She describes her entire world with such vibrancy that you can't help feeling you're right there with her.

I was impressed by her honesty, and even more impressed with her unashamed depicition of such a difficult time in her life.Sexuality is a very difficult pill to swallow at that age - at any age for some people.She has definitely come through this as someone to be admired. ... Read more

Isbn: 0385318804
Sales Rank: 77383
Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Girls    6. Personal Memoirs    7. Teenage girls    8. Teenagers    9. United States    10. Women    11. Biography & Autobiography / Women    12. Reading Group Guide