SLOW DANCING ON DINOSAUR BONES : A Novel
by Lana Witt
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (12 February, 1996)
list price: $22.00
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Reviews (10)

A Charmer
The title grabbed me when I was browsing the bookstore for a good summer read -- what a great surprise this book turned out to be!It's hard to believe this is Lana Witt's first book."Slow Dancing on DinosaurBones" reminds me of the early novels of Larry McMurtry, ClydeEdgerton and Rita Mae Brown.

Excellent
I loved this book. I thought I was going to be reading a simple story about. Instead, Ms. Witt provided me with a love story, stalking, grave robbing, murder and a fight against the big bad coal company.

I enjoyedthe author's style of having several things going on at once. It became areal page turner.

I do feel that the excitement of the book was overabout 25 pages from the true end of the book. It's as if Ms. Witt wanted toend the drama and try up any loose ends -- although the ending is certainlynot unimportant. I did enjoy every bit of this book.

Best book I've read in a long time.
I loved the plot, the characters, the setting, and the way the story was told.Gilman Lee is definitely an unforgettable man.I'm really pleased that I happened upon this book in the library one day.I found I needed to have it in my own library, so I tracked it down and ordered a copy at mylocal bookstore.(Didn't have access to Amazon at the time!) I'mpresently, a couple of years later, reading it a second time, and enjoyingit even more!This is a wonderful, quirky little story, and I'd highlyrecommend it. ... Read more

Isbn: 0684815354
Sales Rank: 1244559
Subjects:  1. City and town life    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. General    5. Kentucky    6. Mountain life    7. Popular American Fiction    8. Fiction / General   

Motherless Brooklyn
by JONATHAN LETHEM
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (24 October, 2000)
list price: $13.95 -- our price: $11.16
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Editorial Review

Pop quiz. Please complete the following sentence: "There are days when I get up in the morning and stagger into the bathroom and begin running water and then I look up and I don't even recognize my own _." If you answered face, then your name is obviously not Jonathan Lethem. Instead of taking the easy out, the genre-busting novelist concludes this by-the-numbers string of words with toothbrush in the mirror.

This brilliant sentence and a lot of other really excellent ones compose Lethem's engaging fifth novel, Motherless Brooklyn. Lionel Essrog, a detective suffering from Tourette's syndrome, spins the narrative as he tracks down the killer of his boss, Frank Minna. Minna enlisted Lionel and his friends when they were teenagers living at Saint Vincent's Home for Boys, ostensibly to perform odd jobs (we're talking very odd) and over the years trained them to become a team of investigators. The Minna men face their most daunting case when they find their mentor in a Dumpster bleeding from stab wounds delivered by an assailant whose identity he refuses to reveal--even while he's dying on the way to the hospital.

Detectives? Brooklyn? Is this the same Lethem who danced the postapocalypso inAmnesia Moon? Incredibly, yes, and rarely has such a departure been pulled off with this much aplomb. As in the "toothbrush" passage above, Lethem sets himself up with the imposing task of making tired conventions new. Brooklyn accents? Fuggetaboutit. Lethem's dialogue is as light on its feet as a prize fighter. Lionel's Tourette's could have been an easy joke, but Lethem probes so convincingly into the disorder that you feel simultaneously rattled, sympathetic, and irritated by the guy. Sure, the story is a mystery, but Motherless Brooklyn could be about flower arranging, for all we care. What counts is Lionel's tic-ridden take on a world full of surprises, propelling this fiction forward at edgy, breakneck speed. --Ryan Boudinot ... Read more

Reviews (173)

I admire the book, but I didn't enjoy it
I read this critically acclaimed novel for a book club, and I was less than impressed.I don't plan to read other Lethem novels after reading this.I seem to be in the minority among Amazon.com reviewers, however.

The whole book takes place in a remarkably short time--two days, with flashbacks interspersed.The narrator runs into a lot of dead ends and puzzling clues in his search for his mentor's killer.I found this frustrating, but then I had to stop to remember that this makes the book more true to life than some of the snazzier mass market detective stories.Real life crime solving is tedious and full of dead ends.

The real genius in Lionel's detective work lies in his Tourette's syndrome.People don't see him as a threat and are therefore less guarded with their words.

I found the book tough to read, but then again, it is probably tough to live with Tourette's, too.Read this for something true-to-life and gritty, and unlike anything else on the bookshelf today.I admire the book for stepping out of the norm, but it is not the kind of journey I usually take with my reading.

Awesome plot, improbable protagonist
Jonathan Lethem's "Motherless Brooklyn" is an excellent innovative tale of intrigue based primarily on the daily streetlife of Brooklyn and Manhattan.The narrator and main character Lionel Essrog suffers from Tourette's syndrome complete with word spews and tics.Lethem boldly and impressively creates dialogue throughout the book littered with Tourette's based utterances

Essrog is employed by small time Brooklyn street hustler Frank Minna.Essrog along with three other orphaned teenagers Tony, Danny and Gilbert were recruited by Minna from the St. Vincent Home for Boys in downtown Brooklyn.At first under the guidance of Minna and his older brother Gerard, they were told that they were working for a moving company and they transported and moved sealed boxes to various locations.After a few months, the boys were introduced to two aged Italian wiseguys Matricardi and Rockaforte and told to forget about the encounter.Shortly thereafter the van used to move the boxes was vandalized,This lead to the fleeing from Brooklyn by both Frank and Gerard Minna
to parts unknown, leaving the boys in the lurch.

Two years pass and Minna returns with a wife, Julia.Lionel and the rest of the Minna Men, as they like to call themselves resume operations this time as a bogus detective agency and car service.They in reality are following Minna's orders as he serves as a liason for the business dealings of Matricardi and Rockaforte.

Lionel and Gilbert are assigned to drive Frank to an elegant apartment on the upper east side of Manhattan.A brass plaque on the door read Yorkville Zendo, a Japanese church teaching Zen Buddhism.Lionel was wearing a headset listening to a microphone planted on Frank.Gilbert waited in the lobby of the building.Minna enterred and was escorted into the Zendo when suddenly an apparent conflict ensued. A gargantuan giant of a man spirited Frank out of the building leading them on a wild car chase.The pursuit ended in an industrial area of Brooklyn and the microphone allowed Lionel to hone in on Minna's wherabouts.They found him thrown into a dumpster with an ultimately fatal abdominal stab wound.

Minna's murder created the crux of the plot, the investigation by Lionel Essrog of the killing of his boss and mentor.Essrog, while afflicted with the sometimes crippling effects of Tourette's nonetheless possesses a quick and analytical mind.He eventually uncovers a creatively crafted set of circumstances in which Lethem tells his captivating tale.

An inventive and enjoyable read.
There was little I didn't like about this book. It kept me guessing, it was unique, funny, sad and disturbing all at the same time and the pages turned quickly, plus it had one of the funniest scenes I've ever encountered in a book when, while shopping, the main character who has Tourette's Syndrome comes upon a magazine with Prince on the cover and he tries to pronounce the symbol out loud. ... Read more

Isbn: 0375724834
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Literary    4. Mystery & Detective - General    5. Mystery fiction    6. Fiction / General    7. Reading Group Guide   

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Today Show Book Club #13)
by Mark Haddon
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (31 July, 2003)
list price: $22.95 -- our price: $15.61
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Editorial Review

Mark Haddon's bitterly funny debut novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a murder mystery of sorts--one told by an autistic version of Adrian Mole. Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers.

Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbor's poodle, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's owner finds him cradling her dead dog in his arms, and has him arrested. After spending a night in jail, Christopher resolves--against the objection of his father and neighbors--to discover just who has murdered Wellington. He is encouraged by Siobhan, a social worker at his school, to write a book about his investigations, and the result--quirkily illustrated, with each chapter given its own prime number--is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Haddon's novel is a startling performance. This is the sort of book that could turn condescending, or exploitative, or overly sentimental, or grossly tasteless very easily, but Haddon navigates those dangers with a sureness of touch that is extremely rare among first-time novelists. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is original, clever, and genuinely moving: this one is a must-read. --Jack Illingworth, Amazon.ca ... Read more

Reviews (821)

A Strange, well-told tale...Very Well Done
The novel begins in the middle of the night when Christopher notices, across the road, that Mrs Shears' dog, Wellington, has been killed with a garden fork. He goes into that garden and takes a closer look. And soon Mrs Shears is up and screaming. The police are called, and Christopher is questioned.

Out of the police station, Christoper sets off to investigate the case of the dead dog, playing the role of his hero, Sherlock Holmes. But his father is continually telling him off, ordering him to stay out of other people's business. Things continue like your typical mystery novel, except that one mystery open into another: that of his missing mother.

Christopher shows many traits typical of someone with AS. These include his difficulty in understanding people (and their expressions) and a computer-like mind for facts, his unusual superstitions, and his great comprehension of math and science, which he shows off in some of the many diversions from the main plot.

I'm not really a fiction reader, partly because I've always found novels rather tedious, often difficult to get into. However, I found this book a compelling read. No words are wasted. I wasn't bored at all. The point of view of someone with AS, and the number of diversions, interesting plot twists, and even a main storyline that is easy to follow -- makes it a much better than average novel, in my opinion. In this way I'm reminded of the another recent Amazon pick, "THE LOSERS CLUB: Complete Restored Edition" by Richard Perez. Easy to read and funny and involving, with very short chapters. So, I guess I must recommend Haddon's book as well as the book by Perez. In many ways, THE LOSERS CLUB is quite similar in its playfulness - and it has a relaxed and easy-to-read style. So, to come down to it, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend BOTH books, THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME and THE LOSERS CLUB: Complete Restored Edition.

Didn't quite do it for me
I had read wonderful reviews on this book and I was very excited to start reading it. But for me the book just dragged on and on. I couldn't take Christopher after awhile and he really got on my nerves. But putting that aside, the writing was great and it was an interesting story. Give it a shot if you want.

Haddon writers rock !!
I loved this book.I thought it was a brilliant masterpiece.This is a great read.I also loved WHISPERS OF THE WICKED SAINTS BY VERONICA HADDON.Any relation?I have no idea, but they are wonderful writers.If you are looking for books that will consume your mind I sugest look no further then the Haddon's ... Read more

Isbn: 0385512104
Subjects:  1. Autism    2. England    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - General    5. General    6. Literary    7. Savants (Savant syndrome)    8. Fiction / General    9. English First Novelists    10. Reading Group Guide   

The Blood of the Lamb
by Peter De Vries
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 October, 1982)
list price: $7.95
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Reviews (4)

Very enjoyable read
Peter DeVries was a very popular writer who contributed many stories to the New Yorker in the fifties and sixties and who wrote several very funny novels. This autobiographical novel describes the growth to maturity of Don Wanderhope, member of a strickly Calvinist Dutch Reform family, whose brother becomes a heretic, whose father becomes addicted to drink and goes insane, and whose wife commits suicide after giving him a child whom he loves deeply. At age eleven, his daughter contracts leukemia, initially does quite well, but then succumbs to a staph infection in the hospital.
Wanderhope - I suspect the name is no accidental choice - in grief stricken anger rails against God and man."I made a tentative conclusion.It seemed from all of this that uppermost among human joys is the negative one of restoration. Not going to the stars, but learning that one may stay where one is. It was shortly after the evening in question that I had a taste of that truth on a scale that enabled me to put my finger on it."The happiest moment of his life comes when the doctor lets him know that his daughter will be all right - a mistake as it turns out."The fairy would not become a gnome.We could break bread in peace again, my child and I. The greatest experience open to man then, is the recovery of the commonplace."
The book has many humorous moments and profound insights, as Wanderhope struggles with religion as he tries to deal with the death of his only child.
"I believe that man must learn to live without those consolations called religious, which his own intelligence must by now have told him belong to the childhood of the race. Philosophy really can give us nothing permanent to believe in either.It is too rich in answers; each canceling out the rest.. The quest for meaning is foredoomed. Human life means nothing.But that is not to say that it is not worth living. What does a Debussy arabesque mean, or a rainbow, or a rose?A man delights in all of these knowing himself to be no more. A wisp of music and haze of dreams dissolving against the sun.Man has only his own two feet to stand on his own human trinity to see him through: reason, courage and grace and the first plus the second equals the third."

A little known gem of a book.
The book is moving, witty, involving, and wise.It is hard to believe that this was published way back in 1961.This book sits now on my most beloved shelf.There is wit and sex and social commentary here, but the book rises above that.It is ultimately a book with a message, about stoic courage and grace, although not everyone is ready for the wisdom here.The book's ultimate message is that we should appreciate the moment and cherish those whom we love while we can.That, as Marcus Aurelius said, life is just loaned to us and, we ought to be ready, at any time, to gratefully say, "Here, I return that which has been loaned to me."

A Book That Takes One's Breath Away
Peter De Vries's*Blood of the Lamb* is a novel of singular depth and humanity.De Vries was America's greatest humorist in the fifties and sixties, but in this work, he deals, from autobiographical experience, with his young daughter's struggle against leukemia.Overflowing with love, wit, fury, energy, and human grace, this book goes to the core of things.It ranks with the greatest works of 20th-century American literature, and it will surprise you.De Vries is best known for his great work for *The New Yorker* and for comedic novels (many made into films) rich in puns, the anatomy of absurdity, and the depredations and joys of libido....but *Blood of the Lamb* is his transcendent work.It's out of print now, and used copies are often hard to come by.It's an exceptional and humanizing experience.It is a moving sublimation of irredeemable tragedy. ... Read more

Isbn: 0140062971
Sales Rank: 512796
Subjects:  1. Children    2. Death    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - General    5. General    6. Psychological fiction    7. Sick children   

Nothing is Impossible: Reflections on a New Life
by Christopher Reeve
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (17 September, 2002)
list price: $19.95
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Editorial Review

A sequel of sorts to Reeve's bestselling memoir, Still Me, Nothing is Impossible is a concise, meditative companion to the earlier book. Each of its nine chapters is devoted to some aspect of successful living (humor, faith, hope) or addresses a major life issue (parenting, religion, recovery). Although Reeve draws on his experiences prior to his spinal chord injury in 1995, it's clear that his views on life have evolved dramatically in the seven years since. Clearly of most obvious value to those facing the challenges of physical paralysis, this book also serves as inspirational primer for otherwise able-bodied individuals who may be thwarted by mental rather than physical wounds. In additional to his personal message, Reeve is also a blunt proponent of medical insurance reform and government research funding, devoting a chapter to it here, as well as a significant portion of his nonprofit Web site, christopherreeve.org. --David Bombeck ... Read more

Reviews (36)

Inspirational!
I picked up this book at my school's library and started glancing through it.It's possibly one of the most motivational and inspirational books I've seen!Reeve recounts all of his trials and how he learned to function again.Throughout it all, he stayed strong with his wife Dana, who supported him through everything.A must read!

I am sad
Christopher Reeve died almost 3 months ago i am researching him and he fell off the horse and still survived and even though he was real hurt alot he cared of other people he was a good athlete and especially actor.He was a huge survivor.
In Memoriam,
Christopher Reeve

Inspirational
Nothing Is Impossible is an inspirational book with stories by Christopher Reeve about his life after his spinal cord injury.
There is no better way to learn than directly from someone who has already been through it all. And this book is definately an amazing lesson on life.
I was interested in reading about his views on religion and his marriage. He was a great actor, and really was inspiring with his message. ... Read more

Isbn: 0375507787
Subjects:  1. 1952-    2. Actors    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    8. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    9. Handicapped    10. Individual Movie Actors And Actresses    11. Motivational & Inspirational    12. Quadriplegics    13. Reeve, Christopher,    14. Sociology Of The Mentally And Physically Challenged    15. Specific Groups - Special Needs    16. United States    17. Reeve, Christopher    18. Religion / Inspirational   

Stephen Hawking A Life in Science
by Michael White, John Gribbin
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 November, 2002)
list price: $17.95 -- our price: $12.21
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Reviews (6)

A Fascinating Story of a Man and His Ideas
Stephen Hawking A Life In Science by Michael White and John Gibbons does a fantastic job of combining both the story of Stephen Hawkings's life and in depth explanations of his scientific work and findings.The story of Hawking's life is told starting from his very early childhood and progress through his schooling and career.The book discusses the people and events in Hawking's early life that influenced him to work in the field of Cosmology.The book also addresses the discoveries and theories that Hawking developed in his studies.The theories are explained in plenty of detail but the authors do a good job in making them as easy to understand a possible.The story of Hawking's life itself is truly amazing because of the significant discoveries he made despite his disability.The book is worth while fro anyone who want s to learn about Stephen Hawking and wants to learn a bit about his discoveries and why they are significant.Although the authors do try to keep the explanations simple, there are some parts that are hard to understand without a decent knowledge of physic's principles.Even so, the book is still well written and the story it tells is fascinating.

Good biography of an incredible man
I am an enormous fan of Stephen Hawking, his achievements in physics are incredible and his ability to overcome his illness demonstrates how sturdy the human mind can be. He is touted in the book as the greatest mind since Einstein, which is a claim I also recently read concerning Richard Feynman. I have no opinion on this, as I hold them both in very high regard. To me such debates are silly, as ranking such people is so subjective that it is meaningless and wasteful.
That aside, I generally enjoyed the book, finding the explanations of the physics a little too simplistic for my tastes, but certainly within the realm of the general reader. My only real criticism is that there was too much ink spent on some of the minutiae of his life.Even Hawking probably objects to some of the details about his life that appear. However, I was pleased to read that he can be temperamental and shows his anger by running over a person's foot with his wheelchair. It just makes him sound that much more human.
This is a good biography of a great man, who lets nothing get in his way. An inspiration who probably does not want the role in any capacity other than as a physicist, he has revolutionized cosmology and it will be a minimum of decades before all the consequences of his work will be known.

Interesting material but poorly written
Stephen Hawking's life and his research in cosmology are fascinating and based on that alone I enjoyed this book.However, the book is poorly written and lacks depth.It lacks any detailed description of StephenHawking's work and doesn't provide any true insight into his life orcharacter.For example, the authors repeatedly inform us of what anoverpowering presence Stephen Hawking has but they never provide anyevidence of this.Good writers show you what they mean - they don't justrepeatedly tell you.

This book seems to based on no actual contact withStephen or Jane Hawking or any of his colleagues. It seems that the authorsread "A Brief History of Time," read a couple of articles, andthen decided to write a biography.It definitely comes up short. ... Read more

Isbn: 0309084105
Sales Rank: 567565
Subjects:  1. (Stephen W.)    2. Astronomy (General)    3. Astronomy - General    4. Astrophysics    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Biography / Autobiography    8. Biography/Autobiography    9. Great Britain    10. Hawking, S. W    11. Hawking, S. W.    12. Physicists    13. Physics    14. Physics (General)    15. Scientists - General    16. Specific Groups - Special Needs   

Saving Milly : Love, Politics, and Parkinson's Disease (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
by MORTON KONDRACKE
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (28 May, 2002)
list price: $14.00 -- our price: $11.20
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Editorial Review

Morton Kondracke chronicles his wife's 13-year battle against Parkinson's disease with the same attention to nitty-gritty details and shrewd understanding of how power works that distinguish his political commentary. Kondracke doesn't airbrush how horrible it is to have Parkinson's (the squeamish should avoid the passages about Milly Kondracke's two rounds of deep-brain surgery), or how difficult it is to live with someone who does (the mere recitation of his caretaking activities will exhaust most readers). He provides unvarnished accounts of the battles among members of the Parkinson's Action Network and other disease activists competing for limited federal research funds, until they got real and decided to fight to double the National Institutes of Health's budget so everyone would get more money. And he refuses to offer a feel-good ending charged with false hope; the book's closing pages include a grim account of the Kondrackes' discussions about what to do if she becomes unable to swallow. (They settled on refusing the feeding tube and allowing her to starve to death, which "is not painful if the patient doesn't take liquids.") Offsetting this bleak material is a vibrant, loving, and equally candid portrait of the indomitable Millicent Martinez Kondracke, who began up-ending the admittedly self-absorbed, drivingly ambitious Kondracke's life from the moment they met in 1966. He'd planned to marry an Ivy-educated heiress who could further his career; instead he was swept away by a Mexican Jewish American firebrand who challenged authority on everything from a botched car repair to the school system's poor handling of their daughter's dyslexia. Seeing how powerful she once was, we share her anguish as she descends into disability--and her husband's hope that, despite all the current scientific projections, research will provide a breakthrough in time to save Milly. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Reviews (33)

Outstanding interview + reader's guide in paperback edition
Paperback includes both a reading guide and a compelling interview with Kondracke by his comrade, Fred Barnes. In particular, it is interesting to learn about what Kondracke wishes he had done a bit differently in telling the story. In a sense, Kondracke stands outside the story to evaluate how faithfully he told it, an extraordinary exercise.

Maybe this book is less about Milly and more about "saving Milly" and what that meant: pragmatically, socially, politically, spiritually. It's a useful distinction to bear in mind. There is some background information about this brave and lovely woman, but inasmuch as the topic is an encounter with a disease she has, this is not a biography of Milly. It is a picture of sickness and its impact: not of the woman, herself.

There are plenty of books about people with illness: fewer, by far, about the very flawed, though devoted, individuals who care for them. Kondracke seems no longer to flinch at the shadows of his inadequacy and pomposity, which might encourage the reader to consider a similarly brave examination of conscience. Many of us will be called to be caregivers. Thisis no map, but it is a clear narrative of costs, rewards, pain, and delight that bubble up in the dynamic between cared-for and caregiver.

I liked the book a lot and absolutely recommend the paperback edition because of its additions.

Saving A Friend
I had known Milly Kondracke for a quarter of a century before her death last year of Parkinson's disease. She was my mentor. Morton's memoir of their marriage is touching, well-written and a quick read.

My only regret is that Morton glossed over Milly's wonderful gift as a social worker/therapist in a paragraph, for that was her career identity. Milly did her own mourning when she had to cease her private practice due to her illness. Still the book gives you a taste of her personality, one of those persons who were larger than life.

"Saving Milly" achingly illustrates the struggle of a family who must care for a loved one through a long term illness and raises the question of politics, funding and ethics for those with incurable illnesses. I highly recommend this book.

Why I Will Never Complain Again
Reading this book was like sitting at a kitchen table and letting Mort just pour his story out over a cup of coffee (like Mort, I am a recovering drunk so we can't do it over a beer). His is a story of passion, love, commitment and clear proof that there is nothing in my life I can ever complain about again.

Millie is an extraordinary woman, her struggles with life, faith and Parkinson's come alive in this real narrative. You can't help but feel her pain, and Mort's immense love and commitment to her.

I have always liked Kondracke as a pundit - I am a liberal republican, he a conservative democrat. We share similar feelings about nearly every issue except who we are most likely to initially vote for in a Presidential race. His struggle to get government officials to hear his plea for funding pissed me off - and I am sure you will share his frustrations in the reading.

Most critically, you will absolutely be moved by the openness, honesty and devotion in this story. ... Read more

Isbn: 034545197X
Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. General    6. Health    7. Kondracke, Milly    8. Literary    9. Parkinson's disease    10. Patients    11. United States    12. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Elegy for Iris
by John Bayley
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (14 December, 2001)
list price: $13.00 -- our price: $10.40
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Editorial Review

In one of literary history's ghastlier ironies, Iris Murdoch, the author of such highly intellectual and philosophical novels as A Severed Head and Under the Net, was diagnosed in 1994 with Alzheimer's disease, which slowly destroys reasoning powers, memory, even the ability to speak coherently. Her husband, English literary critic John Bayley, unsparingly depicts his wife's affliction in prose as elegant and accessible as hers always was. Readers may wince at the spectacle of Murdoch glued to the TV watching the Teletubbies program, unable to perform tasks as simple as dressing herself and prey to devastating anxiety as the world becomes less and less comprehensible to her. We understand Bayley's occasional fits of rage when his caretaking chores overwhelm him. Yet in the end his memoir is touching, even inspiring. As he recalls their first meetings and marriage in the 1950s, it becomes clear that theirs was always an unconventional union, in which solitude was as important to each of them as togetherness and Bayley was content to let Murdoch keep her inner life to herself. He loves Iris, the woman, not the intellect, and he conveys an essential sweetness about his wife that endures even as her mental faculties deteriorate. This totally unsentimental account of their life and her illness is nonetheless a heartbreaker. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Reviews (34)

A small masterpiece
This book is the story of a marriage, a life together of two enormously intelligent writers, John Bayley and Iris Murdoch. Bayley tells the story of their forty - two years of marriage at the same time he describes more closely the four last years in which Iris Murdoch suffered from Alzheimer's. He writes with humor and quiet understanding, and his obvious admiration and love for his wife speak throughout the work.
The cruelty of Alzheimer's is somehow underlined when the one who suffers is a person of extraordinary mind , a devotee of the life of the mind . Bayley honestly and painfully portays the strange kind of blankness and absence which the Alzheimer sufferer often displays. He does this against a background of the story of two lives, each of one has been lived in part in the great solitude of outstanding creator endeavor. But he also very good relating their shared experiences.
Bayley is also tactful and restrained about a certain assymetry in their relation, relating probably much more to the early years when Iris was involved with others. One nonetheless feels Bayley's restrained anger in his description of the ' master figure ' who for a time seemed to be a center of Murdoch's intellectual life.
What however impresses and makes this work remarkable is the steady gaze of love and intelligence with which Bayley sees , envelopes and protects Murdoch . This book is a work of love and pain, and of great beauty. It also provides much valuable insight into that terrible condition when the person is physically present but mentally lost.

Wonderfully rambling
I've spent the last 3-4 years writing a memoir (Baby Catcher). Therefore, I'm immersing myself in creative NF and memoir, and this is one of the best. Only a consummate writer such as John Bailey could have pulled this off. I've heard others complain about his rambling style, meandering between distant past, near past, and present (and I haven't seen the movie yet), but I found the transitions seamless and the flow of time as effortless as thought itself. Bailey shows all phases of the caretaking of someone with late-stage Alzheimers, regret, humor, irritation, rage, impatience, love, silliness... Would that each of us be accompanied on our trip to life's end - however it may present itself - by someone similarly compassionate. And articulate. May John Bailey himself be equally eulogized.

A Fairy-Tale Memorial: Elegy for Iris
A mysterious lady.A dashing young suitor.A love that overcomes all obstacles.Sound like Disney's latest flick?Not so.It's John Bayley's narrative Elegy for Iris, a stunning memoir for his wife Iris Murdoch.In this real life fairy-tale story with a not so fairy-tale ending, Bayley recalls his life with Iris before Alzheimer's robbed her personality of it's usual depth, as well as the change the disease wrought in her, and in his life with her.

Elegy for Iris is the wonderfully detailed, lovingly written story of Iris Murdoch's and John Bayley's life together, told from Bayley's point of view.It tells of their meeting, the growth of their relationship, their unusual marriage, and the change in their lives after Iris became afflicted with Alzheimer's.From Bayley's "lady on a bicycle" to swimming in seemingly every main river in France and England; from Iris' diary entry "St. Antony's Dance.Fell down the steps, and seem to have fallen in love with J.We didn't dance much." to their unusual marriage of solitude; Bayley has written his story to enchant and amaze.

Bayley's attention to detail, even seemingly those that are minor or irrelevant, can be seen throughout the book.His descriptions, for instance, of his various outings with Iris make the memoir much more realistic."Our first swim was in a river of the Pas-de-Calais, a deep, placid tributary of the Somme...The next was much farther south, in a steep and wild-wooded valley, with pine and chestnut growing up the mountains.The water was warm, and the stream so secluded that we slipped in with nothing on", is only a part of Bayley's extensive descriptions of their honeymoon.Water plays a large part in their lives; whenever Bayley and Iris go somewhere new, they find someplace to swim there.Water seems to be a symbol of change, of their changing lives throughout their years together.

Bayley's attention to detail can also be a detriment to the reader, however, as it makes the story-line difficult to follow at times.When he begins to tell one particular tale, he often will break into many tangents, that can entangle the reader and detract from the focus on the main narrative."Our host, who had been getting lunch, was quite a time getting to the door.He was a brilliant green eyed doctor named Maurice Charlton...Maurice Charlton probably worked harder than either of us, or than both of us put together, I should say....Maurice Charlton died young, of cancer, I believe, more than twenty years ago." This can be somewhat confusing, and occurs throughout the book.

The description that Bayley gives their marriage is a striking one, and is a continuous theme throughout Elegy for Iris.He describes "one of the truest pleasures of marriage [as] solitude", using the words of Australian poet AD Hope that marriage is designed to `move [the partners] closer and closer apart.' This unusual description runs contrast to most peoples' beliefs on marriage, yet serves as a perfect description for Bayley's own marriage."Such ignorance, such solitude!They suddenly seemed the best part of love and marriage.We were together because we were comforted and reassured by the solitariness we saw and were aware of in the other."This attitude seems predominant throughout the narrative, even after Iris is afflicted with Alzheimer's.The only difference, in Bayley's eyes, is that "the closeness of apartness has necessarily become the closeness of closeness."Bayley's view on marriage is a refreshing change from the normal stereotypes.

This book is thoroughly enjoyable and heartwarming, yet at the same time poignantly sad.To watch as Bayley slowly loses the woman who was his wife to a woman who recalls almost nothing of their life together, yet continues to cling to Bayley as if he were her last hope, isslightly depressing.Yet, as his memories show, Bayley and Iris lived a rich, full life together- it is heartwarming to watch them fall in love, marry, and grow together in their relationship.Bayley runs the full gamut of emotions in this personal narrative-and what's more, he makes the reader do the same. ... Read more

Isbn: 0312421117
Subjects:  1. 1925-    2. 20th century    3. Bayley, John,    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. College teachers    7. Fiction    8. Great Britain    9. Literary    10. Marriage    11. Movie-TV Tie-In - General    12. Movie/Tv Tie-Ins    13. Murdoch, Iris    14. Novelists, English    15. Personal Memoirs    16. Philosophers    17. Specific Groups - Special Needs    18. Biography & Autobiography / Literary   

Lucky Man (Random House Large Print)
by MICHAEL J. FOX
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (02 April, 2002)
list price: $22.95 -- our price: $15.61
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Editorial Review

The same sharp intelligence and self-deprecating wit that made MichaelJ. Fox a star in the Family Ties TV series and Back to the Futuremake this a lot punchier than the usual up-from-illness celebrity memoir. Yes,he begins with the first symptoms of Parkinson's disease, the incurable illnessthat led to his retirement from Spin City (and acting) in 2000. And yes,he assures us he is a better, happier person now than he was before he wasdiagnosed. In Fox's case, you actually might believe it, because he thencheerfully exposes the insecurities and self-indulgences of his pre-Parkinson'slife in a manner that makes them not glamorous but wincingly ordinary and ofcourse very funny. ("As for the question, 'Does it bother you that maybe shejust wants to sleep with you because you're a celebrity?' My answer to that onewas, 'Ah...nope.'") With a working-class Canadian background, Fox has anunusually detached perspective on the madness of mass-media fame; hisdescription of the tabloid feeding frenzy surrounding his 1988 wedding to TracyPollan, for example, manages to be both acid and matter-of-fact. He is frank butnot maudlin about his drinking problem, and he refreshingly notes that gettingsober did not automatically solve all his other problems. This readable, wittyautobiography reminds you why it was generally a pleasure to watch Fox onscreen:he's a nice guy with an edge, and you don't have to feel embarrassed aboutliking him. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

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Reviews (160)

Learn compassion for others, & don't let illness consume you
I got this book via download Microsoft Reader...& it was hard to quit reading once I started. Being nearly the same age as Michael J. Fox, I've always felt that I sort of "grew up" with him...having watched him since "Family Ties." This book is very engaging & interesting. Despite some profanity (which I'm not crazy about--the only downside, in my opinion, to the book) Michael tells his story without self-pity and, indeed, with a gratefulness for life even with Parkinson's. In fact, it seems BECAUSE of Parkinson's, although that might be a bit of an overstatement. He has learned how precious life is. He's learned what we all need to learn: not to take the everyday things we are able to do and our lives for granted. With health issues myself, I could relate to some extent. Michael is so grounded and has such a great family...his kids love their "Shaky Dad" so tremendously, it seems. I'm glad I bought the book and read it. It helped me with the feelings in my own health issues. I recommend this book to anyone who likes Michael's work or just likes him...or to anyone who is fighting & living with a chronic illness. He is inspiring in his desire to give back to others through his own difficulties. I sincerely hope & pray there is a cure for Parkinson's soon! Even though my health problems won't be cured in my lifetime, probably (not as high on the list as other health problems), I am thrilled for anyone who has been in pain & can be cured or helped a great deal by advances in medicine (or by prayer and encouragment!). I also lean a great deal on Jesus; He is my Savior, Friend, and Helper. For those who have never been ill, this book will help you see things from a different point of view. It's hard to understand chronic illness unless you've lived it. I understood when Michael talked about getting the right timing on his medications before he'd have to do something (like appear on a talk show). Granted, I'm not famous nor will I ever be, but I also, like Michael, do "time" my medications for the best results when I have to go out & do things that take more energy than I have (or I know will cause me pain) or when I have more work than usual. Some days are easier; some days are really tough; and some days are in-between. It's a day-to-day thing, as Michael says, to deal with & something we carry with us all the time--our illnesses. I am thankful I can work part-time from my home. I don't want to be mired in self-pity and let the illness become my identity, as Michael has kept from doing. Like Michael, I want to reach out to others with chronic illnesses. Those who are in pain from illnesses often develop more compassion for others who are ill, & I want to continue to learn to show more love & support to others who are in pain or are distressed due to illness. I'm learning to appreciate small blessings. :)

Wonderful Man
Michael J. Fox has always been a joy to all of the world. I can't recall any scandals or bad news he may have been involved in. That's why it is so heartbreaking to see someone like him become stricken with this horrible illness. Fox goes into detail on his birth, childhood, and his struggle to get to the top in show business. Once he gets there, he explains how he slowly became stricken with Parkinson's disease, and readers can feel the pain that he, his family, and his friends all felt. Top-notch work in every sense of the word, sure to bring both laughs and tears to our eyes.

A Humble Surprise
This book was recommended to me and I was pleasantly surprised by how thoroughly I enjoyed it.It seems incongruous that Michael J. Fox has written such a humble memoir when he is best known for somewhat callous, self-centered characters on the screen. Yet throughout the course of his reminiscing, he talks about his choices to leave the 'magical world' of Hollywood for a real life.However, his celebrity status is always there, for better or worse.

Fox begins his book with the tale of how he discovered that he had Parkinson's Disease.He goes through the entire denial process, and 'hides' his disease for so long due to the fact that he hasn't come to terms with it.He needed to accept it as his fate before he could share it with the world.His memoir is broken into segments of his life, and Fox summarily describes his Canadian upbringing, how he dropped out of high school to pursue acting in Hollywood, and the years he struggled until he hit financial and celebrity success with "Family Ties" and the "Back to the Future" trilogy.He takes an unflinching look at his box-office failures, movies he acted in more so for financial reasons than creative ones, and an even starker look at his once overpowering dependency on alcohol to help him mask his fears about having PD.In the end, he recounts why he considers himself to be lucky even though he has an incurable neurological disease, and why he is more than happy to lend his name to finding a cure.

Michael J. Fox has written a witty, poignant memoir, filled with the wry humor that made him a beloved household name.He holds nothing back in his memoir, and never once searches for pity.He is at peace with his fate and the role that he has chosen to play for the rest of his life off the screen - that of an advocate to raise money for Parkinson's research in efforts to find a cure.Here's hoping that he succeeds. ... Read more

Isbn: 0375431411
Subjects:  1. 1961-    2. Actors    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Canada    8. Diseases - Nervous System (incl. Brain)    9. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    10. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    11. Fox, Michael J.,    12. Parkinson's disease    13. Patients    14. United States    15. Biography & Autobiography / General    16. Fox, Michael J   

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes : My Story
by Annette Funicello, Patricia Romanowski
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (06 April, 1995)
list price: $10.95
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Reviews (8)

Wonderful Story
I have the audio cassette of A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes, and it is beautiful.I've listened to it several times in my car.I don't tire of it because it is a human story.Annette Funicello suceeded on her own -- her father was an auto mechanic and her mother stayed at home.This is an inspiration to children and even adults.

Fresh, lively writing and colorful anecdotes
Surprisingly absorbing and lively recollections from Annette Funicello, one-time Mouseketeer and Disney darling who was the only teen-mouse to graduate to the big screen via the "Beach Party" and "Merlin Jones" comedies. Annette comes clean about being the only Mouseketeer kept on contract by Walt Disney after The MMC ran it's course, and she contemplates why that was and how her co-stars struggled without Disney's guidance. She is very upfront, but also a little indifferent to her own good fortune, embarrassed and innately shy about a career that just fell into her lap. She says she never aspired to fame, but got it regardless. The book continues its interesting narrative even after Annette marries and retires, cleaning the house the day she heard Walt Disney passed, and eventually realizing her marraige was out of gas. Fate dealt Annette(and all her fans)a bitter hand when she was diagnosed with MS, which she still continues to fight, but her inspiring conclusion to the book gives all of us hope.

Relatively engaging, but missing a lot
As a fan of the "pop" movies and music of the 1960's, I've had a long term interest in the author.So I opened up this book not just curious, but perhaps somewhat already knowlegable about Annette, particularly her "post-Mickey Mouse club" career and life.

And perhaps that's why I give this book at best 3 stars.Annette and Patricia Romanowski (perhaps the names should be the other way around, one gets the sense reading this -- given much of the vocabularily used and the quality of the writing -- that Romanowski, not Funicello wrote most of it; nothing against Annette, but I have a hard time believing a woman with just a high school education writes this well) really cherry-pick way you learn about.

Fine, I understand that's the nature of celebrity "autobiography," but this one goes too far.It over-focuses heavily on certain stories (her adolescent relationship with Paul Anka, making it out to be a lot more than it probably was) and completely ignores others.

As example, some of the messy "politics" that went on in the cast of the original Mickey Mouse club -- everything is warm and fuzzy in Annette's version -- remain unmentioned.

The book also glosses over Annettes entry into the American International Beach Party movies.In the book, Annette implies Walt Disney simply offered her a script one day for a film named "Beach Party."Well, the story isn't quite that simple:

Annette's entry in the series came partly because she and Walt Disney knew she desperately needed a change in career direction.By early 1963, Annette was 20 and had clearly grown out of her "kiddy" positioning as a Mouseketeer.Walt did his best, but could only find so many internal opportunities for a "grown up"" Annette.She'd appeared in a handful of live action movies for Disney, and still made occasional appearances on his Sunday TV show, but this wasn't leading to any starring role opportunities outside of his company.Also, a pop singing career that started in 1959 and produced a handful of hits had slowed down (by early 1963, Annette hadn't charted in almost 3 years).As a result, when AIP approached Walt, looking for an affordable, beautiful brand-name leading lady who could sing for their new, trendy "surfing" movie, he immediately saw an opportunity to fix his "what-do-I-do-with-Annette" problem.With his blessing (Annette was still under contract to Disney,) a deal with AIP was quickly finalized.

But you'll never hear about any of that in this book.

Also, Annette repeats an infamous "urban legend" about the Beach Party series.

Since she was still under contract with Disney while appearing in these movies, Annnete claims Walt Disney insisted in negotiations with AIP that she never be involved in any "suggestive" sequences.Specifically, she says Walt insisted she could not be filmed wearing anything that "showed her navel."Annette goes on to state that through the course of 6 Beach Party movies, she never wore anything that showed her navel "out of respect" for Mr. Disney.

Well, irrespective of what Walt supposedly requested/desired, Annette apparently forgot about the bathing suits she wore during early scenes in both Muscle Beach Party and Bikini Beach: in the former, a white supposedly "tummy-covering" two piece, and the latter an honest to goodness blue and white bikini. Both of these at times clearly left her navel 100% uncovered and readily viewable to anyone who isn't asleep (the "navel appearance" is brief and somewhat subtle in Muscle but obvious and extensive in Bikini, particularly in the scenes where Annette first gets involved with Avalon's "Potato Bug" character).As far as navels go, Annette's is nice, but hardly anything to get all hot and bothered over (particularly in the context of the distraction produced by all the other undulating, bikinied females floating around in those scenes).Frankly, one is really left wondering what all the fuss was about.

The book also completely ignores Annette's post Beach Party career at American International Pictures, an intriguing period that had a lot to do with her "retiring" from acting when she did.

Botttom line: one ends up respecting the author - she is indeed is the class act and lady you always presumed -but frustrated, knowing there's a lot more to her story. ... Read more

Isbn: 0786880929
Sales Rank: 356662
Subjects:  1. Actors, American    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    6. Funicello, Annette    7. General    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Singers    10. United States    11. Juvenile Fiction / General   

Awakenings
by OLIVER SACKS
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (05 October, 1999)
list price: $15.00 -- our price: $10.20
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Editorial Review

It hardly seems fair that so many great doctors are also great writers. Perhaps it's qualities like sensitivity, craft, and dedication that keep physicians like Oliver Sacks in hospitals all day and at writing desks all night; if nothing else, these qualities shine in books like Awakenings. This powerful set of case histories rises above its pathological foundation to find new literary territory, a medical-spiritual synthesis equally stimulating for the mind and the soul. It's no wonder Hollywood producers chose to turn it into a feature film--anyone can see the universal human struggle against bondage and despair in these pages.

The sleeping-sickness epidemic of 1918 caused hundreds of survivors to slip into a bizarre rigid paralysis with similarities to advanced Parkinson's disease. These patients, only occasionally able to communicate or move, were nearly all institutionalized for life, their ranks increasing every now and then with similarly afflicted men and women.Sacks came to work at a long-term care facility shortly before the first exciting results with L-dopa and Parkinson's in the late 1960s; his patients soon embarked on dramatic, difficult recoveries from up to 50 years of torpor.He documents their spiritual and medical obstacles with great care to portray their individual personalities, long suppressed but finally released.Though many great doctors are also great writers, few can compare with Oliver Sacks for expressing the relation of medicine to the human spirit. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Disturbing Tale
This book details the experiments with L-Dopa that Dr. Oliver Sacks put some special patients through at the Mt. Carmel Hospital in New York.These patients had been infected with encephalitis lethargica some 40 years earlier.One of the after effects of encephalitis lethargica (a disease which appeared mysteriously in 1916 and disappeared just as mysteriously in 1926) is manifestation of the symptoms of severe Parkinson's Disease.The patients had tremors, and they just seemed to freeze up, unable to move, walk, talk, or even swallow, in some cases.This left the patients in a catatonic state, and when their relatives were unable to care for them any longer at home, they were institutionalized at the hospital, together with patients suffering from dementia and other mental illnesses. Dr. Sacks, a neurologist, began working at Mt. Carmel in 1966.About that time, researchers working on Parkinson's began touting the wonders of L-Dopa, a drug that seemed to provide some relief from the Parkinsons' symptoms.

In the summer of 1969, Sacks began to administer L-Dopa to the encephalitis lethargica patients to see if it would also relieve their symptoms.The results were miraculous-at first.Patients were suddenly able to move their muscles again, and they stood up from their wheelchairs and began walking around for the first time in 20-40 years.They laughed, talked, sang and wrote about their experiences both before their illness, and during their long stay at the hospital. Unfortunately, however, the euphoria was short-lived for all, as ticks, psychoses, and other mental disorders began to set in, often after a period of a few weeks or even just a few days of relative health.

In this book, Sacks describes encephalitis lethargica, then he provides a selection of case histories, detailing patients' lives before L-Dopa, during the euphoric state of health, and the later stages, in which nearly every patient developed extreme psychological disorders that necessitated stopping the L-Dopa treatments.In the conclusion of the book, Sacks analyzes what went wrong, and generally ascribes it to the underlying mental state of the patients.He suggests that once their initial euphoria over re-joining the world wore off, weak personalities, compounded with poor relationships with family members and mistreatment over the years at the hospital came together and allowed simmering psychoses and other mental problems to bubble to the surface and drag the patients back down to their illness once again."Love is the alpha and the omega," he states, suggesting that if these patients were more capable of loving and being loved, they could have maintained their healthy state brought on by L-Dopa.

From the vantage point of today's understanding of the brain and neurochemistry, Sacks' experiments and analyses seem inexcusable.Yes, it probably was reasonable to try L-Dopa with these patients.However, when every one of them went on to develop ticks, and psychoses, an alarm bell should have gone off.However, in the 1960s, psychosis and bipolar disorders were thought to be purely emotional problems with roots in poor relationships and attitudes.Nothing was known at the time of how brain chemistry is involved with these illnesses, so when patients starting exhibiting psychotic behaviors, Sacks blamed it on their personalities rather than questioning what else L-Dopa was doing to their minds besides easing their Parkinson's symptoms.Today, such side effects of L-Dopa are well known, and patients taking L-Dopa may also be given anti-psychotic drugs as well.

When I read the blurb on the back cover about patients waking like Rip Van Winkle from a 40-year sleep, I expected tales of a miraculous cure, tempered with feelings of loss and adjustment.But these patients weren't asleep all those years-they were just confined in bodies that would not move.For some, their minds were also slowed, but not stopped completely.They were aware of what was going on around them, but they just couldn't do anything about it.One patient could move a few fingers, and was able not only to communicate with a typing board, but even to write book reviews the entire time he was in the hospital.Thanks to L-Dopa, he had a wonderful summer of movement, but then the consequent mental side effects became so severe that he had to be restrained and taken off L-Dopa, which meant a return to his former frozen state for the remainder of his life, during which time he was so traumatized that he never wrote again.For such a patient, it's not clear that the L-Dopa experiments left him any better off than before; indeed, it appears that he felt worse off, although Sacks suggests otherwise.In sum, the book is far different from what I expected, and quite disturbing in with its tales of medical experimentation and the omnipotence of a doctor working with the severely disabled.On the other hand, it can be morbidly fascinating to see how a scientist can believe so strongly in his work based on his understanding of the world, when later research will show his basic assumptions to be very flawed, hence his conclusions baseless.

Compelling documentation
One of the things I find most striking about Oliver Sacks is his humanity. I find myself instilled with his sense of compassion and understanding by reading his cases.

Awakenings succeeds at being accessible to both the layperson and professional, and captivating both. There is a glossary to familiarize yourself with neurological terminology, but again the book isn't overtly prolix; rather a gripping account of neurological maladies.

Through Mr.Sack's these patients have received a certain immortality; a sense that their suffering has not been in vain, but tremendously valuable, not only to the advancement of neurology but as testament to the inherent strength and resolve in us all.

Wonderfully written, but less than that of his other work...
If I had never read "The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat" before this book (both by the same author), I would have rated this as a five-star classic.Though as well written as the other work, this book presents his studies in a less humane, and more scientific way. Read the other work and one will sense the noticeable difference in the way that Dr. Sacks approached his patients.When reading the "Awakenings", I felt as a detached bystander looking through the windows of his clinic and observing the patients.When reading "The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat", I was so engaged by Dr. Sacks vivid descriptions of the patients, physically, intellectually, emotionally and spiritually, that it was as if I was face-to-face with the patients, and that I was connected in some intrinsic way to each and every one of them.Please please read the other work as well as this one. ... Read more

Isbn: 0375704051
Subjects:  1. Case studies    2. Complications    3. Diseases Of Central Nervous System    4. Dopa    5. Epidemic encephalitis    6. Medical    7. Neurology - General    8. Neuropsychology    9. Postencephalitic Parkinson's d    10. Postencephalitic Parkinson's disease    11. Psychology    12. Therapeutic use    13. Psychology & Psychiatry / Neuropsychology   

Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf
by Oliver W. Sacks, Olvier Sacks
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 October, 1990)
list price: $12.00
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Reviews (14)

"...the deaf have something to teach us."
In this extraordinary study, Dr. Sacks gives the general reader a penetrating insight into the world of the deaf. In his acclaimed "The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat", as a practicing neurologist, he brought his readers into the bizarre world of terrible brain related illnesses, presenting twenty-four cases of individuals afflicted with such diseases as agnosia or prosopagnosia, where "normal" reality is turned inside out, and how some of these diseases are treated and how the patients cope with their condition. In "Seeing Voices", he permits us entry into the silent, at times strange, though culturally rich world of the congenitally and pre-lingually deaf.

As someone who has had no previous experience or knowledge in this area, for me this text opened a whole new area of culture and history that is continually growing and developing.

Sacks' explores the nature of language, touching upon Noam Chomsky's paradigm-shifting studies, "Syntactic Structures", "Cartesian Linguistics" and Language of Mind", where he proposes his theory that language is innate, lying dormant until it is made active through human interaction and culture. Sacks connects these theories to the pre-lingual deaf and its implications and manifestations.

We are also given a history lesson on the language of SIGN, how it has developed, why it was jettisoned, out of ignorant prejudice, in the late nineteenth century, and its miraculous come back in the twentieth century. Through Sacks' concise and straightforward prose, he connects us to the foreign world of another language not depended on speech, its intricacies and its wonder, and how those of us who have the ability to hear and to verbalize, all too often take language for granted. He also makes clear the sophistication of Sign as a form of legitimate communication, its grammatical foundations and its many nuances, and how, in some ways, it is a superior form of active exchange between people.

In chapter three, Sacks tells us about the cultural breakthrough at Gallaudet University in March 1988, where after massive student protest, the school literally closed down, the first ever deaf president of the university was appointed. Sacks witnessed this social changing event first hand, which in the end affected him more than he realized,

"I had to see this all for myself before I could be moved from my previous "medical" view of deafness (as a condition, a deficit, that had to be "treated") to a "cultural" view of the deaf as forming a community with a complete language and culture of its own." (P.129-30)

Indeed this entire text has changed my view that deafness is not simply a condition or human deficit, but another way of being in the world. In fact the deaf, with their shared language are forming a world community and culture crossing all barriers. And as Dr. Sacks points out, in this way, "...the deaf have something to teach us." (P. 167)

A fascinating glimpse into the world of the deaf
I've read most of Oliver Sack's books and this one is perhaps my favorite. While I am not deaf myself and cannot begin to comprehend the complexities of living in a world that in so aural-dependent, I think Sacks has done an excellent job of introducing the layman to the world of the Deaf. This book is part ascientific exploration and part social history. It is probably incomplete as one previous reviewer indicated but I don't think that Sacks meant for the book to be a comprehensive history of the Deaf, nor a complete medical look at deafness. I found the book to be fascinating and , like most of the author's books, left me wanting to know more about the subject.

Incomplete
Being a Deaf person, I enjoy reading about the culture, the history, the outlook of others. That's why I was particulary excited when I got my hands on this book. And while I was interested throughout the book, I found my blood pressure frequently rising as I read the author's biased and one-track-mind approach.

He speaks as if all deaf people are the same and that one language is right for all. I, personally, use the language he speaks of, however, it is simply not healthy to presume all deaf people do as well. The largest thing he fails to even mention once is the fact that the large majority of deaf people became deaf after the age of 18.

That being said, if you're interested in learning nothing more than what this man thinks and his delight in learning a handful of signs and communicating with us less fortunate people (sarcasm), read away. If, on the other hand, you want to truly learn more about the culture and not only what Oliver Sacks believes, click on the back arrow at the top of your screen and continue your search. :o( ... Read more

Isbn: 0060973471
Sales Rank: 46803
Subjects:  1. American sign language    2. Deaf    3. Gallaudet University    4. Handicapped    5. History    6. Psychology    7. Sociology    8. Student strike, 1988   

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: And Other Clinical Tales
by Oliver Sacks
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 January, 1987)
list price: $13.00
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Reviews (69)

To challenge our assumptions on the limits of mankind
I've never read a book like it, but I hope to find many more. Whether I was to love this book rested on maybe three things: I wanted a sensitive and humble genius of an author who could thoroughly amuse me with exceptionally amazing stories. Because Sacks succeeded at this, it will remain one of my favourite books of all time. In 'The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat', Sacks gives account after account of the various people he works with as a neurologist; and behind every one of his patients is a story to challenge some of your deepest assumptions on the limits of mankind. By way of a simple example, if a great many autistic people - having never been instructed in maths - can intuitively grasp this subject at a level to challenge computers, what does this say about mankind's innate mathematical abilities? Maybe our schooling in maths should be more a matter of reminding us than of teaching us, therefore. Anyway, these were the kinds of questions that awoke in my mind as I read this gem of a book, but because this is precisely the reason that I enjoyed it so much, I have given you perhaps the least fascinating example that you might discover the more touching gems for yourself. (Oh, and be careful, therefore, of reviews that might give too much away in these respects and thus spoil some of the surprises for you.) Anyway, you will enjoy the explanation that Sacks offers for an otherwise highly intelligent and respectable man who can mistake his own wife for a hat, but there are many other stories of note, and this book could well develop in you a new fascination for the human brain and mind. I can label it as nothing less than a must read.

Lovely Book
After reading this book I have become a big fan of Dr Oliver Sacks. Hats off to him for showing such a remarkable involvement and empathy in his patients.

This book is about people who suffer from neurological deficiencies, who are considered not normal by people like us. It has three sections: 'Losses', 'Excesses' and 'The world of simple'. The strange title comes from a story where a fine gentleman, a distinguished musician has difficulty seeing faces or scenes as a whole. Read on to see how he mistook his wife.... There are eight other narratives in this section. People touched upon here have lost use of some essential faculty, so the title 'Losses'. And read on, one can even lose the sense of ones body and may feel that the legs or the feet are not there unless one actually sees it! Scary to say the least!

In the second section people may have too much of some faculty, but can that ever be a problem? You bet it can be. There is a lady in her late eighties starts behaving out of character, almost like a teen-ager and then she knew something is wrong. Ten more ways to get victim of excesses, ten more fascinating

Finally there is the world of simple who may actually be geniuses at certain activities like numbers or drawing (Remember `Trainman' an Oscar winning movie where a simple person was a mathematical genius? There are two real people who are as brilliant). And around this with the expert care they can build satisfying lives.

Though the whole book talks about people who are in some sense not normal as we define it but they are beautiful people with enriching lives. This great doctor has brought it out so well in this book that I plan to read all the books.

Touching, Inspiring, Phenomenal
I'm currently a student in a master's level degree program for occupational therapy at the University of Missouri, and one of my professors recommended that I look at this book to see the "human" side of neurological disorders.It's hard to find any "case studies" that aren't straight clinical reporting on the part of the clinician, but this book shines with empathy and compassion.The reader truly sees that individuals with neurological disturbances are not just diagnosis/es - these individuals are human beings.

This book inspired me to choose to do one of my clinical rotations in a traumatic brain injury rehab hospital, and I now know exactly what I want to do career-wise after I graduate.
... Read more

Isbn: 0060970790
Sales Rank: 46356
Subjects:  1. Anecdotes    2. Anecdotes, facetiae, satire, e    3. Anecdotes, facetiae, satire, etc    4. Clinical Psychology    5. Neurology    6. Psychology   

Migraine
by OLIVER SACKS
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (05 October, 1999)
list price: $14.95 -- our price: $10.17
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Reviews (12)

migraine by oliver sacks
It is a well known fact that migraine is hereditary and
incurable at this time.Sometimes the pain can be reduced to
a tolerable level for a time.Patients should be advised of
of this before any treatment isattempted.I find nothing in
the reviews of the book MIGRAINEby Oliver Sacks disclocing
this pertinent information.

Hereditary Migraine
Migraine is the result of an abnormal

gene containded in the thirteenth chromosome.Lots of money is
made by not first disclosing this fact to the patient before
treatment.None of the reviews appear to disclose this

Nicely written but misses the mark.
I like most of Oliver Sacks's books.I think "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" and "An Anthropologist on Mars" are major contributions to the understanding of the human mind.I do have a problem with "Migraine" however.My experience as a migraine sufferer and as a clinical psychologist has left me in no doubt that the fundamental causes of migraine headaches are physical, not psychological.I have no doubt that stress can make the attacks worse, but I believe most migraines are triggered by such physiological factors as allergies (particularly MSG, chocolates, red wines, and well-cured cheeses), or by overexposure to bright sunlight, too much sugar, or by overexertion or overstimulation with an accompanying lack of rest.Sacks takes a Freudian view of migraine, which I believe is inaccurate.I now get migraine attacks perhaps a tenth as often as a few years ago, and the improvement has not been due to psychotherapy or any earthshaking insights, but to my avoiding MSG and chocolate and to my doctor perscribing Imitrex.Imitrex is a miracle medication for patients who can tolerate it.(It can cause a dangerous increase in blood pressure in some people, hence the need for a doctor's prescription.)Sacks has written some fine books, but I don't think this one belongs near the top of the list. ... Read more

Isbn: 037570406X
Sales Rank: 11088
Subjects:  1. Medical    2. Migraine    3. Neurology - General    4. Neuropsychology    5. Psychology    6. Medical / Neurology   

A Leg to Stand On
by Oliver Sacks
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (29 April, 1998)
list price: $14.00 -- our price: $11.20
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Reviews (11)

Journey of Healing.
I should stress from the start that this book is extremely well written. It requires a special talent to combine scientific, clinical prose with personal, emotional and philosophical insight. This book is remarkable on many counts, but its value lies in Sacks' honesty, uninhibited rendering of the personal, by and while incorporating his desire to see his profession, neurology and psycho neurology, evolve from a largely `veterinary business", the dualistic approach to the mind as `mental' or `physical', to a science combining both approaches, in what he would like to call the "neurology of identity". In his terms, he would like to see neurology take "a great jump - to jump from the mechanical model, the "classical" model, it has espoused for so long, to a totally personal, self-referential model of the brain and mind". (p.189) This text eloquently strives in this direction.

In the early seventies, Sacks experienced a hiking accident that severely damaged his left leg. This near death experience (he was stranded alone on a mountain miles away from civilization) began a journey of a profound personal nature, existential, professional, philosophical, spiritual and physical, which changed his views about many things. The first chapter, `The Mountain', has all the suspense and narrative style of a well-written thriller. To a large extent, in the next chapter, "Becoming a Patient", has all the hallmarks of the familiar insensitive doctor as mere technician, evolving a more empathetic view of the patient, developing that essential `bedside manner' that can be so lacking, though essential, in the medical profession. Sacks describes his thoughts and feelings as a patient, having to relate his condition and feelings to his carer's, and the utter dread, loneliness, frustration, and alienation that comes with becoming ill and having to be institutionalized as a result. Anyone who has been ill and hospitalized will relate to this chapter.

The essential aspects of the text are the medical insights Sacks' gained as a result of his damaged leg. He experienced first-hand the phenomenon of intense loss of `body-image', that is the damaged leg became entirely `alienated' from his primary consciousness. This is more than just forgetting how to use one's leg after damage, but an actual vanishing of awareness of the limb itself. In his terms, a total collapse of memory/identity/space, "...an abyss or hole: a hole in memory/identity/space" of the limb. He goes on to write, "A Leg to Stand On is not just a story of a leg, but an account, from inside, of what primary consciousness is like; an account such as the experience of alienation..." (P.187)

This book is a splendid tale about the journey of healing. As all great philosophical writing does, it asks us to question ourselves, question our environment and attempt to see what has been right before our eyes from the beginning. It also affirms that human experience is a community affair, that we all share these experiences and can ultimately learn from them.

Quietly revolutionary
I must disagree with the reviewer who says Sacks is better when not writing about himself.His whole point in this book, it seems to me, is that we must speak from the "I" (the present consciousness) if we are to understand what he calls a neurology of the self.I think Sacks is one of the best writers working--he embodies the ideal of combining the humanities and the sciences in his eloquent, incisiveprose.I found this book quietly revolutionary in its attempt to write a new kind of narrative of the self.I read it in 24 hours and could not put it down.

on becoming a patient
On one level, this is a doctor-becomes-patient story, with the many revelations that come to those in medicine who suddenly find themselves at the other end of the stethoscope. For anyone who's been a patient, there's some satisfaction in reading stories like this in which an ill or injured doctor finds out "what it's really like" to be in a hospital bed and more or less at the mercy of the medical profession.

I suppose Oliver Sacks isn't quite a likely candidate for this tables-turned scenario. In his books and TV interviews (e.g., "Glorious Accident"), and in Robin Williams' portrayal of him in "Awakenings," he comes across as anything but the stereotypical doctor. But he learns plenty from his experience anyway, and not just from the imperious surgeon who insists that there's nothing wrong with Sacks now that his leg has been repaired or the jolly hockey-stick nurse who is copeless when he does not respond to physical therapy.

He also learns first hand the terror of being injured, alone, and far from any other humans to rescue him. He experiences the helplessness that can overwhelm a person who not only loses the use of a limb, but as a "patient," loses his identity as an independent person. Sacks' descriptions of his feelings as a patient, sometimes soaring, sometimes despairing, are vividly told and are a reminder to any healthcare worker of the wild fluctuations of emotions that a patient can experience, even from one hour to the next.

Another fascinating aspect of the book is its account of the mystery of healing. Sacks describes in great detail the slow and unpredictable experience of recovering the ability to walk again. And he gives special consideration to the process of "re-entry," as he spends time in a sanatorium, among others who are healing, finally venturing out into the world on his own to rediscover himself and his lost independence.

Sacks is a vivid and analytical writer, with a rich gift of language. This is a slender book, but much is packed into it. It is a journey through the looking glass for any healthcare worker who has never been hospitalized with a serious and debilitating injury or illness, and should be required reading. ... Read more

Isbn: 0684853957
Sales Rank: 24470
Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. England    6. General    7. Health    8. Leg    9. Medical - General    10. Neurologists    11. People with disabilities    12. Psychological aspects    13. Sacks, Oliver W    14. Wounds and injuries    15. Psychology & Psychiatry / General   

Regarding Henry
Director: Mike Nichols
Average Customer Review:
DVD (09 September, 2003)
list price: $14.99 -- our price: $11.99
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Editorial Review

Get shot in the head and become a better person. This 1991 Mike Nichols(Wolf) film stars Harrison Ford as a big-shot cold-hearted lawyer who gets a bullet in his brain during a holdup. The film de-emphasizes the traumas of recovery to focus on the title character's personality change after the fact. The canny Ford gets to work from his full, familiar palette of arrogance to boyishness, and even builds Henry from top to bottom after the wounded fellow awakens with no memory. But this is a slow and unremarkable film from Nichols, its sentimentality eclipsing all else, most of all profound insight.--Tom Keogh ... Read more

Features

• Color
• Closed-captioned
• Widescreen
• Dolby

Reviews (41)

Triumph can come from tragedy
From seemingly horrific circumstances, can come something better, if you know where to look. Henry Turner is a very hard man to like in the beginning of this movie, and so is his wife. As a result of walking into a seemingly random accident, ("going out for cigarettes," it seems smoking means nothing but a bad person anymore) Henry begins a long and arduous recovery process from a brain injury. Along the way to finding out what he once was, he finds that what he once was is something he no longer cares to be. Watching his wife, his daughter, his colleagues, friends, and even his beagle dog along the way is something pretty special to see as Henry moves along to deal with all the circumstances in his life that he previously sought to ignore. This movie, to me, seems to be about a redemption that is possible for all of us. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes drama with a good ending, which is not always possible in reality. I think Henry is all about hope and change for the better. This is a good movie that is not one of the best, but one that you remember long after having viewed it. Good performances of the Henry character and also of his physical therapist, who helped him move into his new life with courage and strength.

Hard people to like.
The film has its amusing and even touching points, but not very many. The big problem with RH is that neither Ford or Benning are sympathetic characters. Henry is just the kind of self-important, ego-bloated, smug, arrogant, cold-blooded corporate ass that's helped step on working people for real, so it's really hard to feel anything for him, shot or not. He's arrogant even with a gun pointed at him, and the fact that it takes a bullet in his brain to even make him consider acting human is, if you think about it, appalling. And his wife is, in a way, even worse; she accepts his character so she can have all the material things it buys and status is provides. She goes into a panic when she thinks they may have to give anything up, and doesn't become "normal" ntil much later. Only their daughter has any heart at all. Maybe a better ending would've been Henry's not making it, Bening going nuts from losing her stuff, and the kid being placed in a foster home with the kind of people her parents should've been from day one. Barely watchable.

RITZ!
a great movie. even if you dont like drama i think you will like this one. its about harrison ford gets shot in the head and has to go to rehad to learn how to speak and work again so he can go home to his wife and kid. its not is most knowen movie but still a great one ... Read more

Asin: B0000A2ZNP
Subjects:  1. Feature Film-drama