Reviews (5)

Coco Chanel: The French self-made woman
From an orphanage in France to the Ritz hotel in Paris, Coco Chanel created an entire style empire that lives on. A French fasionista version of Eva Peron for the couture world. Coco remains an icon and legend.

A designer of authentic beauty
This is a substantial book in both size and pictorial content.
COCO
Mademoiselle Chanel was quite a woman.She totally invented herself, she was her best creation.This book does a fine job of showing off the clothes that made her famous and also offers many pictures of the singular Coco.The layout of the book is unique and took some getting use to, but it is informative and quite interesting.It is amazing all the men she was reportedly engaged with, she was not what one would call beautiful, but the woman had style and she knew knew how to work powerful men, a priceless talent in her day and unfortunitely to this day.Really a very good book on an amazing woman. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1883-1971    2. Art    3. Artists, Architects, Photographers    4. Beauty & Grooming - Fashion    5. Biography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Chanel, Coco,    8. Fashion    9. Fashion designers    10. France    11. General    12. Pictorial works    13. Women    14. Women fashion designers    15. Art / Fashion   

Reviews (7)

Lovely and sweet
Even if you didn't watch Mister Rogers, he's so permeated our culture that he's become an icon. And knowing Mister Rogers, he probably would have found that notion laughable. But it's true. Mister Rogers represents everything that is good. He loves us---and he's proud of us---just the way we are.
WOW!
I'm only halfway through reading the book - but am ordering copies as gifts to share with friends and my minister.What a man!(both of them)

So Proud & Grateful!!
I picked this book up at the library quite by accident.It looked like a "quick" read and I was intrigued by the title.I was influenced greatly by the show "Mister Rogers Neighborhood" when I was little.Even after I was way too old and the other kids thought he was lame,I secretly tuned in to see whatwas happening.Even though my neighborhood and upbringing was nothing like what I imagined it to be like in those little models of homes at the beginning of the show, I longed to live in a place like that secure from the dangers that filled my young mind and surroundings.Escaping to that world and imagining what it would be like to have a neighbor like Mister Rogers was something I spent a lot of time doing.Not to mention how much I loved the idea of the trolley taking me to the Land of Make Believe - wouldn't that be the coolest?From the first few pages of this book, I knew I was hooked on Tim Madigan's style of writing.He is a journalist by trade and had met Mister Rogers in order to write about him.He also had met Captain Kangaroo (another of my faves - Captain Kangaroo looked exactly like my dad and could be just as silly), but formed a bond and friendship with Fred Rogers from their first meeting - even attending church that weekend with Fred and his wife Joanne.Soon, I was reading more about both the author's difficulties in life and what a wonderful person Mister Rogers really was by how he supported the author through those difficulties.Mr. Madigan is able to portray his own discomfort with the intimacy that Fred Rogers offers, yet he is drawn to someone who he later compares as being close in spirit to people like Mother Theresa and Pope John Paul II.It is apparent throughout these pages and the correspondence shared between the two of them, that they explore their own spirituality, death and dying, social justice, fatherhood, relationships with siblings and parents and most of all, forgiveness and being able to be intimate with those around you and connecting with people on a spiritual level.The author talks several times about how many of Fred Rogers' qualities remind him of what it must have been like to interact with Jesus.The whole book is both uplifting and poignant. One of my personal favorite influences throughout the book is Tim's mother.She is apparently strong in her Catholic faith and had been throughout raising 7 children and working as a school nurse.In the author's words, she did this "despite suffering from increasingly debilitating arthritis, and somehow managed to remain a woman of indomitable good cheer, a constant source of tenderness, love, and support for [her children}".He remembers fondly that "she rose each morning to have uninterrupted time to pray and read the Bible, savoring those quiet moments in the morning with God and a cup of coffee."How many of us long for our own children to view us in such a manner, but find it difficult to spend that kind of time nourishing our own faith?I am sure that Mrs. Madigan had her momentary lapses as a great wife and mom, but I found myself longing to be like her so that my own children could draw from my strength.The author takes us through his 7 year friendship with Fred Rogers and it is their correspondence that tells their story throughout most of the book.Mr. Madigan veers from this format temporarily in the chapter that tells of his brother, Steve's, death from lung cancer.During that chapter, he shares with us some words of his mother as she sat by the bedside and helped to care for her son while he died.The author is profoundly grateful that his mother has shared her thoughts in written form and preserved for future generations just a small amount of her faith and strength and is reminded of how Mary must have felt to watch Jesus die on the Cross.For sure, the whole Madigan family is a picture of strength and faith during that time, including his brother Steve.Their friendship is cut short, obviously, by the death of Mister Rogers in 2003.This book, though, preserves just a small amount of the great man that was Fred Rogers.For that, I amgrateful and also proud of Tim Madigan!I will be buying several copies of this book to give to my friends at Christmas. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1957-    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Television Personalities    6. Friends and associates    7. Madigan, Tim,    8. Personal Memoirs    9. Rogers, Fred    10. Television Plays And Programs    11. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Reviews (13)

just a clip job
save your money/don't waste your time reading this book. not only is taraborrelli an atrocious writer, this book is only a clip job. he has no new sources except for a beverly hills hairdresser who's not really giving up any inside info on Liz as he's still doing her hair. he's lifted any anecdotes in this book from all the preceeding Liz books and it's torture to have read his writing. it's stupifying that he even gets published but it shows you that some publishers are desperate for any celebrity book on their list.

Interesting Biography
I think this book was very good.I liked how the book began with the story of Elizabeth's mother and father and her intense relationship with her mother and how it made her into the actress she is today.I found the book very humorous and very sad at times.But all together I thought the book was informative and engaging.

Don't even bother................
I've been a fan of Elizabeth Taylor's for almost longer than I can remember, and there isn't a book about her that I don't have, but this is one that even I could have done without.
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Subjects:  1. 1932-    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    7. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    8. Individual Actors And Actresses    9. Motion picture actors and actresses    10. Rich & Famous    11. Taylor, Elizabeth,    12. United States    13. Women    14. Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts   

Editorial Review

In this first of five volumes of autobiography, poet Maya Angelou recounts a youth filled with disappointment, frustration, tragedy, and finally hard-won independence. Sent at a young age to live with her grandmother in Arkansas, Angelou learned a great deal from this exceptional woman and the tightly knit black community there. These very lessons carried her throughout the hardships she endured later in life, including a tragic occurrence while visiting her mother in St. Louis and her formative years spent in California--where an unwanted pregnancy changed her life forever. Marvelously told, with Angelou's "gift for language and observation," this "remarkable autobiography by an equally remarkable black woman from Arkansas captures, indelibly, a world of which most Americans are shamefully ignorant." ... Read more

Reviews (285)

Intersectionality as described by Maya Angelou
In her autobiographical novel, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou recounts her life story as a young, keenly intelligent but insecure black girl in the South during the 1930s and California during the 1940s. The book conveys the difficulties associated with the mixture of racial and gender discrimination endured by a southern black girl, though, and this is perhaps the most fundamental theme explored in her autobiography. The intersectionality of race and gender is a pivotal thread of Angelou's theme, where more than one type of subjugation results in a multiple burden for the victim. Overall, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings is a powerful, stirring account of the intersectionality of race and gender regarding black women. Though segregation had been officially declared null and void, many of the Southern states were steeped in racist tendencies that further multiplied the gender inequality that exposed black women to a multi-faceted oppression. Peiss, Hine, Terborg-Penn, Bederman, et. al. all examine threads of this intersectionality, and in discussing these threads, one can draw a distinct comparison between anti-black, anti-black women sentiment and Angelou's personal experiences. As a girl, Angelou believed her gender to be a limiting factor. She considered herself to be unheroic, and incapable of achieving spectacular feats like the boys in her comic books. In the narrative, being female for Angelou is just as trying as being black, and she struggled with the double burden, rather than embracing it. However, as more and more black women slowly overcame their troubles as a result of the overwhelming intersectionality of the time, so did Angelou. The novel ended with hope because she bucks the stereotype to become the first black female streetcar conductor. Angelou's spike in confidence and belief in her ability reflects the gradual evolution of black women's race and gender after decades of imprisonment, and foreshadows a future of activism, struggle for respect and eventual victory in those regards.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The Essence of Dreams...The Creativeness of Silence...The Fortitude of Love...
If only this scale had negatives...
Never before has such a poorly written book received such acclaim. Maya Angelou wrote this story not with candor and grace but with a bias rarely allowed to sit on shelves let alone the top of a best-seller list. She was not humorous but had a heinousness of character and action that places her beyond the limits of human pity. This "inspiring author" did not demonstrate poignancy and depth but the crude rudiments of writing skill below that found in the essays of a primary school student.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Afro-American women authors    3. Authors, American    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Discrimination & Racism    9. Literary    10. People of Color    11. Women    12. Biography & Autobiography / People of Color    13. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (12)

Where have all the LADIES gone?
If pop star Pink sings "Where oh where have all the smart people gone, where oh where could they be?"... then this book cries "Where oh where have all the LADIES gone? Where oh where could they be?" If ever there is a role model for a renaissance in being a lady (not to be confused with a bombshell)... it is Audrey. Her grace, aristocratic sophistication, refinement, depth, humanitarian spirit, and genuine posh-like glamour was real as much as it was regal. In a world of cheap bombshell images the statement: that which is least seen is most beautiful is truer than ever. Audrey was an archetype of an era where being a lady was respected and advocated.

The Ultimate Guide to Loveliness, Both Inside and Out.
A lot of people misuse the term "hero."Lots of people think it's an athlete, an actor, or a singer.I regard Audrey Hepburn as my hero and a great role model.She was a rare and unusually timeless beauty with her gamine looks and a gorgeous accent, often mistaken as British, that also belied part of her time in Nazi occupied Holland.With the grace of a dancer and a princess to add to her intoxicating manner of speech, she had consistently excellent taste in clothes, impeccable hairstyles, and an approach to living that more people in this world would do well to adhere to.
Perfect Stocking Stuffer
I gave this book to my mom for Mother's Day and haven't stopped hearing how much she likes it.I highly recommend it as the perfect stocking stuffer, especially for the price on Amazon.Just ordered two more for my sisters. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1929-    2. 1929-1993    3. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    4. Hepburn, Audrey,    5. Personal & Practical Guides    6. Quotations    7. Reference    8. Sociology    9. Women's Studies - General    10. Biography: film, television & music    11. Films, cinema    12. Reference / Personal & Practical Guides   

Editorial Review

In the world of contemporary travel writing, Bill Bryson, the bestselling author of Read more

Reviews (192)

Not one of his better works
This collection of short essays he published in an English paper (and meant for an English audience) seem to miss the mark for American readers.It's as if he published this because he needed money.There was nothing original in this book, nothing really funny and what few authentically funny parts there were seemd trite and at times exaggerated.
A minor work of collected news columns
Not particularly interesting or funny. None of the ridiculous turns of language of a Dave Barry column, no elder-statesman crabbiness like Andy Rooney's. Just routine bitching about airlines, office supplies, and so on. Save it for "A Walk in the Woods" or "A Short History of Nearly Everything"

Good, but Bryson can be preachy
Bryson has been one of my favorite authors for years now - the first thing of his that I read was a magazine article comparing American weather extremes with those in his beloved England.This collection of his writings on things American has me confused.Most of it, as his wife points out, is griping about this and that.Bryson has a tendency to talk down anything that doesn't fit into his view of how life ought to be and a maddening myopia when it comes to understanding why things are the way they are in this modern world.Balancing that though is his self-deprecating humor and his beautiful writing skills.There is a piece on global warming in this book that all ought to read.So, basically, even though he is preachy, and a bit gripy, he is laugh-out-loud funny and writes so very well that I will keep reading him. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1971-    2. Anecdotes    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Bryson, Bill    7. Description and travel    8. General    9. Literary    10. Social life and customs    11. Travelers    12. United States    13. United States - 20th Century    14. Biography & Autobiography / General    15. Travel writing    16. USA   

Reviews (121)

A Lot of Courage Required...
A lot of people have been critical of Brooke Shields because she has an enormous amount of money and resources (that most of us don't have in order to get help), but I think that's the point of her story; despite the money, fame, and resources, she developed PPD.She was just as helpless as any woman suffering PPD and didn't know what to do. I think Ms. Shields was brave to write so candidly about her experience.Even though I didn't experience severe PPD, I did feel some depression after I had my baby. My birth was similar to Shields', except that I received a blood transfusion in order to save my life. After I came home from the hospital, I had irrational fears (that seemed so rational to me at the time) of having received contaminated blood, that prevented me from continuing to breastfeed, which further depressed me. I also cried in the shower because I thought I was a terrible mother for not breastfeeding, and I felt so alone and unworthy.My husband was supportive and tried to help, but he didn't know what to do to improve the situation. Fortunately, my depression gradually dissipated, and I felt happy, healthy, strong, and I knew then that I would be a great mom.
Baby Blues No Small Matter
This is a book I now keep in mind for my soon-to-be new mom friends just in case, that along with the numbers of womens' clinics at various hospitals and health centers that treat post-partum depression.
A must read for new mothers
This book actually helped me put into words what I was experiencing with postpartum depression.
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Subjects:  1. 1965-    2. Actors    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Depression    6. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    7. Family/Marriage    8. Health    9. Health & Fitness    10. Health/Fitness    11. Individual Actors And Actresses    12. Mental Depression    13. Patients    14. Postpartum depression    15. Pregnancy & Childbirth    16. Rich & Famous    17. Shields, Brooke,    18. United States    19. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Editorial Review

Karen Armstrong speaks to the troubling years following her decision to leave the life of a Roman Catholic nun and join the secular world in 1969. What makes this memoir especially fascinating is that Armstrong already wrote about this era once---only it was a disastrous book. It was too soon for her to understand how these dark, struggling years influenced her spiritual development, and she was too immature to protect herself from being be bullied by the publishing world. As a result, she agreed to portray herself only in as "positive and lively a light as possible"---a mandate that gave her permission to deny the truth of her pain and falsify her inner experience. The inspiration for this new approach comes from T. S. Eliot's Read more

Reviews (80)

Wonderfully Touching and Powerful
Thank you Karen for recording your experience in such a truthful and therefore powerful way. Your courage and determination in the face of inhumanity is a familiar drumbeat that we would all do well to march to. Your stories of survival with compassion and mercy are a shining-light to those of all faiths and of all languages. Your language of love and hope is universal and you are a true friend. Thank you.

excellent
Karen Armstrong is a great writer, with quite the story to tell.The Spiral Staircase recounts the most powerful and change-filled years of her life--it concentrates mostly on the few years following her departure from life as a Catholic nun.She tells her story so honestly and openly that you really get a feel for Karent Armstrong the person, not just the successful writer.I read The Spiral Staircase before I read any of her other works, but since then I've enjoyed both her biography of Buddha, and "Islam: A Short History."Her memoir is candid and her prose is neither too emotional nor too academic.

Describes temporal lobe epilepsy with Grace
Another reviewer, a nurse who has interest in temporal lobe epilepsy and thought that Armstrong did not adequately explain temporal lobe epilepsy, has obviously never experienced a temporal lobe seizure. Karen Armstrong's descriptions of her temporal lobe seizures were spine-tingling, and nearly brought me to tears with the feeling that "Finally! Someone has put it into words! Someone understands!" Her plight out of the darkness of religious life is inspiring and her experiences with epilepsy make a remarkable backdrop. I recommend this read for people who have never questioned their faith as well as those who have. I also recommend it for families and friends of people with epilepsy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1944-    2. Armstrong, Karen,    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Ex-nuns    8. General    9. History    10. Literary    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Religion (General)    13. Religion - Commentaries / Reference    14. Religious    15. Spirituality - Women's    16. Women    17. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs    18. Reading Group Guide   

Editorial Review

The sequel to Frank McCourt's memoir of his Irish Catholic boyhood, Read more

Reviews (555)

'TIS A GRAND BOOK, !
Poignant,intense, exciting, gutwrenching yet heart warming are the scenes, actions and memories described inthis continuation of an indepth look at the the trials, tribulations and successes of FrankMc Court and his family. As you read it,you "are there" in New York, in Ireland, -at Mam's almost reunion with Frank's father, - in the army with Frank in Europe, - in church,- in the boarding house which provided meager temporary shelter, - in the countless dull mind-numbing jobs he had beforebecoming a teacher,- in the classroom trying to inspire lethargicstudents.With wit, and a lot ofmischievious charm, author Mc Court escorts us through his romantic liasons, marriage and birth of his daughter, -his brothers arrival and existence in New York,- his own "coming of age in America" as he matures, -and the death of his beloved mother, Angela, (Mam).
THE CONTINUING MEMOIR, BY THE AUTHOR OF ANGELA'S ASHES
Frank McCourt has a flowing, gifted writing style that is all his own. This, the second in his memoirs, tells the chapter of his life where he leaves Ireland for a life in America.How one can endure his hardships and still keep a witty sense of humour is nothing short of amazing.Low paying jobs, racial criticism, and scorn await McCourt upon his arrival.
Dissapointing but with a few gems
I felt that he was trying to gain sympathy for his situation unlike the frankness of Angelas Ashes. I was dissapointed with this sequal. He was brave to tell the truth of his situation, however he must have cringed upon reflection of his early life. He does use humor throughout the book and that makes it more bearable to read. I felt like slapping him rather than giving him a hug at the end of this second book. He does tell the truth, to his credit, and doesn't candy coat anything, a continuation of the first book in the context of style. Would recommend this to an older audience, because of the content matter. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Educators    6. Elements In The U.S. Population    7. Emigration & Immigration    8. Ethnic Cultures - General    9. Irish Americans    10. Literary    11. McCourt, Frank    12. Regional Subjects - MidAtlantic    13. Biography & Autobiography / General    14. Immigration & emigration    15. Literature: History & Criticism    16. Social history    17. USA   

Reviews (5)

Read this one!
When you think of the most popular people in the world at this time a few names come to mind, like Oprah Winfrey, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, and of course, Elmo.
Love is his favorite word
Reviewed by Audrey Hauser for Reader Views (9/06)
A fascinating journey by a gifted teacher.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we would like to welcome Elmo on today's flight," the flight attendant said over the intercom."Elmo?Isn't that the little fury red . . . puppet?On today's flight?Okay, I need to stop taking all of these cross-country flights . . . green tea, I need some green tea," I said out loud to no person in particular. Then, Mr. Kevin Clash is introduced, and I was kind of . . . surprised.I mean I was expecting a little fury animal - of sorts.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography And Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Clash, Kevin    7. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    8. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Television Personalities    9. Motivational & Inspirational    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Puppeteers    12. Television - General    13. Television Plays And Programs    14. United States    15. Self-Help / Motivational   

Editorial Review

Alan Alda's autobiography travels a path less taken. Instead of a sensationalist, name-dropping page-turner, Alda writes about his life as a memory play, an exercise in recollecting his childhood, his parents (dad Robert was a veteran on stage, film, and vaudeville), and his career. You want to know about Alda's most famous work, the eleven years on Read more

Reviews (58)

Loved this book......
No, this is not a story about MASH.......
Not Funny
Alan Alda is a funny man. But his book is not. He jumps from here to there leaving one to wonder where he is going with his story. Our book club was anxious to read something different but it was unanimous - thumbs down.

An entertaining and informative read
I grew up watching M*A*S*H and watched Alda playing one of the presidential candidates on The West Wing.I also remember his campaigning for ERA.When I saw this book, I thought it would be interesting to know a little bit more about the man.This book was a quicker read than I would have thought and was a very interesting read.
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Subjects:  1. 1936-    2. Actors    3. Alda, Alan,    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography And Autobiography    8. Biography/Autobiography    9. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    10. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    11. Individual Actors And Actresses    12. Personal Memoirs    13. United States    14. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (299)

2 Live Crue!
I only listen to music that I can do The Sprinkler to. Testify! (And I don't mean a literal sprinkler, like the Crue did in Hotel rooms and fruit bowls). But Motley Crue does heavy metal. So what does this fan of rap and GQ sweatsuits (me) think of these frazzled tomcats? Not much.At least regarding their music. But as writers, they have a certain sizzle! As DJ Spry sampled from the once great Billy Joel, "Honesty is such a lonely word. And mostly what I want from you." These Crue boys bring the honesty uncut, and let it flow like Kristal down the Sunset gutter!My, my, my look what the cat dragged in, STRAIGHT up! Like most rappers, the Crue get more tail than an Addams house cat, write LARGE cliche song hooks, and party. (Nikki gets busy with Prince muse Vanity!). Unlike most rappers, they get into hard drugs and don't dress very dapper or even fly.(The book has lots of pics and full page glossies -- what the?!).And unlike ANY rappers, they write a lot about psychotherapy stuff. Rappers building a commercial empire don't have time for that, nowatimsayn?!! But the Crue are white, and we see that they're human... and every rose has its thorn.
Loved this book, didn't even like Motley Crue before this.....
I recommend this book to anybody who is interested on the real life of rock and roll bands who don't burn out and break up after one or two years.Being in a band is like being married to 4 people.It is hard to get along, but they managed to do it without killing each other or themselves.It got hairy at the end between Vince and Tommy, Vince trying to snitch on Tommy to get him thrown back in jail, what a pansy!But from the beginning to the end, there just wasn't any boring spots.I could have done without the "shooting" remarks, I'll let the readers figure that one out.But I just ignore that stuff and stuck to the literary genius these guys put out.Many Kudo's.You will love this book too.

What a page turner.
I just loved this book. Neil Strauss and the motley crue boys have a written a masterpiece.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Composers & Musicians - General    6. Composers & Musicians - Rock    7. Genres & Styles - Rock    8. History & Criticism - General    9. Mèotley Crèue (Musical group)    10. Rock music    11. Rock musicians    12. United States    13. Biography & Autobiography / Composers & Musicians    14. Biography: film, television & music    15. Rock & pop   

Reviews (46)

Burnt Toast is Delicious...especially when cooked by Teri
Let me just start with: Wow, Teri Hatcher is amazing. So incredibly inspiring and heart-felt. I truly believe Teri did a wonderful job expressing herself. Her stories were quirky and always enjoyable. I couldn't wait to turn the page to see what happened next in her normal every-day adventures. Not to mention the benefit that comes from reading this book: Her philosophies. Each metaphor and simile is somewhat awe inspiring and helped me to remember the sensibilities I should be holding onto in my life. She talks about finding your own Africa (if you don't read it you won't understand what I mean by Africa) and I can truly say that she makes so much sense.... I can't wait to find my Africa and Teri has motivated me to do so.
Some shining moments in a dull landscape
At times this book is charming, witty and heart wrenching.Mostly, though, I got the impression that Teri Hatcher was looking for my approval.She continually talks about her low self-esteem and how hard she tries to be the best mother, actress and person.I felt like she was begging the reader to like her and approve of her.I found the feeling a bit uncomfortable.
Slightly Undercooked

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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Conduct of life    3. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    4. Motivational & Inspirational    5. Personal Growth - General    6. Personal Growth - Happiness    7. Personal Growth - Success    8. Personal Guidance    9. Psychology    10. Self-Help    11. Television actors and actresses    12. United States    13. Self-Help / Happiness   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (177)

Brilliant writing, laugh-out-loud humor, a touch of the supernatural
". . . Real magic doesn't come from achieving the perfect appearance, from being Cinderella at the ball with both glass slippers and a killer hairstyle. The real magic is in the pumpkin, in the mice, in the moonlight; not beyond ordinary life, but within it." - Martha Beck, Expecting Adam
a wonderful exploration of life and living
Martha Beck has written a stunning memoir of her journey from driven Harvard grad student to delivering and parenting a child with Down's Syndrome. And yet, Beck's story and lessons apply far beyond pregnancy and having a child with Down's. She explores and challenges the premise of modern life, which is hurry up and constantly do more, without taking time to appreciate and enjoy. Her account is honest and insightful, making it all the more valuable as a vital life lesson. The loss of dreams and expectations, when faced and acknowledged, is transformative, and Beck openly shares the difficult and painful twists and turns that redefined her identity of wife, mother,and indeed even woman. She deftly weaves the love and joy Adam brings into the background of her life. Beck doesn't take the easy way out by proselytizing-instead, she openly admits the heartbreak of being judged and found wanting for choosing to continue her pregnancy when it was discovered that her son had Down's. This is thankfully not an anit-abortion story. It is the ultimate pro-choice testament-and what a testament it is. Beck has the courage to describe her struggle to move beyond reason and logic, which are innate to the Harvard culture, and reside comfortably with intuition and a sense of something bigger than the concrete, visible world.
Went on too long...
Kinda felt like 9 mos. had passed while I read this book, she really could have used a better editor.I did learn a lot about Down's Syndrome from Ms. Beck, which was interesting.Got bored with the constant Harvard references--enough already.Was distracted *SPOILER* by what has happened to the Beck's since this book was written--both spouses have "come out" and live with same sex partners.How that all came about would be an interesting book to me. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Literary    5. Parental Memoirs    6. Specific Groups - Special Needs    7. Women    8. Biography & Autobiography / Literary   

Reviews (104)

Sex,Drugs, and.... More Sex!
I absolitely LOVE the RHCP's, and I love this book. Though it's more about sex and drugs than anything else, it does take you inside the mind of a real rock star, and shows the rises and loads of downfalls stardom can take you to. i would recommend this book to anyone who loves the RHCP, it's a real eye opener.

What I Like About Scar Tissue
In this dissertation on the first forty years of his time on planet earth, Anthony Kiedis neither glorified his life(style) nor used what he had to say about it as a platform to make the point, "See how low I sank?" Kiedis was simply honest and left, one frequently gets the impression, nothing unmentioned in this memoir about a creative, sometimes sleazy life that was filled with risk-taking, extreme drug abuse, and excesses of every sort. Kiedis is a bright man with a questioning nature who doesn't try to hide anything he did along the way to where he is today, an unlikely survivor and spiritual pilgrim. Scar Tissue tells about death, crime, fame, music, sex, pain, loss, the celebrated and the infamous, and provides us with the ultimate backstage pass to twenty years of existence within The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Enlightening
I'm sure that there are many musicians/actors who would like to think they had a rough upbringing or caught some tough breaks in life.I have a difficult time imagining that many of their autobiographies can even come close to that of Anthony Kiedis.I was taken aback by the completely honest, naked telling of his life up until a few years ago.Unlike many other musicians, he has managed to maintain a high level of privacy to his