Reviews (80)

An Astonishing Book Which Humbles Me
George Dawson's words expressed through Richard Glaubman's more advanced language catch your attention right from the first sentence. I wasn't able to put this book down and found myself staying up late to finish it. It has changed my outlook on life. Read it and see for yourself. All events in the book are true; unbelievably Mr. Dawson can still have a positive outlook on life. One of the best books I have read. I will keep this one for life. A classic.

Required Reading was good
I had to read this book for a summer reading assignment, and I ended up loving it.I am making my entire family read it as well.The personal perspective is so enthralling, and Mr. Dawson tells stories that one would never expect to hear.It is an easy read, yet wonderfully interesting from page one.

I can't quit thinking about George
Good book - I wished I knew George or someone like him. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. African American aged    2. African Americans    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Centenarians    8. Historical - U.S.    9. Literary    10. Marshall    11. People of Color    12. Texas    13. Biography & Autobiography / People of Color   

Reviews (22)

Why We Can't Read This BORING Book
the book is really boring, its like an interminable speech

A Sample of Dr. Martin Luther King
This book is merely a sample of Dr. King and his words of wisdom.Originally penned in 1964, it expresses King's views on pacifism and why the time was right for the civil rights movement.King proves to be a gifted writer as he use metaphors and concrete examples to state his case.It only leaves reader to wonder how Dr. King would feel if he were alive today.
The best to do business with.
Very reliable,right on time as they promise and their services is very fast.You can always trust their business. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Afro-Americans    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Civil rights    5. Ethnic Issues    6. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    7. People of Color    8. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    9. Fiction / Classics   

Reviews (2)

In one reading -- an Amazing Book -- Mazel Tov
I too am a child of Holocaust survivors. I read this book (picked up by surprise in a bookstore) in one several hour reading. It is touching, moving, eloquent, great art, and deeply personal. Life and death, of all sorts. Happiness and sadness, of all sorts. I'm deeply appreciative for the author's letting the world in on her (my) life.
Insightful yet tragic... the Holocaust continues to shape people
The Holocaust occurred over six decades ago, and the survivors of this episode are aging and dying.In fact, calling the Holocaust an "episode" seems to be trivializing one of the darkest periods in human history.I apologize for any such characterization.The Holocaust was a monstrosity, an aberration, a blot on the record of humanity.Millions died.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Children of Holocaust survivors    6. Comic books, strips, etc    7. Historical - Holocaust    8. Holocaust    9. Holocaust survivors    10. Jewish Holocaust Personal Narratives    11. Jews    12. Ontario    13. Personal Memoirs    14. Toronto    15. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Reviews (1)

Really not a "story"
I wouldn't call this a "story".It is more a series of short vignettes or remembrances of her journey back into the free world in 1991.Some of her recollections are humorous, some sad.Some are beautifully written.Some drift and leave the reader lost.And that is the problem I have with this book.There is no "there" there.No order.Her memories move back and forth in time, and it is often difficult to follow her train of thought.
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Subjects:  1. 1953-    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography And Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Ethnic Cultures - General    8. Morocco    9. Oufkir, Malika,    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Women    12. Women political prisoners    13. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Editorial Review

Millions have read Maya Angelou's national bestseller Read more

Reviews (46)

Americans do not know how good they have it
I was born and raised in India on the wrong side of the caste system. I worked hard to become educated and to come to America. Perhaps in the 1960s, America was not as fair as it is now, but it was still better than anywhere else. I find books like this, where people whine about the amount of melanin in their skin, offensive. Angelou comments often about how much she hates white people. This is stupid and it shows how uneducated she still is.
The World Seen Through a Glass, Darkly
THE HEART OF A WOMAN continues Angelou's autobiographical series that begins with I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS and continues with GATHER TOGETHER IN MY NAME and SINGIN' & SWINGIN' & GETTIN' MERRY LIKE CHRISTMAS.It is the fourth "installment" in this series, and, while it is an interesting recounting of Angelou's life into the decade of the 1960's, it will be more instructive for the reader who has followed the series of books in their chronological order.
"The old ark's a-moverin', moverin' along."
For Maya Angelou, this line from an ancient spiritual epitomizes the civil rights struggle in 1957, a struggle in which she was intimately involved on many levels.Continuing the autobiography she started with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, she reveals her personal life from 1957 - 1965, drawing the reader into the individual, human costs of segregation and detailing her passion and commitment to end it.It is her additional commitment to the welfare of her son, however, and her determination that he will become a man of honesty and principle that unite the several sections of this book and give it heart.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Afro-American authors    3. Angelou, Maya - Poems & Criticism    4. Authors, American    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Biography / Autobiography    8. Biography/Autobiography    9. Literary    10. People of Color    11. Women's Studies - General    12. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (47)

A Great Vision
_Over the years I have read this book in the wilderness and in the wasteland. Every time that I have reread it I have come away renewed.
Wisdom and Inspiration Abound!
This is an exceptionally moving book for anyone yearning to know more about Native American spirituality. Black Elk was truly a man filled with the holy spirit. It reminds me of the book, Walking the Trail, One Man's Journey Along the Cherokee Trail of Tears. Both are highly recommended.

A Religious Classic?
It says on the jacket of this book that Black Elk Speaks belongs in the company of 'religious classics'.Maybe so, but even if you regard his visions as indicative of a religious experience, the parts of the book dedicated to the description of these visions make for rather tedious reading.The real meat of the book is his decriptions of the last of the major indian battles at Rosebud, Little Big Horn (Custer's Last Stand), and Wounded Knee.Black Elkand his friends were there, and lived through those harrowing days.A must-read book for anyone who wants to know how it really was. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Ethnic & Tribal    5. Ethnic Cultures - Native Americans    6. Historical - General    7. History: American    8. Native American    9. Native Americans - Plains    10. Oglala Indians    11. Religion    12. Teton Indians    13. Biography: general    14. Indigenous peoples    15. North America   

Editorial Review

It's not easy imagining a volume capable of capturing the grace, the joy, the flamboyance, and the wizardry of Michael Jordan, but this hybrid--melding autobiography, celebration, spectacular photography, and cutting-edge graphics--comes awfully close. Like Jordan driving the lane, it's a thing of beauty; harder to analyze than it is to admire, accept, gaze at, and enjoy.Read more

Reviews (90)

For the Love of the Game
This book tells about Micjaels jordans life all the way from his college life in north Carolina to the nab playing on the Bulls. He led them to 6 nab championships. Then he went on to win the gold in the summer olympics. He is the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For The Love Of The Game : My Story
In the book For The Love Of The Game. One thing that I learned about this book is that you should never give up and always keep on trying. Even if you are not good at something at first then you should not give up and keep on trying untill you get good at the thing. And that you should not just stick with one thing but, try other things. You might be good at it. And that things just do not come to you, you have to work at it. That is what I learned about the book.

Stats and Pics
The book is full of great photos. I especially liked the one of Jordan and Dr. J! It also has great statistics from Michael Jordan's career. The layout is very different. I did not like it all that much. I was also a little disappointed that we did not really get to see more of the real Jordan. For a brief moment, we saw his humanity when he wrote about his father. Briefly, he mentioned his family. But mostly, he wrote about himself on the court. I guess I was hoping for more humility from this superstar. I believe he has it in him but the book doesn't show it. He certainly has much to brag about, but I thought he always let his bragging be seen through his play on the court. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1963-    2. Basketball    3. Basketball - General    4. Basketball players    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Biography / Autobiography    8. Biography/Autobiography    9. Jordan, Michael,    10. People of Color    11. Sports - Basketball    12. Sports - General    13. United States    14. Biography & Autobiography / Sports    15. Biography: sport    16. Jordan, Michael   

Reviews (33)

A photo memoir of Anne Franks' life
A nice little book about the life of a 16 year old girl killed by the Nazis.Despite the fact that Anne was persecuted and made to live in horrible conditions, she still maintained her humanity.Her killers however lost their humanity.This was a sad tale of a teenage girl living a life she should not have had to live.
A Great Resource For Learning A bout The Holocaust
I am in Sixth Grade and when my teacher started talking about some day in March and when she asked us "does anybody know what today is" only the war-historian in our class knew. It was holocaust remberance day...and I had no idea! We started this book and I started learning all these new things about the holocaust, what it was and how horribile it was. If you have the guts to read a 100% true book about the holocaust, then this is A GREAT BUY! BUY THIS FOR YOURSELF OR AS A TEACHING RESOURCE...IT'S GREAT!!!

Anne Frank the Diary of a Young Girl
I rated this book a five because while you read it makes you relize that you are so lucky you weren't born in those very tragic times.It made me think about how easy I, and others have it.I love this book because it teaches me about other peoples lives and how hard it was for them.I also think that it was well written and easy to understand.I'm not positive that you will like this book because of how sad and frightning the tale is, but if you are anything like me you will have your face stuck in a book 'till your done. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Amsterdam    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography - General    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Children's Books/Young Adult Biography    6. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    7. Jews    8. Juvenile literature    9. Netherlands    10. Pictorial works    11. Europe    12. Historical figures    13. Juvenile Nonfiction / Biography & Autobiography / Historical    14. World history: from c 1900 -   

Editorial Review

"I never thought I'd see the day that the world would want to hear what two old Negro women have to say," says Bessie Delany. But Bessie and her sister, Sadie, born in 1893 and 1891, saw plenty, by eating a low-fat, high-vegetable diet and outliving the "old Rebby [rebel] boys" who once almost lynched Sadie. This remarkable memoir was a long-running bestseller, spawning a Broadway play and adding to their list of seasoned acquaintances (Marian Anderson, Langston Hughes, Paul Robeson, Cab Calloway) such spring chickens as Hillary Clinton. Born to a former slave whose owners broke the law by teaching him to read, the sisters got a solid education. North Carolina was paradise--despite the Rebbies--until Jim Crow reared its hideous head. The girls had loved to ride in the front of the trolley because the wind in their hair made them feel free, but one day the conductor sadly ordered them to the back. The family moved to New York, where Bessie became the town's second black woman dentist and Sadie the first black woman home-ec teacher. They befriended everyone who was anyone in the Harlem Renaissance (their brother won the 1925 Congressional primary there), pursued careers instead of husbands, and lived peacefully together, despite their differences. Sadie was more peaceable, like Booker T. Washington, while Bessie was a W.E.B. Du Bois-style militant. Read more

Reviews (82)

Excellent! Easy Fun Read that changes your outlook on life.
This book was such a joy to read from beginning to end. The life of the Delaney family from slavery to the present is an amazing story of the African American Experience.
Inspiring history lesson
Heard HAVING OUR SAY by Sadie and A. Elizabeth Delany with
I Wish I'd Known Them
A quick but meaningful read. African American centenarian sisters reflect on a hundred years of political, environmental and social changes as well as the significance of knowing another person intimately for that same unfathomable amount of time. Although their stories are told with the help of a journalist, I could hear their witty, bright, funny, kind voices (and the differences between the two) on every page. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1889-    2. Afro-Americans    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Delaney family    7. Delany, Sarah Louise,    8. Historical - U.S.    9. People of Color    10. Women    11. Biography & Autobiography / People of Color    12. Biography: general   

Reviews (45)

I love Good Books
and this is one of them.This is a good quality book written from an interesting perspective.I highly recommend.

Page Turner and Eye Opener!
I really enjoyed this book.I live in Korea as the wife of a US military officer.I have lived here for over a year and have daily contact with many Koreans.This book gave me valuable insight into the Koreans around me.Obviously not everyone is the same.However, this book taught me a lot about Korean culture and traditions, some aspects of which have sometimes confused and frustrated me.The morning after I stayed up half the night finishing this book (I couldn't put it down), as I drove around, I looked at these natives of my host country through entirely new eyes.
Compelling Story
Although this book gets off to a weak start, after that it quickly picks up. I picked this book off of the dollar stack at a local book store and was pleasantly surprised. I learned quite a bit about Korean history and enjoyed Lee's interpretation of her grandmother's life story. Also, I see potential. I would like to reed another book by Lee. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Ethnic Cultures - General    5. Korean Americans    6. Lee, Helie    7. Minority Studies - Ethnic American    8. Social Science    9. Women's Studies - General    10. Baek, Hongyomg    11. Biography & Autobiography / General    12. Biography: general    13. Lee, Henlie    14. Women's studies   

Subjects:  1. American - African-American    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Catalogs    5. Individual Artist    6. Robinson, Aminah Brenda Lynn    7. Art / Individual Artist    8. Biography: general    9. Exhibition catalogues and specific collections    10. Individual artists   

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Ethnic Cultures - Native Americans    4. General    5. Government relations    6. Historical - U.S.    7. History    8. History: World    9. Kings and rulers    10. Native American    11. Oglala Indians    12. People of Color    13. Wars   

Reviews (23)

A DifferentPerspective
The author certainly did his homework by interviewing over 500 people who have had some interaction with Bonds over his life in order to write this book. What was grat about this book was that it wasn't written by Bonds or from the perspective of the author it was more other peoples true experiences about Bonds spun into a book. This was a fresh look at this guy and not written to drag him down or to glorify him, you are left to make your own opinion. I liked it.

Barry Bonds
I thought this would be a good book for a teen to read, however, there was much too much foul language.

Excellent insight into Barry Bonds
Excellent book.Very entertaining.If you are a baseball fan this is a must have as it talks of Bonds throughout his baseball career.There are many quotes from his teammates on the Pirates and the Giants as well as items from his college days.
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Subjects:  1. African American baseball players    2. Baseball    3. Baseball - General    4. Baseball players    5. Biography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Blacks And Sports    9. People of Color    10. Sports & Recreation    11. Sports - Baseball    12. Sports - General    13. United States    14. Sports & Recreation / Baseball / General   

Reviews (42)

Cut her some slack
I'm surprised by the widely divergent reactions to this semi-memoir. While reading it, I would never have thought it a "polarizing" type of book. I think the answer lies not in the inflated merits or imagined ills of the book itself, or even in the author's writing style, but in different readers' varying expectations and worldviews.
Very Informative, Complete Insider's View
Lipstick Jihad is an incredibly detailed book; it's provides an insider's view on the socio-political situation in the country. The author brings to light various issues and makes the reader want to delve deeper into these issues. Of course, it's a personal account so it's not entirely devoid of biases. But what makes it entertaining is the fact that the book is not sprinkled with light humor and endearing anecdotes. At one point in the book the author mentioned that her father considers Propher Muhammad to be a pedophile because he married a 12/13 year-old. This fact is utterly disparaging and categorically untrue; Prophet Muhammad married several women (in order to support them financially because their husbands had died during wars) and these women were well over 40. In most cases they were fat and not always pretty.
A privileged view . . .
After reading this book, I'm not sure that it can be summed up in a few words, and the title is not much help. A clever contradiction in terms, it reflects the wit of the writer as well as the women's issues often at the center of the book, but it doesn't begin to suggest the book's many other themes. Sometimes it is a memoir of growing up Iranian-American, sometimes a polemic on American misperceptions of Iran, sometimes a search for identity, sometimes an account of a high-risk adventure as a stranger in a strange land, sometimes a story of professional growth as a working journalist. Meanwhile, a theme running throughout is the matter of being an unmarried woman from a privileged background living in a social system that discourages - often by force - her independence.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Ethnic Cultures - General    5. General    6. Middle East - Iran    7. Minority Studies - Ethnic American    8. Personal Memoirs    9. Women    10. Asian / Middle Eastern history: postwar, from c 1945 -    11. Iran   

Editorial Review

Gordon Parks is one of the 20th century's greatest multitalented cultural treasures: a writer, poet, musician, composer, filmmaker, and photographer. In this book--the companion volume to a traveling retrospective--the full flower of Parks's genius is both awe-inspiring in its depth and thorough in its demolition of the era's social-science fictions about African American potential.Read more

Reviews (5)

photojournalism master
mr. parks'book is autobiographical in photo and text. the book reveals his journey to becoming a documentor of turbulent times during his career. this is a must purchase.

A Great Book by a Great Photographer
Buy this book and see the wonderful and varied career of Gordon Parks. See the world through this stunning photographer's eyes, and you will never see the world the same again. Then buy *A Choice of Weapons* and find out how this man came to create these masterworks. Everyone knows his genius as a photographer, filmmaker, and composer, but people may not know that he is a master memoirist as well. Put this book and *A Choice of Weapons* on your Christmas list!

learned so much in one day
Seeing the exhibit was the most wonderful day of my life.Getting the book was the next best day.I am not sure if another photographer so talented in all fields will ever appear again.Raad A Choice of Weaponsalso by Gordon Parks, it will help reinforce the Retrospective. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1912-    2. African American photographers    3. Art    4. Biography    5. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    6. Exhibition Catalogs    7. Exhibitions    8. Individual Photographer    9. Parks, Gordon,    10. Photo Essays    11. Photoessays & Documentaries    12. Photography    13. Photography, Artistic    14. Art / Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    15. Parks, Gordon    16. Photographs: collections   

Reviews (15)

Under A Cruel Star & Reflections of Prague
My mother's book, in print since 1973 under various titles, the last being 'Under A Cruel Star', inspired me to write my own side of the story about my lost father, JUDr Rudolf Margolius. Now published and called 'Reflections of Prague: Journeys through the 20th century' it fills gaps in my mother's book provided by further research and historical information, some of which was not available to her and which many readers of her book had asked us for over the years. Hopefully this companion volume provides answers to these questions. I hope you find this book interesting and would welcome your feedback.

A mother's undying love for her son; a son's undying love for his mother...
When I finished reading Heda Margolius Kovaly's stunning chronicle of continuous struggle, concentration camp survival, and eventual triumph, I had to stare out my window onto the street below for a long while, watching the people.
extraordinary memoir in several languages
I am the English-language publisher of Ms. Kovaly's extraordinary memoir, that is now being read in major universities around the world for an eyewitness view of twentieth century totalitarianism --in this case Nazism and Stalinism -- in Central Europe. This translation has been the basis for the UK, French, German, Dutch and Japanese editions of this book. There are very few books in any language by or about Czech Jewish women. Another excellent one is my wife Helen Epstein's journalistic memoir of her maternal line of Bohemian Jews titled Where She Came From: A Daughter's Search for her Mother's History, which covers the years 1800-1948 in the Czech lands. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1938-1945    2. 1945-1992    3. Czechoslovakia    4. Eastern Europe - Czech Republic & Slovakia    5. Eastern Europe - General    6. Eastern Europe - History    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Kovaly, Heda    11. Kovâaly, Heda    12. Biography: historical    13. Eastern Europe    14. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    15. Kovály, Heda   

Reviews (49)

captivating
this book changed my life in a way... not that i have similar experiences or grew up in that time because i'm only 24. This was an excellent book all the way but it did a little more for me. This is one of those books that touched me and will always get praise. My mother was an addict and up until i read this book i held a grudge because she left me at the age of 5. This book made me understand the mind of an addict and that she would have probably the best mother in the world if it were not for the drugs. I understood the control drugs had over people and my mom. The book wasnt just about drugs but you can overcome and rise from the evils of the world. But for me this book made me forgive my mother.

Emotional to the tenth power
Mr. Brown has written a novel that brings home to all that have been raised in a big city how some have it tougher than themselves. I was raised in the same era in Detroit but it was adifferent experience. Hard drugs had not arrived on the white streets yet. Crime was at the fringes of our society and some youths did, some didn't. At the conclusion of the novel I was sincerely touched as he thought of his friends that hadn't made it and the the ones that had. We all have surely had the same thoughts and I sometimes wonder of the few of us that did well in our lives how many of the others didn't receive the same breaks. They were still our friends, and would be today if we seen them. They live forever in our minds and hearts and we do hope for the best of a good life, at least close to what we have had but there are probably more sad storys than not,better we don't know the pain could be to great. A striking novel and I will recommend to all I know.

A classic, mandatory reading
Manchild In The Promised Land is, unlike Tookie's diatribe, the real deal.A facinating insight into the lifestyle and politics that dumpled so many of our minority communities into a civil rights wasteland of tragedy, economic strangulation and political correctness.
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Subjects:  1. 1937-    2. Afro-Americans    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Blacks In The U.S.    7. Brown, Claude,    8. Ethnic Issues    9. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    10. Harlem (New York, N.Y.)    11. People of Color    12. Social conditions    13. Sociology    14. American English    15. Biography & Autobiography / People of Color    16. Biography: general    17. Modern fiction    18. New York    19. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    20. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Reviews (5)

Interesting polemic
I have not read this book yet, but it seems to be an interesting propaganda piece (in the original sense of the word) by somebody serving an unjust sentence. Very Informative
Now I figured out where Ja Rule got the title for his new album from. Upon reading this book, it addressed the racial, sociatal, politcal, and emotional abuse that was going on in his life and towards blacks. I think it was not fair that he got one year to life in prison just for stealing $70.00 from a store. I think he should've served some prison time and community service. But being gave life in prison for a misdemeanor is definately wrong!. If he were white he would probly get 2 years in prison & probation. But they did not allow that for blacks back during that time. I thought the collection of essays & letters expressed his feelings or inner most thoughts. So I can see why Ja Rule named his album after this book's title

Prison Praxis and Radical Political Philosophy
The life praxis of assassinated prison intellectual and revolutionary George Jackson embodies much of the radical possibility embodied by the work of radical prisoners.Incarcerated in 1960 at the age of eighteen for a $70 gas station robbery, Jackson was given an indeterminate sentence of one year to life.His staunch disobedience to prison rules and officials, along with his principled and visceral hatred of confinement, spurred Jackson's political and intellectual transformation within the prison.As his political stature among California inmates grew, Jackson became a liability to state authority through his profound effectiveness as an organizer and educator of fellow prisoners-in fact, one can still find many (formerly) imprisoned and free people who testify to Jackson's mentorship as integral to their political formation.This praxis essentially guaranteed that Jackson would never again see the light of the outside, and his brutal, open execution on the concrete ground of San Quentin prison emblazoned the logic of state repression in spectacular fashion.It is an ironic, perhaps fitting testament to Jackson's lasting political legacy that a wall in the San Quentin prison "museum" contains a mounted trophy case of the high-powered rifle that killed him on August 21, 1971, along with a bronze plaque enshrining the name of the guard who pulled the trigger.