Biography Books

This book is fantastic. It's one of my favorite books along with Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. The Transcendentalists really knew what was going on. In our consumeristic times, it is necessary to learn how to simplify. That is what Thoreau was all about.

The service was prompt, the book was brand new, and cheaper than the list price!!!

This book should be required reading for every high school and college student in every school in the country. Our narcissistic, throwaway, gadget-intoxicated society needs to hear Thoreau's message about the satisfaction gained through living simply, and about the difference between want and need. Not to mention his pronouncement that we do not own our possessions but are rather owned and enslaved by them.

Back in high school this was required reading...not the whole thing but a decent chunk. Pretty much all of us became obsessed with this book and we'd talk about it all the time, both during and after class. Our teacher was really good at his job, but this is also simply and amazing book. It's really a masterpiece.

Something about the way the book was put together, literally- the size of the book is too big and you cannot hold it right because the print is all the way to the middle crease. Very akward. Disappointed- damn cheap publisher! My mom has an old extra copy she is going to give me. This is going to goodwill.

Thoreau is awesome. Too bad the book doesn't live up to his words.

I love this book so much (and admire the author Doris Kearns Goodwin enormously) that I have bought this inside story of America and the Roosevelts during WWII for many of my friends and family members and they all make sure to thank me for introducing them to it...A MUST READ in my humble opinon

I've read several books on FDR and this one covered many aspects of the Roosevelts and the war years that the others didn't. Worth reading!

We may think we know all there is to know about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, but Doris Kearns Goodwin shows in this well-written and fascinating book that we only *thought* we knew the whole story.

This book is full of intimate moments, as told by those who were present to see them. Beautiful detailed, interesting and colorful, this is a layered and nuanced description of life in the Roosevelt White House during those turbulent years between 1940 and 1945.

What I wasn't expecting, and what turned out to be a delightful surprise, was the discussion of what life was like on the Homefront for average Americans during this time. This made extraordinary reading.

For those who are interested in history, this must be added to your list of titles. Highly recommended.

Seemingly hundreds of books have been written about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Books about Franklin, written from his point of view, can be critical of Eleanor - her tendency to nag, her seriousness, her lack of personality. Similarly, books about Eleanor, written from her point of view, can be critical of Franklin - his deceptions, arrogance, and self-centeredness. "No Ordinary Time, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II," written by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, provides a unique perspective in telling the stories of both Franklin and Eleanor, incorporating each point of view into the story, describing them both as individual people and as part of a troubled yet fascinating partnership. Written in narrative form, Goodwin chronicles the war years on the home front, beginning in May of 1940 and ending in December of 1945, combining the story of the Roosevelts with that of regular Americans to demonstrate the unique relationship that was created between government and the people, making this truly "no ordinary time" in American history.

In "No Ordinary Time," Franklin Roosevelt is fleshed out as a charming and charismatic figure who comes to inspire the nation through his "ebullient energy" and unlimited confidence, not only in himself, but in the country. Although he came from a wealthy, aristocratic family, Roosevelt was able to empathize with the poor and underprivileged after a bout with polio left him crippled. Although he never allowed himself to be seen in his wheelchair, and most Americans did not realize the extent of his disability, Goodwin describes one poignant scene when the president went to visit troops in Oahu and specifically asked to be wheeled around the hospital ward slowly - to, in effect, put himself, his disability, and his vulnerability on full display, so that troops who had lost arms or legs could see "living proof of what the human spirit could do."

His unique ability to transmit his own perpetual cheerfulness and optimism to others was what defined his leadership. According to Goodwin, more than any previous president, Roosevelt studied public opinion (reading newspapers, analyzing polls, securing different points of view), allowing him to understand the national temperament. Even more than that, he wanted to connect to the American people. Prior to one of his fireside (radio) chats, he asked Americans to buy a map to have before them as they listened to his speech. Americans rushed to buy maps, and eighty percent of the audience was listening to the radio as Roosevelt explained to them the situation in each part of the world, bringing the war to life, so Americans could better understand the challenges they were facing and be more prepared for a new kind of war being fought on every continent. Not only did these fireside chats allow Americans to connect with their president, they allowed Americans to connect them with each other. Describing the scene on the Chicago Midway during a fireside chat, novelist Saul Bellow explained how all the taxi drivers were pulled over by the side of the road with their radios on, so that he didn't miss a word of the speech as he walked by their cars: "You felt joined to these unknown drivers, [. . . .] not so much considering the President's words as affirming the rightness of his tone and finding assurance from it." Through his leadership, Roosevelt inspired a country that had just been through an economic depression and that was woefully underprepared for a global war to come together and re-establish itself as the world's preeminent superpower.

Like her husband, Eleanor Roosevelt also forged a unique relationship with the American people. Although she too had grown up in a wealthy, aristocratic family, unlike her husband she suffered through an unhappy childhood, leading to a lack of confidence and various bouts with depression. She lived a conventional subservient life as Franklin's wife up until she discovered his affair with Lucy Mercer. At that point, she decided she would no longer depend on another person for fulfillment and happiness and embarked on her own independent life devoted to her own interests, including teaching, writing, and participating in various political causes. She was not a conventional first lady but rather "challenged the traditional sense of what was possible": she was the first wife of a president to hold a government job, testify before a congressional committee, hold press conferences, write a syndicated column, and earn money as a lecturer. She didn't limit her role to staying at the White House and hosting social events, believing, if she did, she "would lose touch with the rest of the world." Instead, she traveled the country, observing poverty in Appalachia and sweatshops in Puerto Rico firsthand, reporting back to her husband when she found workers making less than minimum wage in one town. She witnessed the devastation of the war herself, also, as she traveled to Britain and to the Pacific. After seeing "the mangled bodies, the stomachs ripped by shells, the amputated limbs, the crushed spirits," she fell into a depression, trying to come to terms with her "emotionally disturbing" trip. Like her husband, she empathized with the American people and, even more than him, was determined to raise the consciousness of our country, fighting against Japanese internment and for women's rights in the workplace, an increased role for African Americans in the workplace, and less restrictive rules to allow refugees into the United States.

Characterizing Eleanor as the agitator and Franklin as the politician, Eleanor as the one who thought about what should be done while Franklin thought only of what could be done, and contrasting Eleanor's shyness and insecurity with Franklin's confidence and sociability, Goodwin makes it clear just how different Eleanor and Franklin were. Realizing their inability to fulfill each other's needs, they established largely independent lives where they turned to others for comfort - Franklin to his "real wife" Missy LeHand, his gossipy cousins, and his aide Harry Hopkins, and Eleanor to her young political activist friend Joseph Lash and a circle of feminist friends, including newspaper reporter Lorena Hickok. Even after Franklin grew lonely as Missy and Hopkins drifted away and turned to Eleanor in the hopes they could re-establish a more traditional marriage, she refused, later writing to Lash that she felt there was "no fundamental love to draw on, just respect and affection." Yet, Goodwin makes it clear that there was a bond between them that could not be broken. In one particularly affecting passage, Goodwin quotes from Eleanor's son, who describes the aftermath of his uncle Hall's death: "'Hall has died,' Eleanor told Franklin simply. Father struggled to her side and put his arms around her. 'Sit down,' he said, so tenderly I can still hear it. And he sank down beside her and hugged her and kissed her and held her head on his chest. . . . . For all they were apart both physically and spiritually much of their married life, there remained between them a bond that others could not break." This bond was not just from nearly forty years of marriage, but from the common cause they were joined in - to better the lives of Americans. In order to advance this cause, they drew strength from each other, together creating a far different America than the one that existed when Franklin Roosevelt first took office.

While it is clear that Goodwin has deep admiration for Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, she also establishes them as fully-fleshed characters - visionary, courageous, and brave, but also deeply flawed. In fleshing out their characters, she also succeeds in creating a third character, that of the American people. When Franklin Roosevelt began his second term, one-third of Americans had no running water or indoor plumbing, more than half had no central heating, and only one-fourth had even graduated from high school. America was a "pyramidal society," with a few fortunate on the top and a great mass of people at the bottom. During the war, though, Americans moved from the farm to the factory, from the south to the north, from the east to the west, as war production led to the emergence of the middle class and created the "most profound transition in American history." Most importantly, through innovations like the minimum wage, labor protection, social security, and market regulation, a new relationship between the American people and their government was formed. Franklin Roosevelt's importance is felt most at the end of the book, as Goodwin poignantly describes the public's reaction to his death - "everybody is crying" - and the long railroad trip as his body is carried from Georgia to Washington, with Eleanor looking out the window of the train and seeing hundreds of thousands of people whose lives he had touched gathered along the way to pay their tribute. In recounting the lives of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, and their impact on America, Goodwin shows readers why this was "no ordinary time," creating a vivid portrait of what American life on the home front was like during the second world war and bringing this incredible time in American history alive.

"Team of Rivals" remains my favorite Doris Kearns Goodwin book. But this is a very close second. "No Ordinary Time" is a brilliantly written, information-packed book that provides great insight into the FDR White House and the minds of both Franklin and Eleanor.

"No Ordinary Time" covers the Roosevelts from 1940-45, focusing primarily on how they handled the home front during America's involvement in World War II. It was interesting to learn about Eleanor's deep commitment to civil rights, how polarizing a figure she was throughout the country, and her influence on the president.

I was also very intrigued by the relationships between both Roosevelts and their friends and family. Goodwin occasionally breaks from the time period of the book to cover important moments in their lives pre-1940. FDR's affair with Lucy Rutherfurd, and the rekindling of their relationship in his last years, through the help of his daughter, is fascinating.

If I have one criticism -- and it's a stretch -- it would be that Goodwin sometimes gets bogged down in numbers, such as statistics about war production -- the amount of planes, tanks, guns, etc., that were produced and/or shipped to England and Russia. But while those sections may have somewhat slowed the progress of the book, they were important to the story she was telling.

So I consider this a 5-star book. I know Goodwin justifiably received criticism a few years ago due to some plagiarism in a previous book, but few, if any, historians combine research and writing as effectively as she does. I highly recommend this book.

What's really terrific about this book is the way that it sets the story of Van Meegeren's forgeries within the personal biography of the forger and the history of the period. In fact, I'm starting to think that this is the way that art should always be looked at, because I suddenly saw these fake Vermeers in a completely new light. I've heard people ask how anyone could have been fooled by these pictures, but through really simple side-by-side comparisons, the author makes it totally clear that the paintings really looked like the pictures that people of the time saw around them. So Van Meegeren's early forgeries (which look a LOT like real Vermeers) also resemble movie posters from the 1930s, and his late forgeries (like the famous one he sold to Hermann Goering) resemble Nazi propaganda pictures.

As a side note, I also just want to say how impressed I was with the way that the author clearly did a huge amount of research, but made the book a really engrossing one to read. None of that academic stuff that you find in a lot of books about art. But at the same time, treating the subject in a very serious way. And it's a very serious topic. Van Meegeren held truly despicable fascist beliefs, and his forgeries expressed them.

I found the book totally eye-opening. I definitely recommend it!

I like mysteries, intrigue, politics, and history. I picked up The Man Who Made Vermeers because it was one of the best sellers in my local bookstore. One of the salespeople told me that customers who read crime fiction had been buying it, and I can really see why. The book presents an excellent understanding of Han van Meegeren, the Dutch artist who sold a fake Vermeer to Hermann Goering during World War II.

It turns out that Van Meegeren was a fascinating figure--much more interesting than I would have thought. Because Van Meegeren had fooled Hermann Goering, he became a hero in the Netherlands after the war and he presented himself as kind of a patriot. But it appears that swindling Goering was more or less an accident. Van Meegeren didn't have an axe to grind with Goering. In fact, he had been an admirer of Hitler and fascism since the movement began, and had even painted work on commission for the German occupying forces.

What you really get to see here is the criminal mind at work. While other books about Van Meegeren have taken his story at face value and presented him as a hero, Lopez convinced me that this man was no hero at all. The book offers real insight into the psychology of a fundamentally duplicitous individual who capitalized on one of the darkest moments in world history...

Nicely told, and the story's completely new to me. Gives very nice historical background details and good observations and comments on paintings. Excellent historical photos illustrating the text. Fun book.

I like to read widely in non-fiction, especially in art history and history, but I'm no expert; so I often consult the reviews of other readers. In that spirit, I want to recommend this book I recently finished.

The Man Who Made Vermeers tells the story of an ingenious art forger working in Holland prior to, during and just after World War II. I bought this book because I enjoy reading historical biographies, particularly of "unknown" people living during times of momentous upheaval.

Van Meegeren's life is fascinating and the author of the book gives his readers keen insight on the artist-forger's motivation, mindset and aesthetic savviness. But, reading this book has left me with not only with an interesting biography to consider but also with a far greater appreciation for the political context of life in 1930's-1940's Europe.

For me, it's Lopez's ideas about how forgeries generate their own appeal to their contemporary audiences and how an individual's political ideology pervades his actions and words, regardless of what might seem to be an apolitical activity - painting forgeries for money. The author's analysis provides a lot of meaty food for thought about politics and societies more generally and I look forward to any other books Lopez might write.

Finally, I want to add that the author's congenial writing style made this book a genuine pleasure to read, so even if you aren't sure you are interested in Dutch art history, you will definitely enjoy the experience of reading this book - and come away wiser for it.

Jonathan Lopez presents an insightful look at the mind of Han van Meegeren, as explores his Nazi sympathies, manipulative tendencies, and general deceitfulness. Lopez seamlessly weaves the story of Nazi rule in the Netherlands, and the tale of World War II, into van Meegeren's biography. While Lopez's work is certainly scholarly, I did not find it to be "above my head" (as an individual without a strong background on Vermeer and Dutch painting in general) nor, frankly, was it "dumbed down" for uneducated readers. In short, I highly recommend this book; it is a page turner from beginning to end!

Why the author was drawn to becoming a Yogi as a child is very revealing. Paramahansa plainly relates that he believed he would have power over animals, such as having tigers as pets. What child doesnt fantisize about super powers?; India at the turn of the last century was rooted in superstition,with countless Fakirs demonstrating all manner of powers from levitating to producing the the smell of various flowers at the tip of ones fingers,as the author relates. The Discovery channel has shown how such feats,(tricks)are performed by fakirs(fakers),but such knowledge would not have been known by the author who obviously absorbed the cultural beliefs of that time period and built on such magical thinking.
Many of his stories as heresay,such as a herb appearing in the hand of a relative,and monks that live without eating for hundreds of years. Other accounts,such as witnessing the astral projections of other gurus,and bringing the dead back to life,leave me wondering whether Paramarhansa purposely fabricated such accounts to enhanse his teachings or whether he was honestly delusional in his perceptions.
The most memorable account to me,and perhaps the one which has imspired so many ratings of 5, is the following discription of a meditation experience he had:
....."My body became immovably rooted; breath was drawn out of my lungs as if by some huge magnet. Soul and mind instantly lost their physical bondage, and streamed out like a fluid piercing light from my every pore. The flesh was as though dead, yet in my intense awareness I knew that never before had I been fully alive. My sense of identity was no longer narrowly confined to a body, but embraced the circumambient atoms. People on distant streets seemed to be moving gently over my own remote periphery. The roots of plants and trees appeared through a dim transparency of the soil; I discerned the inward flow of their sap. The whole vicinity lay bare before me. My ordinary frontal vision was now changed to a vast spherical sight, simultaneously all-perceptive. Through the back of my head I saw men strolling far down Rai Ghat Road, and noticed also a white cow who was leisurely approaching. When she reached the space in front of the open ashram gate, I observed her with my two physical eyes. As she passed by, behind the brick wall, I saw her clearly still.
All objects within my panoramic gaze trembled and vibrated like quick motion pictures. My body, Master's, the pillared courtyard, the furniture and floor, the trees and sunshine, occasionally became violently agitated, until all melted into a luminescent sea; even as sugar crystals, thrown into a glass of water, dissolve after being shaken. The unifying light alternated with materializations of form, the metamorphoses revealing the law of cause and effect in creation. An oceanic joy broke upon calm endless shores of my soul. The Spirit of God, I realized, is exhaustless Bliss; His body is countless tissues of light. A swelling glory within me began to envelop towns, continents, the earth, solar and stellar systems, tenuous nebulae, and floating universes. The entire cosmos, gently luminous, like a city seen afar at night, glimmered within the infinitude of my being. The sharply etched global outlines faded somewhat at the farthest edges; there I could see a mellow radiance, ever-undiminished. It was indescribably subtle; the planetary pictures were formed of a grosser light. The divine dispersion of rays poured from an Eternal Source, blazing into galaxies, transfigured with ineffable auras. Again and again I saw the creative beams condense into constellations, then resolve into sheets of transparent flame. By rhythmic reversion, sextillion worlds passed into diaphanous luster; fire became firmament. I cognized the center of the empyrean as a point of intuitive perception in my heart. Irradiating splendor issued from my nucleus to every part of the universal structure. Blissful AMRITA, the nectar of immortality, pulsed through me with a quicksilverlike fluidity. The creative voice of God I heard resounding as AUM, {FN14-1} the vibration of the Cosmic Motor. Suddenly the breath returned to my lungs. With a disappointment almost unbearable, I realized that my infinite immensity was lost. Once more I was limited to the humiliating cage of a body, not easily accommodative to the Spirit. Like a prodigal child, I had run away from my macrocosmic home and imprisoned myself in a narrow microcosm. My guru was standing motionless before me; I started to drop at his holy feet in gratitude for the experience in cosmic consciousness which I had long passionately sought. He held me upright, and spoke calmly, unpretentiously. "You must not get overdrunk with ecstasy. Much work yet remains for you in the world. Come; let us sweep the balcony floor; then we shall walk by the Ganges." I fetched a broom; Master, I knew, was teaching me the secret of balanced living. The soul must stretch over the cosmogonic abysses, while the body performs its daily duties. When we set out later for a stroll, I was still entranced in unspeakable rapture. I saw our bodies as two astral pictures, moving over a road by the river whose essence was sheer light.
Sri Yukteswar taught me how to summon the blessed experience at will, and also how to transmit it to others if their intuitive channels were developed. For months I entered the ecstatic union, comprehending why the UPANISHADS say God is RASA, "the most relishable." One day, however, I took a problem to Master. "I want to know, sir-when shall I find God?" "You have found Him." "O no, sir, I don't think so!" My guru was smiling. "I am sure you aren't expecting a venerable Personage, adorning a throne in some antiseptic corner of the cosmos! I see, however, that you are imagining that the possession of miraculous powers is knowledge of God. One might have the whole universe, and find the Lord elusive still! Spiritual advancement is not measured by one's outward powers, but only by the depth of his bliss in meditation. "EVER-NEW JOY IS GOD. He is inexhaustible; as you continue your meditations during the years, He will beguile you with an infinite ingenuity. Devotees like yourself who have found the way to God never dream of exchanging Him for any other happiness; He is seductive beyond thought of competition. "How quickly we weary of earthly pleasures! Desire for material things is endless; man is never satisfied completely, and pursues one goal after another. The 'something else' he seeks is the Lord, who alone can grant lasting joy."...
As far as I am conserned the above is a beautiful excerpt which is the prize of the book,sandwich among what is either boring, fanciful,and questionable. I am sorry to shatter any goal anyone has of this author being a Guru with all the answers. Just consider the author's 'teachings' regarding a heathy diet, basically cow fat(ghee)on too many starchy carbohydrates, he dropped dead of a heart attack in his late 50s; yet in a clip on Youtube he is teaching how one can live 100 years.
If you search Youtube you can hear the author's voice which is in the same "grand sounding authoritarian style" of the politicians of the 1930s. I think it shows an accurate image of a man who unequivically believes in the power of amulets but who just may be attempting to oversell the power of being a Yogi with a few good Avatar stories,topped off by an Indian-style Lazareth-raised-from-the-dead account,but then again he may have been honestly delusional. I suggest buying The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I would highly recommend it to any one interested in spirituality, India, history, Yoga and just life. Slow start, but interesting, inspiring and really a classic. I ran into the book after someone recommended it to me, and I am so glad I did....my favorite parts about the living saint Babji and the miracles the author witnessed. Fun and thought provoking. Loved it.

I agree with all those who gave it 5 stars. I'm writing to address the comment made by a Western male regarding the homoeroticism between the guru and his devotee and the misogynistic slant of the book. You're having difficulty because you are reading this book trapped in the perspective of your homophobia and expectation. That is exactly why you should read this book, so it can make you get out of your limitations and call to your soul, which has no gender. God has no gender, though of course God can appeal to you as a Mother God or Father God, depending on your need for it. Paramahansa Yogananda cannot possibly write for the current trend of political correctness of American society to assuage your criticism for not putting more women in his book; he is obviously way beyond the trappings of human identifications of the gross material body and gender. Spend some time meditating and detaching from all that, including the fact that you're a heterosexual male, so your soul can be awakened by the words of this giant of a man. Don't worry, you won't turn gay!

In fact I read this after I read the book ""God Talks to Arjuna"by Paramhansa Yogananda. The variuos terminology given in the book and the Kriya Yoga has attaracted me to become a member of the Yogoda Satsang Society and get the lessons. I have never read any other Auto Biography so vivid and truthful account of what transpires the young man seeking God. Though I was at the age of 49/50 at the time of reading this book in the year 1997 the details are still very much deeply imprinted on my mind as if I have read it now. This shows as to how much this book has the powerful grip of the Author and one has to read only once.
I strongly recommmend this book to those who wants to do something different than eating , sleeping , producing kids and vanishing away like any other insects than Human.


Ramamrat Iyer

This book got me interested in Kriya yoga. It has been a life changing book. Next step after the book to delve deeper is :

Kriya Yoga - Its Mystery and Performing Art
by Swami Sadhanananda Giri book:

Once again (I bought three books related with Henry VIII) the contents were the expected, the conditions in wich I received the book were perfect, and in a very reasonable lapse of time

When Alison Weir is the author, the book is unquestionably accurate and a wonderful read. The children of Henry VIIl were exceptional. Elizabeth and Edward were incredibly intelligent. They always fascinate me. Mary, hummmm, maybe not so much. I love anything Alison Weir writes. I have yet to be disappointed in any of her books.

This was a very well written and entertaining book. It was not dry and historical. I was very engrossed in it and found it a very good read if you are interested in Tudor history. I am glad she she spent time on Mary Tudor, because not as much is written about her or her brother as Elizabeth. I found this to be a very good book.

The author demonstrates meticulous research in this book. This is the fourth of her books I have read and find her style clear,dull and somewhat easier to read than the Congrsssional Record.If you are seeking an accurate history with overmuch detail, Alison Weir is the author for you. I prefer a history book with a theme which holds my attention and doesn't wander into taxing paragraphs of detail,dull detail.

Recently I've become interested in the Tudors. I've been following the series on television and have also read a few historical novels. This book, however, is different because it is not a novel. It is a biography. All I can say is WOW - truth really is stranger than fiction - and much more fascinating.

It starts with a short history of the three Tudor siblings. Then, we meet King Edward VI I, a child being manipulated by the men in power. We get to know him as he grows more and more aware of his own power. He believes in the Protestant religion and he and his advisers have put restraints on Catholicism. Of course his oldest sister, Mary, who is in her late twenties and has been raised Catholic is unhappy and resists all the new laws, but he is firm in his own beliefs. By the age of 15, though, he is dying. It is a painful and tragic death and takes a long time. The reader is not spared any of the details. In order to keep England Protestant, on his dying bed, he chooses the next in succession - his cousin Lady Jane Grey, merely 15 years old at the time. She didn't want to be Queen, but was forced into it. Her reign was short (only nine days) and tragic. Soon, Mary became Queen.

This all seems so simple, but, it fact it is quite complicated. The book describes the many plots and subplots, intrigues and politics of the time. Long imprisonments and beheadings were common. And later, during Mary's reign, Protestant heretics were burned at the stake. The reader is not spared any of the grisly details. There were times I got the shivers but I was glad this was not whitewashed history. This was real, it happened, and the writing was so good that I felt I was right there. The author managed to insert constant historical references, including actual letters, into the narrative.

I learned a lot. I didn't know that Queen Mary had been married to a Spanish prince. I hadn't realized that the younger sister, Elizabeth, had spent much of her life imprisoned. I didn't understand the complexities of the constant warfare with other countries. And, even though I knew about the division between the Protestants and Catholics, this book really described the ends that Mary went to in order to force Catholicism on the English people.

It's all here, packed into a mere 366 pages. Well, almost. The book ends with Mary's death and Elizabeth's ascension to the throne. It then simply mentions that Elizabeth enjoyed a 45-year reign. I definitely plan to read some other biography about that reign. But I now have the background to understand it better.

I loved this book and was sorry it ended. Highly recommended.

The first major and most important work of a person's story on coming face to face with Christ. This is a timeless classic that every Christian and non-Christian alike can relate to, though it's a dangerous read, since it might influence the non-Christian to delve deeper. Augustine hits the nail on the head for everyone's struggles with becoming a better person and Christian when he writes, "Give me chastity and give me continence, but do not give it yet."

Had the displeasure of reading this as one of the five required texts for a course on early medieval philosophy.

Here's a summary for chapters 1-10:

God is great. My empty life of sin sucked, because nothing is good without God, but now I found God and he's fantastic.

Every 3 lines is an appraisal of God. The rest of the lines are obfuscated means of conveying simple ideas. An entire chapter is devoted to Augustine's story of stealing pears with company whose admiration he was trying to win. But at the same time he says he did it purely for its wickedness. Some scholars claim that it's a paradox open to multiple interpretations; I say it's a contradiction made by some one trying to shove God in every life experience he had.

Finally after the main course of the book is done with, he makes a somewhat acceptable discourse on the nature of time and the eternal concept, but the legitimate philosophical content can be summarized in about 1% of the text printed in this book. As for the insight to the personal nature of a person's prayers and relationship with God, I truly hope this is not how most theists go about it. It's naught more than incoherent praising at every turn.

This book is a very powerful, memorable spiritual autobiography and Augustine tells his story like none other. He is transparent and honest at every turn, holding nothing back. He tells of his faith struggles, his sins and his temptations very candidly. The story of his conversion is truly beautiful and will stay with you. He has written in such a way that you truly see the hand of God at work in his life. A phenomenal read that will touch you. Highly recommended.

I've long since lost the religious fervor that led me to read Augustine's Confessions for the first time some 40 years ago. But I've never tired of re-reading it, which I do every five years or so. For in addition to being an exquisitely written prayer, it's also a penetrating analysis of the human psyche. In reading the Confessions, one is invited to reflect on what it means to be a human being who longs for transcendence in a world that too often seems exclusively mundane. Reading the Confessions, one recognizes that a human life is fraught with moments of great meaning and joy but also ones of intense forlornness and self-loathing. Reading the Confessions, one gains insight into the psychology of religious conversion, mystical experience, parental-child relations, and guilt. Finally, Augustine's reflections on memory in Book X (and to a certain extent in XI) are some of the most insightful comments on the phenomenology of consciousness to be written until the twentieth century. Truly, this is a book to "tolle, lege."

Henry Chadwick's translation is, in my judgment, the best English one going. Moreover, his Introduction nicely situates Augustine's Confessions against the backdrops of the neo-Platonism and Manicheanism that claimed him as a youth. The explanatory footnotes with which he sprinkles Augustine's texts are also very helpful. I would recommend his translation before all others for a first-time reader of the Confessions.

All you one and 2 star commentators will like what I have to say on this alleged *saint*.
Look its one thing to havea mother complex, most men do, a few succumb til death, Augie was one of these who never got over his complex.
Monica, his mother was the typical type that drowns the son , a power monger.
She was the one who advised her son to dump his *wife* of 17 years (was a forced marriage as the girl was a concubine he got pregnant when he 17 yrs old!!!) Augie was 34 and seekinga high position in Milanese government. His *wife* was illiterate street girl , thus *extra baggage*. Augie sent her back to north africa, their hometown.
Plot gets juicier.
Mommie Monica (the catholic church titles her *the great devote saint*) sets up a new potential mate, but the girl is only 10, roman law allows marriage for girls not until 12 yrs old. So he has to wait.
In these 2 yrs, he gets depressed and calls off the marriage.
His life then is nothing but turmoil, driven by his monster size mother complex. Monica dies during this time, however the complex is in full force. The physical mother is gone, but the dominate complex is in his blood in full force.
Augie was schooled as a master of rhetoric, thus as a new christian he realize *fancy talk* is cheap, and contrary to christian ideals. But too late, his mind was hard wired to function in this mindless rhetorical mannerism.
Worse than actually helping the soul his writings lead the soul no where but in senseless out-of-touch-with-reality circles.
His beliefs do much harm to those who wish to finda child like faith, which Christ himself says is the only way to the kingdom of God. Augie's babbling and empty chatter leads us away from the plain truth, which Christ came to reveal to *those who will receive* (the few)
The catholic church wants us to look beyond all these glaring issues and say *what a great man to turn from his sins and go on to defend the faith*
Augie like EVERY SINGLE CHURCH FATHER, was constantly embroiled in fighting the *heretics*. Where in the New Testament do we find a command to FIGHT the heretics?
BTW we should also be aware that anti-semiticism was fervent throughout the history of the catholic church.
Read B Natanyahu's masterly book The Origins of the Inquisition/Random House, 1995.
Its no wonder the catholic church has become what she now is, a business , based upon misguided writings from Augustine. Priests actually have to study this fermented long-winded bunk!!!
To sum up, Augustine's mind offers no understanding of the soul, life, man, woman, and certainly sheds no insight into the mysteries which we call God.
AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE.
Paul Best
New Orleans
July 30,2008

Started swimming a bit and taking notice of athletes... this one is a bore. Boy starts swimming. Boy is great from the start. Boy gets gold.

Whoopty doo..

As soon as I received the book in the mail, I started reading it instantly. This book talks about his beginnings from a child, to the olympics in Athens. I felt I was with him at every step of the way to his stardom, while he describes his trials, feelings, innocence, growing up and messing up, learning through out his journey. I would definitely recommend this book for everyone.

I think is a nice book, for the fans of Michael Phelps is really good, he shares important aspects of his life and is very interesting to see what this kid has overcome to be the best swimer in the world.

An excellent book with an inside look at the Olympic dream.
Very well written and inspiring.
t-minus until 2k8...

Although this book leaves swim training to the coaches, this book offers the incredible journey of Michael Phelps from childhood swimming to the 2004 Olympics. As a college swimmer, it was a relief to read about his training and see similarities with my own.

He offers lessons for life that are necessary for any young athlete. Phelps had help writing the book, but his words and experiences are still there. This man has been through a great deal and it is incredible to read of his sacrifice in the name of achieving greatness.

It is written simply and easy to read. Inspirational and any athlete can relate. I love this book.

omg
this book
as i said, i read this in 1 evening
guzzling coffee, carrying the book to the kitchen along as i refilled my mug, reading, underlining, scribbling quotes down for later meditation, i immediately lent it to a friend, and left voicemails on phones for others to read it, like yesterday, this is a must have for anyone, but especially for you if you sometimes wonder why life is special, just as it is.
please get it
that will make me happy
and you know that's what its all about
:)

I learned for some men passion and lust is more important than love no matter how painful.

I SAW THE MOVIE WHICH WAS EXCELLENT AND WANTED TO GET THE BOOK TO GET A MORE INDEPTH PICTURE. HE HAD A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY LET PEOPLE INTO HIS WORLD AND TELL US WHAT IS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND WHEN YOU WAKE UP AND CAN'T MOVE. HOW DO YOU COPE WITH THAT. AND HOW DO YOU GET FROM THAT PLACE TO A PLACE WHERE YOU ACCEPT AND ACTUALLY SEE BEAUTY IN YOUR LIFE. HE NEVER SHARES ANY OF THIS. HE RAMBLES ON AND ON (WHICH IS PRETTY HARD TO DO "TALKING" WITH ONE EYE) HE TALKS ABOUT PLACES HE HAS BEEN AND PEOPLE HE KNOWS BUT ONLY TOUCHES ON THE EXPERIENCE HE'S HAVING WITH LOCKED IN SYNDROME. WATCH THE MOVIE IT'S BETTER.

Jean-Dominique Bauby's "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" is a truly moving and inspirational memoir by a man rendered incapable of any communication except for the blinking of his left eye and very slight head movement. Bauby had suffered from a stroke, which led to what is so aptly known as `locked-in-syndrome'.

Bauby, a distinguished journalist who had been editor-in-chief at Elle, famously used his one book contract with a publisher (signed before the stroke) to write this memoir by recounting his story through blinking his left eye to spell out every letter of every single word to an interpreter/assistant who would recite a special frequency arranged alphabet to Jean-Do.

This fascinating and unbelievable pretext sticks with the reader throughout the memoir, with it so often seeming amazing that such lucid and vivid metaphors and accounts of life could be communicated by a man in such an imprisoned state.

From his refusal to pity himself or lament his situation, to his heart-wrenching yet moving description of his plight as that of being trapped in a "cocoon", with his inability to move any part of his body being likened to being forever imprisoned by an old-fashioned diving suit, Bauby constantly moves the reader with his courage and heightened state of awareness. By declaring his situation as not a burden, but instead an opportunity to free his mind and let it take "flight like a butterfly", Bauby delivers a memoir that is so precious for demonstrating a man's noble minded acceptance of fate, and embracement of opportunity.

Jean-Do's memoir recounts his time at the hospital in France where he is left to try and rehabilitate following his stroke. There is a constant strong sense of humour evident from the author, with Jean-Do wittily noting that seeing as his original idea for a novel (conceived prior to the stroke) had coincidentally involved a victim of locked-in-sydrome, he had considered making the new hero of his book "not a paralytic but a runner" in the hope of achieving another coincidental turn of events. This sense of humour and ability to look at the bright side of things underlines Bauby's ability to connect with the reader, putting them at ease whilst at the same time discarding the possible misconception that a person in his state would be incapable of retaining their wit, or any sort of personality.

Throughout the book, it is Bauby's amazing strength of will and spirit that remains at the forefront of the readers mind. Despite the tragic and disheartening situation that he remains in, Bauby shows no hesitance in opening up a new chapter in his life. Despite such huge emotional challenges like being unable to hug his own child, or shake a fly off his nose, Jean-Do finds a way to live his life in a fulfilling way, avoiding the depression and grief that would be so tempting to succumb to.

What makes this memoir so great is that it provides an example for all of us to follow. The inspirational message underpinning Bauby's work is inescapable, and leaves the reader with a far greater appreciation of their life, reminding them to enjoy the numerous simple, yet joyful pleasures we so often take for granted.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, it is insightful and inspiring to read the true story of the editor of Elle Magazine who had a stroke, became unable to movie anything except for his left eye, and still managed to write this book. Some parts of the book may move you to tears if you're able to connect with the author's own anguish.

On the other hand, the book as a whole seems rather bland and seems to be missing the spark that so many people said the movie had. It is a quick read, and if you keep in mind that the book was written by a completely immobile person, it serves as a powerful inspiration that we truly are much more than our bodies. However, if you remove that fact... the book is, at best, average.

This is a well written book. I was surprised to find myself propelled forward throughout as it is a combination of the details of an historical event and yet is a mystery. I thought that the writer captured the life of the people and the beliefs of the time very well.
This is a good read

Using a sensational murder case as a magnifying glass, the author elegantly explores links between literature and society. The subtitle ought however, to be the making of the great detective genre. The case was certainly unthinkable: one summer night i 1860 a small boy is lifted from his bed, his throat slit, and his body dumped in the servants' privy. All the evidence suggests the murderer is a member of the household. The Kent family was what we would call blended, children of two marriages living w/ the father and his second wife. But this blend was clearly lethal. The Kent murder was the O. J. Simpson murder of its day, and the case reverberated throughout Victorian society. The author tells a compelling tale, using the mystery-genre's techniques of judicially parcelling out information. As w/ many mysteries, the middle of the book sags, but her conjectures at the end, supporting Detective Whicher's initial conclusions, are undeniably convincing. This is a broad and imaginative book, well told. If nothing else, the photograph of the old lady who lived to be 100 will keep you going through the pages.

I only made it through the first half of this yawner. Given the subject matter and the author's unquestionable dedication to her research, there is a good deal of potential in this book. Unfortunately, author's proclivity for extraneous details and commentary makes the book darn near inpenetrable.

After slogging through many random and unrelated "nuggets", I finally put down the book in frustration after growing tired of the author's habit of inserting quotes from famous ficticious detectives as if they were real authorities on the subject, and providing these "insights" without much in the way of comment to make a point.

As a fan of books about similar subjects and the same era (The Alienist, The Angel of Darkness, Devil in the White City, Thunderstruck) I was hoping this would be another good read. As other reviewers have said, it is a good story let down by poor editing. I would recommend Caleb Carr or Erik Larson as better alternatives to Ms. Summerscale.

This book reads with the pace and thrill of a murder mystery, but every detail is real. A little boy, nearly four, had his throat slit and his body was tossed into the cistern of an outhouse on the grounds of his upscale family's home in 1860. There are 12 people in the country manor at the time, some family members and others servants. Other hired hands live on the grounds, and everyone falls under suspicion eventually. To help you follow the clues, Summerscale gives a cast of characters, photos, a family tree, maps, diagrams, engravings, courtroom sketches, and so on. Enter Jack Whicher, one of Scotland Yard's first eight detectives. After about five years as a constable in uniform on the beat, he now donned plain clothes and sometimes worked undercover. He had a great intuition about criminals and a marvelously meticulous method of investigating a crime, but such a detective was suspect in the England of his day. The upper classes considered him little more than the "hired help," quite beneath their station, and he was to be resented for the fact that his position allowed him to part the veil on personal affairs in that hush-hush era--even though they might greatly need his help, as in this case.

Jack was a real Sherlock Holmes, 27 years before the latter became known. But a few detective stories had been published by the time of the Road House murder, and the public expected a quick and brilliant discovery of the culprit. Yet crime scene investigation was very primitive in those days, and Whicher was not called into the case until two weeks after the murder. He did a masterful job of his investigation, developing a reasonable theory of the case, but he could not collect enough hard evidence to advance toward a conviction. Perhaps the author's best feat in writing this book was that she was able to move beyond the whodunit and its characters, although both are skillfully portrayed, to give us a detailed feeling of that era. Who knew, for example, that an accused person was not allowed to speak at his or her own trial? Or that questions of modesty and propriety would muffle courtroom questioning to the point of making it useless? Summerscale skillfully blends such shocking revelations with quotidian detail, so that we get the full flavor of the times.

When the case went cold, Whicher retreated to London in disgrace. Because the Kent murder had such notoriety, his supposed "failure" went widely published in the newspapers. Less than four years after his debacle, he retired from the police force but lived on to see the murderer (in a surprise move) confess to the crime. Even after that denouement, Summerscale carries her book on further, letting us know what happened to all the major players in the end. This is a full meal, from start to finish. Her writing and research are superb, and the story is compelling. Who could ask for anything more?

Like the mystery surrounding the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby or the death of Jon Benet Ramsey, the only way the guilty will every be known is if the confess. This murder in 1860 was like a locked room mystery. There was no way that an intruder could have gotten in without the help of some one inside. Even then it would have had to have been some one who knew the habits of the family and the layout of the building.

The murder of a four year old boy by one of his siblings or half-siblings or parent or servant was the only choice. Who among the fourteen people in the house that night could have done the deed? What makes this story so intriguing is that there are children of two marriages living in one house. The second wife was the governess for the children of the first wife. Was there duplicity between the siblings to one of the second wife's child?

With the use of information from both Scotland Yard, newspaper stories written at the time just after the murder, and books by some of those involved, there are a plethora of theories as to the perpertrator(s). That there was a confession, trial and convictions doesn't end the story. Lots of fun for the closet detective.

Zeb Kantrowitz

tears of the desert is outstanding, I really felt Halima's pain can you imagine something like this and how cruel they we're treated..I would also like recommend Slave also a great memoir..I truly wish Halima's family is okay and can one day be reunited...very touching

Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur by Halima Bashir is a very emotional and riveting book. I found this book very painful to read at times, yet I couldn't put it down, even though I was sobbing at some points. I was lucky enough to receive this Random House publication from the Library Thing Early Reviewer Program.

It seemed that Halima Bashir was born lucky. She is from Darfur, a region of Sudan, and a member of the Zaghawa tribe, and was born into a family that was wealthier than most. For the most part, she had a happy childhood. She was the oldest child of an enlightened and progressive father. He recognized her intelligence early and had big dreams for her. She was sent to a city school because the village schools were not very good. It was there that she faced prejudices and social injustices for the first time . Even so, she excelled at school and went on to university and became a medical doctor.

It was after she was finished with school that violence really took over her beloved country. Janjaweed, armed by the Sudanese government began attacking black Africans. Rebel groups were formed to fight back. Halima's willingness to treat these rebels got her in trouble with the government. She was forced to escape from her country and is fighting the injustice from afar.

The terror and destruction these people have to live with is unimaginable. You need to read this book in order to comprehend it. One thing that struck me is the role that China has played and continues to play in the genocide that is taking place in Darfur. That gives me one more reason to avoid buying Chinese made products.

Dr. Halima Bashir's autobiography is a testament to the tragedy taking place in Darfur as well as a picture of her life. She begins with her happy childhood in her village - although the chapter of her "cutting time", when she underwent the gruesome ritual of Female Genital Mutiliaton, is wrenching, and progresses to her work as a medical doctor.

Targeted just for speaking out against the violence, and for serving her people, Dr. Bashir is kidnapped and viciously tortured and raped, then released as the ultimate punishment since rape victims are shunned in her society. She could have suffered in silence, as so many women of her culture do, or at least kept her torment private to heal. No one would have blamed her. Instead she bravely speaks out about her ordeal in an attempt to both help her violated country, and to help other victims of sexual assault.

I'm delighted that she has found joy in her marriage and child, and has been granted asylum in England, but as of publication, the fate of her other family members is unknown. I will not close my eyes at night without a prayer for her relatives and the people of Darfur, which also raises the question: WHERE IS THE WORLD??? Why is my USA, as well as the other countries who cried "never again!" after the Holocaust of the last century, so strangely silent? Dr. Bashir chose to become a voice for her oppressed people. The remainder of humanity has a moral obligation to join theirs to hers.

I welcome a wake-up call. It is so easy to unconsciously become cocooned in my protected life on the West Coast of the United States, where daily issues end up being hunting for the best price for gasoline for my car, battling the crowded freeways and looking for a parking place, discussing the what to fix for dinner that night. I try to stay abreast of the global situation by watching the nightly News Hour on our local PBS station, but it is easy to glaze over or become anesthetized by the onslaught of words from talking heads, figures and maps so that the news takes on a element of the unreal. So when something happens to hit my radar in a way that makes me say, "I didn't know that!" or that says to me, "Open your eyes!" I am grateful and I feel a little more connected to reality.

The book, "Tears of the Desert" was slipped inside my screendoor, an advance review copy I was sent to read. I looked at the cover, the title word "Desert", the subtitle word "Darfur" and thought to myself, "I am going to read something I know very little about." I had heard of the cries of genocide in the Sudan, seen pictures of streams of refugees, and read of the outcry of protestors during the summer Olympics in China, but I didn't understand the conflict and it felt very impersonal to me.

However, when I began to read the book I entered a new world and culture, the life of Halima Bashir in a Zaghawa tribal village in South Darfur. The first part of the book described the tribal life, the traditions and practices as seen through the eyes of a child. Her descriptions of her family members brought the characters to life and her portrayals were so personal that when events involved them later in the book, I felt a personal sorrow and outrage. Because of her father's dreams and encouragement, Halima was able to gain an education and go on to the University to study medicine, rather than marry and settle down to have children like most of the girls in her tribe. The first glimpses the conflict between the Arabs and Africans were presented in the chapters covering the school years when Halima leaves her village to attend a school for girls in the city. Here she finds herself in a mixed population of city Arab girls and rural African girls. The incidents that occur here are but a omen of what is to come in the remainder of the book.

[...]

After listening to it, I could hear the lyrical cadence of her speech as I read the rest of the memoir. I choose not to go into the remainder of the story in my review. To fully appreciate it, the reader has to be guided gently through the passage of time, page by page. Be aware that it is not an easy read. Some passages of the cultural rituals or the atrocities inflicted by militants affected my "protected sensibilities." But I considered it a small price to pay for having my awareness heightened to the reality of the situation affecting so many innocent victims in the Sudan.

I gave the book a 5 rating, the highest possible, not for the writing craft, which is not as polished as some, but for the content. The writing style is simple and direct...which makes the story all the more haunting. Halima's courage, strength and will to survive amidst overwhelming odds is gripping. To realize that so many people are having an experience of life under the most horrific circumstances is important. Hers is a story that needs to told and needs to be heard. Brava to Halima Bashir for speaking out. Bravo to Damien Lewis for participating in the telling. And bravo to Random House for publishing it. For me, now behind the headlines, numbers and statistics, there are faces.

Dr. Bashir writes an incredible story of joy, pain, suffering, accomplishment, respect and above all, love for her fellow man. This book truly makes for a smaller world. Suddenly you are inside the heart of a small girl that grew up in the African bush and suffered severely simply because of where she happened to be born. I cried often as I read this book. The characters are, on the face of it, as different from me as I could possibly imagine..African, poor, Muslim, etc. In reality, they are no different. These are men, women, and children just like you and me. This is a heartbreaking story that I highly recommend.