Biography Books

I am enthralled with Haruki. This is the first work of his that I have read. What a delight! I will be reading more of his work.

For a number of years, I was a big Murakami fan. Then a few of his books disappointed me so much, I sort of 'fell out of love' with his work. This non-fiction work appealed to me and I'm glad I purchased it. In fact, I purchased the audible version which is great. It reminds me a lot of Stephen King's "On Writing," which is half about living your life, half about the art of writing. I pulled a lot of useful information from this book that I won't soon forget. Don't expect some grand climax to this book, however. For what it is, I think it's a great book and a short read (or listen if you're on audio)

Well I'm coming at this from he opposite direction from Emma (above), but I agree with her assessment of the book.

As a 50-something runner and lover of Murakami's novels I found this fascinating - read it in one sitting (well, lying - it was an overnight hospital stay).

Recmmended for runners and couch potatoes alike.

The publishing world has a (monetary) fondness for pushing non-fiction books by fiction writers on us, hoping to capitalize on the author's readership. Stephen King's lovely tome about writing worked. This, Murakami's book on running, did not. I, too, am a middle-aged long-distance runner but found little insight or comfort of either subject in these pages. If you want to read something of depth about running, life, and aging, buy any one of George Sheehan's books instead.

Taking its name from the play on the title of a Raymond Carver short story, "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love," the prolific and popular on both sides of the Pacific Japanese author Haruki Murakami's memoir What I Talk About When I Talk About Running covers a little more than a year in the author's life as he prepares to run a marathon in New York. However, as to be expected from Murakami, the memoir is much more than a simple exercise journal. Through it's all too brief 175 pages, Murakami weaves his own personal narrative where running, if not as essential to his life as writing novels, acts as a strong supporter for Murakami's professional career because, unlike a number of other Japanese writers such as Osamu Dazai and Ryunosuke Akutagawa for whom self destruction through alcohol and other substances acted as a creative boost, Murakami advocates a healthy lifestyle in order to keep writing, yet, Murakami had not always been quite the health nut.

Writing from a desk in Kauai, Hawaii, Murakami tells of his lifestyle before he became a fulltime writer during which he ran a successful jazz bar owner with such unhealthy habits as smoking 60 cigarettes a day, but after the success of his first two novels Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 which he mainly wrote at a table where he sliced onions and cabbage, he decided to give up his jazz bar to become a fulltime writer. Along with the bar and its noisy patrons, Murakami decided to give up cigarettes and other things which were injurious to his health and to take up running. But why running? Murakami states that it is because it fit his solitary nature best and that it required no equipment besides running shoes and because it was something that he decided to do himself without pressure from others, he took to it as easily as he took to writing novels and translating works of American fiction. Therefore, from the time he began running to the publication of his memoir on running, Murakami has been running for some twenty five years and added such sports as squash and triathlons to his repertoire.

However, things are not completely smooth for Murakami, because as the years go by not only does his interest in running begin to fade, but he gets older, he will be sixty in 2009, and his body is no longer able to perform as strongly as it had when he was younger. As his muscles cramp into hard stones, Murakami, like a number of his characters, contemplates death and aging and what impact he has had, if any, on this world.

Some Murakami fans grumbled when it was revealed that his next book would revolve around running because the sport was so removed from their lives and they desired a new collection of fiction more. Yet, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is an invaluable source for the Murakami fan because one can easily see Murakami's characters within the being of Murakami's personal makeup and understand a bit how Murakami's different and somewhat difficult nature has made him bit of an outsider within Japan's literary establishment.

The memoir itself consists of nine chapters which Murakami wrote in various locations including Kauai Hawaii, Cambridge Massachusetts, Tokyo, Japan, and Sapporo. The writing style, like Murakami's fiction and other nonfiction, is very conversational and gives the reader the feeling of listening to an old friend talk about exercise and aging, and how said exercise helps sustain his professional work. The essays might be a bit loose for some readers because Murakami constantly jumps from topic to topic is each chapter such as from running to novel writing and then, quite unexpectedly, to something like record collecting. However, this gives the memoir more of a friendly, personal edge and makes each chapter full of small vignettes of knowledge about Murakami.

Although its focus on running, and its recent appearance in Sports Illustrated might put off some potential readers, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is a fine memoir which gives the English reading fan of Murakami so more info on the reclusive author.

There is a genre of memoir that recounts the strange and exotic experiences of an author who has chosen to take a less traveled road, for example to join the French Foreign Legion. Such a memoir is fascinating to the reader in part because it is so far outside the reader's experience. For this reader this book belongs to that genre.

The book provides what appears to be an accurate and well balanced account of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program of the venerated Harvard Business School (HBS). The writer is admittedly an atypical MBA candidate, but nonetheless has apparently succeeded in capturing the culture of HBS and the philosophy of its MBA program. Broughton encapsulates the MBA curriculum and provides some detail about the famous `case study' method developed by HBS,. He also provides a mostly sympathetic description of his fellow members of the `Class of 2006' and their motivations. Broughton himself is somewhat conflicted as to why he wants to acquire an MBA , but he gives a straightforward account of how one goes about achieving a Harvard MBA. Also he is willing to share some of the kind of knowledge that he gained while in the program which gives tangible examples of what HBS students actually learn.

So what is taught in the HBS MBA Program? Well by this account, essentially it is number crunching. HBS graduates know a lot about financial risk, costs and revenues, leverage, and increasing profitability. They also know how to document such knowledge using spreadsheets and graphs. Not surprisingly the majority of Broughton's MBA class went into either financial services (investment banking, hedge funds, etc) or management consulting. Indeed one gets the impression that HBS has more or less focused on financial management to the exclusion of management of people or processes. The information provided by Broughton is a fascinating account of what to some of us is a very exotic place, but perhaps more importantly a good summation of what those considering trying for a Harvard MBA have to expect.

Witty, insightful and at times, quite saddening. Well worth the time investing in this book. Beware of some of the other reviews of this book on Amazon, the negative ones seem to be written by people who have either not read it, or did not understand it. A must read for anyone who is seeking a career change and is contemplating getting a MBA in order to achieve it.

First, some disclosure: Philip and I were classmates at HBS, did a project together (which he doesn't directly mention in the book), I've had dinner at his house, and I consider him a friend. If you choose to ignore my perspective because of the above bias, I wouldn't blame you, but I want to make sure that myths (generated by some press coverage) of what this book is about are dispelled: by no means is Ahead of the Curve a tell-all insider-guide bashing of the HBS experience. In fact, I suspect that some of the negative reviews are written by folks who either didn't read the book or didn't read it all the way through.

What the book is instead is a rather touching introspective memoir on Philip's personal experience at HBS as an outsider - someone who, because of his age, career background, nationality, but most of all personality did not fit into the traditional HBS mold. Despite that, the reader comes away clear on the fact that Philip learned a great deal from HBS, respects its educational method tremendously, made some very good friends, and overall came away a bigger person after it. I want to elaborate on that last point - Philip was already a fully formed individual before coming to HBS: a father, a husband, a successful journalist, a well-traveled man. To feel growth after HBS, where the average age is ~5 years younger and the average experience is much more junior is a BIG DEAL.

The book really has two elements to it. One is a witty description of the HBS stereotypes, fun stories about interactions, and, ultimately, a fascinating tale of what it's like to be immersed into the HBS experience. The second (one that I didn't find as exciting having gone there) is a reasonably in-depth description of the cases and educational method. The first element is a joy to read and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. Moreover, it's quite an experience to observe Philip's thought process and see how life touches him. Highlights include getting stuck in a white wedding limo in the parking lot at the Google headquarters and frantically taking notes on a loose-leaf sheet of paper during a McKinsey interview. The second element is geared to the book's main target audience: potential b-school applicants. To be honest, I was shocked by how well Philip recollects the cases and formulae from HBS. I certainly got quite a refresher!

In the end, Philip chooses to opt out of the post-HBS grind, having fully opted into the experience while there. Funnily enough, too many people do the opposite. They float through HBS, barely read cases, sign up for courses on Tue-Thu so they can travel all second year, and then opt into a grueling i-banking or hedge fund job. Personally, I think Philip has come out a better person having learned much from what HBS has to offer and still chosen to pursue life in his own manner. He's the type of graduate HBS should be proud of - I certainly am proud to have gotten to know him while there!

Despite everything I wrote above, I must point out that PDB is a writer and as such, he left plenty out that didn't fit his theses. For example, I was a part of a team of three with him on a first-semester project in our second year. Of the three of us, exactly zero has jobs we accepted after graduation. Of course, all of us has unusual ambitions, but comparisons are driven by one's choice of peer groups. Philip stands out dramatically when compared to i-banker types, but he may not be so unusual amongst others, albeit smaller, HBS groups. One of his section-mates, for example, joined a record label in a creative role after school for a salary of at most 1/4 of what he would have gotten had he gone back to his investment banking career.

Overall, Philip gives a balanced perspective on HBS. He gives an even more balanced perspective on himself and it was a joy to follow his personal travails. Yes, he does omit descriptions of some of the more "out there" folks from HBS, but no, he doesn't break any sacred bonds of the HBS classrooms. If you went to HBS and are fuming based on the press coverage of this book, please read it first before forming an opinion. And if you think about going there, PLEASE READ IT!

In a narrative that often produces nuggets of intriguing observations, what stands out mostly is a clear lack of focus - for the book and perhaps for the author's own experience at HBS. The honesty and conversational narrative style is certainly welcoming, but it doesn't do enough to prevent a sense of self-pity and insecurity to escape through the story.

For readers unfamiliar with the case method of teaching at Harvard, this is an interesting read (though you may be able to get that information from HBS itself without having to suffer through the rest of the book). An outsider will also get some version of a vicarious life at HBS through the narration as the authors takes us through his two years at the business school - curriculum, course selection, study groups, faculty, guest speakers, internships, exams, recruiting, graduation - the whole thing. Unfortunately, the discussion is more often than not, jaded with his personal observations that often comes out as insecure ramblings (discussion of his parking lot experience - student-owned BMWs and financial aid chicanery; his experiences with Google interview process and his reaction to the outcome, to cite a few). Moreover, his tendency to almost always use a ethnic/racial descriptor to talk about any character often seems silly and adds no value to the discussion.

A chapter, inexplicably titled as Ethical Jihadists, is one of the better chapters in the book. The initial chapters that talked about case-based teaching and experiences with it is also interesting reading. At the end, though, through his observations on others ambitions/choices, the author comes across as mostly a clear misfit and then makes a fairly grand observation - "a factory of unhappy people". Considering all his narrations and observations throughout the book, the "dean-for-a-day wishlist" reads mostly amusing than come across as insightful analysis.

Often times, it seems like the author never grew out of his initial job as a gossip columnist - always piquing interest with a statement and promising more, only to deliver a fluff.

It is worth reading if you've never read anything on business schools, else, this should not be on your priority list for reading.

The author takes a strange path to the HBS, never fits into its culture, and leaves without benefit. Thus, it is not surprising that "Ahead of the Curve" offers little value for those seeking to learn about the HBS and business. However, he does end with a few good insights.

In 1960, 5,000 MBAs graduated in America; by 2000 the number had risen to 100,000. During 2004-2006 HBS alumni filled 20% of the top three jobs at Fortune 500 firms. Readers learn that the HBS mission is to educate leaders who would make a difference in the world. Mormons, McKinsey, and the Military make up its three major groups.

HBS adopted its neighboring Harvard Law School's case method at its 1908 inception - the valued outcome of this is the approach used to analyze cases. Unfortunately, Broughton does not tell us what this approach is.

Readers also learn that it is virtually impossible to flunk out of the HBS - class discussions represent half the grade, and to fail one basically has to stop showing up. Professors would eventually pick you out and make you talk so you could get some credit - if you showed up.

Finance is a major area at the HBS (42% of graduates go into financial services, vs. 21% for consulting) - calculating a company's discount rate is a process of using historical data to figure out a company's "beta" (use similar companies if the firm is not listed), then multiply this by the risk of investing in the stock market as a whole. However, Broughton also tells us Warren Buffett ignores this process - he simply looks for bargains.

Broughton concludes that there is too much emphasis on statistics that are malleable, and that students and graduates place too much emphasis on work. Finally, Broughton observes that the surest way to acquire mega-bucks is to acquire distressed firms and subject them to extreme leverage while stripping assets and expenses (eg. employee health plans). That hardly seems to require a $174,000 HBS education.

Several important topics are not addressed, such as "Why do many outstanding business leaders lack an MBA?" Prime examples include Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jack Welch, as well as much of Asia. Another revolves on the likelihood of the MBA market becoming satiated - eg. its rapid growth, despite the enormous loss of American jobs and manufacturing; recently the proportion of the world's finance handled in the U.S. dropped from 50% in 2005 to 33% in 2005 - seemingly inevitable given our rapid rise as a debtor nation. And then there is the question of "Why is an MBA needed in today's world?" - major business tactics include the previously mentioned extreme leveraging and asset stripping, while outsourcing manufacturing to China and services to India, while hiring as many illegal aliens within the U.S. as possible.

Bottom Line: "Ahead of the Curve" provides readers with little value.

LEARNING from HISTORY... One of our limitations as a nation is that we don't seem to learn from history. Doris Keanrs Goodwin's book THE TEAM OF RIVALS was written before the current election but provides many lessons that are still relevant in today's political situation. First is the conditions that Lincoln had to deal with when he was elected and when assumed power. We think that times today are unique and troublesome, but can you imagine taking over power and having the country divide and a new nation formed..neither McCain nor Obama could imagine or are prepared for this type of division.
Second, it is interesting that LINCOLN choose his rivals to help him lead and was willing to deal with the consequences of this decision. McCain clearly has followed the Lincoln example and is likely to choose his rivals to help him serve...when he is elected.

Overall we can learn from history and if we are smart avoid making the same mistakes... THANK YOU Ms. GOODWIN for the opportunity to do this because of your easy to read, highly researched and presented HISTORY LESSON.

Bill Rothschild, author of THE SECRET TO GE's SUCCESS...which tries to do the same for American businesses.

Doris Kearns Goodwin comes up with an unusual perspective in viewing the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln really won the Office of the President with his oration at Cooper Union.
His main opponents were William Seward, Salmon Chase, Edwin Stanton and Edward Bates.. Lincoln won the election and all of the above served in major cabinet positions during the Civil War. The old saying of keeping your enemies close rings true in this study.
I found the political intrigues to be insightful. However, Doris fails to capture the true essence of Lincoln's political thought. I am grateful that I've learned of Lincoln's political adroitness. However, Doris overplays her hand. Lincoln was more concerned with the state of the union. These team of rivals only served limited purposes in his grand scheme. In all the Rivals were not the Big Bad Wolf that was promoted by Doris!!
The read was insightful but only rates 3 Stars!!!

I have just completed Ms. Goodwin's book. I realize that a huge number of people will not like this review. While no one would denies that Abraham Lincoln was one of the top three presidents in this country's history-perhaps Washington and FDR being the other two-it seems that Goodwin wants to create some type of God out of Lincoln, which he probably was not. Moreover, she makes the south out to be this huge bunch of minsters which they probably was not. Was what the south was doing in sustaining slavery wrong? Yes it was and no one would argue that point. It just takes more of an effort to understand why they were sustaining slavery. There are so many things we encounter today that are just as wrong, but people like to cover them up as Goodwin has done in her biography of Lincoln. I must add, and this should have been pointed out and was not, Lincoln did things as president that would never have been tolerated today, but still he is expected to be worship; and, that is just dangerous.

Very interesting read using source material, in their own words, account. The characters are alive and believeable with the background of the election and civil war. The narrative is engrossing and I got lost in the book. It is a biography of the four people who ran for president in 1860. All four biographies enchance understanding of the times and complement Lincoln's story. The history is fascinating and is paced well and comprehensive.

Doris Kearns Goodwin delivers an extremely well-researched and fascinating book about Lincoln and his leadership style. You don't have to be a history fan to truly enjoy this book as it is beautifully-crafted and highly readable. It is also filled with loads of interesting tales such as how unlikely it was that Lincoln was elected in the first place, and also how he was continually criticized by the press until the very end of his career. It also gives an excellent insight into the causes of the Civil War, personalities of the generals, and how Lincoln interacted with and motivated the troops.
This will be one of the most meaty and detailed books that you'll read, and this can cause it to drag slightly in places as the author invests just as much research into all of the other candidates that ultimately wind up in Lincoln's cabinet. This causes the book to be a bit slow in the beginning as the reader becomes familiar with all of the other characters, but it pays off in the end as it gives crucial background that foreshadows later events. Overall it is a wonderful book that fully showcases Lincoln's genius, and hopefully provides a model that could be followed by anyone in a leadership position.

In her book "Infidel," Ayaan Hirsi Ali acknowledges several people who made it possible for her to survive the Islamic tribalism she grew up under in Africa, to escape to Holland after her father arranged for her to marry a man she didn't love and to prosper thereafter. But if I were to cite one overriding factor that saved her, it would be the Western novels she read.

Throughout "Infidel," Ali brings up these books again and again, particularly in regard to love, sex and marriage. To understand their impact, it's important to recognize the mind-numbing, repressive culture she had to endure. Ali was born in Somalia to religious, clannish Muslim parents, and her mother taught her to memorize old chants of war and death, raids, and camel herding, and female Somali poetry that never mentioned love, which is, she writes, "considered synonymous with desire, and sexual desire is seen as low -- literally unspeakable."

Fortunately, Ali and her family moved to non-Muslim Kenya, where she attended a British colonial-based school and learned English. There she read "1984," "Huckleberry Finn," "Wuthering Heights" and tales by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.

"Later on there were sexy books: Valley of the Dolls, Barbara Cartland, Danielle Steele," she writes. "All these books, even the trashy ones, carried with them ideas -- races were equal, women were equal to men -- and concepts of freedom, struggle, and adventure that were new to me."

Here are some other excerpts:

"[T]he spark of will inside me grew even as I studied and practiced to submit. It was fanned by the free-spirited novels ... Most of all, I think it was the novels that saved me from submission. I was young, but the first tiny, meek beginnings of my rebellion had already clicked into place."

"I always found it uncomfortable to be opposed to the West. For me, Britain and America were the countries in my books where there was decency and individual choice."

"I knew that another kind of life was possible. I had read about it ... [T]he kind of life I had always wanted, with a real education, a real job, a real marriage ... I wanted to become a person, an individual, with a life of my own."

"Infidel" is a great study for someone who would like to (further) concretize the crucial, life-sustaining role that art plays in man's life.


~ Joseph Kellard
Theainet1@optonline.net

Ayan Hirsi Ali's account of growing up as a Somali woman in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Germany, and the Netherlands, what she endured, her search for religious meaning as a Muslim and her struggle to be her own person was inspiring and a must read for all!!!!!!

One of the few life-changing books that I would consider a must-read for all: honest, direct, and with inspiring moral clarity.

This is one of the most thought provoking books I have ever read. Ayaan Hirsi Ali gives a detailed portrayal of her life story and growing up Muslim. All that she writes about will stay with you and will make you think.
Her amazing life journey had me taken through several countries and through a culture as a woman I could have never in my wildest dreams knew existed. I had heard about female genital mutilation, but I never truly knew of the real horrors of it. I could also never imagine a mother telling her child to hit before you are hit as a survival of the fittest strategy. Alot of things she writes about are not what we in the westernize world are taught, and it seems very foreign to the point of culture shock.
Please pick up the book and read it with an open mind. I can definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about the struggles of women around the world.

This book opened my eyes to the truth of the world we all live in now - a world that is smaller than we think and much more evil and more perilous. It is the only book I have ever read that truly explains the reason for the 9/11 attack in a way that makes sense and is believable. It opens our vision to the future and to what we can know it will be. I feel that I not only will never think in the same way, I will never be the same. At the same time it portrays amazing courage and is absolutely inspiring, especially so to all young women everywhere.

This is a great memoir about Biden's life. He discusses everything from his early days growing up in an Irish Catholic family (and the strong influence of the nuns) to his early adult life, where his first marriage was cut short by the tragic loss of his wife and daughter.

The book is not self-promoting political soliloquy, and is written in an unusually modest and self-reflective tone. You don't get the sense that this book was written as a means to further his political career, but rather that it was a memoir of an ordinary man. I've always respected Biden and I found that this book depend my understanding of him, his character, and his foreign policy acumen.

First, the book is poorly written. It wanders endlessly at some points, coasting over spans of years where Biden had very little going on in his personal life or political life. Elements of his personal life are captivating and moving, but for the most part it is just a chronicle of a wealthy man's adventures. World travels, fine parties, elite clubs... stories that just turn me off since I can't relate to that level of wealth or lifestyle. A biography can impress in two ways. One, it can be well written and enjoyable to read for its language. Two, it can relate a story that is inspiring, impressive, and full of accomplishment. This book misses on both accounts. A poorly written book on a wealthy man's career which has had very little impact on America or the world. I would not recommend this to a friend since reading it or relating to his life is painful at times.

Two Five-star reviews by two absolutely great reviewers (Mr. Bill Emblom, a fellow Yankee fan. His reviews made me add to my list, Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees' First Dynastyand a Bobby Kennedy fan (much more than JFK)) The Last Campaign: Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America. I read books about each of the three oldest Kennedy brothers. The lost prince (died in WWII), JFK and Bobby. Bobby was head and shoulders above and the best of the three. Bobby was the push behind the Civil rights,crime fighting and almost everything else. Ted must have been adopted, I have no respect for him at all. Look at Bill Emblom's 460 reviews, they are very helpful.

Also Mr John Drury convinced me to add to my list, The Prince of the City: Giuliani, New York and the Genius of American Life and [[ASIN:0061734950 Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir] John McCain]. His 85 reviews are to-the-point and insightful. We need articulate and brief reviewers with integrity like Mr Emblom and Mr Drury to lead us to great books, and honestly state why we should read them.

This was the first time we didn't connect. The two great reviewers have over 550 reviews between them. Strangely, the other 30 Five-star reviews only have 6 other Books, combined in their reviews. How can I trust a Non-reader? Twenty seven of the 30, have no other books reviewed. This doesn't fit. Too many of the reviews are spurious, and they sound like it also. Confirming my reliance on Qualitative not Quantitative reviews. I hope my analysis is of some help. Thank you for leading me to good books.

Though I have long been a Joe Biden fan (since 1984), this book exceeded all expections. Not your typical partisan political read in an election year, it is instructive and personal.
A compelling read that did not allow me to sleep!

Promises to Keep is an excellent read! This is a book you do not want to put down! Mr. Biden explains how his life; with its' "ups and tragedic downs" shaped his thinking and his actions. His understanding of how fragile life is; how important family and faith is; why we are obligated to help each other, to get up and go forward together; in service to one another and so many more life principles was learned while 'living his life'. With his great honesty we learn of his life; both personal and in political service. The title says it all: Joe Biden intends to keep his promises! Mr. Joe Biden has not forgotten his past, where he "came from", what events made him the man he is today. I would recommend this book to everyone. It will touch your spirit. Thanks Mr. Joe Biden for a fine read!

I laughed, and I cried. This book is so good that I may actually keep it instead of taking it back for store credit.

I'm not a big book reader so of course I was the last person in my group of friends to read A Child Called It. Having heard so many good things about the book, I had really high hopes for it and fortunately I found it be so good that I read it straight through in a couple of hours.

So what's the book about? A Child Called it is an autobiographical account of a young boy named Dave and his horrible childhood. At first, Dave's family seemed perfect. His mother was doting and a perfect housewife. His dad was a firefighter. He had two brothers and the lot of them would go on wonderful family vacations. Then, almost overnight, Dave's mother becomes violent and seperates Dave from the rest of the family. She makes him starve, forces him to do chores (when his brothers don't have to do any), and even stabs him. A Child Called It describes the gruesome events that surrounded his childhood leading up to the day Dave is taken away from his mother.

Let's talk about the positives first. Although this book mainly describes the horrible things that Dave was forced to go through, I liked that it was still written as a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Dave goes into detail about certain events in which he was disgustingly mistreated. The most heartbreaking scenes deal with events in which Dave's mother appears to show some sympathy towards the boy, giving Dave hope, only to return back to her unloving state. I don't consider myself to be an emotional person but I actually shed a few tears during one point.

I think the biggest part of the book that I enjoyed was the overall feeling of Dave pushing himself to survive even through his grim circumstances. Dave had to deal with physical problems as well as emotional problems and he still pushed himself through it all. I think that's incredible.

And now for the negatives. I personally feel that the book is short. I understand that Dave Pelzer had plans to turn his story into a trilogy but as an individual book, I felt that there should've been more. Other reviewers have mentioned that certain parts of the book seem to be a bit overly dramatized. In a way I agree but there's no way of knowing if Mr. Pelzer stretched the truth a bit or things did indeed happen the way they were described in the book.

If you're like me and you haven't read this amazing book yet, I encourage you to read it whenever you can. It's truly inspiring and I can't wait to read the others.

this book was amazing i am at a loss of words here......??? i just dont know buy it it is worth it!!!!! amazing that anyone could endure that!!!!

This was a very touching book. I could not put it down what so ever! I read it on my way to Wisconsin Dells for a vacation back in May. I cried because it is heartfelt and God forbid a child ever go through that!

First of, let me say Dave is a literary GENIUS! I have met this extraordinary man, and he has a very positive aura about him. You can just feel his struggle as he relays his childhood stories to you. He, "rose from the ashes" and proved that anyone can overcome anything if they try hard enough. Dave was actually awarded, "Outstanding Young Person of the Year." There was truly, wool over my eyes until I met Dave. This book, and my personal rendezvous with Dave, has really helped me with my own personal problems. I wish I could express myself better, but the following review does it for me: http://www.amazon.com/review/R30U1GOOL1FZ1X/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?%5Fencoding=UTF8&ASIN=1558743669&nodeID=#wasThisHelpful

I think it is likely that Dave Pelzer was abused as a child. However, my gut feeling is that much of this story is fabricated. By page 56, when "Mother" was forcing Dave to eat poop from his brother's diaper, I was totally disgusted. By page 75, when Mother made Dave drink ammonia, I'd had enough and decided to do some research online. Turns out I'm not the only person who questions the validity of this book. I'm throwing my copy of this book in the garbage can.

This book is a synapse of the original full-lentgh book. It was not as good as other accounts I have read of near-death experiences. I felt as if the book was written to advance a religious point-of-view.

Very quick and interesting read...I work at Hospicecare of Southeast Florida and I shared the book with 3 of our Pastors employed here and they also enjoyed the journey.

This is a book that everyone should read. It was mentioned in our Sunday School lesson and sparked my interest. I am usually a "non-reader". I prefer to wait for the movie; however, I read this book in two days.

As many others have noted here, I had high hopes that his book would give more spiritual insight into heaven and faith. However, I was left wanting. The content of the chapters were loosely strung together and the repetition of phrases and lack of cohesion was frustrating. I've yet to finish the final chapters, and I'm not even certain I'll waste my time. The most positive thing I can say about the writing--it had the potential to be a really good book.

As a born-again Christian who believes in the existence of Heaven, I was severely disappointed in this book. Very few pages are actually about the author's '90 minutes in Heaven.' 95% of the book chronicles the recovery of the author's accident. With all due respect, I don't care to read about the recovery of a car accident victim. That is not why I purchased the book.

This one was a disappointment.

The author is wonderfully expresses his pain about his loving son. I also have a daughter the same age whose drug of choice is heroin. The book opened my eyes to go to Hazeleden to joint the parents program and to go to Al-Anon.
In short I thank the author so much for being an inspiration to me.
Robert Sterling

I read Beautiful Boy soon after its release. I have returned to say that I highly recommend this book for any family member or friend of a person with, or going through treatment, of any form of drug or alcohol addiction. Outsiders looking in, do not understand the last threads of hope that people have that are close to these situations. David Scheff said it well. He was fortunate to have the funds to stay on top of his son's treatment. Many people do not.

This is a wonderful book.

I recommend this book. Very down to earth, truthful, compelling. I bought this book at a fraction of the cost.

It's a heart breaking story repeated in every town in every State and suffered by so many families and individuals who feel they are alone and misunderstood. Would love to know his son makes it out and can remain clean. Unfortunately it's always an ongoing problem that continues to breathe down your neck every single day. My significant Other was a tremendous, Loving, caring, supportive father who had his heart ripped out of his chest through the long suffering and heart wrenching death of his 21 year old son who couldn't make it out....
Would love to see all stories all wrapped up and sealed with a beautiful bow and happy endings- unfortunately so many do not.

Think of "A Million Little Pieces" from a parent's point of view, and you'll have a good sense of what Beautiful Boy is like. Sheff does an excellent job of not pulling any punches, taking most -- if not all -- the blame possible for his son's descent into meth addiction and his struggles to stay sober through a variety of recovery and rehab attempts.

Any parent will identify with the agony of wanting to protect your child and being unable to do so. Sheff's emotional tale is tempered with moments of hope and humor, and readers will long to see his anguish end on a happy note. Unfortunately, "happy" is a bit too optimistic, though there is the hint of some better tomorrow in the closing words.

If you haven't read this book now is the time! Whenever I am forced to chose only one book as my all time favorite What It Takes (The Way to the White House) by Richard Ben Cramer is the one...I read it when it was first published and still have yet to find another book about politics that is so enthralling..Lots of Joe Biden in the book so that alone makes it a timely book to read now...

This is a book people might shy away from since it deals with the 1988 campaign, and those candidates are basically ancient history (except for Biden). However, what the book really describes it literally 'what it takes' for any man or woman to believe they can be President.

We look at the people running today, and we see them as TV characters and sometimes buffoons, but forget that in their youth they were probably the smartest, most popular, most driven people we would have known. Just to get to a place where one can entertain the idea of running for President takes a life of very, very few wasted opportunities.

So, while this book doesn't talk about Obama or Clinton or Huckabee, etc., you can read it and at least get sort of a sense of what the candidates are like behind the masks they put on.

The best thing that can be said about "What It Takes" is that you will read it and you will appreciate that Presidential candidates actually are qualified, and while they might make terrible decisions, they really are the best we have.

"What It Takes" is an antidote for cynicism.

It's a great insight into the psyche of candidates, the jargon of campaigns -- and a demonstration of just how tough campaings are. (The author of this book is also a frequent contributer to Rolling Stone and Esquire. Some of the language in this book certainly isn't appropriate for younger readers).

Ben Cramer follows the major candidates in their races to become president in 1988. He reproduces their speaking and thinking styles in such an incredible way that you will never be able to think of any of these people (Bob Dole, GHW Bush, Jesse Jackson) in quite the same way you did before.

His intense focus on how the candidates act differently when in private than they do when they're out giving their stump speech makes for fascinating reading. If you're tired of dry books that are "nothing but the facts, ma'am," you'll love this well-written story.

No study of modern American politics is complete without reading this book. At the center of the political universe is the presidency. What kind of people seek this office, and all of the attendant scrutiny and hardship that even the most fortunate candidates endure? What personal attributes set one candidate above the rest?

Essentially, one of these men will be the most powerful man in the world, and have a chance at shaping history. This book answers the questions "why" and "how."

Cramer understands his subjects, and the profiles of each candidate would be excellent stand-alone biographies. Extremely readable and well written, without sacrificing substance.

A truly unique and indespensible work. To find out what it takes, read this book.