Biography Books

Bought this for my dad for father's day. Great pictures of a memorable time in history with a visonary who lost his light too soon!

This book and its images were all the more gripping having been an observer at the time. The photos and the words provide an image of a nation trying to be the sum of its promise, only to be plunged into a tragic self assessment after the assassination.
It is paramount, 40 years later, that we take the opportunity to remember how far we have come. This book reminds us that we can do better, that we must do better, that we are better.

it's photgraphs of the campain are stunning the brief narrative gives a true sense of sumer 1968

This book of pictures was a wonderful walk down memory lane for me. At 16 I was to join the Kennedy campaign as a volunteer after the California primary. On the morning I was to depart, my parents woke me with the news of his shooting. This book, however, reminded me of the promise unfulfilled Robert Kennedy represented--how much better we would have been as a people, as a country, as a government had he been president in 1969 instead of Richard Nixon.

I got plenty of information about this order. When it was slightly delayed, I was informed, as well as when it shipped. I was very impressed with the service.

I think it was cute for parents of the child, but not really worth purchasing, I expectsd a graft project book. Waste of money.

An amusing introduction to the artist Matisse that I highly recommend. Written as though it's an 8-yr-old's school report, it is accessible and very informative. It includes reproductions of Matisse art and biographical information. Loved it. And it was useful as a teaching tool.

Cute, but not as substantial as I would have liked.

We chose this book for our book club and EVERYONE LOVED IT! What great insights into the deaf culture.

Honest, open, and very well written. Authors parents and my parents are long time friends. Although I do not know the author, we probably met as kids. The deaf community is a very close knit group. Deaf parents are very caring and loving. It's a one day, cover to cover read.

I was supposed to read this book for my Sign Language class, but I started the first chapter, and was incredibly bored. This book is slow, and boring.

I went to high school with Lou Ann. We were not good friends, but I knew her parents were deaf. At that time, I felt that Lou Ann was diligent with her studies and way too mature for us to be friends. I read this book many years ago. I loved the book and knew some of the people she mentioned. I am in a book club now and I am going to recommend this story. I think it is a good read for anyone. Lou Ann was a kind person and I'm sure she has helped many people in the deaf community. Even today, I think there is a great variance in how different members of the deaf community interact with the hearing population.

As the oldest child in a family with deaf parents, I can totally relate to what the author went through. I was disturbed by a few of the reviews I read though. People are so quick to judge when they don't have a clue about the world that hearing children of deaf parents live in. I went through all the same experiences that the author did as well as many more. As the oldest child I too was responsible for all the interpreting and basically felt as though I was "raising" my parents instead of the other way around. It is not a fun way to grow up. I found myself annoyed by the reviewer who said they found deaf people to be "fun" and that the author was too dour and negative about the deaf culture. Don't be so quick to judge until you walk in our shoes. The deaf community I was exposed to was not a "fun" one. They were, as a whole, a very distrusting, backstabbing, and gossipy group. I am NOT saying all deaf people are this way! I can only relate what MY personal experiences were. The reviewers who said that it seemed to be the author's own "personality quirks" that made her experience life with deaf parents the way she did don't have a clue either. We are basically products of our upbringing and the life we live as a child. Yes, we can choose as adults to move forward and overcome much of the damage that may have been done, BUT you cannot change who you are nor can you erase the person you are completely. And much of that is formed in childhood, a childhood that is VERY different from mainstream society if you grow up as a hearing child with deaf parents. I suffer from anxiety I believe it is because of the overpowering sense of responsibility I was burdened with as a child, which I cannot seem to shake as an adult and mother of 4. Anyone studying ASL or truly trying to gain insight into the deaf world would definitely benefit from reading this novel.

Embroideries is a wonderfully funny graphic novel detailing the romantic lives of women in Iran. Each woman's story spans just a few pages, but touching, amusing punchlines are delivered every time. The illustrations are lively and gestural, capturing the personalities of Marjane's family and friends. The book is very relatable. It would be a good discussion starter for a book club or a parent broaching the subject of love, romance and courtship to young women.

One of the more amusing stories is told by a woman who, after noticing that her middle aged husband was being distracted from her middle age self by twenty-something women, had plastic surgery that took fat from her behind and used it to perk up her breasts. He loves her new breasts - but in fact is kissing her rear!

I enjoyed this novel, but felt it was more a snack compared to the meaty content of "Persepolis."

Funny, heart breaking, insightful look at women in Iran, but could be women anywhere. The author is very good at getting precise meaning and acute issues across with just the right words. My new favorite author.

I have read this book several times, it is the funniest Marja Satrapi wrote. If you are a female Middle-Easterner, you will laugh out loud at the stories these ladies share.

my purchase of this book was but an afterthought. i only wanted to avail of the free shipping having ordered the two persepolis books. and i was not disappointed. true enough, it gave me a better understanding and appreciation of iranian women. learning a thing or two in the process. yes, their travails are as universal as the other women's. thank you for the endorsement.

I ordered this book for my daughter,for college. She is very pleased with it.

Frederick Douglass was a social thinker in his time. The book was
first published in 1845 by the Anti-Slavery Office. A memorable
quote is presented:
" I was born in Tuckahoe near Hillsborough and about 12 miles
from Easton in Talbot County, MD. I have no accurate knowledge of my
age, never having seen any authentic record containing it.
By far, the larger part of slaves know as little of their ages,
as horses know of theirs and it is the wish of most masters within
my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant."

Frederick Douglass tells of the cruel whippings of slaves.
He describes Mr. Severe who was both cruel and profane. There are
recitations of trips to the Great House Farm in order to pick up the
monthly allowance by slaves. The book chronicles his plan and
success in escaping slavery. He was wary of the "Underground
Railroad" because it stimulated masters to increase their
general surveillance and watchfulness over the slaves.
The work contains an eye-opening recitation of the treatment of slaves
even a half century after the Constitution was written.

Wickersham takes a very tragic experience, applying a logical index to ungovernable feelings, penning a memoir of her father's suicide that is honest, painstaking and filled with emotional landmines. From the morning she receives the call from her distraught mother, to years later, still grappling with the complicated feelings- acceptable and unacceptable- that plague her life after this loss, the author exquisitely describes the long, dark torment of those left behind by such an act of self-annihilation. The first response, of course, is numbness, a soft-lensed vacuum that allows the family to survive the early days of shock, the outpouring of support from friends and relatives, with the occasional flash of inexplicable rage that lurks beneath the surface. It is the following years that dominate her grieving process, thinking and rethinking what could have been done to prevent the suicide, to intervene.

The elephant in the room, of course, is the undeniable violence of such an action, so heinous and selfish as to belie any daughter's memories of a loving, slightly eccentric father, a man carrying the scars of a brutal childhood and a lack of business sense that adversely affects his family's financial security. The bonds between this eldest daughter and her father are like steel cables; she favors him over her mother, with whom she has an uneasy, somewhat antagonistic relationship, especially after the suicide, the mother flapping wildly through her own jumble of confused emotions, both guilty and self-defensive, left pondering the interminable, unanswerable question: why? Although the author has a sister, it is the nature of such a loss that the sibling is hardly mentioned. This is an intense, solitary journey, an anguished, chronically self-obsessed need for answers, a patient husband dealing with the fall out years later.

Wickersham catalogs every nuance, every instinct, every possibility, trapped in a dilemma not of her own making, her life haunted years after the pivotal event. She is stuck, unable to move forward, happiness no longer a viable expectation. It is to this writer's credit that I continue to read this memoir: I didn't particularly like her father or have empathy for his cowardice. On the other hand, neither have I experienced the kind of bond shared by this man and his daughter. No, I was in it for the experience, willing to follow wherever Wickersham might lead. If she has the courage to flay her soul in search of answers, who am I to shy away? "It's a crooked, looping, labyrinthine story." Indeed, it is and one with no easy answers or facile resolutions. I hope this troubled man appreciated his extraordinary child and her capacity for compassion. I doubt I would have been as forgiving. Luan Gaines/ 2008.

Joan Wickersham's The Suicide Index: Putting My Father's Death in Order is best described as engaging, gripping and candid.

Wickersham leads us through her father's final moments. She reveals details of this confusing tragedy in a family's life--suicide. Those who commit suicide leave loved ones with a black hole of unanswerable questions. Anyone who has been touched by suicide knows the pain of never fully understanding or resolving this aspect of life.

The author seeks to unravel the mystery of her father's suicide by investigating anyone who knew him. She reflects on her own memories, both as a child and an adult to find reason for his drastic act of selfishness. As much as we'd like to know everything about those closest to us, there are limitations. Can we really comprehend the mind of someone else?

Gently and transparently Wickersham reveals her phases of denial, anger, hopelessness and grief. She searches for a murderer, rejecting the idea that her father would have ended his life. She wishes blame on her mother, her father's business partners and associates. Was it a jealous neighbor? A so-called friend? Finding no answers, she settles that her father did take his own life-and he left no clues.

Wickersham struggles to live daily life as a mother and wife, sister and daughter, as everything comes into question. Is it all a lie? Does she view her father through rose-colored glasses? Did he suffer an undetected medical condition?

Walking the high road of inspection and low road of introspection simultaneously, I must agree with the author that suicide is difficult to understand. The search for answers is evasive and frustrating. I discovered along with Wickersham the conspicuous void in my family album left by one who committed suicide. Nevertheless, life goes on.

Armchair Interviews says: A book worth reading for anyone whose life has been affected by suicide.

I love memoir. Many memoirs deal with difficult subject matter, and this is no different.

Suicide: it's very "in your face"--unresolved, scary, disturbing. The author is writing trying to make sense of the fact of her father's suicide. The chapters are organized as an index would be, for example

Suicide
Numbness, and eating

It's very well-written and the author straddles that line between biographer of her father and writer of her own memoir.

Looking at the book's title and the reviews, I couldn't bear to think anyone out there might miss out on the Suicide Index or think it's not for them if they haven't experienced the suicide of someone close to them. This is a beautiful, most real account--I can't shake it--of all that's human, family, love and loss, being a child and a parent. Joan Wickersham has found a brilliant way to tell the truth about one of the hardest things for human nature to tell the truth about: We can't make sense of death, attempts to index are futile. Which is why this perfect book is anything but. I went back and bought her novel the Paper Anniversary and can't wait to see what Wickersham can do with fiction, too.

One of the edgiest topics for the human being to explain to oneself, let alone set down for an audience : suicide. Perhaps easier if one's own intended is the story but this is a father's suicide taken on by his eldest and perhaps favorite daughter.

Joan Wickersham does something brilliant and highly original in what is both a journal and a once-upon-a-time consideration of a man's life.

In compelling yet often dispassionate and sometimes hilarious chapters, Wickersham considers the facts about her family's biographical and social, bodily and geographical conditions as clues to the inevitability of this death.

In an almost seamless and well-paced manner, Wickersham makes it possible for the reader easily to join her in turning over pieces of clothing, pastry, furniture, or trinkets with the possibility always present that there is not just an explanation for this tragedy but an (imaginary) reversal of the fact that this man has willingly removed himself forever from life.

This is the story of a mid-20th century individual set before us by the writer's ease with which she slips contemporary events in with narratives about a disparate cast of artistic, impractical, cruel, aristocratic, and forceful forebearers. She offers us the earnest 1950's Americans and their aspirations in the post WW II business world alongside the disengaged WASP yacht and horse set of 1980's; the uncertain intimacy of the psychiatrist's quiet, with a tremulous, frustrated mother's voice to an inarticulate, depressed young child.

And we are taken to both dark or comic corners : the anatomically specific autopsy report read by a daughter of her father's body, an unconventional Dance institute performance by an aging doyenne observed by an embarrassed father and granddaughter; we meet the dopplegangers of her father who Wickersham embraces, as well as her plump, self-deluding mother who perpetuates failures of romance even in her years of decrepitude.

Wickersham has a particularly clever but highly original take on certain quarters of American life - early 20th century cultural immigrants, the educated and aspiring of the Eastcoast, the perserverance of children faced with the incomprehesible, with abandonment. But this is not a sappy tale nor leaden, but it's a dense one which moves quickly and somehow, like the daughter-writer, we want one more chapter; we don't seem to want an end to the facts of a suicide.

Helpfully, she incorporates a strong bibliographic epilogue of Western writers on the topic of suicide, couching the auto-biographical issue with which she is faced, in sturdy, graceful objectivity.

The reader easily comes along on every page with this reluctant, brave, and highly intelligent daughter as she attempts to assume and then banish responsibility for her parent's suicide.

Nantz seems like a really good guy. And if you're a sports fan, you'll enjoy some of the behind the scenes and inside stories no doubt, as I did. But throughout I thought it was a bit self indulgent on Jim's part, and quite a bit schmaltzy. That is, overly sentimental. At least for my taste. Am I the only one felt that way ?

We gave it to our son after we had read it and it was excellent. We wanted to share with him.

I ordered three copies of the book for Father's Day gifts for two of my sons and my husband. According to the recipients, it was a great read. Amazon service was, as always, superb!

I gave this book as a Father's Day gift to my son, who lost his Dad a few years ago. We both read it. What an inspiration.

Like me Jim Nantz is from the Houston area, so based on that commonality I've always been a fan. This book details a professional career that's gone very right and a personal life that's posed one significant challenge. There are points where everything that is written, said, etc. has been so perfect that you just want a strong cup of black coffee to wash the sugary taste from your mouth. Then you read the challenges with his Dad and it makes you want to tip you hat to the man and hope that I would react in the same way that he's done.

Great behind-the-scenes and name-dropping book that makes a good summer read.

I didn't expect much from this book - who writes his life story when he's just pushing 40? But this is a fun and funny, stream of consciousness autobiography, roped into some order by his coauthor sister, complete with humorous/explanatory footnoted asides (well, his sister IS an English professor) and lots of great photos of wee John from childhood on up and his beloved and wacky extended family and friends, productions he was in, up to present day Captain Jack on 'Torchwood.' It's written for a British audience, but anyone on either side of the Atlantic would enjoy it. I laughed out loud at several of his stories of various theatrical escapades and disasters. Not surprisingly, the story is just like the actor seems - what you see is what you get - funny, exuberant, charming, a bit naughty, and full of life.

I actually listened to the audiobook version, read very entertainingly by John Barrowman himself. I can't say whether the book benefits from a slight abridgment, but I suspect it benefits quite a bit by the addition of John Barrowman's always charming delivery. I smiled all the way through, laughed aloud in places, and found myself touched in more.
Besides the look into his life thus far (his coming out tale, for example), the book serves as good introduction to the hard work a professional entertainer has in store for themselves before reaching success (or at least steady employment!) Talent - something John has in almost unfair spades - and looks, another thing John can't truthfully deny he possesses - are not enough. He details the work he put in, the learning he had to do (and his gratitude to his many teachers), as well as his trials (amusing to hear how he didn't get a part he wasn't considered 'gay enough' for) on the long yet interesting road to Doctor Who, Torchwood and becoming a National Treasure.
There's also a smattering of fun "behind the scenes" Doctor Who and Torchwood stories for fans like me!

I got turned on to John Barrowman last year after discovering Torchwood. I find it refreshing, in this day and age, to come across someone who is living his life to the fullest, no apologies, no regrets.

The book gives us a brief overview of what seems to be, his very charmed life. I am sure he has had much more grief and frustration in his 40 years then the book lets on, but maybe that's left for another book.
(And according to Carole, they are in talks to do another one)

He gives us tales of his growing up in Scotland and later spending his formative years in Illinois, becoming an American boy. He returns to the UK for schooling and gets his big break, starring in a big West End show.
Charmed indeed.

The love he has for his family and partner is evident throughout the book. I had the pleasure of talking to his mother and father at a booksigning in Milwaukee and they were absolutely charming people who are so proud of their son.

It's a really quick read and you will find yourself laughing out loud at some of his stories and sniffling at others. I enjoyed the audio version too as it's kind of fun listening to him talk about his life, almost like you're sitting there and he's talking to you personally.
Plenty of great pictures too.
So, if you're just discovering John or just want to know more about him, it's a great place to start.

(I have to admit though, I hate the cover photo.)

When I first read others' comments about this book (as I waited...and waited...and waited for Amazon to send it) I just figured the negative ones came from a bunch of John and/or gay haters. I now have to concede that they had some valid points. At times, I wonder if the John I've seen in interviews is the same guy as the one in this book! I'd already listened to the audio version, and there were times when he came off as a bit of a d*** in it, but hearing the anecdotes in his own voice softened the bite. In print, he does not come off well. He comes off as a brat. Where's the guy who helped those two ladies after one of his shows? (A cute anecdote about some fans who were stranded after a thief nabbed a purse.) Where's the guy who got so irritated at the protesters at London Pride that he told the crowd that "THEY'RE the ones who need saving, not me"? THAT man has more passion and integrity than the one I've seen so far here. Save your money - watch and buy some Torchwood and Who instead. And watch his interview from Heaven and Earth. I think you'll see Another - and better - Side of John.
All that said, some of the photos are absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!!

I am a huge fan of Torchwood and John Barrowman (discovered both recently)and was waiting eagerly for this book to learn more about him and his life. But I'm sorry to say this highly anticipated book was a disappointment -- the incidents portrayed are so arbitrary and without depth. I get no sense of his deepest feelings, fears, dreams. Has his whole life been wonderful, or did he and sister just decide to stress the positive and funny things? What was it like when he first came to NY? How did he survive the bad times or were they all good? What about some REAL gossip? What's the real scoop on the Will and Grace audition?

I remember reading Tennessee Williams' autobiography and Christopher Isherwood's Christopher and His Kind and wondering how such great writers could write such juvenile autobiographies, but at least it showed them flaws and all including a lot of sordid sexual encounters.

This is probably written mostly by Carole Barrowman and is too slick and surface like a magazine article. Yes there are a some well-adjusted positive totally happy people in the world (none of them live in NYC I suspect) I'm sure he's a good natured "bloke" but no one's life is that smooth. It makes for superficial reading. The pictures are great!

Bess in the Big Apple

Daly, Michael. "The Book of Mychal: The Surprising Life and Heroic Death of Father Mychal Judge", Thomas Dunne Books, 2008.

A National Hero

Amos Lassen

Father Mychal Judge became a hero after his death. He died while he was helping victims at the World Trade Center after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He was the chaplain for the New York City Fire Department and he soon became the supreme symbol of those who put their lives at risk so they could help others and he paid the highest price. He was loved by his fireman and was always ready to listen to anyone who needed to talk. He not only was minister to firemen but to gay New Yorkers as well even though many of his firemen had no idea that he was gay and did not learn that until he was dead. Father Judge had problems with reconciling his private life with his public life and this was discovered in a journal he began keeping in 1999. We read that he yearned to speak out but he felt that coming out would cost him his ministry, his friends and his standing in the Catholic Church.
Michael Daly, who was Judge's friend and who wrote this book, had access to the journals and gives us the thoughts of Judge.
Judge's life was gripping from being a youth in Depression Brooklyn to his Catholic upbringing. The last section of the book hits hard as it deals with September 11 and the days following. I love the way we get to see Father Judge as he tries to balance his work with the fire department and his life as a gay man especially during the 1990's when New York City was engaged in a war between the church and the gay community. Daly gives us a peek into Judge's private life as well and with great sensitivity. We read of his involvement with the AIDS crisis, when he bucked his church's official policy on homosexuality. We also learn of the priest's ten year love affair with a much younger man but Daly says that it was never consummated because of the Church.
What makes the book so special is reading about Judge's inner thoughts and turmoils as well as the love his fireman felt for him. He was quite a man and Michael Daly has done both the man and his memory justice.

Two things I really loved about this book are that you get to read about Chris' life and learn about how he became the magician that he is. He's a very special person and he shares a lot of himself in this book. Second is that the back of the book is filled with magic tricks that ANYONE can learn. I say that because I've never tried learning magic before and had a blast with these tricks. I got a huge kick out of showing the tricks to people and seeing them freak out trying to figure out how I did them. Way cool!

One of the best magician in the world. In this book, takes us on a personal tour of his surreal world, a special place where he seamlessly blends illusion and reality. Prepare yourself for a stunning look into his mind, life, and philosophy.

This book is amazing! It gives you the history of Criss. It tells you the experiances he went through during his life, and his rise to fame. It also teaches you lots of tricks that you can do at home. I reccommend this book to everybody!!!!

I purchased this book from the MINDFREAK store in Luxor, Las Vegas. Less of a mindFREAK than a mindNUMB... This was one of the very worst books I have ever read, and I wasn't expecting much (he is, after all, a magician and not a writer).

The book was rambling and contained very little meaningful discussion. Instead, Angel spends page after page (after page...) lauding himself and his self-reported "laser-like" focus on his goals, his amazing imagination, and his laughable "signature poses". The "biography" portion of the book is thankfully short, with the balance of the book consisting of 40 "Mindfreaks" -- Magic 101-level tricks complete with photos of an "intense" looking Criss (who mostly just looks silly).

I actually felt LESS smart after reading this book. The real magic is how Angel makes your money disappear without providing you anything worthwhile in exchange.

Avoid this book.

I like Criss Angel and appreciate his skill with magic, but found the book to be very short, and low on any substance. It focuses on his own belief in himself. I hope a proper biography or autobiography gets written at a later date