Biographies & Memoirs Books - Page 2

A Bold Fresh Piece of Humanity: A Memoir

Bill O'Reilly

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 115 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The year was 1957, the month September, and I had just turned eight years old. Dwight Eisenhower was President, but in my life it was the diminutive, intense Sister Mary Lurana who ruled, at least in the third-grade class where I was held captive. For reasons you will soon understand, my parents had remanded me to the penal institution of St. Brigid’s School in Westbury, New York, a cruel and unusual punishment if there ever was one.

Already, I had barely survived my first two years at St. Brigid’s because I was, well, a little nitwit. Not satisfied with memorizing the Baltimore Catechism’s fine prose, which featured passages like “God made me to show his goodness and to make me happy with him in heaven,” I was constantly annoying my classmates and, of course, the no-nonsense Sister Lurana. With sixty overactive students in her class, she was understandably short on patience. For survival, she had also become quick on the draw.

Then it happened. One day I blurted out some dumb remark, and Sister Lurana was on me like a panther. Her black habit blocked out all distractions as she leaned down, looked me in the eye, and uttered words I have never forgotten: “William, you are a bold, fresh piece of humanity.”

And she was dead-on.

One day in 1957, in the third-grade classroom of St. Brigid’s parochial school, an exasperated Sister Mary Lurana bent over a restless young William O’Reilly and said, “William, you are a bold, fresh piece of humanity.” Little did she know that she was, early in his career as a troublemaker, defining the essence of Bill O’Reilly and providing him with the title of his brash and entertaining issues-based memoir.

And this time it’s personal. In his most intimate book yet, O’Reilly goes back in time to examine the people, places, and experiences that launched him on his journey from working-class kid to immensely influential television personality and bestselling author. Readers will learn how his traditional outlook was formed in the crucible of his family, his neighborhood, his church, and his schools, and how his views on America’s proper role in the world emerged from covering four wars on five continents over three-plus decades as a news correspondent. What will delight his numerous fans and surprise many others is the humor and self-deprecation with which he handles one of his core subjects: himself, and just how O’Reilly became O’Reilly.

My Stroke of Insight

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 175 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Tedious, fascinating, and weird 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I would give the author herself 5 stars for her journey and her perseverance and being able to overcome severe deficits.

For the book, however, 3 stars is generous, in my opinion. As the daughter of a recent stroke survivor, I found very useful information about how to deal with my mother and how to encourage her, and it also gave me great hope for her continued improvement and recovery. BUT......way too much right-brain writing going on here. "I love my cells" is an actual quote and perfectly illustrates how much of the last third of the book is written. I am glad I read this book and will recommend it to my sisters, but with the suggestion to just to read the middle section.

The first third is tedious, the middle third is fascinating, and the final third is weird.

In the end you will have knowledge and empathy. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Dr Bolte Taylor paints a picture with words about the horrors and bliss associated with having her stroke. Through this, she inspires us to look beyond the physical body that is beset with limitations and instead seek out the mental, feeling, emotional side of not just stroke victims but of all patients and of all humanity. Through that she reveals we can shape our inner self to focus on what really matters. I cannot imagine many people reading her book or seeing her lecture at TED.com walking away without having been greatly impacted by the beauty and truth of her story. I, for one, have been greatly touched on so many levels by listening to and reading about her experiences. And, I dare say, my patients have benefited as a result.

Editorial Review:

Unabridged CDs • 5 CDs, 5 1?2 hours

A brain scientist’s personal experience with a stroke and her journey to a full recovery.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

Elizabeth Gilbert

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1758 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Engaging memoir about a woman's search for self and happiness 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Although this book gained huge popularity almost immediately after its release--which was a full two years ago now--initially, I had some reluctance to read it. This is surprising given that 1) I'm about the same age as the author, 2) I generally really enjoy memoirs, and 3) I've studied Italian and am into yoga, which are two of the three major themes of this book. However, my sense from others who had read EAT, PRAY, LOVE before me was that for all those who loved the book, just as many hated it, finding it to be self-indulgent.

So, is this book self-indulgent? Well, of COURSE it is--but what memoir isn't? You could dismiss the entire book by saying that author Elizabeth Gilbert is, like so many other women before her, simply trying to "find herself" after an ugly divorce. While this is arguably true, the universal nature of Gilbert's general situation doesn't make the particular details of her story any less interesting. The fact is, Gilbert is an engaging writer, and although the pages of her book might should "ME, ME, ME!", she certainly provides her readers with a clear portrayal of her year of transformative travel. Readers are with Gilbert each step of the way as she learns to experience pleasure again in Italy (through the joy of wonderful food), to connect with a higher being in India (by practicing yoga and meditation at her Guru's ashram), and to find peace and love in Bali.

There were a few things I didn't like about Gilbert's writing style. For example, she seemed to be unnecessarily coy at times, like when she made the specific point of saying within the first few pages of the book that she wasn't going to let readers know anything about what went wrong with her ex-husband. She also refused to reveal the name of her Guru, something that of course can easily be obtained on the internet (and in fact now appears in Gilbert's own blog). But overall, I found this book to be enjoyable: I enjoyed taking part in Gilbert's journey and truly rooted for her happiness in the end.

Editorial Review:

The celebrated author of The Last American Man creates an irresistible, candid, and eloquent account of her pursuit of worldly pleasure and spiritual devotion.

Unabridged CDs - 13 CDs, 15 hours

Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid

Dr. Denis Leary

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 56 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Only Moderately Entertaining 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I desperately wanted to enjoy this book, but after about 100 pages, I had to quit reading. Something I never do. If you're a fan of Dennis Leary, you'll absolutely enjoy this read. His unique wit and sarcasm are what makes this book what it is. If you're easily offended (and I am not) you might want to look elsewhere. I will admit, that although I did not find much of the content humorous, Dr. Leary's points are fairly accurate! A lot of the reason we as Americans "suck" as he puts it, are outlined very clearly throughout the book.

Give it a shot if you're looking to be entertained, but don't expect much in my opinion.

Editorial Review:

Abridged CDs • 4 CDs, 5 hours

“Denis Leary snarls as naturally as most actors smile,” says one critic of the writer and comic. In Why We Suck, Leary snarls to brilliant effect. With his patented highspeed ranting and killer comic instinct, Denis Leary has become a beloved antihero whose bracing invective and outrageous riffs have earned him a huge following.

Letter to My Daughter

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 47 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

For a world of devoted fans, a much-awaited new volume of absorbing stories and inspirational wisdom from one of our best-loved writers.

Dedicated to the daughter she never had but sees all around her, Letter to My Daughter reveals Maya Angelou’s path to living well and living a life with meaning. Told in her own inimitable style, this book transcends genres and categories: guidebook, memoir, poetry, and pure delight.

Here in short spellbinding essays are glimpses of the tumultuous life that led Angelou to an exalted place in American letters and taught her lessons in compassion and fortitude: how she was brought up by her indomitable grandmother in segregated Arkansas, taken in at thirteen by her more worldly and less religious mother, and grew to be an awkward, six-foot-tall teenager whose first experience of loveless sex paradoxically left her with her greatest gift, a son.

Whether she is recalling such lost friends as Coretta Scott King and Ossie Davis, extolling honesty, decrying vulgarity, explaining why becoming a Christian is a “lifelong endeavor,” or simply singing the praises of a meal of red rice–Maya Angelou writes from the heart to millions of women she considers her extended family.

Like the rest of her remarkable work, Letter to My Daughter entertains and teaches; it is a book to cherish, savor, and share.




“I gave birth to one child, a son, but I have thousands of daughters. You are Black and White, Jewish and Muslim, Asian, Spanish speaking, Native Americans and Aleut. You are fat and thin and pretty and plain, gay and straight, educated and unlettered, and I am speaking to you all. Here is my offering to you.”

–from Letter to My Daughter


Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission  to reprint previously published material:

Mari Evans:  Excerpt from “I Am A Black Woman” from I Am A Black Woman by Mari Evans (New York:  William Morrow, 1970).  Reprinted by permission of Mari Evans.

Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. and Harold Ober Associates:  “I, Too” and “Dream Variations” from The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes, edited by Arnold Rampersad with David Russell, Associate Editor, copyright © 1994 by the Estate of Langston Hughes.  Rights in the United Kingdom are controlled by Harold Ober Associates.  Reprinted by permission of Harold Ober Associates.

Melvin B. Tolson, Jr. c/o The Permissions Company:  Excerpt from “Dark Symphony” from Rendezvous With America (New York:  Dodd, Mead, 1944).  Originally published in Atlantic Monthly (September, 1941), copyright © 1941, 1944 by Melvin B. Tolson and copyright renewed 1968, 1972 by Ruth S. Tolson.  Reprinted by permission of Melvin B. Tolson, r. c/o The Permissions Company, www.permissionscompany.com.

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 279 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In My Horizontal Life, actress and stand-up comedian Chelsea Handler boldly recounted her one-night stands-the good, the bad, and the disastrous. In this wickedly honest new work, she casts the net wider with even funnier results, recalling the most noteworthy highs and lows of her life to date--including her efforts to diversify by dating red-haired men, her obsession with midgets, and the dog-sitting interlude in which her boyfriend became overly familiar with a Peekapoo.

Whether it's a vacation with her dad during which he tells airline staff they're a honeymoon couple in order to get an upgrade, or her elaborate attempts to convince her third-grade classmates that she's starring in a Private Benjamin sequel, Chelsea lets it rip in these relentlessly entertaining essays. Displaying the candor and irresistible turn of phrase that have earned her a recurring stint as a correspondent on The Tonight Show as well as her own E! series, Chelsea Lately, this deliciously skewed collection is a guilty pleasure.

Glass Castle: A Memoir

Jeannette Walls

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1160 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn't stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an "excitement addict." Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.

Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town -- and the family -- Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents' betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.

What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story. A regular contributor to MSNBC.com, she lives in New York and Long Island and is married to the writer John Taylor.

Loving Frank

Nancy Horan

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 208 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to
swim in the river. I want to feel the current.

So writes Mamah Borthwick Cheney in her diary as she struggles to justify her clandestine love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Four years earlier, in 1903, Mamah and her husband, Edwin, had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction developed between Mamah and Frank, and in time the lovers, each married with children, embarked on a course that would shock Chicago society and forever change their lives.

In this groundbreaking historical novel, fact and fiction blend together brilliantly. While scholars have largely relegated Mamah to a footnote in the life of America’s greatest architect, author Nancy Horan gives full weight to their dramatic love story and illuminates Mamah’s profound influence on Wright.

Drawing on years of research, Horan weaves little-known facts into a compelling narrative, vividly portraying the conflicts and struggles of a woman forced to choose between the roles of mother, wife, lover, and intellectual. Horan’s Mamah is a woman seeking to find her own place, her own creative calling in the world, and her unforgettable journey, marked by choices that reshape her notions of love and responsibility, leads inexorably to this novel’s stunning conclusion.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle CD: A Year of Food Life

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 337 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good story, real life 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Although I was questioning nearly every food choice while reading this book, it is fascinating! Not everyone will feel this way: a friend said she could not get into it because she doesn't like asparagus, and that is what the book was about (!?). Now that I have had time to fully digest the book (pun intended), I am able to be more mindful of my food choices without being completely overwhelmed. I enjoyed the recipes, and the notes on where to find more information on several of the issues presented. Read this book during the spring and summer -- then you can savor the best while reading up on it!

Editorial Review:

Hang on for the ride: with characteristic poetry and pluck, Barbara Kingsolver and her family sweep readers along on their journey away from the industrial-food pipeline to a rural life in which they vow to buy only food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. Their good-humored search yields surprising discoveries about turkey sex life and overly zealous zucchini plants, en route to a food culture that's better for the neighborhood and also better on the table.

Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle makes a passionate case for putting the kitchen back at the center of family life, and diversified farms at the center of the American diet.

My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands

Chelsea Handler

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 275 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

You'll Laugh till you Hurt! 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I picked this book up thinking it would be a collection of erotica. Before I had time to be disappointed, I started laughing and never stopped. This is the most I have laughed out loud reading a book since Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Freakin' hilarious!! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book is clearly just as good as Handler's second book: Are you there Vodka, It's Me Chelsea. You will be laughing out loud it is so funny. The first thought you have when you pick up the book is that "I wonder if Chelsea really had that many one night stands to write a book about it." The answer to that is yes and no. It is a combo of both. When reading this book I thought Chelsea was living inside a mans body, because the things that she does are like what men do when hooking up. She is absolutely a risk taker when it comes to taking home men or even meeting them. Overall this book is humorously funny.

Editorial Review:

In this raucous collection of true-life stories, actress and comedian Chelsea Handler recounts her time spent in the social trenches with that wild, strange, irresistible, and often gratifying beast: the one-night stand.