The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir

Book Description

From one of the most beloved and bestselling authors in the English language, a vivid, nostalgic, and utterly hilarious memoir of growing up in the 1950s

Bill Bryson was born in the middle of the American century—1951—in the middle of the United States—Des Moines, Iowa—in the middle of the largest generation in American history—the baby boomers. As one of the best and funniest writers alive, he is perfectly positioned to mine his memories of a totally all-American childhood for 24-carat memoir gold. Like millions of his generational peers, Bill Bryson grew up with a rich fantasy life as a superhero. In his case, he ran around his house and neighborhood with an old football jersey with a thunderbolt on it and a towel about his neck that served as his cape, leaping tall buildings in a single bound and vanquishing awful evildoers (and morons)—in his head—as "The Thunderbolt Kid."

Using this persona as a springboard, Bill Bryson re-creates the life of his family and his native city in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality—a life at once completely familiar to us all and as far away and unreachable as another galaxy. It was, he reminds us, a happy time, when automobiles and televisions and appliances (not to mention nuclear weapons) grew larger and more numerous with each passing year, and DDT, cigarettes, and the fallout from atmospheric testing were considered harmless or even good for you. He brings us into the life of his loving but eccentric family, including affectionate portraits of his father, a gifted sportswriter for the local paper and dedicated practitioner of isometric exercises, and OF his mother, whose job as the home furnishing editor for the same paper left her little time for practicing the domestic arts at home. The many readers of Bill Bryson’s earlier classic, A Walk in the Woods, will greet the reappearance in these pages of the immortal Stephen Katz, seen hijacking literally boxcar loads of beer. He is joined in the Bryson gallery of immortal characters by the demonically clever Willoughby brothers, who apply their scientific skills and can-do attitude to gleefully destructive ends.

Warm and laugh-out-loud funny, and full of his inimitable, pitch-perfect observations, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid is as wondrous a book as Bill Bryson has ever written. It will enchant anyone who has ever been young.

Customer Reviews:

We laughed so hard we almost drove off the road........2007-10-07

My husband and I listened to this book on cd while on a long car trip. It was great. We laughed so much, I had to keep turning it off so we didn't crash the car. A must read for anyone who grew up in the mid-west in the 1950's. We didn't and stiil loved it. Bryson has a great delivery and makes it so real. My favorite Bryson book, so far. We gave our copy to a friend and bought another for a co-worker.

reminicent of "The Christmas Story", very enjoyable and funny.......2007-10-03

I read this specifically for the historic recollections of the 50's era, and the fact that the jacket reviews indicated "snort-root-beer-out-your-nose funny". I don't often laugh out loud while reading, and I did several times through this book. It reminds me of a print version of "The Christmas Story" movie, without the BB gun and with a lot more detail. Bryson's command of language is engaging and quite intelligent, the book was an easy read and wasn't boring. This is surprising given Bryson's admission that he wasn't a great student. My only complaint was that I wanted more. I plan to read his other works asap.

Not Bill Bryson's best.......2007-09-24

I am a Bryson fan and have been since his first book. This one is good, mind you -- funny, well written - but NOT as good as his some of his others. I was a tad disappointed, but still think the book is worth buying. So, buy it.

Deserves a Read.......2007-09-09

For a child of the 40s and 50s, this book will serve to recall better times. Bryson gets a little 60s' preachy in spots, but they are not overwhelming. When you put this book down, you are left with a slightly sad feeling that life as experienced in the 50s will not be seen again and that today's kids are missing a lot.

Bill Bryson doesn't disappoint.......2007-09-03

Any book by Bill Bryson is a treat, and this one is no exception. It explains a lot about the origins of his strangely skewed viewpoint, and being of approximately the same vintage, I enjoyed revisiting the 50's with him. Of particular interest to me was the account of his beginning friendship with the unlikely character Stephen Katz (from "A Walk in the Woods"). The only problem I have with Bryson's books is that I have to read them at home. Can't take them with me to read in, for instance, the doctor's office because I laugh so long and so loud that it creates too much of a public spectacle, and consternation in onlookers.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

Average customer rating:

Funny, unique approach that pays no disservice to its subject
Humanizing but Reverent
Brilliant, irreverence...not for the faint of heart!
Laughing this much must be a sin!
Funny.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
Christopher Moore
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0380813815
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Amazon.com

While the Bible may be the word of God, transcribed by divinely inspired men, it does not provide a full (or even partial) account of the life of Jesus Christ. Lucky for us that Christopher Moore presents a funny, lighthearted satire of the life of Christ--from his childhood days up to his crucifixion--in Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. This clever novel is surely blasphemy to some, but to others it's a coming-of-age story of the highest order.

Joshua (a.k.a. Jesus) knows he is unique and quite alone in his calling, but what exactly does his Father want of him? Taking liberties with ancient history, Moore works up an adventure tale as Biff and Joshua seek out the three wise men so that Joshua can better understand what he is supposed to do as Messiah. Biff, a capable sinner, tags along and gives Joshua ample opportunities to know the failings and weaknesses of being truly human. With a wit similar to Douglas Adams, Moore pulls no punches: a young Biff has the hots for Joshua's mom, Mary, which doesn't amuse Josh much: "Don't let anyone ever tell you that the Prince of Peace never struck anyone." And the origin of the Easter Bunny is explained as a drunken Jesus gushes his affection for bunnies, declaring, "Henceforth and from now on, I decree that whenever something bad happens to me, there shall be bunnies around."

One small problem with the narrative is that Biff and Joshua often do not have distinct voices. A larger difficulty is that as the tone becomes more somber with Joshua's life drawing to its inevitable close, the one-liners, though not as numerous, seem forced. True to form, Lamb keeps the story of Joshua light, even after its darkest moments. --Michael Ferch

Book Description

The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years -- except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work "reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior's pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. But there's no one who loves Josh more -- except maybe "Maggie," Mary of Magdala -- and Biff isn't about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight.

Download Description

The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years -- except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work ""reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams"" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior's pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. But there's no one who loves Josh more -- except maybe ""Maggie,"" Mary of Magdala -- and Biff isn't about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight.

Customer Reviews:

Funny, unique approach that pays no disservice to its subject.......2007-09-30

It's hard to get offended reading 'Lamb' as Moore treats the titular character with respect while portraying his human side, and of course letting Biff do all the dirty work. Those of faith will easily dive into the book, relishing in a story about a man who, while divine, is still a human with all the same anxieties, fears, and desires. The book takes a somewhat odd turn in the middle that I felt pushed it a little too much into fantasy, but in retrospect it did add a lot to the story and broke the book up into three acts. The end was particularly moving, and the change in tone and tempo appropriately brought a new perspective to one of the most-told tales.

In terms of writing style, the book is conversational and it is easy to shoot through. You can pick it up for five minutes and make progress or two hours and not grow weary.

Humanizing but Reverent.......2007-09-27

While it may not be the expected response, this comedic novel on the missing 30 years in the Gospels helps my faith, in both Christ and humanity in general.

In spite of its fictional base and outlandish experiences based at least partly in myth, Moore uses a logical and solid grounding in both the Bible and history that resonates strongly. While the poetic license in some areas is strong (the Messiah using the power of his mind to cram himself into glass jars) in others the facts speak for themselves (Jewish customs both honored by Christ after the "coming" and those dismissed).

Almost no one's faith is ridiculed in this novel, with Moore instead using Biff as the catalyst for the humor focused on a personal level. Instead of ridicule, between bizarre experiences and funny anecdotes, Moore goes about methodically answering how Jesus became Jesus, and not just some poor kid from Nazereth. It may not be a convincing or even possible explanation, but it carries its own logic and the reader is carried along a natural progression.

Moore has to create a character of the Son of God, no easy feat. I think he accomplishes this end very well, since I found myself wrapped up in the plight of these two childhood friends, even though I already "know" how the story turns out.

Brilliant, irreverence...not for the faint of heart!.......2007-09-17

From the moment "Josh" (Aka: Jesus) was described as babysitting his younger brother...quietly sitting with him and occasionally putting the lizard in his mouth that his brother had just whacked on a rock...thus bringing it back to life....then handing it back to his brother.....*whack* goes the lizard....*pop* back into Josh's mouth...*whack* and so-on.....Josh was described as calm, patient, everything you'd hope and expect him to be...even as a babysitter...(and no, that's not exactly a spoiler there.) Biff on the other hand was Josh's alter-ego. His other half. He was the one who could get away with everything Josh couldn't - and then Josh would in his way live vicariously through Biff and his adventures. The book goes into the missing years of Jesus's life. What DID he do in those missing years? Well, the Bible doesn't exactly say. Christopher Moore gives a fascinating account of what he could have been up to. He certainly could have gone out on a hunt for the Three Wise Men. He could have. Did he? Who knows? But oh, wouldn't it be fun if his adventures were something like this? Christopher Moore's irreverence and humor makes Jesus more approachable. In his way, Moore turns this foray into Biblical history into an enjoyable and yes, sometimes disgusting tale. You delve into different belief systems - different Traditions. You see that Jesus himself respecting other beliefs and even following those Traditions and religions as a student of all things. I found myself thinking more than once that it's a shame more people who claim to follow Jesus's teachings don't do the same.
If you can look at Jesus with a sense of humor, read this. You won't be sorry. What you will do, however, is laugh until you cry, so you'd better be prepared with some of those funny little incontinence pads just in case. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Laughing this much must be a sin!.......2007-09-11

This is one of the few books that I joyously read over and over. From the moment I read that Biff's mother was beset by demons... I knew he was my kind of guy.I have given this book to several of my friends as a must read. The best way to describe this story is to say that it is an irreverant satire that becomes reverant. Wonderful, READ IT! You wont be sorry.

Funny........2007-09-10

This was very funny up until Moore's take on the passion story, when it gets serious. I especially liked all the things Biff invents: matches, cream in coffee, sarcasm, etc. I also like it when he tries to fool Joshua (Jesus) by citing non-existent scripture, like Amphibians 6:5, for example, and Joshua, of course, plays the perfect staight-man. Moore obviously did his homework on this amusing tour of major world religions. I prefer a long, satisfying denouement and Moore's is rather abrubt, but the book was most enjoyable.

Average customer rating:

Great Book
Just like Beaverbrook
Camp Camp
Makes for a happy BART ride
Rhapsody

Camp
Michael D. Eisner
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Rayovac SPHLTLED 3-in-1 LED Head-Lite

ASIN: 0446533696

Book Description

Media visionary and business titan Michael D. Eisner presents a candid look back at one of the most formative experiences of his life-the time he spent at summer camp. For the millions who enjoyed childhood summers spent away from home at camp, those moments are recalled with everything from dismay to nostalgic bliss.For Disney CEO Michael D. Eisner, the months he spent at Keewaydin summer camp, nestled in the mountains of Vermont, served as a cherished and invaluable starting point for an adult life that would include a career and family life filled with unparalleled success. From the first time his father took Michael to Keewaydin at the age of seven, he realized it would become an important part of his life. Over the years, as a camper and a counselor, Michael absorbed the life lessons that come from sitting in the stern of a canoe or meeting around a campfire at night. With anecdotes from his summers at Keewaydin and stories from his life in the upper echelons of American business that illustrate the camp's continued influence, Eisner creates a touching and insightful portrait of his own coming-of-age, as well as a resounding declaration of summer camp as an invaluable national institution.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2007-10-02

Eisner's descriptions of his experiences as a camper really hit home for me, I would recommend this book heartily. Coincidentally I also was a Beaverbod (attended Camp Beaverbrook) run by Amee and Niha and Mr Mahnke's Brother. The experience described in Eisner's book is much more "East Coast" than my own experience but still rings true if you ever went to summer camp. His descriptions of the aging Camp Director and the emotions he evokes are great. Good read!

Just like Beaverbrook.......2007-09-26

Eisner's book is a wonderful reflection of his experiences over many summers at a prominent northeastern "sleepaway camp." Being a northern Californian, I was not exposed to this particular genre of camp experience, but my brothers and I were fortunate to attend a wonderfully similar enclave three hours north of us called Camp Beaverbrook, which featured most of the same experiences (save for the wonderful natural lakes) that Mr. Eisner recounts. Our camp directors, "Amee and Niha" (Bob and Marion Brown from Orinda, California) built the place by hand and created a wonderful place for young people ("Beaverbods," we called them) to grow up and learn to live with others. Mrs. Brown even wrote her own reflective book called "Past Tents," which is unfortunately out of print. If you enjoyed Mr. Eisner's book, you should also see the movie "Indian Summer," which never ceases to bring a tear to my eyes.

Camp Camp.......2007-04-01

I went to camp too. Camp Hawthorne in Raymond, Maine. This book is the best and a worthwhile read for any parent with a kid at camp or any parent considering sending their kid to camp. It's likely even better for kids like me who went to camp because no matter what experience Eisner describes, the same memories come rushing back in all their fun and splendor. One of my camp friends always used to say he was going to write a book about camp called "Camp Camp." (A generic book he had in mind.) He always said no one would believe what great fun and experiences we had. He never wrote the book but I am extremely happy that Michael Eisner has. It is no samll wonder he has been so successful (say what you might about his last few difficult years - those years were difficult for anyone in business.) He actually came through them in good shape and there's a reason he did. Nothing is as tough as that first canoe trip that you lead. If you forget any one of a number of items it can turn three days into ten. Kudos to Eisner for writing about camp in all its splendor, honoring those who gave kids like us the time of our lives, and carrying on the tradition through generosity usually reserved for only the finest of America's institutions. He's got his heart and him money in the right place!

Makes for a happy BART ride.......2006-01-26

One of the most powerful men in Hollywood says that much of all he needed to learn he learned at camp. He cites examples and weaves them with the present day experiences of two Orange County boys. Seldom has changed within the boundaries of Keewaydin over the last 80 years.

I liked the way that the two men blended their voice...it helps to make one not focus so much on who said what and stay with the story. Having attened a summer camp (Camp Beaverbrook in California) from 1977-1985 (until it's closing) I, too, can say that much of who I am today is derived from those experiences which give a child a parallel universe to school/home.

His retellings of the pivotal experiences that made him "part of the club" of adults and his realization that at 18 he was IN CHARGE of other people's kids just emphazises how "help the other fellow" is so ingrained in everything that this camp does.

Mr Eisner/Mr McPhee were "helped" into that sometimes horrifying revelation by experienced staffers who I KNOW kept an eye out all summer for transitional teens such as these.

I loved the fact that so many folks return each summer to be "staffmen"; a vision I had for myself regarding "my" summer camp. I was happy to see that people did indeed get that chance because my noncamp friends just didn't "get it" when I would say that had my camp remained open, my vacation would have been spent there.

Thank you, Mr Eisner and Mr McPhee for adding some oomph and credibility behind a general summer camp that focuses more on individual growth in a team environment than on competitive "brackets and ladders" ranking children far too early in their lives.

Individual accomplishment for the good of the team so that everyone can "win". (please do NOT confuse this comment with the silly "self-esteem" movement)

America's shareholders would be far better served by this same approach in Corporate America.

Rhapsody.......2005-09-16

I worked for Mr. Michael Eisner in 1984 at Paramount Pictures. I see that definitely has been spelled incorrectly in reviews. I hope by now that he has schooled himself in the proper spelling (MDE, Airin') of rhapsody! Also, I saw Mr. Eisner on television doing a book review. He admitted he doesn't always tell the truth. Is that true? Mr. Eisner assured me I would work for him again in 1984.
Here I am, working for nothing. Is life an "animal farm" (George Orwell, 1984, also) or does it just seem this way? Thank you for the Camp Vamp. I actually spent many years following my time with the king as a homeless person. Does anyone have an explanation why the mice at Disney have are a century young and the Board of Directors has a required retirement age for humans who make me who I am. Mr. Eisner is a prince of peace and I am fortunate to have shared life with him no matter what the consequences (truth). The book, the best along with Mr. Eisner's family and always remember from where you came. The man has a father, who next to mine, is responsible for making Mr. Eisner, his mother and his family what they are.
The Book...
A note for you, Mr. Eisner, regarding your connection with the CIA, always remember, Gary Pepper. He, too, is in the Mickey Mouse town of Orlando. I mean that as a compliment. We will remain alive and well. Investigate the work of Mr. Pepper entitled "Traitors Among Us" by Stuart A Herrington. Real men win. This, by far, is not a Mickey Mouse World, so to speak!

"CAMP" is brilliant.

Warriors Don't Cry: Searing Memoir of Battle to Integrate Little Rock

Average customer rating:

I T CAME TO PASS
Repetition Galore
Warriors Don't Cry
"With All Deliberate Speed . . ."
Very good book

Warriors Don't Cry: Searing Memoir of Battle to Integrate Little Rock
Melba Pattillo Beals
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0671866397

Book Description

You've gotta learn to defend yourself. Never let your enemy know what you are feeling.
-- The soldier assigned to protect Melba

Please, God, let me learn how to stop being a warrior. Sometimes I just need to be a girl.
-- Melba's diary, on her sixteenth birthday

In 1957 Melba Pattillo turned sixteen. That was also the year she became a warrior on the front lines of a civil rights firestorm. Following the landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board Education, she was one of nine teenagers chosen to integrate Little Rock's Central High School. This is her remarkable story.

You will listen to the cruel taunts of her schoolmates and their parents. You will run with her from the threat of a lynch mob's rope. You will share her terror as she dodges lighted sticks of dynamite, and her pain as she washes away the acid sprayed into her eyes. But most of all you will share Melba's dignity and courage as she refuses to back down.

Customer Reviews:

I T CAME TO PASS.......2007-08-13

sO MUCH OUR RACE OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN THROUGH , AND THE BOOK TELLS A LOT OF THE TRIUMPHS WE WENT THROUGH, AND STILL SOME OF THOSE THINGS STILL ARE GOING ON TODAy. So the title it came to pass is the right title because god said in his word nothing but the rightous.

Repetition Galore.......2007-07-05

Melba Pattillo Beals' "Warriors Don't Cry" was amateur at best. While the purpose of the memoir is inspiring, Beals just appeared to be a broken record.

Upon reading other reviews, I thought this memoir was going to be heartbreaking and inspiring. Yet as I began to read, a pattern developed. The book dragged on and on yet there seemed to be no progression. I found myself void of emotion throughout the whole recount. Needless to say, this was a disappointment, and extremely poorly written.

Warriors Don't Cry.......2007-06-27

We are coming up on the 50th anniversary of the integration of Central High in Little Rock. This book is written by one of the courageous students who braved a racist mob to claim the equality and justice we are all promised in a democracy. The photographs of one student, Elizabeth Eckford, facing the abusive and threatening crowds became iconic, part of history and public memory. What is not as well known is what life was like for the nine students inside the school everyday. Everyday they were threatened, physically attacked, suffered abusive language and attitudes from the white, segregationist students. The author, Melba Patillo Beals, is an extraordinary writer, storyteller and she is blazingly honest. As a way of celebrating July 4th, read this book and give it to every young person over the age of 10 that you know.

"With All Deliberate Speed . . .".......2007-05-15

Melba Joy Pattillo Beals was at the heart of a vortex of history as one of the "Little Rock Nine" who integrated Arkansas' preeminent public school in 1957. In the wake of the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision, "Brown v. Board of Education," schools throughout the United States were ordered to integrate "with all deliberate speed."

Violent opposition to the integration of Central High led to the garrisoning of Little Rock by the 101st Airborne Division, the first (and thus far only) active-engagement use of Federal troops in the South since Reconstruction.

Ms. Beals (now a journalist) has a journalist's eye as she recalls her experiences at Central High that year. Drawing on her memories and on the copious and detailed diaries she kept, Ms. Beals puts us right into her well-shined saddle shoes, and right into the halls of Central.

At first glance, Melba Pattillo would have seemed to be the wrong sort of person to be on the front lines of the Civil Rights Movement. At fifteen, she was a girl given to romantic daydreams, a girl seemingly perfectly content to listen to Buddy Holly on the radio while cuddling with her stuffed animal collection amidst her flouncy white comforter and matching pillows.

But deep inside, Melba Pattillo had a core of steel. Her mother held an advanced degree in Education, and her gentle, stern, and unyielding Grandmother India had an unshakeable faith both in God, and in Melba, a faith which she transmitted almost by osmosis to her granddaughter---"God's warriors don't cry, child."

If other members of Melba's family and community did not share these ideas, ideals, and values, at least they all understood that this remarkable young lady (and her eight fellow classmates) was doing something that needed to be done, something that portended a sea change in the world.

But for all the fine rhetoric, life at Central was a hell of crowded corridors, shadowy stairwells, and constant terror. From day one, avowed segregationists in the school, in the community, and in the government (including Governor Orval Faubus) tried to break the back of the integration by means foul and fouler. Adult members of Little Rock's White Citizens Council educated their charges at Central in the ways and means of torture.

Anyone stunned by the constant reports of current-day "violence in our schools" will be shattered by Ms. Beals' seemingly endless recitation of the horrors inflicted upon the Little Rock Nine in the halls of Central High. Being cursed at, spat upon, and called a "N****r" was nothing much; open threats with weapons, violent beatings and stompings, stabbings, scaldings with near-boiling hot water, dousings with unspeakable liquids, strangulations, attempts at immolation, and acid sprays in the eyes were commonplace. These were not just hurtful acts. They were often life-threatening, and the passivity (or even gleeful acquiescence) of most of the CHS school officials in the face of such ongoing abuse of these children put in their care is enough to enrage the reader.

The lack of direct adult interest in what the Little Rock Nine were going through is paralyzing to consider. Little was done to protect them, even by their supporters. The 101st was pulled out of Little Rock in a deal brokered by Beltway Bandits, and what was actually happening to the Little Rock Nine was abstract to the politicians. The price these nine black teens paid for our freedom is beyond valuation.

And if the constancy of the violence portrayed in the telling of the tale somewhat blunts the reader's emotions after a time, it is harder to feel blunted when Melba Beals talks about the wrenching changes that went on within herself. Her fame (or notoriety among segregationists) meant that her home became a fortress-prison from which she could rarely escape. Drive-by shootings and bomb threats kept most of the lifelong friends she had made among "our people" (as she calls the blacks in her community) far away, and she was not invited to parties and outings. Holidays passed without the usual gaggle of friends and relations. The sad retelling of her unattended Sweet Sixteen Party is a heartbreaking moment in time, and her sorrow still reaches across the years to touch the reader.

But there are the finer moments as well: Every day spent at Central is at the end a day of victory; her meetings with remarkable men such as Thurgood Marshall are treasured moments in her life; her gratitude to the brave men of the 101st Airborne and the task they undertook to uphold the law of the land just so a girl could go to school where she chose, is inspiring; her first few tentative friendships with some white Central High students gives us cause for hope. Melba Pattillo traded her childhood for adulthood too soon, and her innocence for a hard-honed survival instinct by force.

We live in a far different society today, and in part that is due to Melba Beals. We can thank whatever Spirit moves us that she was given the talent to write this incredible memoir. This is an essential read.

Very good book.......2007-03-30

I loved this book. It was very sad to hear about all the hardships that the 9 students had to endure to integrate Central High. I think it made them better people and I feel sorry that they had to go through those things. The description used by Melba Pattillo Beals was excellent and very useful when you were trying to get a feel for how they felt. You almost felt as if you were there with them and were going through the same things. I would definetly recommend this book to other readers. I would avise that the reader be a little bit older so that they can understand the things that the blacks were going through. Other than being a harsh book because of the things that needed to be describe it was an amazing book.

Day Of The Dragon-King (Magic Tree House 14, paper)

Average customer rating:

MY BOY LOVES READING
Day of the dragon kings
Jack & Annie in China
the burning of the books
The Trip to China

Day Of The Dragon-King (Magic Tree House 14, paper)
Mary Pope Osborne
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679890513
Release Date: 1998-04-20

Book Description

Jack and Annie set off to find an original copy of an ancient Chinese myth. Armed only with their magic library cards, they must take on a book-burning emperor. But with the help of a scholar and a silk weaver, they triumph again.

Customer Reviews:

MY BOY LOVES READING.......2007-01-07

My 1st grader hates to put it down, he would rather read Magic Tree House books, than play video games. He even reads them to his class and explains the story for show and tell. In his kindergarten class the teacher would also let him read the Magic Tree House books out loud, not to give her a break, but to promote reading out loud. Great books!

Day of the dragon kings.......2006-11-17

this book Its great because anyone liked cartoon this book would like him

Jack & Annie in China.......2006-04-25

When Jack and Annie found out that they were going to China, they went straight to the treehouse. They met Morgan there, and she told them that they had to save a library in China. The dragon king was going to burn all the books, because he didn't like them. Jack and Annie saw a huge map of the castle where the emporer lived and they used it to help them find the library. In the end, Jack and Annie saved the library and were heroes again.

I liked this book because of the Terra Cotta soldiers (we have one of these at home !), the Chinese hats that Jack and Annie wore, and the dragon kings clothes. And I think I'm a good judge of Chinese things, since I was born in China !

the burning of the books.......2006-02-02

I hate the way the Dragen King wanted to burn all the books in China. But I am glad that Jack and Annie saved one. They escaped eveything.

The Trip to China.......2005-04-13

This story take place on China in the 1970, the boy and the girl were ready to go to China and they go in to get the bamboo book that is on the city, and they find two Chinese people. They take them to the city and they see people selling fish, the boy told them if they can take them to the library to find the bamboo book that has all the secrets of China.
This book is mostly about two kids that go to China to look for the bamboo book that is in the city of China. They went to the library with the secret library card and finally they found the bamboo book.

In my opinion, I think its a very good book because, the trip to China and the Great Wall and the Dragon King's tomb.

Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India

Average customer rating:

Wonderful Mirror of a Childhood spent in Delhi
Enjoyable
For anyone with an interest in India's complex history, culture, and cuisine.
A brilliant and delicious memoir
Delhi reminiscences and recipes

Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India
Madhur Jaffrey
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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An Invitation to Indian Cooking
Persian Girls: A Memoir
Madhur Jaffrey Indian Cooking
Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent
My Life in France

ASIN: 140004295X
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Book Description

Today’s most highly regarded writer on Indian food gives us an enchanting memoir of her childhood in Delhi in an age and a society that has since disappeared.

Madhur (meaning “sweet as honey”) Jaffrey grew up in a large family compound where her grandfather often presided over dinners at which forty or more members of his extended family would savor together the wonderfully flavorful dishes that were forever imprinted on Madhur’s palate.

Climbing mango trees in the orchard, armed with a mixture of salt, pepper, ground chilies, and roasted cumin; picnicking in the Himalayan foothills on meatballs stuffed with raisins and mint and tucked into freshly fried pooris; sampling the heady flavors in the lunch boxes of Muslim friends; sneaking tastes of exotic street fare—these are the food memories Madhur Jaffrey draws on as a way of telling her story. Independent, sensitive, and ever curious, as a young girl she loved uncovering her family’s many-layered history, and she was deeply affected by their personal trials and by the devastating consequences of Partition, which ripped their world apart.

Climbing the Mango Trees is both an enormously appealing account of an unusual childhood and a testament to the power of food to evoke memory. And, at the end, this treasure of a book contains a secret ingredient—more than thirty family recipes recovered from Madhur’s childhood, which she now shares with us.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Mirror of a Childhood spent in Delhi.......2007-08-13

This book brought back wonderful memories of a lovely 6 years spent in India. Her portrait of the lives of the wealthy and privledged of that era were hauntingly familiar. An excellent read.

Enjoyable.......2007-08-09

I know the author by her association with Said Jaffrey, an actor of some repute
in India, and her famous cookery show and books in the same domain.
Apparently, at one time the author was married to Mr. Jaffrey, but has since
divorced and is now re-married to a gentleman in New York and settled in the
same city. I presume she still writes books on Indian cooking. In any case,
the Jaffrey name and the title were enough of a ruse to get me to read the
book. What emerges is a tale of a priviledged childhood in pre-independence
India: her family traces its roots back to the time of emperor Aurangzeb
(the last Mughal ruler of India) in whose court Madhur's ancestors used to
ply their craft as writers. The emperor gifted land to her ancestors in what
would later became New Delhi, enabling Madhur a luxurious childhood by Indian
standards. Her family was well to do: grandfather was a barrister, father
owned mills, the family took trips to Europe and possessed two American cars -- and
this is in pre-independent India, mind you. The book itself is composed of short
chapters, each one detailing some memory of childhood: cousins, siblings, aunts and
uncles, grandparent, summer trips to Simla, train rides, traumas, first love, the
travails of a joint family, etc. A common thread that runs through all the chapters is
the association of food with the memories. Madhur (which means "sweet, honey-like" in
Hindi) draws upon her strength -- food -- to permeate each chapter. The writing
style is informal and colloquial, but enjoyable nonetheless. As an added bonus, the
last portion of the book contain her favorite recipes. (July 2007)

For anyone with an interest in India's complex history, culture, and cuisine........2007-02-06

Any fan of Indian cooking well knows the name of Madhur Jaffrey: in addition to hosting a TV show she's also published numerous cookbooks - and acted in many major motion pictures. Here's something different for the Jaffrey fan: a memoir of how she came to be equated with Indian cuisine in "Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India". Her memoir blends food memories with overall impressions of India's social and political changes, making for a wide-ranging coverage recommended as a pick not just for cooks, but for anyone with an interest in India's complex history, culture, and cuisine.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

A brilliant and delicious memoir.......2007-01-26

I have always loved Madhur Jaffrey's recipes and acting. This memoir, even for those who don't know her, is marvelous. She provides a beautifully-written glimpse of growing up in a large and well-to-do Indian family that mixed Muslim and Hindu traditions in an era that is now past. The description of family foods (and the recipes -- YUM)and the traditions of her family are wonderful. I was terribly sorry when I came to the end of the book, though I was thrilled to find recipes in the back. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Indian food, Indian culture, or history -- and to anyone who just plain enjoys memoirs.

Delhi reminiscences and recipes.......2007-01-09

My family lived in New Delhi in the late 60s and I enjoyed many vacations with them there. Trips to Agra and the hill stations in the north, to Kashmir and Calcutta. Madhur Jaffrey writes of her childhood in an India before and during partition, a way of life in an India and Delhi that has long since gone. The departure of a huge Moslem community after partition, and the subsequent Punjabi influence created a tremendous change in Delhi's society and food. Her account of her childhood in a "joint family" home was enjoyable, as were her stories of a Delhi when it still held a strong flavor of its Moghul beginnings.

Her book is a light and entertaining read, but the gold is in the last chapter, her family's favorite recipes. I have made two of these dishes already and as usual her recipes produce tremendously authentic Indian taste and texture.

Fargo Rock City : A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota

Average customer rating:

Decent, But Glam Rock is Not Metal
chuck klosterman wouldnt know heavy metal if it hit him upside the head
What Would He Write Now?
mr klosterman's narrow mind and bad taste do not warrant book length treatment
You Can't Kill Rock'N'Roll......It's Here To Stay!

Fargo Rock City : A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota
Chuck Klosterman
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time
Consider the Lobster: And Other Essays

ASIN: 0743406567

Book Description

Empirically proving that -- no matter where you are -- kids wanna rock, this is Chuck Klosterman's hilrious memoir of growing up as a shameless metalhead in Wyndmere, North Dakotoa (population: 498). With a voice like Ace Frehley's guitar, Klosterman hacks his way through hair-band history, beginning with that fateful day in 1983 when his older brother brought home Mötley Crüe's Shout at the Devil. The fifth-grade Chuck wasn't quite ready to rock -- his hair was too short and his farm was too quiet -- but he still found a way to bang his nappy little head. Before the journey was over, he would slow-dance to Poison, sleep innocently beneath satanic pentagrams, lust for Lita Ford, and get ridiculously intellectual about Guns N' Roses. C'mon and feel his noize.

Customer Reviews:

Decent, But Glam Rock is Not Metal.......2007-09-18

This book is deceiving. It is NOT about metal, it is about glam rock, or hair metal (Motley Crue, Poison, Def Leppard etc.), which is NOT really metal. It is POP rock.

Having said that, this book is still mildly entertaining. It is a pretty well told story of growing up in a really small town and listening to ROCK, and some metal, and not really fitting in. There are numerous humorous scenarios and it is an easy read.

However, at times Klosterman can get VERY pedantic, especially when discussing his tastes in music. If he doesn't like a band, song, whatever, it automatically sucks, and is open for his harsh criticism. As a HUGE fan of Iron Maiden, it was very hard to sit and read him rip apart one of my favorite bands.

Read for yourself, some will love, some will hate.

chuck klosterman wouldnt know heavy metal if it hit him upside the head.......2007-08-14

this is the most worthless book i have ever read in my life. anyone who gets duped into buying this toilet paper should just give me their money and i will kick them in the nuts. its about the same effect as reading this trash.
chuck klosterman isnt from fargo. chuck klosterman is the reason why metallica skipped fargo on one of their tours. chuck klosterman doesnt represent the metal scene in the fargo area.

What Would He Write Now?.......2007-07-18

I grew up in an Illinois town that sounds a lot like Chuck's -- just a bit bigger, perhaps... And, like Chuck, I had a problem in the 90s admitting I listened to (and loved) heavy metal. In 1997, I went so far as to give away all of my "hair metal" albums to a co-worker. Did I still like the music? Sure, but I thought I would "move on."

Guess what? It didn't take me long to buy all the stuff back. I couldn't deny what I loved.

Chuck's book's main problem is that he still "sits on the fence." By the end of the book, he more or less admits that he likes the music of his formative years, but he still seems to have a problem being true to what he likes. Maybe this is his attempt at humor -- I don't know, as this is the first time I've ever read his stuff. All I know is, if he wants to write a book about heavy metal and what it meant to him, then he shouldn't describe it as "boring," as he does in a few places, and he shouldn't say one thing one place and the complete opposite in another place... that is, without letting it be clear how he truly feels now.

The book came out about six years ago, though, and if he went through the phase of "I can't listen to this crap any more" like I did, then maybe he's finally accepted that the music will belong to him for the rest of his days, and that it's okay to listen to the music of your high school years.

mr klosterman's narrow mind and bad taste do not warrant book length treatment.......2007-03-26

mr klosterman wonders why so much is made of the chapter titled "i get drunk and go to a hockey game:" an essay describing his penchant for alcohol abuse. well, sir; here's the deal: it's the only really fine piece of writing here. otherwise, the glories of having bad taste in music just do not carry a book. and then there's mr klosterman's narrow little mind. a very small place it seems, where ole' chucky loves to dictate how other people (especially people older and more talented than him) should carry on with their lives. this book simply adds up to one big drag. i don't know mr klosterman, never even seen him; but i predict divorce/failed relationships galore for the man. a narrow mind and poor thinking cannot equal success in that department of life. his book was overwhelmingly a waste of my time.

You Can't Kill Rock'N'Roll......It's Here To Stay!.......2007-01-10

I absolutely love this book. As a child of the 80's and particularly 80's metal this book was a real trip down memory lane. His personal stories are wonderfully written and his analysis of the genre is pretty much right on. The only problem I have with the book is that he tries too hard to defend 80's metal. I feel no need to do so because I simply don't care if other people liked it or not. I did and so did a lot of my friends. In fact I still love to crank the "80's metal" playlist on my iPod.

To me the 80's is the by far the greatest musical decade precisely because most of the music had no deep meaning. It was about having fun and enjoying life(although not by the same moral code I followed). The 90's came along and all of a sudden everyone is depressed and they're trying to tell me why I should be also. Sorry, there are too many reasons NOT to be depressed, especially in this country.

This book is funny, witty and a fantastic read, even if you're not a fan of 80's metal. I look forward to checking out some of his other titles.

Average customer rating:

Wait till Next Year
Really Good Read!
A great book on taking your daughter to the game!
A Fan's Notes
Something to Touch the Heart

Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Team of Rivals
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II
Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream
Handbook For Today's Catholic Teen
The Shakespeare Stealer

ASIN: 0684824892

Book Description

Wait Till Next Yearis the story of a young girl growing up in the suburbs of New York in the 1950s, when owning a single-family home on a tree-lined street meant the realization of dreams, when everyone knew everyone else on the block, and the children gathered in the streets to play from sunup to sundown. The neighborhood was equally divided among Dodger, Giant, and Yankee fans, and the corner stores were the scenes of fierce and affectionate rivalries.

We meet the people who influenced Goodwin's early life: her father, who emerged from a traumatic childhood without a trace of self-pity or rancor and who taught his daughter early on that she should say whatever she thought and should bring her voice into any conversation at any time; her mother, whose heart problems left her with the arteries of a seventy-year-old when she was only in her thirties and whose love of books allowed her to break the boundaries of the narrow world to which she was confined by her chronic illness; her two older sisters; her friends on the block; the local storekeepers; her school friends and teachers.

This is also the story of a girlhood in which the great religious festivals of the Catholic church and the seasonal imperatives of baseball combined to produce a passionate love of history, ceremony, and ritual. It is the story of growing up in what seemed on the surface a more innocent era until one recalls the terror of polio, the paranoia of McCarthyism reflected even in the children's games, the obsession with A-bomb drills in school, and the ugly face of racial prejudice. It was a time whose relative tranquillity contained the seeds of the turbulent decade of the sixties.

Customer Reviews:

Wait till Next Year.......2007-07-13

Most interesting for me since I am a "wait till next year" Red Sox fan. She's an excellent writer and commentator and this lives up to her standard.

Really Good Read!.......2007-06-27

Ms. Goodwin knows how to tell a good story. In addition to telling us about her childhood in a New York City suburb in the 1950s, she also talks about the changes America was going through in this time period: economic development and the impact on the family, the beginnings of the civil rights movement, the "end" of baseball as the American pasttime. The book is well-written and very enjoyable.

A great book on taking your daughter to the game!.......2007-04-27

Great book. It inspires me to take my two little girls to games. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

A Fan's Notes.......2007-04-10

Goodwin grew up in New York in the 40's, and this memoir tracks her Brooklyn Dodgers through their World Series win in 1956.

Something to Touch the Heart.......2007-03-27

So many people recommended Doris Kearns Goodwin's charming memoir, "Wait Till Next Year," that I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

Experiencing her youth in the forties and fifties as I and many of my reading friends did, Goodwin struck chords that reverberated movingly with us. Though the story takes place in Rockville Centre, New York, a suburb just a train ride away from Brooklyn, her pictures of herself and her friends in front yards and back yards, her schools and churches, drug store and neighborhood could have been taken in any American suburb of those distant days.

These memories make up a different kind of "fan's notes," as she tracks the ups and downs and near misses of her beloved Brooklyn Dodgers, the team she followed faithfully as a six-year-old in 1949, until "dem bums" finally delivered a World Series championship in 1956. Her team, with Gil Hodges and Roy Campanella, and even their radio announcer, Vin Scully, moved to Los Angeles in 1958 and became my wife's favorite team. My "Whiz Kids," the Philadelphia Phillies of the fifties, with Robin Roberts and Ritchie Ashburn and Eddie Waitkus received mention and reminded my wife and me of the days when you could count on the same players returning loyally to play year after year for the same team.

In addition to the thread of baseball running through the book, Goodwin touches on national events that characterized the times for anyone who lived through them: the death of FDR, the Korean War, the Rosenberg spy case, McCarthyism, and forced school integration in Little Rock. She remembers Elvis and James Dean and covers faithfully the rituals of growing up in the Catholic Church. There is something here to touch the heart of anyone who grew up in those naive times of the 1940s and 1950s.

Average customer rating:

A Jerusalem childhood . . .
Warm and passionate
Israel's history, a very significant sample!
Lyrical memories
Brilliant piece of storytelling but, alas, not a memoir

A Tale of Love and Darkness
Amos Oz
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life
Rashi's Daughters, Book I: Joheved (Rashi's Daughters)
A Woman in Jerusalem
My Michael
Suite Francaise

ASIN: 015603252X

Book Description

Tragic, comic, and utterly honest, this bestselling and critically acclaimed new work by "one of Israel's most gifted and prolific authors" (Helen Epstein, The Forward) is at once a family saga and a magical self-portrait of a writer who witnessed the birth of a nation and lived through its turbulent history.

It is the story of a boy growing up in the war-torn Jerusalem of the forties and fifties, in a small apartment crowded with books in twelve languages and relatives speaking nearly as many. The story of an adolescent whose life has been changed forever by his mother's suicide when he was twelve years old. The story of a man who leaves the constraints of his family and its community of dreamers, scholars, and failed businessmen to join a kibbutz, change his name, marry, have children. The story of a writer who becomes an active participant in the political life of his nation.

Customer Reviews:

A Jerusalem childhood . . ........2007-07-23

This 500+ page memoir by Israeli novelist Amos Oz is an absorbing "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." The first 200 pages are about his mother's and fathers' families, Russian-speaking emigrants to Israel in the 1930s from Eastern Europe. An only child, he devotes much of the rest of the book to his parents and the years until his mother's death when he was still a teenager. It is a richly detailed book peopled with a Dickensian cast of characters. He allows readers to experience a total immersion in the daily life of a low-income Jerusalem neighborhood during the years leading up to and following the creation of Israel in 1948. It is a troubling story, capturing on the one hand the intensely felt emotions of being young, self-aware, and sensitive, while portraying also the humiliations and the least flattering of the author's personality and character, all played against the difficulties of his parents' lives and what seems to have been a disintegrating marriage.

Meanwhile, with its view of anti-semitic nationalism in Europe, readers can begin to understand something of the motivations driving zionist movements and the waves of Jewish settlement in Palestine before and after WWII. As Oz records the political discussions and obsessions of the friends of his parents, it's easier to understand the insularity and paranoia that led to the need for a homeland with defended borders and the eventual efforts to achieve military solutions to conflict with Palestinians and Arab neighbors. Though recognized today as a peace activist, Oz provides only hints of his evolution to a broader view, describing only his complete break with his past by leaving home for a kibbutz at the age of 15. As a companion memoir, readers will also be interested in "Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life," by Sari Nusseibeh.

Warm and passionate.......2007-07-09

This is a gem of a book. The autobiography of Israel's most popular author, this story is full of warmth, passion and heartache. It is the story of his childhood in Israel during the time of statehood, while including the childhoods of his parents in Eastern Europe just before World War II.
I highly recommend this book.

Israel's history, a very significant sample!.......2006-11-07

In this book, Amos Oz tells the story of his family, the convergence of several different countries and cultures into one man.

He describes precisely the mentality of the immigrants to Israel, the way the Arab/Jewish relationship changed with the creation of the State of Israel, and the formation of the Israeli people.

The book is hypnotic, it is hard to read it slowly, and dozens of stories are interlinked leaving no sewing signs. He narrates Israeli history and personal life as one.

The title is very accurate in representing the story. His life was surrounded by strong and controversial figures, which make a rich camp for enlightening insights by the author.

Lyrical memories.......2006-09-19

A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS is a deeply poignant, lyrical tapestry of memories that will be much loved by admirers of Oz's work. The prose is finely crafted, as we'd expect from a writer of Oz's stature. This book is not a memoir, as such--its narrative is not linear, but waxes and wanes through various themes. Arching over the narrative is the shadow of Oz's loss of his mother. My one reservation about the book is that I feel Oz withholds from us--it's never really adequately explained why he changed his name to Oz or what train of thoughts led him to do this. Was he attempting to erase the trauma of his profound loss? Regardless, this work will linger with you after you finish its final pages.

Brilliant piece of storytelling but, alas, not a memoir.......2006-05-26

Amos Oz likes to say "the first thing you should know about [his] autobiography is that it's not an autobiography. It's an imposition forced on [him] by the Library of Congress." An interesting confession considering "A Tale" was published under the genre "memoir" and went on to reap much acclaim - and quite a bit of money -- as a memoir, including The Koret Jewish Book Award for Autobiography. Asked by befuddled interviewers to clarify himself, Mr. Oz will say only that having asked the dead into his home, "they told him the stories he never heard". This is a writerly response, with much truth and sense, but it doesn't excuse Mr. Oz for allowing his publisher to tout the work as a memoir or to blame the Library of Congress. Actually, a good old-fashioned name already exists: a semi-biographical novel. Or, if that's not hip enough, call it a post-modernist novel, then, a nod and a wink to the reader to figure out what is real and what isn't. As it stands,the many fans of Mr. Oz ---until now I've considered myself one --- believe they're hearing true stories, not stories conjured by the artist if he listens hard. This year we've been brutal on American writers who've played on the popular taste for truth; we've held them to standards and shouted "foul" when they haven't lived up to them. It saddens me that a great fiction writer like Mr. Oz hasn't held himself to a higher standard. "Oz" in Hebrew, we're reminded again and again, means "strength." As a "moral conscience of the modern world", as we're also reminded
again and again, Mr. Oz demands "strength" from Israelis and Palestinians alike. And yet he wants us to accept with a titter of laughter that he was somehow coerced into calling his "Tale" a memoir. Shame on him. He should know better --- and something tells me he does.

Average customer rating:

Incredibly inspiring
The bankruptcy of the Chinese Communist system.
A very entertaining memoir
Mountain Of Life
Interesting book

Colors of the Mountain
Da Chen
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Brothers: A Novel
China's Son: Growing Up in the Cultural Revolution
Wandering Warrior
Son of the Revolution
Red Scarf Girl (rpkg): A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution

ASIN: 0385720602
Release Date: 2001-01-16

Amazon.com

Now a writer living in New York, Da Chen describes his youth in mainland China with engaging humor and affecting warmth. It's often a harrowing tale: born in 1962, Chen was the grandson of a landlord, which rendered his entire family pariahs during the Cultural Revolution. And though initially an excellent student, he was ostracized in school and told he could never attend college. He responded by making friends with a group of young thugs who drank, smoked, and gambled but were kind to him. After Mao died in 1976, the budding juvenile delinquent discovered that higher education might be available to him after all. Chen worked hard to make up for years of neglected studies, and his memoir closes with a jubilant scene as he and his brother Jin are both accepted into college; for his suffering family, "thirty years of humiliation had suddenly come to an end." Chen's lucid yet emotional prose unsparingly portrays a topsy-turvy society where unfairness reigns and the rules are arbitrarily changed without warning, but his zest for life and sharp eye for character make even the most awful moments grimly funny. This is no saga of victimization, but a thrilling account of an ordeal that fosters spiritual growth. Readers will cheer Chen's triumph over daunting odds. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

Colors of the Mountain is a classic story of triumph over adversity, a memoir of a boyhood full of spunk, mischief, and love, and a welcome introduction to an amazing young writer.

Da Chen was born in 1962, in the Year of Great Starvation. Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution engulfed millions of Chinese citizens, and the Red Guard enforced Mao's brutal communist regime. Chen’s family belonged to the despised landlord class, and his father and grandfather were routinely beaten and sent to labor camps, the family of eight left without a breadwinner. Despite this background of poverty and danger, and Da Chen grows up to be resilient, tough, and funny, learning how to defend himself and how to work toward his future. By the final pages, when his says his last goodbyes to his father and boards the bus to Beijing to attend college, Da Chen has become a hopeful man astonishing in his resilience and cheerful strength.

Download Description

"I was born in southern China in 1962, in the tiny town of Yellow Stone. They called it the Year of Great Starvation." So begins Da Chen's enthralling memoir of life in the midst of the Cultural Revolution. The youngest of five children born to educated parents of the "landlord" class who have been stripped of their wealth and possessions, Chen faces a life of poverty, shame, and hunger. He and his family are harassed by their neighbors. Chen's older siblings are denied an education, and when Chen does attend school, his teacher pressures him to denounce his parents as "counter-revolutionaries." Ostracized, Chen finds acceptance in a group of young toughs, from whom he learns the joys of smoking and ignoring his studies. It is only by dint of his strength of character, his nurturing family, and his towering intellect that Chen is able to overcome the obstacles that confront him to finally achieve success and be praised by the same people who once persecuted him.

"Colors of The Mountain" is full of unforgettable scenes of rural Chinese life, as Chen recalls feasting on oysters and fried peanuts on New Year's Day, studying fifteen hours a day for ten months to prepare for the arduous college-entry exams, or praying before a hidden Buddha statue since Communism has outlawed religion. By turns funny, moving, and inspiring, this memoir has a universal appeal and a deep humanity.

Customer Reviews:

Incredibly inspiring.......2007-10-07

I read a lot of memoirs precisely for what I received from this book, inspiration. The sentence that galvanized me was this one, "I had been studying an average of fifteen hours a day for the last ten months."

Other reviewers have explained Chen's story, so I won't reiterate it. But I will say that when I think about what this man accomplished in pursuit of his dream, I realize once again how easy it is to excuse our failures as a matter of fate or luck.

Da Chen teaches us otherwise.

The bankruptcy of the Chinese Communist system........2007-02-10

One wonders why the communist system was swept into the dustbin of history. Da Chen tells you why. Intellectuals were purged in Mao's society and people learned very little. In fact, school was not even required of everyone. Only after Mao joined Lenin in a masoleum did intelligence and ability matter much.
Da Chen relates his early life story about his early Chinese childhood in the rural south of China. He was discriminated against because he was a son of a former landlord. Peasants lorded it over him and his family. Da Chen relates his experiences of the Cultural Revolution and how the school system was devastated by the purges and reeducation.
Da Chen escaped this poverty by using his intelligence to shine in the reform education system after Mao's death. He received a state education in English and went on to emigrate to New York. A nice rages to riches story and the tyranny of the Communist system.

A very entertaining memoir.......2006-09-22

Chen Da's bestselling COLORS OF THE MOUNTAIN is one of the more entertaining memoirs I've run across in recent years.

In this volume, Chen recounts his life, growing up amid the chaos of the Cultural Revolution, through his acceptance into college. In the writing of autobiography, certain liberties are par for the course (memory is never impeccable), but I was overall rather impressed with Chen's determination, and his detailed, direct way of attempting to illuminate the day-to-day texture of life in an out-of-the-way part of China.

Chen's approach is gentle - both accessible to Western audiences, and attentive in its' detailed depiction of his family's life, accomplishments, and the troubles those accomplishments brought (during the Cultural Revolution years); the occasionally mentioned poems of his grandfather were one of Chen's major motivators, and their eloquence was the model this entire memoir was constructed upon.

Perhaps not the most literary, or the most historically rigid autobiography, but definitely one of the warmest.

-David Alston

Mountain Of Life.......2006-04-14

Da Chen's rendition of memories etched within his heart is very descriptive. I especially like this passage:

"...The thoughts tortured me and I squirmed in shame and humiliation, but I had to face reality. The teacher could throw me out with a sneer on his face. That was fine, I had thick skin. A poor child couldn't afford to have thin skin. Only rich boys and well-to-do girls with cute little butterflies in their hair could afford to have thin skin"

For a child of nine, to have such vivid memory of a childhood, is startling. The innocence and words crafted makes Colors of the Mountain, a reading worth investing time in. Reading between the words give you an insight to how deep Da Chen's spiritual values are.

An amazing, funny and innocent book!

Interesting book.......2006-02-28

I enjoyed reading the book. I praise the author for his hard work and his motivation to improve himself and his life. I do agree with another reader that the author very often patted himself on the back, which I have concluded that it's a weakness of a person who had a difficult life.
Although the author often patted himself on the back, but terms he used to describe feelings, places and situations were touching and close to heart. Over all, it's a good book to read and to learn what Chinese people had to do to survive the Mao's time.

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