The author hides nothing -- is candid, painfully honest ...
349726
The author hides nothing -- is candid, painfully honest, and deeply introspective.  Anyone who feels alone in their agony of divorce would benefit from reading this heartfelt book.
2368557
I think the best part of this book is the author's palpable honesty.  Her stories about growing up make it possible for the reader to remember their own adolescence and the conflicting emotions that swirled around in that time of their own lives. That she is able to do so using humor makes it that much better.  Even when recalling events in her life which were probably painful at the time, the author presents those events in a light-hearted way, without making light of them.  Howley's upbringing and mine were vastly different, but we were both teenage girls - with all the angst and mortification that goes with that - at about the same time and her stories really resonated with me.
3923420
Not the tried and true heartwarming tale of a young woman and her dog, this book succinctly illustrates the real-world difficulty and weighty responsibility of sharing life with a less than perfect dog. The work also captures youthful impetuousness and its inevitable consequences. It also conveys the depth of a hard forged relationship between human and canine, along with the comfort it can provide. No excuses or explanations, the author simply shares her story. The book is unblinkingly honest.

The life lessons contained in this memoir are revealed largely through actions necessitated by being the young guardian of a badly behaved dog. After being raised by a less than present mother the author does not have a solid life blueprint to follow when it comes to caregiving.

But, she does not gloss over or round-off the corners to make her story more palatable. Instead, she quietly yet precisely presents the method by which we humans, sometimes painfully, learn and grow through a series of mistakes and missteps. As I read I sometimes cringed but hoped she would find her way through, but part of the way through the book I stopped worrying.

The work is somewhat dark but compelling reading and valuable if for no other reason than this story may result in fewer dogs finding their way into unstable situations through casual acquisition. I found the artwork engaging and the perfect accompaniment for the story. If an issue, there is a small amount of obscenity. Perhaps better suited for an older teen, but like all books it is best to choose based on the individual recipient.
4520660
William Styron, a Pulitzer-Prize winning author, gives a personal tour of his dark night of the soul. The writer suddenly found himself beset by depression during the fall of 1985 after coincidently being unable to drink alcohol due to its nauseous aftereffects. "Darkness Visible" is a memoir that lucidly tracks the descent, journey and healing of the pain "most closely connected to drowning or suffocation - but even these images are off the mark." So Styron takes a stab at hitting the bull's-eye, and he does so with quick precision and an economy of words that poets will appreciate

Styron does not lament or proselytize about his woes, but instead states the facts as if he was a reporter noting the vagaries of the illness. At one point he matter-of-factly explains how it becomes easy to contemplate suicide. "What I had begun to discover is that, mysteriously and in ways that are totally remote from normal experience, the gray drizzle of horrors induced by depression takes on the quality of physical pain. But it is not as immediately identifiable pain, like that of a broken limb. It may be more accurate to say that despair, owing to some evil trick played upon the sick brain by the inhabiting psyche, comes to resemble the diabolical discomfort of being imprisoned in a fiercely overheated room. And because no breeze stirs this caldron, because there is no escape from this smothering confinement, it is entirely natural that the victim begins to think ceaselessly of oblivion."

Styron's simple, compelling reminisce about a time that seemed forever dark, is told in a voice that screams with quietness from the cave of depression. "Visible Darkness" resembles a late-night confession by a stranger at a bar, imploring us to listen because Styron's telling is an unburdening and because gems of truth are laid out one by one.

Bohdan Kot
1471768
(Full disclosure: Mr. Felperin mentions me in non-glowing terms--easy to accept 45 years later.  His comments on my mother's cooking...now, that's another story!)  This is a painful book, ending with a splendid two chapter meditation on coming apart and dying...if you have not given up before then in the face of a relentless rehearsing, even in these fine chapters, of his obsession with not getting tenure at Yale.  This Primal Wound was, it appears, so deep and untreatable that it haunted every day of Felperin's impressive and lustrous career.  To imitate his style (on every page): who could have imagined the old Yale had so much poison in him.  Felperin is an important figure; if only he could have passed on to pastures new outside New Haven and enjoyed his life.  But instead the Primal Wound seems to have always hurt him, sometimes to have paralyzed him.  That is very sad, and narrows the relevance of the final chapters to us more ordinary folk.  That the Wound seemed to require Mr. Felperin's looking down on every later colleague he had and every university he taught at (an impressive list to most eyes) is worse than sad--it's just a damned waste.  The profession, like the world, did indeed change during his years in academia, and for the worse.  But there is always work to be done with what remains (maybe "what remains" is all we ever have--as Felperin himself might say).  The pain that drove Felperin out of the profession was both his and its loss.  I hope writing this memoir did its therapeutic work for Felperin, but the endless reliving, anger and all, of an event decades past narrows the relevance of his analysis of changes in the reading and teaching of literature that might have been very clarifying.  Like his second wife, you may finally just want out from his fantasies of pain and revenge.
2640587
Kaleesha Williams has delivered a painfully honest, remarkably self-aware portrait of the her conversion from committed Christian to atheist. She does this mostly by sharing experts of journal entries. The result is less a road-map to anyone else's journey than an incredibly open exploration of her own.

If you are looking for a highly organized refutation of current religion, this is probably not the book for you, but then there are many such books already in print. If, instead, you want to share the emotional lows and highs, the impact on family and friends, that really happened to one deeply believing Christian as she learned more and more about the contradictions and failings of the _Bible_ and _Tenakh_, then I highly recommend her book.

Written originally for Goodreads.com, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1154067902
3180561
I am amazed at the clarity in which the author writes, well, it is clear to me because he is blatantly honest....and honesty is what we need....hell, after reading this book - I realize more than ever - it's what we deserve!!
3889577
I have just finished reading Gottschalk's memoir. Her powers of observation and commitment to tell the truth made me greatly admire her honesty. I've written much fiction, but in fiction, you base what you write on what you know, what's happened to you, etc., but always with the cloak of fiction, which keeps people wondering what's true. Gottschalk revealed her painful truths, and it was exciting to read them and satisfying to learn how she handled the unexpected miseries sent her way and how she powerfully and successfully processed the disintegration of what she then held dear. I have been through this agony twice (in much less exotic circumstances), and it's the most painful thing I can imagine, short of the death of a child. Yet I never came through the other side with the strength and learned life lessons that Gottschalk showed. Kudos to Mary Gottschalk.
2657230
This is a shocking memoir in that the author, Deborah Feldman, spares no detail of her life, including the most intimate parts. She was born to a set of parents beset by mental illness, then sent to live with uncaring relatives, and eventually accepted an arranged marriage. As a daughter of a family with huge problems, how did Deborah form a secret life that was unintegrated into the Hasidic Jewish life she lived? It's almost a puzzle, until you realize that unlike her fellow students in school, she read books. These windows on the world, books such as "Little Women" and "The Chosen" transported her from a world that few of us understand and have been a part of.

Throughout the book, there is a theme of duality-her love for her grandparents, her dislike of her surroundings, her attraction to her husband, her repulsion from his callous treatment of her, her love of Judaism, her wish to leave the orthodox enclosed world. The fact that the author does not gloss over the most painful parts makes this a worthy memoir, the kind of writing that must hurt to write but makes for the best kind of book in this genre.

Those who are members of the Orthodox sects will not appreciate the light cast by the author on such a life. It is not complimentary, but not every member of a religious group has the same experience; for the author, her medical situation as well as psychological made her uncomfortable and almost an outsider. The more she tried to fit in, the more she became estranged. For others in the Orthodox faith, this memoir will seem incomprehensible and even untrue and intending to cast aspersions. However, it is true as pertains to the experiences of the author and that must be respected. Trying to suppress it makes it no less true and no less real. Not every member of a religious group experiences the same joy or fulfillment. We are, after all, individuals. The author takes care to write some of the most personal and intimate details, which is a painful exercise and one that tells the reader that this is how it was--for her.

This is an interesting look into a closed society and into the life of a woman who could not stay in her assigned role. Deborah says in the opening of the book--she always wanted to live her live to the fullest. Well worth a read.
1642764
I read this book based on the recommendation of Glennon Doyle Melton, author of "Carry On, Warriors".  I work with cancer patients, and thought I was familiar with how to respond to the loss of someone's loved one.  But NOTHING prepares you for what Anna Whiston-Donaldson has shared with us in her book, and she's done us a great service by bringing her vulnerable and honest experience to the light of day.  She is authentic and brutally honest in ways that will inform my interactions (and they NEED to happen) with those in the black hole after losing a child.  It took great courage to re-live her path of loss, and I hope to bring my bravest self to sit with those who are hanging on by the skin of their teeth as they navigate the unthinkable.  Anna (and Glennon) share the ways their faith has been challenged and changed, and I'm floored by their candidness.  What a rare glimpse into the heart of uncertainty and doubt...with the encouragement that there is absolutely SOMETHING/SOMEONE out there waiting to hold us, catch us, when the rug has been pulled out from under us.
1367359
The author exposes her life experiences in a real and raw way that everyone can relate to, understand and empathize with.
4508780
In this memoir, author Shuleem Deen, raised as a member of the Skverers ( a very tight knit community of Hasidic Jews), details his gradual transition from observant Jew to his rejection by the community, labeled a "heretic among believers."  In telling his story, Deen  holds little back and doesn't flinch from criticizing himself at times. He even admits about the moments when he lied in order to appear observant - rather than be truthful about the fact that he no longer agreed with the strict rules of his Hassidic sect.

Rarely have I read a memoir of this sort where the author seems to have been so  painfully honest - from  his first whispers of doubt to larger questions about his faith...and the eventual actions which cast him from his community, leaving him estranged from his wife and children. There were the questions he asked: "Does God exist?...is my faith truer than someone else's?" . Questions like those would  eventually cause him to believe that "it was time to go" and that he no longer had a place with the other Hasidim.

 Long before that, he had already started breaking some of the rules. He brought home a radio, watched movies, even bought a television. None of that was permitted.

Although being cast out as a heretic  might seem like a resolution of sorts, Deen didn't truly anticipate the pain this would cause him or the sense of loss when he left a familiar environment for a secular world he knew little about. He didn't understand how his relationship with his children would be so deeply impacted.

There were times when reading this book that I wished I had a glimpse of his wife's take on things, particularly after reading about how Deen lied about his wife's state of mind in order to get permission to use birth control (something not permitted except in extreme circumstances). He also urged her to watch television with him or to use a computer even though she wasn't comfortable with participating in these forbidden activities. How would she describe those moments?

But ultimately a memoir is one person's perspective. Deen's writing is superb and vivid and his insights are worth pondering - about what it takes to maintain faith and how one moves away from religious traditions that have been in place since birth. It all makes for a fascinating read.
2171472
An honest and candid telling of a woman whose life was literally unimaginable for most of us. Child entertainers and children of entertainers often have a difficult life, especially when they eventually adopt the same destructive habits as their parents. I'm not sure whether Mackenzie wrote this herself or had help with a ghostwriter, but either way, it's a compelling story without a trace of self pity. She deeply regrets the things she had no control over, not for how they affected her but for how they affected people she cares about, and now wants only to protect the life she has worked so hard to have and keep the people she loves from ever having to experience what she went through. She tells her story with dignity and grace.
2574387
Immaculee takes great care to present her recollection of her story to the most accurate degree. I greatly appreciated this honesty because in cases of grave misfortune, nothing is gained by sugar-coating the truth of the matter. In Rwanda, families were torn apart, children were chopped to pieces, and friends turned against their closest non-blood family members. Immaculee faced a horrific time as her home was destroyed and her family murdered in cold blood. Nothing about this historical occurrence is fiction and shouldn't be treated as such. Some may say that this blunt presentation of the facts is gruesome or inappropriate but I believe presenting it any other way is just an injustice to those individuals who lost their lives in the Rwandan Genocide. Everybody needs to be aware of the horrific acts occurring around the world because it is impossible to live in a disconnected timeline; everything is connected and that fact cannot be ignored.

Beyond the interesting nature of a first-hand, factual delivery of a situation that is little known by the general population, this book is beneficial to read because it presents an alternate outcome for those people so deeply angered by injustice. Immaculee probably wouldn't have been thought ill of if she took revenge upon the people who killed her family. Still, I believe so much more is thought of her because of her ability to move past that and enter a state of forgiveness that many people may have forgotten is an option. Her spirituality, or just her strength, can be applied to countless situations and I believe her method of forgiveness would be very useful to dispel the anger that seems to permeate the air of society today.
1959149
Coming Through The Fog is a triumphant memoir of Tami Goldstein's personal journey as a parent whose daughter was eventually diagnosed with High-Functioning Austism, Asperger's Syndrome. Along with Heather, her daughter, Tami must take on a slow-moving medical institution with various diagnoses to weed out questionable "professional" opinions and useless medications.

"During these ten minutes, she didn't ask me a single question. She didn't look at or ask Heather a single question. This woman told me that I was a bad mother who was using Heather like a specimen and that she didn't have AS... I asked her if she had read the medical records which I had delivered from the Waisman Center. She informed me that she didn't have to read them... I received a letter from the Therapist/Social Worker terminating therapy 'due to the medical complexity of the case'."

This book is a glimpse at a deeply tangled and nightmarish process. Heather's education was also an uphill battle. Not being diagnosed properly, and having had very little supplemental data and progress, the school system was apt to grade Heather on a contradiction of information. Eventually, after being diagnosed properly and even given the proper paperwork and diagnosis, the administration refused to acknowledge Heather's issues; instead, opting to find loopholes in a medical professional's usage of certain terminology.

There is a sense of frantic scrambling as Tami and her husband try to find a way to get navigate their way through an incredibly daunting learning curve.

Tami Goldstein's writing is straight-forward and informative.

Read full review here:
bookendchronicles DOT blogspot DOT com
949170
I'm not saying Brock is a better writer than Conason or Lyons, but he really captures an entire era from Bork on, not just the Clinton facet. It's also a very personal and revealing, a memoir really, of his fall and re-birth. The one empty criticism so far on this thread is the oft-repeated Limbaugh talking point, if he was lying then why would you believe him now? It is impossible to read this book, which I'm sure that critic did not do (he says half, I say he's lying), and conclude anything but that Brock is totally honest  in the baring of his soul.  It reads like a man at total peace with himself.
This book will reverberate far longer than the...pieces his old associates have written over the last dozen years without any fact at all.  This book is loaded with facts, dates, places, all the rest, in fact I now know where Joe Conason got some of his leads. As I read recently, don't walk, but run to buy this book. I read it rapid mode in one afternoon, I'll go back through slower once my heart slows down.
I sincerely hope this helps jumpstart the dismantling of the unbridled lies that shore up the current administration.
4424852
A memoir that's as honest as it is engrossing. The author does a fantastic job of making his own spiritual challenges relatable to the reader and really describes the spiritual crisis of the millennial generation. His honesty and vulnerability in describing his spiritual journey makes for page turning reading, but also shows how the Truth of the Catholic faith seeps into the heart and mind. Recommended to anyone!