and this memoir is a fine but boring recollection of a privileged WASP woman's year ...
352883
I find prison life fascinating, and this memoir is a fine but boring recollection of a privileged WASP woman's year as an inmate. Guards are dumbstruck as to how a nice girl like her could end up in prison, inmates who are serving ten times her own sentence reassure her, she gets nice birthday presents from her cellmates, she has a fianc&eacute; and their own house waiting for her when she gets out; her troubles inside seem much, much less significant than those of other prisoners. You get glimpses of other peoples personal stories that seem much more compelling than the authors, but at the end of the day the book is as often slow and repetitive (not unlike prison life itself) as it is interesting.

As anyone who has watched the show can probably guess, the book is mostly the basis of the first season (and the beginning of the second). The subsequent seasons have, for the most part, original storylines that are wholly fictitious. There are, however, some elements from the books even in season three, such as Martha Stewarts incarceration, which surprised me.

The story does a fine job portraying the prisoners as human, and documenting both the mundane and somewhat exciting things that occur behind the walls  never nearly as exciting as the show based on this book, however. Several characters are recognizable in their TV series counterparts, and the basic backdrop is the same, but this is not a drama. At times it is a good protest against the US justice system, which the author now works to reform, which is where she best uses the more intriguing stories of her fellow inmates  mostly because her own stint in prison didn't seem too bad.
3500570
I had a hard time getting past the privilege that is the dominant feature of this author's perspective.  She is who she is, and I can't fault her for that, but I actually felt guilty that the author is making money  not only from this book, but also from the rights from the Netflix series  when she clearly committed the drug crime for which she was convicted.  While other prisoners in her account are doomed to lifelong misery, the author gets regular mail, visits, money, competent legal representation, etc.  She talks about how great her body looks due to the exercise.  The big fight she has narrowly avoids in prison is because she's picking out the spinach leaves from the bowl on the salad bar.  I mean, really?  I can just imagine the 1% housewives sitting around at book club talking about how awful it would be to be surrounded by so many undesirables!  My biggest problem was that I expected this book to be clever and funny like the TV series, and it's not.  It's just a straight-forward accounting of how hard it is for a privileged white girl to stop her life and pay for a crime she committed.  Not the worst memoir I've ever read, but didn't leave me feeling wiser or inspired.
2577532
From a historical point of view, this is a first-hand account of the methods of pediatrician Janusz Korczak, of a Jew's life in Warsaw before and during the war, and of emigration to Israel. From a literary point of view, it's boring and trivial. Belfer fails to keep the reader's attention.
3319161
I wanted to like this memoir and read it twice, the second time through more slowly and carefully than the first time. This is Gail Caldwell's book. Even though it is ostensibly about a best friend, years younger than she, and also a writer. Caroline Knapp had written for the Boston Phoenix and had books out about overcoming a drinking addiction; and one about dogs. To her credit, Caldwell is frank about her relationship with Caroline--she describes herself as being older and a more seasoned writer: she wants and expects Caroline to acknowledge that. After all, she had won the Pulitzer for criticism in 2001. She has to be better. In fact, the competition between the two which Caldwell talks about seems to be weighed in her favor. The book is uneven and reels back and forth between the friendship, Caldwell's own drinking problems and her relationship with her own dog, Clementine. Was it her editors who wanted to ensure that she include these parts in order to balance out the books written earlier by Caroline? Or was it due to the competition Caldwell felt towards Knapp that makes her get HER drinking and dog stories included in this book, although it is ostensibly supposed to be about the friendship with and loss of Caroline. I found that there's less about Caroline and what happens to her than I would have liked to know about--more description of the days leading up to her death; about the relationship with a man called only by his last name, Morelli, whom Knapp marries once she learns she is dying. Caroline's twin sister, Becca, is only mentioned a couple of times, as is her famous psychoanalytic father. Why aren't THEY more the central figures in this story? Caldwell seems to pride herself on nit-picky things that she knew about Caroline that others did not (such as her liking tapes of "Survivor.") The relationship between Gail and Caroline is also revealed when Caroline learns of her fatal diagnosis and asks Gail, "Are you mad at me?"

Gail is proud of the fact that Knapp leaves her precious scull to her, although Morelli asks for the oars when they move it from Caroline's boathouse after her death. She also can't keep herself from emphasizing a second time in the book that the loss of the scull seat which Caroline was annoyed with Caldwell about was an "accident," not being content to leave it alone from the first description of the event. These incidents highlight what seem to be Gail's inability to let things go, a desire to be right all the time, and to have known Caroline better than anyone else.

Now, I'm going to read Caroline Knapp's books. And to see what Caldwell might be comparing herself to. In one touching scene, Caldwell describes herself to her therapist, asking if her personality is "too much." I thus hesitate to suggest that in this memoir, there's "too much" of Caldwell and not enough of Knapp, her family, and her husband. What, I wonder, does Caroline's family  think about this story about one woman's grief, louder and more demanding than any other?
1518132
I don't doubt that Lady Pamela Mountbatten had a fascinating childhood, girlhood and young womanhood.  Yet, you'd never know it by reading her book.  It was boring beyond belief, more of a glorified list than a memoir.  I abandoned it about half way through.
79498
The previous reviewer seems to have been reviewing a different book than the one I read.

Call Me Mistress: Memoirs of a Phone Sex Performer by Natalie Rhys is a memoir of an American woman who is a data processor by day and a phone sex operator by night.  Her book was a moderately interesting description of her experiences in phone sex, describing especially well the phone sex world of 1993, when phone sex was a mere 15 year-old business.

Rhys's writing style left much to be desired.  Her theories are unsupported by evidence yet presented as fact.  The categorization of call-types she received was unclear and poorly presented.

As a phone sex performer myself, however, I was disturbed by many of the attitudes Rhys expresses.  It was Rhys's lack of respect for her clients that most bothered me, though this unfortunately seems to be a likely representation of many many (most?) phone sex performers' attitudes toward callers.  She wrote, "It is difficult to have much respect for someone when the only contact you have with him is when you're exploiting his neediness.  You might have compassion for him but not respect."  I think this quote reflects the underlying tone of the book, that anyone who calls phone sex is inherently unhealthy.  She develops many personal theories about why people call phone sex and why people have particular fantasies, but all of those reasons are, to her, pathological.

And on top of all of that, she provided a good number of transcripts of parts of calls, and her dialogue was absolutely BORING.  Good god, if that is what most people get when they call phone sex lines, no wonder folks are surprised when they find PSOs who are actually good at description and sensual language!

If you are only going to read one book on phone sex, it has to be Miranda Austin's Phone Sex: Aural Thrills and Oral Skills.  Austin's style is much more engaging and entertaining.
3981544
I find stories like these fascinating, but I have to say I didn't really enjoy this book. I think my favorite part of the book was the introduction, because the author made some interesting points about gender inequality when it comes to dealing with criminals. The biographies themselves were forgettable and I found myself questioning her choices in the "most evil women in history".
2441847
This is a mildly interesting book that explores aspects of Japanese culture from a Westerner's point of view.  The cover of my edition describes it as an "extraordinarily evocative, at times erotic," story.  Given that the book is ostensibly about the steamy nightlife of the mizu shoubai, one might expect a rather heady description of what goes on after dark in Japan.  Despite the title, the book does not particularly concern itself with the water trade.  When it does, it is often just a description of the author sitting in some little bar or other drinking.  The book does devote lengthy stretches to things like calligraphy and home furnishings, and perhaps it's just me, but I found it rather boring.

It is hard to imagine who the target audience for this book would be.  For those with little knowledge of Japan, many of the descriptions lack enough context to make much sense.  For persons already acquainted with the culture, the long musings are hardly revealing and some of the author's conclusions are questionable.  Ultimately, it feels like the author wrote this as memoir for himself.  It should give hope to diarists everywhere that they too can one day be published.  There are a few genuinely evocative moments in this book (especially notable was a good description of a funeral), but hardly enough to justify the time it takes to read it.
111610
I feel sorry for teenagers in this world of blogging, myspace and the kiss-and-tell memoir: at least my embarassing diary rants were not in the public domain.

I especially feel sorry for Chun Shu, the vulnerable but wannabe-tough author of "Beijing Doll". Book deals unhealthily encourage the angsty self-importance of teendom, and her rebellious posturing would be comic if she were not so sincere.

Chun is just another spoiled brat from China's 1980s generation: little emperors raised in relative affluence, the over-protected only child of well-meaning parents. Unhappy at school, she like millions of her peers finds rock music a gratifying outlet, and she tags along as a wannabe groupie to lots of wannabe musicians, having lots of boring sex that she describes in boring detail. Her parents' patient confusion and tolerance of her follies just accelerate her downward spiral of existential angst.

That angst, Chun's petulant storm in a teacup, fuels the book and ultimately exhausts it. It is interesting, moving even, to watch her grapple with life, identity, sexuality, and society. However, she consistantly fails to learn from her experiences, opting for whining over the self-examination that a confessional memoir calls for, and eventually the reader just tires of her.

Nonetheless, "Beijing Doll" is a much better book than its precocious predecessors like "Shanghai Baby" and "Candy". Those are such cynical packaging of "Oooh, hot Chinese women! Doing drugs and sleeping with white men!" out to titallate the middle-aged male Western reader. "Beijing Doll", in contrast, is winningly honest, reading like a genuine diary and just as disorganized; Chun is focused upon herself rather than cunning marketing strategy. The problem is that she gazes so intently into her own navel that she eventually is swallowed up by it.
2309974
Take this biography of Bessie Wallis Warfield, eventual Duchess of Windsor, with several grains of salt. Higham is himself a member of the society that opposed Wallis' love affair and eventual marriage with the ex-King of England, and focuses on her alleged sexual exploits to a degree that borders upon voyeurism.  One wonders where Wallis found the time to court the Prince of Wales while bedding so many (alleged) other amours!  Higham also cites as evidence an "expose" of her life in China that has been discredited by other historians and biographers.

Wallis, of course, was no saint. She was promiscuous and ambitious, seeking an adventurous and high-class lifestyle to which she would have been entitled had her parents made wiser choices.  She spent her youth just far enough on the inside of society's strict caste system to rub elbows with the influential and wealthy, but with a reputation inherited from her parents that resisted her efforts to untarnish.  She and her eventual "great love" Edward/David spent the rest of their lives as part of the jet-set society, yet dependent on the good graces and support of those willing to take them in.

Was Wallis a Nazi sympathizer? Probably - but Higham's attempt to portray her as a spy don't wash.  Wallis was a flighty woman who doesn't strike this reviewer as someone who would be willing to risk losing her inclusion in high society and European royalty.  There was no benefit to her taking such risks, although her writings indicate a contempt for the lower classes and certain racial groups. This was typical of a white woman of her class and time period. This reader is inclined to place such maneuverings as the interest of her husband rather than Wallis herself.

Questions of political views and her sexual past that can't conclusively be confirmed or denied add to the Duchess' mystique. She, like Anne Boleyn, will always be the scarlet woman who loved a king  - but, unlike Anne Boleyn, her king did indeed sacrifice an empire for her.

Can't give Higham's biography more than three stars. It's too much like a tabloid encyclopedia than a realistic portrait of a woman whose exploits would hardly raise eyebrows today. Perhaps Wallis was ahead of her time.
2635580
This is usually the type of book I so enjoy...women of history with the added drama of fictional dialogue and true descriptions of the times. This account may have been researched and accuarate, I found it boring. I did not like the first person musing of the main character, which I see is typical of this author. Also, the book spend too much time on the Washingtons' early years of aquaintance, and did not shed much light onto the Revolutionary War or Presidential timeframes. I acutally would have preferred to read a history book than this version.
2687087
Suzi Quatro's bio should have been fascinating, considering she was one of the first female rock 'n rollers. So famous was she, that people like Joan Jett copied her look. Cherie Currie was a huge fan as well. While interesting at times, I found the writing style dull and dry. Her story was difficult to follow at times and did not hold my interest. I really had to slog through this one, skipping a lot of the boring, rambling sections. I think she needed a ghost writer. Compared to Cherie Currie's riveting biography, "Neon Angel", reading this book was like watching beige paint dry. This is for the die-hand Suzi fan only. I am hoping somebody will come out with a better-written biography of this groundbreaking rock 'n roll star.
4143617
The book is basically a memoir of the author's time in the Secret Service, uniform division. As the author himself admits, the impetus to write and publish the book came from the fact that he was stationed in the White House during the Monica Lewinsky affair and he was a key witness in the ever expanding investigation that followed. His account of his involvement in the investigation and what led directly up to it, is worth reading and justifies the cover and subtitle. But this aspect is only a small proportion of the overall book. I found the rest of the book not very interesting and heavy going due to the jargon and bias of the author.
464584
This memoir began on a redundant, sappy note and unfortunately stayed there. Chrisann Brennan begins her account of her on and off relationship with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs with young love, Bob Dylan, poetry, and even LSD. She devotes herself to a lot of the early '70's counter culture a lot of young people found themselves in.  Rather than tempering the free love and individualism of the era and moving on from there, she spends an inordinate amount of time describing teenage love and longing with even some philosophy thrown in.  Gosh, it made me cringe when she described those goo goo eye moments when they were a teenage couple. As she progresses, she provides her reader with a lot of repetition about a relationship that is off and on as Jobs climbs the ladder of success. The Jobs that Brennan portrays is penurious, insecure, and often really cruel and uncaring.  By the time Brennan becomes pregnant with their daughter Lisa, Jobs is positioned to make a bundle off of Apple and questions paternity. Brennan is forced to have him tested for paternity  and walks away with a measly $500 a month while Jobs is inching up to millionaire status. She and Lisa live under miserable circumstances and Brennan lets her reader know that she can't afford to buy a cup of coffee while Jobs is living large. Eventually, she manages to get him to loosen the purse strings so she and her daughter can live a nominal middle class existence but never gets a commitment of support in writing. It gets so bad that when Brennan gets ill much later on she finds herself homeless yet again and compelled to write this memoir.
As a reader, I do not question that Jobs was a jerk and also think he used money as a control mechanism over his ex. I felt sympathetic toward her in this respect. It wasn't fair to her and certainly not fair  to their daughter. However, I also think that Brennan had a problem when it came to facing up to reality when it came to Jobs. She tells her reader that she was thinking of leaving Jobs so she had an IUD inserted to prevent pregnancy. Yet the IUD must have been expelled from her body within hours of receiving it and that's how she got pregnant. Jobs then  doesn't want  to be a dad, then he does, and then he doesn't. It gets goofier when we are told that he starts thinking he might be Lisa's father when a friend points out that Lisa's eyes aren't blue. This book is just loaded with a lot of crazy stuff that all ties back to Brennan's inability to come to some sort of legally binding agreement with Jobs. Jobs often plays nice and then quickly turns on Chrisann and Lisa. While Chrisann owns up to a certain level of navet&eacute; regarding Jobs, it is fairly clear very early on that Jobs behaves badly a lot.
While the reader gets a sense of Jobs' pain at being given up at birth and how it affected him and his fascination with finding his birth mother and sister, this book painfully rambles on about things that have already been covered about Jobs and really doesn't provide anything new beyond battling about money or Jobs' extremely petty behavior.
Have to say that if Chrisann Brennan hopes to make substantial money with this tell all, I wish her luck but don't see it happening. This is not a very good book, not well written, and it continually rehashes money issues and reinforces Steve Jobs'  for having a mean side that is difficult to explain away.
I willingly read this book but I didn't really like it.
4046730
i would give this BONE dry memoir a 5 star review - but i don't want to hurt the author's ranking. granted, this book is not for everyone (check the NYT review from '86) ... but people interested in world events during the '50s, as well as those interested in the WASP mentality overall, will kill a few hours amiably with this tome. i am delighted to be the first to speak up for it.
1094478
Reading this autobiography wasn't a meaningful experience for me.  The  title 'Happens Every Day' is an absolutely correct and accurate description.  Every woman's divorce is unique and life-changing, for her, and for her children.  That doesn't mean that this particular woman's life story makes for compelling reading material. As a reader, I hesitate to criticize this book too heavily, as I don't wish to diminish the importance of Isabel Gillies' life experiences. There just wasn't anything new here to read about that hasn't already happened in my own life.

Ultimately, what makes this autobiography a rating of three out of a possible five stars is that the author didn't have any kind of a transformational moment or life-altering realizations that made her story of divorce any more compelling than my next-door neighbor's. Isabel Gillies isn't a bad writer - if she tries her hand at women's fiction, she could probably crank out a book that would sell a lot of copies, one that readers would talk about and share with each other.

I don't see any future Danielle Steels lurking in here, but there's an entire universe filled with talented writers who aren't household names. They feed their kids and make the house payment with their writing.  Gillies could easily fall into that category of writer, and I hope she continues to write and publish her work.
4667118
For someone who had a theoretically unique life and career, Susie Bright has penned a less than enthralling account. I confess, I knew very little of her background, but having read the promotional blurbs--which were interesting--and having now read the memoir, I was really disappointed that a woman who was a communist/femist/bisexual/sex writer couldn't make that a compelling read.