Mother and son - emotionally linked though separated by life
358485
Interesting study of the unlikely background of the Republican legal strategist, Michael Hess, whose impact was most significant in the late 80's and early 90's. A reminder of the bewilderment and fear as the AIDS epidemic began, the book explores how the  voids and unanswered questions from childhood can lead to risky behavior for adults who don't believe themselves worthy of happiness. The movie, Philomena, is based on this book. However, reading it gives you a more complete understanding of the story rather than a repetitive experience. I recommend both.
4859750
A mother's love for her child is supposed to be enduring and nurturing. A mother should protect and guide her child but Jonathan Burkett does not experience this in Neglected But Undefeated. Jonathan shares his story of abuse, homelessness and how the abuse he suffered caused seizures, loneliness and confusion.

Jonathan realized at a young age that his mother did not want him. To remind him, Jonathan's mother did everything in her power to erase him. It hurt me that Jonathan was prepared to accept his fate at the hands of his mother. The non-existing relationship between mother and son paved the road for Jonathan's relationships and interactions with others.  Jonathan's ray of light was his grandparents both always putting a smile on his face. When Jonathan loses his grandfather, depression starts to set in and Jonathan believes nothing will ever change for him.

Neglected But Undefeated is the painful story of a child's life with an abuser. There are different kinds of abuse but Jonathan's mother takes it to another level. Jonathan was in a no-win situation because his father never attempted to help him and neither did any other family members. Those family members that could have helped were too far away. I applaud this author for sharing such a painful story and my heart goes out to him. I also applaud him for overcoming the obstacles placed in front of him and not giving up on himself.

When reading this book I did keep in mind there are always two sides to every story. The nature of the story did stir emotions within me but the dialogue confused me at times. I do believe with some content editing this book would present better. However, I do recommend Neglected But Undefeated to others.

This book was provided by the author for review purposes.

Teresa Beasley
APOOO BookClub
4935199
A rare email exchange between a famous mother & famous son speaking from the heart (but with emails for protection) about all the painful life events they've experienced separately and together.  Insightful and interesting but painful too for the reader. One wonders why they chose to share?
31838
A divorced couple, both in their forties, dealing with the loss of their 11-year-old son. Before he died, he became friends with a 104-year-old woman, Ona Vitkus. Afterwards, the parents and Ona are drawn together because of the boy. All three of them are engaging, but it was especially a pleasure to read about a very old woman who's still mentally strong, who thinks and feels deeply, and who dispenses hard-earned grace to the younger people who unwittingly look to her for comfort. The story portrays the parents moving beyond grief, but this beautifully written book is far broader than that. Ona in particular has such a rich history, yet she was strangely passive in her own life until something happens to shake her out of it, at an age when she was far from young. All three of the characters demonstrate my belief that, as long as we're alive and thinking, we can grow. It's a hopeful book, but I cried at the end, because it was so beautifully written I almost hated to lose these characters. Well done.
3019891
Heart wrenching story.  A mother and son love truly shines through all their trials and tribulations. Excellent read...a mothers love never ends. 5 stars!
4903562
Shows the love between a grown woman and her mother.  Touching.
4865198
I have seen this on dish TV a few times now and liked it.  This was an emotionally wrenching story about two sons both gay.  The parents could not be more different.  One is better off fanancially and very cosmopolitan more liberal and accepting.  The other son has parents that are more working class country stock from a more conservative traditional closed minded background.

The sons fall in love and one contraversy after another ensues.  I do not want to reveal the nature of the issues raised but let me just say the fur flies as a result. The acting in Our Son's is very beleivable.  The focus is on the two mothers and how differently they respond to the events in their respective sons lives.  Ends up both parents and others involved in the lives of the two son's have a lot of growing up to do.  Everyone touched by the choices the sons make is left profoundly changed. Only you can say if it if is for the better.  Take a look at the DVD, it is pretty good.  The ending is pretty happy and arrived at only after hard work on the parts of all conserned.  Alas it is sort of bitter sweet in the end.

The DVD is worth it.  This is a must have DVD in my collection and I think you will like it too.
2574533
This is another one of those books I can't read without having to dab at my eyes. Any loving parent, or child of a loving parent, will recognize the overwhelming love the mother in this story feels for her son. When her son  is a newborn, she rocks him and sings to him, "I'll love you forever,  I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living my baby you'll be."  When he's asleep, she rocks him and sings him that song through each stage  of his childhood. When he's a grown man with his own home, she drives over  to his house with a ladder, makes sure he is fast asleep, climbs through  his bedroom window, then rocks him and sings to him (my husband thinks this  is a little strange, but I'm convinced that there are plenty of mothers out  there who would do the same if they thought they could get away with it).
  The tears come when the mother gets sick, and can't finish the  song. Her son then holds her in his lap, rocks her, and sings to her. Then  he goes home, picks up his newborn daughter, and sings.  The  illustrations are a beautiful complement to the story. Not only does the  son grow up, but the mother slowly grows older. Her house keeps its  old-fashioned look, even down to the rotary phone on her bedside; his house  is more modern, with up-to-date kitchen appliances. The mother has a  striped cat that appears in several illustrations of the boy growing up. In  his house, there is a kitten, that grows into a cat, that turns into a  rather large, well-fed cat by the end of the story.
  Not only am  I sharing this book with my kids, but I gave my mom a copy for Mother's  Day.
2400313
Having lost two children by natural death, I know the heartache of this loss and the effect it has on a family.  Yet the one circumstance that rises above this that wreaks havoc in my mind when I think about it, is being faced with the loss of a child who is kidnapped or missing, not knowing where they are or what they are going through.  This is the story of that kind of tragedy.  It is a mother's unrelenting pursuit of her son and the truth of his disappearance.  Her bravery and love for her son inspired me as she came face to face with such evil.  There is no loss like the one she and her husband have had to endure.
835516
This novel explores what it is like to look for love, security and consistency as a child within the foster system and the anger engendered by abandonment.  In the dual threads of story the author also pursues the toll it takes on a boy to be the parent/protector of his mother.  The sadness and bitterness associated with the loss of a loved is incitefully dealt with.  Minnie, the main character's adoptive mother, provides a fine example of unconditional love and tolerant yet nurturing parenting - caution, you will fall in love with her.
2553216
Very enjoyable read detailing the complex relationship between an emotionally cut off man and his son, who's closer to his mother and who has issues with OCD. Told from three points of view.
550071
The bond between mother and child is not easily broken.  That's one of the major messages in this touching story of a mother, her son, and their fifty year long search for each other.  This is the book on which the wonderful Judi Dench/Steve Coogan movie of the same name is based.  The essential story is the same, but the focuses of the book and movie are quite different.  The movie covers Philomena and Martin Sixsmith's search for her son, while the book is primarily concerned with the son Mike's life story.  Both are compelling experiences.

In the early 1950s Philomena Lee was a young Irish girl who found herself pregnant after a brief encounter with a handsome stranger.  In keeping with the custom of the times she was put into the care of the Roman Catholic Church.  Nuns in a convent delivered Philomena's baby boy, kept him in their communal nurseries for three years while Philomena worked as a laundress to pay her bill, and then forced her to sign him over to them so they could ship him off for adoption in the United States.  Philomena drops out of the story here and doesn't reappear until towards the end.  Her son, named Michael by his new parents, grew up in the US alongside his adoptive sister from the same convent.  Throughout his life Mike felt the absence of and constantly searched for love.  Sixsmith unflinchingly details Mike's life as a gay man moving from lover to lover.  A brilliant student, he became a political operative for the Republican Party despite his disgust with its right wing and homophobic policy objectives.  Eventually, as did so many others like him in the 1980s and 1990s, Mike developed AIDS and died in 1995.  The story then returns to Philomena's point of view and details how she and Sixsmith eventually found that Mike had been buried, by his own request, in the grounds of the same convent where he had been born.

This book, like the movie, really touched me.  I felt deep compassion for  Philomena, Mike, his beloved adoptive sister Mary, and the rest of the adoptees and mothers who passed through that convent. Mike's life story was sad and touching, a tale of outward success that hid an unceasing longing and search for love.  Though the chapters dealing with his illness and death were wrenching to read, I appreciated them because they gave me some insight into the deaths of two college friends of mine, who passed away at about the same time and from the same illness as Mike.  I had lost touch with them and didn't learn of their deaths until much later, so anything which helps me to better understand their last days is welcome.  Finally, since I am about four years younger than Mike I could identify with his journey, though his life experiences were quite different from my own.

Part of the reason Sixsmith wrote this book was to chronicle the Church in Ireland's abuse of  helpless women and children.  It is indeed a strong indictment, but  it brings another and stronger message as well: an affirmation of the power of love.
1889398
Perhaps a parent and child don't really get to know each other until the child grows into an adult and circumstances bring them together where they can talk and listen to each other with no place to run away or become distracted.  That's what happens when mother and son take a road trip together in this movie.  Humor is spread throughout but there are many moments along the way that are all too familiar to many of us with children of our own who have grown up way too fast.  This movie is all about re-establishing those communications that help both mom and son to re-connect in a meaningful and loving way.
2791106
Some people are destined to be mothers or fathers. Some people aren't. Good story about childhood friends, who get separated and reunited. Story about mothers, some good, some not.
4607051
Moving and beautiful representation of the human spirit . The powerful love of a mother and the heartbreaking of letting go
80316
Sometimes losing your love of your life is beyond your ability to carry on.  I am sure many families are torn apart when the Mom dies.
1121377
This is the story of a Mother's denial, despair, and finally acceptance of the progonsis given in her child's terminal illness. It tells the story of her beloved son's life from the beginning to the end. Her words are at times warm and funny, and at other times heart wrenching. It is a very human story where you can get lost in her words as you envision this happening to your own child. When a Mother has done all she can do, we learn that love endures until the end.