It is the observation and experience the author had living amoung the women that grasps readers with awe
581274
I felt like I was living in the small village of Iraq which the author describes so vividly. From the heat of the dessert, to the smells and sounds of the  village, the cooking, their passionate ceremonies. It is the observation and experience the author had living amoung the women that grasps readers with awe: Their customs, history, the way marriages are made and maintained were fascinating to read about. I could hear the swishing of the black robes the women must wear in public along with the author's experince of what that was like. Throughly informative and I went away with a better understanding of the culture and the people who live there.
1629124
There are  many characters who are related among them. The author through  Vivid descriptions  makes the readers feel the  environment  of the  story.
3349451
Brought to you by OBS reviewer JoAnne

I have always believed deeply that when you read a book, it should draw some sort of emotion from you, whether it be joy, sadness, disgust, consternation, etc. I can tell you that this book did not disappoint. It left indelible marks upon my very being. I have always known about Carole Lombard and Clark Gable. I have even visited the place where they spent their honeymoon. Please understand this: I am not a star-watcher, nor do I follow their every movement. But it was the situation of these two lives which intrigued me: two people very much in love, and without warning, taken from each other.

Admittedly, it is something that happens to people every day. But you do not read about it every day. You do not read about their lives quite the way Mr. Matzen has written. He has interspersed every other chapter with Ms. Lombard and Mr. Gables life from their beginning right up until the end together. You learn things that are not the fodder of fan magazines  the tragedies that befell her when she was young, and the reason she lived her life at such a fast pace. She felt she had to; that she needed to, as if each day meant something important, and she was not going to let one minute slip by unnoticed.

Mr. Gable lived his life quite different from hers, and reading it, you wouldnt expect the two completely different personalities to come together at all. But they did; and they lived furiously; and when the news of her death is a reality to him, it shakes him up and shapes him as nothing else has ever done before.

As I said, every other chapter is about these two, but it is what is in between that is the most heart-wrenching of all. Matzen allows us into the lives of the others on the plane, the people who were there and some that were not supposed to be (although I suppose, in a way they were supposed to be); a glimpse of their lives and the ones they left behind who were waiting for word even while Mr. Gable was hurrying to find his wife.

At the last, there is the story of the people who gave their time and effort climbing up that mountain on a cold January day, trying to see if there was anyone alive who needed rescuing, and their stories are here as well, and just as thought-provoking. A sad read, but an intense one, and worth the time.

Visit OpenBookSociety for this review and more!
723756
These are very brave women, my heart went out to each and everyone of them. The experiences depicted in the story are extraordinary and difficult to comprehend; how one survives such suffering and misery? A mustb see
2890128
I benefitted by learning how other women, including famous writers and thinkers traveled the older stages of their lives.  Some with
wisdom and humor, some others coped with illnesses but in all, acceptance rather than denial gave them strength.  The author shared her own experience and process which leant an intimacy in her writing, particularly about her recent widowhood.
4460235
I have been entranced by the author's ability to capture the emotions of each character.  She shows a particular knack for the sort of stream of consciousness thinking that is so literally human.  A spell-binding book.
4718737
The author did her research and it shows.  It is a spellbinding book.
And the characters are seemingly true to life.
1107385
What an incredible imagination some people have
1201032
One of the best compliments a book can receive is to say that the story transports the reader to another place. When I read a novel, I want to be immersed in the culture of the story. I want to taste their food, hear the cadence of their speech, smell the dust on their clothing. That's what Susan Froetschel has done with Fear of Beauty. Froetschel's story of an Afghan woman torn between her desire to be more than what her culture dictates and her loyalties to her family, her village is a wonderful read. It transports the reader to a war-torn Afghanistan with authority and authenticity. Froetschel delivers a powerful piece of literature.
2955039
The writer is extremely good at knowing the inside feelings of her characters and letting the reader discover them on his/her own.
2236937
This was not an easy read for me as Susan unflinchingly shares her experiences with the reader and they resonated with my own life so much, but it was quite beautiful at the same time. I read late into the night because I could not stop at 'just one more chapter'. I would read it again.
1504997
You can feel the emotions that the author lived through during this difficult time in their lives. There is such inspiration and encouragement that comes through as she explains each crisis and challenge, and how they moved on from that point.
4506797
The book starts out on a sad note about when the author's sister Ann- Marie was discovered to have an advanced form of bile duct cancer which took her life within a short time after her diagnosis and treatment had begun. The author was devastated by her sister's death and began to view life differently, seeing and thinking about many facets of life, from the everyday to the exraordinairy and reminsicing about the past, reviewing her thoughts and anticipating the future while processing this unexpected experience and carrying on, as Ann-Marie would have expected of her. The book is a memoir, a celebration of life, dedicated to finding meaning, beauty, and love despite the pain, loss, and emptiness which remained once Ann-Marie passed away. The author vowed, made a committment to read one book a day, to set aside enough  time to renew her spirit, doing something she enjoyed and of which Ann-Maire would have whole-heartedly approved. On some level, Nina Simkovitch felt she was closer to Ann-Marie during the year she dedidicated to this daunting and highly disciplined task. Ann -Marie loved books and life and had been an art historian in New York. She was a beloved daughter, sister and wife - someone who was very dear to her family ...

The reader is drawn into the author's world of raising four boys, each two to three years apart in age, to soccer practices, birthday celebrations, and special time set aside with her husband, a busy attorney. Often, a chapter would begin by the author reviewing some event, recollection or ideas from a book she had read that transitioned into either a current or past event in her life. This technique made for some interesting reading at times but most often I skipped over these sections because I had not read the books to which the author referred and the true heart of the book lay in the author's ability to convey her feelings and thoughts about growing up, reminiscing and sharing her life, viewing it from the lens of her love for Ann-Marie. From her childhood memories of growing up in Evanston, Illinois, with her parents emphasis on reading books to her junior year of college spent in Barcelona, Spain where she felt spent time with a good looking Spanish boyfriend, learning about herself and life, the author provides entertaining and insightful stories. One summer when the author was ten years old, she visited Belgium with her mother who would help care for her own mother who was dying of cancer. The rest of the family joined them a few months later and together they took a trip to Poland, the ancestral home of her father. The impact of World War II on her father's family was devastating. The author shares personal stories of courage, survival and unexpected death. The author's father's sage advice, "Do not look for happiness in life; life itself is happiness" resonates loudly and clearly throughout this book. Nina Simkovitch's father's story of surviving World War II, spending two years living in a tuberculosis sanitarium, at age 24 and afterwards going on to medical school is worthwhile reading, along with her insights into making peace with her step-daughter Meredith who at one time had wanted to leave Nina out on the road at nightfall, near Bear Mountain, a state park outside of New York City. Since then, they have become good and true friends in the best sense of the word. Despite Ann-Marie's passing, in many ways the thoughts, feelings and ideas this sister shared with the author live on, as the author views the life she is living with the imprints of having known Ann-Marie. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]
1367359
The author exposes her life experiences in a real and raw way that everyone can relate to, understand and empathize with.
3506482
Her story is a very real experience that cannot be really expressed in movies, but only in a book form.
2686596
Eve Ensler is a name that anyone who inspires to be taken seriously as a pseudo intellectual (whatever that means) should be familiar with. The Vagina Monologues is one of the most important plays in recent years. Having seen the play awhile back, I was interested in reading more about Ensler's life.

Those familiar with the Monologues, and I suppose that's to be assumed if your looking at Ensler's memoir, should not be surprised with the vivid unsettling depictions found in this memoir. This is certainly not for the faint of heart. Ensler's writing is graphic, but powerful.

This book will have an audience that will probably be unswayed by any reviews. If you love The Vagina Monologues, you'll love this book. This book is not light reading by any means. If you want to learn more about one of the most influential women of recent memory, give this book a read.
2673226
It holds your attention.  It invites you to journey along with the author's defiant hope in Christ.  This is a testimony of a women being relentlessly tried and tested during some of the darkest moments in life:  the death of her mother; the loss of a career, abortion, miscarriage, unemployment and then facing foreclosure on a newly purchased home.  But through it all she leaned on the everlasting arms of Christ.  Her words flow in such a poignant way bringing clarity and strength to those of us similarly situated.  I would like to read more of her books. It just felt like the presence and movement of the Spirit of Truth was so real in the retelling of biblical characters.  I say, "Well done, good and faithful servant".