When she was 12, Amanda’s best friend’s family gifted her a Christmas stocking stuffed with a carton of cigarettes. She was thrilled. The cigarettes meant she would no longer have to steal and smoke her mother’s uncool brand. And the stocking—though it didn’t have her name stitched along the top like everyone else’s—meant, for the moment at least, that she belonged. She hadn’t felt that way since before her free-spirited mother left her corporate-climbing father with 4-year-old Amanda and her older sister in tow. Before her father remarried a woman who never wanted children. Before her mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Before Amanda and her sister were left to largely fend for themselves. More than three decades later, with the death of her parents as a catalyst, Amanda began sifting through the relics of her family’s fragile past. She wondered if the chance objects she and her mother and father had held on to— a faded doodle of a girl gathering apples, broken knickknacks, worn family photos and her parents’ journals— might unravel their long-standing and tightly woven narrative and tell a different story. Searching through the eyes of “The Gathering Girl”, Amanda Irene Rush discovers an alternate truth buried within the deepest roots of her family tree. She demonstrates how the untangling of a twisted past can be both beautiful and brutal, and how the journey can ultimately lead to forgiveness.
First, let me preface this by saying that I have a personal connection to this story, and this review will be much more personal than usual.
Growing up, the author was my best friend's little sister. She was a couple of years younger than us and had her own group of friends, and oddly enough her big sister and I had a friend by the name of Amy, and little sister Amy had a best friend by the name of Heather. So, we had Big Heather (me) and Little Heather, and Big Amy and Little Amy (the author).
I met the author and her big sister in second or third grade. I was waiting at the bus stop with the other kids and a couple of "new kids" arrived. The older sister was my age, and the younger sister I believe was in kindergarten. It seems like it must have been around the return to school after Christmas break, because in my memory the sisters were wearing winter coats. I mean proper winter coats not normally seen in south Florida where it gets cold a couple of weeks out of the year. The grumpy older sister got mad at the younger one and kicked her, and I yelled at her and told her not to kick the little girl! She defiantly told me that she was her sister and she could kick her if she wanted to! This was my introduction to the girl who would go on to become my best friend; someone with whom I would come to strongly rely on. I recognize myself as someone who is probably on the spectrum, and as a child was more obviously so. I came to have what was probably an unhealthy reliance on Amy's big sister, but that wouldn't happen for some time. We actually didn't become friends for probably a year or so after meeting. She was just mean when we met!
But we did become friends, eventually the best of friends. But I want to avoid letting this become too personal and about me. This is about the book and Amy's story, not mine.
This book is about Amy grappling with the past. About her mother's mental illness, her parent's breakup, her father's estrangement, how these things affected who she would become, and whether her memories of the past and her family were even accurate.
The author walks you through what she pieced together of her parent's relationship, her early years in Ohio, and when her mother left her father and moved the girls to Florida where I met them. Then there is the inevitable mental breakdown of her mother (which the author touches on, but whose memory fails her in regard to the details of this time. My memory of this period is much clearer, and I've filled in some of the missing pieces for her since reading her story), and everything that followed.
This is the story of a fractured family and broken people, and of reconciliation and healing. The story of a girl trying to uncover the past and gather the pieces of a childhood shattered by alcoholism and mental illness.
It's about the loneliness of a little girl in the wake of her mother's mental breakdown and living with a withdrawn sister and a grandmother who generally acted as if her grandchildren were an inconvenience and annoyance (the woman terrified me!)
...As though it shared my fear and confusion at finding myself in the middle of an adventure I did not choose. One where my mother was no longer my mother, and my grandmother liked the orange shell duck more than any of us.
Then beginning another life living back in Ohio with an alcoholic father who probably did his best, but fell short of what his girls needed. Then back to living with a mentally ill mother, through turbulent, reckless and generally unrestrained teen years with lots of smoking, drinking and drugs.
I remember staying over one night after not having seen them for a year or two, me with the big sister and her friends hanging out in her room listening to The Kinks and smoking pot and cigarettes. I was shocked and disappointed to see Little Amy, probably about 12 years of age, smoking with us. Whether she was only smoking cigarettes or imbibing of the pot I can't recall, but her sister just dismissed my shock. "Yeah, she smokes now." I was saddened and disturbed. There had always been a purity about Amy. We had sort of protected her when she was younger and kept her separate from our "shenanigans", and here she was smoking with the "big kids". Her innocence was gone. I quit smoking pot soon after this, and I didn't visit with them much after. Not because Amy was no longer the sweet and pure little girl I had known, but she was representative of a turn that things had taken. I think her sister and I both felt that I no longer fit into their world. Despite the drinking and smoking and sneaking out, there was still an innocence in me that wasn't ready to live in their unfettered world.
For me, this book is divided into BEFORE and AFTER. BEFORE the breakdown I was present, and AFTER the breakdown that I mostly wasn't. As other readers, I got to walk through those missing years with the author to find out what happened to them when I wasn't there. I got to better understand the loneliness of the little girl I knew who was always in the shadows and on the periphery when we were kids. She was the ghost in my childhood that her mother was in her own.
We both had older siblings we had idolized but never wanted to become.
Five words: tender, honest, heartbreaking, hopeful, lonely
My final word: This book was an emotional rollercoaster for me. The memories it dredged up took me to the highest points of my love for my childhood best friend and the bond we shared like no other I've ever had, the lows of confusion and turmoil and fear and dread as my friend's mother suffered a mental breakdown and left my friend at 12 years of age trying to hold together a household, caring for her mother and little sister, paying the bills, driving the car to the corner store for groceries, cooking dinner, making sure her little sister took a bath and got ready for school, and all while trying to keep it secret, knowing the family would be further fractured once anyone found out what was happening at home. Then to understand the loneliness that the author felt through her childhood and early years. She writes honestly of her journey through chaos and instability to a better understanding of her parents and herself. There is an analytical tenderness that perhaps shouldn't be able to co-exist, and through her story I navigated the deaths of my own parents. Her mother wrote in one of her journals:
Someday, I hope my girls will read my journals. Perhaps this simple legacy will benefit them.
Before the deaths of both parents, when they were but a fractured family, they may have all failed one another, but hopefully the author's journey to better understand the past will have saved at least one of them.
Synopsis Fahim Fazli is a man of
two worlds: Afghanistan, the country of his birth, and America, the
nation he adopted and learned to love. He’s also a man who escaped
oppression, found his dream profession, and then paid it all forward by
returning to Afghanistan as an interpreter with the U.S. Marines. When
Fahim speaks, the story he tells is harrowing, fascinating, and
inspiring. Born and raised in Kabul, Fahim saw his country and family
torn apart by revolution and civil war. Dodging Afghan authorities and
informers with his father and brother, Fahim made his way across the
border to Pakistan and then to America. After reuniting with his mother,
sisters, and another brother, he moved to California with dreams of an
acting career. After 15 turbulent years that included two unsuccessful
arranged marriages to Afghan brides, he finally qualified for membership
in the Screen Actors Guild—and found true American love. Though Fahim's
California life was happy and rewarding, he kept thinking about the
battlefields of Afghanistan. Haunted by a desire to serve his adopted
country, he became a combat linguist. While other interpreters opted for
safe assignments, Fahim chose one of the most dangerous: working with
the Leathernecks in embattled Helmand Province, where his outgoing
personality and deep cultural understanding made him a favorite of both
Marines and local Afghans—and a pariah to the Taliban, who put a price
on his head. Fahim Speaks is an inspiring story of perseverance and
patriotism—and of the special love that one man developed for his
adopted country.
Paperback, 218 pages Published February 25th 2012 by Warriors Publishing Group ISBN 0982167075 (ISBN13: 9780982167076)
About the Author
Fahim Fazli was born and
raised in Kabul, Afghanistan. He fled the chaos of his homeland in 1983
and eventually came to the United States as a refugee. After moving to
California, he worked in a variety of occupations before becoming a
member of the Screen Actors Guild in 2003. He left his acting work from
2009 to 2010 to return to Afghanistan as a linguist with the United
States Marine Corps. Now residing in California, he and his wife, Amy,
have one daughter, Sophia.
My Thoughts
Afghanistan.
Before 1980, most Americans knew or cared little about this impoverished, land-locked, Central Asian nation. After the Soviet Union invaded, though, Afghanistan became a flash point-- one that threatened to ignite a Cold War into the flames of a World War.
Town/Environment:
The author was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and later moved to the US as a refugee with his family.
Mountains of Kabul. Photo captured by Joe Burger from Siegburg, Germany
"The problem in Afghanistan is that everybody there holds a piece of a mirror, and they all look at it and claim that they see the entire truth."-- Mohsen Makhmalbaf, President of Asian Film Academy
This book briefly covers the life of Fahim Fazli in Afghanistan, but mostly covers his escape from Afghanistan as a refugee, his struggle to achieve success in Hollywood, and his desire to serve both his adopted country and his native land as a linguist with the Marines in Afghanistan.
Born in Afghanistan, Fahim found himself attempting to survive in a country where he risked relocation to Russia for "re-education". At 12 years of age, he was living in a city invaded by Russia. He, his father and his younger brother had not heard from his mother, older brother or sisters for four years, as they had already escaped to the U.S. Fahim's father Jamil made the decision to take his boys to Pakistan, with hopes of later making it to America.
It was a trek fraught with danger, and there were some near misses. Much of their escape was done on foot, guided by a "coyote", a person who guides people out of the country for a fee. In Peshawar, Fahim found himself faced with armed Taliban fighters patrolling the streets with AK-47s. At one point, an elder advised Fahim's father to get his boys off of the street before they wound up in the soldier's camp:
An unfortunate aspect of the fighter culture there involved young boys being exploited sexually. The practice is known as Bacha Bazi, literally "playing with boys". The practice of selling adolescent boys to wealthy or powerful men for entertainment and sex sadly thrives in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Abdul had told us earlier that Afghan culture precluded visits to military camps by women or prostitutes and so boys filled a sexual void of sorts for the fighters. (page 30)
Once in Peshawar, Fahim was eager to get to America.
We'd soon be in America, a legendary place in the minds of Afghans. Stories abounded about the magnificence and wealth of the United States. Some said it was a sinful place, where women shamelessly tempted men. Others claimed that Americans were allies of the Zionists and enemies of Islam. Still others said that the U.S. was a place of tolerance and generosity. (page 56)
After finally making it to the U.S., you get to see it through the eyes of this young Afghan refugee, and get a better idea of how Afghans view our country.
Americans tend to appreciate people as individuals. (page 126)
I marveled at how most American tribes got along and wondered if we could similarly bring the Afghans tribes together.
Anyone walking around Los Angeles can see people from a hundred different countries speaking a hundred different languages, and generally getting along. That's unimaginable in most other parts of the world. (page 157)
It shouldn't matter where anyone came from or what religion they followed, because we all descended from Adam and Eve. Didn't Christians, Jews and Muslims all believe in Abraham? I saw how tolerant people were in America, as compared to Afghanistan or Pakistan. If your religious beliefs changed or evolved here no one killed you. (page 66)
You feel for the woman who gave birth to Fahim. Born in a male-dominated country, married off at the age of 16, she is described as an intelligent and driven woman who wanted to be a doctor in a country where women are doomed to lives as housewives and maids and never anything more-- without choice. A woman with strong opinions and desires, she was always at odds with Fahim's father, and there was much yelling and fighting in the Fazli household when Fahim was growing up.
However the woman was no saint. Raised in a culture that believes that "Number One Son" is the favorite, and "Number Two Son" is the "Miserable Son", she could be brutal and cruel in her words to her second son Fahim at times. But there was a lot about her to respect, and she was very beloved by her son.
Fahim was raised with a heavy hand, as is common in Afghanistan. I remember author Andrea Busfield once describing in her book Born Under a Million Shadows (which takes place in Afghanistan) that "...in the streets the adults beat boys, the boys beat smaller boys, and everyone beats donkeys and dogs."
As an adult, Fahim has acted with some of the top actors in Hollywood, and has been a cultural adviser on a number of movies. At one point he was working on the set of Charlie Wilson's War, and was explaining to the extras on the set, who were playing refugees at the Parachinar refugee camp, how excited these refugees would have been to have Americans visiting the camp:
"You must understand how passionate the Afghan Mujahadeen were," I explained. "Imagine if some Communist infidels came to your land, to Morocco, and took away your religion. Picture them taking your sons away and sending them to Russia to be indoctrinate. Think of them dropping bombs on villages, and killing women and children. Consider them destroying your farms and killing your livestock. And know how frustrating it is to be unable to respond in kind, until finally some Americans show up to give you food, supplies, and weapons to take out the Soviet planes. Imagine how happy you'd be to meet the people who brought you the tools you need to reclaim your homeland. And how you have to show how happy, how ecstatic you are to actually meet the people who are giving you the gift of hope." (page 21)
Fahim brings better understanding to the issue of the Taliban and what it has been like under their regime.
The Afghan refugee enclaves in Pakistan were increasingly dangerous due
to a fanatical new group called the Taliban-- a name
which translates to students. These Muslim
fundamentalists wanted to rule Afghanistan using a corrupted and
intolerant version of Islam. They sought to ban music and movies, and
ruthlessly imposed their dogma. (page 77)
While the Communist police state had its own network of insidious
informers, this new theocracy was even worse. If a man raped a woman,
then she was to blame for tempting him, and the Taliban leaders
sentenced her to death. The old Kabul sports stadium, once the site of
spirited soccer competition, became a killing ground...
...In 1999, a woman named Zarmeena, a mother of seven, was executed
at the stadium-- shot by a young Taliban soldier with a Kalashnikov
rifle. Supposedly, she'd disrespected her husband. Thousands of people
turned out for the spectacle, including women and children. Women
wearing blue burquasdragged the body away as people
chanted "Allah Akbar" or "God is Great".
This summary justice became routine. The new regime established laws
calling for adulterers to be stoned to death and for thieves to suffer
amputations. Life in the new Afghanistan wasn't much different from that
of ancient Rome, where gladiators brutalized each other and hungry
lions devoured hapless Christians-- largely to entertain the masses who
filled the Coliseum to take the depraved spectacles. (page 106)
True to their fundamentalist Wahhabi precepts, Bin laden and Al
Qaeda turned on the West after America helped them drive the Soviets
from Afghanistan. Wahhabismis a puritanical form of
Sunni Islam associated with Saudi Arabia that strongly influenced Bin
Laden-- who directed its energy against the Soviets. After the Russians
left Afghanistan, that energy was redirected against Western interests.
American military presence in Saudia Arabia and elsewhere in the
religion particularly angered the Wahhabis, who were utterly intolerant
of those who didn't follow a rigid interpretation of the Quran. (page
109)
My final word: The writing is very simple and straightforward-- not flowery or overly expressive-- but the storytelling is engaging and enlightening, exposing a side of Hollywood with which I was unfamiliar... the "in"-side. Fahim's story offers more clarity on the people of Afghanistan, how the Taliban came to power, and what refugees would go through in order to get their families to safety. Fahim is a strong man of conviction, yet kind and affable, and his warmth comes through in the telling of his story, albeit the writing style can be a little stiff, possibly due to him being assisted by military writer Michael Moffett. However I found the book to be a worthwhile read.
I
received a copy of this book to review through Netgalley, in exchange
for my honest opinion. I was not financially compensated in any way, and
the opinions expressed are my own and based on my observations while
reading this novel.
The year is 1977. Over 7 days in October, this true-story, first person
narrative takes place on the central coast of BC. During a record month
of storms, the action picks up when the 2 spirited BC boys blitz across
hundreds of kms of dangerous back roads to get to the closest cold beer
store. Cool withdraws from SFU, broke and cynical, to replenish his
funds by returning to logging, finding work on Northern Vancouver
Island. After travelling all day Cool arrives at Beaver Cove, a ‘No
Booze Allowed’ camp, as gales begin howling during torrential rainfall.
Within hours, the rain and the melt-off of higher-elevation snowfall
combine to cause floods and slides. Within 2 days they are isolated.
Roads close, ferries over-book, planes are grounded and Health
Department regulations close all bars, stores and restaurants. Cool has
no money for travel or food anyway. Work stops and management leave the
camp with little food and no heat, lights or clean drinking water.
Cool devises a plan which involves Drake, the other guy left in camp,
and his car. Drake has his girlfriends’ broken-down 1964 Vauxhall Viva.
That’s enough to get Cool scheming and them moving, giving them an
outside chance for self-rescue if they put it all on the line. With only
the vague notion of a ‘4x4 back road’ to Campbell River as their map
they quit the camp, ‘heading for the barn’. For hours, they negotiate
deserted mountain roads and near-deadly detours across raging creeks,
down mud-slides and through bogs, running on only fumes and luck.
Arriving, finally, at a town amazed at their survival, they discover
they’ve popped up at a totally wrong destination. Most of their money
goes to gas, oil and beer leaving them no choice but to continue into
the night, nursing the car through a further four hours and 250 kms of
storming weather. Eventually they arrive, exhausted, back in Vancouver
where Drake is turned out by his girlfriend and Cool has to confront
unpaid bills and night shift taxi driving. Inspired again, he makes
plans to keep the adventure alive and go to the ‘Charlottes. Through
the eyes of some of the characters who lived and worked here - before
the province we live in today evolved - this fast-paced comedy-quest
champions the lure of adventure and the devil-may-care attitude it
takes, sometimes, to win against the odds.
About the Author from Amazon
Alfred Cool was born and raised in BC. He attended Simon Fraser
University where he took English and Computer courses. He is a member
of the Canadian Authors Association. He worked and travelled
extensively on the Coast of BC for most of his life. For 26 years, as
an accomplished computer professional, he lived in various northern BC
communities where he harbored the simple truth that writing would
eventually take over his life. Now that persistent dream, to his great satisfaction and pleasure, has become reality.
This
novel is the third of 5 to be produced by the author and his travels
around the coast of BC. 'The Five-Cent Murder' is expected to be
published fall of 2012.
My Thoughts
The author recounts a period of a few days in the '70s when he escaped a logging camp during a fierce flooding rain.
I requested this book through Netgalley, since I lived a time in the logging country of the Northwest and loved the area. I believe that this story actually takes place in Ontario, rather than the northwest, but it reminded me of my time around the Olympic mountains of Washington.
Generally speaking I don't think that the author is a great writer, but
that he is simply a good storyteller. He's the guy you want there when
you're sitting around the fire pit on a cold winter's night,
regaling one another with tales of your youth and foolishness. But at times, particularly early on, there were bits of strange descriptive text:
When we pulled up to the ferry dock, I saw the regal lady's snout was opened wide, lifted up like she was going through some kind of extreme dental procedure. A stream of cars, trucks and foot-passengers gorged themselves into her unnatural and gaping maw. (page 13)
The story follows the author to a "dry" logging camp (meaning it doesn't permit alcohol) during a record-setting rainstorm that goes on for days. The author and a fellow logger decide to sneak off and return later when the logging resumes. So over half of the story follows the author's travel to the camp and his short time at the camp, and the rest is the adventure of driving down off the mountain and returning to civilization in the downpour.
It was apparent that the author was Canadian, and at times I felt a little like an "outsider". Things like the use of the term "crow-hopped" in reference to how the car drove, which is a term with which I am totally unfamiliar. Since it was a clutch, I have to think maybe he's referring to the herky-jerky way a manual transmission car can drive when the clutch is let out too fast? Just one of those things you sometimes encounter with geographically-oriented stories that use regional terms and vocabulary.
My final word: This was a quick story that wound up being different than what I had expected. I thought it would be about a couple ofguys surviving harrowing flooding conditions for days in the wilds, rather than a few hours in a car (even if there were a couple of harrowing moments in the car). So again I come back to my analogy of sitting around the burn barrel on a cold night. This is a good story to entertain family and friends, but it's a little light to fulfill the demands of a full-fledged book. Perhaps it would make one of those good little brief books you buy at the local tourist center in the area?
I received a copy of this book to review
through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not
financially compensated in any way, and the opinions expressed are my
own and based on my observations while reading this novel.
Synopsis Karen Slavick met Adam
Lennard in 1991 on a kibbutz in Israel, where he declared his love for
her by passing out in her bed while he waited for her to return from a
midnight swim. Understandably, she never forgot him. Over a decade
later, they rekindled their romance and married— but then he fell asleep
again, and all hell broke loose. Though he’ s a romantic and
mild-mannered Englishman by day, Adam quickly morphs into the
uproariously foul-mouthed, vegetarian-hating, wildlife-obsessed
character beloved by millions as Sleep Talkin’ Man, and Karen has the
audio tapes to prove it.
These gems and more are
interspersed with the fantastic conversations Karen and Adam have when
he wakes, in which he attempts to interpret for Sleep Talkin’ Man, and
stories that recount how love can bloom— even when your beloved is a
nocturnal maniac. By turns crude and charming, Don’ t Let the Midget Out of the Wardrobe is a hilariously candid journey into one man’s dreamland.
(Note: I think this synopsis from Goodreads needs to be corrected, as it seems to mixup Sleep Talkin' Man with Don't Let the Midget Out of the Wardrobe, which was published June 5th 2012, but seems very similar to Sleep Talkin' Man.)
ebook, 192 pages Expected publication: January 8th 2013 by Collins (first published November 6th 2012) ISBN 1443412163 (ISBN13: 9781443412162)
About the Author from Facebook (since I can't find a bio for her, I took this from her Facebook profile)
As a child, my favorite pastime was dissecting fresh fish and labeling their fishy little parts on paper towels. I spent my teenagehood making an art of late-night public fountain splashing, one of the few diversions available to minors in Jersey. Somehow, paradox seems to define me: I'm wildly silly and intensely serious, unabashedly impulsive and overly analytical. I've lived on four continents, although I often play the homebody. Despite my well-earned cynicism, I'm far more naive and idealistic than I have any right to be.
I own my own power tools, and I wield them with panache. I am a firm believer in mutual worship. Dancing is one of my greatest passions. I read voraciously and the right music slays me. Ripe avocado rocks my world, as does This American Life.
I feel on track when I manage to back up my convictions with actions: I have volunteered for the last three elections and I’m lucky to work for a company that’s trying to do good in the world. My obsession with all creatures furry or feathered dictates that my holidays every year are spent volunteering at animal sanctuaries around the world. I have spent days snuggling elephants, nursing monkeys, nuzzling sloths, bottle-feeding otters, and massaging lions.
My desires are too numerous for this silly little square: I want to study elephants in Africa, and sing in a smoky blues bar, and live on a houseboat, and operate on human brains, and rhumba in the rain.
My Thoughts
"Hold me. I want you to feel greatness." "Oompa loompas don't sing in heaven. They tidy up the clouds." "Scientists in the future will completely struggle to work out how you were ever classified as an intelligent life form."
By day Adam Lennard is a kind, compassionate, and mild-mannered Englishman. By night he is crude, brash, insulting and threatening-- but very funny and very, very clever!
Soon after moving in together, Adam's girlfriend Karen (who herself is an insomniac) was startled to find Adam blurting outrageous remarks during his sleep. She began documenting his nocturnal expressions, and sharing them with family and friends. Eventually she invested in recording equipment to catch his regular utterings, and created a blog through which to share.
Now she is sharing it all through her new book simply titled Sleep Talkin' Man.
I became a fan of Sleep Talkin' Man (STM) through their blog, and have followed off and on for over a year. So I was happy to jump at the chance to read and review this book!
First let me say that visually I didn't find the layout very appealing, but I'm afraid that I'm not sure what to suggest to improve it. I kept finding all of the different fonts and sizes annoying. However I understand that they were attempting to make it interesting, rather than just have a bunch of quotes running down in a list with nothing of interest to catch the eye. Again...I'm afraid that I don't know how to resolve the issue with the layout, nor know how to clarify just what about it annoyed me so much!
And I'm not sure whether it's because it's an ARC, or if it will be the same in the finished copy, but the fact that there are no chapter numbers or names is a little disorienting.
Portions of the book are about their lives and a sort of memoir, and not about his sleep talking. I guess they needed more to write about, or it would just be 20 pages of sleep talkin' quotes! Some of the background was enjoyable to read, but by the time I got near the end of the book and reached a story about Adam getting a kitten from the SPCA at the age of nine, I was feeling as if they (the author? the editor?) were just stretching things out to give the book more mass and depth, and I found it getting a little tiresome.
But the meat of the book are the quotes, and they are everything fans of STM have come to love and expect. Some mutterings are sweet and innocent, some are devious and evil, and yet others are crude and offensive. But nearly all are just plain funny!
My final word: If you enjoy humor (especially crass and even cruel humor) and want to experience the mystery that is nocturnal speech and the unconscious mind, grab this one. You'll laugh yourself to sleep at night!
My Rating:
Disclosure:
I received a copy of this book to review through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not financially compensated in any way, and the opinions expressed are my own and based on my observations while reading this novel. The ebook that I received was an uncorrected proof, and quotes mentioned here could differ in the finished copy.
Four US Navy SEALS
departed one clear night in early July, 2005 for the mountainous
Afghanistan-Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Their task was
to document the activity of an al Qaeda leader rumored to have a small
army in a Taliban stronghold. Five days later, only one of those Navy
SEALS made it out alive. This is the story of the only survivor of
Operation Redwing, SEAL team leader Marcus Luttrell, and the
extraordinary firefight that led to the largest loss of life in American
Navy SEAL history. His squadmates fought valiantly beside him until he
was the only one left alive, blasted by an RPG into a place where his
pursuers could not find him. Over the next four days, terribly injured
and presumed dead, Luttrell crawled for miles through the mountains and
was taken in by sympathetic villagers who risked their lives to keep him
safe from surrounding Taliban warriors. A born and raised Texan, Marcus
Luttrell takes us from the rigors of SEAL training, where he and his
fellow SEALs discovered what it took to join the most elite of the
American special forces, to a fight in the desolate hills of Afghanistan
for which they never could have been prepared. His account of his
squadmates' heroism and mutual support renders an experience for which
two of his squadmates were posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for
combat heroism that is both heartrending and life-affirming. In this
rich chronicle of courage and sacrifice, honor and patriotism, Marcus
Luttrell delivers a powerful narrative of modern war.
ISBN-13: 9780316067591
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Publication date: 6/12/2007
Pages: 400
About the Author Petty Officer Marcus Luttrell joined the United States Navy in March
1999, became a combat-trained Navy SEAL in January 2002, and has served
in Afghanistan and Iraq. He lives in Texas. Patrick Robinson is known
for his best-selling US Navy-based novels and his autobiography of
Admiral Sir Sandy Woodward, One Hundred Days, was an
international bestseller. He lives in England and spends his summers in
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he and Luttrell wrote Lone Survivor.
My Thoughts
Good-byes tend to be curt among Navy SEALs. A quick backslap, a friendly bear hug, no one uttering what we're all thinking: Here we go again, guys, going to war, to another trouble spot, another half-assed enemy willing to try their luck against us...they must be out of their minds.
This book crosses many countries and cultures, but the heart of it takes place in the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan.
Marcus Lutrell is a Texas-boy through and through. Texans are a unique breed. Often arrogant and self-confident, yet warm and generous, Lutrell fits the bill. "Don't mess with Texas!"
Lutrell is raised in Texas by a tough father who pushes his boys to be their best-- and I mean pushes! They are pushed to give both their mental and physical best through constant training and drills, and at a young age Lutrell and his twin brother Morgan know that they want to become SEALs when they grow up. And both of them do just that. Lutrell joins the US Navy in 1999, and becomes a Navy SEAL in 2002.
On June 28, 2005, Lutrell and SEAL Team 10 are sent on a mission into Afghanistan to capture or kill whom he refers in the book to as Taliban leader Ben Sharmak, who the military had been tracking. However Wikipedia identifies the target as Mohammad Ismail alias Ahmad Shah, who survived the operation, but was later killed in 2008.
SEAL Team 10 consisted of Lutrell, Matthew Axelson, Michael Murphy (all visible in the image below) and Danny Dietz.
From left to right, STG2 Matthew G. Axelson; ITCS Daniel R. Healy, QM2
James Suh, HM2 Marcus Luttrell, MM2 Eric S. Patton, and Lt. Michael P.
Murphy.
This mission was namedOperation Redwing, and was carried out with absolute stealth. Hence the reason the SEALs were called in. With Murphy in command and Danny the prime communications guy, Lutrell and Axelson were assigned to be the snipers. Lutrell was also a trained medic.
The SEALs moved through the Hindu Kush mountains, eventually positioning themselves to watch the village where "Sharmack" was supposed to be located. While on surveillance, they are discovered by some goatherders. Everything in their guts tells them that the goatherders are friendly with the Taliban, and though unarmed, as soon as they are released they will run to inform the Taliban of the location of the SEAL team. A debate then follows between the team members as they must decide whether to let the herders leave, or execute them in order to secure their mission. There are issues either way. They hold a vote, and it is decided to let the herders go, almost certain that they will send the Taliban to kill the team.
Within 45 minutes or so, the Taliban has surrounded the team and they are engaged in a firefight. Over the next few hours the team is outnumbered probably 35 to 1, caught in a vicious firefight, wounded and pushed further and further down the mountain. There are great moments of heroism and bravery as one-by-one they are picked off. In the end, only Lutrell is still alive and on the run with the Taliban chasing him through the mountains.
Eventually he is found and taken in by a Pashtun tribe, and carried to their village where his wounds are treated and he is cared for. The tribe has an ancient tradition called lokhay. When they decide to extend their hospitality to a guest, they are bound to protect and care for that guest to the death. This pits them against the Taliban in securing the safety of Lutrell, and in their determination to return him to the Americans. Eventually they do just that.
The writing style was a little too relaxed for me. It was like I was
sitting in a bar and listening to him talk over a beer. It was a little
scattered and lacked very much structure. Additionally there is so much arrogance in the beginning that it could be a bit of a turnoff. But eventually I got used to the writing style and began to see the arrogance more as "confidence", and by the middle of the book I'd hit my groove.
However the one thing that kept bothering me was the continual derogatory attitude towards "liberals". I know Texans are staunchly conservative, but it would have been nice to see a little less bias and derogatory tone. It is quite evident that the author views liberals an enemy nearly paramount to the Taliban.
The details of the firefight are brutal. Movies portray people being shot and incapacitated quickly. You learn in
this book that is not always the case. These guys were shot repeatedly,
serious head, neck, back and stomach wounds, sometimes mortally shot,
and they kept going. They kept fighting- for themselves, for their
buddies, for their mission and their country.
The one thing that I missed in this book was the chance to really get to know these guys that died out on that mountain. However that didn't stop me from crying as I read of their bravery in the face of terror and pain.
There is a fair amount of vulgarity throughout this book. After all, there is a reason we refer to people as "talking like a sailor"!
Overall I would recommend this story-- for the middle. The beginning is a little too arrogant and brash, like a boy boasting of his conquests. The end a little too quiet as he recuperates and tours the US to visit with the family members of those who died in Operation Redwing. The middle, the heart of the story, is heart-wrenching and brutal and will have you in tears as you read what these boys went through and what they did for one another. Their love for one another is evident. Beautiful.
If you are intrigued by the Navy SEALs, if you don't shy away from brutality, if you can take the vulgarity and brashness, pick this one up. It will move you. My Rating: 8 out of 10
Meet Denver, a man raised under plantation-style slavery in Louisiana in the 1960s; a man who escaped, hopping a train to wander, homeless, for eighteen years on the streets of Dallas, Texas. No longer a slave, Denver's life was still hopeless-until God moved. First came a godly woman who prayed, listened, and obeyed. And then came her husband, Ron, an international arts dealer at home in a world of Armani-suited millionaires. And then they all came together.
But slavery takes many forms. Deborah discovers that she has cancer. In the face of possible death, she charges her husband to rescue Denver. Who will be saved, and who will be lost? What is the future for these unlikely three? What is God doing?
Same Kind of Different As Me is the emotional tale of their story: a telling of pain and laughter, doubt and tears, dug out between the bondages of this earth and the free possibility of heaven. No reader or listener will ever forget it.
Pub. Date: March 2008
Publisher: Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
Format: Paperback , 256pp
ISBN-13: 9780849919107
ISBN: 084991910X
Denver was born in rural Louisiana in January 1937, and after several tragic events went to live on a plantation in Red River Parish with his Uncle James and Aunt Ethel, who were share croppers.
Sometime around 1960, he hopped a freight train and began a life as a homeless drifter until 1966 when a judge awarded him a 10 year contract for hard labor at the Louisiana State School of Fools, aka, Angola Prison!
According to Denver, he went in a man and left a man and received a standing ovation from prisoners in the yard as he walked out of there in 1976. For the next 22 years he was homeless on the streets of Fort Worth, Texas. However, there were a few times after a brush with the law, he'd ride the rails visiting cities and hobo jungles across America, sampling regional cuisine like Vienna sausage with fellow passengers.
In 1998, "He never met Miss Debbie," Miss Debbie met him and his life was changed forever.
Today, he is an artist, public speaker, and volunteer for homeless causes. In 2006, as evidence of the complete turn around of his life, the citizens of Fort Worth honored him as "Philanthropist of the Year" for his work with homeless people at the Union Gospel Mission.
While my daddy was fightin´ the big war in the Pacific, my grandmother delivered me in the farmhouse kitchen near Blooming Grove, Texas, in September 1945. This was back in those days when country girls knew about birthin´ babies and lucky for me, because my granddaddy and the town doctor were on the bucket brigade of a barn fire that night. I grew up in the bed of my granddad's Chevy pickup till it was time to go to school.
My first grade teacher was an old maid named Miss Ellis at Riverside Elementary in Fort Worth who taught me to write and draw square houses with stick figures. Unfortunately, the school was torn down about 30 years ago to make way for a new 7-11. And that's a cryin´ shame because lots of folks have inquired it they could visit if and see the red brick wall where my 2nd grade teacher, Miss Poe, made me stick my nose in that chalk circle.
In the third grade, showing signs of talent, my momma curled my hair with a "Toni Home Permanent" and took me to an audition for the Texas Boys Choir. I made the soprano section, singing in shopping centers and county fairs for three years, until the director saw a whisker on my chin, and my voice moved south of the range for choirboys. During that time however, I managed to win "runner up" in the Browning Heights Elementary talent show by singing a rendition of Snookie Lanson's "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane."
The next year, my first original creation was a football mum fashioned from chrysanthemums I picked from our yard, adding glitter and streamers for my fourth grade cheerleader sweetheart. That was the only day I ever got to play halfback on a football team.
By the fifth grade I began to excel at dancing and racing on roller skates continuing for years, winning trophies and colored ribbons until I traded in my skates at age 14 for the down payment on a ‘55 Chevy convertible. At fifteen I was singing in a rock band playing at local VFW halls performing hits like "Mack the Knife" and "Scotch and Soda" for $5 a night. Continuing to explore all the talents God had given me (and several He did not), I started riding bulls until my nerve failed me when the chute gate opened. Next I took up boxing until a Lena Pope Home orphan named Jeff Perez beat me within an inch of my life in the Golden Gloves tournament.
Graduating from TCU, I managed to avoid classes on art, literature, or creative writing while pursuing Tri-Deltas and fraternity parties which made my resume prime for the job of Private in Uncle Sam's Army. With a little smooth talkin´ I landed a job in Colorado as a TOP SECRET nuclear weapons inspector! Using all the skills I learned in the Army, back in Fort Worth I landed a job selling Campbell soup. I dusted off Tomato Soup cans for $500 per month, while Andy Warhol made millions in New York painting them! In 1969, I married Deborah Short, my college sweetheart, who was embarrassed by the feather duster I had to carry in my back pocket, so I quit and got an MBA to become a municipal bond trader at the local bank.
In 1971, in Houston on a mission to buy water and sewer bonds for my bank, I happened on an art gallery where I bought my first original oil painting. Eighty-nine days later, under pressure, I sold it for a $2,000 profit, accidentally launching my art career. Actually, Debbie threatened to divorce me after finding out that I bought it on a 90 day loan by pledging the 50 shares of Ford stock her daddy gave her for a graduation present. I used the entire profit to smooth her ruffled feathers with diamonds and furs!
After twenty-five years I put art on the back burner to chase my dream of being a cowboy. My days were filled with ranching, team roping, cowboy poetry and anything else Debbie asked me to do, like being Denver's friend. After her death in November 2000, and unable to sleep, I began writing the book and making sculpture. I would stay up writing all night, and when writer's block set in I would fashion tiny sculptures from card board, Post-it-Notes, straight pins, Elmer's glue and paper clips. One day I took these to a welding shop near the ranch and with the help of a real welder began making them into large steel sculptures, "yard art" as my cowboy friends like to call it.
But with the success of our book Same Kind of Different as Me, I no longer find time for welding, selling or anything else but carrying Debbie's torch to cities all across America and playin´ with grand kids who have tagged me "Rocky Pop."
And thanks to folks from coast to coast the books are selling as fast as we can print them. That's the good news. However, most of the sculptures haven't found a home so they dot the landscape at Rocky Top providing buzzard roosts until the Sierra Club finds them unnatural and demands their removal.
Most of the story takes place across areas of Louisiana and Texas,with contrasting scenes of poverty and lavish wealth.
The Hall's Rocky Top homestead in Texas (from their website)
Denver was raised a black youth in abject poverty in the heart of Louisiana's sharecropping community, growing himself into a sharecropper as a young man, as he knew nothing else, before one day escaping into homelessness and what he surprisingly views as a better life than what he's previously known, because at least he is free and no longer a "modern day slave".
But you go on down to Louisiana right now, and take a drive on down the back roads in Red River Parish, and you might be able to see how a colored man that couldn’t read and didn’t have no radio, no car, no telephone, and not even ‘lectricity might fall through a crack in time and get stuck, like a clock that done wound down and quit. (Denver Moore, page 64)
Sometimes it’s drinkin or druggin that lands a man on the streets. And if he ain’t drinkin or druggin already, most fellas like me start in once we get there. It ain’t to have fun. It’s to have less misery. To try and forget that no matter how many “partners in crime” we might hook up with on the street, we is still alone. (Denver Moore, page 73)
Denver Moore in a Louisiana cotton field (from their website)
Ron is a successful art dealer living the American dream with a beautiful wife who has a heart of gold. While Ron and his wife Debbie are volunteering at a homeless shelter, Debbie determines that Ron needs to befriend the irascible and anti-social Denver. It takes some time, but eventually a friendship is born, shortly before heartbreak befalls them all.
Debbie is portrayed in the book nothing short of a saint. She is selfless, God-fearing (and God-loving), patient, compassionate and kind. Based on a dream she had (which she views as a vision from God), she pushes Ron to befriend Denver. Once Ron begins to build a relationship with Denver, he finally broaches the idea of he and Denver becoming "friends", to which follows a lovely moment when Denver shares his concerns over how white people practice "catch and release" when they go fishing, and he doesn't wish to be "caught and released" like one of those fish. Ron commits to keep Denver if he can catch him, and over the years their friendship grows into brotherhood.
As their friendship builds, Ron is repeatedly struck by the small town wisdom of this illiterate sharecropper/homeless man.
...I laid my key ring on the table between us at one of our earliest meetings for coffee.
Denver smiled a bit and sidled up to a cautious question. "I know it ain't none of my business, but does you own somethin that each one of them keys fits?"
I glanced at the keys; there were about ten of them. "I suppose," I replied, not really ever having thought about it.
"Are you sure you own them, or does they own you?" (Ron Hall, Pages 112-113)
I love the book's cover, which shows Denver standing by a railroad crossing sign, located near the tracks where he hopped aboard a freight train leaving Louisiana, but also indicative of being “from the other side of the tracks”. The font looks handwritten, the paper appears aged and stained. I felt it was perfectly matched to this story.
This book is 235 pages and 67 short chapters, which is how I prefer it. I only get to read is bursts, and I always appreciate having a good stopping point every few to a dozen pages. It also includes a Readers Guide, an Interview with the Authors, and a few pages of pictures.
My final word: This book was moving and inspiring, and well-suited for those interested in spiritual and inspirational stories, as well as those fond of memoirs. It goes beyond the trappings of life to the heart of the matter, and is proof that two people can move beyond societal lines to forge a lasting friendship that can weather any storm. And behind it all is a humble woman-- small of frame and great of spirit.
Ron and Denver, friends forever (from their website)
From surviving the wilds of the Texas Hill Country to a devastating battle with cancer, this is the story of Moses -- a beautiful, big, white dog who, from all indications, began his life as a livestock guard dog on a ranch in Texas (as do many dogs of his breed, the Great Pyrenees). Moses was taken in by a pet rescue group after having wandered onto a ranch in central Texas...homeless. After a few short months in foster care, Moses found his forever family and the road to immortality through their love and devotion.
In an authentic voice, the author tells the story of her beloved dog, Moses. Fate brought them together and something terrible ended their story far too soon. The Story of Moses recounts how Moses gained celebrity with friends, neighbors and strangers and earned the love and trust of both his human and four-legged family. As Moses illness is discovered and advances, life unravels like a loose thread in a well-worn sweater.
But, Moses' story is much, much more. It is the story of joy and hope and sorrow. It is the story of the wonderful dogs that came before, opening the door for Moses to walk through. It is the story of those left to remember and cherish. It is the story of survival in the midst of great loss-- of loving again, sheltering again, and living in the moment. It is knowing that, however painful, love remains and is the ultimate blessing.
The cast is a rich tableau of canine characters. There's Cleopatra, the first matriarch who won the author's heart and whose story is one of intelligence and grace and love. The story continues to unfold with Odin -- a fiercely loyal and protective dog whose will could not be broken and who loved Cleo immeasurably and grieved deeply and hauntingly through her loss. Odin was a mountain of a dog whose passing left a big hole in the lives of his owners and provided the impetus behind the search that led to Moses. Moses and his 'siblings' Bess, Samantha and Pax provide the next generation of antics and challenges in which Moses shines through with strength, willfulness and gentleness unmatched - a true, gentle giant. Though Moses' life ended tragically, his loving spirit lives on.
The book celebrates the individuality, intelligence and unconditional love of man's best friend. The book also dispels the myth of shelter and rescue dogs being undesirables while frankly exploring the pain and sorrow of loss and the soothing balm of trusted companions.
Animal lovers will delight in the stories of the amazing dogs that grace the pages and empathize over the ruthless destruction of canine cancer. Readers looking from the outside in who have not yet experienced the joy of pet ownership may well find themselves moved to do so.
About the Author
Jennifer Ross is a professional in the hospitality technology industry. she has been a dog owner and lover all her life and comes from a family that bread and raised German Shepherd show dogs. This is her first literary work. Currently she lives near Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband and three dogs-- Bess, Samantha and Pax.
10% of the Author's royalties are donated to pet rescue.
My Thoughts
This book is all heart. Author Jennifer Ross introduces us to her canine companions, one by one, sharing all of their little quirks and idiosyncrasies-- the full breadth of their individual personalities. When all is said and done, we are carried on an emotional journey of animal ownership and companionship, and the heartbreak of loss.
Anyone who has had a dog can identify with the laughter, frustration, heartbreak and pure bliss that they bring to your life, and this book is full of it all. Charming!
My Rating: 8 out of 10
I received a copy of this book to review from the author, in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not financially compensated in any way, and the opinions expressed are my own and based on my observations while reading this novel.
Ghellow Road is a literary diary of a young girl's journey through the tangled labyrinth that is her life. Theresa's story begins in a large midwestern city where she is born to loving parents in 1965. For a brief moment in time, her life is full, as is her heart, and the world is hers to receive without consequence. As time passes and Theresa grows, supernatural forces begin to shape her existence, no matter how carefully her father colors the empty spaces of her world. After a series of tragic events, Theresa and her family seek refuge in a small Minnesota town nestled near the shores of Rainy Lake. She creates a new life for herself there, sharing adventures with friends and riding the ups and downs of adolescence. Yet through it all, her mother remains forever lost in the prison of her own mind and forever lost to Theresa. The young girl feels as though she is leading a double life, one that no one else could possibly understand. She begins to peer at the world as if looking through a thick, black veil, never certain which pieces are illusion and which are not. Through the kindness and support of the townspeople, She eventually summons the strength to survive. This is a story of tragedy and triumph. This is the story of my life.
T.H. Waters lives in the charming city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she resides with her significant other and their two adorable kitty cats. She spent the first half of her childhood in Minneapolis before moving to International Falls, Minnesota, in 1975. Compelled to write this book based upon the unique experiences of her youth, she is grateful for the privilege of finally being able to live out loud.
The story takes place in Minneapolis and International Falls, Minnesota.
I wasn't sure what to expect when I began this book, and I really kept my expectations low. However I found myself pleasantly surprised with the genuineness and honest humor used to share the author's story.
This story really hit home for me. Growing up, my best friend spent several years living in much the same way as the author, and I was the stable friend in her life.
While the circumstances may have differed, I could certainly identify with the feelings surrounding many of the situations the author dealt with as a kid. I came from a pretty stable home, but my best friend had a mother who mentally checked out for awhile, had two-way conversations with Jesus and Moses, and eventually was institutionalized. I’ve seen some of the behavior described in the book firsthand, and have sat and cried with my friend as we were separated from one another when she had to go live with other family members. I’m all too familiar with The Invisibles mentioned in the book, and remember the chills of listening to my friend's mother carry on conversations with her own invisible visitors.
The author's description of herself as a kid, and the way that she covered up her pain with a put-on bubbly personality, is even reminiscent of my friend, as well as the explosive way she would speak to her mother in anger, pain, frustration, embarrassment and helplessness.
I was really impressed with the author's writing style, as it far-exceeded my expectations. I found it engaging and effective, easy-to-read and unpretentious.
Happily, you are left in the end with hope and promise for the future of the author following a childhood of turmoil.
Quotes:
I swore that someday, when I grew up, I was going to have that, too, and the blood running through my veins would flow into a valley where the scent of despair never dared permeate. (p. 59)
The rest of that summer dragged on, and I dragged right behind it like a bunch of empty beer cans tied to a trailer hitch on the Charter Bus to Boredom. (p. 131)
My final word: I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this memoir to anyone. Fresh, heartfelt and sincere, I embraced this story wholeheartedly.
My Rating: 8 out of 10
Disclosure:
I received a copy of this book to review the author T.H. Waters, in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not financially compensated in any way, and the opinions expressed are my own and based on my observations while reading this novel.
Blogging since 2009, I'm a south Florida girl living in the home of mudding and hog hunting. Just trying to survive amid too many books and vastly outnumbered by a ZooCrew, hoping not to wind up a trophy head mounted on someone's wall in the process. Lover of lists, an eternal procrastinator, and really just a flower child at heart.
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