Book Description

Reviews (35)

Great!
Intended to convince northerners -- particularly women -- of the rankness of Slavery, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl presents a powerful autobiography and convincing writing that reads like a gripping novel but is organized and argued like an essay.

Incidents follows the "true story" (its authenticity is doubted in some places) of Linda [Jacobs uses a pseudonym] who is born into the shackles of slavery and yearns for freedom. She lives with a depraved slave master who dehumanizes her, and a mistress who mistreats her. As the novel progresses, Linda becomes increasingly starved of freedom and resolves to escape, but Linda finds that even escaping presents its problems.

But Incidents is more than just a gripping narration of one woman's crusade for freedom, and is rather an organized attack on Slavery, intended to convince even the most apathetic of northerners. And in this too, Incidents succeeds. The writing is clear, and Jacobs' use of rhetorical strategy to preserve integrity is astonishing.

Well written, convincing, entertaining, Incidents is an amazing book.

This Story Must Be Told Often!
Incidents in the Life Of A Slave Girl is a harrowing, personal experience of a AA female born and raised during the tumultuous, infamous and tragic era of slavery in America's history. Harriett Jacobs, aka Linda Brent, tells in her own voice-one that is explicit and easy to understand-the story of a young woman born into the brutal, horrendous slavery era who later escapes to freedom in the North. Incidents is emotional and the feelings are raw as you experience the tale of a slave who desired freedom so badly that she hid for SEVEN YEARS in a narrow, cramped quarter without much freedom of movement. The story is riveting and moving and shows what an individual is able to accomplish in spite of sex, race and slavery. Incidents is a story of bravery in light of insurmountable circumstances and ones belief that they can succeed in spite of unmeasurable difficulties.

Incidents is an excellent reading selection for a bookgroup and a book that I highly recommend to everyone. Remember the story and share the story so that history doesn't repeat itself.

So many things said already...
I have read a lot of the past reviews and I consider this story as part of the American narrative that can't be dismissed. Yes, it sounds unbelivable when we look at the lives that we lead today but this was reality to so many people in the past. It takes the life of a black woman living in slavery and presents in interesting story that reads a lot like fiction. It is so easy to foget that it was real. Traditionaly women have been left out of history, especially black women, slave women... This is an unseen element of history that has to start being seen. I don't think that I could recomend a better book to read.

a bit unbelievable
But..... a fairly easy read with a simplistic viewpoint.

A priceless legacy...
Born in 1813, "Linda Brent" (as Harriet Jacobs renames herself) lived to play the role of nurse - as a free woman - during the Civil War. The long journey that took her there began on the day she realized, as a six-year-old who had just become motherless, that she was a slave.

The first mistress she served treated little Linda kindly. When the girl was 12 years old, and her mistress died, Linda and her family hoped the will might leave her free. Instead, it bequeathed her to the dead mistress's 5-year-old niece. This placed Linda under the control of Dr. Flint, her new little mistress's father, and his selfish, cruel wife. The slaves of the Flint household were always hungry, often beaten; and, if female and attractive, quite likely to bear Dr. Flint's offspring.

Linda Brent refused to submit to her master's advances. Instead she bore two children to another white man, in hopes her lover might buy and free her - which couldn't happen unless Dr. Flint, on behalf of his daughter, proved willing to sell. But Dr. Flint was anything else but willing to part with his uncooperative property. So began a long battle of wits and wills, one that for Linda had the highest stakes imaginable.

This well documented true story of a woman's life as property had trouble finding a publisher in its own era. Even today it's not easy reading. Unflinchingly honest even when she's recounting her own errors and weaknesses, Harriet Jacobs leaves the world a priceless legacy in these memoirs of her battle for freedom.

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of ROUGH RIDER ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (7)

Not just for those invloved in a gang
After reading Reymundo Sanchez's first book "My Bloody Life", i wanted to know more. I was excited when i heard there was a second autobiography! This was a great book, and needless to say, i finished it two days! Yes, there is excitement from the beginning to the end, but this isnt a book only for those involved in a gang or associated with that lifestyle. Reymundo reminds us ALL that with hardwork and determination, you too can succeed. Enjoy.

AMOR DE REY TO A TRUE KING
the book titled once a king always a king chronicles my homeboy reymundo sanchez's aftermath after a ruthless killing in humboldt park following his violation out of the Latin Kings. Being a King myself i feel that the nation at the time of king lil locos violation, took a turn for the worst when everyone lost their thirst and love for the manifesto, Big things like self respect, death before dishonor, and drug abuse became very hypocritically viewed by older brothers in the nation, thus setting the entire youth of the up and comming nation ablaze,King lil loco pointed this out when he was incarcerated in this book when he sat with an older king who was taken by Locos drive and desires. Its a goddamn shame that the only kings around who actually know whats going on are locked up. So thats why as a hard working latino who is serving his country in the middle east in a war that nobody back home appreciates, I take pride in everything that i do. I mean hell if i had to go back to my roots...and bring my roots into my life that i am living today, Id have every one of my latin brothers and sisters out here with me throwing up king love and respecting each other, But refering back to loco's new profession in corporate america, people are just as cutthroat in this profession as they are in Gangs. Call me stuck in my old ways or whatever the hell you wish. But i am a king who was brought into the nation by those who believed in restoring the nation back into the respectful organization that everyone used to love and adore. I believe one day i will rise and conquer from this crap im out here doing for my country, and continue to prosper back in my old neighborhood and become a mentor for the kids comming up in the streets i grew up in. Im all about getting the kids involved with school, sports, and being active in thier society....Proactive i mean. I hit alot of bumps on my road to becoming the respect worthy individual i am today. But reading this book showed me that anything is possible for anybody who has the heart to fight....for those who are tired of struggling....for those who can take no more and wish to fight for themselves....Im saying that the world is infinate for those who possess inner motivation. weather this be pain and sorrow combined with heartlessness, you can channel this all into something positive if you live for a brighter day. And on that note i would just love to say to my brother reymundo sanchez: Thank you for living for a brighter day, its because of you that i now think in a brighter way. Amor de rey my brother. and even though your older and have your family and something to live for, Its because of stories like yours that make it possible for me to spread the word of a better nation of latinos in my community, I plan on taking my streets back in a possitive way when i get home. I thank you for your strengths and also your confrontations of your weaknesses-"the mark of a real man" To all those reading this review if you are from a background similar reymundo's as well as my own. then i suggest you read this book. Weather you be in the lifestyle, or on the outside looking in.Lil Loco's story is extremly compelling and inspiring...one love everybody, and to all my kings educated in the old ways reading this...Amor de rey....and remember....The true meanings of the manifesto are lost, not forgotton...1
~king5150~ \^/\^/360 worldwide

outstanding
i never read a book i always got to page 1 and put it down but once i seen my older brother reading and so into the book i started to read it. When i was reading it i felt like i was there it was so cool i hope some day the people in the streets read this book to see how much he has been throgh and how much you could go throgh if you join a gang. i have learn alot reading this book. I'm not going to mess up like he did.i'll give this book 10 stars **********

All the King's Horses and All the King's Men...
"I just want to know why me, why...me!" Reymundo Sanchez wails during an explosive argument with his estranged sister about how, as a child, he suffered years of abuse at the hands of their mother. That question, which occurs about two-thirds of the way through this sorrowful memoir, haunts every page of this book, and indeed seems to have been the theme of much of Mr. Sanchez's scarred, young life.

Born in 1963 to a 16-year-old mother and a 74-year-old father in the hilltop village of Cayey, Puerto Rico, Sanchez (a nom de guerre) survived being raped and beaten by his 18-year-old cousin at age five. After his father died, his mother quickly remarried, decamped Puerto Rico, and moved the family to Chicago. There, Sanchez suffered another wave of physical and psychological torment from his mother and stepfather (and, subsequently, a third father figure named "Pedro") while his sisters seemed to escape much, if not all, of the mistreatment. At 13, Sanchez found himself alone on the mean streets of Chicago, after his mother cast him out of the family home.

By the mid-1970s, the Latin Kings had established themselves as a highly organized megagang in Chicago, and their mantra "Amor de Rey" ("King Love") seemed to hold the promise of a better, if not love-filled existence for Sanchez, who quickly joined. To his dismay, though, he found only further violence and ruinous relationships in his newly adopted "family." Still, as a gang member, there were other castaways with whom he could relate, and although he hated what was required of him to maintain his membership, at least he felt a sense of belonging.

Eventually, even the brotherhood of the Kings proved to be an illusion, and for the next ten blood-splattered years, Sanchez existed at the fringes of society on the unkindness of strangers and on a steady diet of alcohol, cocaine, and loveless sex. In the name of the Latin Kings, he also returned to society much of the brutality that had been inflicted upon him, by participating in the usual gang fare of beatings, shootings, and other acts of violence and revenge.

Most of these events are chronicled in Sanchez's first book, My Bloody Life: The Making of a Latin King (Chicago Review Press, 2000), a savage record of a young immigrant's cold life on the streets, whose hopeful finale had Sanchez quitting the Latin Kings and thinking ahead to college.

In this tortured sequel, Sanchez lets us know that that is not how things turned out.

Like Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Part III, Sanchez proved no match for the lure of la familia, and was pulled back into the thick of the Latin Kings" lucrative drug trade, despite numerous attempts to stay out. He acknowledges that trying to give up gang life "is like trying to quit an addiction."

After he was arrested and convicted on a drug trafficking charge, the young gangbanger spent two years in a state prison, which, he says, turned out to be his salvation. Sanchez reports that it was a turning point in his life, and freely admits that, paradoxically, it was his membership in the Latin Kings that afforded him that singular opportunity. He used his time inside to educate himself, to write, and to begin reflecting on all that happened in his life -- this time from an adult perspective, and in relative seclusion.

In a series of emotional hemorrhages, Sanchez resurrects his tangled past, in particular, several ill-starred sexual relationships he had with women he mistook for people who cared, in part, one would imagine, out of a desperate need to relieve his own immense suffering, to feel loved, and to feel, finally, a sense of belonging to someone, anyone. Only in a coda tacked on at the end of the book does he reveal perhaps the real source of his impulsive behavior, and it's as eye-opening as it is troubling.

While the first half of Once a King focuses on Sanchez's misdeeds as a "restored" member of the Latin Kings, the second half centers around his life-redeeming but ultimately ill-fated relationship with a discontented feminist named Marilyn. Marilyn seems to be the first person in Sanchez's life who challenges his intellect, and whom he can trust with the knowledge of his horrific past. It is therefore devastating to Sanchez when she uses his past against him in a heated and ultimately violent exchange that alters their relationship forever. As Sanchez recalls: "The one and only person I had ever opened up to about that experience with my cousin had just used my own words to destroy me."

But destroy him it didn't. In a final chapter titled "Here and Now," Sanchez seems to have achieved another level of self-awareness and acceptance, even if he still seems disquieted about the past. Although his family's lifelong indifference toward him still haunts him, he has come to terms with it.

As a sequel to My Bloody Life, Once a King is best understood in the context of the earlier book. Like its predecessor, it is a somber, intense pathography, but offers a somewhat deeper insight into its author's tender psyche.

Sanchez's narrative style is effortless and evocative; its power lies in the naked honesty with which he chronicles his ultimate deliverance from the past. There are times when it seems he is revealing too much about himself; at other times, it's hard not to want to reach through the page, extract him from the situation he's in, and give him a life-affirming hug. Though the prose has its flaws ("Hearing the name made me mentally reminisce about the old days") and occasional cliches ("I had been robbed of my childhood and young adulthood"), Sanchez hits his mark so often, and with such resonance and candor, that it is easy to forgive him the occasional miss. --Jeff Evans, author of Undoing Time: American Prisoners in Their Own Words

Incredibly Real
I enjoy reading, in fact their is nothing that I enjoy more then curling up with a good book. I finished Part I, and when I realized their was a part II I ran to the bookstore and picked it up, this book is amazing, very easy to read, keeps you captivated from the moment you start to reading it, very exciting, and you only wish you can locate his mother and find out why she did the things she did. I am a native of Chicago and very familiar with all of the streets, and even Bellas Pizza, you only wish you could have been around to give the author the love he needed growing up. An excellent book, I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Book Description

Eight-time Grammy Award®-winner CeCe Winans has broken new ground as a superstar of gospel: her celebrated career includes Platinum and Gold albums, collaborations with Whitney Houston, and forays into television and the Broadway stage. She's also a loving wife and mother, whose commitment to family and faith in God's grace have helped her keep her spiritual balance every day. Now CeCe Winans recalls a life full of blessings in this warm and intimate memoir.

On a Positive Note is CeCe's inspiring story of the road she took from a church-centered, musical home in the projects of Detroit, where she was one of ten children, to the glamorous but dizzying heights of international fame and award-winning success. She portrays how a bashful little girl blossomed into a young woman ready to take the brave step of leaving home, along with her brother BeBe, to work as a background singer on Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's television program. She offers the courageous testimony of a rising recording star, confronted with new opportunities, people, and experiences, who must rely on the values she was taught as a child to guide her through life-changing decisions. She tells the wonderful story of meeting the man who became her husband, soul mate, and best friend. And finally, CeCe Winans shares a moving and candid account of her lifelong attempt, through times of tears and laughter, to sing of God's glory and live with His love in her heart.

With the Grammy®, Dove™, Stellar™, and NAACP Image Awards™ she has earned -- both on her own and in partnership with BeBe -- and with such career highlights as sharing the stage with her friend Whitney Houston before a worldwide television audience, CeCe's life certainly has its fairy-tale aspects. But CeCe is also a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend who uses all the talent and energy she is blessed with to be the best she can be in all her roles. CeCe's reflections offer a reassuring sense of companionship to women facing their own challenges, doubts, and hopes -- and an inspiration to keep the fires of faith burning bright.

... Read more

Reviews (21)

A Very Personal Experience
I am constantly amazed at the magnitude of CeCe Winans musical and spiritual capabilities and I am pleased to say that her gifts do not end there. On A Positive Note is a beautiful piece. In it, there is a very natural and earthy quality that reaches the reader to relate the story CeCe seeks to tell. The flow of the book is very smooth; transitions are made nicely from one subject to the next as she relates her story. I cannot stress enough how the personal the experience of reading this book feels and how natural the language reads. CeCe has done it again. God is consistently working through her in a mighty way.

Faithfulness Brings Blessings
I read this book and I was so blessed by it.Throughout it, Cece constantly discusses the fact the she was taught to give up the world for God.This blessed me because it is evident in the way that God has blessed her music ministry that if we give up the world for God that he will do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could ask or think in our lives.It was awesome to read about how God just kept blessing her life because the posture of heart was correct towards him.It was great to read a story about saved artist who had just been taught to live holy and to see the rewards of doing it.I was blessed and truly encouraged through this book.

Excellent and very well written
While reading "On a Positive Note" by CeCe Winans, I was taken back into a time when I myself was growing up, how her childhood memories was very similar to my own.I also grew up in a large family, and reading her book brought back so many memories of my past.Despite all the tribulations and triumphs of her life, she managed to hold on to her spiritual belief, letting it guide her through her every decision in life."On A Positive Note" has inspired me, lifted me to a higher level of praising the Lord and reminded me to always put God before each decision throughout my life.This book was quite a page turner that filled my heart with laughter, joy, tears, praise, sadness and forgiveness.I was moved to pray for Ronald myself as she astoundingly shared his testimony.My thirteen year old daughter is now reading this wonderful book and I will reccommend it to everyone I know.

http://pages.ivillage.com/cassie23/

Inspirational Book
This book, "On A Positive Note", was truly an inspiration.I didn't want to put the book down.Ms. Winans biography was written so that you felt that you were right there in that moment of time.Again,GREAT BIOGRAPHY!

Inspirational Book
This book was truly an inspiration.I didn't want to put the book down.Ms. Winans biography was written so that you felt that you were right there in that moment of time.Again,GREAT BIOGRAPHY! ... Read more

Book Description

Millions have seen him on his nationwide TV show, dispensing justice in his own charismatic style. But Judge Greg Mathis’s own rise to success has been a trial by fire. In this truly candid memoir, his harrowing life on both sides of the law is revealed for the first time.

It starts in Detroit—but far from the court where Greg would one day preside. Raised in the hell of the Herman Garden Projects, he grows to become a “bad-ass, cool-dressing, do-anything gangsta.” His father gone, his mother juggling two jobs, he falls in with the Errol Flynns—“funkified English gentlemen” in three-piece suits and Borsalino hats, urban Robin Hoods who are truly stylish as they steal from everyone and give to themselves.

Considered bright but incorrigible, Greg is sent to stay in his middle-class cousin’s mixed neighborhood, where he enlists the local white youth in wrongdoing. Even jail can’t keep him from going bad again once he gets out. Then a threat to his beloved mother causes a shaken Greg to make a promise in a prayer to God: save my mother and I will straighten up.

To his and everyone else’s surprise, he keeps his side of the bargain. Inspired by The Autobiography of Malcolm X, working at McDonald’s by day and attending classes by night, Greg pulls himself through high school and college and then law school, using in positive ways the innate intelligence that made him a master at crime. Soon he becomes the youngest judge in Michigan history, a District Court judge and, at last, undaunted by the odds and propelled by his personal story, a sought-after and highly paid TV star.

In its blunt, bold, and sometimes hair-raising honesty, Inner City Miracle is both a cautionary and an inspiring story, one sure to stun all those who come to Judge Mathis’s TV courtroom every day. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

i like judge mathis
I THINK JUDGE IS A POSITIVE PERSON ,AND HIS STORY SPEAKS FOR IT SELF, IT IS UPTO YOU TO MAKE A DIFFERENT IN YOUR LIFE. YOU CAN DO IF YOU WANT IT BAD ENOUGH. AND I FEEL IT IS ALL WANT YOU WANT OUT OF LIFE. WITH PRAY, AND WITH GOOD PEOPLE BEHIND YOU WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENT. AND IT GOES TO SHOW AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT JUDGE MATHIS DIDWITH GODS HELP. BECAUSE HE HAD TO HAVE GOD IN HIS LIFE IN OTHER TO GET AS FAR AS HE GOTTEN. I LOVE THE MAN, HE MAKES MY DAY. AND MAY GOD CON'T TO BLESS HIM AND HIS FAMILY. AND FROM WHAT I HAVE READ SO FAR I LOVE THE BOOK. HE IS A ROLL MODEL I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO MEET HIM . ONE DAY
AND I LOVE HIS SHOW KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.BECAUSE HE IS A COMDEIAN ALSO HE COULD BE ONE

Inner City Debacle
Judge Mathis is an ass! His book was even worse than his show, which I didn't think was possible. He's a disgrace to his profession, and I hope nobody takes any of the advice in this work of fiction. This guy is either a liar or a hypocrite....pick one. Hey "The Honorable" Greg......get your own house together before you lecture others, you jackass.

Inspiration for People from All Walks of Life
The courage Greg Mathis exhibited in turning his life around is phenomenal! This book not only serves as inspiration for inner-city young people but anyone who has taken a wrong turn in life. This wrong turn could be criminal in nature or it could be a mistake in choosing a mate or career. Whatever the mistake or wrong turn, Greg Mathis' life proves you can "turn it around." I know Greg on a personal basis and met him through my friendship with his aunt Eva and her son, Walter. I can truly say Greg is a compassionate and down to earth man who freely shares his blessings with family and friends.

Miracles Do Happen In The Innercity
I was originally drawn to this book about Greg Mathis because while in an airport traveling from Chicago back to LA, I happened to catch his tv show. I was impressed by his style in the courtroom so when I heard that he had written a book about his story, I thought let me pick it up. I had no idea about his background so at first I was physically afraid of this young Greg Mathis in which his book went on to described. I continued to read because I kept thinking when is the miracle going to happen. I was not sure that he would ever become anything more than what he was at the time, a thug and a criminal. Finally, more than half way through the book, the miracle happened and I found myself rooting for the young man, Greg Mathis. In short, his story touched my heart in a different way. Although I'm an african american women and grew up in Chicago during the 1960s and 1970s. The life that Judge Mathis described in his book was foreign to me. But I was so impressed with his determination, preseverance, hard work and his ability to never give up. While I don't have a lot of street smarts I found myself thinking perhaps I had been more judgmental in my past about the young boys who grew up in the project because I totally saw the change in Judge Mathis in this book. I'm glad that I read it and have been sharing with others that it is definitely a must read for all ages. The bottom line is anybody can be anything they want to be if they work at it and become discipline. Kudos to Judge Mathis and other african american males who have decided to allow the miracle to happen in their lives.

You can succeed despite the odds
The person who we see on television, and recognize as a no nonsense type of character, Judge Greg Mathis has lead an interesting life. If you watch his program, her very often alludes to his childhood but to get a deeper understanding, you have to read Inner City Miracle. Sure he's brash, but he's real. The youngest of 4 children, Greg was an oxymoron- a contradiction between what his mother wanted him to be and what he wanted to be. A student who excelled in class work, but arguably was the meanest bully in school. Teachers struggled with him' great grades but a horrible attitude. His idols were gangsters, pimps, drug dealers- the malcontents of society who always had money and loved to flash it. Growing up poor, naturally the lure of money was enticing. His older brothers weren't role models for they too aspired to greatness with little regard to the law. Greg and his siblings were lucky that they didn't meet their maker at a young age. His mother was the family backbone. She ruled with tough love, often kicking out her older sons until they could prove they were worthy of returning to the fold. Back to contradictions, he always strived to please her. His good grades, his weekly attendance in church services, his participation in church activities, his innate need to care for his mother made his other side so unbelievable. Mother wanted all of her children to succeed but there came a point when she even had to call the police on Greg. This was the turning point in a troubled young man's life.

As Judge Mathis has publicly said on many occasions, the system that sentences so many youth to prison is the same system that helped him become the person that he is today. Defining change came when he was incarcerated and had visiting time with his mother. She told him that she was dying and that he needed to do something else with his life. He began from that point forward, a lifestyle that would make his mother proud. The judge sentenced him to get a GED and get a job or he would be back in jail. He did just that. He didn't stop there, he went on to college, he worked in city government, he managed election campaigns for Jesse Jackson, he married, he went to law school, and sued for the right to practice law in spite of his criminal background. His mother saw none of this but he believes that she's with him and still motivating him today.

Inner City Miracle is an inspirational story, one that should be read by all of the seemingly hopeless youths of today. This should be required reading for those in juvenile detention. There is hope, in spite of present circumstances if you feel motivated. Judge Greg Mathis, and countless others, are proof. Out of ashes can rise a phoenix. Just because things look a certain way doesn't automatically define the future. ... Read more

Book Description

In this remarkable book, 103-year-old George Dawson, a slave's grandson who learned to read at age 98, reflects on his life and offers valuable lessons in living as well as a fresh, firsthand view of America during the twentieth century. Richard Glaubman captures Dawson's irresistible voice and view of the world, offering insights into humanity, history, hardships, and happiness. From segregation and civil rights, to the wars, presidents, and defining moments in history, George Dawson's description and assessment of the last century inspires readers with the message that-through it all-has sustained him: "Life is so good. I do believe it's getting better." ... Read more

Reviews (69)

A Book For Students and Teachers of All ages
George Dawson is a remarkable man. He was the son of a slave and grew up in Texas. At the age of four he began working the family farm. At twelve he was sent out as a hired hand to help earn money for his family. He left home at twenty-one and traveled the country by rail. He worked hard all his life and encountered many hardships but there is no bitterness in this book as there is in so many memoirs today. This book is like a mini lesson in American history from a black respective. I loved this book because it showed so much perserverance and determination. George Dawson never was able to go to school as a child because he always had to work but at the age of 98 he learned to read! At 103 he was working on his G.E.D. He died in June of 2001. I read part of his story to my first grade class this year and they were fascinated. It shows how it is never too late to learn. This is the best book I have read all year.

An inspiring, true story
This book is about the life of George Dawson, a remarkable 101-year-old man who is the grandson of slaves. Born in 1898, he tells of what life was like in Texas before integration. He turned away racial hatred by his gentle manner and kept his dignity during the most trying circumstances. He did manual labor from the time he was 4 until he was 90, and at age 98 he began to look for new challenges and so decided to go to Adult Education classes and learn to read. When he was growing up, he was always working,and as the oldest son he was depended upon to contribute financially to his family. His younger brothers and sisters went to school, but he never had a chance until someone knocked on his door and offered him the chance to learn to read. His quiet dignity shines through the pages as his story is told to co-author, Richard Glaubman. Glaubman is an elementary school teacher from Washington who became fascinated with a newspaper article he read about Dawson in a Seattle paper. The two became good friends over the course of the writing of this book and it is told in a narrative style of two friends chatting about the past. Some of the most interesting stories involve Dawson's early years and the times in his 20's when he traveled around the country just to satisfy his wanderlust. This is a wonderful book and in the course of reading it I felt as if I'd gotten to know a very special person

104 and still going¿
Imagine being the grandson of slaves, learning how to read at the age of 98 and living through one whole century. A rare life like this is proudly owned by one very lucky man named George Dawson. A writer named Richard Glaubman and George wrote a book together called "Life is so Good". This book takes you on an amazing adventure through this man's life. He lived all the way back to the awful times of segregation between blacks and whites, and the Depression at the beginning of the 20th century. Fast forward the date all the way to the 21st century, he is still as healthy and active as ever at the age of 104. One of the things I enjoyed the most about Mr. Dawson's book was that he would always do his very best and never gave up even when things were really tough.

The most interesting book Iv'e ever read!
When my teacher said that we were going to read a book outloud I thought oh no another baby book! but when I heard the first chapter I couldn't wait to read the rest it was so exciting and to know that this really happened it was like taking a trip to a virtual tour through history! Maybe it isn't the best book ever. Maybe the fact that my PE teacher is the author inched me to think it was great I love it! When I heard that Gorege Dawson was coming to our school I was thrilled I even got to shake Goerge Dawsons hand! This book is probably the best book I've ever read! It's true.

After 5 years, I still think about this book
I read this book about 5 years ago and have never forgotten it. I wanted my grandson to read it, but I couldn't remember the title and was so glad after trying many searches to find it. This is one of those quiet books. I found it very engaging and soulful when I read it, but I have only come to understand recently how much it affected me. I still think about it often. This is a sign of a great book. ... Read more

Reviews (50)

HAVING OUR SAY BOOK REVIEW
HAVING OUR SAY by Sarah L. Delany and Elizabeth Delany with AmyHill Hearth is a great book that describes an american black familythat lived in the l9 and 20 centuries.It is about the problems they found, their fights, their life.Finally this book shows us the history at racism between black and white people in those centuries.Also this book brings to us an important history of american culture. This book talks about two sisters, sadie and Bessie who lived in Raleigh, North Corolina,on the campus of St. Augustine's college with their parents. I liked to read this book and I recommend it to everybody who wants to know about American Black History. END

American History at its best
Having Our Say is a remarkable book written by Sadie and Bessie Delany that details their lives over a hundred year period.

Bessie and Sadie grew up in a large family on the campus of Saint Augustine's school in Raleigh, North Carolina during the 90s. They led sheltered lives; Sadie was quiet and well mannered whereas Bessie was very quick to anger and opinionated. They were also very intelligent women who were taught early on to aim high. In a time when most people did not go to school beyond high school, Bessie and Sadie received college degrees. Bessie became the second black woman to practice dentistry in New York.
Sadie became the first black home economics teacher in a New York high school. The Delany sisters spoke their minds, and what they give the reader is a story of pure American history.

This autobiography is filled with stories about racism and how it affected their lives. Sadie and Bessie lived together for over a hundred years. Although the sisters are deceased, their story and words of wisdom live on in the hearts and minds of readers.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in American History. This book is the best history book I've read and the pictures in the book make the story come alive.

Reviewed by Dorothy Cooperwood

An Amazing Story, it touched my heart!
All I can say is wow! This book was truly an inspiration for me. I learned a piece of my history that I don't often get to hear about from the point of view of people who actually lived it. These women went out there and made a positive contribution to the world and stayed true and honorable to themselves at a time when being black in America was a crime. To know that amid all the turmoil and opression it didn't stop them from getting their degrees and becomming prominant and just plain old good American citizens. My heart is proud...The Delany sisters are truly the ultimate representation of Black America. I suggest anyone interested in American, Women, and Black history (which all coincides anyway)to pick up this book and read it. You'll find pride and strengh in these sister's story.

Not dull if your old
Having Our Say is basically a recollection by two sisters, Sadie and Bessie Delaney (aged 102 and 104) of their lives. They began their tale way back with their great grandfather and great grandmother who were slaves and progress onward with their family history from there. Their lives seem to be full of great adventures and accomplishments as they recall them back to you, for example Bessie becoming the second black woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York. Many historical events are chronicled through this moving historical record such as the Golden Age of Harlem and the Post Reconstructive South. The sisters go through many things such as Sadie almost getting lynched but they never allow them to bring them down. Even at age 102 and 104, which is the age they began to write the book they are still full of joy and encouragement for life.

The one thing I liked about the book was learning about some of our nation's lesser-known history from a different perspective. Since, it's a true story a lot of historical events were mentioned and I found out how it really was for black people during their younger years. One particular event that sticks out is when Sadie gets dared to drink from the whites only fountain and does it, though her father catches her. Its hard to believe that America was really like that in the past. This book was really a learning experience and I found out about things I wouldn't have otherwise.

The thing I disliked this book was its lack of action. It sometimes got very boring because it seemed to be relaying things no one cared about. Points in the book were often focused on to long until it lost your attention. For example, five pages would be used to describe the detail of some very minor thing. I wouldn't recommend it to people who love a book with mystery or suspense because this book has none. Its almost like your going to know what happens before it does.

Well worth a read
The short length and simple format belie the wisdom and inspiration contained in this book. Vignettes from the lives of two remarkable sisters, 102 and 104 years old, span the end of slavery and follow the continuum of American and black history to the present. Their lives, stories, and attitudes are admirable and this is a book well worth reading. ... Read more

Book Description

"An Italian ROOTS."The Washington Post Book World

At long last, Gay Talese, one of America's greatest living authors, employs his prodigious storytelling gifts to tell the saga of his own family's emigration to America from Italy in the years preceding World War II.Ultimately it is the story of all immigrant families and the hope and sacrifice that took them from the familiarity of the old world into the mysteries and challenges of the new.

... Read more

Reviews (7)

Nonfiction, or facts based on perspective?
Like most everyone who lives in the United States, our ancestral heritage may contain an assortment of interesting stories of people, places and events that make us who we are today. The heritage of Gay Talese is yet another of those interesting stories. Talese chronicles his family's past . The majority of the tale discusses the effects of World War I and II on both his and his extended family in his former home of southern Italy.

Dear reader must be prepared for two major overbearing characteristics of this book. First, the paperback novel is more than six hundred pages of small print. Second, this book is published under the auspices of being questionably "non-fiction." One may find much of the book required a large degree of imagination to recreate actual conversations and events. Like any other person who is affected by world events, we may only surmise how history has influenced our own individual positions. Although the book is in some ways informative, it is as much an opinionated characterization of facts. Sadly, the ending doesn't so much as conclude, as it just runs out of steam. Even with all of these downfalls, it remains an informative and interesting read.

Unto the Sons
As an Italian reader I found this book very involving and enjoyable.

It's a passionate, well written story of emigration, and it's a story about roots and identity.

In my opinion the only fault of this book is that it isn't the story of the whole family, but only of half of it.

The Talese saga depicts a world crowded with very interesting and well-portrayed male characters. It's the story of their dreams and their disappointments, of their failures and their achievements and of the risks they dared to take in the struggle for a better life in the old and in the new world throughout a century. It's a story about the troubles of a double loyalty and, to some extent, it's a journey home.

And I must say I found very interesting to look at a piece of italian history through the eyes of a second generation Italian-American.

In sharp contrast, the female characters are pale ghosts, barely sketched shadows wandering in the narrow space of an old house, of a narrow Southern Italian village, of an American store. Even Ippolita, the grand-grandmother, the only non-conventional woman of the family, remains hidden to us. And I happened to wonder whether Talese is not able to find anything really worthy of attention in these women and in their lives,portrayed as just spent in the shadow of their men (fathers, husbands, sons), or if they live in a world of their own, completely impenetrable to him. Whatever the answer, Talese seems to be aware of this imbalance: the title of the book is "Unto the Sons" and the sons are the male children.

An epic tale
This is a sweeping epic about an Italian family. Gay Talese has a rich family history and he tell's their story (in a way it is his story) with the voice of a novelist.

There are many characters who might appear uniteresting if we were to "meet them on the street," but Talese's ability to get under their skin, as it were, gives them individuality, personality and humanity. And this is the story of the characters: it is not contrived by the author--though, of course, he tailers their stories to fit HIS book.

This is not a romanticized tale. Sometimes it is dark, with stern, superstitious ancestors and bleak events. Yet when it was over I felt a warmth for most of the characters in it.

This is the epic of many Americans. My own ancestors had many similar experiences. My ancestors are fairly recent German and Swedish immigrants, but much of their story is the story of the Talese family. It is the story of our own individuality striving against our heritage and either coming to terms with it or rejecting it.

Gay Talese has helped my understand myself in terms of my own heritage through this excellent book.

Revealing background to immigration to the USA
This magnificently written portrait of the extraordinary spirit of the Italian people, and the decision of some of them to leave Southern Italy, skillfully portrays the life and customs of small towns in pre war Calabria and New Jersey.

It introduces us to many fascinating and industrious people, and their struggle in the two world wars.

It also shows us to what it felt like to be an immigrant in the United States before the last war, and what it meant to see your children grow up as citizens of a country that was actively allied against your beloved homeland.

It is a superb account of the role Italian people have played in the development of this country, the richness of their culture and the expertise they have brought with them.

A definate "Must Read" for anyone interested in Italy and the dynamics of the USA.

Historical Perspectives/Politcal Messages
Gay Talese's work on his family's journey from Italy to America is an involved tale that delves into a difficult historical period for both the United States and Italy. Revolution, social upheaval, racism, and war color Talese's story from start to finish. These themes give the tale a characteristically depressing bent which tends to ramble in certain places. In addition, there is a decided social message which the author appears to be trying to put forth during the entire story. These perspectives, and those on Italian history, should be viewed in the context of interpretations of an Italian American writer and not be taken as those of traditional native Italian scholars. Still, the book is in a bold attempt at telling the story of one family's struggle, on both sides of the Atlantic, during the social upheaval of the twentieth century. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A strong memoir, a weak ending
A strong memior, lots of touching and interesting detail about his life growing up, his constant struggle to overcome adversity. I totally empathized with his hustling and lying at points to get ahead in a world so poised against him. the main thing I liked about the book was his VERY HUMAN side, his compassion for himself, his pain he suffered at being poor, mostly fatherless, black, dirty, hungry, uneducated. I loved it that he could cry, he could keep his humanity despite the world's cruelty...and not just keep it and feel it, but write about it later.

Weak point: the ending petered out. It went from being a man's internal struggle to "make it" in the world - the place in which I found the book's power lay - to being just another typical civil rights journal. And although I think the civil rights movement has its place, and Dick Gregory his place within it, I think I would have found the book far more satisfying it ended by its author turning further inward and exploring his own motives on his own purely personal journey, rather than outward to the struggle of society. Perhaps he wasn't ready to write on this level when he published his memoir, as he was only 30 or 31 when he wrote it, but to me his lack of wisdom still doesn't let the book off the hook.

Dick Gregory is an american hero.
This book should be required reading. Dick Gregory tells the story of one black man's life from poverty to world-class entertainer and comedian. Most biographies would end here, but Mr. Gregory is not content with his incredibly successful career, but details his desire to make the world a better place for all of the disadvantaged children that will not be as fortunate to be as talented as Mr. Gregory. I found this book at a used bookstore and I am so pleased to see that it is still in print.

Just Buy It -- You Won't Be Sorry
Dick Gregory does four things in "Nigger" that make the book outstanding. First, he is beyond-brutally honest. Secondly, he makes himself vulnerable. Thirdly, even when Gregory tells of his childhood and the tragedies in his life, he does so with humor. (Perhaps he could NOT do so without humor. Gregory seems to be one of those people who is funny, regardless of the situation.) Finally, he asks for no pity.

I highly recommend this book. WARNING: If you do purchase it, you won't be able to put it down.

Book Review on "Nigger" by Dick Gregory
Nigger is a 209 page autobiography by Dick Gregory. It was published by Pocket Books in 1964. This novel was an elaboration of the things Gregory wanted to tell Momma, Lucille Gregory, his deceased mother, but did not have the chance to.

I enjoyed this autobiography. It captured the individual African American's perspective of life as a black in the times of segregation and racism instead of the usual collective view of all African Americans. I admire the way how the narrator, Richard is brutally honest. He portrays his feelings in a way that helps the reader to actually be inside his mind and completely sense what he is feeling. I especially respected how Gregory admitted he cried when he did, not many men would confess to that.

Regarding the story line, I liked the constant change in events. In most novels, the events almost never change, which later gets tedious. Although in this one, the events frequently change from the Christmas that Big Pres came home to Richard Gregory's 31th birthday. One might notice how Gregory's career changed from a record-breaking runner to a talented comedian to an African American activist. These three events are all related to each other.

Although later in the novel, Gregory acquired his own comedy club called the Apex Club. It, for a long period of time, had few customers because of horrid weather. It seemed amazing to me that the people who helped Gregory create this club did not seriously get on him about money until a year later. This seemed quite extraordinary.

In addition, he afterward married a shy woman named Lucille (whom he met in the Esquire Show Lounge, where he first got his actual comedic break). I cannot help but notice that she never complained or became angry when Gregory quickly asked her to marry him, just after finding out she was pregnant with his baby. Also, he was never around to support her and their children. He always was off in Chicago at the Apex club and could not even bring any significant amount of money to her. That does not seem very typical of a woman.

So in conclusion, Nigger is an autobiography describing major aspects of Gregory's life. It is a delight to people who enjoy an individual's perception of the world and everything around him.

:)
this was a good book. i read it during my afro american unit in english class and i am very glad this was my pick. it is a story of a black man persuing his dreams of being a comedian, how he starts out being very very poor and he later becomes quite well off. it intrigued me and i couldnt put it down.. ... Read more

Book Description

From the remarkable woman who spoke to our nation in her inaugural poem, here is a beautifully rendered series of inspirational reflections.

Maya Angelou speaks from the soul with the wisdom of a lifetime. In a voice that vibrates with strength and pierces with honesty, she serves up the essence of her thoughts about how spirit and spirituality move and shape her life; about service and grace and giving; about how she celebrates the spirit of her people and the earthy sensuality of the sisterhood. She talks about family, discusses how people have gone astray, and how they can move to regain the way. These are her lessons in living -- lessons from which we all can learn. ... Read more

Reviews (25)

The first book I ever read in one day
WOULDN'T TAKE NOTHING FOR MY JOURNEY NOW is conversational in tone and format. It is the first book I ever read in one day because, well, I couldn't put it down. I like Maya Angelou's perspective and refusal to compromise. I enjoyed learning about her multi-leveled life (this was the first book by Angelou that I have ever read, so it was my introduction to her life).

The passage I found most interesting in this book is where Maya says that she always takes a day off at least once a year to forget who she is. She said that she lets everyone know which day it is, and not to call her on that day. She takes a trip by bus or train, and if she runs into those she knows, she will avoid interacting with them. Maya recommends that everyone do something like this once a year, take a day just for themselves.

I love Maya
This is my favorite of the books I've read in which Maya Angelou sits around contemplating life, though it's perhaps not the most representative of her work. For the moment she sets aside her intellectual self, her history, her issues -- anything by which you might identify her as anything but a fellow member of the human race. In this book you're left with the essential Maya -- the wise woman with the great heart and the steady mind who speaks out from timeless space. It's an easy read, and life feels better when you're done. And if you're at the end left in doubt whether she's also a world-wise and savvy intellect, then anything else she has written will put your doubts to rest.
I love Maya Angelou.

A wonderful book for a woman
This is the best book that I have ever read. Every book she has wrote was great but this one is different. It is more unique and interesting. This book is about a black girl who was called a woman instead of something else. I really enjoyed learning about her multi-leveled life as I read this book. Maya Angelou is a wise woman that has a great talent and a beautiful heart. I recommend this book to any woman...

Wouldn't take nothing for my journey now
When I picked out this book I knew it will be a very good book.The book was about a black girl who was glad to be called a women instead of a girl or something else. The author is one of my best writers ever MaYA Angelou. She was talking about how it feels to be called a women. I recommend this book 5 stars because i think it have been the best book i ever read.

A guide book for life
This book is like food to my soul. Maya Angelou is poetic in her writting and her spirit flows from each page. I love this book! I have read and reread this book many times. It is a very easy read and a must for every woman. Her advise comes from a woman who knows pain, passion, and love. This is an advise book for living and offers strength to those in search of spiritual uplifting. When I read Maya's wise words it is like having a deep conversation with my great grandmother. I love this book! ... Read more

Book Description

"Not only for readers who share [Santiago's] experiences but for North Americans who seek to understand what it means to be the other."--The Boston Globe

In her new memoir, the acclaimed author of When I Was Puerto Rican continues the riveting chronicle of her emergence from the barrios of Brooklyn to the theaters of Manhattan.

"Negi," as Santiago's family affectionately calls her, leaves rural Macún in 1961 to live in a three-room tenement apartment with seven young siblings, an inquisitive grandmother, and a strict mother who won't allow her to date. At thirteen, Negi yearns for her own bed, privacy, and a life with her father, who remains in Puerto Rico. Translating for Mami at the welfare office in the morning, starring as Cleopatra at New York's prestigious Performing Arts High School in the afternoons, and dancing salsa all night, she yearns to find balance between being American and being Puerto Rican. When Negi defies her mother by going on a series of hilarious dates, she finds that independence brings its own set of challenges.

At once a universally poignant coming-of-age tale and a brave and heartfelt immigrant's story, Almost a Woman is Santiago's triumphant journey into womanhood.

"A universal tale familiar to thousands of immigrants to this country, but made special by Santiago's simplicity and honesty."
--The Miami Herald

"A courageous memoir. . . . One witnesses. . .the blessings, contradictions and restraints of Puerto Rican culture."
--The Washington Post Book World ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Soul-Searching in a Light-Hearted Memoir
After reading "When I was Puerto Rican", I was eager to read the next installment of Esmeralda Santiago's life-story. Because this book is set in New York, it lacks the scenic imagery that is used in the first book to describe her home country. However, we are instead introduced to the introspective musings of a girl attempting to define and journey into womanhood while acclimating to New York - both of which are unfamiliar territory. The book explores some very real and/or mature concerns - e.g., love, an absent father, familial obligations, unwed motherhood, sex, responsibility, culture, etc. - although they are interwoven into a fun and lighthearted tale of Negi's teen years. I would recommend this book (although I would suggest picking up "When I Was Puerto Rican" first).

A memoir about an immigrant coming of age in New York City
I loved Santiago's first book (When I Was Puerto Rican) and I love this one too. Almost a Woman is a memoir about coming of age in New York City. It is also about the struggle to find her own identity among a large family and a domineering but loving mother. Even though I am not an immigrant or Puerto Rican I found this book very compelling and hard to put down. I only hope Santiago will write a third memoir so I can find out how she gets to Harvard, what happens to her mother, brothers and sisters, if she sees her father again and what happens to her lover. Santiago has become one of my favorite authors!

NOT AS GOOD AS THE FIRST BIOGRAPHY!!: IN FACT, HORRIBLE!!
This is the biography from Esmeralda Santiago that starts off where WHEN I WAS PUERTO RICAN ends off. That is where the comparison/connection ends, because this book is horrible compared to Santiago's first biography. To sum up one part of the book that really sums up the whole: There is one "big" event that happens in this book (won't give it away) and it's 272 pages leading up to it, and when it finally happens, ONE PAGE (and barely that, it's more like half a page) is devoted to describing it. Does that make any sense? Other events are given twenty pages to describe it, and the "big" moment for Santiago gets one page? The talented way Santiago describes her whereabouts and experiences are happily evident on her first biography; in ALMOST A WOMAN, they are almost non-existent. This biography is flat, empty, boring, and just plain stupid. Hard to believe the person who wrote it also wrote the first biography.

Boring; tedious; read only if you have nothing else to read
"Almost A Woman," the "sequel" to the well-written "When I Was Puerto Rican," is boring, tedious, and only recommended to hardcore fans of the first memoir from Esmeralda Santiago (and even then, your patience might wear thin on this one). While the first book, written with descriptive details and passionate voice, shows us the insights into young Esmeralda growing up poor in Puerto Rico, "Almost A Woman" is filled with uneventful happenings that won't draw the reader in as much as the first book. "My Boring Recollection of When I Became a Young Lady" would have been a better title for this book, and one wonders what the point was behind writing it in the first place. You won't come away feeling satisfied with what happens to the "characters," nor will you care halfway in. The first book captured you: you wanted to know about Esmeralda and her family; why her father did what he did; her childhood in Puerto Rico and its effect and lasting impression on her. The first book is "must reading" if you were/are an immigrant from any backround. In "Almost...", you read about Esmeralda in the US as a young lady: going on audtions; contemplating who she will give her virginity to; her future and what pain it will bring to her overprotective mother. This isn't, unfortunately, a "must read" for young ladies, or anyone who wants a good read, for that matter. This book is a huge disappointment, considering how good Santiago's first memoir was. It's useless, senseless reading and only if you have nothing else to read will you even bother wanting to read towards the end (which I might add, is predictably as boring and senseless as the rest of the book).

Esmerelda's Captivating Life
This book takes place in the run down streets of Brooklyn. The story focuses on a proud Spanish family who has immigrated to the alien United States. They find the large Puerto Rican family consisting of eleven children is irregular compared to the small white families of the United States. This book gave great insight into the Puerto Rican culture and also does an excellent job of attaching the reader to the main character. I felt as though i had grown up with Negi and was expeiencing the same emotions she was. This book is great for anyone who finds Spanish culture interesting and enjoys tapping into the cognitive process of the characters in the story. ... Read more

Amazon.com

"Chea, how come good doesn't win over evil?" young Chanrithy Him asks her sister, after the brutal Khmer Rouge have seized power in Cambodia, but before hunger makes them too weak for philosophy. Chea answers only with a proverb: When good and evil are thrown together into the river of life, first the klok or squash (representing good) will sink, and the armbaeg or broken glass (representing evil) will float. But the broken glass, Chea assures her, never floats for long: "When good appears to lose, it is an opportunity for one to be patient, and become like God."

Before this proverb could come true, Chanrithy had to watch her mother, father, and five of her brothers and sisters die, murdered by the Khmer Rouge or fatally weakened by malnutrition, disease, and overwork. Now living in Oregon, where she studies posttraumatic stress disorder among Cambodian survivors, Chanrithy has written a first-person account of the killing fields that's remarkable for both its unflinching honesty and its refusal to despair. In wrenchingly immediate prose, she describes atrocities the rest of the world might prefer to ignore: her sick yet still breathing mother, thrown along with corpses into a well; a pregnant woman beaten to death with a spade, the baby struggling inside her; a sister impossibly swollen with edema, her starving body leaking fluid from the webbing between her toes.

The mind retreats from horrors like these--and yet what emerges most strongly from this memoir is the triumph of life. Chanrithy is determined to honor her pledge to the dying Chea, to study medicine so she can help others live. When Broken Glass Floats accomplishes the same goal in a different way. "As a survivor, I want to be worthy of the suffering that I endured," Chanrithy writes; by giving such eloquent voice to her dead, she has proven herself more than worthy of her suffering--and theirs. --Chloe Byrne ... Read more

Reviews (28)

Gripping, sad, will make you appreciate life...
Through my readings of books dealing with the barbarism of the human soul I have gained a profound appreciation for the subtleties of life. This work brings that understanding another giant leap forward.

The plight of Chanrithy Him through the relentless suffering of the Khmer Rouge is no less than heart sickening. You will discover a profound sense of respect for her and the victims and survivors of the infamous Pol Pot regime.

This book has a similar approach to another - "First They Killed My Father" - by Loung Ung. Both books command you to continue reading. I could not put them down.

All in all, a superb work on a less than superb topic - required reading for anyone interested in Asian culture, human suffering, and in a surprising way - human survival.

In Tragedy, There Is Hope
When she hears the news of the death of yet another family member, young Chanrithy writes, "Death is a constant, and we've become numb to the shock of it. People die here and there, all around us, falling like flies that have been sprayed with poison." Such was life under the Khmer Rouge. Chanrithy Him was only four years old when war came to Cambodia, first in the form of troops fleeing from neighboring Vietnam, and then the more deadly Khmer Rouge. Educated professionals were summarily executed, entire cities were evacuated under threat of death, and children such as Chanrithy were forced to work in inhumane conditions. An entire culture was virtually destroyed, but Him still manages to maintain an amazing degree of innocence and positivity. This is a powerful book about a tragic period in world history.

good story
gives me a clearer picture than any history book ever will. im sure i'll remember it.

Childhood Impressions of the Khmer Rouge
It would be impossible for me to give this book less than a perfect rating because it is a first hand account of how a child sees the Khmer Rouge. That being said, that is all it is and if the reader is looking for more than it may fall short of your expectations.

I think this book could be improved if the author had included historical data and information about what was going on in Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge at the time that she is recalling. That would have been very helpful for me, because there is still much I feel I need to learn about the Khmer Rouge and Cambodian politics that I was not able to get from this novel.

However, the firsthand accounts of what it was like to be a helpless child in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge are extraordinarily moving and I would definitely recommend reading this book. It is important to understand what living in these conditions were like and this novel holds implications for all children that are exposed to national atrocities.

Childhood impressions of the Khmer Rouge
It would be impossible for me to give this book less than a perfect rating because it is a first hand account of how a child sees the Khmer Rouge. That being said, that is all it is and if the reader is looking for more than it may fall short of your expectations.

I think this book could be improved if the author had included historical data and information about what was going on in Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge at the time that she is recalling. That would have been very helpful for me, because there is still much I feel I need to learn about the Khmer Rouge and Cambodian politics that I was not able to get from this novel.

However, the firsthand accounts of what it was like to be a helpless child in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge are extraordinarily moving and I would definitely recommend reading this book. It is important to understand what living in these conditions were like and this novel holds implications for all children that are exposed to national atrocities. ... Read more

Amazon.com

British journalist Anthony Sampson first met Nelson Mandela in 1951, when Sampson was editing a black magazine in Johannesburg, and his biography of the leader benefits greatly from his long familiarity with South Africa and his access to the 81-year-old statesman's unpublished letters and documents. These are particularly helpful in chronicling Mandela's political and spiritual odyssey during 27 years in prison, when the fiery anti-apartheid militant condemned to life imprisonment in 1964 evolved into a dignified, authoritative leader convinced that "reconciliation would be essential to survival." The roots of this stance lie deep in African history; Sampson's excellent chapters on Mandela's rural youth remind readers that he was the aristocratic scion of a royal family who early imbibed the tribal tradition of ubuntu (mutual responsibility and compassion) and the local king's emphasis on ruling by consensus. South Africa's relatively peaceful transition to multiracial democracy owes much to Mandela's ability to voice these concepts in contemporary terms. And Sampson's detailed explication of the ins and outs of revolutionary politics over five decades--though sometimes heavy going for the general reader--vividly reveals how his subject achieved the political and moral maturity that made his 1994 election as the nation's first black president both inevitable and exhilarating. --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Amazing life of imprisonment to leadership!
What an amazing life this man had. He was born on the rural plains in South Africa.. His father was absent due to forced circumstances. Mandela later received an education in law and began the practice of law. Political causes led to his imprisonment for nearly thirty years in Robbins Prison. The book tells the wrenching tale of his separation of his family during his imprisonment, yet the family (the second marriage, to Winnie) remained intact during his long imprisonment and only dissolved after the release from prison. The book is very heavy on the political activity in whch Mandela was involved. This is an interesting book of personal triumph over overwhelming odds.

More than you ever wanted to know ..
The author obviously knows a great deal about Mandela and South Africa. However, there is so much detail that I found the book just deadening over time. The writing style was not engaging enough to sustain me through all the blow-by-blow accounts that one has to plod through . -I was surprised and disappointed that the book was not more enjoyable.

A well-told education in character and leadership.
If you believe there are no modern heroes - that fortitude and unselfish judgement in the face of adversity are out-of-date virtues, you need to read this book. That Sampson shows the whole man so well (with admittedly a few frailities) adds depth to the tremendous courage, excellent judgement, and magnanimity Mandela demonstrated his entire life, even when the cause of the ANC he led seemed hopeless. Along the way the book gives an excellent view of South African history during Mandela's adulthood. If you are not very familiar with Mandela or South Africa you might do better to start with Mandela's own book, "Long Walk to Freedom" which doesn't cover quite so much ground and is more on a human scale. Both books are inspiring.

A very good introduction to a deep man
If you need to know Nelson Mandela, this is the book to read. This book's weaknesses are evident: It is written from a British viewpoint, and basically takes for granted a knowledge of South African history and geography most Americans do not possess (though they should). It also soft pedals the problems in Mandela's relationship with Winnie, though that is understandable. I have a feeling that not too many people could understand it. But it does a great job of making us see how the man was shaped and became what he is, and how he stands as a fearless, remarkable leader.

A Hero for our times!
I knew very little of Nelson Mandela before reading this book, but now I am confident that I have an excellent feel for what makes this man tick. This is an excellent book and one that should be read by anyone who wants to be inspired! ... Read more