Book Description

Adam Taliaferro had it all:smarts, an easy-going personality, and incomparable athletic ability.None of that seemed to matter, however, on that fateful September day when his father was given startling news:Do not expect your son to walk again.Ever. Since that numbing day, Taliaferro, the Penn State freshman cornerback who was paralyzed after tackling an Ohio State running back, has defied the odds.Before he had spinal-fusion surgery, he made a vow to his mother:"Mom, I'm not going out like this."Three months later, he walked out of a Philadelphia hospital on crutches, determined to complete his amazing recovery, making the name "Adam Taliaferro" synonymous with courage and perseverance. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

This really is a miracle!!!
After finding out that Adam Taliaferro couldnt walk again ever. His father and mother urged him to push on. His spirits were high always no matter what. This is a triumphant story about courage and self-determination and a little help from some up above

This is a Great Book
This book is good for anyone whether you are a football fan or not. I personally am a football fan, and I would especially recommend this book for those football fans out there. This book is inspirational and well documented. It is also at a good price now, and it is a quick read.

Compelling, but to drawn out
I'll be honest. The book compelled me for the most part. I couldn't put it down for the most part. I truly felt pain for poor Adam, and can't imagine going through anything like this story and still bouncing back. The only complaint I have is the book is too drawn out towards the end. Pehaps it was written to soon, perhaps the author felt the need to repeat himself 3 or 4 times. Still, once you get past this, the book is a good read and an amazing story. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to be inspired.

Inspiring
All too often in today's world of youth sports; parents, coaches and players miss the meaning of sportsmanship. Having been involved in youth sports for 14 years, I have witnessed over bearing parents and tenacious coaches. I suggest they keep a copy of "Miracle in the Making" in their equipment bags. This book highlights the true meaning of a parent/child relationship and a coach/player relationship. Adam is the definition of courage, kindness and strength. His family's support during his recovery is awe-inspiring. The writers did a terrific job of bringing me along on Adam's journey to recovery. I will be on the sidelines cheering; watching as Adam wins the biggest game of his life!

A Penn State Fan Must Have
Adam is definately a hero to me. He demonstrates that if you have a strong will, you can accomplish anything. This book ran me through a gauntlet of emotions. Anger, sadness, sympathy, and laughter. This book really demonstrates what it is meant by Penn State being a family. EVERY Penn State fan needs to read this book. ... Read more

Book Description

At the age of fifteen, Jennifer Rothschild confronted two unshakable realities: Blindness is inevitable ... and God is enough. Now this popular author, speaker, and recording artist offers poignant lessons that illuminate a path to freedom and fulfillment. With warmth, humor, and insight,Jennifer shares the guiding principles she walks by -- and shows you how to walk forward by faith into God's marvelous light. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

A Must Read! - Inspiring and Captivating!
Lessons I learned in the Dark is one of the best books I've ever read. Jennifer uses a humorous style to bring home in very real way how we can find joy in whatever circumstance we are in.

Its a wonderful book to give to as a gift - everyone can identify with the lessons she illustrates in this book.

I highly recommend it!!

Lessons I Learned in the Dark.
This is a must read book for anyone struggling with the challenges that life throws our way. In the book, Jennifer shares her fears and disappointments, but more importantly, how she overcomes these very real hurdles in her life. Contained in the pages are practical steps and advice in how to overcome the hurdles in all of our lives and how to draw closer to God. Many know of God, few know God in such a loving and special way as Jennifer. This is a book you will want to read over and over again.

THE BEST!!
This was one of the most inspiring books I have ever read. It was funny and profound. I highly HIGHLY recommend it.

THE BEST!
This is one of the most inspiring books I have ever read! It was funny and insightful.It led to a profound change in my life. I highly HIGHLY recommend it! ... Read more

Book Description

This story of the authors painfully revealing journey chronicles the practical lessons of surviving catastrophic illness, gift wrapped in a love story--the love of family and friends and an unwavering devotion between a husband and wife who refused to ac ... Read more

Book Description

Facing cancer is a life-changing event, one that prompts soul-searching and a reevaluation of all that one holds to be true. In the years following their own cancer treatments, authors Elena Dorfman and Heidi Schultz Adams were left wondering, What difference has cancer made in other people's lives? What does it mean to survive a life-threatening illness? In Here and Now, Dorfman and Adams offer photographic portraits and personal stories of 38 people - of all ages and from all walks of life - who have confronted cancer at some point in their lives. Their stories explore both the universal questions raised by a cancer diagnosis, and how their unique answers to those questions shaped each survivor into who they are today. Here and Now is a beautiful volume that will provide comfort and insight to everyone from the recently diagnosed to the 20-year survivor, eloquently demonstrating how seemingly insurmountable adversity can bring forth surprising courage and strength, both in us and those around us. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Telling It Like It Is.
I am a cancer survivor and a personal coach for cancer survivors (rle444@yahoo.com). I have recommended this book to all of my clients. The stories tell it like it is: the good, bad and ugly. It's so important for current cancer patients to see the possibilites through the angst of having cancer and cancer survivors to have examples of the various tribulations and exhilaration of "cancer after life." cancer (little "c") is what you have, not who you are. I thank the authors for this beautiful and powerful evidence of the human spirit.

Read this book
Everything the earlier revieiwers have said is true. This book inspired me to live my life more fully. You do not need to be a cancer survivor to be touched by these stories. They are stories about being human, and being ALIVE.

A welcome Honesty
What characterizes this book is its intellectual and emotional honesty, and in that spirit, this reviewer acknowledges he knows one of the authors.

The book tells the stories of 38 cancer survivors-38 very different individuals with very different stories to tell about how they first learned of their cancer, how they coped with it, how it changed their lives, how they face the world now.

There is no false sentimentality, there's no polyanna, no posing. This is truth, not always pretty, but real. The two authors, themselves cancer survivors, have produced something that is greater than the sum of its 38 brief narratives. There is a powerful cumulative impact on the reader that lingers.

What I was left with was a recognition that all of the very intense personal experiences these people had, making each one of them so very special, ultimately makes them very ordinary, just like you and me. And the scary, diagnostic names of their cancers also become strangely ordinary in their hideousness.

These survivors tell us about themselves very simply; they demystify themselves. And they demystify the pathology of cancer. Ultimately the reader gets to see beyond the emotional fall-out of confronting cancer--the fears, the feelings of hurt and unfairness, of rejection, of loneliness, and so many more.

This is a fine book. I'm sure it will have special meaning for both cancer survivors and cancer victims alike. But just as importantly, for many of us who are neither of these, it also helps us better understand ourselves. "The proper study of mankind is man," said Alexander Pope. You might adapt that truism to the study of mankind through this book.

Not just for Cancer Survivors
This book is a collection of uplifting stories about the strength of the human spirit. From the introduction to the last account, I couldn't put the book down--it's something that has to be read in one sitting. And, I am not a cancer survivor, just someone who enjoys good writing and thought-provoking subjects. This book will make you think and stay with you for a long time.

The photography, as well, is incredibly good.

Read it and pass it on to everyone you know!

Inspiring
This was a great read! Each story reminds the reader that life is a gift. The writers have done excellent work inspiring cancer survivors to share their stories! The photos capture the spirit of each individual.

I personally am not a cancer survior but I found the book still reached out to me. One of the authors in her introduction says "in facing down a life threatening illness I had discovered the missing essential element in my life: taking a stake in it." That is a statement anyone can benefit from. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1967, Mindy Lewis was a rebellious fifteen-year-old, afflicted by acute shyness, nascent creative yearnings, and a growing distrust of authority. When Mindy started cutting school and taking drugs, her mother turned to the psychiatric profession for help. Remanded by the court to state custody, Mindy was sent to a renowned state psychiatric hospital, where she would remain until she turned eighteen. A richly textured exploration of life on a psychiatric ward, Lewis's memoir probes our culture's perceptions of the lines that separate craziness and creativity, power and powerlessness, self-destruction and healthy self-expression, clinical diagnosis and genuine, lasting healing. The author writes vividly of the community of adolescent and young adult patients (many hospitalized for questionable reasons), the politics and routines of institutional life, the extensive use of medication, and the frightening prevalence of life-altering misdiagnoses. A chilling implication of Mindy's story is that, with a slight shift of circumstances, it might have happened to anyone.

Life Inside also charts the author's three decades of post-hospital life, describing the challenge of entering adulthood bearing the stigma of having been labeled mentally ill. Ironically, the same traits that contributed to Lewis's incarceration in the first place -- rebelliousness, the need to create, and love for the life of the mind -- were the very things that steered her onto a path of healthy independence. In rejecting the diagnosis and prescriptions imposed upon her by the psychiatric establishment, the author navigates a course toward reclaiming the other life inside -- the inner life. Inviting us to take a close look at contemporary views of mental health through the lens of her own powerful and intimately rendered story, Lewis has written an important memoir, as tough and candid as it is inspiring and compassionate. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Personal growth from hardship
In this heartwarming, sometimes heartbreaking account, Mindy Lewis describes her life journey, framed by her experiences as a teenage patient in a mental ward. Her story is honest and open. As a reader, I could identify with her pain and her experience, even though it is quite different from my own. Many of the feelings she describes are universal, which leads me to question society and its definition of insanity. Throughout her account, Mindy feels "different" and "individualistic", most likely as a result of her creativity and ability to visualize and approach life in a less constrained manner. As someone who does not have a similar life experience, I can still relate to those feelings.

The book is extremely well-written and vivid, with great attention to physical and emotional detail. The story moves quickly (over 30 years in 350 pages), with its main focus how the 27-months in the institution affected Mindy's life. However, the book also details Mindy's journey to understand her life, the world around her, her family, and how to create meaning from experience, going beyond "life inside".

I highly recommend this book.

a brilliant woman
mindy lewis is absolutely amazing. i was particular hooked on the first part of the book (there are 2 parts) which tells of her 'life inside' mental hospitals. completely spine chilling and a definite must read.

Path From Hellish Adolescence to Creative, Joyous Adulthood
I'm a memoir junkie, and this is one of the most rewarding, carefully written memoirs I have ever read. Lewis insightfully describes each stage of her rich transition from searingly painful adolescence to self-actualized adulthood. I marvel at her narrative's double-voice: she accurately conveys both adolescent self-doubt and emotionally-attuned adult wisdom.
Readers who will particularly appreciate this book include lovers of well-wrought prose, and people who feel impaired by something in their past, and cautiously optimistic about their chances of getting over it and/or growing from it.

A woman comes to terms
This remarkable work describes the harrowing, yet in some ways winsome experience of a remarkable child of the 60s raised in the home of divorced parents and forever rebelling against her 'perfect mother.' At the outset, Mindy is on her way to the institution that is to be her home for 2 1/2 years and most of this memoir is devoted to those times - a life inside with the others inside, those that are patients, those that are employees, and those that are the professionals. Mindy has gone through her medical records of those days and peppered her
historical descriptions with the views of her psychiatrists as outlined in those records. The life inside is intimately and thoroughly described and one feels not only the horror, the bondings, and the feeling of abandonment, but the eventual resignation. Mindy will come to terms with her issues, her parents and herself as described in the life outside that is the book's second portion. She comes to see 'the other side'. The memoir is written with remarkable sensitivity and emotional candor.

Hauntingly incisive
Mindy Lewis cuts to the quick with chillingly direct no-nonsense descriptions of an adolescent finely tuned to the chaos of her day.

A must-read. ... Read more

Book Description

Bald in the Land of Big Hair is the hilarious-and often heartbreaking-tale of Joni Rodgers's journey through the badlands of cancer told with humor, occasional anger, and unflinching honesty. More than just a cancer book, this is a deeply affecting memoir of one woman's struggle to come to terms with everything that life throws her way.

Ultimately, this is a moving celebration of the true meaning of human triumph and courage, the importance of community and the imperative of living everyday with joy.

Book Description

A story about living and coping with Multiple Sclerosis. The author lived a life of adventure and meaning before she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and her life didn't change after she was dianosed. . She learned to improvive and cope. An inspiring story of living with a chronic disease and living life to its fullest. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Great Book
I just finished reading this book and found I could not put it down.It is one of the most enlightening, well written, importantbooks on living with a disability that I've ever read.The author's descriptions are so precise I really feel as if I'm there or following behind her. I can almost smell the food as she describes it or see the cobblestones on the uneven surface as she tries to manuver.
I feel this book is so important in seeing the world through the eyes of a disabled person that Iam requiring it for all of my staff.I thank the author for sharing her life with me. She is a most remarkable person.

True to Life
I read this book in one sitting and I really enjoyed it.I was impressed with the author's honesty and really appreciated her candor in reactions to each new development in her disease.

While she did not always have positive reactions at every stage, she focused on what she "could do" rather than staying in the "land of what she couldn't do."She was never a "Pollyanna" and I found that very refreshing.

I could relate to her anger with people that ignored her and/or her needs in various circumstances, as well as her inventiveness (i.e. peeong on the lawn) was not only entertaining, it made me think about how I have handled what life has thrown at me, how I handled that in the past, how I handle it now, and how I will handle it in the future.

The author comes across as a person that is in charge of her life, and I admire that quality.

I would recommend this book not only to people living with a chronic illness, but to anyone interested in living life to it's fullest.

A READER WITH LUPUS

Live life to its fullest
Teresa is an amazing and courageous woman. Her book is
uplifting and inspirational. Her life before and after
her diagnosis of MS was well written and I found I had to
finish reading it even though I had already started a
John Grisham novel. She has lived her life well and
fully. I recommend Life is an Adventure to anyone--
whether disabled or not.

AMemorable Story of An Extraordinary Life
As a Professor in a School of Nursing Terry has had a unique perspective to describe the disease condition that she confronted at mid-life.Knowing Terry as a cabin mate and fellow nurse on the medical ship HOPE, before she experienced Multiple Sclerosis, I am aware, to a small degree, how difficult the adjustments she faced must have been.Her capacities to experience life were extremely strong, physically, mentally, emotionally and to have some of these forces challenged must have called for courage that I'm sure she was unaware she had.I marvel at the way she has managed her life to realize what she did to fulfill her need to care for herself properly, to give to her community--large and small--what she had to offer professionally, and to travel to know and understand the world as deeply and fully and she had dreamed.I feel so privileged to know Terry and of her "Life of Adventure".The book is a wonderfully practical guide of how to deal with this disablng disease.As a nurse teacher I would highly recommend this book as a resource for nurse students as a way to understand better the special challenges of patients with chronic disease conditions.

Life is an Adventure!
This book is a good read for Non-disabled and disabled folks alike.
If you want to be uplifted and inspired read this book. Her premise: Life is what you make it, so make it a full life.
It is the deeply personal, biographical story of a woman who knows how to live life well.
It is also a practical manual on the changes (physical, emotional and mental) one goes through during the transformation from able bodied to dis-abled. And it is a resource full of up to date medical information and contact numbers.
I enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Maybe it's the place I'm in
Millet carefully unpacks the historical events surrounding her "breakdowns." Her family and many friends think she is crazy to buy a farm and turn it into an artist's retreat. As readers, it's hard to know whether she did or didn't have a breakdown. However, regardless of whether it even can be determined in such a black-and-white manner, we feel an incredible empathy for her as she welcomes us to experience her hurt, her feelings of jealousy and loss, and her moments of profound joy. For anyone who has ever been diagnosed with a mental "disorder," this is a wonderfully affirming book.

Fascinating but wordy and pretentious
I read this book primarily for some insights into the excesses of psychiatry, and found much of that. I was quite surprised how strongly I identified with some of her feelings. Though I have have never had problems of the sort Kate had (has?), I am one of the many who have experienced clinical depression and been treated for it. As I read her book, I noticed how even this minor problem carries a lifetime of suspicion from others. As I go through life, physicians and relatives are quite ready and willing to jump on ordinary feelings as "evidence" that it is happening again, and maybe there is more to it. How oddly must one behave to start the spiral down to the point of something like Kate's experience happening?

Though I felt that Kate really should have known better than to do some of what she did, knowing that others were likely to use them excuses to have her committed, I still felt deeply her fear and helplessness. I was especially disgusted by the attitude of the shrink who failed to get her hauled away in the Bowry only through Kate's quick thinking.

The minuses of this book for me were the many times the she goes into descriptions of artists and other creative types in such exalted terms. Kate left little doubt that, to her, anyone who does other things with their lives are empty shells who rely on the chosen ones (such as herself) to be able to see the world as it truly is. This sort of elitism (how many times does she tell us she is a professor and published writer) and condescension is sickening in someone who spends so much of her life trying to right great wrongs of society.

The Loony Bin Trip
Written between 1982 and 1985, The Loony-Bin Trip is overwhelmingly an effort to revert common notions of depression so that, like "grief," it may be allowed to enter the popular vocabulary. Millet achieves her foremost intent through her undeniably exquisite prose supplanted by already-changing attitudes toward depression among the public. However, The Loony Bin Trip is much more than a diatribe against prevailing stigmas of depression - it is a tender account of a talented, intelligent women's relentless desire to be accepted and understood by her contemporaries. Traumatic accounts and vivid self-reflection can occasionally prompt the most neutral reader into turmoil, thus rendering The Loony Bin Trip a cross-reference somewhere between memoir and horror. Her gut wrenching appeals for sympathy may provoke anger in some readers, reinforcing her real-life role as that of a "crazy" woman, but ultimately, her wealth of writings prove her to be a functional, if not creatively contributing, member of society. Reading Kate Millet's The Loony Bin Trip is a trip in itself. (Review written for Women's Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal," a publication of the Claremont Colleges.

The Looney Bin is a fast & fascinating book.
The Looney Bin By Kate Millett shares with us her experiences, ranging from dispair, to terror, and finally inner peace, after being diagnosed Manic Depressive. The book is a strong indictment against the treatment of the mentally ill here and abroad.

honest memories and knowledge
i liked the part where she came back to NYC and lost her way and fell into the illness everyone, almost, had said she'd had and she was now 'mad' , but still she knew she wasn't and so did we ... Read more

Amazon.com

"Chemo was vile," writes editor and freelance writer Ruth Picardie in ane-mail. "Imagine four days of the worst hangover combined with the worst flu,where you can hardly move, feel poisoned, and are half-asleep but not pleasantlyout of it all the time." Before I Say Goodbye is a collection of columnsand e-mails from Picardie in her last year before dying of breast cancer at age33. The short (131-page) book also includes e-mails from her friends and lettersfrom her readers.

Before I Say Goodbye provides an intimate glimpse into Picardie's life,friendships, and state of mind in that last year. As much as breast cancerconsumed her (physically and mentally), she still had comments about hercorrespondents' issues (one is HIV-positive) and about trivial matters, such asclothing, face creams, body weight, and television ("ER tonight, which giveslife meaning"). She also offered some provocative insights:

• "Went to see Evita the movie.... Eva Peron died of breast cancer andguess what: the c-word isn't mentioned once. The great unmentionable."
• "Fun things about breast cancer: 1. You get your hair cut really shortbecause it's falling out, and it really suits you. You decide to keep it thatway forever. 2. You can be really horrible to people and not feel guilty."
• "Having a terminal illness is supposed to make you extremely wise andevolved.... Unfortunately, I just can't get my head around Zen meditation, andseem to be stuck in, 'Why did I eat the fishfingers that Lola spat out when Ican't fit into my jeans any more?'... Still, one of the women at my supportgroup recently lost a lot of weight. On Monday night, she died." --JoanPrice ... Read more

  Reviews (11)

  A Must-Read For Anyone With a Terminal Illness
  I am so happy to have come across this wonderful story about Ruth and her friends. I only wish I could have been one of those people lucky enough to have corresponded with her.

  I was diagnosed with a rare cancer a year ago, and after 3 surgeries, chemo and radiation I am always looking to make lemonade with the lemons I have received in my life. I found myself laughing and feeling a true bond with all the correspondents. They expressed so many of the same thoughts that I have ..."accept that I have a terminal illness, that I am not going to live for three score years and ten, and then be positive about maximising length and quality of time I have left. That means keeping health, embracing orthodox and complementary treatment, and have a good time..."

  A Real Person Faces Death Without the Hollywood Makeover
  Finally, a book that was so honest and real about facing death where one has time to contemplate it. Have you asked yourself what you would do. This is what most would really do, like Ruth, keep on spending time with the ones you love the most, hold onto hope, e-mail friends about the ordinary quirks and funny banalities of everyday life, be angry and sad, and slowly let go. Ruth was a marvelous writer at capturing all of this, honest, witty and succinct in a Bridget Jones' Diary style, but the most moving was her handwritten scribbles of a letter to her children before she died ("ask all the friends and relatives about me"). So poignant. Her husband's afterwords describing her last days and death so clearly brought home how lonely dying is, no one truly understands or can accompany you through it, and alienation from all and everything, even your husband and children, must result in order to say, finally, goodbye. I was really glad I found and read this book -- short but so emotionally moving I had to read it in stages. It makes you think, feel, ask yourself questions, and want to hold and talk to the ones you love. British humor and slang throughout. I found the British style and tone highlighted the humorous tidbits in Ruth's writing. She seemed a quite remarkable woman. Highly recommended.

  Helping put my diagnosis and prognosis in perspective.
  I was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, Grade IV, and given a prognosis that was not exceptionally good. This book helped me put my feelings and emotions into perspective and better understanding, and it has helped family members who have read the book do the same. I enjoyed the book so much that I have ordered an extra copy to give to my Neurosurgeon in the hopes that he will find it worthy of having residents and medical students do required reading of it, in the hopes that they too can benefit from the patient's perspective. An excellent book of great value, but not an easy read for those diagnosed, or their families, with life threatening illness and disease.

  Very sad book
  First of all, I don't understand why so many people believe books should be "life changing". I'm saying this because, when reading the previous reviews about this book, quite a few people have mentioned that they expected this book to be life changing: and it wasn't. Why do all things written by cancer patients & such have to be life changing? That's one question. And why do the things they say have to be relevant to everyone? That's another question.

  Ruth Picardie was a person with her ups & downs, her good qualities & her bad qualities. One thing that should be immediately noted is that she never intended for a book to be made out of her emailing with friends. Or maybe she thought she had more time, which would enable her to continue writing her columns & make a book out of them eventually. Sadly, her illness caught up with her. So "Before I say goodbye" is just a collection of personal emails, letters from Observer readers, & her 4-5 columns for the Observer. The columns are definitely the best writing in the book, & that's how it should be, since it's the only writing intended for publication.

  For some reason, I was more touched by the emailing, maybe because the ordinarity of the messages showed me (as if I didn't know...) that commonplace things happen to people with cancer, even as they do to you & me. If you turn that around, it also means that cancer happens to commonplace people, again like you & me!! Obviouus, isn't it? But denial is a very strong force, & it's so natural to believe things like this cannot happen to you. If for nothing else, then just for this, "Before I say goodbye" is very chilling & terrifying. I for one read it in one sitting, yesterday night, & ended up finding it difficult to sleep afterwards...But on the other hand, this book also gave me a sense of perspective about my life & its problems.

  Another thing I should mention is that there's an interesting afterword by Ruth Picardie's husband, which gives a much fuller picture about the family & the way they all dealt with Ruth's condition. During the course of the book, lots of questions are left unanswered, which is natural since the book, as I said, is not really a book, but a collection of different pieces of writing. So Matt's writing puts everything into place. It's also a truthful & painful piece of writing.

  If you're generally interested in this subject-matter, John Diamond's "C: Because cowards get cancer too" is on the top of the list, & also "Dancing at the edge of life" by Gale Warner. These are much more complete books. It's very sad that Ruth's writing never had the chance of developing into a real book. Time was cruelly stolen from her & from her family.

  It Could Have Been My Mother
  My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1996 and in November of 1998 she died, aged 44. I watched her becoming helpless, obedient, clildlike and frequently found myself wondering "Who is this woman and where did my mother disappear to?"

  Reading this book helped me understand what happened to her and that it was not unusual for a cancer patient to become that way. In other words: She did not become a freak, and obviously that is a great comfort to know. My mother was still in there somewhere.

  This book will make you laugh and cry. It will break your heart and increase your understanding of loss and death.

  This book should be required reading everywhere! ... Read more

Book Description

When Jeanne McDermott's second child, Nathaniel, was born with Apert syndrome-a condition that results in a towering skull, a sunken face, and fingers webbed so tightly that hands look like mittens-she was completely unprepared for it. In this extraordinary memoir, McDermott calls on her dual roles as science journalist and mother to share her family's traumatic yet enriching experience. Though McDermott and her family had to endure Nathaniel's harrowing surgeries and the stares and comments of strangers and well-meaning friends, they were also transformed by the boy's amazing strength and exuberant personality. With grace, courage, and humor, McDermott shows readers how a child with a rare syndrome can illuminate "a whole new way of seeing, not simply him and others, but ourselves."

"As richly peopled as a novel . . . Jeanne McDermott has taken her education in grief and its transcendence and given it, with tenderness and even wit, to her readers." (Rosellen Brown) ... Read more

Reviews (13)

From one mom to others
I write as the mother of a child with Crouzon Syndrome, which, as the last footnote of this wonderful book will tell you, is "allelic" with Apert's. My daughter Gwendolyn Fyfe was born around the time that Nathaniel Finch was, and it is eerie how similar our experiences were. (We are even Quakers!) I recommend that parents of children with craniofacial syndromes read this book and reread it, prepared to relive and reflect on your own experiences. Warning: this could be painful, and you should probably put some time between the searing experiences of ICUs and operations before you examine your emotions and beliefs by reading this book. "Facing" the situation has given our family a strength and insight into what is really important in this life which we might not otherwise have had. It is clear that it did the same for Jeanne McDermott, and this beautiful book shows how. Parents of children with craniofacial conditions: let's start an on-line book club to discuss it!

BABYFACE - A Witness
BABYFACE by Jeanne McDermott is a witness to the healing power of love. It is a true story of how people of all ages grow to meet unexpected challenges. Although in this case the challenges arise from the birth of a child with a rare cranialfacial disorder, anyone with the experience of having children and creating a new family constellation will identify with many of the issues that face Jeanne McDermott and her family.

There is nothing superficial about BABYFACE and it reveals no easy answers. Instead, the reader shares a truly three-dimensional experience where the word "miracle" regains its stark significance and a "mystical vision" expands our world.

BABYFACE is a book for anyone with a family, at either end of the generational see-saw, and it will not leave you untouched.

Babyface: Inspiring Account of Mother's Love and Devotion
Jeanne McDermott paints an inspiring portrait of her own family, forced to understand and live with the trials and hardships that accompany a child born with Apert Syndrome. She tells the story of Nathaniel with grace and candor informing the reader along the way with insights into the medical, genetic and developmental aspects of this condition. I cried with her pain and embraced her joys through the trials and triumphs of this journey. For anyone who has had a child born with a medical condition this is a must read.

ELOQUENT!!!
I love this book. My 2 1/2 year old son went through four surgeries in his life time and I can so relate to the recall of ICU's and operating rooms. My son also has a form of dwarfism and will be different. I love her philosophy, so much peace and forgiveness to stranger's rudeness! She has so eloguently speak of the growth that any parent of child with differences have experienced. Babyface will be kept close to my heart forever and I recommend this book to all parents who are struggling with the challenge of bring up a child with a difference. In time, you too will gather the strength and peace demonstrated so well and articulated by Ms. McDermott.

A Real Life Story Of Love
I was deeply moved by her account of the agony of watching her child go through heartbreaking operations. Also the love she has for her child who will always look different and the concerns about the thoughtless cruelty he'll encounter in his life. She also shares her joys and how she learned to live in the moment and to appreciate the small pleasures of life. Having a adult child with mild cerebral palsy and my experience with him as a child my heart went out to her. I recommend this book to parents and anyone who loves children. ... Read more

Book Description

"Steve Brown takes us on a profound journey of his many steps, the many turnings of the wheels that have borne him through his life to the present moment.His shock, his anger, his bitterness, and, ultimately, his courage in the face of adversity, not only educate but remind us of his fine humanity as well as our own.His advocacy doesn't preach but teaches.With words describing his life and the lives of those close to him, he opens a wide door through which any who can read or care to grow can pass."
—Mark Medoff, Author of Children of a Lesser God

"Disability culture is at the heart and soul of the disability movement, and in Steve Brown's writings we see that culture shining in all its glory. "
—Mary Johnson, Editor, Ragged Edge magazine

“Movie Stars and Sensuous Scars is a powerful book. I strongly relate to Steve's writing and ideas. The writing is clear and flows well. The ideas are beautifully radical. He gives true insight into disability and people with disabilities. His is a voice demanding to be heard.”
—David Pfeiffer, Disability Studies Quarterly editor ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (28)

an excellent biography...on a fascinating/disturbing subject
I found this an excellent biography...and it surprised me how much more disturbed I was by the life of Helen Keller and by her relationships with others, particularly Annie Sullivan, than I was before reading this book. I think anyone who previously thought Helen Keller was a happy and joyous woman would realize how mistaken that idea is. although the reality of her triumph over hardship can never be diminished, and for that she will always be a model of inspiration, she strikes me as having been an often extremely sad, emotionally shut down and isolated woman...but mostly someone who lived behind a major false front and "put on a happy face" to survive.

strong points: very well researched, clearly and carefully written, often insightful, not shying away from taboo topics (sexuality, alcoholism, child abuse), all in all quite readable

a quick gripe: I feel Herrmann could have been more interpretive about the relationship between Helen and Annie. while reading the book I often found myself feeling that Helen and Annie's relationship (and Helen herself) was far more disturbed - unbalanced - than even Herrmann was concluding.

A very readable book about a very readable woman
I found this book very interesting as well as revealing about the life of Helen Keller. As pointed out in the book, many of us know Helen as the little girl at the well in 'The Miracle Worker'. However, Helen Keller lived a long and fulfilling life despite her handicaps some of which had nothing to do with her physical handicap. Helen is revealed as an intelligent (not a genius), attractive woman who represented the ultimate in overcoming handicaps. Helen was also willful, opinionated, many times demanding, as well as an avid socialist who admired the works of Marx among others. These traits show her to be human and intriguing, an accomplished person who spent the majority of her life dependent upon other people, but who was well traveled and experienced in many of life's joys as well as its pettinesses and jealousies. She fought for equal rights for all as well as for the blind and deaf. This book brings the many aspects of Helen's life together in one place, and shows us the many facet's of this remarkable woman's life and times. I highly recommend it.

Fascinating, but too disturbing
The Helen Keller most of us are familiar with is the beligerent and frustrated little girl who in that fateful Spring of 1887, became docile, loving, and all of a sudden able to understand things when she put her hand under the water pump. But little was always written about her adult life. I always thought she had perfect features for a woman who was 100% blind and deaf. I recall Annie Sullivan's description of Helen when she first met her was that she was "noticeably blind with one protruding eye" and I thought her eyes looked perfect and beautiful, if not unfocused, for a blind woman, but then again I looked at photographs of her from her twenties on down and they were always right profile pics, with the exception of her photo on the front cover revealing her protruding left eye. It gives me the heebeejeebees that she had them removed and replaced with prosthetics. Anyway, they should make a movie about this detailing her life from Radcliffe college to her death.

Helen Keller Loves Martinis
This is a wonderful addition to all the bios on these two remarkable women. While the definitive is "Helen and Teacher," by Joseph Lash, this book adds lots of interesting details. I had no idea that Helen had her eyes replaced with plastic ones (hence the full face photos in adulthood) or that she enjoyed martinis, high heels and fur coats. What a woman! This is a very enjoyable book with plenty of great photographs. I wonder how much of Helen and Annie's fame was based on their youthful beauty?

Anne Sullivan Given Special Attention
Anne Sullivan (Helen Kellers teacher) is probably my biggest hero.
She endured a life of harsh physical pain from various ailments. Any direct exposer to sunlight caused her eyes agonizing pain. She was also plagued with intense emotional trauma, Orphaned, Anne and her younger brother both were shipped to an asylum where they played with rats as toys and frequently were housed in the room where they kept the dead bodies. The year Anne stayed there 70 babies were admitted, 60 died, as did Anne's brother. Anne had seen more death and pain by age 7 then many hardened solders. It was difficult for most people to understand her cantankerous personality and tendency to fly off the handle. It was said at the school she attended she would have been expelled many times, if they had someplace to expell her to. Despite these setbacks she saw Helen Keller, another girl people gave up on and showed her the world of language and communication. This new biography strips away all the well meaning sentimentality and shows us two souls, bruised and scared, but beautiful ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A bit to narcissistic
Davis writes extremely well and the images of his youth are quite powerful. He also does an excellent job conveying the difficulties of relating to his parents.

However, he can never seem to escape from a level of self pity. Though he ascribes this to his parent's deafness, often one wonders if his feelings are not rooted in his own deep classism. Much of what he describes as his youthful dificulties are not uncommon to find in the writtings of other children of working class immigrant jews. The embarassment he feels seems far more driven by this than his parents inability to hear.

I grew a bit tired of his deep self pity, perpetually describing himself as the victim of almost every circumstance.

In one poinient passage, he describes how his mother had once been courted by a wealthy english suitor whom she rejected. He wonders why she chose not marry this "catch." I myself wonder if davis would not have much prefered for this to be the case. It seems he would rather have been the child of the wealthy deaf than of the hearing poor.

While it is worth the read, other worthy texts by children of the deaf are far less self involved.

Reads like a novel...
This could become a classic. I really felt everything he wrote about. I felt badly for him - his childhood was rather bleak. However, his intelligence and good humor won the day and he has become a successful person, as a writer, in academia and his personal, family life. To me this shows that unique situations often produce unique people, and in this there is hopefulness for those of us who feel we grew up as "outsiders." Frankly, I think everyone fits into that category one way or another, so I recommend this book to...everyone.

Interesting but I wanted to know more...
It was very enlightening to learn of a hearing individual's experience being raised by deaf parents...the author's first awareness of his parents' deafness, his alertness and response to nighttime sounds, his role as interpreter even as a small child, his excitement at attending school surrounded by those who could hear, his need as a young adult to escape his limiting home environment, etc. However, there were times during my reading when I felt the author strayed from what I perceived as the main intent of the writing, that is, to understand or empathize with the difficulties and problems of growing up in a somewhat restricted household (at least, in his mind). These were the parts of his story that were not as interesting, and I wanted to hurry through them to get to the portions where I learned something about the deaf experience. Otherwise, it was a very good book and well done. I did notice that the author at times used sentence structure reminiscent of his descriptions of "deaf speak". I wondered whether this was intentional or just a slip to his past.

You'll love this book!
I have read several books of this gen-re, growing up with deaf parents. This one has its own, unique slant. I loved it, and I'm sure you will, too. It's fascinating when a person with parents of any particular group can look back at their childhood and explain things as they saw them through the eyes of their childhood. Mr. Davis describes his young feelings with insight and clarity and makes you understand exactly where he's coming from. It's a wonderful book, made even more special by the rainbow of seldom-heard, but easy to read, descriptive vocabulary used throughout.

Perfect pitch
How to adequately praise an amazing memoir that is by turns comic, tragic, brave, immensely kind (never cloying) and seemingly photographically rendered? Davis presents the reader with how his young life looked, smelled, sounded - and most importantly, how it felt. It's a remarkable story of growing up in the now-lost world of the working-class Bronx (Tremont Avenue) of the 1950's, the much younger of two sons of smart, devoted, hard-working Jewish British immigrant parents, who are also "stone deaf," in his father's words. His mother lost her hearing in childhood, and so can speak and be understood by the hearing world; his father lost his as a baby. The circumstances surrounding these events are examined, too. Their shared disability both constricted and greatly enlarged his life.

Young Davis was deeply loved by his parents, but hyper-responsible and desperate for contact and life in the outside world. Readers are given the terrific minutiae of his life as a child - the weekly dinner menu at home, the interior of his family's apartment, life at school, the kindesses of teachers and his parents' friends in the deaf community, (lower case "d," , then) the neighbors, and the sights, sounds, smells of family life, including what he describes as a nearly religious object (because of course his father couldn't hear baseball on the radio): an Emerson Console TV. A very personal iconography of Television -- he develops a superhero alterego he calls "The Zenth" -- is part of the immense charm and humor of Davis' story. (Years later, he finds the exact same Emerson Console in a junk shop in upstate New York, another great scene in this book.) In the chapter "Honeymoon with Mom," he goes to England to visit relatives. The cozy domesticity and accepting, familial love - the music in every house, English candy - that he finds there is movingly described.

From the confines and immense security of his family's one-bedroom apartment Davis learns difficulty and differentness of being the hypervigilant hearing child - conscientious, smart, and emotionally desperate, sometimes - of Deaf parents. There are two brothers in this family, and their interesting but troubled relationship is examined with compassion and intelligence.

Davis is a careful writer with a wonderful and loving sense of the world. Not a word has been wasted. By the way, "Zenth" becomes a Professor of English. His generosity in revealing his life to us is immeasurable. The full picture of the old neighborhood is in itself an excellent historical narrative. You can smell the food - and hear the voices. It's also very funny at times. One of the best autobiographies I've ever read. ... Read more

Book Description

Two courageous spirits, mother and daughter, challenged by a new reality after a life-changing accident. The call came at 6 a.m. Karen Brennan's twenty-five-year-old daughter, Rachel, had been in a motorcycle accident. She was in a coma. Her CAT scan, the neurosurgeon said, was very, very ugly. Instantly, Brennan's life of comfortable dailiness becomes "passionate necessary-ness." Cautioned that her daughter will not be the "same person," Brennan waits and hopes through weeks of intensive care, months of coma, and Rachel's determined efforts to walk again. The joy of Rachel's first words is followed by the discovery that she has a severe short-term memory deficit. Rachel cannot remember or fashion a simple narrative. A professor with a special interest in memory, Brennan takes up the challenge of helping Rachel rebuild herself. Jump-starting her daughter's memory by constantly retelling Rachel's own story, Brennan also fosters the creativity and humor that have always characterized her daughter. Their collaborative effort, bound by love, is a dynamic memoir of recovery and reinvention. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A Wonderful Can-Do Book to Inspire and Encourage Caregivers
This book has touched me deeply and inspired me to keep trying, even when times are so very challenging. Like the Guadalupe, quite miraculously, this one book was brought to me by my toddler son as he reached to pull "Being With Rachel" from a shelf of well over a thousand different books!

My son (the one who handed me this book) was born with brain injuries we are not even certain about at this time due to his teenage birthmom's irresponsibility. We have been through all of the physiatrists, child psychologists, physical, speech, and occupational therapists and social workers over the past two years in assisting him to walk and talk and use his hands.

There have been many times that I have felt just like Karen Brennan has expressed so beautifully in this book. Her emotions and frustrations that people in these situations often can't even identify, much less tell someone about, are described in ways that allowed me to find words for my own feelings and to accept more of those moments when the answers are not forthcoming.

Like Karen, we also lost a parent this year and oddly found new hope and help and inspiration out of the despair. Karen and Rachel Brennan have made me feel that someone else was not only coping but triumphing with tiny steps, and making their way to the light.

The beauty of this story is that the writing is excellent and the writer's ability to open her heart and share her deepest thoughts has not only helped her daughter and herself heal but countless others who may be facing similar challenges in their own lives.

Give this book to someone who needs encouragement, knowing that they will find empathy, sincerity, and a friend with real experience and undying love.

smartest memoir of the year
Atop all the courageous acts in this story, the final and most lasting one is Karen Brennan's commitment of her story to print. In her turmoil's depths, she attests to uncomfortable truths and confesses her impassioned dismay that love is sometimes mixed with guilt, that hope is a hairsbreadth from dread, that the cruelest and most unjust penalty is in another light a largesse with unending rewards. Most impressive is the revelatory presentation of an active mind (or perhaps two minds) learning, reformulating, performing. In her new role as caregiver researching her daughter's brain injury, Brennan confronts anew terms she had understood as fiction instructor and critical theorist: reading this, you'll come to know that what you appreciate in your favorite author or in your best friend's letters is your own innate complicity in a good act of perserveration or confabulation or dissociation. The gradual reunderstanding of memory and narrative is a thrill to experience.

Notwithstanding her publisher's marketing strategy, this is far more than a story of survival; and though she may share with Mark Doty or John Bayley a life marked by caregiving and loss, Brennan authors a far finer literary memoir, imaginatively and unsympathetically crafted, with a style more akin to the radical sincerity of J.R. Ackerley or Annie Ernaux or Herve Guibert.

These are your best friend's letters. Karen Brennan is your favorite author.

A moving story of rebirth and courage
Karen Brennan's Being With Rachel ... tells of a family's changes when a 25-year-old daughter is gravely injured in a motorcycle accident. Her mother's account of her daughter's slow recovery, determination to walk again, and lasting brain injuries makes for a moving story of rebirth and courage.

A must read for anyone
This is a wonderfully touching story of brain injury survival that hasn't been seen much. Instead of from a survivors voice, it's from a parents voice. What a couragous and strong woman Karen is. This book shows you what daily life is like living with a survivor. This story reads alot like my own. I identified with Rachel on a very personal level and put me in touch even more with perhaps what my mother went through with me. This is such good writting that I feel I know Karen and her family personally. And not becuase I have brain injury. Read this book! Even if you don't know brain injury, this can apply to any life altering stuggle people go through.

A book for everyone
Brennan's subject is much larger than the aftermath of the tragedy that happened to her daughter. Is her daughter a different person because of her brain injury? Is Brennan, now, becoming a different person because of the way her relationship to her daughter is changing? Brennan worries questions of identity, personality, and the significance of memory with an astonishingly light touch, and she tells a terrific story. You could almost say that Brennan has made good somehow of the tragedy, turned her daughter into an inspiring lesson for all of us--except that Brennan is too smart and too observant of life to be that reductive. Her Rachel is no lesson; she's a treasure and a pain and a person-and-a-half. An often funny, heartening, and inspiring book. ... Read more

Book Description

Terry Fox, the one-legged runner from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, made an indelible impression upon people across Canada and around the world. An outstanding athlete with a stubborn and competitive spirit, he lost his leg to cancer at 19, but said “nobody is ever going to call me a quitter.”

On April 12, 1980, Terry Fox set out from St. John’s, Newfoundland to begin the run across Canada that he named the Marathon of Hope. His ambition was to raise a million dollars for cancer research. It wasn’t easy. Initial support from communities varied from terrific to nothing at all. His prosthetic leg was painful to run on, and there were always traffic and extreme weather conditions to deal with. But, by the time he reached Ontario – a journey of more than 3,000 kilometres – word of his achievement had spread, and thousands cheered him and followed his progress. Terry’s spirits soared, and now he hoped to raise $22 million dollars – one dollar for every Canadian. He succeeded in this ambition, but the Marathon of Hope ended near Thunder Bay, Ontario on September 1, 1980. The cancer had spread to his lungs, and, after running 24 miles in one day, on the next he could run no further.

When cancer finally claimed his life in 1981, Canada mourned the loss of a hero, but the Terry Fox Marathon of Hope lives on. The Terry Fox Foundation raised more than $17 million in 1999, and support for the event nationally and around the world is growing. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A good biography
"Terry Fox: His Story" tells of the life of a man who needs little introduction the world over. Terry's one-legged run halfway across Canada in 1980 is a story of great national pride here, and indeed many countries have caught on to the spirit. Terry's tragic, heroic story is commemorated every year with the fundraising "Terry Fox Run", held around the world, with the proceeds going towards cancer research.

"His Story" succeeds in providing a comprehensive, if not overly personal, look at Terry's life. I was also impressed by the dynamic and care given to the run itself, as it progressed from one location/town to another. Not every city was as enthusiastic as the last one, for instance, and the author takes care to show how Terry learns to respond to these varying regional reactions, and learns to become a very capable public speaker. The author also takes great care to show that the running was not easy work for Terry, that on many days he simply physically could not accomplish what he set out to do. It makes what he did accomplish all that much more impressive.

All in all, I was left with a new respect for Terry as a result of reading this book. As an occasional runner myself, I know how difficult it is to get up, on two legs, and go. Which makes you wonder, if Terry Fox could jog nearly a marathon every day for six months on one leg, by comparison, what excuse has anybody else got to not do anything?

Matthew D. Johnston ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (34)

A very literate, personal account of Alzheimer's by husband
John Bayley was married to the famous writer, Iris Murdoch, for over 40 years. Sadly she developed Alzheimer's disease late in life and Mr. Bayley's book recounts how he dealt with this sad fact. It is a very intimate portrait of a famous writer, and, includes their many wonderful times together during their marriage. One learns, for example, that Mr. Bayle