Family & Childhood Biographies & Memoirs

I could not put this book down. I was riveted from the start. An incredible story - it's amazing that Ms. Walls could survive to tell it. I'm looking forward to the movie. This story was meant for film.
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Every year prooduces a breakout memoir -- this year it's "The Glass Castle." Intriged by all the much hyped press about the book, I bought a used copy here on Amazon. I imagine the reason this book has gained so much attention is the author's ties...
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Most of this book seemed fiction, not reality. Really far fetched that a young child of three through eight or nine would remember such details such as the color of the sky and where the clouds were and detailed descriptions of how the trees...
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After making the decision that my husband and I would like to become Foster Parents, I saw David Pelzer on the Oprah Winfrey Show sharing about his books. I was astounded that any child should have to live like he did, and there he was, a model...
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After reading the first book, The Boy Called 'It', I have many questions, such as why the mother changed so much, why the mother singled the author out, etc.. I thought these questions would be answered in the second book, as what the first book...
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After reading _A Child Called "It"_ yesterday, I devoured _The Lost Boy_ today, not leaving the house until I finished. I'm so glad Pelzer decided to share his tale and to tour the nation improving and helping other's lives. The books are pretty...
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I could not put this book down. I was riveted from the start. An incredible story - it's amazing that Ms. Walls could survive to tell it. I'm looking forward to the movie. This story was meant for film.
read full review | report as inappropriate

Every year prooduces a breakout memoir -- this year it's "The Glass Castle." Intriged by all the much hyped press about the book, I bought a used copy here on Amazon. I imagine the reason this book has gained so much attention is the author's ties...
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Most of this book seemed fiction, not reality. Really far fetched that a young child of three through eight or nine would remember such details such as the color of the sky and where the clouds were and detailed descriptions of how the trees...
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if you've ever lived in a small town, you will know this hits close to your heart. not until you become an adult do you yearn for simple things in life again. what a gem!
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I started A Girl Named Zippy prejudiced in its favor, based on reviews I'd read, and at first I wasn't disappointed. In fact, my initial reaction was so favorable that it took me a while to admit to myself how disenchanted I later became. After...
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The title character in "A Girl named Zippy" is an amusing child somewhere between the ages of three and ten. In this book, Haven Kimmel (Zippy) recalls the little things that make up her childhood in a series of short chapters. These chapters...
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It may be sacrilege to some, and even laughable to others, but Chuck Klosterman may just filling in the gap in my medulla oblongata left by the death of Lester Bangs. "Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey In Rural North Dakota" is a fascinating,...
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Maybe you should know this: I'm not impressed with Dave Eggers. Compared to Chuck Klosterman, though, he's a genius. Because Eggers at least has some sense of the purpose of his irony. Even the Cohen brothers (who by now you wish would just make a...
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First, a little background. I graduated from high school in 1986, which was prime-time as far as the music in this book is concerned. I used to spend my weekends with my friends drinking beer, playing videogames and listening to Motley Crue,...
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Having traveled extensively in Asia and keenly recalling the tragedy of Cambodia from media accounts and as depicted in the movie "The Killing Fields," I was attracted immediately to this subject matter. However, even then I was unprepared for...
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I grudgingly gave this two stars because it is well written.
BUT it is absolutely packed with historical errors and filled with so much that could not possibly have happened that I wonder if the author was anywhere near Cambodia during most of...
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This is a good book. It portrays the Khmer Rouge horrors through the eyes of a five year old child. Having spent time in Cambodia, I find the book presents a clear and accurate snapshot of Khmer life; however, there's no way a five year old...
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A jewel of a book, and a fascinating look into the early life of one of my favorite writers.
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I loved some of the science in Sack's book but the autobiographical part was embarrassing at points.It seemed to me that it's very hard to write this type of book with out sounding like you are bosting of your intelligence. One of the few book's...
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The child of Ashkenazi Jews who escaped to Jerusalem just before the outbreak of World War II, Amos Klausner (the author's original name) grew up in a scholarly family which encouraged his precocity. His great uncle Joseph was Chair of Jewish...
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Amos Oz likes to say "the first thing you should know about [his] autobiography is that it's not an autobiography. It's an imposition forced on [him] by the Library of Congress." An interesting confession considering "A Tale" was published under...
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This book is good and if you want a long drawn out, often over-detailed story about a family legacy from Europe to Israel and their trials and trevails, then this is good. If you get bored easily, you will be bored really easily with this one....
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