Son of Hope [Hardcover] Review

I have just finished reading David Berkowitz's book "Son of Hope". I remember the man he was when he was arrested, his face and piercing eyes. And I recently viewed on line the interviewswith David aired on CBS in New York City. On May 10th, I saw the segment entitled "bonus footage behind the scenes look at the "Son of Sam" Interviews, which I don't believe was aired on TV. They showed the man who they arrested as Son of Sam and the face of the man who has been transformed, saved and set free in Christ Jesus; now the Son of Hope and they don't even look like the same man.

David's journal on December 21, 2004 said it all. He doesn't even feel as though he is in prison except for the place that it is. He is a minister, a witness, of how a loving Christ can reach a man lost in sin, with no hope and change him into a helper, a servant reaching out to fellow prisoners, giving him a ministry within the prison walls. I am so impressed upon reading that David receives no profit from the sale of his book, that anything received goes to the parents/victims of his past crimes. Thank you David for writing the book. I certainly plan to share mine with others. See you in Heaven.

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Product Description:
From later 1975 through 1977, over a 13-month period David Berkowitz went on a killing spree in the New York metropolitan area--a spree that left six people dead and seven wounded.When Berkowitz--dubbed the Son of Sam--was finally captured, he confessed to his crimes and in 1978 was sentenced to 365 consecutive years in prison.

Ten years into David's prison sentence a fellow inmate began to share with him Christ's love, hope, and forgiveness.Eventually,David Berkowitz accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and has been walking as a Christian for more than 18 years.

David's prison journals offer irrefutable evidence that God has indeed done a marvelous and miraculous work in this man's life.

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Morning, Noon and Night (Paperback) Review

I stumbled upon a discount copy of Spalding Gray's Morning, Noon and Night and was morbidly compelled to read it. Basically, he recounts a day in his life when his youngest son was still an infant.
Other of his works are better written and with sharper wit and insight, and to plod through this one - to get it - you have to hear Spalding tell it in your head, see his expressions and mannerisms.
This memoir is something of a reflection on parenthood, and, well, everything, in true Spalding fashion. The book is full of sentiments that everyone confronting parenthood can relate to. I found myself angry at him for saying some of it though (OK, so I'm not finished with my anger just yet). Toward the end he writes:
"Here it is only ten-fifteen in the evening and I'm wasted, and I didn't even go to work. I don't know how people do it. I don't know how people raise families and work at the same time. What's more, why would they want to do it? With only one life to live, why bring more life into the world to be responsible for? It's absurd. It's ridiculous, I think. Why complicate your life with more life that you are ultimately responsible for? I love my children, but they could only be accidents born out of a kind of blind passion. I could never have had a child if I had to think about it."
Although he didn't go to work, he didn't do much parenting either. His girlfriend, working from a home office, also cooked, managed the household renovations, tended to the baby. He was selfish and spoiled - yoga, bike-ride, drinking.
But in the light of his death this work also sketches a portrait of a very sad, confused, scared - desperately scared - childish man. (Lots of inky water imagery too.) The humour and the wonder had already started leaving him.
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Mornings with Mailer: A Recollection of Friendship [Paperback] Review

The story is touching and honest. The depiction of Provincetown is spot on without being trite. Having grown up on Cape Cod I often see stories set on the sandbar that play too much into the quintessential view of the iconic summer playground and as a result lose the essence of the experience of really being there. This was not the case in Mornings With Mailer. I was most impressed by the way Raymond crafted the story of a young man who lost his father in his early childhood befriending an elderly man in his final years. The raw truth on Raymonds part of woe that preceded the friendship, the drinking and "lost years" provided a backdrop to the fertile ground on which the friendship grew. Following Raymonds process of healing in which he and Mailer developed a companionship that at once filled the father void and gave focus to Raymond after an extended period of searching, provided an interesting view of what it is to be male in a culture that too often sees our boys growing up without a strong male role model in their life. Adding to this poignant tale the fact that the octogenarian is the iconic Pulitzer Prize winning Norman Mailer. The book allows those of us who knew the legend to sneak a peek into the reality that was Norman Mailer. A pleasurable read. I would highly recommend it!

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Morning Neurosis: The mostly true story of a girl trying to reconcile her rock n' roll roots with a new reality (Paperback) Review

This is a wonderful, honest and at times hilarious memoir.You really get the feeling she's bared her soul in this book, and the insights and stories are fascinating.A great read!

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Product Description:
Is there life after music?
Juliette Miranda isn't quite sure. While living out her dreams in Los Angeles, she is forced to make an unexpected return to her hometown where she must struggle to save her relationships, and sanity, from the long shadows of her rock 'n' roll past.
Despite her best efforts, some issues refuse to stay locked in her closet. By recounting tales of her past - like the rock star boyfriend who sang more romantic songs to his dog than to her, or being abandoned in Jamaica by a drugged-out Jim Morrison wanna-be - Juliette hopes to understand her present.
Her chronicle reveals an open, passionately honest look at a girl whose life isn't turning out exactly as she hoped. Her morning neuroses become the vanguard to a broader story that incorporates her loving yet crazy family, indelible friendships, and career mishaps.
Lightly fictionalized to protect the identities of the not-so-innocent, Morning Neurosis is more than a kiss and tell. It's an intimate look into Miranda's real life experiences as she strives to find love, music ... and herself.

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First Darling of the Morning: Selected Memories of an Indian Childhood (P.S.) [Paperback] Review

First Darling of the Morning is a series of glimpses into author Thrity Umrigar's childhood, growing up in Bombay at a time when the country of India was still new and unstable. The stories start at a very young age with some of Umrigar's earliest memories and continue until she is twenty years old and leaving India for the great uncertainty of the United States.

This isn't a solid memoir, though; there are gaps in between each story, sometimes of a few days, sometimes of a few years. It allows the author to pick and choose which of her memories she wants to share with the reader. Sometimes they are humorous and sometimes they are incredibly painful. Each is a part of a larger story: the tale of Umrigar's coming of age in an uncertain time.

Though First Darling of the Morning is a memoir, it reads like literary fiction. This is the perfect book for those people who want to read more nonfiction but have trouble with writing styles or pacing. The book itself is relatively short and the words flow like a smoothly moving water; Umrigar's writing is simply beautiful. She writes with such longing, in some ways desperate to once again be the child she left behind, to correct all those mistakes she made. However, there is also wisdom behind her words, the realization that she can never return.

Her words also hold great passion. Umrigar portrays what it was to be a conflicted youth in Bombay at a time of unrest. There is no preaching here about what India was or what it has become; it is simply memories, thoughts and observations from someone who lived at a turbulent time. In some ways, India was coming of age at the same time that Umrigar was. And that's what this is at its core: a coming-of-age story. It has all the pain of what it is to grow up, to be a teenager. Anyone of any culture will recognize Umrigar's self-doubt and inner turbulence. You don't need to be Indian to sympathize with her and understand her plight; it is a story that has been told again and again since the beginning of time in a thousand different ways.

However, it is those Indian elements that make First Darling of the Morning special, in many ways Umrigar's tribute to her heritage, to where she came from. It is her signal that she will never forget and never push it aside in shame. She writes proudly with her head held high.

Between the poignancy of the stories and the gravitas and beauty of Umrigar's writing, First Darling of the Morning is a gem that is absolutely not to be missed. I can't recommend it highly enough; I only wish there was more to read. For now, though, readers must settle for this small but satisfying look at one girl's journey to adulthood.

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Red Sky at Morning: A Novel (Perennial Classics) [Bargain Price] [Paperback] Review

It's funny; I've read this book at least 10 times and I see from the reviews here that lots of people have seen fit to revisit Red Sky at Morning.
I, too, grew up in the "real" Sagrado. In fact, Bradford's son and I were briefly acquainted as teenagers. I think the book is more autobiographical than Bradford would like to admit; my aunt has said that almost all of the teenaged characters were recognizable as actual people at the local high school at that time--especially Chango.
Any time I'm homesick, all I have to do is reread the book and I'm right back home again. I'm glad that so many people from so many walks of life have enjoyed it as much as I have. It totally captures, very affectionately, all of the GOOD things about Northern New Mexico--things you wish would stay the same forever.
It's like Catcher in the Rye, but it's warmer. It lovingly represents the wholly unique people of Northern New Mexico, who are unlike people anywhere else in the world. But it also reflects human nature and adaptation through scenes of humor, pain, the clashing and meshing of cultures, and the inevitable unwelcome changes that come with the passage of time. Red Sky at Morning bears witness to the coming of age of Joshua Arnold--the futile battle to remain young and untouched by the uglier side of the world, the bittersweet and inevitable transformation of boy to man. It was originally an allegory, I believe, parelleling Josh's growing pains with those of a post-war America. Ironically, it is now an allegory for what has become of the "real" Corazon, Sagrado--full of bittersweet memories--the end of an old road and the beginning of newer, less innocent one.
Just beware: you won't be able to put it down and you WILL read it again and again. It really is that good.

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