THE COOKED SEED : A MEMOIR
by Anchee Min
On August 31, 1984, Anchee Min landed in Chicago scared to death. She didn't speak English and only had five hundred dollars which was borrowed. Anchee had been accepted to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and had lied on her application. She had circled "Excellent" for English. (Someone else filled out the papers for her.)
Upon arrival in the United States, when the immigration officer welcomed her, Anchee didn't understand a word that he said. A translator told her that she was going to be deported immediately. After examining everything, a clause was discovered in the papers that the school was going to place her in an intensive language learning program. If after six months she still wasn't up to par, back to China she would go.
Anchee had to pay for the course and it was a total waste of time. She learned nothing and got out of it. Television became the means of learning English, primarily Sesame Street. In order to keep herself afloat, she worked five jobs and slept in desolate areas to save money.
Her struggle to survive both in Communist China and in America and her sheer determination, stamina, and strength made Anchee quite successful.
The Cooked Seed is an immigrant story that should be read universally. Those of us who were born and raised in the United States and take things for granted should learn what went on during the Cultural Revolution and Anchee explicitly describes the horrors and deprivation of living under Mao.
Anchee was extremely lucky to leave China.
This book is honest, revealing, eye-opening, and full of grit.
Recommended.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
A FORT OF NINE TOWERS : AN AFGHAN FAMILY STORY
by Qais Akbar Omar
Up until the age of seven, Qais Akbar Omar lived in Kabul (where he was born) with his father who taught high school physics (he was also a professional boxer), his mother who managed a bank, and several siblings in a large compound built by his grandfather. They shared the spacious abode with a multitude of cousins (twenty-five plus) and his father's brothers and their wives. It was a relatively peaceful time. The entire family would eat dinner together with a cloth spread out on the grass. Wondrous stories were told. Poetry was spoken. Soon enough, this idyllic atmosphere would be destroyed.
Different factions (Mujahedin, then Taliban) arrived and it became too dangerous to stay in their home. Omar's immediate family left and took shelter in the historic Fort of Nine Towers (an old palace with one tower left). Unfortunately, they had to flee again due to escalating violence. For a period of time, they lived in caves behind the huge Buddha statues in Bamyan. When that no longer was safe, they traveled with Kurchi herders (their nomadic cousins). Omar's father kept trying to hire smugglers to get his family our of Afghanistan. Money, of course, was needed and they didn't have much. Omar tried to help his father support their family. When he learned how to weave carpets, this would become the turning point for all of them.
A Fort of Nine Towers is quite a story. Apparently, it is one of the few books written by an Afghan who never left because he loved his country so much. The resilience, bravery, and stamina of the Afghan people is startling. The years of war and unrest would make most people crazy with no will to live yet Omar's family and others like them bore their tribulations steadfastly and, amazingly, could even joke about it. This is the book to read if you don't know anything at all about Afghanistan and what exactly happened there over the years. It is an eye-opener.
Recommended.
by Qais Akbar Omar
Up until the age of seven, Qais Akbar Omar lived in Kabul (where he was born) with his father who taught high school physics (he was also a professional boxer), his mother who managed a bank, and several siblings in a large compound built by his grandfather. They shared the spacious abode with a multitude of cousins (twenty-five plus) and his father's brothers and their wives. It was a relatively peaceful time. The entire family would eat dinner together with a cloth spread out on the grass. Wondrous stories were told. Poetry was spoken. Soon enough, this idyllic atmosphere would be destroyed.
Different factions (Mujahedin, then Taliban) arrived and it became too dangerous to stay in their home. Omar's immediate family left and took shelter in the historic Fort of Nine Towers (an old palace with one tower left). Unfortunately, they had to flee again due to escalating violence. For a period of time, they lived in caves behind the huge Buddha statues in Bamyan. When that no longer was safe, they traveled with Kurchi herders (their nomadic cousins). Omar's father kept trying to hire smugglers to get his family our of Afghanistan. Money, of course, was needed and they didn't have much. Omar tried to help his father support their family. When he learned how to weave carpets, this would become the turning point for all of them.
A Fort of Nine Towers is quite a story. Apparently, it is one of the few books written by an Afghan who never left because he loved his country so much. The resilience, bravery, and stamina of the Afghan people is startling. The years of war and unrest would make most people crazy with no will to live yet Omar's family and others like them bore their tribulations steadfastly and, amazingly, could even joke about it. This is the book to read if you don't know anything at all about Afghanistan and what exactly happened there over the years. It is an eye-opener.
Recommended.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
THE BARONESS : THE SEARCH FOR NICA, THE REBELLIOUS ROTHSCHILD
by Hannah Rothschild
They were hoping for a boy. Victor was born first in 1910 and then two sisters followed. In the Rothschild, family male heirs were extremely important. The founding father laid down the principle, in 1812 (still upheld today), that only Rothschild men could inherit and run the business of running the banks. Women ruled the homes but they certainly were not weak. Most of them were quite headstrong and aggressive.
The birth of Kathleen Annie Pannonica on December 10, 1913 was a huge disappointment. The spare heir was not to be. Nica was named after her father's favorite moth (she told outsiders that she was named after a butterfly). Pannonica means 'of Hungary' (Nica's mother was Hungarian) and means a creature of the night which became very appropriate for Nica years later. The family was crazy about insects. Both Nica's father Charles and her uncle Walter had huge collections (over six million).
Nica grew up surrounded by a multitude of servants with limited parental contact. The food and the routine were repetitive. It was like living in a cage. Eventually Nica would leave this stultifying existence and marry Baron Jules de Koenigswarter. Their home was a chateau in France; five children were born. Soon enough, this life too became a cage.
In the 1950s Nica heard a piece of music that would completely transform her. Jazz pianist Thelonious Monk played "Round Midnight" and Nica was spellbound. She left her marriage and moved to New York to find this man. Nica chose to help Monk and other musicians by paying their bills, taking them to the hospital, spending money by supporting them in their musical careers. This was her true calling and she was finally happy.
Hannah Rothschild, the great-niece of Nica, is a wonderful writer. It's fascinating to read about the entire family by how they first started in business, the rules that were set up, the descendants, the idiosyncrasies, the brilliance. Nica was considered well ahead of her time and certainly was rebellious. Because of her fortune, she was able to carve out her own life and be free.
Within every chapter, there are black-and-white photographs depicting the people that are described in the text so you feel as if you are right there with them.
Luckily for Hannah, she was able to interview many of the musicians that knew Nica plus producers and her own family (even Nica herself before she passed).
The Baroness is a great story of an eccentric woman who was passionate about music and devoted herself to always be there for the love of her life.
Highly recommended.
by Hannah Rothschild
They were hoping for a boy. Victor was born first in 1910 and then two sisters followed. In the Rothschild, family male heirs were extremely important. The founding father laid down the principle, in 1812 (still upheld today), that only Rothschild men could inherit and run the business of running the banks. Women ruled the homes but they certainly were not weak. Most of them were quite headstrong and aggressive.
The birth of Kathleen Annie Pannonica on December 10, 1913 was a huge disappointment. The spare heir was not to be. Nica was named after her father's favorite moth (she told outsiders that she was named after a butterfly). Pannonica means 'of Hungary' (Nica's mother was Hungarian) and means a creature of the night which became very appropriate for Nica years later. The family was crazy about insects. Both Nica's father Charles and her uncle Walter had huge collections (over six million).
Nica grew up surrounded by a multitude of servants with limited parental contact. The food and the routine were repetitive. It was like living in a cage. Eventually Nica would leave this stultifying existence and marry Baron Jules de Koenigswarter. Their home was a chateau in France; five children were born. Soon enough, this life too became a cage.
In the 1950s Nica heard a piece of music that would completely transform her. Jazz pianist Thelonious Monk played "Round Midnight" and Nica was spellbound. She left her marriage and moved to New York to find this man. Nica chose to help Monk and other musicians by paying their bills, taking them to the hospital, spending money by supporting them in their musical careers. This was her true calling and she was finally happy.
Hannah Rothschild, the great-niece of Nica, is a wonderful writer. It's fascinating to read about the entire family by how they first started in business, the rules that were set up, the descendants, the idiosyncrasies, the brilliance. Nica was considered well ahead of her time and certainly was rebellious. Because of her fortune, she was able to carve out her own life and be free.
Within every chapter, there are black-and-white photographs depicting the people that are described in the text so you feel as if you are right there with them.
Luckily for Hannah, she was able to interview many of the musicians that knew Nica plus producers and her own family (even Nica herself before she passed).
The Baroness is a great story of an eccentric woman who was passionate about music and devoted herself to always be there for the love of her life.
Highly recommended.
Monday, April 29, 2013
FROZEN IN TIME : AN EPIC STORY OF SURVIVAL AND A MODERN QUEST FOR LOST HEROES OF WORLD WAR II
by Mitchell Zuckoff
On November 5, 1942, a U.S. cargo plane (C-53) on a normal flight in Greenland crashed into an ice cap. Five men were on board. Four days later, a B-17 bomber (one of the search planes) got lost in a storm and also crashed. (Add nine more men.) To make matters even worse, the U.S. Coast Guard sent an amphibious plane called a Grumman Duck to rescue everyone and they, too, became blindsided by a horrendous storm and simply vanished. (Three more men.)
For five months, survivors valiantly fought to stay alive through the brutally harsh Arctic winter. How they were going to be saved keeps you riveted.
Mitchell Zuckoff certainly knows how to write amazing adventure stories about World War II. His previous book was Lost in Shangri-La and that was tremendous.
Frozen in Time is equally great and can keep you glued to your seat. I have one caveat with the book, though. Interspersed throughout (every other chapter), is a modern day tale. It completely throws you off and is neither compelling nor that interesting. By rights, it should be at the end.
Black-and-white photographs of the men, the planes, the terrain are fascinating to look at.
If you're one of those people who like to read about heroic men in disastrous situations, this is your book.
Recommended.
by Mitchell Zuckoff
On November 5, 1942, a U.S. cargo plane (C-53) on a normal flight in Greenland crashed into an ice cap. Five men were on board. Four days later, a B-17 bomber (one of the search planes) got lost in a storm and also crashed. (Add nine more men.) To make matters even worse, the U.S. Coast Guard sent an amphibious plane called a Grumman Duck to rescue everyone and they, too, became blindsided by a horrendous storm and simply vanished. (Three more men.)
For five months, survivors valiantly fought to stay alive through the brutally harsh Arctic winter. How they were going to be saved keeps you riveted.
Mitchell Zuckoff certainly knows how to write amazing adventure stories about World War II. His previous book was Lost in Shangri-La and that was tremendous.
Frozen in Time is equally great and can keep you glued to your seat. I have one caveat with the book, though. Interspersed throughout (every other chapter), is a modern day tale. It completely throws you off and is neither compelling nor that interesting. By rights, it should be at the end.
Black-and-white photographs of the men, the planes, the terrain are fascinating to look at.
If you're one of those people who like to read about heroic men in disastrous situations, this is your book.
Recommended.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
THE GHOST RUNNER : THE EPIC JOURNEY OF THE MAN THEY COULDN'T STOP
by Bill Jones
In 1940, John Tarrant and his younger brother, Victor, were sent to a children's home in Kent, England to live. Their father, Jack, served in the war and their mother, Edna, was too sick to deal with the boys. They thought they would only be in the home for two years but it stretched to seven, interminably, horrendous years. It was a hideous place. When they finally got out and were retrieved by their father, they were no longer children but teenagers and strangers to him. Edna had died of tuberculosis. Jack had remarried. Tarrant couldn't stand his new environment (smoke-filled rooms, clutter, babies) so he looked for a way out. He took up amateur boxing and competed in a few fights earning a mere pittance. Tarrant quit due to injury. Naturally fit and prone to keeping to himself, he turned to long-distance running. When he tried to join a respectable running club, he was turned down. Because Tarrant had taken cash for sport, the authorities banned him from competing anywhere in Britain and overseas. For the next twenty years, he would fight back by appearing at major running events in disguise. When the pistol was fired, Tarrant would throw off his long coat dressed in his running gear and join the other racers. He set world records of 40 miles and 100 miles. Tarrant never gave up his obsession to be legit. All he ever wanted was to have a number on a vest. So while the officials didn't want to have anything to do with him and tried to keep him away from races, they never succeeded. "The Ghost Runner" would always appear (cheered on by his supporters) and win.
This is an incredible story. The author first heard about John Tarrant in 1985 when he was doing a documentary about the Manchester running club (Tarrant was a member) and read his memoir. From that time forward, he would not stop thinking about Tarrant and became intrigued to know more about him.
Tarrant was not a likeable person. He was self-centered, stubborn, lazy, and basically did what he wanted without caring what others thought. His poor wife, Edie, suffered greatly during their marriage yet she supported him through everything.
Bill Jones has written a great book about an unknown man who ran for revenge and justice.
Highly recommended.
by Bill Jones
In 1940, John Tarrant and his younger brother, Victor, were sent to a children's home in Kent, England to live. Their father, Jack, served in the war and their mother, Edna, was too sick to deal with the boys. They thought they would only be in the home for two years but it stretched to seven, interminably, horrendous years. It was a hideous place. When they finally got out and were retrieved by their father, they were no longer children but teenagers and strangers to him. Edna had died of tuberculosis. Jack had remarried. Tarrant couldn't stand his new environment (smoke-filled rooms, clutter, babies) so he looked for a way out. He took up amateur boxing and competed in a few fights earning a mere pittance. Tarrant quit due to injury. Naturally fit and prone to keeping to himself, he turned to long-distance running. When he tried to join a respectable running club, he was turned down. Because Tarrant had taken cash for sport, the authorities banned him from competing anywhere in Britain and overseas. For the next twenty years, he would fight back by appearing at major running events in disguise. When the pistol was fired, Tarrant would throw off his long coat dressed in his running gear and join the other racers. He set world records of 40 miles and 100 miles. Tarrant never gave up his obsession to be legit. All he ever wanted was to have a number on a vest. So while the officials didn't want to have anything to do with him and tried to keep him away from races, they never succeeded. "The Ghost Runner" would always appear (cheered on by his supporters) and win.
This is an incredible story. The author first heard about John Tarrant in 1985 when he was doing a documentary about the Manchester running club (Tarrant was a member) and read his memoir. From that time forward, he would not stop thinking about Tarrant and became intrigued to know more about him.
Tarrant was not a likeable person. He was self-centered, stubborn, lazy, and basically did what he wanted without caring what others thought. His poor wife, Edie, suffered greatly during their marriage yet she supported him through everything.
Bill Jones has written a great book about an unknown man who ran for revenge and justice.
Highly recommended.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
ONE WOMAN IN A HUNDRED : EDNA PHILLIPS AND THE PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA
by Mary Sue Welsh
Her first instrument was the piano; she started at an early age. But when she changed teachers, she became disillusioned. Afraid that she would abandon music altogether, her mother bought her a harp for her eighteenth birthday. Now she needed advanced instruction but it was hard to find an independent teacher. She auditioned, twice, at the Curtis Institute of Music for the harp and the piano. Since her skills on the harp were considered too elementary for the brilliant harpist Carlos Salzedo to take her on as his student, she spent six months working with his assistant to bring her up to par.
Less than two years later, in 1929, Leopold Stokowski needed a harpist for his orchestra and she was recommended.
On October 3, 1930, Edna Phillips joined the Philadelphia Orchestra. She was the first female to have a principal position in a major orchestra. Twenty-three years old, scared to death, surrounded by one hundred men who resented her, Phillips held her head high and plowed right through with steely determination.
One Woman in a Hundred is one fabulous book. All of the stuff that went on during rehearsals with Stokowski (how he intertwined all of the musicians together by his theories of how the music should be played), being led by other conductors such as Arturo Toscanini (he screamed), interactions with the other performers, recording for Walt Disney's Fantasia (wires all over the place), the behind-the-scenes intricacies are revealed here.
Mary Sue Welsh writes as if Phillips herself was the author and she did a masterly job.
There are great black-and-white photos of the orchestra, Phillips with her harp (natch), Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, Toscanini, et al.
If you're a classical music aficionado, you must get this book. It's funny, fascinating, and an absolute joy to read.
Highly recommended.
by Mary Sue Welsh
Her first instrument was the piano; she started at an early age. But when she changed teachers, she became disillusioned. Afraid that she would abandon music altogether, her mother bought her a harp for her eighteenth birthday. Now she needed advanced instruction but it was hard to find an independent teacher. She auditioned, twice, at the Curtis Institute of Music for the harp and the piano. Since her skills on the harp were considered too elementary for the brilliant harpist Carlos Salzedo to take her on as his student, she spent six months working with his assistant to bring her up to par.
Less than two years later, in 1929, Leopold Stokowski needed a harpist for his orchestra and she was recommended.
On October 3, 1930, Edna Phillips joined the Philadelphia Orchestra. She was the first female to have a principal position in a major orchestra. Twenty-three years old, scared to death, surrounded by one hundred men who resented her, Phillips held her head high and plowed right through with steely determination.
One Woman in a Hundred is one fabulous book. All of the stuff that went on during rehearsals with Stokowski (how he intertwined all of the musicians together by his theories of how the music should be played), being led by other conductors such as Arturo Toscanini (he screamed), interactions with the other performers, recording for Walt Disney's Fantasia (wires all over the place), the behind-the-scenes intricacies are revealed here.
Mary Sue Welsh writes as if Phillips herself was the author and she did a masterly job.
There are great black-and-white photos of the orchestra, Phillips with her harp (natch), Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, Toscanini, et al.
If you're a classical music aficionado, you must get this book. It's funny, fascinating, and an absolute joy to read.
Highly recommended.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
THE GIRLS OF ATOMIC CITY : THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE WOMEN WHO HELPED WIN WORLD WAR II
by Denise Kiernan
Have you ever heard of Oak Ridge, Tennessee? Most people have not. It's in the Appalachian hills; a secluded area. In 1942, people who owned land here received letters from the War Department telling them that they had to leave because the government wanted their farms. Of course, they would be paid for their properties. The families really didn't have much choice in the matter. After all, by doing this they would be supporting the war. By the end of the year, construction would begin on creating a secret city made from scratch. Over 78,000 people (many of them young women) were recruited from all over the United States.They were promised good pay and solid work. Nobody ever really had a clue as to what was going on and what their jobs meant.They were all kept in the dark and told never to question anything. At the end of the war, the truth was revealed to them.
What a great story. Denise Kiernan interviewed many of the residents who are still living there today (in their 90s). The way the author writes is riveting and she captures all of the nuances of how history played out back then. Everybody wanted the war to end but the people that worked at Oak Ridge were more than happy to contribute and were proud to help out.
A tremendous amount of research went into this book (seven years) but it definitely deserved to be written.
Highly recommended.
by Denise Kiernan
Have you ever heard of Oak Ridge, Tennessee? Most people have not. It's in the Appalachian hills; a secluded area. In 1942, people who owned land here received letters from the War Department telling them that they had to leave because the government wanted their farms. Of course, they would be paid for their properties. The families really didn't have much choice in the matter. After all, by doing this they would be supporting the war. By the end of the year, construction would begin on creating a secret city made from scratch. Over 78,000 people (many of them young women) were recruited from all over the United States.They were promised good pay and solid work. Nobody ever really had a clue as to what was going on and what their jobs meant.They were all kept in the dark and told never to question anything. At the end of the war, the truth was revealed to them.
What a great story. Denise Kiernan interviewed many of the residents who are still living there today (in their 90s). The way the author writes is riveting and she captures all of the nuances of how history played out back then. Everybody wanted the war to end but the people that worked at Oak Ridge were more than happy to contribute and were proud to help out.
A tremendous amount of research went into this book (seven years) but it definitely deserved to be written.
Highly recommended.
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