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jenknox's Reviews (494)
I found myself rereading many of the passages in this memoir, poetic descriptions that struck me to the core:
"Ages since the winter-beaten grasses drew us way into the woods and you reached my face and I was already warming to you. I didn't love you, but I was smiling, in a little patch of peace. I ran behind the trees but not far and you wrote about my face on yellow lined pads, crumpled in dirt with dandelions. You kept writing, sinking into the early mosquitoes and newly born leaves, and I knew something, but the birds digested all the words I tried to make into sentences." (165)
Such passages (even more potent in context to the larger, looming and heartbreaking tale that makes up the whole of this book) were potent and required, from this reader, pause. This is not a book to read passively. Nor is this a book for those who live by the out-of-sight-out-of-mind philosophy. Rayman-Rivera doesn't sugarcoat or coddle the sensitive or censor-happy sort.
This is a book for those who want to read about one woman's truths, striking and poetic; who is willing to engage with the text, go down into the murkiness and examine up-close what is often silenced in our country. This book is inspirational, if only because the author lived through what she records and has found from her experience a voice that is beautiful and more, undeniably potent.
"Ages since the winter-beaten grasses drew us way into the woods and you reached my face and I was already warming to you. I didn't love you, but I was smiling, in a little patch of peace. I ran behind the trees but not far and you wrote about my face on yellow lined pads, crumpled in dirt with dandelions. You kept writing, sinking into the early mosquitoes and newly born leaves, and I knew something, but the birds digested all the words I tried to make into sentences." (165)
Such passages (even more potent in context to the larger, looming and heartbreaking tale that makes up the whole of this book) were potent and required, from this reader, pause. This is not a book to read passively. Nor is this a book for those who live by the out-of-sight-out-of-mind philosophy. Rayman-Rivera doesn't sugarcoat or coddle the sensitive or censor-happy sort.
This is a book for those who want to read about one woman's truths, striking and poetic; who is willing to engage with the text, go down into the murkiness and examine up-close what is often silenced in our country. This book is inspirational, if only because the author lived through what she records and has found from her experience a voice that is beautiful and more, undeniably potent.
Julie Ann Weinstein writes in a refreshing, sharp style that is perfectly suited to flash fiction. Her stories are filled with haunting scenarios and wildly funny characters, who are as unpredictable as they are endearing.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to get away; to anyone who loves to read but never finds the time; and to anyone who loves a good short story. Flashes From the Other World is aptly titled--the stories offer pure escapism in short form.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to get away; to anyone who loves to read but never finds the time; and to anyone who loves a good short story. Flashes From the Other World is aptly titled--the stories offer pure escapism in short form.
This is a very straightforward, honest and personal account of one woman's battle with schizophrenia.
As a person who has seen what this illness has done to people I love, I was particularly drawn-in by the subject matter, and I am therefore probably extremely biased. That said, there's no denying that MacKay wrote a very enduring and important book about the topic, one will strike an emotional cord and open the eyes of those of us who are currently not afflicted with the disease. A memoir that raises empathy and tells a good story always has my support.
As a person who has seen what this illness has done to people I love, I was particularly drawn-in by the subject matter, and I am therefore probably extremely biased. That said, there's no denying that MacKay wrote a very enduring and important book about the topic, one will strike an emotional cord and open the eyes of those of us who are currently not afflicted with the disease. A memoir that raises empathy and tells a good story always has my support.
Good writing. So far, my goodness!!! A little bit of everything in this book.
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Julie Achterhoff wrote an book that presents some serious exstentialist questions as she explores some very realistic consequences of humanity's impact on the world. The story itself seems to have elements of every genre: romance, mystery and speculative fiction, and yet it's a very short book, a quick read. I finished the book thinking, "How did she pull all that off in so few pages?" There was nothing scattered or confusing and yet there was so much weighty content. I'm impressed.
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Julie Achterhoff wrote an book that presents some serious exstentialist questions as she explores some very realistic consequences of humanity's impact on the world. The story itself seems to have elements of every genre: romance, mystery and speculative fiction, and yet it's a very short book, a quick read. I finished the book thinking, "How did she pull all that off in so few pages?" There was nothing scattered or confusing and yet there was so much weighty content. I'm impressed.
Where are the Cocoa Puffs? is an incredibly entertaining and endearing story because it feels so genuinely real, alive even. The book’s theme, it seems to me, is not merely about what it is like for a teen-aged girl to live with bipolar disorder but what it is like for an entire family to live with the illness. Mental illness, after all, is does not happen in a vacuum. The protagonist here has a caring family, and while her sister, mother and father have varying emotive or distancing responses to Amanda’s diagnosis (her father, a psychiatrist, is the first to diagnose her) I felt as though I was getting a very in-depth portrait of what it means for an entire family to deal with a member’s disorder. This story is heartbreaking and beautiful, and most importantly, it feels real. There is a keen, quick humor throughout that makes this realistic tale quite engaging throughout. I have already promised to loan out my copy to one friend and I have recommended it to many others.
Anyone who has been touched by mental illness, personally or externally, should read this book. It’s a truly important book, and a damn-good read. This is a novel that does what good literature should: it raises awareness about an often misinterpreted problem. In this case, an often-misdiagnosed and misunderstood illness; the way it works, as a ripple, to touch everyone around it. And how important acceptance is to finding a way to cope and live with such a powerful but mysterious gift/curse of the mind.
Anyone who has been touched by mental illness, personally or externally, should read this book. It’s a truly important book, and a damn-good read. This is a novel that does what good literature should: it raises awareness about an often misinterpreted problem. In this case, an often-misdiagnosed and misunderstood illness; the way it works, as a ripple, to touch everyone around it. And how important acceptance is to finding a way to cope and live with such a powerful but mysterious gift/curse of the mind.
I've heard a lot of criticism about this book, so I put off reading it. This just goes to show I rarely agree with my friends when it comes to literature ... I loved it. "Drinking Coffee Elsewhere" was my favorite story in the collection, but I felt attached to all of them. Each one! I never say that about a collection.