Life Is Not a Fairy Tale
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Great Story
  • Must Read for all teenage girls
  • I wasn't happy.......
  • A Great Page Turner
  • Appealing and Inspiring
Life Is Not a Fairy Tale
Fantasia
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0743282655

Book Description

FANTASIA tells of her astonishing rise from hopeless high school dropout to American Idol superstar in the inspirational New York Times bestseller Life Is Not a Fairy Tale

In one moment, with one tearful performance of "Summertime," the nineteen-year-old Fantasia captured the hearts -- and the votes -- of millions of American Idol fans. Her powerful voice and independent style made her an overnight national sensation. But life wasn't always sensational for Fantasia.

At the age of seventeen, despite the promise of her extraordinary voice, Fantasia was in danger of becoming just another sad statistic: an uneducated, unmarried teenage mother living in the projects. But Fantasia had been raised by two strong, influential women: Both her grandmother and mother are preachers, and she was raised with an unshakable faith. In Life Is Not a Fairy Tale, Fantasia speaks -- with a spirit as strong as her voice -- about what it takes to believe in the power of one's self. She turns all that she's learned into uplifting life lessons, including:

• Recognize your gift

• You made your bed, now lie in it

• Give props where props are due

• Like mother, like daughter

• It ain't about the bling

Fantasia keeps it real with her sassy, self-confident style and down-to-earth advice, making readers laugh and cry with her. Life Is Not a Fairy Tale is more than just a celebrity success story. It's a book of revelations that will inspire all readers to reach for their greatest potential.

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Great Story.......2007-09-02

THis book had a great story but the writing was very elementary - so we found it hard to read for that reason.

5 out of 5 stars Must Read for all teenage girls.......2007-07-03

This book gave me a new respect for Fantasia - her honesty was refreshing and I'm hoping helpful. I immediately bought another copy for my 16 year old neice who has an incredible voice and a wonderful love for God. I'm hoping it will help her not to lose her focus while still pursuing her dreams.

2 out of 5 stars I wasn't happy..............2007-05-31

I really enjoyed the person I saw on American idol who called herself Fantasia. So full of life, so expressive, such a good singer. Then why didn't I enjoy the book? Fantasia seemed to use the book to preach to us about her religious beliefs instead of sticking to the story about her life. I have my own strong religious beliefs and didn't fancy her trying to change my thoughts about God. If she didn't have enough material from her own life to full the pages of a book, I think she should have just stuck with singing. THAT I enjoy.

5 out of 5 stars A Great Page Turner.......2007-04-18

This book is wonderful. Fantasia let's everything out, seacrets and all and she is not scared to hold anything back. You can almost imagine being her, seeing what she sees and doing what she does from all the detail you gain. You would have never guessed who and what this women is really about from what you see on your television screen watching American Idol. You may think you know, but you have no idea! This book is highly recomended to any fan of American Idol.

4 out of 5 stars Appealing and Inspiring.......2007-03-29

She was just a singing country girl who loved the Lord. But then, against all odds, America crowned her their idol.

In this touching memoir, Fantasia Barrino describes her hardscrabble Southern upbringing, unplanned pregnancy and struggles with illiteracy after dropping out of school to raise her daughter. Both younger readers and adults will appreciate this candid, behind-the-scenes look at Barrino's rise to success - and the faith that made it happen. Appealing and inspiring.
An Unfinished Woman: A Memoir (Back Bay Books)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Illusions Can Be Real
  • ...and an unwritten autobiography
  • Sheýs been damned, but itýs still a damn fine book
  • A crisp, dynamic, theatrical, literary memoir.
  • I loved this book!
An Unfinished Woman: A Memoir (Back Bay Books)
Lillian Hellman , and Wendy Wasserstein
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:
  1. Pentimento (Back Bay Books) Pentimento (Back Bay Books)
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ASIN: 0316352853

Book Description

Hellman unleashed her peerless wit and candor on the subject she knew best: herself. An Unfinished Woman is a rich, surprising, emotionally charged portrait of a bygone world, and of an independent-minded woman coming into her own.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Illusions Can Be Real.......2006-04-22

Winner of the National Book Award for best autobiography, An Unfinished Woman candidly chronicles the life of playwright Lillian Hellman, America's leading female dramatist.

The majority of this memoir emphasizes Hellman's unique relationship with mystery writer, Dashiell Hammett. She also reflects on her housekeeper, Helen, who was a close friend, as well as her relationship with writer-humorist, Dorothy Parker. Hellman additionally tells us of her trials and tribulations with writers like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Nathaniel West, and many others. Add to the mix her travels to Russia (twice) and her involvement in the Spanish Civil War --along with her `Hollywood' stories centered around Samuel Goldwyn and William Wyler -- and we get a delightful, lively, hard-nosed look back to an era when writers seemed to be the embodiment of intellectualism, style, and good sense.

Throughout the memoir, Hellman comes across as having an iron-wit and a volatile temper. Her no-nonsense vitality and her passion for moral equity frequently conflicts with those around her. Hellman is most illuminating, though, when she allows us to see her vulnerability. Upon returning to Moscow after twenty-two years, she cries before she even gets off the plane. She writes, "I knew that I had taken a whole period of my life and thrown it somewhere, always intending to call for it again, but now that it came time to call, I couldn't remember where I had left it. Did other people do this, drop the past in a used car lot and leave for so long that one couldn't even remember the name of the road?"

Possibly the best piece in the entire memoir is the chapter devoted to Dashiell Hammett, author of The Maltese Falcon and The Thin Man. Her on-again, off-again relationship with Hammett over thirty years reveals a fascinating homage to her "closest, most beloved friend." We are presented with the portrait of a man who was both complex and simple, and a relationship that was both tumultuous and inspiring. Several college text books carry this particular chapter as an example of prime autobiographical writing, and it's easy to see why. Hellman's trademark craftsmanship sculpts mishmash-memories into a compact, flowing character study of a remarkably interesting man.

Although Hellman omits significant aspects of her life in An Unfinished Woman, her persecution during the McCarthy era can be found in Scoundrel Time, while details about her numerous plays can be found in Pentimento.

Controversy still surrounds the accuracy of Lillian Hellman's memoirs (did she really fabricate autobiographical stories such as 'Julia'? -- included in Pentimento), yet the passages contained in an An Unfinished Woman are nevertheless dynamic and poignant. Hellman writes about issues that seem to obscure mere fact, and the "truth" she offers has a human commonality which goes beyond the boundaries of simple invention. It's important for those who fervently criticize her to keep in mind Hellman repeatedly tells us that she doesn't trust her memory, and her comments about reviewing one's life -- about the twists and turns of remembrance -- remain the underlying theme in all of her memoirs.

3 out of 5 stars ...and an unwritten autobiography.......2006-04-13

Suppose you get sick as a dog for a few days. Nobody knows what's ailing you. So, you buy 25 bananas and scarf them all down. When asked, you say, "Oh, bananas are creamy delicious and they go down smooth as velvet." Kind of poetic, but why did you eat them ? Did you get cured ? Yeah, well, the first book of Lillian Hellman's three volume autobiography, AN UNFINISHED WOMAN, bears a close resemblance to this little scenario. It was on the best seller list for months, we are told. It's certainly well-written, I won't deny that. But does it really tell you much about Lillian Hellman ? That's another story.

Lillian Hellman came from a German-American background, growing up in both New Orleans and New York. Did she have any Jewish connection ? The book does not tell you. After dropping out of colleges, she got married. She stayed with the guy for seven years, but we learn zilch about him, nor about why she chose him then dropped him. Later, she became famous for writing a number of plays that were highly successful on Broadway. She became a nationally known author. Is there even a single word about how, why, where and when she wrote any of these plays ? No, nothing. In fact, if I hadn't heard of Lillian Hellman over many years, I would have no clue as to why reading this autobiography would be interesting. We learn of her close relationship to two black women, both servants in her home. This reflects the civil rights movement and political trends of the 1960s when she wrote the memoir. I am not sure they played such a central role in her life. She also talks a lot about Dorothy Parker and Dashiell Hammett, with the latter of whom she had a 30-year affair. (She had affairs with a number of other people, but they are not mentioned.) Hellman became a political activist early on and her heart went out to the left. She visited Spain during the Civil War and Russia several times. We get almost nothing of her political convictions; the book is apolitical. She finds the time, though, to show how she didn't have any interest in interviewing Stalin or in travelling with the Red Army. Did she have deep political commitments ? Was she a Communist sympathizer ? Other people say she was, but her beliefs play no role in this strange autobiography. What we get are very impressionistic, humorous, and self-centered portraits of Spain and Russia. Hellman defied the House Un-American Activities Committee but did not go to jail. Perhaps she was blacklisted afterwards, but the book does not tell us. On top of all this, she rarely introduces the people whose names she drops. There is no historical background to anyone and no information on how she knew many of the people either. I fear that this volume will, like O. Henry's stories, become so `period-specific' in future that the generations to come will not understand much due to lack of familiarity with the times, the people, and the issues. If little vignettes about famous people turn you on, you might like AN UNFINISHED WOMAN. To know Lillian Hellman, you'd better read something else.

4 out of 5 stars Sheýs been damned, but itýs still a damn fine book.......2003-09-15

Turns out much of what Lillian Hellman wrote in Pentimento was stolen from another person's life, but still, An Unfinished Woman, for which she won the National Book Award in 1969 (for autobiography) is quite a coup. Political activist, critic, and playwrite, Hellman cut a wide swath thru literary circles during her heyday in the 40s, 50s and 60s. This introspective collection of her journal entries and memories shines with her acerbic brilliance. Her circle of `friends' included just about all the famous people of her era: Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Dorothy Parker, Faulkner, and of course Dashiell Hammett, her lover, friend, and confidant. This is a personal account of a life lived as if there were no tomorrow, a nearly romantic rendering of the flavor of a special era in this country, and the documentation of feminine empowerment before the word had even been invented.

5 out of 5 stars A crisp, dynamic, theatrical, literary memoir........2001-08-28

A life where no living is done is a life not worth living. Like O'Neil, Shaw, Williams and Isben, Lillian Hellman (1905-1984, scriptwriter, playwrite, social and political activist and critic) wrote some of the most enduring and thought-provoking drama for the theatre in the 20th century, and the above 'proverb' could very easily have been her epitaph. An Unfinished Woman (Winner of the 1969 National Book Award for biography/Autobiography), the first memoir in her autobiographical trilogy (the two others being Pentimento: A Book of Portraits and Scoundrel Time), showcases a woman who had a 'steel rod' for a spine, a woman of stark liberty who would not compromise her beliefs nor truckle in the presence of those political, military and literary higher-uppers (Hemmingway is a case-in-point) whom she encountered who expected a cowering reaction due to their 'clout.' But that was something she never offered, for as Lillian Hellman said of herself when asked the question, "What are you made of, Lily?" Her cool response was, "Pickling spice and nothing nice." This 'confession' of glued-together memories and eloquent journal entries shimmers with quiet, concentrated reflection and introspection. Each chapter gleams and flashes like a beacon, slowly proffering insights into not simply a remarkable life but a frozen portrait of a bygone era - a period of class, dignity, wisdom, self-learning, an endless stream of wonderful things that are presently no more. She hobnobbed with the best and brightest, luminaries like: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemmingway, William Faulkner, Dorothy Parker, John Hersey, Averell Harriman, and of course, above them all, her truelove and literary confidant, Dashiell Hammett. As a globe-trotting cultural attache' to Russia, France, Germany, and other European lands, she lived and saw intrigue with those of her like mind. She was on the front lines (or very close to them) during World War II. She witnessed bombed out villages and destroyed lives, all the emotional and physical calamities that the horrors of war can funnel forth, broadcasting them for all to hear and imbibe. She participated (with some trepidation) in the PEN (Poets, Playwrites, Essayists and Editors and Novelists) Center Conference, conversing with intellectuals on the pressing issues of the time, but her reluctance was most unequivocal, for intellectual chitchat can, and for her, did quickly evolve into a bombastic mess on hyperbolic, pretentious proportions. She saw B.S., and she saw truth, not hesitating in the least to speak her mind or to write about it. From her reminiscences of her New Orleans girlhood with her beloved caretaker Sophronia, to her shuffling to New York, to her failed marriage and her father's infidelity, Hellman's life only crescendos. With corrosive verve, 'salty' wit and profound insight, Lillian Hellman lets the past truly come alive. In the end, she showed one and all that she was an 'empowered' woman before many thought that could ever be possible.

5 out of 5 stars I loved this book!.......2001-05-24

Lillian Hellman is one of the most important American women writers and this, her memoir, is a literary feast--witty, poignant, brash, and cynical; but as Hellman once wrote, "Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth." I love her plays and I loved this book!--Diana Dell, compiler, Memorable Quotations: American Women Writers of the Past.
Born to Rebel: An Autobiography
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Another great one
  • Excellent!!!!!
Born to Rebel: An Autobiography
Benjamin Elijah Mays
Manufacturer: University of Georgia Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0820325236

Book Description

Born the son of a sharecropper in 1894 near Ninety Six, South Carolina, Benjamin E. Mays went on to serve as president of Morehouse College for twenty-seven years and as the first black president of the Atlanta School Board. His earliest memory, of a lynching party storming through his county, taunting but not killing his father, became for Mays an enduring image of black-white relations in the South. Born to Rebel is the moving chronicle of his life, a story that interlaces achievement with the rebuke he continually confronted.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Another great one.......2006-08-24

This was a wonderful book, its a wonder how Dr. Mays overcame all the things that was holding him back. This is one you should read.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent!!!!!.......2001-02-09

Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays (1894-1984) was one of the most prominent educators, social reformists and civil rights and religious leaders of his time. This book magnificently captures a time in American history that is far too scarcely documented: the Post-Civil War segregation era, leading up to 1970. This book gives a very personal description of Dr. Mays's struggles for dignity, respect and integrity, while simultaneously touching upon the collective struggle of African-Americans. I recommend this book for anyone seeking a greater understanding of African-American and American history. Mr. Mays was a pioneer in social reform and civil rights, was the President of Morehouse College from 1940-67, was a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and held the honor of being the "First" to hold several important and powerful positions in private and public organizations. He was a giant among men. I assure you that this is one of the best autobiographies that you will read.
Only Memory Remains: A True Story about Amanda Laulusa, 1984-2001
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Only Memory Remains: A True Story about Amanda Laulusa, 1984-2001
    Luana Torres
    Manufacturer: PublishAmerica
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

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    ASIN: 1413739814
    Release Date: 2006-04-10

    Book Description

    Let her tell you a tale of true love. I will listen, too. Come women, come men, some boys and some girls, gather around and open your minds. Close your eyes and you will see the picture of a beautiful maiden, the one who was loved, and the one who was lost. LetÂ's go to Hawaii, a tropical paradise. There we will meet Amanda and Luana, who fall in love at first sight. This is a true story, hence they do not simply live happily ever after. No, they will be hurt many times. They will stab at each otherÂ's hearts, tell lies, and keep dirty secrets. Still, true love remains, it prevails—it conquers all. Let her tell you the tale of true love, the last two years of AmandaÂ's life. Let it stir your emotions, break your heart, and change your life.
    You Get Past the Tears: A Memoir of Love and Survival
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • If you still have misunderstandings about aids
    • wonderful story
    You Get Past the Tears: A Memoir of Love and Survival
    Patricia Broadbent , and Patricia Romanowski
    Manufacturer: Villard
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

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    ASIN: 0679463143
    Release Date: 2002-04-09

    Book Description

    In late 1984, Patricia and Loren Broadbent chose to adopt a baby girl named Hydeia, whom they had taken in as a foster child. Hydeia had been abandoned in the hospital at birth by a mother addicted to drugs, and Patricia and Loren were sure they could give her a better chance at life and provide her with the love, support, protection, and guidance that all children need and deserve. In the spring of 1988, however, when Hydeia was just a few months short of four, the Broadbents’ hopes for their child were put to the test when they learned that Hydeia had been infected with HIV at birth. Doctors predicted she wouldn’t live past her fifth birthday.

    More than twelve years later, Hydeia is not only still here, but she is also an internationally recognized AIDS activist and, even more remarkably, a typical teenager. She is among the first generation of children with AIDS for whom science has changed the odds—the first generation for which adulthood is a possibility and not just a dream.

    Writes Patricia Broadbent: “It would be easy to tell our story in clichés about miracles and hope, tragedy and the ‘innocent’ victims of the epidemic. I know, too, how easy it is to view Hydeia, myself, and our family as somehow ‘special.’ The truth is, however, we are a family just like any other. I am no stronger or braver than any other mother who loves her child.”

    You Get Past the Tears is the story of a disease for which there is still no cure. But this is also the story of a family living with AIDS, a mother who did everything in her power to defy that first hopeless prognosis, and a young woman who continues to inspire millions with her courage and determination.

    “I want to show everyone that the struggle is worth it, that life is for living,” writes Hydeia. “AIDS can change a lot of things about your life, but it can’t change the person you are inside. You deserve happiness, love, and respect. Don’t ever forget that, and don’t let anyone try to tell you different. This is still your world, too.”

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars If you still have misunderstandings about aids.......2004-05-19

    If you have any misunderstandings of aids, especially Pediatric Aids this is the most knowledgeable book to read and to educate yourself. From the moment in 1999 while I was watching the Essence Awards and heard Hydeia's acceptance speech for her award. I was automatically moved. I cried during her speech and I cried reading this book. I was sympathetic to her condition and was wondering what she must have went through as a child. She had a pretty good childhood and her mom was just so honorable to take on her and her little sister.

    5 out of 5 stars wonderful story.......2002-06-28

    I really loved reading this book, what Mrs. Broadbent did for those two young girls was wonderful. I did feel bad for keshia and Mr. Broadbent, becasue they were neglected alot. I would like to know how Hydeia Is doing these days. I feel like I need the story to keep going, I now wonder about Hydeia All the time, I pray that she leads a long and happy life.
    Ploughing the Seas: The Nicaraguan Resistance and the CIA in the Jungles of Southern Nicaragua 1984-1987
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Ploughing the Seas: The Nicaraguan Resistance and the CIA in the Jungles of Southern Nicaragua 1984-1987
      Hugh Graham
      Manufacturer: Exile Editions
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback

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      ASIN: 1550965131
      The Bluebird of Happiness: The Memoirs of Jan Peerce
      Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
      • A Great Yiddish singer and Cantor
      • Excellent source of info on Jan Peerce's career
      The Bluebird of Happiness: The Memoirs of Jan Peerce
      Alan Levy , and Jan Peerce
      Manufacturer: HarperCollins
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Hardcover

      VoiceVoice | Instruments & Performers | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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      ASIN: 0060133112

      Customer Reviews:

      4 out of 5 stars A Great Yiddish singer and Cantor.......2004-05-12

      It is a great book of how a traditional Jewish Opera Tenor made it in the Opera world. it is a warm and revealing story of a great man on his way to the top of his singing career. it also tells of his relationship with the Lubavitch Chassidim which started in The Berekely Chabad House Where he met and befriended his Chabad conection Chaim Drizin.

      4 out of 5 stars Excellent source of info on Jan Peerce's career.......2000-06-22

      This is a great book for learning about the life and career of one of the greatest tenors of the twentieth century. The book describes Jan Peerce's beginnings from his youth through his old age. There are many interesting and humorous stories in this book, including the story of how he got his stage name (Jan Peerce wasn't his original name). I highly recommend this book.
      Last Words: A Memoir of World War II and the Yugoslav Tragedy
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        Last Words: A Memoir of World War II and the Yugoslav Tragedy
        Boris J. Todorovich
        Manufacturer: Walker & Company
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

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        ASIN: 0802710670
        The Secret Life of a Schoolgirl
        Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
        • Kept me interested
        • Don't let my rating fool you
        • Delicious reading
        • Ohboy, more dirt on Richard Burton
        • BEAUTIFUL WRITING!
        The Secret Life of a Schoolgirl
        Rosemary Kingsland
        Manufacturer: Crown
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

        GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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        ASIN: 140004782X
        Release Date: 2003-07-08

        Book Description

        The Secret Life of a Schoolgirl is an extraordinary memoir—a jewel. Rosemary Kingsland was born in India during the dying days of the British Raj. While there, she and her family lived a life of privilege. But with the fall of the Raj, they were forced to return to England, where their fortunes took a decided turn for the worse. In London, then in Cornwall, then back in London, the simmering tension between Rosemary’s parents erupted into outright warfare fueled by alcohol and her father’s persistent, unrepentant womanizing. It was a lonely, dangerous childhood.

        But one day Rosemary’s life changed forever. At a café where she had gone to escape from a party her father had insisted she attend with him, she met Richard Burton, the dashingly handsome Welsh actor who was then the toast of the London stage. She had seen him in Under Milkwood some months before. She was an adolescent schoolgirl. He was twenty-nine.

        The Secret Life of a Schoolgirl is a deeply felt evocation of first love, and of family bonds forged in intense isolation. It is made all the more remarkable by the luminous quality and riveting narrative voice of Rosemary Kingsland.

        Customer Reviews:

        4 out of 5 stars Kept me interested.......2007-08-29

        This memoir kept me interested the whole time I was reading (and when I was not reading it)

        4 out of 5 stars Don't let my rating fool you.......2005-09-26

        I liked this book but I seem to be the only person stunned by the fact that one of this century's greatest actors practiced statutory rape again and again and apparently with little or no remorse. I will never again enjoy any movie with Richard Burton. The book is a sad yet compelling read. I can't be angry or vindictive towards a child of 14 but as she got older, she should have realized what a creep and child molester Richard Burton was. I am glad she is successful now and can only pray she learned how NOT to live her life having written a book like this. Thank God women can work outside the home and have careers, attend higher college and pursue lives without depending on any man. This is a good, but sad sad book. I was very depressed by it.

        5 out of 5 stars Delicious reading.......2004-06-05

        This book made a big splash when it was published, there were oodles of headlines screaming, "Richard Burton was a pedophile!" Ah hem... not quite. The only portions worth reading here are the Burton ones, the rest of the tome is one rather large snooze fest. Kingsland lived a teenage life to die for: as a 14 year old school girl in London, she meets Richard Burton, then 29 and starring in various Shakespearean productions at the Old Vic. Not surprisingly, she was instantly attracted to Burton (what female between the ages of 9 and 90 wouldn't be?), and told him she was 17.

        Then their affair began. It was long afterwards that Kingsland admitted to Richard that she was actually only 14 years of age, but Burton didn't seem to care, and continued making love to the girl for several more months. He finally dumps her, as he dumped all his mistresses of that era: Jean Simmons, Claire Bloom and Susan Strasberg, to name a few of his thousands of conquests. Kingsland writes well and her chapters on Burton are engrossing, to say the least. Richard comes off as a drunken but charming cad, and his lovemaking prowess seems to have been rather limited: a slam, bam, thank you, ma'am sort of guy. But when you look like that, who is going to complain? There are some problems with dates, the author puts Burton in London when he wasn't there, and he was certainly not playing Hamlet at the Vic in 1954!

        I can think of worse things than to be deflowered by Richard Burton, even if he should have done the proper thing and waited until this girl was out of school. If you're into Burton, this will do you nicely.

        5 out of 5 stars Ohboy, more dirt on Richard Burton.......2004-04-17

        This delightfully lusty memoir's core bit of cheap gossip is a secret she's kept for more than 40 years: she lost her virginity to Richard Burton. After a rather shaky beginning, Kingsland settles down to a slower pace, pulling readers into a lush background tale of her parents' life in India during the era of the Raj. When Partition forced them back to England, her father was devastated by the change in their circumstances and comforted himself with women and writing poetry. Her mother became agoraphobic in defense - until their fortunes were changed by their improbably huge winnings in a football pool, which allowed them to move from the provincial Cornwall into London.
        The episodes surrounding her relationship with Burton, when he was a stage star and she was a star-struck, infatuated 14yo schoolgirl, are written with insight that can only be gained by the passage of all the intervening years.
        Charming and evocative coming-of-age memoir.

        5 out of 5 stars BEAUTIFUL WRITING!.......2003-08-14

        Don't be fooled by the slightly salacious title--this is a gorgeous memoir that's sexy without being trashy. Rosemary Kingsland tells a truly unique coming-of-age story: raised in the English Raj, she and her family move back to England from India when the Empire falls, only to live in poverty, first in the misty wilds of Cornwall (the descriptions in this part are among the most enchanting of the book) and then in grimy post-war London. Her family is like something out of "Long Day's Journey Into Night", full of frustration, alcoholism and violence, but she renders them fully human and sympathetic. Of course, the most shocking part of the book is about her affair, at age 14, with Richard Burton. An inveterate womanizer, Burton manages to seduce young Rosemary while simultaneously carrying on other affairs. The story of their relationship is surprising, but the author appears to have no bitterness or anger towards Burton, and he comes across as surprisingly sad, despite his dashing ways and handsome looks.

        Overall, this is a rare literary memoir that is also compulsively readable and provocative. I highly recommend it.
        Extreme Skateboarding With Paul Rodriquez (Robbie Readers) (Robbie Readers)
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Extreme Skateboarding With Paul Rodriquez (Robbie Readers) (Robbie Readers)
          Marylou Morano Kjelle
          Manufacturer: Mitchell Lane Publishers
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Library Binding

          GeneralGeneral | Biographies | People & Places | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
          Sports & RecreationSports & Recreation | Biographies | People & Places | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
          NonfictionNonfiction | Miscellaneous | Sports | Sports & Activities | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
          MemoirsMemoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
          ASIN: 1584154896
          Release Date: 2006-10-04

          Product Description

          Sailing down railings . . . Soaring over obstacles . . Spinning off ledges. The extreme sport of street skateboarding can at times seem like flying, and no one takes street skateboarding to the extreme like Paul Rodriquez Jr. From the time he was a young boy, Paul had one goal in mind: to be the best street skateboarder in the world. His first challenge was convincing his father, Latino comedian Paul Rodriguez Sr., that street skateboarding is his life. Paul has worked hard to make his dream come true, and his hard work has paid off. He has won many skateboarding competitions, including Slam City Jam and the X Games. The future holds many possibilities for this talented young man, but one thing is sure: Whatever he does, Paul Rodriguez Jr. will take it to the extreme!

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