Photographer and author Eric Blau does the greatest service to all members of the adoption triad. With only simple introductions, Blau allows the adoptees, birthparents and adoptive parents the forum to tell their stories, relay their feelings, and share their worlds. The b&w photos are as telling as the text; some are particularly haunting yet poignant. Of particular note is the inclusion of several birthfather tales, usually absent from similiar volumes. It is an even-handed look into the good and bad of adoption, and allows the reader to make up his or her own mind without preaching any agenda (ditto the forward by Annette Baran). The only book I've come across that is perhaps suitable for non-triad members to read in the hopes of grasping what the rest of us have dealt with.

Eric Blau has done a superb job in introducing his readers to the often heart-breaking world of relinquishment, search and reunion. Touching insights are given into the lives of birthmothers and adoptees alike: the pain that some birthmothers still feel years after relinquishment is palpable; the isolation and shame that many felt while living in a time where being an unwed mother was a disgrace; the lack of support from family and friends; and the lies they were told about how easily they would be able to get on with their lives. Blau balances these stories with those of other birthmothers who are not so emotionally attached -- who feel that they have made the right decision and have moved on with their lives, and never looked back. Through Blau's deftly handled interviews the reader gains fascinating insights into the lives of adoptees, some of whom never knew they were adopted until adulthood; others who struggle with mixed race adoptions, and finally, those who search but will likely never find. Blau compliments the writing with black and white photographs, some of which are often stark and revealing. This is an excellent book, particularly good for sharing with others who have no insights to adoption and who have expressed an interest to learn more, but not to "study" the subject. As a reunited birthfather, I highly recommend it.

The interviews and photos in this book are overwhelming. They provide the truth of death and dying, not some glamorized performance of celluloid "heroic death."

Having Multiple Sclerosis, I deal with a chronic debilitating disease every day of my life. I know that I get extremely tired of having movies, works of fiction, and well-heeled "personalities" tell me how I should respond to the uncertainty that MS provides. While MS is not termed a life threatening disease- it is the leading cause of death of folks that have my form of MS. This book has helped me to see that the wide range of emotions I go through, and the mood swings my family and friends go through, are the "normal" reaction to such illnesses. The common everyday people like me go through the same thing as I do. We may not be Eric Roberts in It's My Party- we are ourselves. Not lavishly wealthy with access to the best health care and support the world can offer. We are simply humans trying the best we can, doing the most we can with a situation we did not choose for ourselves.

The people in this book are brave, they are heroes, and their stories deserve to be told. It helps all who read it and/or discuss it understand that death is a part of life, it is inescapable, and in the barest of moments we are all going to have death as an extremely personal experience.

Thank you Dr. Blau, a deep, and profound thanks to those who opened their everyday lives to Dr Blau and showed us the humanity of illness, of death.

The Hero of the Slocum Disaster is an old curmudgeon who has been haunted by his moment of fame throughout his life. Author Eric Blau has used the bitterness and anger of a man who never got past the tragedy he witnessed as a teenager to tell the story of one of America's terrible disasters. At the age of ninety-five, Eddie continues to talk of the day the General Slocum set sail on a pleasure cruise on New York's East River, with over 1100 passengers. Mostly women and children, the passengers never had a chance when the ship caught fire. Horrified New Yorkers stood on the banks of the river, hearing and seeing the screaming deaths of more than a thousand people. Mr. Blau has told several stories in this riveting book, the most important of which is the story of America's worst maritime disaster. Quoting newspapers and the documents of official investigations, he reveals the horrors of a ship that sailed without working fire hoses, loaded with life vests that had iron bars within them, life boats that could not be untied from the deck. But there's also the story of Eddie, who survived, but never really got his life back. And there are the stories of the people who hear Eddie's story as he tells the whole truth one night to the regulars in a neighborhood bar. As the story, and Eddie's anguish, is revealed we learn about his listeners, and the author's sense of humor and ear for dialogue makes every character in the book so interesting, and the interaction among them so engaging, that I wish I could have spent time in that bar with them.

Learning a little something is always a plus in a book, and THE BEGGAR'S CUP, by Eric Blau gave me a little bit of something I didn't know before. I knew nothing about the making of Israel - except that it is a made country. And Herzl was all new to me - although I am still not sure I learned too much about him.

The circle of Moe Cohen leaving Kolkowicz and coming to the US - believing he was the only survivor and then Zach and Kalia joining the Burnside Synagogue and meeting Horowitz - who is from the same town in Poland. Was he one of the boys that left with Cohen? I re-read the early part of the book but not many names were listed.

The book was all over the place - and Moe bowing out of the story and becoming a side shadow was disappointing to me. He was the story... Zach's half-this half-that dilemna, and Kalia insane craving to be Jewish were distracting. Even at the end, I am still not sure what they accomplished for themselves. Are they happy because they have returned to their "people"? Or because they have found a way to relate to God? This book brings this question up very nicely - and it was something that I kept reading to see if they answered this (Zach & Kalia) but they never quite addressed it.

It seemed to be mostly about the trappings for them.

The constant dilemna that Herzl faces between his real human side and his urge to create a homeland and people placing him on a pedestal. And the way he seems to have wanted that pedestal status. The unfortunate deception and persecution that Jewish people have been subjected to over and over throughout history. The struggle to keep Israel alive in its infancy, which is a struggle that persists as we speak. That Israel is at all is amazing - well, it has help, but still...

An excellent read.

Having recently focused my personal reading on various aspects of Jewish culture, I found Beggar's Cup to be a unique treatment of this particular facet of history. Told from the viewpoint of a Gentile screen writer who learns that his father was a Jew, Beggar's Cup takes the reader on the journey with the writer as he struggles to understand his paternity, his own views of God and religion, and the Jewish hero, Theodor Herzl, whose story he becomes obsessed with telling on screen. The story is told half in the present tense and half as the screenplay of Herzl's life. Tells something of human nature in the process. Most enjoyable to those who acquaint themselves a bit with Jewish history, particularly the role of Theodor Herzl, beforehand.