I thought this book was very enjoyable. I am an avid reader of the Chicken Soup for the Souls series and as a new mother I thought this book was perfect. Of course some of the stories are more touching than others, but they all sparked an emotional response from me. The format of short stories makes the book easy to read and hard to put down. I often find myself at night, saying, " Okay, I'll just read one more story" and 45 min later of course I'm still reading. I would recommend this book to all, mothers, children, fathers, grandparents. . ., but its a tear-jerker so remember the tissues!!

For years I have wanted to read the Chicken Soup series, but finances being limited, I had to wait until my mother bought me Chicken Soup for the Mothers Soul. What a tremendous delight.....I fully intended to only read a story a day so that it would last a while, but within 24 hours I had consumed every story in the book. My heart feels lighter and my thoughts began to look on my life as a mother and how my children percieve me. It makes you want to strive for the ultimate goal....to be a mother remembered with love and admiration. I am a fan of Chicken Soup for life.

I had heard about the books from a friend at work, and got three for Christmas (Woman's soul, Woman's soul II, and Mother's soul). I don't normally enjoy reading but could not put the books down, in a matter of a week, I read two of them. They are absolutely wonderful. The Chicken Soup for the Mother's soul, WOW, what a book! It's awesome, and the stories touch the heart. Some of them even bring tears to my eyes. I recommend these books to anyone and am forwarding the Mother's soul book onto my mother.

a book i dearly enjoyed with beautifull photos of inside the house where light seems endless and shines in every corner. of this spleldid book also shows the great talent of the auther and skill in capturing the atmosphere on paper.a very interesting book from jane bolger

Being a health care executive, I feel I am fairly qualified to write a review on health care books. This book was very impressive, and I especially liked hearing what other executives of health care companies think about the future of the industry. I have read too many business books by unknown authors-this was finally one with some insight from people in industry. I highly recommend this book to any one interested in health care or in the health care industry.

A "just the facts, ma'am" biography. Not especially good reading but a nice little reference book that gives an outline of GW Bush's life so far. It does document where Bush's money comes from - mainly Friends of Dad. It also details his rather dismal business performance and exposes his less than glowing record as Governor of Texas.

What amazes me, with all the hype about this book, is how even-handed it is. Bush is portrayed as not unlikeable, kind of lazy, rich boy who can't help it if he's "lucky." The cocaine bit is not all that well documented and the author barely delves into other areas in GW's background that are murky - not serving his full time in Texas ANG, insider knowledge of Gulf War, etc. All in all it is the portrait of a man with natural political instincts and wealthy backers. So, what else is new? It is no more critical of Bush than David Maranass' First in His Class is about Clinton. ...

I put off reading this book for a long time, thanks to the questions we all had about Hatfield's integrity and the credibility of his charges against the Accidental President. This newly updated and better-annotated edition put these concerns to rest, and although it's not the best Bush biography I've read thus far, it deserves far more respect than it's received from the mainstream media. For a book which Bush's supporters went to great lengths to prevent from ever being published, Hatfield shows a surprising lack of antagonism toward his subject for the most part. Molly Ivins' "Shrub," Mark Crispin Miller's "The Bush Dyslexicon" and Paul Begala's "Is Our Children Learning?" are all far more openly partisan (and better written), but Hatfield does provide information not available elsewhere about the youthful indiscretion that Bush and his allies have otherwise done a superb job of keeping buried.

Using straightforward accounts from the public record and those who know him, Hatfield illustrates such issues as Bush's obliviousness to racial segregation in his hometown, his indifference to his studies at Andover and Yale, his alcoholism, his spotty record in the Air National Guard, his questionable business dealings, and his performance as governor. Bush's actions and words speak for themselves throughout the book, and Hatfield shows little inclination to analyze them to death or to put an actively anti-Bush spin on them. In fact, he occasionally sounds pro-Bush, noting, for example, that he got off to a respectable start in the oil business after graduating from Harvard Business School. Some of the less flattering accounts, such as that of his "service" in the Air National Guard, have a necessarily vague and incomplete feel to them, mainly because there simply isn't a lot of reliable information available about that period of Bush's life. Hatfield is, however, able to provide a number of accounts of cocaine use and womanizing that stand in sharp contrast to the family-values image Bush's handlers have managed to convey to the public. If Hatfield's research failed to answer many questions about the extended adolescence Bush himself has always refused to discuss, he did succeed brilliantly in raising many questions that deserve to be addressed but haven't been thus far.

The book's most famous accusation - that Bush was arrested for cocaine posession in 1972 and his father got the charges dropped - is more solidly supported than I'd been led to believe. Although Hatfield did fail to produce a source who was willing to confirm the story on the record, he names a number of sources who probably know the answer but - like Bush himself - refuse to confirm or deny it. Additionally, he provides three anonymous sources, not a lone Deep Throat as has been widely reported. The afterword does have a cloak-and-dagger feel to it all the same, and there are typographical and grammatical errors sprinkled throughout the narrative which have helped to make the book easy for Bush supporters to vilify.

But for all that, most of what Hatfield reports is well-annotated (in contrast to the original printing) and presented in a non-sensationalistic style. If Hatfield was not the ideal messenger, he at least provided us with an important collection of information that other journalists chose to gloss over or didn't have access to. As Mark Crispin Miller points out in his introduction, the Bush campaign's reaction to the book was just as telling in one sense as the book itself is. If it's inaccurate, why suppress it?

Celebrate your right to know. Whatever your politics, read the book and decide for yourself whether or not it's worth believing.

How could I resist buying this book when I heard it had been ordered all but burned when the first edition came out on the eve of Bush's 2000 campaign. That alone would be reason enough for reading FORTUNATE SON (and keeping America safe for democracy) but in addition, it is a good read. I discovered that my biggest mistake as a proud liberal is underestimating Bush. Even if I cringe when I hear his rhetoric, he is a savvy politician with shrewd instincts. Now I understand a recent news magazine story which explains how Ms. Rice translates these instincts into articulate policy. Unlike his lucky dad who struck it rich with Texas gold, Duwya had the ability to keep oil companies (temporarily) afloat when the wells were dry. One wonders if that is what he is doing now--Convincing Americians to buy an empty foreign policy. I Hope anyone who runs agains Bush reads this book and I thank Amazon.com and Soft Skull Press for making it available to the public against surprising odds.

As my title says, this book is really NOT about GWB's quirky verbal stammers. It is about George W. Bush the man. It is an analysis of his political positions, his background and his personal politics.

Beware: after reading this book you will have good reason for thoroughly disliking this man, but not because he makes a bunch of funny verbal mistakes. If you're afraid of being thoroughly skeptical and possibly oppositional to the policies of our "commander in chief", then don't buy this book.

There are many many things in the book that I already knew, but the author defintely does lay out a very damaging portrayal of our current President's personal politics and ideology.

Please, get the newest paperback version, released AFTER 9-11. Do NOT get the old hardcover version printed before the September events. You'll miss out on a lot of extra materials if you don't.

This book is very parochial and does not go very deep into foreign policy, class analysis, or deeper and longer standing issues of US society (issues that are often laughingly painted as "class warfare" in the commercial media whenever they are hinted at, and thereby sidestepped in favor of fluff), but it does paint a very convincing picture of a president who is fully devoted to the most reactionary and privileged elements of the ruling class in the United States.

This is NOT about some supposedly "stupid" president who is "incompetent" or "dumb". These kind of appeals to Goerge Jr's supposed "stupidity" only show how stupid and gullible Democrats and "Liberals" really are, and how they really fall all over themselves to play into the hands of the Bush administration who want nothing more than to portray George W. Bush as a "regular joe" who cares about the "working man" and is trying his best to protect "America" from any number of mysterious and devious enemies waiting to pounce on us.

"Make no mistake", GWB is none of these things, but instead is as much a blue-blood, silver-spoon ivy-leaguer as is Al Gore and actually quite more so. And, is as thoroughly calculated and schooled in propaganda, public relations and polls as was Bill Clinton or his father George Bush the First, or the Reagan administration before them.

It's about a president who is very much aware of what he is doing to America and who seeks to, and IS using the deaths of 3000 people to advance a reactionary and regressive agenda, all wrapped in the flag.

I actually suggest that readers that already realize this NOT read this book, don't bother, but rather read some more in-depth analysis of foreign policy of the kind of class warfare and nationalism that is now and always has used "patriotism" (since the dawn of recorded history and beyond) as a tool to convince the general population into accepting policies that thoroughly harm them and to draw them into subservience under protection of the fearless leader.

If what I've said above seems odd or outlandish to you, then just read this very good book on the personality of our president (the best currently available), get from it what you can, and then move on to more broad analysis later.

Josh

Not only does Mark Crispin Miller's book expose the political facade of G.W. Bush, it goes deeper into the political culture that allows these things to happen. He analyzes how language is twisted, television soundbytes and political slogans rule our thoughts, and how Bush's stupidity is a clever facade, that masks a political genius that would give Machiavelli chills.

Author Mark Crispin Miller gets (as Bush Sr. might say) the real "message" learned from campaign 2000: that our once vital democracy has been practically transformed into a plutocracy.

Miller traces the short history of television in presidential politics with the recent evolution of the Republican party to show how corporate control of the media has helped the rich dominate our society to a degree not possible before.

Miller writes in a refreshingly vivid, lucid and candid style. His sharp prose is a welcome and needed antidote to the incoherent soundbites and superficial analyses masquerading as serious journalism in today's vapid media culture (especially on TV).

As the spoiled brat son of wealth and privilege, it is perhaps fitting that George W. Bush was put into the highest office of the land by the sort of anti-democractic shenanagans that once upon a time were deployed only in banana republics (or did we just get another taste of this last week in Venezuela?). Miller suggests that Bush benefited both overtly and covertly from a coalition of right-wing factions who, frustrated with the absence of the communist boogie-man, have channeled their considerable energies towards the destruction of their hated "liberal" compatriots (even if -- or especially because -- the left's point of view is vaguely understood by GOP true believers).

Miller's book is a wake up call to the citizens of the U.S. If you are a Leftist, you might find it exhilarating to read words that for much too long were left unwritten. If you are a Conservative, you are challenged to read this book to learn more about the real George W. Bush and the agenda you are supporting. In either case, I think most people who read this book will agree with Miller's assertion that our democracy is currently situated in a very precarious place. The author stresses that the vast majority of us should be very concerned with the issue of balancing the rights of average citizens with the exponentially-expanding power of the privileged few.

Because Mark Sufrin's juvenile biography of George Bush was published in 1989 it ends on election night, months before the 41st President took the oath of office. Consequently, this book is about Bush's path to the White House and "What kind of man" he is rather than about his presidency. Sufrin covers how Bush served his country for over forty years as a navy pilot, businessman, congressman, ambassador, head of the CIA, and Vice President. Sufrin's account is based on autobiographies, writings and commentaries and makes a point of declaring "No part of this biography has been fictionalized." Young readers will learn about how Bush was a war hero, met and married Barbara, and embarked on a public career that found him constantly on the move. Sufrin provides all of the appropriate biographical details and presents a balanced picture of Bush's political career up to that point. This book does not shy away from the criticism Bush faced for being too inexperienced to be Ambassador to the United Nations and picking Dan Quayle as his Vice-President. This book is still appropriate for younger students researching the life of the first Bush to be President, although it will provide no information about his term in the White House. The book also includes eight pages of black & white photographs of his family and career.

The title and description of this book suggests that it is about the real remote Alaskan town of Candle. It is not. There is no relationship at all to any real events, and the controversy presented over saving the habitate of ice-spiders from the ravages of snowmobilers is as lame as the characters presented. Pass this one by!

an insane alaskan bush-woman! i love this book and it is based upon Lilly's experiences in McCarthy and Kennicott, Alaska. Every word rings true and is filled with wit and humor. Definately worth the read. If you can't imagine it, then you won't travel with her. If you don't understand it, then you just haven't been there.