This planbook was well organized and had lots of good information. Was helpful in planning my son's Bar Mitzvah.

This book stresses both the religious ritual and the post ceremony festivities. Although the book devotes a fairly large amount of space to the party, I hope readers will consider the religious aspects of the experience to be paramount. I think this book does a goos job in organizing all aspects of planning a bar/bat mitzvah. The parts of the book devoted to the importance of a good Jewish education and preparing the child give the reader a good start toward a meaningful and fufilling experience. This book is useful to the family with a limited background in Judaism and will increase the understanding of what is involved in making the bar/bat mitzvah process successful.

I skimmed this book and it was mainly useful for its inspirational value. There are lots of examples that make you want to interview all the people you know. But the book was originally written over twenty years ago, and although it's been updated in the 90's, it still suggests things like using a word processor to transcribe the tapes. As opposed to what, a typewriter? And it would be nice to cover recent technology, such as converting tapes to low-quality MP3s, maybe recording directly to MP3s, or using programs that slow down sound samples without changing the pitch, to make transcription easier. Overall this book didn't tell me much that wasn't obvious, but it will still be useful to give me a kick in the butt and get started.

The book seems to have been written as a response to the cultural cringe in America. Its target audience is the amateur family historian who wants to discover their heritage but includes sections for institutional use as well. It is written in a laid back friendly narrative style that is quite informative and easily digestible.

Many useful tips are given in regards to interviewing family members. After covering issues relating specifically to family history collection, broader aspects of oral history are covered. Subsequent chapters cover background research, questioning styles, developing interview outlines, recording equipment, conducting the interview, and what to do with the material after the interview.

Oral history is presented in easy bite size chunks that inspire the reader to believe they can be successful in their own project. Beth Robinson's Oral History Handbook is similar and seems to differ only in regards to depth of information, writing style and use of examples. Record and Remember seems an ideal introduction to the art of oral history within families.