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Miep and her collaborator Alison Leslie Gold have done a wonderful job in bringing to life in clear crisp prose Miep's role in helping the family during that terrible time when barbarity had stood the world on its head. One point of interest is the inconsistency of Miep's report of events, with others, on that awful day of the family's arrest in August 1944. Chapter 15 of Miep's book should be read closely with the very precise account of that day contained in "The Diary of Anne Frank: the Critical Edition."
This is not to imply that Miep was in anyway involved in the betrayal of the family. Clearly, she wasn't. Miep's inconsistences just make her book more realistic, more readable, more earthy. Her book becomes an account not of a hero, a saint or a fighter for a cause. Miep was simply a friend who cared.
The book tells the entire story of Miep Gies, from her first employment by Anne's father until the final liberation of Holland. The story is told honestly and without a feeling of ego or of her deliberately sounding like the brave woman she was. And it's told in such a way, that you feel a kind of suspense as if you didn't know of the tragedy coming.
Miep is unrelenting in her portrayal of the grimness of life during the German occupation of Holland. It was worse of all for the Jewish people, but it was also hard on the Dutch people. Reading this is an education for those of us who have no idea of how it is to live in an occupied country.
However, you feel the hope in the ending. Also, one realizes how truly important a book that Anne Frank's diary was. This is a very moving and a most important book on its own.
It also serves as an independent witness to many of the events Anne described in her Diary. This was dramatized in a made for television movie about 10 years ago.
Miep and her husband Henk opened their home and hearts to Otto Frank for seven years after the war. They helped preserve his post-concentration camp sanity and gave him strength to live.
Had Miep read the Diary after Anne's capture, she states that she'd have had to burn it since it implicated people as hiders of Jews. Thankfully, Miep did not read it until years later. Even with Otto Frank's post-war encouragement, it was simply too painful for her to read. The miracle of the Diary's survival and gift to the world is due to Miep's remarkable courage and mysterious fate.
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Feinberg's autobgraphical novel does a brilliant job of showing how gender and class and sexuality and race intersect, without telling us out loud. This gives hir characters depth that most bestsellers lack. Feinberg's writing brings you right into the scene, and hir simple, honest descriptions give the story a feeling of raw truth.
It's interesting, to me, that so many lesbians (especially butch women) have embraced this book as a cult classic that really relates to their lives. At first, I thought, "they're missing the point; it's a transgendered story about how screwed-up gender is here." Then I realized that maybe it still relates to the lesbian community in terms of our gender issues; lots of female-to-male people start out identifying as lesbians.
I read this book three times: twice by myself, and once to my girlfriend as a bedtime story. It's cozy and scary in turns, but it's full of love.
Jess definitely had to "walk a difficult path" in life as was prophecized early on by her neighbors and caretakers. The ever present emotional and physical struggles involved in Jess' life were heartbreaking and most of the time she found herself "drowning in loneliness." It is interesting to read the literary talent on display when Feinberg describes the first time Jess sees Rocco, or Jess' first dance, or when she asks Theresa to marry her. Feinberg has the ability to clearly describe these characters, create memorable scenes, and simultaneously lift your heart rate.
I thoroughly enjoyed this eye and mind opening book and in the process gained an insight that formerly didn't exist.
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I have lived and worked through MBO, Quality Circles, TQM, and more in my 20 years as a program and project manager and have yet to find a work that does more than give 'lip service' to the need for engaging all staff in the transformation of an organization. As Ms. Kossoff illustrates, it is the job of the CEO to have the dream, but if he does not trust in the talent and instincts of his entire staff, then he should hire new ones, or learn to mine the talents of the ones he has.
Business today is no longer about building a better mousetrap - using slave labor. It's about building new products and services from a 360 degree perspective. Through Executive Thinking, Ms. Kossoff provides a blueprint for building this kind of organization.
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George MacDonald, a Congregational minister turned novelist, who seems nearly forgotten now, was one of the seminal figures in the development of Fantasy. His influence on other Fantasy authors is obvious, he was a childhood favorite of JRR Tolkein, who especially liked this book, and C.S. Lewis named him one of his favorite authors. His own stories draw on many of the themes and characters of classical European fairy tales. But where they were often merely horrific and meaningless, MacDonald adds a layer of Christian allegory. Thus, Irene and Curdie are eventually saved by a thread so slender that you can't even see it, but which leads them back to safety, teaching Curdie that you sometimes have to believe in things that you can't see.
The book would be interesting simply as a touchstone of modern fiction, but it stands up well on its own and will delight adults and children alike.
GRADE: A
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The world of the Keno brothers is one of extreme privilege and yet, as we travel from their modest and nurturing childhood to the decisive playgrounds of the wealthy -- Sotheby's, Christie's, and the Winter Antiques Show -- we feel welcome, if not at home. That is, perhaps, the most endearing charm of these identical gentlemen -- they are seemly unaffected by their palacial world -- driven primarily by their passion for historic masterpieces of American furniture and a childlike enthusiasm for the hunt. The honesty and power of their passion ignites every page of their book as it does everyday of their lives. And, it is so infectious that many will be inspired to begin plotting their first five, six, seven, or eight-figure purchase of Americana.
My only slight disappointment was with some of the writing. The masterful talent of Thatcher Freund, author of "Objects of Desire" could have been put to good use on this project. I only wish he would have been part of the team. Then, the book would have been perfect -- an American Masterpiece.
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Lots of wonderful colour photographs and examples of what can be done.
The most remarkable aspect of this book is its pages filled with beautiful color photographs of books made by the author and several artists. I bought this text because I was interested in making a simple binding for a family history book, but after reading Cover to Cover, I have a new perspective on bookmaking - I now see it as a form of art with a whole range of possibilities. And it's an art which is accessable to all.
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We would be fascinated by Tintin's travels through the most exotic places in the world (and beyond!). What colorful characters Haddock and Calculus are! For some reason, King Ottokar's Sceptre was always my favorite one, but almost all comics in this series are classics.
I would especially urge any one with young children to buy every Tintin comic book in existence, but, really, these comics will please all age groups.
I don't want to spoil this book for anyone so I won't divulge any secrets but I just want to say that this is a GREAT READ and that I will keep this in my collection for sure! And if I might make another recommendation, if you LOVE this book then you must read "The Mirror" by Marlys Millhiser! These two books are my favorites now!