The tragic tone of "Crystal's" life could not be made more clear than if one was living it as well. Psychotic and confused, Crystal is all too familiar with an unstable home life. Her mother's boyfriend impregnates her and Crystal, barely out of elementary school becomes a casualty of the system. She makes the rounds of hospitals, treatment centers and schools. At each stop she wonders what place exists for her and her child.

This author provides a calming voice of reason to Crystal's plight. To her credit, she does not villify or condemn even the harshest of people and conditions. She writes in a tone of respect and even acceptance. If nothing else, this book is a reminder of each person's duty to care about the needs of others.

I devoured this book in one night. I was shocked and saddened by the story of this young woman and her family's history with the New York Foster Care system. The thing that surprised me most about the book is the family's unwavering hope that someday they would be reunited, despite the horrible poverty and dysfunction in their lives.

This book was an account of a young woman's life from early childhood to young adulthood. Crystal Taylor and her siblings were shuffled from foster home to foster home, a pattern that was similar to that of their mother's life style. Crystal became involved in theft, drugs, and sex. She became a teenage parent at 14 years of age. Crystal and her siblings were a part of the welfare social system, as well as Crystal's baby boy. "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair" is a moving story of an individual's experience. It is an eye opener of the effects and drawbacks of poverty in a life.

A Pulitzer Prize-winner for General Nonfiction, this is an account of the tragic life of one "Sylvia Frumkin" (a fictitious name), who succumbed to schizophrenia while still an adolescent and spent the next two decades in and out of mental hospitals.

The author (who lived with Frumkin for a time) never appears "on stage" in the book, and restricts herself to just-the-facts third-person narration. A certain moral outrage is evident nonetheless. The mental health industry does not come off well at all (Frumkin's institution is unfavorably compared to the one depicted in "One Flew Over a Cuckoo's Nest"). It's difficult not to come away with the impression that a little less bureaucratic negligence might have saved Miss Frumkin many wasted years. Fortunately, this is not a one-sided screed (not quite, anyhow): some of these medics and bureaucrats are just doing the best they can with the limited resources on hand.

The prose style is plain and straightforward--maybe a little flat-footed, too. But overall, the book is a good example of how facts can speak for themselves.

but having read it just this year, it seems a little outdated. I would recommend this book as an introduction to the subject of mental illness, institutionalization etc., but if you know a little more on the subject, skip the book and read something else.

"Is There No Place on Earth For Me" is a telling tale of the life of a Schizophrenic. Sheehan goes inside the mind of the character to explore the inner workings and provide detailed accounts of what life is like for someone suffering with Schizophrenia and the hell their life can become. Sheehan at one point, even slept in the bed next to her character in the mental institution. This act assures not only a detailed account, but also an accurate one. Sheehan reinforces the old saying...Don't knock Charlie till you walked a mile in his shoes! This book takes you through many miles in a Schizophrenics shoes. It extricates vivid details of the inner mind and its workings. This is a book you will never forget. After reading this story, you will never look at mental illness in the same light again.

This book is a series of mini-biographies of Americans with odd hobbies or pursuits or interests. They are very short (5-7 pages) and very well-written. However, there is no analysis as to why these people do what they do or whether there is something wrong with them. For example, many of the men profiled are bachelors. Is this cuase and effect or effect and cause or neither? It might have been interesting to speculate. This book is like whipped cream - fun to eat but ultimately of no nutritional value.

I loved this book! It's a fascinating mix of "real life" stories of the passions of down-to-earth and "regular" people who have intriguing obsessions. Reading it is like joining a secret society or club or meeting a new group of wild friends whose lives are the richer for (as the Banana Sculptor himself puts it) the need "to dream."

This book could be called "American Eccentrics" for its wonderful range of characters - from the tiddly wink competitor to the inveterate garage saler to the sculler and the skater and the card shark. The authors are the best kind of good listeners and interviewers - they stay out of the way and let the enthusiasts speak for themselves, about the magic of baking or bonsai and how the soul and spirit factor into swimming all night or collecting pre-cancelled stamps.

A great one-of-a-kind summer/beach book, and a terrific anytime gift!

I wish "Book Titles" would be more descriptive (at least in "Sub-Titles")
[Who, What, When, Where, Why]

It took me awhile, to find out this book was about...
[Who] - "WEEZIE" 5th AF, 90th BG, 320th BS
[What] - WWII B-24 Liberator Heavy Bomber (found)
[When] - 1980s
[Where] - 30 miles northeast of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Australia
[Why] - I won't give away any secrets! You'll have to read the "Book"...

Images of "WEEZIE" can also be found on (Alphabetically)...

The author discusses the discovery of a crashed bomber in Papua New Guinea and the expedition to recover the remains, then describes the painstaking process of identifying the remains, and finally tells the story of the fatal flight and the men who were on the aircraft. This was an interesting book throughout; especially poignant were the descriptions of the family members who finally learned the fate of their loved ones more than forty years later. The New Guinea campaign and the role of the Fifth Air Force have been relatively neglected in histories of World War Two.