Writers Books

Of the many books about the development of Southwest Florida, Fields of Hope is one of the most enlightening and interesting. As a child growing up in nearby Naples, Immokalee was always that place we only went to for fresh vegetables at the Farmer's Market. When I became an adult and chose my profession and volunteer activities, Immokalee became a much different place to me, with a wonderfully warm population of mixed cultures and colors. This book is a beautiful representation of Immokalee and richly explains how Immokalee came to be.

This book shows the human side of immigration issues, with the histories of real people who came from Mexico, Haiti and Guatemala. Why? Because there was work here. It is also the history of Immokalee and how agriculture expanded in the 1960s and 1970s due to Castro's takeover of Cuba. And it includes a look at Father Richard Sanders, Immokalee's own saint. It's a great book that everyone should read.

"Immokalee's Fields of Hope" puts a human face to the plight of immigrant field workers. It is deserving of being read by anyone interested in the inner-workings of America's immigration policies. But it's not just a political book. There is
considerable background and history included in the text, as well. The author is passionate about the subhect and the entire manuscript has been well thought out and skillfully executed.

I really enjoyed this book. It is rare to find a book that educates and enlightens at the same time as it entertains and touches the soul. It's not a history book, but you will learn the histories of several peoples and places. It's not a book about racism, but you will be saddened by the stories of how our society has treated immigrants and people of color. People who only want to make a better life for themselves and their families. At the same time you see hope for our society in the town of Immokalee and how it has embraced all of the histories and cultures make up it's people.

The book is written in a very warm, friendly and personal style that is instantly engaging and touchingly honest. As I read this book, I didn't want to put it down. I wanted to hear more about the children at Guadalupe Family Center, and the church in Immokalee that says Mass in three languages. I wanted to understand the circumstances that drive people in Mexico, Haiti and Guatemala to risk everything to get to the United States, to try to live the life that I take for granted everyday. I wanted to hear all of the stories of these people.

I also enjoyed the author's history and perspective weaved into the fabric of the book. I found I could relate to the author's struggle to find meaning her life - to know that someone slept easier at night because she exists.

Sometimes, in my anticipation I would just open the book to the middle and begin reading ahead - and I would find myself torn - I didn't want to stop, but I also didn't want to miss anything I had skipped past. And whenever I had to put the book down, I felt as if I were reluctantly ending a very enjoyable conversation with a good friend.

If you want to learn more about Mexican, Guatemalan and Haitian cultures, if you want to understand where they came from and if you want to read something that will gently challenge you to examine your own life, you will enjoy this book.

> It was more than just a book about immigration. We are receiving life lessons; lessons against bigotry, lessons for charity, and in sociology.
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> Of course it touches on necessary ways we have to look at our fellow man's struggles to have a better life. We need to be willing to take a closer look at the illegal immigrant, and be willing to welcome these people that want to work in a country we take for granted. We need to learn acceptance of those that are different from us--financially, culturally--in many ways.
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> The author is shaking us into the reality of how good we've got it in the United States. And that it's essential to be willing to share what we are blessed with here. We take a lot for granted in this exceptional, abundant country of ours, and we need to look at what we've got and give back--whether it's our time or our money--to the people that need our help. It's not necessarily charity--it's our obligation as human beings.
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> I feel Carlene Thissen's book touches us in many ways, individually and as a country. We need to wake up. We need to be grateful for what we've got and we need to be willing to be more loving rather than judgmental, of our fellow human beings struggling to just have a decent life.
> As a layperson, I truly enjoyed Immokalee's Fields of Hope. It was interesting and thoughtful. I would not only recommend it to friends, but to teachers in schools. I believe this could be a very good tool for social studies.

Several recent events have renewed an international interest in the writings of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein: the 50th anniversary of the publication of "The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe" (1950), and the screenplay release of J.R.R. Tolkein's classic "The Fellowship of the Ring" on movie screens around the world in 2001.

Both of these world famous novels were first introduced "publically" at the regular gathering of a few British writers and friends, who informally called their literary club "the Inklings". Even the name "inkling" was a playful self-parody, referring both to the fact that they displayed their imaginations in ink and they often only had an "inkling" of what the other was really talking about.

Carpenter, also the authorized biographer of J.R.R. Tolkein, helps readers enter into the private lives and late-night meetings of these writers. You can smell the cigarette smoke, hear the whistling of the teapot and sense the tension of Oxford intellectuals wrestling with the outbreak of World War II. Thanks to Carpenter's careful retelling of these gatherings, you sit back in the evening, sip your tea and imagine yourself among these writers as another member of the fellowship.

For books on the fellowship of the family, look into these two titles: "The Family Cloister" and "The Christian Family Toolbox" both by David Robinson (New York: Crossroad, 2000 & 2001).

This is a great book but don't be sucked into buying it for 150 dollers goto the UK site and get it for 8 bucks. Ships just as fast.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0261103474/ref=sr_aps_books_1_2/026-5367973-8334817

Despite its title, this book focuses a great deal of attention on one man, C. S. Lewis. This is no shortcoming from the point of view of interest as the book suffers nothing for being so centred on him. The two other prominent members of the group are not ignored, though one might expect Tolkien to be more present; readers who are looking for more on him, though, can read Carpenter's full-length biography. The book also devotes a good deal of space to Charles Williams about whom I knew little before reading it. That these three men are named explicitly in the title gives full notice as to whom the reader can expect to find out the most about. Their friends are given relatively little space; the only other person discussed in any detail is Lewis's brother Warnie.

While it may sound like I found the book more lacking than informative, the opposite is true. I found myself compulsively drawn forward. In spite of its seemingly narrow focus, the amount of information was satisfying as much as it could be (i.e. there are probably always questions one could ask for which there are no sources to answer them). Readers who are looking for information on Lewis will find it; those looking for Tolkien will find more about his world than about the man but they will not, I think, be disappointed.

This is one of the best biographical books I've ever read. Carpenter captures the character of some of the most interesting British writers of the WWII/post-WWII era: C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Charles Williams. He manages to tread that careful balance between criticism and adoration. He accomplishes this, I think, out of true sympathy for each of the writers involved. He helped me understand the nature and complexity of the different relationships surrounding C.S. Lewis without resorting to vulgar fault-finding or "taking sides". At one point, Mr. Carpenter recreates an Inkling meeting. The intellectual vigor and personalities of the participants rises off the page and helps to explain why the Inklings generated (and still generate) such interest.

For years, a small number of Oxford dons and fellows, as well as some of their friends, met in a local pub on Tuesdays to drink beer, hold discussions on such matters as mythology, morality, and literature, and read aloud the things they had been writing. Perhaps more important than these meetings were the Thursday night gatherings in the rooms of CS Lewis at Magdalen college. This group, which included such intellectual giants as Lewis, JRR Tolkien, and Charles Williams, was known as "The Inklings."

Much of "The Hobbit," "The Lord of the Rings," and Lewis's Space Trilogy were read in these meetings. Lewis also read much of his apologetic work to the group. The Inklings have had an enormous effect on the world of fantasy and Christian apology, and this biography by Humphrey Carpenter attempts to examine, in detail, just what occurred at these meetings, and what the effect was on those who participated.

Actually, this book is more of a biography on CS Lewis than on the rest of the members. Carpenter, who wrote a separate biography on Tolkien, does not elaborate much on the creator of "The Lord of the Rings", but rather spends most of his time on Lewis, who was, after all, the life of the group. Despite the focus on Lewis, however, there is a large section devoted to the life and times of Charles Williams, another principal member of the group. By using Lewis's life as a narrative, Carpenter is able to explore the composition and disposition of the Inklings as a group, as well as discuss their collective impact on the world of literature, fantasy, and criticism.

This biography is well-written, and covers its subject well. The Inklings were a fascinating group of men, and this book provides much information and detail about the group as a whole that is difficult to glean from a biography which focuses on just one of the members. Unfortunately, this volume is not currently available in the US, and must be obtained either from Amazon.uk or from a used bookseller. Despite the difficulty in obtaining the book, however, this is a fascinating and worthwhile look at the Inklings.

The story draws you in. This book provides an inside view to the corporate world. I found his stories to be fairly accurate in what happens in corporate america.

I was entrigued by the main character in his entrepreneurial spirit. I recommend this book for those who think they want to be executives, and for those who are trying to start their own business.

Once you pick the book up, you'll have a hard time putting it down.

For his first novel, Mike Neal has given us an engaging and well-developed story. Interactive Novel describes the entrepreneurial spirit, company politics, and the good and bad side of venture capital funding. With all the hi-tech start-ups and dot-bombs, this book should appeal to a large audience.

Interactive Novel is a great book! I particularly liked the interaction between company leaders.

There were surprises in the book that left me wanting more. I couldn't put it down until I finished the book.

I find myself recommending this novel to all my friends for an insight into corporate life. Even though Michael Neal uses the setting of a start up, I believe these are the same situations that occur in larger corporations.

Mike Neal's Interactive Novel sweeps you up into the world of a high-tech startup and doesn't let you down until you've been through it all. I recommend this book for anyone who wants the adventure of a startup. For those of you who already have been there, you will find yourself nodding your head in agreement with each twist and turn. In either case, you will enjoy the ride of Interactive Novel.

If you are at all interested in the life of high tech startups or just want a book that you can't put down, then this book is for you. Michael Neal does a great job of grabbing the reader's attention from the very beginning and not letting go until you have completed the book. Along the way you will get some insightful perspectives on technology, the creation of a company, and the CEO. Dont pass this book up. I would highly recommend it!

The author captured the essence of an authentic Jamaica in "It begins with tears". For me, it was an eye opener. As a Jamaican, much of the story was familiar - the language, the people, the beliefs, the emotions. I grew up on the outskirts of village life,so I was an outsider observing its magic and mystery. Memories of my childhood came back to me as I read Ms. Adisa's story. I remember the stories told, the superstitions that have stuck with me.....the howling of the dogs at the death of someone, the fear of "duppies", the use of herbs for medicinal purposes, the kinship of villagers at the time of a birth, death or tragedy. But several things in the story were quite foreign to me, the birthing ritual for example, the burial and the cleansing at the river. The author captured the intensity of emotions at each ritual...I can remember the forcefulness of people in the village wailing at the time of death. As a child, I have often exclaimed that the Devil was fighting with his wife when the sun and rain seemed to be in competition with each other. The author has cleverly used this to develop the core of the story. Authentic Jamaica is so steeped in spirituality, the legacy of our African roots, that it's befitting that the activities of the Devil, She-Devil and their cohorts should directly affect the lives of the Kristoff villagers. The author's style is colorful, just as the natural beauty of the island and the people are. I am pleased that the author used

British English in the story - our dialect is a product of the African slaves'attempt to communicate with the British slave owners. "It begins with tears" is rich with the folklore of a Jamaica in my grandmother's time - today, Jamaicans have traveled far and wide and returned with their horizons widened to the detriment of island traditions. The woman was an integral part in the prosperity of the village, she breathed life into it. The man was always gone..to work outside or out at "play". Villages such as Kristoff may still exist, but they are a dying breed. Thumbs up to female writers such as Opal Palmer Adisa and Louise Bennett for immortalizing our heritage!

This is the story of the women who live in Krisoff Village. Monica a pretty woman, who use to be a hooker comes back to town, and all the married women are jealous of her, because the men can't seem to get enough of her. This book show's how jealousy, when it get's to the extinct of hurting someone can come back on you.

This is the story of the women who live in Krisoff Village. Monica a pretty woman, who use to be a hooker comes back to town, and all the married women are jealous of her, because the men can't seem to get enough of her. This book show's how jealousy, when it get's to the extinct of hurting someone can come back on you.

Opal Palmer Adisa's It Begins With Tears is a magical tale about the inhabitants of Kristoff Village, Jamaica. In this, her first novel, Adisa has created a seamless world that connects the eternal and the ephemeral, where words bridge the gap between these seemingly disparate dimensions.

Adisa has the amazing ability to escort you through the village of Kristoff, Jamiaca and make you "feel" everything that happens. You become a silent member of the village who sees everything that's natural and spritual. The sense of kinship and spirituality felt among the villagers and folklore characters is unbelievably rich. This is a book you'll want to read again and again!!!

Excellent.I read this book a few years back...I would highly recommend it! .. You will not be disappointed!

Jig is the code name of an Irish assassin with a sense of right and wrong that separates him from other IRA hit-men.

Frank Pagan is the Scotland Yard agent assigned to bring him down.

When a ship carrying over a million dollars' worth of money and weapons for the IRA is attacked in the Atlantic, the two adversaries are thrown into a game of intrigue, deception, violence, and trust that Campbell Armstrong has woven into a flawless novel of suspense that will have all readers on the edge of their seats.

It is in New York City that the two meet face-to-face...and the chase begins. Jig doesn't know where to begin looking for the money. Pagan can't convince the FBI to allow him to investigate in his own way. And Ivor McInnes, a Belfast minister, is working on something so deadly that Jig and Pagan are forced to join forces to stop a scheme that will bring the IRA to its knees.

Featuring a conscience-torn ex-priest, the President's brother, and a mysterious woman named Celestine, "Jig" is a riveting page-turner that echoes the dance it is named after. And the faster the dance gets, the harder the book is to put down.

I tripped over this thriller in Heathrow Airport and got hooked on Campbell Armstrong. It is rare to find a book that balances gripping action, three dimensional characters and immersion in current events. But Jig (and its sequel Jigsaw) accompishes this. Armstrong avoids falling into predictable formulas which keeps the reader involved and on the edge of their chair the whole time.

I can not believe no one else has written a review for this outstanding thriller.

Frank Pagan, the protagonist, is a bruised, battered London cop, whi is assigned to the anti-terrorist squad.

The "Jig" of the title is a well-accomplished Irish killer.

Frank has to catch him.

So, yes: it's a chase story. And it moves. The body count is awesome, the tension is overwhelming. The atmosphere is gritty, sweaty, saeamy. It's real. While it doesn't actually say so in the text, you know that Frank Hagan is a man who farts. He's human. He's damaged: a widower, still in love with his dead wife. He's... eccentric: a Londoner who drives a huge American car and plays 1950s rock and roll LOUD on the car stereo.

The story is a tad dated, but gripping nonetheless. Read it, then read the follow-ups: Jigsaw, and Heat.

They all compare favourably with Nelson Demille's "Cathedral".. enough said?

It's a shame that Jig is one of those countless thriller novels that will sink into literary history without anyone noticing. I would just recommend that you should really, really try to find this book. Jig is a classic assassin chase type thriller, and I believe it's one of the best in the genre, even approaching the perennial favorite, Forsyth's Day of the Jackal.

Jig is an Irish assassin who is well trained and ruthlessly efficient. He is a fascinating character, his emotions, his feelings are well written throughout the book. Even better is the clever twist about 100 pages into that book that reveals the assassins real identity, making further study into his life and family even more enjoyable.

The story revolves around a stolen shipment of 10 million dollars sent to IRA coffers from a group of high profile American backers. Jig is sent to America by his mentor to find out who took the money and to take it back. Tracking him down is maverick MI-5 investigator Frank Pagan, a man obsessed with Jig. Pagan's wife was killed in an IRA bombing, and he takes it very personally.

The action is well paced, the mystery fairly compelling. The Jig vs. Pagan dynamic drives the book, but there are a host of supporting characters that are intriguing as well.

Jig the book deserves a lot more attention, even as Ireland seemingly is on the path to peace. It's hard to believe that the stories hinted at in Jig took place in reality. Try to find it, it's worth the look.

One of the most beautifully written novels of the Twentieth Century. It is a simple story about suffering, love and loss in the life of a Russian Jew. There are moments of quiet and solemn heartbreak. We witness the slow, subtle fragmentation of a man's life, his family and yet all is not lost.

I deeply love German literature and the works of Roth are intelligent and equally moving. His prose is tender, simple and yet there is so much compassion and depth in his composition one is left feeling both glorious and tearful at the end. This is the book to reach for to regain faith in life and one's life path. When you read it and finish it, pass it on to loved ones. The story of Mendel is the story of an everyman in all of us.

Hopefully I will be able to read the original in German one day. The translation is inspiring.

A book so beautifully wrought, so poetically driven,
so simple in its profound telling of sadness, despair and
redemption. Read this and be rewarded with the
memory of Mendel which, hopefully, will accompany
you all your years

An extraordinarily moving story with the biblical Job at its heart - a man driven `to curse God' and ready to die, including his friends who come as comforters - but written in such a way as to capture the heart of the story and the imagination of the reader and, by concluding at the very point where you want it to go on, leaving you to complete the experience for yourself.

Joseph Roth uses the style of Yiddish story telling to retell the ancient story of Job. This is a beautiful and poignant story in which all the characters are fully drawn and recognizable from our own lives. Since reading this book, I've gone on to read all Roth's works of fiction. I wish we had writers of his quality today.

Mendel Singer parallels the biblical Job. Roth's characters are warm and human. The best of all the fictional treatments of the Job story. I particularly appreciated his treatment of the most difficult part of the Book of Job, his final restoration.

Move over Pat Conroy. The plot really starts in Charleston, SC and ends in Charleston, SC. Could you have survived? This is a must read book. The scene changes are superbly managed and the plot is definitely spellbinding.

Robert Mixson is destined to be a sucessful rising Southern writer. His topic research is thorough. He writes with passion, as if he is Joshua. This is a book that holds the reader's interest and the scene descriptions are vivid. I felt as if I was witnessing the scenes. A wonderful and promising writer. A book that should be in every library. Thank you Mr. Mixson...look forward to your next book.

Robert Mixson weaves a tale on intrigue that keeps your attention and keeps you wondering where Joshua Senate is headed next. Joshua can't seem to be "just" a journalist - he finds adventure at every turn. The story has learning value as well: true friends are those who will drop everything and come running when you are in trouble and perseverance pays off. This story should appear on the big screen!

Mr. Mixson shows his exceptional writing abilities in this chronicle. It is truly a "sleeper" and should be on the bookshelves of many readers. While it may sound trite, the term "pageturner" comes to mind. I give two thumbs up to Robert Mixson's first novel and eagerly await the next one.

A fast-moving entertaining adventure story with something for everyone, Joshua Senate's story goes beyond the typical action tale. The author takes us inside the hero's head...and heart. Exotic locations, sinister enemies, reversals of fortune, love and tears...they're all here. What a movie this book would make! Joshua's adventures make for a real page-turner of a novel that never disappoints.

I bought this book while on a tour in North Dakota. Something about the title drew my attention and I have been completely satisfied with my purchase. As one reviewer noted, this is not a book for anyone looking for a romanticized depiction of Indian people nor a "how-to" book for those looking for more info on Indian spirituality. It is an engrossing character study of many fictional Indian people who live their lives in the Minnesota woodlands from the early 1800's to the present. Their struggles, triumphs, sorrows and joys are presented in a highly readable prose. I am hoping Ms. LaDuke continues to write fiction that portrays a segment of our American population which has been woefully neglected.

LaDuke, who has run twice (in 1996 and 2000) for Vice-President on the Association of State Green Parties ticket with Ralph Nader for President, is arguably the most important woman in North America. She often shows up in short lists of "Leaders of the Future", certainly "on the left", but yet she lives quietly on a reserve in Minnesota, and does not campaign even when she's running for Vice-President. What is going on here? Who is she?

LaDuke's novel says it all. It bares the roots of five hundred years of rather incredible history, the conflicts between cultures and peoples, the imposition of an extremely violent system of governance and retributive justice for property crime, the denigration of native peoples, application of "terra nullius", breaking of treaties, and the whole legalist campaign that put British descendants in firm control of North America.

Feminine, aboriginal, and ecological values are barely visible at the surface of this novel - there are no explicit treatises, no ideological passages. This is not "Atlas Shrugged for Greens" - you will not be sold a Green Party Card by this book. Nor is it the romanticized "Dances With Wolves" - you will not see the lives of the many diverse human beings of the native tribes of this small patch of North America as some kind of mystical journey. You will read real stories of each generation.

You will be brought up to the present.

This is the history book you were not given in school. You were, instead, taught something about military glory and how "proper" courts and "real" justice now prevail in North America west of the Mississipi River. You were taught nonsense.

You have a chance to learn the truth from a masterful author. If she someday becomes your President, and I can only hope that she will, you will understand why, and you will see why this is a necessary evolution. Women, Natives, Ecology still sound like special interest groups today. LaDuke's beautiful storytelling and poignant moments of misery and remnant pride will demonstrate better than any political speech, why they are not, and why there can be no future other than that which elevates the feminine, the aboriginal, the ecological, to their right precedence over the masculine, the colonial, and the industrial.

It is time to abandon the tribes you came with, and choose new ones. Let this book be your entry point. You will not regret it.

See above. Its a shame that more "fiction" doesn't come across as "real."

I spied this book in San Francisco last year while on holiday from England. I rarely read fiction, but this was absolutely great. There are few books that I am unable to put down once started but this was one. From beginning to end I was wrapped in the humour, tragedy and triumph of this novel. Some great characterizations, I became especially fond of Kway Dole. A great book for anyone interested in the whole diversity of Native American experiences, but not for new-agers looking to find a deceased Medicine Man as a spirit guide!!!

I loved this richly told story of Woodland indigenous history. LaDuke's prose is so evocative, reading it feels like sitting on the shores of Round Lake listening to the loons or canoeing through the rice fields at the edges of Gull Lake startling the Great Blue Herons and seeing Ojibwe history unfold out of the early morning mist. Winona captures the essence of the lakes and forests of Northern Minnesota and brings to life the tragedies and joys of the Anishinaabe people through generations of survival through all the vagaries of the seasons and the challenges that history forced upon them. A beautiful book with charming pictographs. The original hardcover had a beautiful cover painting by Artist Jeffrey Chapman. Highly recommended.

My book club is usually boring and typical, but reading Lazarus Code changed everything. The indepth character development and intruiging plot gave us something to chew on, but not spit out! Forget Dan Brown, I predict all the upcoming name dropping to be about EJ Churchill.

A friend recommended this book to me, and I enjoyed it so much I bought an extra to use as a loaner. E.J. Churchill will soon join the ranks of Greg Iles, Alan Furst and Richard North Patterson as our preeminent writers of thinking-man's thrillers.
If you don't read another book this year, get this book and treat yourself to a grand ride!

What a screenplay this is going to make! Not since the last book I read has a book captivated me so. Readers who wait for this one to hit the theaters will have missed some real cover to cover writing.

What a screenplay this will be too. Not since the last book I read has a book captivated me so. Readers who wait for this one to hit the theaters will have missed some cover to cover writing

I wasn't told about this book in advance which is in and of itself pretty intriguing. But never mind that. This thriller is so captivating that you wouldn't even have to finish it to think so. I was especially fascinated by the cover which is nothing to judge the book by, believe me. ... I actually read it twice which reduced my cost an awful lot. Try it! You won't regret the savings.

This wonderful book about healing and discovery should not be missed. It's incredibly well crafted. The story is fascinating, painful and uplifting.

Mary Mason, a critically acclaimed author and professor of English Literature bravely examines her own life to give an honest and revealing look at how our culture treats disabilities in particular women with disabilities.

I was completely engaged by this compelling story of this little girl growing up in the thirties with polio who overcame this incredible obstacle in addition to other tragedies to achieve success.

This book is an inspiration not only for women with disabilities but for all women. It examines the struggles we all face with tough odds to beat.

I highly reccommend it. It will touch you deeply.

This memoir is an inspiring insight into the personal life of a successful professor of English literature at a woman's college in Boston.

We gradually discover that her cheerful outward appearance at times masks a deep and profound private pain. The revelations in this book make it a spellbinding read.

Mason's account of her extraordinarily rich and productive life--traveler, educator, writer as well as wife and mother--makes us question our conventional response to what constitutes a "disability." Despite her inability to walk without crutches, Mason covered more ground than many able-bodied contemporaries. The book is a revelation and inspiration.

The author tells a compelling story of life growing up female and disabled. We read a straightforward account of a child growing up in an era when women were supposed to marry and have children first and if necessary work to help support the family. As a disabled woman, there were no expectations that one could attract a man, physically give birth, raise children, or work in any meaningful way. Mary Mason did all of those things but nowhere in this book does she claim to be a superwoman. She moves through her life making choices, and as a scholar, reviewing them over time and finding her way to a truer sense of self. Her feminist beliefs are unimpeachable. Her move toward an understanding of her place in the turbulent world of the disability movement is honest: feminism came first and more easily in both a personal and political way. The movement toward a place in the world as a disabled person required more thought and analysis because there were fewer contemporaries with whom she could share her stories as a young woman. This book is a welcome addition to the genre of memoirs, but it in no way is a familiar story. It is news, and important news about the experience of living at the intersection of the feminist and disability movements at a time when both political bodies are in flux. You will not be bored by rhetoric though you will be challenged by Mason's manner of analyzing her family life, her work life, and her intellectual life, while staying true to her desire to tell her own personal story.

Life Prints: A Memoir Of Healing And Discovery is the story of Mary Grimley, who at the age of 6 years became America's first "poster child", dining with President Roosevelt at the Warm Springs rehabilitation center and posing in her wheelchair for publicity shots. Mary went on to became a remarkable scholar in the 1950s and 60s, refusing to focus on her disability and making herself a part of the revolution of ideas. Mason has spent her life struggling against the common cultural prejudice against disabled people, including the sexism of mentors, friends, family, and even herself. It was only after many years of physical therapy and social isolation, that she could emerge from the social and psychological handicaps imposed upon her because of her physical disability to embrace feminism, discover her life's work, and come to terms with herself. Life Prints is a candid, revealing, informative, and exceptionally well written autobiography that is highly recommended for women's studies and disability issues reading lists.