Debra Winger Books

This book was recommended to me when I worked for William Burroughs Communication. Oh, how I could relate, having been around artist junkies and wandering poets and moody, irrational alcoholic geniuses - and not being recognized as one myself (although much healthier by this time of my life). These women write about the life of US, the women who were also in those circles of creative insanity, putting up with violent, lazy, thieving, cheating men who said they loved us. Throughout history the lives of women in powerful movements wre hidden. They paid the rent, made sure there was food, made carbon copies of their lovers' work. But they also WROTE, beautifully, from the point of view of women who love their lovers, love their friends, and love finding their strength. These women grow as they age, becoming more compassionate and critical. After reading this, I was led to Jan Kerouac, Joyce Johnson, Diane di Prima, etc. - voices who wrote like mine, affirmed my life story. I read so much of the male Beats writing, and loved it, but didn't feel I was really in the story. Who were the women? They were us.

Denise Levertov never was, and never will be, a so-called "Beat" writer: she could actually write. (Which means she knew that the most basic rule of writing is: rewriting.) Any more than she will be diminished and narrowed by the so-called "feminists" who insist she was a "woman writer" therefore only suitable for women readers (to which ideological morons she delivered swift kicks to the teeth).

And no amount of effort to drag her, kicking and screaming, into the "Beat" "canon," will succeed, or succeed in giving that "canon" a "class" and credibility it mostly didn't earn and doesn't deserve. Kerouac might have been able to write -- if, that is, he'd tried the language- and reader-respecting work of rewriting. But nothing will cure Ginsberg of the reality that he was 99 per cent vapid masturbatory windbag.

Any interested in the history of the beat era must have WOMEN OF THE BEAT GENERATION: THE WRITERS, ARTISTS AND MUSES AT THE HEART OF A REVOLUTION. Much has been written on famous beat men but comparatively little on the women who also made their mark during the time: long overdue but better late than never is an exploration of the histories of these women, from Barbara Guest and Diane DiPrima to Jan Kerouac and Anne Waldman. A literary and social history which should not be missed.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

For a group that is now remembered as a progressive voice in the ultra-conformist wilderness of the 1950s, the Beats were a surprisingly chauvinistic bunch of guys, all too ordinary for their time. That unfortunate fact helps explain the relative obscurity of most of the women who ran with, influenced and, in some cases, loved them. (You probably know that William S. Burroughs accidentally murdered his common-law wife while playing William Tell, but do you know her name?) This wonderful volume goes a long way towards correcting that oversight. Featuring previously unpublished letters, rare pictures and - best of all - a generous sampling of creative works, it's a near-perfect survey of the Beats' female contemporaries, lovers and even a few of their precursors.

Although most of the women profiled here published at least one work in their own right at some point, many of those are not currently in print anywhere else. Additionally, some of the poems and stories here are previously unpublished, and in the case of many of the wives and lovers (referred to as "The Muses"), the works presented here are by far the most intimate look at their lives published thus far. In short, there's something here for everyone: a good starting point for newcomers to the Beats as well as a good supplementary piece for even the most serious students of women's literature.

Yes, there were women writing as well, and doing all the other cool stuff at the time. Many of them are still writing or continued to write long after their affair with the "beat" generation. This book is a great introduction to these writers. It's very informative, has just enough of the good gossip and lots of really great writing.

I bought this because Rosie loved it but I didn't. Debra tries to use grand english and strange sentences. She's from a different world than the one I live in.

This is not your usual type of biography / memoir. It is more her feelings with a few antecdotes dispersed within. Very introspective with poetry and prose thrown in. I liked it a lot as she reminded me of Hugh Prather. But then she never was a conventional actress either.

Winger has always been a thoughtful, and, in many ways, mercurial actress. There is no question about her onscreen chops as a triple Oscar-nomineee and major star despite a rambling, choosy, relatively sporadic resume.

Then again, Winger's wonderfully versatile choices (and performances) have stood the test of time ('Terms of Endearment,' 'Officer & A Gentleman,' 'Shadowlands,' and 'Urban Cowboy'--even delicious second-tier fare like 'Black Widow'). Perhaps Hollywood's current crop of mediocre talents could take a life-lesson from the gifted Winger, in this regard: scrutinize your destiny, your integrity, choose what lasts.

This book is Winger's very compelling way of doing just that, in essay form. Winger demonstrates that her way with the written word is well nigh as charismatic as her way with a line of film dialogue. Naturally, it helps that she was thrust into myriad adventures by her success in the 80s and 90s (and has something of immediate interest to "play-off of"), but the book works just as convincingly as a document of sometimes aching human self-discovery. Winger is able to recount mood and mayhem with the skill of a charming raconteur and technique of a solid writer.

In fact, I'm pleasantly surprised at how good a writer Winger proves herself to be. The book moves, almost dreamlike, from reflective episode to incisive commentary, and not necessarily with a strict chronological purpose--these are essays from the very soul, after all. Winger is by turns funny and subtly provocative, and, of course, takes time to drop an appropriate number of industry names and anecdotes for those more interested in her career self-perception than with the equally direct assessment of her close family life...a life away from the shackles of fame.

In many ways, this is one of the more rewarding and exceptionally written memoirs to come directly from a major film star in recent memory. Winger infuses the book with wisdom and honesty; apparently she's not only earned it--she's chosen it, and that makes an impact here. The reader comes away with the feeling that one has been given a rare opportunity to glimpse the journey of a genuinely attuned "Traveller" through Hollywood and beyond, rather than a caricature of Hollywood overwhelming a Traveller's voice and personality.

Great collection of memoir-ish essays. She'd be wise to write a screenplay or a stage play, with talent like this. Well done, Ms. Winger.

I like biographies and I don't like poetry. I don't like essays that are all about feelings. I don't like vague. I don't like "the journey" when you learn nothing about the journey except generalizations. So obviously I am not going to like this book. You will learn next to nothing about Debra Winger in this book. She is an "arty" writer and it is arty and poetic, but it says very little. I had to search on the Internet to find out what happened to her in the accident she alludes to in the beginning of the book. I had to search the Internet to find out who the husband is she refers to as only A. or who these children, N. and B., are. It's like a personal journal that only she will understand what she's writing about, yet she published it. She does not discuss her movies or acting. She writes a little bit about her parents dying and how it impacted her. She writes a little about motherhood. It's like a meditation on serenity.

If I had seen this book at a bookstore and paged through it, read a few pages, I would have quickly figured this all out and not bought it. This is the kind of mistake you make when you buy a book sight unseen online.

I haven't yet read this book, but I have heard several passages read aloud by Debra Winger at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH). Debra Winger has been such a mystery to me. Over the years I have heard she was a volunteer in a kibbutz, that she was strong-willed and not always easy to work with, that she had a breakdown of some kind around the time she made The Sheltering Sky, that she retired from film forever. I saw a DVD of Rosanna Arquette's documentary Searching for Debra Winger. But I had no idea of the high regard I felt for this actress or how ingrained she was into my filmgoing consciousness. Then I stumbled upon her book-reading at MFAH and was delighted. I never feel like bothering celebrities I meet, but I wanted to hug her. She looks great, and said she feels her best film work is ahead of her. I can't wait.

"And because you have made me out of unselfish love you have touched me with life"

This is a transcript of a story that was verbally passed down through the generations of the Zuni. It was recorded in 1883 by Frank Hamilton Cushing. He had become a chief Priest of the Bow society of the Macaw Clan. The story is based on a drought that happened to the Ha'wi-k'uh about 1300; before the coming of the Europeans (1539-1540).
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The basic tail is of a people that treated food like mud, and were extremely rude to their corn sprits that were in the form of two old ladies. Only two children and a discarded old woman paid them any respect. This was very bad as the Zuni is part of nature and therefore nature and strangers are to be treated with respect.

Thus the story is of the drought that sent the people away and leaving the two children and old lady behind.
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If one is desperate to hear the story instead of read it then this media is ok. It is too bad they someone thought they had to abridge such a short story. Every word is necessary to understand the myth. It does not distract from the experience to have a non native American (Debra Winger) read the story. I suggest you buy a copy of the book to find what is missing and for the young ones to see the illustrations.