France Books

Let me start by saying I just came home from Paris where Ipicked up this book in French at Versailles and read it late everysingle night! If you want it in English, amazon.uk will special order it. I first saw this as a movie on PBS, "Mrs. Morison's Ghosts," about 20 years ago and never forgot it. At the time I didnt know if it was fiction or nonfiction and couldn't find the book because the title was different and the authors did not use their real names for the first edition. This book, published first in 1911 and many times since, was a best seller in England and France. "les Fantomes de Trianon" or "Ghosts of the Trianon" not only includes the original story, but the painstakingly detailed research the authors did to track down and authenticate everything they had seen, their three subsequent visits to Versailles, and various analyses of their experience, which amounted to stepping across a time warp. As my version points out, mankind has conquered the speed of sound and the speed of light, so why shouldn't we someday be able to break through the barrier of time? I found both the book and the movie thrilling and thought-provoking. This story has not had the publicity it deserves.

By the way, I've hung out in the gardens of Versailles on two occasions so far, and both times there were repairs in the area of the Petit Trianon, so I wasn't able to see if I could duplicate their experience. If I ever do, I'll let you all know!

This fall (10/5, I believe) it will be one hundred years to the day that Moberly and Jourdain saw the Ghosts of Versailles. I expect to be there around then and if I get a chance to lurk around the Petit Trianon and see anything, I'll add to this review. I thought I'd point this out to anyone else planning to be in Paris at the time. Ghosts seem to like me, the chances are good. Watch for my next review on The Days of the French Revolution, another 5-star.

A magical walk in the castle's park, where two English spinsters, schoolmistresses, discovered an incredible view of what Versailles was before the French Revolution. Amazingly authentic and truthful. I loved it and I think everyone who loves France should read it, if you can find it!

A thorough and absorbing re-examination of the curious story of two proper English ladies - Miss Moberly and Miss Jordaine - who went for a stroll one hot summer day in 1900 and came back convinced that they had traveled through time and seen Marie Antoinette. This is one of the world's great, unresolved ghost stories, and this slim volume does a very in-depth examination of exactly what these ladies may have seen and exactly how their story has been dealt with down through the decades. Thought provoking and very satisfying for the reader of true life ghost stories. I literally searched for this book for years and finally finding it was well worth my long, long anticipation. Highly recommended.

I totally agree with all the reviews below. What a pity this book is dropping out of print. It is an excellent general introduction to the Greeks that is funny, lively, and never takes itself too seriously. My one issue with Mr. France is that the translations of Homer, Sophocles, and Aeschylus he recommends are good (Hammond, Rieu, Vellacott, Watling), but what about Fagles? Maybe it is a British thing; but after Fagles' translations, those others simply won't do.

I started to read this book expecting a dry and labourious list of past events in ancient Greece and such like. From the first line of the introduction it was clearly not going to be like any other book on the classics I had ever read.
It is funny, factual - I loved the bit about Parson's Pleasure -,engaging, thoroughly entertaining and very informative. You've just got to buy this book.....

As a retired computer industry executive, I have spent seventeen serious years both formally a la carte at Oxford and elsewhere as well as informally studying classical Greek culture, have amassed a library of over four thousand books on this subject, and I only regret that I didn't have Peter France's book as my course outline before I started. The respect that Sir Kenneth Dover and other eminent scholars (and in Dover's case, formerly Oxford) lent Mr. France certainly attests with more authority than I to its value. Its thoroughness, breadth and accuracy of representation of a very complex culture is truly admirable and would have saved me from many lower priority lower yield "roads less traveled".

I read this book to get a general feel for ancient greece after reading the Odyssey in the summer. The book was an excellent walk though of ancient greek culture and philosophy, though in places it can be difficult without an academic background of sorts. I particularly liked how straight forward the authors analogies were, and how the information was portrayed in section, in particular the snippits from actual greek plays give a taste of some of the greats that is certain to leave one wanting for more. An Excellent book.

I've been saving for this book for so long. It deserved it! It is great. Lovely. The photos are amazing because of their quality. I hadn't time to read the text but I know the writter is a very good one to do it.

Simply great.

I have not much more to add on the other reviews regarding the quality of text and reproductions. It is a real non-exhaustive "catalogue raisonné" of the most relevant Moreau's works (his "St. Sebastian" is mesmerizingly and ominously sublime) plus interesting essays.

Moreau is the flagship of French symbolist painting. Although he was a secluded artist he had interesting disciples, like Desvallières, in the circle of the so-called "peintres de l'âme" (painters of the soul). For them, he always was a reference, an idol, like his Semeles, Sphinxs and Salomés. Interestingly Moreau never took part in the Salon de la Rose-Croix (lead by "Sar" Péladan) or any other artistic movement. He was a perfect example of the Balzac's hero-painter in the famous novel "The unknown masterpiece": the never ending painting. Moreau's preciousness, craftmanship, genious, exoticism, decadence, mythological poetry, fin-de-siècle illness, all shape a world of his own, yet fanatically worshipped by his gallerists and collectors and, why not, by his contemporary academic popes.

If decadenticism, 19th century artistic atmosphere and fin de siècle appeal to you, this is your book.

The only thing I miss is more of Moreau's writings and letters. Probably you will find them in the books published by his museum-sanctuary in Paris. Remember his famous and evocative sentence: "I just believe what I cannot see".

I had very high hopes when I bought this book, though afraid the text would override the images; however I wasn't disappointed. The sheer quality of the printing is nothing less than remarkable. All the images in this book meet the highest standards of the printer's profession. Books on the symbolist genius Gustave Moreau are extremely hard to come by, so Between Epic and Dream (the book's title) is a rare art book being the only large volume in print at the moment.
The text acompanying the lush pictures is very informative, not only on Moreau's life's work, but there are notes on each item underneath. There is a good balance between text and images and this makes the enjoyment of viewing or reading a particular delight. Moreau's watercolors are beautifully presented and so are the paintings with both large and medium reproductions. There are drawings and studies as well to give this book a usefulness to those who would study Moreau's methods of work.
This book is a great buy at a very reasonable price. You will only need Joris Karl Huysman's novel, Against Nature (describing the painting Salome on the cover), to dream away into sweet decadence.

It's got all the goods: scholarly essays, dossiers on Gustave's most important works, wide historical sweep, accessibility for those who are more casual art-lovers, tons of color plates, good details (for painters like me, looking for something to steal). Moreau was a super-important figure in the decadent years of 19th Century France. Not as well known as, say, Degas or Courbet, his schtick seemed pretty far out. Anticipating Surrealism as well as the the nascent Symbolist movement, Moreau made insanely detailed, obessive, jewel-like paintings whose time is just now arriving. Make your coffee table as swanky and plush as an old New Orleans hotel. Moreau knew how to mix it up but certainly has his own flavor. Super great book.

Auschwitz seems a strange place to have a guardian angel. But Sim Kessel had one who in more than one case helps him to survive the hell of the camp.

Sim's story is perhaps one of the saddest I've ever read. The excessive torment he describes, the grisley and disgusting squallor of the camp seems so horrific that at some points I wondered if Sim wasn't expanding the truth - and then I immediately realized that he is not. He can not. Not with this.

Sim's story also is one of endurance. His beaten, starved, sickened body kept going through impossible circumstances and it's nothing short of miraculous. Yet the author does not ask your pity. He simply tells his story. I got up late yesterday and didn't have time to eat. Later I became very hungry but couldn't eat right away and started whining to myself. Then I remembered Sim. And shut up. He will be with me for a long time.

I would classify this as "a must read."

This excellent book covers the remarkable true story of Sim Kessel, a French Jew, throughout his experiences as a member of the French Resistance followed by his arrest by the Nazis and his subsequent detention at Auschwitz/Birkenau Concentration Camps.

His numerous brushes with death at the hands of the Nazis throughout his detention are covered in some detail, including the forced death march to other Concentration Camps prior to eventual liberation at the hands of the allies at the war's end.

There are many harrowing incidents throughout this book. It is extremely moving as Kessel describes the absolute enthusiasm in which his fellow French citizens and French Policemen participated, and indeed clearly enjoyed, rounding up their fellow Jews prior to handing them over to Nazi forces.

The book at times reads like a novel and grips you from beginning to end.

The horrifying experiences of Kessel includes his shocking execution for his part in a failed (almost successful) escape attempt. Kessel was publicly hung together with his four co-escapers on a gallows in front of an audience of some 25,000 prisoners who forced to watch the execution as a deterrent to other would be escapees.

Each prisoner was hung one at a time, with Kessel last. Viewing the deaths of his comrades, Kessel closed his eyes and awaited his own death. The trap door sprung and he fell to his death.... but the rope broke. Unaware of this due to a loss of consciousness, Kessel was then dragged away to be shot in the back of the head by another prisoner named Jacob, whose forced employment was to execute many individual prisoners in this way. Pre-war Jacob having been the trainer to former world heavyweight boxing champion Max Schmeling.

Again awaiting his death, Kessel, himself a former professional boxer, befriended Jacob through their involvement in boxing. The latter subsequently providing Kessel with the identity of an already slain prisoner which he retained throughout the remainder of his detention.

This is a very moving testimony, not only to Sim Kessel, but to the many millions who did not survive. A highly recommended read.

I have been studying the Holocaust in depth for a few years now, when I came across this autobiography. This novel opened my eyes to the torture techniques the Nazis used to gather information. Every appalling detail ground into my mind, until I had to openly share this novel with my colleagues and students. Sam's fight to survive with all the odds stacked against him shows the true battle between good and the most horrifying evil the world has ever seen. I highly reccomend this book to anyone who wants a good look at what life was like in a concentration camp and under the gallows.

Hanged at Auschwitz, by Sim Kessel, is the story of the author's horrific but incredible journey through the horror that was Auschwitz. Starting off with an arrest, and two weeks of torture at the hands of the Gestapo, Kessel then spends the next nine months in a French transit camp waiting to be sent to his final destination, and in the world that he lived in, final most times meant final. After the transit camp, and the infamous train rides where people were treated worse than animals, he ends up at Auschwitz. It was only due to his experience as a boxer, his athleticism, and a lot of luck that he was able to survive this "living hell." Three times he was marked for death and three times he miraculously survived. Despite the intense subject matter the book is a quick read. This is an amazing story of courage and I highly recommend it.

Not a typical survivor book filled with hate, but more an accounting of the many good people who step up in horrific situations. An easy entertaining read, the chapters seem to flow, hard to put down until finished. Very easy to get involved and caught up in the events that happened. The author has a good memory for details of a traumatic time in his and the world's life.

Simon Jeruchim, the author of this memoir,was twelve years old when his secure world came to an end. With amazing recall,he relates how he came to hide in a small hamlet in Normandy. He worked on a farm, a harsh life for a small Parisian boy. Hardest of all was not knowing about his parents and small brother. He went dutifully to church and hid his identity from everyone. By nature optimist, he was looking forward to the end of the war and reunion with his family. He was reunited with his brother and sister, but his parents did not survive, unfortunately. This book is a beautiful example of a boy's courage and determination to stay alive.

this book was given to me as gift. i have a deep interest in matters pertaining to the holocust, and i was told that the book held a different perspective from other publications regarding the nazi era. and it surely did.....the author made no attempt to judge the nazi and the french in that era. all he did was relate this fascinating story, and i drew my own conclusions.

the book traces his journey, as a parentless jewish boy,keeping a step ahead of the nazi and french, and extermination..a brave human being. . mr. jeruchim is a talented artist, as evidenced by the wonderful pictures which he drew, and are included in the book.

...

Simon Jeruchim takes you into the horrible world of escaping and hiding from french collaboraters and the Nazis during the second world war. His narrative is so compelling that you practically relive his day to day existence. His recount of the compassionate gentile families who hid him and his siblings is written staight from his heart.

This is truly a masterpiece of editing. The author has truly done an outstanding job. This is a MUST book for any serious Higgins collector as well as anyone who enjoys beautiful glass. The author is certainly to be commended for this one of a kind work.

A "Must Have" for any serious Higgins collector. There is an almost overwhelming amount of information presented in a most organized manner. So many wonderful color photographs that I went into sensory overload. Loads of great, historical information and imagery. The only down side of the book is that the price guide is not representative of current market values but if looked at properly will still give you a good idea of how one pattern will relate to another in value. I wish other collectable genres had reference guides of this caliber.

this book starts to do justice to the wonderful inventive genius of michael and francis higgins, craftsmen and artistis, and the developers of advanced fused glass techniques. The book is steep at $60, but it's worth it for the great number of color plates. . . and if you know higgins glass, you'll know that a great many photographs were needed!

the only downside might be that the authors focussed too much on the dearborn years of mass-produced fused glass goods. This neglects somewhat the great variety and depth of studio work done by the higgins. But perhaps this is an apt subject for "adventures in glass, volume II".

If you want to collect Higgins glass, this book is an absolute must-have. The prices are outdated; with the recent death of Michael Higgins, I have seen pieces sell for double or triple the book's values. This is much more than a price guide, though. This book details the history of Higgins glass, their techniques, and how to identify what is and is not Higgins glass. There are several beautiful color pictures on almost every page, and I enjoy looking at them almost as much as I enjoy looking at the pieces in my collection.

An enlightening story about the humble, poor little shepherd girl who encountered the Mother of God and the tremendous impact it had on her life. Details and insights that kept me excitedly turning those pages.

In the initial account of the apparitions Dr. McEachern uses the method of drawing lines from various different accounts given by the Saint over several different years in order to present one comprehensive report. If you accept this methodology as valid, you will draw much from this book. I felt a bit uncomfortable realizing I was reading a mosaic of shards shattered and shorn from so many different sources and presented as her complete account, but perhaps such textual criticism does not present a problem to other readers. I would prefer to read the accounts in their entirety, including to the various ecclesial and legal authorities who questioned her, in chronological order, and piece together a conclusive report from that entirety. Here this work has been done for us, leaving only the golden threads from among the whole cloth. I would hope one day to see the fullest tapestry.

After that opening, the compiler of this volume does leave us a fairly representative collection of the Saint's letters, translated. Again I hope one day to see them in the original, including the regional dialect, and in chronological order, as here we find the intriguing and often difficult and treacherous work of translation done for us.

I also found the opening introduction touched by a persistent trait of other reports on this Saint, the disparagement of her family and conditions and education and mind, rather than a charitable embracing and comprehension. I am always uncomfortable to read such judgmental emphasis, yet here find it more balanced and contextualized than in earlier standard texts. The Saint herself suffered this from the first moments she reported the Visions, and for the rest of her life on earth, and accepted this suffering, for reasons she examines in this book, including unmentioned yet infinitely consoling comments by Our Lady herself, who was of similar age and education and conditions. I am not so holy and so feel deeply uncomfortable for the Saint suffering such mistreatment both during and after life, but I must resolve to convert by her very wise and holy and compassionate example, and by her own exhortations shared here in her own, translated hand.

A necessary addition to any Catholic spiritual library, and probably the best we can get for this Saint.

This book is a wonderful resource for all who want to know Bernadette better. From her writtings one can see the depth of her faith. She saw all that occurred in her life as the will of GOD and she accepted everything that came her way. One learns that Bernadette carried her cross in life with acceptance and love. She suffered greatly and wanted to unite her suffering with Jesus' for the sake of all sinners.

In developing my own book on the famous apparitions at Massabielle (Lourdes: Font of Faith, Hope, & Charity, Paulist Press, Sept. 2007), I researched a great number of titles. None of them, however, gave me better insight into the real person of Bernadette Soubirous than A Holy Life. Thanks to Patricia McEachern's careful translation, English-speaking readers can appreciate the oftentimes difficult journey to sainthood through Bernadette's candid letters and journal entries as she lived out her sanctity in the motherhouse at Nevers. A true treasure -- it was like meeting the visionary in person!

At this point, given the reviews, it is clear that Anne Atik has written a fine memoir. What I would like to comment on in particular is the role she herself plays as both writer and actor. She manages to be remarkably self-effacing, something not at all easy for a writer who was a close friend of a famous artist. There is no tone of bragging, there are no self-serving anecdotes, and there are minimal details about the memoirist herself. In fact, if anything, I found myself wanting to know a bit more about her. But her discretion is admirable.

This is a revealing, insightful portrayal of the great Irish writer, by a close friend of his, the poet Anne Atik, wife of the painter Avigdor Arikha, whose striking portraits of Beckett are reproduced here. The book is unique for its descriptions of, and insights into the springs of artistic creation, for the refined 'table talk' it lovingly and discretely recounts, for the details that only a friend could know and see so well - all told by a poet. This is definitely a must for Beckett fans and lovers of literature.

This memoir is what we hope for. Lots of new information, inside anecdotes, and pictures.

If you love Beckett you must have this book. I would've gone without meals to buy it, if necessary.

Also be sure to buy Why Beckett, by Enoch Brater. It is magical.

This book ( How it was)

well,... it was amazing.

I am so glad I bought it.

I was in cafes with Beckett....

( no other book can do that)

I wondered for a long time whether I should buy it...

I'm glad I did..


What a wonderful book!

if you love Beckett

This book is a real eye-opener.

I hope that more of our politicians read this book and act on its contents.

It has certainly changed the way I think about things - in a positive way.

This latest Cousteau/Schiefelbein book is thought-provoking, passionate, and brilliantly written. I loved it! It gives insights and little known facts about Cousteau's pioneer experiences an an oceanographic explorer. It weaves together fascinating stories, discoveries, anecdotes, and masterful writing to make you want more and more. Simply put, this is a must-read book for all of us -- especially people interested in conservation and the ocean, climate changes, the modern-day Age of Discovery, unique personalities in our time, and writing so skillful and flavorful that every page is a treat. Read this book! Tell your friends. This book is masterful.

Again and again the worlds most brilliant scientist are telling us that we are rapidly depleting the natural world that sustains us.
Cousteau explains it again a lyrical way that only he can.
If you loved Jacques Cousteau in the '70's, you will realize what a real super hero he was after you read this book!
Well written, easy and fun to read. A facinating journey with a remarkable man.
Saccage is Cousteau's term for ransacking natural resources. He believed that people would protect that which they loved, with his films he tried to show us the beauty of his undersea world, his book gives us an important lesson in conservation of the ocean, its creatures and the planet.

My son is a well-read, well-informed world traveler at sixteen years old. His blank look when I told him I was reading an advanced copy of a new book by Jacques Cousteau is just one of the many reasons I am excited about the long overdue publication of this book. Cousteau died in 1997, and the absence of his influence in the past decade is echoed in my son's generation's lack of recognition. From the foreword by Bill McKibben:

"For those of us who come of age in the 1960s or '70s, the picture of Jacques Cousteau is fixed forever in our minds. A slight but wiry man, yellow tank peeking over his shoulder, falling backward off the stern of the good ship Calypso as he prepared for yet another dive down among the rays or the jellyfish or the sea cows or the parrot fish - down, literally, into his world, "the undersea world of Jacques Cousteau." His voice became just as familiar, with its somehow slightly wistful but still infectious Gallic intonation. "In ze wisdom of ze dolphins lies ze test of human wisdom.""

Always passionate, frequently logical, sometimes preachy, The Human, The Orchid and The Octopus presents Mr. Cousteau's unique perspective on personal exploration, the environment and our power to influence it. It sits well on my bookshelf next to volume 1 of The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau that my father gave me years ago, a tribute to one of the world's great explorers and visionaries. The influences of Cousteau and his unique perspective on man's effect on the environment are felt in the perceived environmental calamity in my own novel, Dusk Before the Dawn.

The 25-page introductory biography of Cousteau, penned by his writing partner on this effort (and others), Susan Schiefelbein, is a reminder of the many marks Cousteau left behind, in the world of scuba, exploration, conservation and political maneuvering. It puts into perspective the small amount of time that humans (with the exception of noted free divers of the world) have spent exploring the underwater world (only about sixty-five years have passed since Cousteau's first 1943 dive with his aqualung).

The first part of the book depicts Cousteau's drive to explore and his risk taking, his chapters titled "Personal Risk" and "Public Risk". Part autobiography and part philosophy, these pages put forth Cousteau's reason for being: his need to understand, to research, to discover, and when and how he took risks both personally and professionally. He compares those to the risks and lack of communication and consideration companies and governments take when undertaking risks on "behalf of" the public they serve or sell to:

"Those who plan public risks do not say "Follow me." They say "Trust me." Politicians may rarely be in a position to try technologies for themselves. But they are always in a position to demand that risks be full investigated and that the people who face risks be fully informed. Too often decision makers abdicate this fundamental responsibility of risk management. They do not lead us through truly calculated risks for which they have isolated and then eliminated hazards; they instead goad us into a game of Russian roulette, instructing us to pull technical triggers without telling us if there are bullets in the chamber. This is not leadership. This is no democracy. This is technocratic dictatorship; this is market dictatorship."

Ultimately, this book is about conservation and the environment. Based on his years of exploration and hours underwater, no person had more experience in how how changing world has affected the seas and the rest of the earth that Jacques Cousteau. He writes of visiting places where he explored via scuba, then returning many years later to see the coral gone, the sea life receded, the sea floor picked over. In a chapter titles "Saccage" he describes the phenomena:

"Saccage begins where life began: In the nurseries of the sea. Life thrives in three parts of the ocean: the surface waters, penetrated by sunlight, where plant life blooms; the bottom, where organic detritus settles and the area in which these two life-nurturing factors combine, the continental shelf....These waters - just one half of 1 percent of the total ocean space - support 90 percent of all marine life....It is precisely on these coastlines where saccageurs wreck their havoc. Construction companies dredge for sand and gravel, scraping away Posidonia and fish hatchlings, shaving the bottom like a bald man' pate..."

In the subsequent chapter "Catch as catch can", the fishing industries quota and protected waters policies come under Cousteau's logical and emotional scrutiny. He explains who the boundless supply of fish from the oceans is being illogically and wastefully fished out, with the following facts:

* "Fish provides on average only 5 percent of all protein humans consume daily";
* "While it takes only 15 pounds of grass to produce 1 pound of beef, the ocean must supply some 1,000 pounds of plant life to feed all the creatures that will ultimately feed 1 pound of tuna";
* "If we really wanted to feed the world with fish, then why do we throw so much fish away? Officials say that each year fisherman toss some 5 million tons of fish - more than 550 tons an hour - back into the sea to make room on their ships for the catch that will bring them the highest prices";
* "If we really wanted to feed the world with fish, then why do we feed so much fish to our livestock? Pigs and chickens eat more than one third of the world catch";
* "If we really wanted to feed the hungry world with fish, then why have industrialized nations depleted the waters of the hungry world?"
* "Fishing does not, nor has it ever, undergirded the economy."

He provides some recommendations to the failing fisheries strategy towards the end of this chapter.

Cousteau relates his views on nuclear power and his own personal fight against disposal of nuclear waste in the Med in the chapter entitled "The Hot Peace: Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Energy." Cousteau protested against nuclear energy in France with General DeGaulle, and details not only the proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear power but also his arguments against their quick, widespread and sometimes secret deployment.

The last two chapters are Cousteau's imagination and plea about life, his summation of what he sees man inflicting on the environment and upon himself; he imagines a hoped for "Life in a Billion Years" and describes his sense of wonder and awe at "The Miracle of Life" in the final chapter.

The book is brought up to date in the Epilogue by Ms. Schiefelbein, cataloging some of the events in the ten years since the books writing (the book was published in France shortly after Cousteau's death).

While the topic of man's impact on the environment is a tired one, Jacques Cousteau's unique place in the history of exploration of the world and the sea makes this treatise on conservation required reading.

This review was originally published on my website, www.duskbeforethedawn.net.

The last thing anyone needs is a dry, textbook account of what it's like to face the big "C". People who have recently been diagnosed (or are undergoing treatment) are hungry for answers and hope, commodoties that are all too often elusive in today's cyber-saturated culture. Fortunatly, Jim Chastain decided to write a book.

Much like the 1966 movie "The Fantastic Voyage" - in which a submarine is shrunk and injected into another human body - Chastain's poignant and unflinchingly honest account of his battle with cancer takes the reader inside his world with astounding grace and ease. Each chapter is a story in itself, offering just the right mixture of confession, contemplation, and hilarity. In it you'll hear of the gut-wrenching decisions he faced, the fear that often dogged him, and evidence of a hell of a lot of courage. But perhaps the greatest beauty of this delightful little book is the over-arching canopy of humor that enfolds it. My coworker - who is also a two-time cancer survivor - laughed until he literally cried while reading a section I put in front of him.

Who was it who said that if we don't laugh, we'll cry? Chastain does some of both in this must-read book for anyone who cares about the plague of cancer in our society. Fortunately I've never had the disease, but found this book immensely helpful in understanding the plight of those who do. And as crazy as this may sound, I thoroughly enjoyed reading a book that essentially offers a front row seat to the hardest thing this man has ever faced. Guess that's some of what grace and redemption are all about.

A MUST READ for anyone who's either experiencing cancer themselves or has a loved one who is. This book is enlightening to a patient, a care giver, family member, or friend.

I gave a copy to a dear friend who is currently undergoing treatment for lung cancer. I am absolutely sure this book will bring a chuckle, or two, or three, or four, etc.

It was THIS BOOK that EMPOWERED me to visit her and her husband (besides, I had a copy of this book to deliver!). We went ... to deliver the book (well, and maybe give a little moral support.) Subsequently, I have ordered another copy for my library. This book is filled with hope, humor, and inspiration.

I've also forwarded my recommendation as a "must read" to our Employee Assistant Professional at work.

A truly talented writer who deserves a standing ovation!
May his humor help you and yours through difficult times.

Jim Chastain's humor doesn't stop at the title of the readable, unsentimental, and personal account of what must have been a harrowing experience. I read it almost all in one sitting, and it held my attention throughout. Chastain isn't afraid to say he cried, or that certain body functions reacted to cancer treatment in absurd and hilarious ways. The book captures both the humor and the pathos of his experience, but most of all, it serves as a reminder that talking about cancer or any other life-threatening disease should not be taboo, and that the person does not become the disease.

"I Survived Cancer but Never Won the Tour de France" is author Jim Chastain's personal, funny, poignant, and enlightening; memoir offering a unique, entertaining and informative memoir of living with cancer and dealing with all of its seeming contradictions. Completely candid, illustrative stories of the emotional battles that every cancer patient and their loved ones must go through (including, in Jim's case, multiple cancer surgeries that included the amputation of an arm), "I Survived Cancer but Never Won the Tour de France" is ultimately encouraging in its story of a young man seeking to hold on to his dreams, his marriage, fatherhood, and personal spirituality throughout the life-altering ordeal that inevitable is a part of any cancer diagnosis. Highly recommended reading - especially for patients and their families who are having to copy with the diagnoses and treatment of cancer.