Personal Pages Books

supposing that this book is accurate in what it explains (as a novice to investing I can't say whether it is) it was an awesome book to read because of its conciseness (something lacking in most books) and its clarity as to what means what. I don't plan to invest in individual stocks, bonds, futures, options anytime in the near future but at least I know what the hell those things are.

I checked out this book in an attempt to learn more about the meanings of all those acronyms and abbreviations you find in the listings and tables for stocks, funds, etc. both in the paper and on the Web. It does just that plus a tad more. It dedicates a section to indexes (DJIA, NASDAQ, etc.) and where they come from, what do they "say," etc. Finally it wraps up with a section dedicated to covering some basic economy concepts that affect investing: inflation, recession, fed rates, etc. It's pretty comprehensive for such a small book. Check it out if you want to get a primer. Don't go to it for answers on what or where to invest, because it's not meant for that.

I have always wanted to learn how to write essays and this book is very good as a foundation type of book for essay writing. I recommend it highly.

The author walks the reader through 8 basic types of essays, and provides writing exercises for each of those types. Where this book is most helpful, however, is in the critiquing of the essays written by one of the author's students. Ms. Bender shows you her process of critique in the samples of the student's first draft and second draft.

First, she singles out those "velcro words" (the nouns and phrases in the first draft essay that stick with her) -- and she encourages you to take your own note of your "velcro words". She then walks through her feelings as she reads the essay -- where she is intrigued, for example, or confused by the images the student uses. Finally, she shares this information with the student so that the student can choose to elaborate or minimize certain parts of the essay in a second draft, thus producing tighter writing and more polished images.

I find Bender's process of critique quite useful and relatively painless.

Clapton's writing couldn't possibly be as nimble as his playing, but we get a good first-person account of his ascendency towards guitarist deity, and, especially, the impact of his longtime Archilles heel--the consumption of drugs and alcohol in staggering amounts. As he often points out, he's very fortunate that he's still alive. Although his periods of recovery get too much air here, there are some revealing insights. Flaws and all, what's perhaps best about the book is the voice of authenticity; it doesn't have that annoying "As-told-to" quality, nor is it so polished that the "autobiography" seems like a lie.

I think it's fair to say that Clapton is basically honest about those things he wishes to open, but that he doesn't always open up everything. Given what must be some very painful emotions, I'm ok that he doesn't do a "tell-all." It's more like a "tell-most," with the subjectivity that necessarily underlies all autobiographies. Investigative types, or those who feel Clapton has been unfair to others here, can read other books to get a fuller picture--Patty Boyd's own autobiography would be a good starting point.

As a fan of British rock and amateur (very) musicologist, my largest compaint is that Mr. Clapton doesn;t devote enough time to his "late" early years, especially those in the period between (and including) "The Yardbirds" and "Blind Faith." Clapton chronicles his youth and early beginning in clubs with fascinating detail; we learn about his early influences, pre-bigtime life on the road, and his encounters with other newbies who would soon become famous in their own right. Unfortunately, he leaves out this kind of detail once the Yardbirds section begins.

The last third or so of the book covers more of the solo years, his personal life, and his battles (and eventual victory) with addiction. It's a mixed bag: He thanks so many people obscure to those outside the industry that it begins to read like a "Christmas letter" to is closest friends; however, those outside that circle may get lost in the details. I also agree with others who felt the quality and quantity of the photos could have been better. On the other hand, Clapton--perhaps the most blues-oriented of the major rock guitarists, leaves us with a very classy and heartfelt tribute to the electric blues pioneers who inspired him. Deeply personal at times, and somewhat--perhaps understandably--evasive elsewhere, this is a well-written, thoughtful book that any rock fan (especially British rock, and what is lauhingly referred to today as "classic rock") will enjoy. This isn't the definitive book on those areas, but it is, by default, the definitive autobiography. Thanks, Eric.

Well written and interesting autobiography. If you like Clapton or have an interest in music, I recommend it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. Clapton gives a no holds barred account of his life, his failings and his successes. The portion about his son's death is very sad and disturbing. What's even sadder is how Clapton, a serious alcoholic at the time, admits he didn't devote the kind of attention to his young son that he should have.

I'm not sure what the negative reviews screaming "arrogance!" here are all about. The man in question is extremely talented as well as opinionated. He also repeatedly acknowledges he is a deeply flawed person. He comes across as confident in his undisputed musical ability, and humble about how lucky he is to have been given a second chance at happiness after a lifetime of drug and alcohol abuse. I further admire the fact that Clapton even at a young age, and at a time when he had no fame or fortune, stuck to his guns and played music on his own terms when many around him were selling out. Furthermore, he is quick to point out the irony of his life and his own idiosyncrasies.

I won't go into to too much detail about his life, I think the reader should read the book.

I'm not giving it 5 stars because I would have liked to hear more about Clapton's music and how he got to be the guitar virtuoso that he is.

I'm reading various negative reviews of this book, and I cannot believe that people are calling Eric Clapton arrogant in his writing. This book had its flaws, but Clapton's supposed "name dropping" and "arrogance" does not exist, at least not in this book.

I'll say first that I love Eric Clapton's music. He's the reason I'm playing my guitar, and he's taught me a lot about music. I'm only 24, though, and the only image I've ever had of Clapton is his current old man image. It's not much of an image, so I've always just focused on his guitar playing and music making. And because the guitar playing is one-of-a-kind amazing, I've managed to put Clapton up on this pedestal, and I didn't mind. To me, he deserved it.

The book erased that godly image of Clapton I had. As soon as he started getting into details about his life instead of his music, that image was erased from my mind. He did tons of drugs and drinking, had a bunch of issues with sex and women, which probably led to his crazy first marriage. I couldn't believe that the actual Eric Clapton was letting this stuff out! He's always been extremely shy, and you can tell in this book. The way he writes about his experiences are detailed, but at the same time so abstract. For example, when he starts to talk about his son's death, or his daughter that he didn't raise, you wonder some things, because he just doesn't talk about how those things made him feel.

I also could've gone with more guitar details. He talks about what his first guitar was, how much it cost, where his parents bought it for him and how he learned to play it, but he just doesn't talk about how playing it made him feel, and how he felt owning it for the first time (funny, because he's got the blues, and blues players are all about the feel. He just lets it out in his guitar playing, I guess.)

I honestly don't know where people get the "arrogant" criticisms from, though. He actually downplays his skills and does not reflect with happiness when he thinks about all the people he screwed up. Maybe the arrogance criticism comes from the fact that he only focuses on his side of the story. But how can he tell someone else's story? Either way, he reflects with remorse, and a little bit of shame as well. And calling Clapton a name dropper is an oxymoron. He was part of a music movement and an innovator, not a hanger-on. If anything, people were name dropping him.

Don't criticize the book because it only has a few black and white pictures. Clapton has always been very private, and him writing this book (all by himself, by the way, which explains why the writing is jumpy and brief at times) was enough insight into his life. And did a reviewer here actually think it was wrong that he married a younger woman and bought a boat? Why does that even matter?

And I'm biased here, but I found the story admirable and kind of sad at the end. Unlike a lot of his peers, he lived to tell his story. It broke my heart when he said the only thing he dislikes about getting old is that he won't see his young daughters when they're grown. In the end, he's a man who got down on his knees and admitted every single thing he did wrong. You can't turn back time and take everything back, but you can learn from your mistakes. And I think that's what Clapton did, and in this book he tries to tell the reader.

Eric Clapton, for sure, is entitled to be declared as the best marketing man in Rock history:- for 36 years (since Layla days) that he didn't deliver or contributed anything to the Rock world and especially in the guitar playing world and still, he sells everything and is still considered to be one of the best guitar players of all time. For a guy that plays the same guitar solo all this time, he should have something- and this something is his remarkable marketing skills.
Don't get me wrong, EC is a gifted song writer but, there are more than few song writers that can be compared and achieved much more then EC.
The book itself reminds me of EC show I saw a week ago in Zurich (August 20)- weak, dull, shallow repeats to death old material, puts other guitar players aside to, so called, "stronger" him and at the end of the day, a British snob who came to do the work in order to get your money, nothing else.
Let me give you some examples: although you can hear till today the direct influence of Duanne Allman on EC guitar playing, in the book you will find no more than a couple of pages which relates to him- some nice words and that's it. Although the Cream was his pike of his career, EC is very cheap in words as to the greatness of the experience at that time.
On the other hand, we have a lot of pages which deal with his struggle with all kinds of addictions and self pity (a lot of, I must say).
Looking very carefully into his career, I must say that no one will convince me that EC should be regarded as one of the best guitar players ever lived- how can you compare him to the real great ones?? How can you explain the freeze and the lack of progress in his guitar playing since Layla days?? How can you explain the fact that EC plays some 60% of his live shows, blues standards that the effort in playing them equals to zero and most amateurs are playing them in their first guitar lesson?? One explanation- a dull personality that has amazing marketing abilities. Sorry folks.

At first I was a little intimidated to read a book about finances but David Bach explains everything in plain english. There are a lot of things that I already knew I should be doing with my money but David really motivates me and makes me feel like I could really do this. I am truly on my way to being a millionaire! Thanks David Bach!

Did you know that you don't need a big salary to become a millionaire, and that a carefully organized budget and intense willpower aren't even necessary? All it takes, says David Bach, is a simple one-step plan. Follow it to become an "automatic millionaire." Bach's save-your-pennies book is straightforward and sensible - though it predates the recent economic downturn. It comes complete with helpful tables and charts. He details how someone with an average income can eventually amass wealth through automatic savings. getAbstract finds it hard to argue with his basic, common-sense principles: Save steadily, avoid credit card debt, and so on. But Bach gives little weight to various real-life scenarios that can throw a money wrench into the most sensible savings plans. For example, what happens if you lose your job, get seriously ill or find that your home is depreciating? (In fact, he says U.S. houses double in value over five years. Alas, that's not the case in many places at the moment.) What about folks with erratic incomes who can't make automatic savings payments - the locus classicus of Bach's plan? What if 15% of your paycheck just doesn't add up to enough accrual? That's not to mention that Bach's instruction to invest at a 10% return, which is not an easy score to achieve these days. Do your own math. Despite his occasionally utopian tone, Bach does provide solid information on how to build wealth. You can only benefit from his concrete, logical suggestions on how to get rich, slowly.

This is all about automating your way to financial freedom guys. If you are looking where to start and not overwhelm yourself, this is the book for you! Wonderful read! If you're married definitely get the "Smart Couples Finish Rich". Best book for married couples that want control over their finances ever. These books are about real life and not some "guru" shoving mostly useless junk down your throat. Enjoy!

Never thought that personal finance could be this simple and easy. Applying what is written in this book, has changed my life and how I value my earnings and money. Well done!

Easy to read and easy to apply principles for managing your money. This book has become my standard gift for high school grads because as helpful as this book has been to me at 40 years old, it will be that much more beneficial to an 18 year old. Start reading and start saving!

This is a great book to kick start your personal relationship with self. Dr Phil uses his personality, experience, and education to help others learn the valuable lessons of life. I could totally relate to his book.

Great addition to finding a healthier life, while keeping it simple.

Merna

Pocket of Pearls: A 30-day pocket workbook to start hearing a softer voice inside of you!

Self Matters is Dr. Phil's self-help guide to achieving awareness of ones true self, which he believes will lead to a more rewarding and fulfilling life. Dr. Phil postulates that we are ultimately responsible for the way we are, what we think, feel, and how we behave. Even if we are living with a fictional self-concept of ourselves, it is because we have chosen to do so. The problem is that we tend to make these choices based on the expectations or influences of others, or based on external events for which we have no control.

Self Matters tends to be simplistic in its approach and also in the real-life examples Dr. Phil uses to illustrate his points. Of course, it has to be if the average person is going to use this book as a guide to practicing therapy on themselves. However, Dr. Phil does provide some key insights into the nature of relationships and personal behavior, and uses a number of interesting labels to describe the determinants of our thinking and behavioral processes.

This book will be of benefit to people who meet the following criteria (per Dr. Phil): You believe in God, and that God has a plan for you. You believe that you have a purpose in life, and if you dont realize that purpose, your life will be unfulfilling. You have had one or more profoundly negative experiences in your childhood that has altered your thinking and behavior in a negative way. As a result, you have developed a fictional concept of your true "authentic self", and this "fictional self" causes you to make bad choices/decisions in life. You tend not to be aware that you are living a life that is based on this fictional self.

Dr. Phil then outlines a lengthy process of self-awareness exercises, that involve you recounting your significant life experiences, choices, feelings, beliefs, self-concepts, and their related consequences. Through the process of reviewing, uncovering, and understanding your life's key moments, you become aware of their signifance and value, which will be either positive or negative. With this new awareness, you can create an action plan for changing your thinking and behavior, in a way that will eliminate your fictional self-concepts, and restore you back on track with your authentic self. Or so the theory goes. The older you are the harder it will be to effect this change.

Whether you are successful with Dr. Phil's guide seems to depend on whether you really want to change, your honesty and sincerity with your self, your level of commitment, and your faith in God. Some may be wondering how God fits into the science of psychotherapy, or whether psychotherapy alone, or religion alone, could achieve the same result. Finally, I found it interesting that Dr. Phil would quote Carlos Castaneda in this book. Is Dr. Phil practicing psychology or shamanism, or a little of both?

This book changed the way I look at myself and the way I look at the rest of the world. One of the best books I've ever read and I recommend it to anyone who wants to change their perception and get the most out of their life.

Good if you are willing to do the work. I like the inspirational talk at the beginning, but wasn't interested in the rest. Tried reading the book first and had a hard time getting to the end...now I know why.

Overall, I don't think this was really what I was looking for personally but this was still an easy set of tapes to listen to. Dr. McGraw is an excellent speaker and kind of funny at times. It's worth the money if you are looking for positive thoughts on changing your life or changing habits in your life. Give it a try!

This was a gift from my parents. Such a great book and very helpful with life's issues. Definitely a book that can be read multiple times when needed.

I was looking for a read that would inspire and propel me forward at a time when my life was somewhat less than 'light and breezy'. I learned that Norman Vincent Peale was the seed for many of the current popular self-reflection books and decided to start with "The Power of Positive Thinking". I am not disappointed in my selection of this book but it is certainly not a quick read or a page turner. I find that I must put the book down and reflect on the message which is uplifting and reassuring ... just what I needed. I have actually passed the book onto a friend for that very reason.

This is a cute little book that we keep in the bedroom and just flip through every once in a while! It has some really nice "food for thought" in it. Quick motivation

As a book on positive thinking, this is *the* book to read.

However, you don't become successful by positive thinking
alone. You need negative thinking sometimes. When buying
a stock, you need to look at the risks. You sometimes need
creative thinking in your work. You need to think about
how others will think, feel, and perceive your service or
product.

Therefore, as a thinking skill book, it only covers one aspect.
I think the title is appropriate.

I don't consider this a Christian book but a thinking skills book.

Note: I'm referring to the original version. This is the miniature
version according to other reviews. Amazon got them
mixed up.

This is a very Inspirational book. It's an easy read and will give a much needed attitude ajustment to those who adhere.
Arrived on time as promised and in good condition.

This book was a bit of a slog for me, and much of the advice Mr. Lukeman provides seems somewhat outdated, especially in this era of the internet when so many agents and editors blog and there are so many more resources for writers on the net. There was one particularly wretched piece of advice about sending your query letters out express which made me wince. I can think of 5 agents off the top of my head who say NEVER do this. EVER.

Mr. Lukeman also belabors his points in his end of chapter "examples", bludgeoning the reader over the head with points which he had already expressed well enough previous. His "bad" writing samples are so awful they entertain instead of illuminate. Here is an example from the dialogue section on melodramatic dialogue:

"Oh, Henry! You know I've loved you so!"
"Oh, Magaret! If only words could express my love for you!...
"Oh, darling! What would I be without you? My love, my sweetness!"
"The world would stop in its tracks without you, my Magarita!"

A few of the exercises he assigns at the end of each section are helpful if for no other reason than to make a writer really focus on the words and take a look at what they've written. I liked the exercise at the end of the "Sound" section where he assigns the writer to rewrite one of their paragraphs "and reformat it on the page as if it were a poem" (51). This helped me smooth out flow and melody in my manuscript immensely and it was fun too.

I'd say if you're looking for really germaine advice about getting published you might want to start reading agent blogs instead of this book. Kristin Nelson. Nathan Bransford and the Bookends Literary Agency blogs are good places to start your publishing education. I wouldn't say this book is unless you lack even the most basic of writing skills and publishing smarts.

If you never want to do another rewrite DON't BUY THIS BOOK - if you want to get published and be professional - buy 2 copies! Great book, enough said.

This book goes beyond telling authors what to look for and correct to get agents to pick their manuscript from the many, but it reveals the secrets to create superb writing period. It goes beyond the first five pages. It takes you to the final credits on good writing that sits well with those that publish.

or if you're in the sixth grade, you might need this book. Trite, silly, so basic and ridiculous, it's insulting. Maybe if it were the least bit well written, it might be sort of worth it. But, please, let me SHOW you rather than TELL you what I mean.

The first sentence of chapter 4 (Comparison) reads: "A picture is worth a thousand words..." No, I'm not kidding. He wrote that. Then, I choose this from many, many examples of bad grammar, only because it's in the same paragraph: "Comparison is one of the few devices that really put (sic) a writer's skill in the spotlight...." Turn the page for this bit of poorly phrased wisdom: "Bad or cliche comparisons jump off the page. They indicate imprecision or laziness in searching for the right picture....If a writer doesn't care enough about his work to paint precisely the right picture, why should the reader waste his time reading it?"
My point. Exactly.

I have to agree with the February 2001 review by "A Customer": This book doesn't teach much about writing. I would go farther and say that some of what it says is either wrong or at least very unhelpful.

One can. of course, empathize with literary agents and editors who are deluged with manuscripts and must move as quickly as possible to extract a few needles of quality from the haystack of junk. There is value in this book in terms of bringing a writer -- particularly an unpublished one -- some sense of reality as to what he or she faces in the competition for attention. There is also value in making people sensitive to some of the most common "red flags" that will kill their chances for consideration.

But I found this book maddening, for a couple of reasons. First, Lukeman himself has much to learn as a writer. He writes in an overly elegant, self-absorbed style that should have earned the red pen of any competent editor. It becomes a little difficult to accept his wisdom about how things should be written when his own product is deficient. He constantly switches from the first person (both "I" and "we") to the second and third person, for example, often within the very same paragraph. What grated most on me, however, was his addiction to purple in his prose: "If you look back at your dialogue and realize you have scenes that are unsalvageable (like the last example), don't collapse in despondency." (p. 90). Collapse in despondency? Puh-leeze.

The second problem, to me far more serious, is that many of his exercises and proposed solutions to the problems he identifies are either useless or wrongheaded. For example, to solve the problem of pointless and mundane dialogue ("Hi there, how are you?" "I'm fine, and you?" "Nice weather we're having, huh?") he doesn't send people to reputable sources of help for writing effective dialogue; rather, he suggests that a writer should "train [his] ear." He writes: "Begin to pay attention to how dialogue is used in everyday life by different types of people. Eavesdrop on people -- in the subway, in a diner, walking on the street, in a store; especially try to eavesdrop on people who might be similar to your characters." (p. 89).

This suggestion is a recipe for disaster. Writing effective dialogue requires far more sophistication than the aimless guesswork that Lukeman suggests here. It would be far better for an aspiring writer with problems in this area to spend time with Gloria Kempton's Dialogue or Tom Chiarella's Writing Dialogue, to name just two helpful resources.

My suggestion, then, is that this book might be worth a look for the insights it provides into the most common mistakes that inexperienced writers may make in writing and submitting their manuscripts, but not for much help in solving these problems (except for those that can easily be avoided, like improper formatting of manuscripts). Rather, a writer who wants to create a commercially viable work should take advantage of some of the excellent resources available that really get into the hard issues that a writer must confront.

Some of the most valuable books I have benefited from include:

Beginnings, Middles & Ends: How to Get Your Stories Off to a Roaring Start, Keep Them Tight and Crisp Throughout, and End Them With a Wallop by Nancy Kress;

Plot & Structure: Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish by James Bell; and

Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints, also by Nancy Kress.

There are many others, of course, but a writer who thoroughly applied the advice in these three -- provided he or she had the basic ability to write in proper English -- would have a significant leg up in getting into print.

This book is easy to read and has great information. A major part of the book is Suzanne Somers interviewing doctors, who specialize in bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. There are many doctors across the nation who practice what they call Cutting Edge or Leading Edge medicine. They specialize in biodentical hormone replacement. They work with men and women to save their quality of life. If you are reading these reviews...and are considering HRT...read this book...buy it...check it out at the library...do responsible research. You don't have to feel crummy and you don't have to risk your life with pregnant horse urine HRT. There are alternatives that work...you have to find them. I was aware of this book but I thought...Suzanne Somers?!??! And so didn't read it until I finally found a good doctor, after a couple of years of research, and she recommended I read it! The book explains the type of doctor and clinics to look for and how to find them. It talks about Compounding Pharmacies. And of course explains Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT). Once you have that information your research is much easier.

There is nothing better than a woman who undertakes a journey, then shares her experience with others. No matter how knowledgeable and/or articulate your doctor is regarding the need for-and affects of-hormone therapy, the trials and triumphs of Suzanne Somers encourages the reader to believe that, she too, can navigate this passage successfully. Whether you are a Suzanne Somers fan or not, her book is aimed at the enormous population of female baby boomers, walking into an often misunderstood and misrepresented time of life. Suzanne's passion for living, intelligent writing style, and easy to follow instructions makes this book a 'must have' for any woman interested in maintaining her physical, sexual and emotional health. I continue to give this book to friends, and enjoy knowing that I'm giving a gift that can, literally, transform their lives.

This book has VERY good information on bio-identical hormones and the use of other supplements like DHEA, Melatonin and vitamins/minerals and herbs to stay hormonally healthy!

Every household should have this book and it has great, useful info for men and their hormones, too!

Thank you Suzanne for being a true life-saver to women, EVERYWHERE!
You are instrumental in reforming the field of endocrinology, BIG HUGS to you!!!

Excellent book for anyone wanting to know about bio identical hormones. My husband and I did the salivary tests and have been prescribed bio identical hormones and put on supplements for Adrenal Fatigue. We have great expectations of being rejuvenated and energized.A book you can refer to as a reference book. Sent a copy to my daughter!

I recieved my order for Suzanne Somer's 'Ageless' and Dr Michael Platt's 'The Miracle of Bio Identical Hormones' very quickly and in perfect condition. I wouldn't hesitate to order from this company again.
I would also encourage ALL women to read these books!

I'm astonished by the one star comments! These people should at least read a story about the way human language emerged and evolved to writing and reading. Maybe "How Writing Came About" by Denise Schmandt-Besserat and perhaps they would start understanding the unimaginable effort done by Helen and the uniqueness of her testimony, as so well expounded by Konrad Lorentz.
Some time ago I had the great opportunity to exchange some emails about this subject with prof. Harold Bloom. Prof. Bloom, who knows very well the story of Helen, suggest that we have not only an internal ear but even an internal eye that allowed Helen to deeply understand the classics she read: her comments are short but so deep. One last remark, a recent book " Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain" by Maryanne Wolf could be very useful to better understand the key role of Helen Keller (and Anne Sullivan!).

Great book about a great lady who was blind and deaf. She had many struggles but became a speaker and a writter. I received the book right away without any problem, and it great condition.

Most moving and inspiring book I have ever read. It should be required reading in all elementary schools throughout the world. I could go on and on, but that should suffice.

James Donovan
Del Mar, CA

A deaf dumb and blind girl, but no pinball. Helen Keller, bereft of the senses that your average person is able to utilise, has to learn other ways to communicate. She is instrumental in forming systems that will lay the foundation to enable other people so afflicted to do the same, with the work she does herself, and with her tutors.

Well worth a look.

Helen Keller gives a sweetly innocent rundown of her life in this brief book. It's just enough to get a glimpse into her well publicized transformation into a girl lost in her own inability to communicate to a wonderfully prolific soul; a person who changed the world. She is disarming and self aware and isn't afraid to gloss over a little bit of the struggle to paint a journey of searching that led to many rivers of experience. It's a charming book and if one is curious about Helen Keller it is best to 'hear' the words from the author than another source.

Wow! What an amazing story! It is fascinating to read Booker T. Washington's account of a childhood in slavery followed by his rise to national prominence as the founder of the Tuskegee Institute.

While some may argue that Washington was naive and overly accomodating, I was amazed at his ability to forgive and see the best in people. He did not nurse grudges or let others bring him down. Whether or not you feel that he should have spoken up more for judicial equality, you have to admit that he was a strong, dedicated man of character.

Everyone: white, black, brown, or any other shade, can benefit from reading the autobiography of this great American.

Washington's relentlessly positive message is encouraging but at the same time too perfect for believability. The reader desires that Washington would once take off the mask of cheer that he appears to be putting over some parts of his autobiography and tell us what he really thinks.

His optimism extended to the political status of African-Americans and their future integration into American society. As the constant threat of lynching and KKK-ism continued throughout most of the 20th Century, even as positive steps were made in racial integration, it appears his optimism was at best proven wrong, or at least premature. And it is easy to understand the criticism by other contemporary black leaders like W. E. B. DuBois for his easy optimism.

But on the other hand, until and unless I read otherwise in a well-researched biography, perhaps Washington's optimism isn't a front or a mask to cover deep bitterness, but is true and sincere, and indeed, nothing in his story hear reads as if forced or fraudulent.

I purchased this book at the small National Park bookstore at Booker T. Washington's birthplace in rural southwestern Virginia. The setting still matches the quiet and isolation that Washington describes, and lends credence to his tale of self-reliant optimism. I also purchased a National Park Service pamphlet Booker T. Washington: An Appreciation Of The Man And His Times, which makes a nice short companion to Washington's masterpiece.

Booker T. Washington never blames slavery for his problems. Instead he looks forward to the future, and works hard to create a school that helps
black people.
He has a positive attitude which attracts the help he needs to build his school. We can all learn from Booker T. Washington.
Very inspiring.
I loved this book.

Up from Slavery, autobiography by Booker T. Washington, is a true classic in African-American literature. Washington opens Chapter 1: "A Slave Among Slaves" with his vivid recollections as a Negro child growing up in the South: a slave on a plantation in Virginia, a white father he never knew, illiterate and living in horrid conditions. After the emancipation of slaves, Washington's family moves to West Virginia where he labors at the salt furnace and in the coal mines. In his precious few moments of spare time, he learns to read and gains enough confidence to leave everything behind to journey to the Hampton Institute. Later, because of his success at Hampton, he is given the opportunity to start Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Tuskegee Institute is successful partly due to Washington's extensive travel to the North to solicit funds for the school. The students at Tuskegee, in addition to the day-to-day traditional class work, are expected to learn an industrious trade and to work at mastering that trade. Based on his own life experience, Washington believes that the most prudent way the Negro race will persevere is through this combination of education, hard work and service to others. He believes that the White race will come to appreciate the Negro race only if the Negro people prove their worth to society. Because of his passive stance, many, such as W.E.B. DuBois, et. al., labeled Washington as "The Great Accomodator." In other words, accommodating those who were the enslavers instead of advocating for the rights of those who were enslaved. You can get a sense of this in Washington's most notable speech, the address to the Atlanta Cotton States and International Exposition of 1895:

"The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of severe and constant struggle rather than artificial forcing."

This speech brought national acclaim to Booker T. Washington and, at the time, placed him in the forefront as one of the leading authorities of his race.

Washington was born into slavery as a result of his mother having been raped by her master. This autobiography is a recounting of his struggle from slavery to freedom and on to getting an education and becoming a teacher and then an educational administrator as well as a "Black politician."

In American culture, this narrative is cast as the quintessential "raise yourself by your boot strap" kind of story. In fact when I was in the First Grade, I can remember my First grade teacher, Mrs. Pogue, singing the praises of "the Great Booker T. Washington."

And while there is a great deal to admire about Mr. Washington, there is also a side that only came to light after hearing the other side of his story. Washington was called an "accommodationist," "or "the great compromiser," which in the context of the times were euphemisms for being an "Uncle Tom," or the HNIC. He was good at maneuvering his way around in a racist white culture thinking that he was doing his people a great deal of good when in fact he was being taken advantage of, or when he was in fact consciously "selling his people out." By making a "virtue, out of personal necessity," Washington always had a good justification for his action and eventually became the prototype of this kind of black politician. Many Black preachers still use the Washington template for handling cross-racial situations. Plus how else were blacks to negotiate the difficult racist political terrain of those difficult times?

In the book, for instance, he eschews and discourages blacks from seeking a liberal arts education and from attending college, as being frivolous. He argued for the more practical area of the "manual arts," and "the trades." While this may have been useful -- even good advice -- in the context of the times, there were others of his contemporaries, such as WEB Dubois, who saw Washington's approach as strictly a formulaic kind of Uncle Tomism. And the embarrassing treatment of him at the 1905 World's Fair, kind of sealed this image of him as a Black Uncle Tom by blacks and a "stooge" by whites.

While the book is a good read, in retrospect, it shows Washington to have been very naïve politically, and too trusting of "the white man," who it seems never quite saw the world as he did and neither had Washington's, nor the black race's best interests in mind. Maybe it is a bit harsh to judge his action after the fact, but all other black leaders are judged by the same criteria and they come out unblemished, while Washington's accommodationist methods do not seem to have held up well over time nor have they bore any fruit.

Three Stars