So, yesterday was the official kick-off of the Keep Portland Weird festival here in Paris, which meant that I had a reading/screening in the...
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This book reminded me that I could take "celebrity" writing more seriously than I have in the past. Smith's writing glows in the dark. I laughed, I cried. Mostly I felt what she felt and that, for me, is why I love to read well written books.
This book is Eat, Pray, Love on steroids. Like Gilbert, Rita Gelman is catapulted into the life of a world traveler by a marriage gone wrong. She also falls in love, after eating amazing foods around the world and tasting some wild and woolly (trance dancing anyone?)spiritual experiences. But there, the sameness stops. Instead of one man, Gelman falls in love with the world and all its people as she makes her way through eight countries in addition to the United States: Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Israel, Galapagos Islands, Indonesia, New Zealand and Thailand. In each place she lives with local families -all strangers at first- sometimes for weeks, sometimes for years. Toward the end of her book the author reflects on why her adventures, some wonderfully joyful, some harrowing, are so juicy. Gelman's response: she trusts people. In a time where trusting someone else feels like an act of courage, I salute this author's gumption, curiosity and ability to pull her readers right into the middle of whatever it is she is experiencing.
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This is the best spiritual book I've read in maybe forever (which is saying a lot since I write them myself!). I picked it up last week because I wanted to know what all the fuss was about and Roth is way more than advertised. She describes the process of waking up in sly today terms, without having at it directly. And then does a terrific job of describing what it feels like to be awake without actually saying that is what she is talking about. It doesn't hurt that she is hilarious, irreverent and blunt. I bow in gratitude to her effort and for the lives she is saving through her work.
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Larkin has commented on (3) products.
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Larkin, January 1, 2012
This book reminded me that I could take "celebrity" writing more seriously than I have in the past. Smith's writing glows in the dark. I laughed, I cried. Mostly I felt what she felt and that, for me, is why I love to read well written books.Tales of a Female Nomad: Living at Large in the World by Rita Golden Gelman
Larkin, May 3, 2011
This book is Eat, Pray, Love on steroids. Like Gilbert, Rita Gelman is catapulted into the life of a world traveler by a marriage gone wrong. She also falls in love, after eating amazing foods around the world and tasting some wild and woolly (trance dancing anyone?)spiritual experiences. But there, the sameness stops. Instead of one man, Gelman falls in love with the world and all its people as she makes her way through eight countries in addition to the United States: Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Israel, Galapagos Islands, Indonesia, New Zealand and Thailand. In each place she lives with local families -all strangers at first- sometimes for weeks, sometimes for years. Toward the end of her book the author reflects on why her adventures, some wonderfully joyful, some harrowing, are so juicy. Gelman's response: she trusts people. In a time where trusting someone else feels like an act of courage, I salute this author's gumption, curiosity and ability to pull her readers right into the middle of whatever it is she is experiencing.(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
Women, Food, and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything by Geneen Roth
Larkin, February 19, 2011
This is the best spiritual book I've read in maybe forever (which is saying a lot since I write them myself!). I picked it up last week because I wanted to know what all the fuss was about and Roth is way more than advertised. She describes the process of waking up in sly today terms, without having at it directly. And then does a terrific job of describing what it feels like to be awake without actually saying that is what she is talking about. It doesn't hurt that she is hilarious, irreverent and blunt. I bow in gratitude to her effort and for the lives she is saving through her work.(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)