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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
Anne Wingate has commented on (4) products
Black Jaguar, Green Jade
by
MS Sylvia Andrews
Anne Wingate
, September 25, 2012
Black Jaguar, Green Jade By Sylvia Andrews Published by Sylvan Arts Press ISBN 9781463755546r This book was supplied to me by the publisher after my request via Review the Book in return for the promise of a fair and honest review. Black Jaguar, Green Jade is that heartbreaking thing, a book that is almost good. It has extremely good factors in it: strong and believable characters including, in several cases such as the heroine Maya MacLeod, psi abilities of great power and versatility; a believable plot with all too believable subplots that avoid clichés that often disfigure such stories; and incredibly realistic atmosphere, complete with photographs and drawings scattered all through the book. Most of the dialog and narrative is believable. Things that might be difficult to understand are footnoted, neatly and succinctly. Set against all that is a careless final proofreading which left incorrect punctuation and at times maddeningly incorrect words in place. And those things yank the reader out of the story and back into reality. They murder the atmosphere and they do away with the willing suspension of disbelief that is essential to make fiction work. I got stuck in the middle of the review, because I was so disappointed and so depressed for the writer’s sake, because she had worked so hard and done such good work, only to allow it to be ruined by minor errors that could and should have been corrected. I have taught writing in four universities in two states. I rejoice when I see someone turn into a writer. I remember one student in a correspondence school for which I also taught. When she began the first course she took from me, I thought, “How sad, she has such good ideas and she’s never going to be able to write the book.” But she persevered. She took a grammar course; she took an advanced fiction writing course; and by the time she finished the last course she took from me, I was thinking she had a possible National Book Award on her hands. I felt I could have hung the moon, I was so happy for her. It breaks my heart to see someone start out with all the advantages that student didn’t have, and then lose it over petty things that anybody could fix. That’s what happened to Black Jaguar, Green Jade. I enjoyed all the good things about the book. But I would love to see the author yank the book back and fix the bad things. Then she would have a real winner. Anne Wingate, author of Scene of the Crime as well as many other works of fiction and nonfiction
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Dancing with Autism: Choosing Joy Over Fear
by
Kristi Lyn Stewart
Anne Wingate
, September 24, 2012
Review the Book - Reviews Sept 2012 Dancing with Autism: Choosing Joy Over Fear By Kristi Lyn Stewart Published by Acacia Publishing ISBN 9781935089193 This book was supplied to me by the publisher on condition that I publish an honest review. When I read the title, my gut reaction was, in the vernacular, "There ain't no way." I am autistic. My father, his mother, my mother's grand-uncle, my mother's sister's son, and my son all are autistic. There are degrees of autism; I have been able to live a fairly full life, including getting a Ph.D. and publishing numerous books, whereas my uncle Henry had to be institutionalized--the only one in the family who has been that bad off. But all of us have been afflicted with the autistic curse of poor interpersonal relationships and with various other problems that grew up around the autism, including major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other things such as, in at least one case, schizophrenia. My husband's grandson has Smith-Maginnis Syndrome, which is a totally different problem, but it has many of the same loads of baggage as autism. I saw no reason at all to view autism with joy. But I was sufficiently curious to ask to review the book. I cannot honestly say that Stewart convinced me that I should be glad there is so much autism in the family, but that wasn't her goal. Her goal was to educate people about autism at least to the extent that they would not despair if a diagnosis of autism was made. There are some good points about autism. A person with autism is often more able to concentrate for long periods of time on something most people would find boring. I am convinced that I was a better fingerprint examiner than I would have been if I had not had autism. Many autistic people have been gifted musicians, inventors, and other professions that require intense ability to concentrate. With the exception of the very most seriously afflicted victims, most people with autism do improve slowly. The type of autism that used to be called Asperger's tends to partly go away in late childhood and return in late middle age, so the most productive part of most people's life is free from most of the complications, except that interpersonal relationships are always iffy. It is legitimate to be pleased when your child makes a step forward, just as anybody else is, even if your child's step forward is much later than other children's. If your son is potty-trained at the age of ten, let your friends know about it, and let them see that you are delighted and excited about it. Then they know to rejoice with you. If you are aware that your child is likely to have problems with interpersonal relationships, you can work to train him or her to know what to say and do in various situations. It may be training, as you would train a dog, rather than teaching, but what difference does that make if it works? You may be very embarrassed when your child acts in a way suitable for a child ten years younger, but try not to feel that people are judging you and thinking that you are a bad parent. The days when "bad parenting" was considered the cause of autism are long gone, and if you meet someone who still thinks that, feel free to educate him or her, preferably without antagonism and if possible, with a smile. Make it clear that you do love your child, difficult though the child may be at times, and don't be intimidated. When your child rocks back and forth, bites his arm, bangs his head, and flaps his hands and sometimes his feet, it's hard not to be embarrassed. I started flapping out of sheer stress at the head table at my stepson's wedding breakfast, but bless their hearts, no one in the family acted embarrassed, and I managed to sit on my hands when I realized what I was doing. When someone in my stepson's mother's family said something I couldn't hear, my stepson's mother's answer was short and to the point, and her point was that it was something I couldn't help, and was to be ignored. She is a rare individual. But the author of this book would like to see more people able to deal with autism that way. There is no known cure. Some things have helped some people, but there is nothing that helps every person. There are no pills to take; behavioral therapy is often prohibitively expensive and not covered by medical insurance. More education could solve some of these problems. There probably never will be a pill that will stop autistic thoughts and behavior, but insurance companies should treat autism as they would any other genetic disorder, because the evidence is strong that that is exactly what it is. Parents should be able to get help for their children under normal insurance plans, before such problems as depression grow up around the autism, as very often happens when the child realizes that he or she is "different." The child is never going to be completely normal. It just won't happen, not if the diagnosis of autism is correct. But he is likely to get better. Most children with the Asperger's branch of autism are able to marry, have families, and have careers; I did. Lower-functioning children are usually able to live in group homes and support themselves with Social Security and minor jobs that they can do. There will be ups and downs; some days the child may appear better, and other days the child may appear worse. It is likely that neither is going to be the case permanently. Autistic children have ups and downs just as other children do, and autistic adult shave ups and downs just as other adults do. But the overall movement, if there is one, is likely to be in the upward direction. If you question this, remind yourself of one thing: this review was written by a 69-year-old woman with autism and a Ph.D. Anne Wingate Author of Scene of the Crime and other works of fiction and nonfiction
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Strategies: A Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Journey
by
Tami Brady
Anne Wingate
, August 04, 2012
Tami Brady was a winner: She was one of the few graduate archaeologists able to work in the field of archaeology rather than drive a taxi or flip burgers. She succeeded in everything she tried to do. Tami Brady was a loser. She was a perfectionist; her best wasn't good enough. She was in constant pain and exhaustion from chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. Finally she managed to put the two sides of herself together and figure out to what extent her winning abilities caused, or at least triggered, her losing qualities. She was able to determine what she could do to get rid of the perfectionism and to ease the suffering of her ailments. Not content with solving her own problems, she put together this book, which first details her wins and losses so that the readers may join her in figuring out the causes/triggers of their ailments, and see which of her solutions can help them. She goes on to create a chart of what to do if such-and-such a problem or such-and-such a disease trigger occurs, and then continues to create a workbook whereby the reader can determine his or her own triggers and figure out what helps them to heal as quickly as possible. As a long-time sufferer of these two ailments--I am presently writing with a severe backache, and can't take any more meds until four hours from now--I can assure you that I will be trying out her suggestions. I already know that some of them work, and I expect that others also will help me. I recommend this book to anyone fighting chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia, and particularly to those unfortunates who are combating both at once. And having said that, I am going to follow Tami's advice and make myself horizontal for a while.
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Field Guide to Earthlings An Autistic Asperger View of Neurotypical Behavior
by
Ian Ford
Anne Wingate
, August 04, 2012
A Field Guide to Earthlings: An Autistic/Asperger View of Neurotypical Behavior By Ian Ford Published by Ian Ford Software Corporation ISBN9780615426198 Given to me by publisher through arrangement with ReviewtheBook I am almost 69 years old, and I was not diagnosed as autistic until I was in my fifties. That diagnosis was the most liberating experience of my life; within two weeks I could no longer even remember things I had been kicking myself for since I was as young as four. Despite the neurotypical mental picture of an autistic child wearing a football helmet and screaming, I have a PhD in English, am a world class fingerprint examiner, have published 23 books through major publishers, and have written, edited, and published many more as ebooks. I am a self-starter and I can define my work and do it. But my interpersonal relationships are and always have been disastrous. My husband and I often find ourselves quarreling because each of us thinks he or she was perfectly clear and the other is willfully misunderstanding. Ford explains why. There are shared experiences and assumptions in the neurotypical world that the autistic person, no matter where he or she is on the autism spectrum, cannot understand. Often the “autie”�"Ford’s phrase for a person with autism�"is unable to express things in a way that neurotypical (normal) person can understand. Ford identifies several differences between the autistic brain and the neurotypical brain. Some of these are (1) An infant’s brain has no screening mechanism. It accepts all input at the same time. In self-defense, the neurotypical brain develops screening techniques that allow only selected outside stimuli to get through. The autistic brain typically does not develop the screening mechanisms; instead, it learns to cope with a stream of competing input that would drive a neurotypical person mad. (2) The adult neurotypical brain’s perception is limited to what it already “knows.” It develops a blind spot so that things that do not fit into its perceived universe are literally not seen or heard. The autistic brain readily takes in new stimuli and new thoughts. (3) The neurotypical brain constantly converses in thoughts that underlie the words and are “understood” by the people conversing. The autistic brain does not understand the underlying conversation and tries to take part in what appears to be the topic under discussion. This is seen as taking part in the underlying conversation, and the autie is understood to mean things s/he does not and cannot mean. (4) The neurotypical person constantly strives for dominance. The autie does not comprehend dominance nor does s/he comprehend what is going on. (5) Sexual discussion is often carried on in code. The autie does not understand the code and is often perceived as making, or accepting, sexual advances which s/he does not comprehend. This may lead to what the neurotypical person believes is consentual sex and the autie perceives as forced sex. (6) The neurotypical person belongs to one or more formal or informal groups, the values of which it internalizes. The autie is incapable of internalizing the values of anyone but himself/herself. Although it appears that a neurotypical person and an autie are having a normal conversation, in fact communication is failing because there are levels in the autie’s discourse that the neurotypical cannot comprehend and vice versa. Quoting from p. 199: “If you have ever heard a political speech that seemed completely free of content, you are familiar with extremely associative people. Extreme associatives live in a socially constructed world and can use words for hours at a time, talk about words . . . and never ‘say anything’(from our [i.e., the auties’] point of view). They can talk about alliances, desert and other relational emotions, but might not say anything that counts as information to an autistic listener.” To a lesser extent, the same thing happens in what neurotypical people consider a normal conversation. When people ask how autistic a person is, answering is difficult. “We all take what we are and develop different compensations to interface with the world. It is the compensating strengths that others use to judge “how autistic are you,” not the fundamental traits. . . . [D]on’t trust what someone looks like as a measure of their autism . . . Our thoughts appear … less encumbered by emotions, and we intuitively know that language is an invention. We cannot lie as easily” (pp. 200-201). We also cannot spot lies as easily.
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