so good. very balanced and nuanced portrait of anne sexton, who is a bit of a conudrum herself. unflinchingly honest and excellent writing. she is my...moreso good. very balanced and nuanced portrait of anne sexton, who is a bit of a conudrum herself. unflinchingly honest and excellent writing. she is my favorite confessional poet, and this is one of my favorite biographies in general. (less)
it definitely paints catherine in a positive and flattering light, but she's a pretty awesome historical figure and...morethis was a surprisingly easy read.
it definitely paints catherine in a positive and flattering light, but she's a pretty awesome historical figure and covers an incredibly large period of time. what she managed to do was pretty incredible, especially as a woman (though elizabeth and maria theresa were also out there) but still. a huge empire.
i am a slight bit suspicious since it seems like he relies on translations of the russian, but since french was catherine's language of choice, it doesn't seem to have hindered the research too much.
excellently researched. easy to read for a more academic text. love the notes and footnotes and how every corner is explored.
mildred is a fascinating...moreexcellently researched. easy to read for a more academic text. love the notes and footnotes and how every corner is explored.
mildred is a fascinating person, as is her husband, and if you want to know why she wasn't honored as a hero in america, let's be honest - it's because she was working with the soviets. don't forget how long the cold war lasted.
i would love to spend time in the KGB/KKVD archives. if only i read russian . . . but if books like this are the result of opening files and archives, i eagerly await the next big reveal . . . (less)
i admit i first picked up the book because of my own experience with the vick dogs - mostly miss ginger, who once ate a whole pack of trader joe's tur...morei admit i first picked up the book because of my own experience with the vick dogs - mostly miss ginger, who once ate a whole pack of trader joe's turkey bacon when her mom wasn't looking. ;) i wanted to see what the author said about ginger, red, and stella, and how we kind of got involved to begin with.
i really enjoyed the author's perspective on vick himself - how he wasn't sure what was right, or what was wrong, or what the outcome should have been. but 40+ dogs had been saved and set a new precedent for how to treat dogs as victims of dog fighting, not necessarily having to be euthanized on the spot. the fact that he called out HSUS and PETA for being pre-euthanasia throughout this whole thing was especially interesting to me, not only because ginger is one of the sweetest give-me-peanut-butter-and-i'll-do-anything dogs ever, but because to me, breed specific legislation is so hard to comprehend under the umbrellas of those organizations.
it reads like good journalism, with a touch of sentimentality, but i think that makes sense. these are dogs, after all. man's best friend. and of course there is anthropomorphizing of the dogs, especially little red, but it does make the story better. sweet jasmine's story made me almost cry, and i'm not one to get super emotional about dogs (then again, my own dog suckered me at the shelter into taking her home . . .)
however, it the book on a whole feels balanced. it's not about michael vick, it's not about the rescuers, and in the end it's not just about the dogs. it's about this whole moment in time, and it ends up being a searing portrait of our society and our values, wrapped up in a feel good story about dogs.
Loading...
