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Camille's review

Living My Life (Penguin Classics)
by Emma Goldman

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51695.Living_My_Life?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Living My Life (Penguin Classics)" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170382052m/51695.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51695.Living_My_Life?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Living My Life</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15591.Emma_Goldman">Emma Goldman</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2740533?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>I graduated from high school pretty sure that I would have to be the first interesting woman who lived, ever.  This may sound like a searing indictment of my history professor, but he was actually a great teacher.  Its just that I wasn't inspired by Dolley Madison (though she did make Leesburg the capital of the United States for three days), Helen Keller (after 3rd grade, that is), or Pocahontas.  (Eleanor Roosevelt was pretty cool, but it seemed she achieved as much as she did because she MARRIED a man who became president.)
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<br/>When I was 23 I was introduced to Emma Goldman & read "Living my Life."  There is much criticism on how Goldman exaggerated things in her autobiography, told flat out lies, etc.  But who cares!  That this is how she thought of herself, how she wanted the world to think of her-- that's awesome!  The Goldman of "Living My Life" says what she wants to say, loves who she wants to love.  She tries to change the world, does EVERYTHING with intense passion, & allows her views to change as she grows. Plus, she helps her boyfriend try to kill a robber baron (boo, hiss), runs an ice cream parlor in Worcester, becomes a nurse while in jail (now that's making good use of your time), has her own magazine, & gets deported, amongst other highlights.  She not only had an amazing life (even without the embellishments), but she had an intensity of feeling and thought that speaks to me.  While my goals are different than hers, here is an interesting woman to inspire.
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<br/>As I've grown older I continue to learn about other great women (Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alva Vanderbelt, & Elizabeth Peabody, just to name three I've been reading about recently) so I now know I won't have to be the first interesting woman.  But this book got me started searching for those interesting women and opened my eyes to their presence everywhere, even within my own family.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/172931?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Camille's review
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I graduated from high school pretty sure that I would have to be the first interesting woman who lived, ever. This may sound like a searing indictment of my history professor, but he was actually a great teacher. Its just that I wasn't inspired by Dolley Madison (though she did make Leesburg the capital of the United States for three days), Helen Keller (after 3rd grade, that is), or Pocahontas. (Eleanor Roosevelt was pretty cool, but it seemed she achieved as much as she did because she MARRIED a man who became president.)

When I was 23 I was introduced to Emma Goldman & read "Living my Life." There is much criticism on how Goldman exaggerated things in her autobiography, told flat out lies, etc. But who cares! That this is how she thought of herself, how she wanted the world to think of her-- that's awesome! The Goldman of "Living My Life" says what she wants to say, loves who she wants to love. She tries to change the world, does EVERYTHING with in...more

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message 1: by Rachel

07/11/2007 04:26PM

I definitely want to check out this book. I find myself roaming the shelves of the biorography and autobiography section of the book store (yes, i know, go to the library) to look for ones on interesting women. Any help I can get is great...I don't want to read the book by Paris Hilton.