Cut
by Patricia Mccormick
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 February, 2002)
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Editorial Review

Burdened with the pressure of believing she is responsible for herbrother's illness, 15-year-old Callie begins a course of self-destruction thatleads to her being admitted to Sea Pines, a psychiatric hospital the "guests"refer to as Sick Minds. Although initially she refuses to speak, her individualand group therapy sessions trigger memories and insights. Slowly, she beginsemerging from her miserable silence, ultimately understanding the role herdysfunctional family played in her brother's health crisis.

Patricia McCormick's first novel is authentic and deeply moving. Callie suffersfrom a less familiar teen problem--she cuts herself to relieve her innerfrustrations and guilt. The hope and hard-won progress that comes at theconclusion of the novel is believable and heartening for any teen reader whofeels alone in her (or his) angst. Along with Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak and E.L. Konigsburg'sSilent to the Bone,McCormick's Cut expertly tackles an unusual response to harrowingadolescent trouble. (Ages 14 and older) --Emilie Coulter ... Read more

Reviews (238)

Editorial Review
This book is probably mainly for younger grammar students that (11-16) because 15 year old Callie can't find the way to deal with her problems. She lives with her mom, dad, and younger brother, Sam. Her dad was always out "working," her mom was always keeping up with Sam and because he has asthma. She feels like she doesn't get any attention and the leading cause of Sam being sick may be her fault. While her and Sam was at home along, he had an asthma attack and she feels like it is all her fault, so the way she gets over this is to cut herself. She gets sent to Sea Pines a.k.a Sick Minds and while she is there she stays a mute until she cuts herself so deep that she has to get help with the center. After she sees someone cares about her, she gives in. she then goes to her therapist to unleash all everything that was stored in her and makes an even bigger break through when she begins to talk in group therapy. There is still something missing so she runs away from Sea Pines and spends the day with her dad, only to figure out that she wants to go back to get better.
I chose this book because one the cover was interesting and I wanted to see what was inside and then I looked on the back and saw that this book really could be interesting. I think that through every girls life they find there flaws and work them out one way or another but all I say is truly to handle them the right way. If I could change anything, I would say that Callie had a much bigger issue then the issue with her parents because 15 year olds don't really care what their parents do. Teenager girls that have issues with themselves really should read this book.

Stacey's Reveiw
Ages 15 and up. In the book Cut:By, Patricia McCormick Callie is put into a Residential Treatment Facility center, because she cuts herself, and Callie doesnt speak to anyone until she cant keep quiet anymore. She is very depressed and feels alone. Her mother is always taking care of Sam,her younger brother, and her dad is always working. So Callie takes care of herself. But Callie starts to realize that letting out her feelings gets a lot off her mind. The theme in this book is to have responsibility towards yourself; love yourself for who you are, not what other people think of you. The book will change you as a person because it makes you realize how beautiful life is and there are more positives then negatives in life. I recommend this book because it gets deep down into feelings, and it will help a person see a whole new light infront of them.

Ashley's Review
Ages 12 and up. While reading "Cut" by Patricia McCormick, I was hypnotized by the intriguing story of a young teenager named Callie. As the story starts off, she is telling us about how she has been placed into a clinic for people with unhealthy addictions. As you can probably guess by noticing the title of the book, Callie cuts her wrists. Along with Tara, Tiffany, Debbie, Sydney, Amanda, and Becca, Callie is struggling through a journey of trying to find help. Some of the other girls have already bonded when Callie gets there and she has a problem with communicating. She has to deal with going to therapy and trying to make the girls accfept her. Callie has problems at home also, and that has a big part in dealing with her cutting herself. This is an amazing book to read. It makes you realize that when you have your own little problems to deal with, a lot of other people have it worse.

I suggest that everyone reads this book, it's a real page turner and it leaves you wanting to find out more. Patricia McCormick did a wonbderful job for this being her first novel, I loved her style of writing, she put the reader in a totally different point of view. I loved it!! ... Read more

Isbn: 0439324599
Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Emotional problems    4. Fiction    5. Juvenile Fiction    6. Psychiatric hospitals    7. Self-mutilation    8. Social Situations - General    9. Juvenile Fiction / General   

Cutting: Understanding and Overcoming Self-Mutilation
by Steven Levenkron
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 May, 1999)
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Reviews (59)

Cutter for 14 years
I am a SI and have been for over 14 years now.I found this book to be very helpful.ANd I also found it to be a good book for my treatment team to read.No one on my treatment team has dealt with a SI and I gave them this book to read and it has helped them out a lot to understand where I am coming from and why I do what I do.

Male Cutter
What I found helpful about this book was the way Levinkron described how a patient should get help. It never occured to me that I should ask if a therapist/counselor/psychiatrist has had experience with self-mutilation or the importance of their medical knowledge and ability to treat a wound. Also helpful was his approach to how the cutter should heal. Levinkron understands that it is unrealistic to ask a cutter to stop cold turkey. Yet, I have never had a shrink who didn't ask me to. After reading Levinkron's book, I think I have a better understanding of how a cutter heals, and the importance of finding a good therapist/psychiatrist who can do that for me.

However, what disturbed me most about this book was the focus on female cutters. While I am well aware that statistics show most self-mutilators are female, I couldn't help feeling a little more lonely and isolated reading this book. It's really kind of a catch 22: Statistics show that most cutters are girls, so most therapists/writers don't worry so much about the guys. But many men won't come forward with their disorder, thus changing the statistics, because they don't feel there is an understanding of male cutters. I think this is an important issue, and that if somebody took the time to address it, many more males would be coming forth and getting help with their disorder.

That said, Cutting does have two (I believe) incidents of male cutters. But their stories are not developed and their scenarios are, at best, stereotypical and shovanist.

If anyone knows of any literature or anything else that addresses the male cutter, I would love to know about it. Thanks.

Arrogance and Vagueness
I disagree with previous reviewers who took exception to Levenkron's alliteration that all cutters come from dysfunctional families.I feel that these reviewers are in denial about themselves and their family structures.Frankly, I don't think there's such a thing as a perfectly functional family, and extremely subtle family dysfunction combined with a sensitive child and hereditary or chemical imbalances can produce a severely disturbed person.Many of Levenkron's examples involved very subtle dysfunction, as in a father that was overly respectful of the church and thus his daughter didn't tell him when a minister raped her.The dysfunction may be slight.But a perfect family doesn't produce ill children.Cutting doesn't appear out of nowhere, and recovery can't be achieved without focusing on the root.
I got a couple of scraps of good information out of this book, like the motivations for the behavior, but aside from that I found it immensely irritating on several fronts:

1. Levonkron makes lots of references to how cutters are viewed as being sick or wacko or repugnant, engendering fear, anger, and revulsion in "normal" people.It never really occured to me before reading his book that anybody would see these actions as being anything other than sad.I'd never seen anybody react to discussion of this disorder with anything other than concern and compassion.Over the course of his constant references to how nauseating cutting is I actually ended up feeling like he had convinced me that I SHOULD view cutting as revolting.A cutter reading this book would no doubt feel that they are viewed as a freak of nature by outsiders and feel even less inclined to disclose to anybody about their illness.

2.Oh geez, the arrogance!I find it hard to believe that every patient experience he was recounting really involved some teenage girl saying "How could you know this about me?Nobody knows this about me!" and then weeping in relief at his incredible insightfulness.Half the time these patients ended up expounding on how he was so much better than the previous shrinks or otherwise complimenting his prowess.There were even a couple of accounts where women took their clothes off to try to seduce him.I'm not calling him a liar, I'm just saying his memory might be colored by his own gradiose opinion of himself.

3.The tinge of sexism.Many times when he was referring to the therapist/patient relationship he made the assumption that the patient was female and the therapist was male.I could not help thinking of Freud, of the patriarchal and patronizing male therapist reining in the hysterical feminine tendencies of a frazzled female patient.It was a subtle thing, but I'm not the only reader who caught it.

4.The guide to recovery went nowhere and was very vague, leaving me with the assumption that he's not quite sure how he gets his patients to recovery.Indeed, several times he talked about particular patients as being essentially hopeless.The cure, he said, was a trusting connection with the therapist, who was to take on a parenting role and who was also supposed to be extremely overconfident.This is apparently the ONLY way out, and friends/family members are only supposed to take a secondary role.There's a couple of problems with this, namely that therapists are human and frequently mess up, and often mess up very, very badly.Many cutters have been through several therapists that have thoroughly bombed (I've known countless therapists who have said and done unbelievably stupid or cruel things in therapy and who were no more educated than any layman.)If the cutter's only profound connection is the one with the therapist, then it leaves her little recourse if the therapist blows it.
5.He didn't deal with gender issues.Is it a coincidence that this is primarily a female affliction?I think the fact that women are expected to be less aggressive and be nurturers causes them to circumvent their feelings of anger or frustration inward instead of outward, so women are more inclined to hurt themselves than others.For example, a boy beaten by his drunk father will likely grow up and beat his children (thus turning his anger outward), whereas a girl beaten by her drunk father will grow up into a meek woman with self-destructive habits, or marry a man who will likewise beat her (thus turning her anger inward).There's no examination of such factors when applied to cutting.

Basically, this is a long-winded way of saying, "Don't buy the book." ... Read more

Isbn: 0393319385
Sales Rank: 12104
Subjects:  1. Abuse - Physical    2. General    3. Mental illness    4. Popular works    5. Recovery    6. Self-Help    7. Self-mutilation    8. Abnormal psychology    9. Neurology & clinical neurophysiology   

Crosses
by Shelley Stoehr
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 April, 2003)
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Reviews (49)

this is not a book about self-injury
I thought this book was terrible, an endless stream of one misdeed after another perpetrated by characters I could have cared less about.

The Point of View character, Nancy, tries several times to shape up, though her efforts are half-hearted at best. Just five pages from the end of the book she's as bad off as she ever was, even though she tells herself "Even after screwing up at Amy's party, I knew I would be okay in the long run." (150) I would have wanted to see about 80% less screwing around and 100% more insight and introspection.

I think the author was trying mask a rather "been-there, done-that" kind of book under the sensationalism and newness that was cutting in the early 1990s-when this book came out. It was her first novel-she wrote it while still in college-and her immaturity as a writer shows.
My biggest problem with this book is that when you look at it in the context of a critical review of the issue-cutting-you quickly realize that the cutting added nothing to the book. The book would have been just the same without any reference to cutting at all.

For the life of me I can't figure out why it won a Delacorte honor citation for Best First Young Adult Novel. But many reviewers praised the book when it came out, and readers still praise it today.

As one of the other readers on amazon.com said, if you spend the whole time being disgusted with their behavior, you will not like this book.

Crosses by Shelley Stoehr
I didn't really like it because the principle character got on my nerves by the way she talked and the way she acted.The book had a sad end, and I don't like those books, so personally I didn't liked.However, I have to say that the book had a good perspective on the crude life of a teenager.The way that the teenagers talked was so real. They used slang like we do and acted like we do.

Not a Kid but Dont have an account yet
I notice some of the reviews on the first page are saying how alot of ppl use drugs and that she aggagerated.First of all is was written in 1991 and based in the midst of the 80s.Cutting and alchohol and drug addiction just started.I absouletly loved this book.It was well written and very well planned out.It showed the completely depressing cycle of those addictions. ... Read more

Isbn: 0595269524
Sales Rank: 38078
Subjects:  1. Self-mutilation    2. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    3. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12)    4. Juvenile Fiction    5. Social Situations - Adolescence    6. Social Situations - Emotions & Feelings    7. Alcoholism    8. Drug abuse    9. Social Situations - Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance   

Skin Game
by Caroline Kettlewell
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (01 July, 1999)
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Editorial Review

A number of recent books by journalists and therapists have probed the social and psychological forces behind the alarming practice of self-mutilation; this unflinching memoir tells readers what it feels like. Caroline Kettlewell made her first attempt at age 12 with a Swiss Army knife, too dull to perform satisfactorily, but she quickly graduated to razor blades. "There was a very fine, an elegant pain," she writes of her initiation. "In the razor's wake, the skin melted away ... then the blood welled up ... the chaos in my head spun itself into a silk of silence." Describing her tense but not unusually difficult youth, the author doesn't spend a lot of time trying to figure out why she was so unhappy, concentrating instead on making palpable her sense of dread and terror of being out of control, emotions relieved by the act of cutting. Some readers may wish for more self-analysis, but others will find Kettlewell's austere prose and sensibility refreshing. "I kept cutting because it worked. When I cut I felt better, " she explains. "I stopped cutting because I always could have stopped cutting." Not the fanciest way to put it, but those sentences, like the entire book, have the cadences of "the plain and inelegant truth." --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Reviews (45)

Misses the mark
As a former cutter, I've been researching books that address the topic, fiction and nonfiction. The main character in "Skin Game" cuts, yes, but it is only a part of a much larger fractured self, and only one of her self-destructive behaviors.

I have no problem with the "big words" she uses to describe her cutting -- often it is very intelligent girls who resort to SI (they are book smart, but emotionally underdeveloped).

Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone seeking to understand why someone self-injures. It has a few gems of wisdom about cutting, but there is too much to wade through in order to find them.

And frankly, I disagree with her final assessment that cutting was her choice all along, and she could have stopped at any time. This belittles the powerful emotions that drive a person to cut in the first place, when cutting becomes the only way to release emotions too strong to articulate. The main character herself describes this. Until they can find safe ways to address those emotions and alternative methods to express them, cutting is like an addiction because it temporarily relieves the inner maelstrom. It is literally a survival mechanism. Speaking from experience, even if the cutting recedes on its own, it will crop up again under high stress or emotional trauma until better coping skills are learned.

To understand SI, choose one of the many fine nonfiction books out there like "Cutting" or "Bodily Harm." "Skin Game" would serve a better purpose in a writing class.

See also the Editorial review from "Publisher's Weekly" (I think Amazon includes it above).

Getting to know the Cutter
My sister is a cutter and when I first found out early last year, I immediately got onto the internet to search for answers. This book reads beautifully and has helped me understand some of the feelings that my sister may have and the reasons she has chosen to do, what she does. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in knowing how cutters actually feel.

my fav memoir
i've never experienced some of things kettlewell talks about,but i can relate to the emotional and physical outcome perfectly.no,she didn't go through any seemingly tragic times,no,there was nothing extraordinary about her family,and yet she was depressed,she had an eating disorder,and she self-injured.so,one might ask why did she do it?how did she stop?this books leaves you with,really,none of those answers.to some this might be the thing that makes them hate this book.but,i think it allows people to see that you don't have to have some great epiphany before you can stop destructive actions.
... Read more

Isbn: 0312200110
Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Kettlewell, Caroline    5. Mental illness    6. Patients    7. Psychology    8. Psychoneuroses    9. Psychopathology - Compulsive Behavior    10. Psychopathology - General    11. Self-mutilation    12. Specific Groups - Special Needs    13. Virginia    14. Women    15. Psychology & Psychiatry / Compulsive Behavior   

The Bell Jar (Perennial Classic)
by Sylvia Plath
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 December, 1999)
list price: $13.95 -- our price: $11.16
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Editorial Review

Plath was an excellent poet but is known to many for this largely autobiographical novel. The Bell Jar tells the story of a gifted young woman's mental breakdown beginning during a summer internship as a junior editor at a magazine in New York City in the early 1950s. The real Plath committed suicide in 1963 and left behind this scathingly sad, honest and perfectly-written book, which remains one of the best-told tales of a woman's descent into insanity. ... Read more

Reviews (389)

Bell Jar
Reading the Bell Jar I got pulled into Esters world. Sylvia Plath pulls you into the world of a young woman and her slip into depression. In the first couple pages she speaks about seeing a cadaver for the first time, and that is just enough totweek your intrest. The way she speaks about some things can make you either bond with her or think she is compleatly insane.When I read this book i couldnt put it down and once i finished it stayed in my brain for days. This is possibly one of my favorite books that I've read in a long time and would highly recommend reading it.

Review of Bell Jar
I personally think that it is an okay book if a reader wants to read about how womans were like in 1950s and about mental diseases. It was interesting story about Esther trying to be healthy(in mental means) again after attempts to suiside. This gives readers, especially people who have depression, hope to readers that `This is not the end, so don't give away your life so easily.'

Also the title of "Bell Jar" which is compared to Esthers mind that was closed and not letting the hope to come in and keeping the despair among herself.

Eventhought you think that you will not have any mental diseases like depression, after you read the book, you wouldn't feel safe that a person like Esther was also having depression that she tries to end her life. This is a story of a person's life over one's life. I would recommend others to read it since there was no book like this in the world.

An addictive spiral out of control
Wheh..this was very good. It was so interesting watching Esther slowly spiral into a place she couldn't escape. I can see why this novel caused such a stir, back in the day. I can imagine that there are still some pretty oppressive schools that would FREAK if a teacher were to assign this novel...although I think it would make great high school reading. Some of Esther's stifling obstacles are not quite as true in today's world, but most are and/or have been replaced by others. ... Read more

Isbn: 0060930187
Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. Literary    5. Plath, Sylvia, 1932-1963    6. Reading Group Guide   

Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America : A Memoir
by Elizabeth Wurtzel Riverhead Books
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 September, 1997)
list price: $14.00 -- our price: $11.20
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Editorial Review

Elizabeth Wurtzel writes with her finger in the faint pulse of a generation whose ruling icons are Kurt Cobain, Xanax, and piercedtongues.A memoir of her bouts with depression and skirmishes with drugs, Prozac Nation still manages to be a witty and sharp account of the psychopharmacology of an era. ... Read more

Reviews (288)

Prozac Nation
I recently reviewed "Prozac Nation" on Amazon.I gave it two stars the first time and a really harsh review.I winced when I re-read my first review because I realized that I came across as arrogant and I tore up the book needlessly.

The truth is that at points Wurtzel does come across as whiney.But if you read the afterword Wurtzel explains that that was part of her intention.She writes, "I wanted this book to dare to be completely self-indulgent [...]I wanted so very badly to write a book that felt as bad as it feels to feel this bad, to feel depressed". I did find the book repetitive and self-indulgent.More than once I was thinking to myself, "why can't this girl just get it together??? she's smart, why can't she just....".And that's exactly Wurtzel's point: you don't just snap out of depression.Recovering from depression takes time and work and it is damn frustrating.Her book too can be damn frustrating to read at times but that was her goal - she definitely accomplished it.

Writing a memoir about depression is an exceedingly difficult task and I think Wurtzel should be commended for her efforts and her honesty.

Tons of people loved this book and I figure there must be a reason they appreciate it so much.I personally didn't love the book but you might be one of those people who adore it.Give it a try and see for yourself.

What you should know about Depression
I don't know why Prozac Nation hasn't been a more notable book.Could be that this is a topic that so many wish not to hear of yet so many have their uneducated opinions on depression, what it is and how to treat and not treat it.This is Wurtzel's story.This is her story of the paralyzing effects of darkness that is inescapable.Depression creates depression and Wurtzel's world becomes more and more hopeless as she sees nothing she can do with what she is afflicted with."Sometimes I wish I were an alcoholic so I could go to an AA meeting and I could do something about it." says Wurtzel.A desperate story but there is hope.Wurtzel finds that hope and here in this book is her journey from darkness.

Doesn't deserve any stars
Save your time and your money this book is HORRIBLE. I never would have read it if I didn't have to read it for school.I don't think I've ever disliked a person as much as I dislike Elizabeth Wurtzel.She is so self absorbed.Her book was poorly written, the plot was all over the place (if there was a plot at all besides her constant complaining).She must think that dropping names of famous people and "smart" authors and artists as well as using big words makes her sound like a genius or something.It doesnt.It makes her sound like an immature child trying to impress people and show the world how superior she is to everyone.We get it, you're smart Elizabeth, get over yourself.

As for her take on depression I thought she sent a horrible message.I have depression, I know how bad it can be.Elizabeth Wurtzel doesn't even TRY to help herself.She sits and whines and blames everyone but herself and waits for someone to come and magically save her.It's not going to happen.If you want to get through depression- and you can- you have to work really really hard- something Elizabeth apparently refuses to do.If she had stopped yelling at her therapists for not immediately curing her she would have realized that what they were saying could have helped her.

I have all the sympathy in the world for people who suffer from depression, but I have no sympathy for someone as childish, self absorbed, stubborn, and lazy as Elizabeth Wurtzel.She is an insult to people with depression.She is the epitome of the "depression is cool" trend. ... Read more

Isbn: 1573225126
Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Depressed persons    5. Depression    6. Depression (Psychology)    7. Mental health    8. Specific Groups - General    9. United States    10. Women    11. Wurtzel, Elizabeth   

The Virgin Suicides
by Jeffrey Eugenides
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 June, 1994)
list price: $12.95 -- our price: $10.36
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Reviews (349)

Please find something else
The Virgin Suicides is a story about five very diverse girls living under the strict and strange religious rule of an extremely dominant (whacko) mother.As the girls begin to experience some small teenage freedoms, the iron curtain comes down in a completely unbelievable suburban nightmare.The story is told from the perspective of some neighbor boys who, along with their impotent parents and the girls own impotent father, seem unable to do anything to stop the girls from their certain fate.Pick up a different book, this one is just not a worthy find.

Dark yet poetic
The Virgin Suicides is told from the view point of the neighborhood boys of the small town USA.They are facinated by five sisters that share this Elm lined street.

Every line is poetry.The desciptions of the feelings that they have for these 5 sisters are amazing.The plot itself is very touching, and when you finish the book you want to read it again, hear the story again, live in the minds of these girls that had to escape from a world in which they could not live.

Read "Middlesex" Instead
Maybe it's because I read "Middlesex" first and got my expectations up... I couldn't even finish this book, but obviously there are many who disagree.Read "Middlesex" and see how much improved his second novel was! ... Read more

Isbn: 0446670251
Sales Rank: 1675
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Literary    4. Movie-TV Tie-In - General    5. Psychological    6. Suburban life    7. Suicidal behavior    8. Teenage girls    9. Teenagers    10. Fiction / Psychological   

Girl, Interrupted
by SUSANNA KAYSEN
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (19 April, 1994)
list price: $12.00 -- our price: $9.60
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Editorial Review

When reality got "too dense" for 18-year-old Susanna Kaysen, she was hospitalized. It was 1967, and reality was too dense for many people.But few who are labeled mad and locked up for refusing to stick to an agreed-upon reality possess Kaysen's lucidity in sorting out a maelstrom of contrary perceptions. Her observations about hospital life are deftly rendered; often darkly funny. Her clarity about the complex province of brain and mind, of neuro-chemical activity and something more, make this book of brief essays an exquisite challenge to conventional thinking about what is normal and what is deviant. ... Read more

Reviews (379)

world spinning book
Set in a psychiatric hospital in 1967, it is told by 18-year-old Susanna, who is living under a blanket of depression and spending her days in McLean Hospital near Boston. We see the hospital and its occupants through her eyes, while trying to understand her mental illness (Borderline Disorder).
For a difficult subject, this book has a somewhat playful tone. It's as if the halls of McLean hospital are typical corridors of an apartment complex. ("It was a perpetual picnic, our hospital.") and a "seclusion room" ("Freedom was the price of privacy"). Through other characters' stories, Kaysen pieces together the reasons for her own suicide attempt. With each flashback, she reveals more details about her own attempted "premeditated murder." She discusses her fears and delusions, wondering if others see them, too. This makes us question ourselves and feel a bit closer to the comfort of being called crazy. Kaysen escorts us on a journey to a "parallel universe," creating a direct and clear route in case we travel there ourselves one day. I am hoping that I experience no one going down the same path Kaysen does in the book but I am sure I will. To overall put a score on the book was I would rate it a 9 out of a 10. One thing that was a disappointment was how the film-version of the novel strayed from the truth. I wish the film had been an accurate portrayal of this real life novel.

Packs a Strong Punch
"Girl Interrupted" is a petite memoir. However it packs a heck of a punch. Dealing very truthfully about a college girl who suffers a mental breakdown it provides human drama and startling insight into the commonality of mental illness. Of books of its kind, it ranks as powerfully as "My Fractured Life", "A Child Called It", and "Running With Scissors." I highly recommend it.

Insightful but sometimes confusing
In Girl Interrupted , I learned a lot about the real story , not the Hollywood Glamour Movie story .
Allthough this book is insightful , at times I found myself flipping back and forth between chapters to follow the story . For example in one chapter Daisy dies , but several chapters later she is in the story again having a conversation with another person . After awhile , it all falls into place .
The book contains real parts of Kaysen's mental records which are really interesting to read .
A caution to those who are offended easily , this may not be the book for you as there is STRONG language as well as sexual content that may not be suitible for younger children or if you cannot handle that sort of detail . ... Read more

Isbn: 0679746048
Subjects:  1. 1948-    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Kaysen, Susanna,    7. Literary    8. Massachusetts    9. Mental health    10. Mentally ill    11. Psychiatric hospital patients    12. Specific Groups - Special Needs    13. Women    14. Biography & Autobiography / General    15. Kaysen, Susanna    16. Reading Group Guide   

Lost in the Mirror, 2nd Edition : An Inside Look at Borderline Personality Disorder
by Richard Moskovitz
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (25 March, 2001)
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Reviews (48)

Wonderful, caring and easy to read!
I have been in therapy for 4 years recovery from DID and was recently DX's with BPD as well.This was the first book I read on this condition and, wow!I was touched by the authors sensativity and care towards the subject and to his clients.I was moved to have someone write "me" without knowing "me".I feel bad for the reviewers of this book that feel the authors "excuses behavior" because he is sympathetic and understanding of the suffering that goes along with this disorder.He is not doing that at all.Read the book again or get a heart!Thank you Moskovitz for being one of the unique people in this world who can help people like us.Thank you for writing this book and helping those like me to not feel alone, ashamed or condemned (as seen by some of the reviewers of this book).Thanks for having a heart!

I Love This Book -- It's About Me!
I read this book avidly, and it made me think of my own life. I've written about the subject of borderline personalities extensively and consider myself an authority. Why? Because I suffer from it. The way I deal with my disorder is to rant and rave about my ex-spouse-it's easier to accuse her of having a borderline personality than to deal with my own issues. I've been publishing a lot about the topic on my own website, though most people have told me that I have no evidence for my claims.

You see, I have been hurt. Badly hurt. I was abused as a young child, and it helped make me into the emotionally and physically abusive person that I am today. When I was married, I could use my spouse as my psychological screen, my punching bag. When she didn't want to play that role anymore, I lost out bigtime. Boy, I now wish I'd gone into therapy earlier. Are you intrigued? Visit me on the web under my name.

Be Careful
This book was interesting and had useful information in identifying various symptoms and behaviours of BPD, however I think the line it takes in explaining (almost justifying) the behaviour of BPD's can be dangerous when considering that many BPD's might be reading it. One of the things that BPD's continually do is to justify their inappropriate and destructive behaviour when it involves hurting other people close to them. The expression "Give'em an inch and they'll take a mile" comes to mind.

My partner was diagnosed with BPD and he really loved the aspect of his therapy and on anything he read, which focussed on depression (which was only a small part of his symptoms - the emphasis with him was on raging, obsessive behaviour, sexual dysfunctionality and revenge.) He started to go into a "poor me" mode, wallowing in the whole issue of how he had suddenly discovered he had suffered from depression and how terrible it was that this is what he'd been going through. This was his excuse to avoid confronting the appalling violence, destructive and abusive behaviour which was so predominant. He didn't get any better from any of this when he was going down this track. The greatest improvements, not only in his treatment of me, but also to his own level of happiness and joy, came after times when he had faced some of the most horrendous aspects of his behaviour and was, to some extent, told in no uncertain terms by his therapist that this behaviour was unacceptable. I realise it's a lot more complicated than that, but I am always concerned to see anything on BPD that, in the name of improving self-esteem and providing some dignity, go too far in being "understanding" towards the BPD sufferer. BPD's love nothing more than excuses, they are obsessed with twisting things onto their loved ones, and I know in the case of my partner this only gives him the opportunity to become self-obsessed over these aspects rather than face anything else that might make him look bad. The book talks about patients being taught to find their own identity and understand their own feelings, but the difficulty with this is that BPD sufferers can take this to mean that whatever irrational perceptions they are experiencing should be given credence, and they then become enraged if they are not able to be accepted by others.The other thing is that it has been said that 90% of BPD sufferers also have another disorder. This needs to be taken into account when making suggestions because if you combine symptoms of 2 disorders it can become even more dangerous to recommend a certain approach based solely on BPD issues. eg If the patientis particularly narcissistic too much focus on self-esteem building feeds into their obsession with attention and they become more grandiose and super-confident, starting to feel OK in all respects, and this includes an even greater tendency to justify their vengeful destructive rages.

I can see that this book would be comforting to those with BPD, giving them understanding and hope for recovery, and this is particularly good for those who are at risk of suicide, or for those whose main symptoms are severe depression.But for the BPD's who are extremely abusive and manipulative, and have a strong tendency to lie and distort the truth in an abusive way to another, it can tap into their self-pity and they can and will use the book to justify their actions and deny the seriousness of their condition. ... Read more

Isbn: 0878332669
Sales Rank: 4429
Subjects:  1. Borderline personality disorde    2. Borderline personality disorder    3. General    4. Mental Illness    5. Personality    6. Popular works    7. Psychology   

I Hate You, Don't Leave Me : Understanding the Borderline Personality
by Jerold J. Kreisman Hal Straus
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 February, 1991)
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Reviews (60)

Saved my sanity!
I have been married to a borderline personality for 16 years.I love him, but it has been very, very hard sometimes...no, a lot of the time.I was getting to the point of wondering if it was me; what was I doing wrong?This book helped me to understand that the signs I was seeing were real.It helped me to clarify for myself that I probably will never be able to make it better for him....no matter what I do or don't do.At least I'm armed with some understanding, which feels so good after so long and after so many people told me that it's "just the way he is."I wish I had read this much sooner.I see these same traits now in my 15-year-old daughter.Hopefully, it's not too late to get help for her so that she won't live out her life in such turmoil and pain.

Good to Understand the Disorder, but with No Treatment Leads
Many books about BPD lack information about treatment. I would like to stress the importance of knowing how old this type of book is. This one was published in 1992 - 13 years ago. Just like science and technology, psychotherapy develops and improves. In 1992, BPD was considered to be a difficult-to-treat or even almost-impossible-to-treat condition. Treating it may still be difficult today (2005), but things are quite different than 13 years ago. Mental health services throughout the USA are much more prepared to treat the condition now.

This book did a good job in explaining what BPD is in the way that most people with no knowledge of psychology can understand and start recognizing BPD. Unfortunately a typical BPD book for general public lacks the lead to treatment, and this book is not an exception.

A reader already familiar with BPD may find nothing new in this book. I could call this book, "Borderline Personality Disorder for Dummies: Many Problems and No Solution."

Authors Published New Book
Dr. Kreisman has just published a new book on BPD entitled SOMETIMES I ACT CRAZY.Reading both provides a fascinating comparison as to the advances that have been made in the past decade on treating this disorder. ... Read more

Isbn: 0380713055
Sales Rank: 885
Subjects:  1. Codependency    2. Love & Romance    3. Mood Disorders    4. Psychology    5. Self-Help / Codependency   

A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive
by Dave Pelzer
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 September, 1995)
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Editorial Review

David J. Pelzer's mother, Catherine Roerva, was, he writes in this ghastly, fascinating memoir, a devoted den mother to the Cub Scouts in her care, and somewhat nurturant to her children--but not to David, whom she referred to as "an It." This book is a brief, horrifying account of the bizarre tortures she inflicted on him, told from the point of view of the author as a young boy being starved, stabbed, smashed face-first into mirrors, forced to eat the contents of his sibling's diapers and a spoonful of ammonia, and burned over a gas stove by a maniacal, alcoholic mom. Sometimes she claimed he had violated some rule--no walking on the grass at school!--but mostly it was pure sadism. Inexplicably, his father didn't protect him; only an alert schoolteacher saved David. One wants to learn more about his ordeal and its aftermath, and now he's written a sequel, The Lost Boy, detailing his life in the foster-care system.

Though it's a grim story, A Child Called "It" is very much in the tradition of Chicken Soup for the Couple's Soul and the many books in that upbeat series, whose author Pelzer thanks for helping get his book going. It's all about weathering adversity to find love, and Pelzer is an expert witness. ... Read more

Reviews (1612)

A Child Called "It" is a book you must read.
Ages 14 and up. This book takes place in the late 60's early 70's. The character David Pelzer is a child in a loving family.In the beginning point of the book is turned on by his mother who likes to drink and beat him. The father in the book (with no names) is like the boys hero so to speak. More near the middle of the book the family begins to drift farther and farther apart. The father is like the key in the book, but yet is like the cause of all the suffering that it cause to David. Not only does David's mother beat him but she starves him and at one point up to ten consecutive days at once. She (mother) uses David as her little slave boy that does all the work for her and she does nothing at all to help him but she does beat him. A one point in the book she even stabs him with a carving knife. All in all this is one of the best book I've ever read but yet it is the most disturbing to read this is a 5 star book.

an unforgetable book
I am not much of a book person but when i read "A child called it" I couldn't put it down. The book is about a boy called Dave and his childhood. Dave used to be abused by his parents and had to learn the way of life on his own. And as I said I couldn't put the book down and I even cried at the end. It's a unforgetable book and I suggest you read it.

Part of an Amazing Story
"A Child Called It" is a book of the utmost social importance, chronicling the patterns of several forms of abuse. I most recommend "A Child Called It" in partner with the author's other books in the series. When read chronologically, the trilogy of titles ("A Child Called It", "Lost Boy", and "A Man Named Dave")demonstrate an excellent full-scope view on a singular story.Additional recommendations: "My Fractured Life", "Sickened", "They Cage Animals at Night", "Whatever Mother Says", "Nightmares Echo", and "The Glass Castle." ... Read more

Isbn: 1558743669
Subjects:  1. Abuse    2. Abused children    3. Abusive mothers    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. California    9. Children of alcoholics    10. Daly City    11. Family relationships    12. General    13. Pelzer, David J    14. Personal Memoirs    15. Specific Groups - Special Needs    16. Self-Help / General   

The Lost Boy: A Foster Child's Search for the Love of a Family
by Dave Pelzer
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 August, 1997)
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Reviews (383)

A terribly sad story terribly written
I recommend this book anyway.I devouredA Child Called It, horrified at Dave Pelzer's personal story of abuse.This book is good, but I can only give it three stars, because of the writing style and an evasiveness of content.In this book I was looking for some answers.Not answers of fact (although those were not presented all that well either) but answers for motivations, emotions, and understanding.Pelzer should have hired a ghost writer or helper.He tries to recreate dialog and ends up sounding anachronistic.By the end of the book I had trouble with mixing up the different foster homes, and when he decided the one would be his "mother" I was surprised because I hadn't felt any of his emotions toward her.Several times I didn't understand why he was leaving a home.But even with all this, it's good enough to read, and I will go on to the third book.This would be a great book to read for those consideringfoster parenting.

One of the Best
Those touched by "A CHILD CALLED IT", "NIGHTMARES ECHO", "MY FRACTURED LIFE", and "THE GLASS CASTLE" will certainly be empowered and moved by "THE LOST BOY." The human spirit is an amazing thing. All it needs is love.

I loved this book
This book is about a young boy who gets abused my his mother and gets put in a foster home ... Read more

Isbn: 1558745157
Sales Rank: 983
Subjects:  1. Abuse    2. Abused children    3. Abusive mothers    4. Alternative Family    5. Biography    6. Biography & Autobiography    7. Biography / Autobiography    8. Biography/Autobiography    9. California    10. Childhood Memoir    11. Children of alcoholics    12. Daly City    13. Dysfunctional Families    14. Family relationships    15. Pelzer, David J    16. Personal Memoirs    17. Biography & Autobiography / General   

English Teacher's Survival Guide: Ready-to-Use Techniques & Materials for Grades 7-12
by Mary LouBrandvik Mary Lou Brandvik
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (19 June, 2002)
list price: $29.95 -- our price: $18.87
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Reviews (8)

Great for Brand New English Teachers
I had imagined that there would be more reproducibles in this book. That was my only disappointment. It's more of a how-to guide to the many aspects of teaching English.

A toy box for teachers
This book outlines teacher-tested ideas for teaching reading and writing.I have used many of them in my classroom, and they really work.Used in conjunction with Brandvik's other book--Writing Process Activity Book--this book is a gold mine.

Great Resource!
This is a fabulous, easy to use book.As a new teacher thrown into a long-term sub position in 8th grade, I am finding this book invaluable for ideas in the classroom. ... Read more

Isbn: 0130456810
Sales Rank: 5681
Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. Secondary    4. Teaching Methods & Materials - Language Arts    5. Teaching Methods & Materials - Reading    6. Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Reading    7. English    8. English language   

The English Teacher's Companion : Complete Guide to Classroom, Curriculum, and the Profession
by Jim Burke
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (30 January, 2003)
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Reviews (14)

Excellent Book
After teaching 10th grade English for 8 years, I was beginning to feel like I need some inspiration to recapture my love of the profession.This book made me remember why I love teaching. Burke does a remarkable job providing strategies for both the novice and veteran teacher. The strategies provided can be used or adjusted easily for all levels and disciplines. I am in the midst of rewrting some lessons and plan on using many of Burke's ideas in my classroom.

one for all
I am graduate student and this is one of my textbook. It is great to learn from the real teacher and real experience. There are many useful methods which can use in the real world; not just write beautifully in the book but can't use like others. I highly recommened this book for every new teacher who still has no idea how to achieve your first year in school. Also for all English teachers both in site and outside the US.

A Great Teaching Tool!
As a new middle school teacher, this book truly came in handy.Granted, Mr. Burke is a high school teacher and his insights are related to his high school classroom, I was able to garner much information for my own middle school classroom.If you are within the middle school or high school environment, this is a great resource!!! ... Read more

Isbn: 0325005389
Sales Rank: 16213
Subjects:  1. Education    2. Education / Teaching    3. Elementary    4. English philology    5. Handbooks, manuals, etc    6. Secondary    7. Study and teaching    8. Teaching Methods & Materials - Classroom Planning    9. Teaching Methods & Materials - Language Arts   

Barron's How to Prepare for the Last/Ats-W: How to Prepare for the Liberal Arts and Sciences Test Assessment of Teaching Skills-Written (Barron's How to Prepare for the Last/Ats-W)
by Robert D. Postman
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 October, 1998)
list price: $14.95
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Reviews (21)

Preparing for the LAST-Teacher Examinations by Postman
Overall, this work is understandable. The exam has a number of
lengthy paragraphs followed by a single question. Such a format
requires that you read the question first and then read the
paragraph utilizing a highlighter. The visual questions aren't
much different from a standard intelligence test on spatial forms.
The math and science are very straight-forward. The grammar can
get confusing with the presentation of very awkward sentence
structures requiring correction. Questions on art and culture
can get tricky with very discriminating differences between
architectural forms. Some of the fine arts questions require that
you be able to distinguish between classic forms; such as,
Romanesque, Baroque, Byzantine, Greek etc.

This test will measure very general knowledge in the arts and
sciences. The format gets very awkward in spots. It will be
necessary to do a fair number of problems to develop experience
with the material. The Postman work is well organized. The
problems are challenging. A criticism of the work is that the
problem sets are somewhat limited in number although the level
of difficulty is appropriate. This book should be utilized in
conjunction with others on the subject. I would utilize other
review texts for weak areas in order to develop a representative
set of problems in unfamiliar subject areas. Testing on amorphous
spatial forms and problems contrasting classic architectural
differences typify new or unfamiliar material for the candidate
reviewing the material for the first time.

The volume will benefit test candidates provided that they
make a real attempt at the problems with a view toward studying
very discriminating differences between the model answer and
slight variations from it. This volume is not a reader. It contains numerous problems which depict the material to be tested. Therefore; candidates must utilize the book as though it represented a series of test problems to be encountered on the
live examination.

I Passed Them Both
A good education, a solid review of this book and a dose of common sense should help
you easily pass both tests on the first try.

Heed the advice about having an early night before the test date. Bring a bunch of #2
pencils, and dress very comfy in layers.These things make a big difference.

I saved about an hour for the essay, which I needed, and scored 300 on it.
Use the first few hours going through the multiple choice questions. No need to rush.

I hope it goes well for you! I leave you with this quote:
"Chance favors the prepared mind."
Louis Pasteur

Excellent preparatory guide for new or relocated teachers
This book got me through the New York State Teacher Certification Exams. I taught in New Jersey, but the New York State tests are much more challenging. This guide gives you all the information you need to pass. Although a fraction of the test prep material is actually represented on the test, it was a great basis of knowledge that allowed me to answer more in-depth, analytical questions. The essay writing techniques are very helpful, even for this seasoned writer and editor. ... Read more

Isbn: 0764104462
Sales Rank: 210771
Subjects:  1. LSAT (Law School Admission Test)    2. Professional - Teacher    3. Study Aids    4. Study Guides    5. Teaching Methods & Materials - General    6. Test Prep   

Girl, Interrupted
Director: James Mangold
Average Customer Review:
DVD (04 February, 2003)
list price: $14.94 -- our price: $11.95
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Editorial Review

Based on Susanna Kaysen's acclaimed journal-memoir, Girl, Interrupted bears inevitable resemblance to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and pale comparison to that earlier classic is impossible to avoid. The mental institution settings of both films guarantee a certain degree of déjà vu and at least one Oscarwinner (in this case, Angelina Jolie), since playing a loony is any actor's dream gig. Unfortunately, director James Mangold seems to have misplaced the depth and delicacy of his underrated debut, Heavy, despite a great deal of earnest effort by everyone involved. It's easy to see why Winona Ryder chose to star in (and executive-produce) this nearly worthy adaptation of Kaysen's book, since it's a strong vehicle for female casting and potent drama. Mangold certainly got the former; whether he succeeded with the latter is not so clear.

To be sure, Ryder conveys the confusion and chaos that signified Kaysen's life during nearly 18 months of voluntary institutionalization beginning in 1967. But the film seems too eager to embrace the cliché that the"crazies" of the Claymoore women's ward are saner than the war-torn world outside, and lack of narrative focus gives way to semipredictable character study. Susanna (Ryder) is labeled with "borderline personality disorder," a diagnosisas ambiguous as her own emotions, and while Jolie chews the scenery as the resident bad-girl sociopath, Ryder effectively conveys an odyssey from vulnerable fear to self-awareness and, finally, to healing. The ensemble cast is uniformly superb, making this drama well worthwhile, even as it treads familiar territory. If it ultimately lacks dramatic impact, Girl, Interrupted makes it painfully clear that the boundaries of dysfunction are hazy in a world where everyone's crazy once in a while. --Jeff Shannon ... Read more

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Reviews (248)

Surprisingly good ...
... for what I thought might be a cross between a chick flick and a "self-improvement" pop psychology book.Superior in all aspects to the overrated "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".Angelina Jolie deservedly won an Oscar for her convincing portrayal of a fascinating but ultimately hopeless psychopath.

Everyone has their own little maggot in the brain
I was pretty exited to view this movie. Even though it was on a fuzzy vhs and Spanish dub. Well I can tell you it was a grand waste of time and considering this film deals with some of my best interests at heart, it was one of the most boring affairs I have ever had the displeasure of viewing. We start off with the character played by Winona Ryder. She apparently tried to kill her self with...aspirin. Yeah that's right, a whole bottle in fact! That caused me to loose all respect for her immediately. I mean what type of a retard over doses on aspirin for God sakes. A combination of Sleeping pills and tranquilizers would have been more efficient, with a stomach lining tablet first to prevent vomiting. Of course there's the popular paracetamol, but it normally gives you around two weeks to die, during which your skin turns yellow as your vital organs fail. Oh and the Looney bin. Well of course you have your run of the mill inhabitants e.g. the childish one, the fat one, the compulsive liar, the eating disorder and of course Angelina Jolie, our prize inmate. Of course its madness by numbers: The insane grin, hysterical laughing, the wacky hair etc. It's just so predictable.
Don't mention the fact that the majority of the clinically insane are quite shy meek mannered individuals. It is only when you get to really know them that their `weirdness' becomes apparent. I for one lived a whole year with a compulsive liar when I was 13. Told me she was dying of bone cancer. Went for a check up at the conveniently far away hospital every other week, or so she lead me to believe. Unfortunately it turned out she was a compulsive thief as well. Whoops just a little too late. Anyway back to the film. Why is Winona here with all these lunatics? Okay so she's depressed. Aww! Poor baby, aren't we all. Let's wallow in our self pity. I didn't get to university, boo hoo. I mean that's a lot worse then getting molested as a child or watching you mother kill herself in front of you. Like my best friend did. She's has bipolar depression and is a developing alcoholic but she struggles on. Oh and the whole cutting scene that some people have labelled disturbing. Hahahahahah!The trade mark shallow diagonal lines up the arm. Could serious self harmers be more insulted? Perhaps that's why I'm so angry at this film.Anyway, buy this if your looking for the obvious and the cliché. I guess I'm just sick of the constant stereotyping. Not a real look into to any of the mental problems presented here. Right! Time for my pills...

"Based on a true story" but ultimately lies
If this movie wasn't claiming to be a true story, I might have given it 3 stars. I read the book, however, and it's obvious that they changed things. Sure, it makes a better movie, but if they're going to claim that it's a true story, they should have stuck with the truth.

The worst part, however, is the ending.It changes the entire point of the story.In the movie, the "good girl" who more or less goes along with the psychiatric program gets better and gets out.The "bad girl" who doesn't ends up pretty much exactly like the "bad girl" at the end of The Craft: crazed, screaming, and in 4-point restraints.

In the book, the true story, the "good girl" gets released and ends up, eh, okay.Not great, but getting by.Years later, she runs into the "bad girl" who also got released and ended up, eh, okay.Not great, but getting by.To change this ending is utterly inexcusable.It changes absolutely everything the author of the book was trying to tell about what institutions are really like and really accomplish. ... Read more

Asin: B00003CWQR
Subjects:  1. Feature Film-drama   

Lost and Delirious
Director: Léa Pool
Average Customer Review:
DVD (09 December, 2003)
list price: $14.98 -- our price: $11.24
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Features

• Color
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Reviews (151)

MOVING, BRAVE, TOUCHING, LONGING, FANTASTIC
I just recently saw this movie for the first time, and it has blown my mind. Every few years a film comes along that really moves me, and that I can't get out of my head. Well I think for this year and always this is the film. It really pulled/pulls on my heart strings.

The two lead performances of Piper Perabo and Jessica Pare has really mesmerised me totally. In the beginning before these two characters of Paulie and Tori are discovered, it is really beautiful to watch these two in love, and just going along there business until all hell breaks loose. The emotion, connection and love these two feel and share feels so real and honest.
And the love scene between the two is very tender and real.

Once they are revealed and Paulie's world begins to fall apart is so hard to watch at times, because I SO desperatly wantPaulie and Tori to figure it all out and be together as it once was.

Like I've said this film has and always will leave a lasting impression on me, at times it's hard to get scenes of it out of my head. The raw emotion of Paulie so so excellently played by Piper Perabo, I've seen who I now consider from this performances, one of the most talentled actress' around. I hope she has a long lasting career.

Jessica Pare, I am amazed at too. Her performance of being torn for her true love for Paulie but desperatly not wanting the world and her parents to know her real feelings.
This is what is heartbreaking to watch, Tori pretending to be what her parents/family,society think/believe how she should be. ie. A hetrosexual girl, so she starts to date a boy that is interested in her, and this also contributes to Paulies melt down. This is when the film can be haunting, especially if you are so into the story and these two characters.

Also let's not forget Mischa Barton. Mischa gives a well done performance as there witness througout the film.

I absolutely recommend this movie for a number of reasons. One it isn't some dyke movie, this shows a natural, beautiful, honest look at two girls in love and the tragedyI believe at what happens when they are found out and how one partner can clam up and not reveal how they really feel for fear of what their parents and everybody will think about them, and the destruction one will go through, cause they are so in love that it iskilling them.

It really is an important film to watch and it gives one something to think about.

Do you want to cry?
This film is unique and very very beautiful! It portrays a different way of love, love between two women. It is wonderful. You will cry!!!

Absolutely Wonderful!!!
This movie touched me so much!! It is about so much more than just lesbian sex. The story and the acting was excellent. Piper Perabo's acting was superb. I absolutely felt her pain and rage in this movie. Anyone who has been in love will feel her pain. This tearjerker is definitely a welcome addition to my movie collection. ... Read more

Asin: B00005QW5T
Sales Rank: 1421
Subjects:  1. Feature Film-drama   

Better Than Chocolate
Director: Anne Wheeler
Average Customer Review:
DVD (05 February, 2002)
list price: $14.98 -- our price: $11.24
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Editorial Review

Many lesbian movies are long on charm and short on production values; Better Than Chocolate has a solid dose of both and steamy sex scenes to boot. Our heroine Maggie (Karyn Dwyer), a clerk at a lesbian bookstore, meets footloose butch Kim (Christina Cox) and, after Kim's van is towed away, they move in together. Unfortunately for their romantic bliss, Maggie's mother, Lila (Wendy Crewson), and teenage brother move in that very evening thanks to Lila's impending divorce. But what really complicates matters is that Maggie can't bring herself to come out to her mother; even when she tries, Lila steamrolls through the conversation, like she knows what's coming and doesn't want to hear it. Interwoven with this is the struggle of Judy (Peter Outerbridge), a male-to-female transsexual who's in love with the bookstore's owner, Frances (Ann-Marie MacDonald), who's freaking out because customs officers are holding a list ofbooks at the border that they claim are obscene. The overlapping plots are deftly juggled, the personal and political are compellingly interwoven, and, most satisfying of all, the characters have problems that aren't going to be easily resolved. A handful of candy-colored lip-synching musical numbers give the movie some flash and the sex scenes give the movie some heat, but it's the elements of sorrow and ambiguity that really make the joy in Better Than Chocolate something to savor.--Bret Fetzer ... Read more

Features

• Color
• Closed-captioned
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Reviews (150)

I don't know if this movie is better than chocolate but.....
I don't think this movie is as bad as what some of the critics are saying about it.Yes it's very predictable but at least the screwball comedies in this film are enjoyable?

The movie is about a Lesbian teenager named Maggie (Karen Dwyer) who works (and basically lives) in a bookstore.When she gets news that her mother Lila (Wendy Crewson) and brother Paul () are moving in to her "apartment", she starts looking for a place.To add more to this drama, she isn't even out to her family.Along the way she meet this butch artist name Kim (Christina Cox) and they fell in love.Once Lila and Paul moved in to her "apartment" (which is nothing more than someone else's place she's taking care of for 4 weeks), all hell ensures as the mother turns out to be a neurotic nut who constantly tries to control her daughter's life and eats lots of chocolate since she doesn't get enough sex.

There's also a subplot in this movie where a male-to-female transgender Judy (Peter Outerbridge) persues Frances (Anne-Marie McDonald).

First thing is that I didn't like the character Maggie, Karyn did an ok job playing the character but I found Maggie to be annoying and too 90s Lesbian chic for me (I HATE the 90s).I did like Kim though, she's cool and I think she was cuter and has a sexier body than Maggie (even though she's a butch and I'm not into them).

The mother Lila is just plain hilarious and so was Judy.Frances was very uptight but later on became more relaxed as Judy's persistence got stronger.The character that Anne-Marie McDonald plays her is totally different from the character she played in an another Lesbian classic "I've Heard The Mermaids Singing", when she played the young butch lesbian artist in that movie.

What makes to movie more enjoyable are that the main characters are not perfect.Maggie is not totally out of the closet, Kim runs away when things get rough, Lila is a neurotic nut, Frances is uptight and reserved, Judy is well, just Judy.The singing scenes were great as well, especially Judy singing "I am not a f***ing drag queen).I wished that the movie had more of that.

The ending for the movie was way too predictable and kinda left a bad taste in my mouth, not even the silly Where Are They Now? section could save the ending.

Overall this is not a bad movie, if this site would allow me to give 3.5 stars, then I would (one star for the ending and a half-star for the character Maggie).However I enjoyed the movie, with it's updated version of screwball comedy and it's unique characters.Some people have said that they would like to see more of the Kim and Maggie relationship, but I glad that the movie didn't.It would have taken away from the light-hearted charm that the movie had, the movie isn't really about Maggie and Kim, it's about the nutty confrontation between Maggie and her mother.

While I won't call it a lesbian classic, I would recommend people to rent the dvd/tape and watch it.

why so harsh?
I absolutely love this movie. Each character is brilliantly seasoned and the plot is believable. I can relate on more than one level.
My girlfriend and I watched this, and she and I both adore it. It's a very sweet, very romantic, and very funny film.It wrenches your heart strings about and leaves you smiling.
I don't know HOW nayone could give this film a mediocre review- it's a fun film, not an allegorical display wrought with symbolism and hidden didactics.
It's a quirky romance, and for that I love this movie.

I urge everyone to at least give "Better than Chocolate" a chance.

Sweet Lesbian flick but not spicy enough!
All the lesbian flicks I have seen are funny and sweet or sad and contoversial, but this one's kinda in between. One thing's for sure - the acting is REALLY bad! It in no way builds you up, it's like these 2 girls meet and BAM they're living together. The movie is basically about a young girl who's on her own and she meets a lesbian who rubs her the right way and they fall in love. The young girls mom finds out that her daughter is gay when she goes to visit andrealizes the're not just good friends. You dont feel the emotions that you would think you would while watching this move. But like I said - the acting wasnt that great. The scene where they're painting is the highlight of the movie. But it is in my lesbian collection & it is kinda sweet and corky, therefor I probably would recomend it to any lesbian. Because I think its just more tollerable when you can relate to some situations. ... Read more

Asin: B00002CGGH
Subjects:  1. Feature Film-comedy   

Gia
Director: Michael Cristofer
Average Customer Review:
DVD (03 February, 2004)
list price: $9.97 -- our price: $9.97
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

There's a reason why Cindy Crawford was dubbed "Baby Gia" when she first hit the modeling scene. Indeed, Crawford, now the world's best-known supermodel, greatly resembled model Gia Carangi, who went from high school to the cover of British Vogue in less than two years. Carangi appeared on many more covers of Vogue (French, British, Italian, and American) and Cosmopolitan before dying of complications from AIDS (she was an IV heroin user) in 1986. Now most people recognize Carangi's name from this powerful HBO film that stars Golden Globe-winner Angelina Jolie, who comes by her talent honestly. Jolie is the daughter of veteran actor Jon Voight, and her own training as a model serves her well--she has the moves. Throughout, she's heartbreaking--as no doubt the real Carangi was--effective, and stunning.

With good source material (Stephen Fried's A Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia), Jolie's stunning performance, and strong directing by Michael Cristofer, the movie goes beyond the merely sensational. The script was cowritten by Cristofer and novelist Jay McInerney, whose Bright Lights, Big City covers similar territory. As a cautionary tale, Gia works. But to watch Jolie in her character's tragic self-destruction is utterly compelling. --N.F. Mendoza ... Read more

Features

• Color
• Closed-captioned

Reviews (216)

Tragic. Conflicted. Beautiful. Wasted.
Angelina Jolie flawlessly executes the role of Gia with grace, tragedy, and stunning beauty.

Gia's life was a tragic waste. She was overcome by the promises and lies of both the fashion culture and the drug culture. In the former she found fame and fortune but no deeper satisfaction. In the later she found deception, lies, and death. Both led her into a life of despair, discouragement, and aching lonliness.

Gia searched for life's meaning, comfort, and love in the arms of her lesbian lover, again, to no avail.

The enemy's dark powers stole her will and claimed it in the depths of death and despair. She was killed by the false promise of the drug culture - she found bondage instead of freedom and release. In the end, when the enemy had exhausted her spirit and disfigured her beauty, he killed her with HIV from her dirty needles. The very thing that had promised her release bound her in death.

The R rating is for nudity and sexual scenes

favorite movie
this is my all time favorite movie. i love everything about it. i think angelina jolie did an AMAZING job playing Gia. it really shows her acting abilities in this movie. she was dramatic, funny, romantic, emotional, and a very strong character. My favorite part is the ending where she is walking in the hospital with the sheet around her and you hear angelina reading from gia's journals...its amazing. everyone should see this movie atleast once. i've probably seen it atleast a thousand times.

Angelina shines
To be honest, I did not know anything about Gia Carangi when I picked this DVD up.Now that I've seen the film, I know a bit about her life. That is all fine & well, but I remain unmoved.

Angelina Jolie turns in one of her finest performances in this film.She also looks terrific minus her clothes, and the lesbian scenes are erotic.The film is well done and the final scene is downright artistic. Also, the makeup artists did a fantastic job making Jolie go from looking drop-dead-gorgeous to looking like death warmed over (and back again) repeatedly.

So why only 2 stars, you ask?Well, the problem I have with the movie is that Gia Carangi is not a particularly interesting person.Beyond her beauty there is not a whole lot to her.She seemed very shallow and superficial and there was very little that was genuine about her. She does not evoke a whole lot of sympathy as her series of bad decisions leave one more apt to say "What is she DOING?" rather than "Wow, she is a really a victim of circumstances!"Some may call her story tragic.I call it pathetic.

With that in mind, I would recommend this DVD to two demographics:those who are big fans of Angelina Jolie and those who are big fans of Gia Carangi. Other than that, most will not find a whole lot of appealing or dramatic material here. ... Read more

Asin: 0783117523
Subjects:  1. Feature Film-drama   

Center Stage
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Average Customer Review:
DVD (04 February, 2003)
list price: $14.94 -- our price: $11.95
(price subject to change: see help)
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Editorial Review

The primary appeal of dance movies is the dancing, with some added emphasis on the romance the art expresses. Center Stage wins on these counts, despite its reveling in overly familiar characters and formula plotting. Or maybe this reveling is responsible for what goofy fun this film is. The arduous task of becoming a professional ballet dancer is incarnated by many good-looking teens, all stock dance-film characters affectionately portrayed mostly by newcomers. But center stage holds Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull), who may never be a great ballerina, but she's certainly one sexy jazz dancer. Then there's the arrogant genius (Ethan Stiefel), the dictatorial impresario (Peter Gallagher), the demanding instructor, the bulimic, the stage mother, etc. As we follow these characters, the message develops that one should let go and do what feels good. Jody may not be ballet material, but she scorches the stage when she's uninhibited. And that's really the fun of this movie, which is never seriously interested in ballet to begin with. One ludicrous scene depicts one of the dancers quitting because she realizes she never wanted to be a dancer to begin with but was pushed into it by her overbearing mother. She stands up to mom in the lobby of the auditorium where she's supposed to be performing, the music of her piece providing a syrupy backdrop to her little drama. When she's finished talking, she walks off to the audience's unwitting applause. The scene is so ham-handed you can't help but laugh at its audacity, if that's what it is. The rest of the film is not so overdone, but it's all fun. --Jim Gay ... Read more

Features

• Color
• Closed-captioned
• Widescreen
• Dolby

Reviews (212)

Great dancing, AND storyline!!
This was a GREAT movie! The characters are really lovable, the main ones anyways. And you get really into the movie. The dancing is really great, and the moral is really good. (For me at least!) I like the music too. Basically, Center Stage is the greatest dance movie I have ever seen!! The dance at the end is REALLY good, and I JUST LOVED IT! So see this ballet/dancing fans, and have a great time!! I can't find a way to outline the story without telling it to you, so I'm very sorry, but all I can say is, watch it, and you WON'T be sorry!!

Favorite movie
This is a must-see for all dancers! This is one of my all time favorite movies. I especially love the ending dance scenes. If you don't dance then you probobly wouldn't like it because it's mainly based on dance and dancer's lives.

Brilliant!!!
This is a brilliant movie! The best i've ever seen!! i'm a ballerina myself and i love the choreography!!! ... Read more

Asin: B00004XPPD
Subjects:  1. Feature Film-drama