2011: Book 15

Even Dogs Go Home to Die: A Memoir by Linda St. John


272 pages

Completed 2/19/11

An oddly written memoir - chapters are no more than three pages - St. John delves into her childhood when faced with her alcoholic father's impending death. With a mother who speaks awful English, two sisters and a brother, St. John reveals the abuse and poverty they suffered as children, the retribution they dished out in their adult years, and their reactions to their father's downward spiral.

Annoyingly enough, St. John writes exactly how her mother speaks ("dies ees enuf Landa"), and instead of juxtaposing this with her educated self, the rest of the book is written in slang and in odd ways. The title of the book, briefly mentioned towards the end, could have been expounded upon, in my opinion. Despite it's oddities, St. John's memoir did a wonderful job synopsizing her family.

2011: Book 14

How to Make Love Like a Porn Star: A Cautionary Tale by Jenna Jameson


592 pages

Completed 2/18/11

As expected from a stripper turned porn star turned mogul, this was a raunchy tell-all with photos along the way. Venturing into her abusive relationships with men, her drug addictions, love affairs with women, unhealthy familial relationships, and a troubled adolescence, Jameson doesn't reveal much that isn't accessible on her IMDB page, other than the nitty gritty details of her sexual escapades. Surprisingly, her writing isn't half bad, and she actually came off more intelligent that you'd expect.

The last few chapters, about husband Jay and her quest to get pregnant, annoyed me, if only because I know that marriage dissolved in 2006 when she then went on to have children with her current husband. I also found myself wanting to erase my Google history, as I was curious about a lot of the people she mentioned throughout the book. Overall, an interesting read, but nothing to rave about.

2011: Book 13

I Was A Doctor in Auschwitz by Dr. Gisella Perl


191 pages

Completed 2/15/11

This short but heart-wrenching tale of Dr. Perl, an obstetrician given atrocious conditions to "heal" the condemned during the Holocaust, she was deemed the "Angel and Abortionist" in more recent years. Conducting manual abortions in the filthy barracks, Perl saved both mothers from immediate death and newborns from entering such conditions, doomed for death. The emotion felt by Perl is conveyed in short, layman terms, but the reader cannot help but ache for this woman trained to bring healthy babies into the world to mothers who so desperately wanted them who was forced to abort the very lives she strived to create.

Saved from death, albeit barely, because of her doctoring skills, when liberation nears Auschwitz, Perl is forced to travel to the horrific Belsen Bergen camp, where death seemed inevitable. But the end of the war came, and with it, months more of caring for the ill and wounded. While this memoir was devastating and atrocious, what I found in my copy of it shook me to the core.

I picked my copy up when I worked at a used bookstore and it came in but wasn't eligible to be shelved for sale. It's sat on my bookshelf for the last year or so, and I finally picked it up. I wasn't halfway through, when I realized something was written on the inside cover:

I recommend this book to read for my son because we with my husband arrived 1944 to Auschwitz in a cattle wagon 80 person in one truck, there in the raine [sic] night had to 5 in a line stand hours for selection. They took him left side and the same night put him to the gas chambers and cremate [sic] him. I was taken to cut off all my hair naked...(illegible)...get a few smaller to cover my body to the Bloges in Birkenom (Auschwitz) where I went through the same story what in this book Dr. Gisella Perl writing. - Read this book please to remember how you lost your Father also should read my grandchildren, to know what we went through and shouldn't happen again. 

It is then signed in writing I am having a hard time deciphering, and I am in the process of attempting to find out this woman's name. It looks like Elysa or Olga and either Kerenya or Keremyi or the like. Something about this note, knowing that the person who'd been in possession of the book before me, had experienced the unspeakable horrors accounted for in Perl's story really got to me. I was even more disturbed when I came across passages underlined and notes scribbled in the margins of the Belsen Bergen camp chapter:

January 1945...The highways were crowded with endless columns of marching slaves almost naked in the icy winter, sick and starving human skeletons driven with whips and guns. Those who were too weak to keep up with the column were brained with gun butts. Dead bodies littered the ditches on both sides of the highway, indicating that other camps had previously been evacuated. Those who were brought to Belsen Bergen in cattle cars were no better off than those who had to walk. From this transport me and ...(illegible)...Fischer escaped by one dark night, and they didn't notice, because they shot so many girls they didn't know the right number anymore. We hidden [sic] ourself of snow covered but this like we doing our urine, and we stay there until the transport continue [sic] walking away. Germany this time had the trouble with the near Russian bombing and they running by self also [sic]. How we managing to be free this is another story.


No words can describe the thoughts going through my head when I completed this memoir and thought about this woman whose pen had touched the pages.

2011: Book 12

My Incredibly Wonderful, Miserable Life: An Anti-Memoir by Adam Nimoy


304 pages

Completed 2/14/11

The son of Spock, Nimoy presents his memoir in simple, but enjoyable short chapters, revealing a not-so-surprising life of a Hollywood star's son. A recovering alcoholic and addict, Nimoy's year following his separation from his wife, and subsequently his two children, is full of self-discovery, recovery, and making amends. Confronting his shaky relationship with his father, also a recovering alcoholic, and dealing with the emotions that come along with the new changes in his life, Nimoy is likable and well-written.

His relationship with his children is most touching. If nothing else comes through to the reader, Nimoy is definitely a good father, despite his past faults. I do wish that more attention had been paid to his unsalvageable marriage, as I was unclear what really went on. All in all, a not-so-miserable memoir.

2011: Book 11

Growing Up Jung: Coming of Age as the Son of Two Shrinks by Micah Toub


261 pages

Completed 2/13/11

If you are a fan of Carl Jung or Freud's early work, this is the memoir for you. Raised by two Jungian psychologists, Michah Toub finds himself relating to the outside world with a very Jungian point of view. The interludes of story are connected in a very research-paper way, so if you are not looking to feel as if this is a required reading book for your Psych class, I'd skip it.

I, however, as a Psych major, enjoyed this book thoroughly. Toub's humorous tales of coming of age, love and loss, and his parents eccentricities amused, and the history, background, and personal opinions of Jung and his approach to the field of psychology were informational. I did expect more eccentricity, I suppose, but Toub's well-adjusted self was much unlike what I was hoping for. Running With Scissors this was not.

2011: Book 10

Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace by Ayelet Waldman


224 pages

Completed 2/12/11

I've been a fan of Waldman's since reading Daughter's Keeper, and this memoir/short-story format reveals the author's true self - good and bad. I had actually wanted to read this book since the controversy surrounding Waldman regarding her blog comment that she loves her husband more than her children made it all the way to Oprah. As someone who does not care for children, I was intrigued that someone who actually had their own children could express such things - especially in a public sector.

Offering a glimpse into each of her four children's psyches and personalities without being a book about children, Waldman maintains a humorous perspective, all the while keeping a non-annoying stance that she is just not good enough to be mother to these children. With a family history of bipolar, a gut-wrenching decision to terminate a pregnancy, and her tougher-than-nails approach to the literary world - and its critics - I finished this easy read quickly, and with a newfound respect for Waldman.

2011: Book 9

Delivering Doctor Amelia: The Story of a Gifted Young Obstetrician's Error and the Psychologist Who Helper Her by Dan Shapiro


272 pages


Completed 2/10/11


This memoir written in intermittent therapy sessions and narrator's stories was emotional and well-writtten. Young psychologist Shapiro and his young physician patient Amelia feel genuine feelings, and Shapiro does a wonderful job communicating these.

When obstetrician Amelia makes an avoidable error during a delivery, forever altering the family, and her own, life, she becomes despondent and cannot imagine ever returning to medicine. With Shapiro's insightful therapy techniques, besotted with his own feelings towards the patient, this is a great read for anyone interested in medicine, psychotherapy, or a touch of honesty.