"God'll Cut You Down: The Tangled Tale of a White Supremacist, a Black Hustler, a Murder, and How I Lost a Year in Mississippi", by John Safran - Book Review

A long, complicated title for a similarly long, complicated book. I read about God’ll Cut You Down in Garden & Gun magazine, one geared specifically to Southerners, and had to get it.

Author John Safran, a Jewish Australian documentarian, pursued the story because he had spent time with murdered white supremacist, Richard Barrett. Why Safran knew Barrett is a titillating story on its own and is explained in the book.

The title sets the scene. Barrett’s partially charred body is found in a field in front of his house with multiple stab wounds. Vincent McGee, a young black man who had been in trouble more than out, is the suspect. Why? Well, in addition to being the last person to be with Barrett, he confessed. The twist? It might have been self-defense.

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"Drink: The Intimate Relationship between Women and Alcohol", by Ann Dowsett Johnston - Book Review

Drink: The Intimate Relationship between Women and Alcohol is a sobering look – pun intended – at the role that alcohol plays in the lives of women. Ann Dowsett Johnston adeptly combines a well-researched analysis of women and drinking in today’s society with her own personal walk through alcoholism into sobriety. By using her own drinking history as a jumping off point for her research, she provides a vulnerability that makes the book much more relatable than had she just reported her findings.

Drink focuses on the dangers that women specifically face as it relates to alcohol, ones very different than those faced by men. Differences that start early on since most women, often as girls, start drinking to escape from whatever it is that ails them – insecurity, fear, abuse and neglect.

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Finding Yourself in “All The Wrong Places”, by Philip Connors - Book Review

Many of us take a meandering path through life, unsure of the next step or even the goal. Author Philip Connors has honestly exposed with us his own life’s twisty trail. In his memoir All The Wrong Places: A Life Lost and Found, Connors has chronicled a series of experiences focusing on pivotal stages in his life. Though each chapter centers upon a different aspect, the common thread throughout is his brother’s death, and the burden of culpability he must finally address.

Connors worked in journalism, first as an intern for The Nation, then the copy desk of the Wall Street Journal. He relays his story through that journalistic lens - with writing that is eloquent, thoughtful, direct and  emotional, yet matter-of-fact. So we read of the tumult and anxiety he experiences, but don’t become entrenched in the sentiment. It’s a work of sensitive, authentic and articulate writing that resonated with me. In describing his move to the Gila wilderness in New Mexico late in the book he writes, “The place tore me down and remade me; its indifference to my cares and sorrows was magisterial and, in unexpected ways, comforting. I had believed that the streets of New York were the pinnacle of indifference to the individual human life and I had been mistaken.”

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Parenting Without Power Struggles, Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids While Staying Cool, Calm and Connected, by Susan Stiffleman

Having a soon to be three year old, I read this book with the hopes of learning how to navigate disagreements with my son without acting like a toddler myself. Right off the bat, Stiffelman suggests that threats and bribery, two methods I routinely use at dinner, are ineffective. She advises that to be an effective “Captain of the Ship,” a parent needs to come along side a child rather than right at them.  Threats and bribery, she argues, turn child and parent into ‘two attorneys’ locked in battle with no one in charge. This rang true to me especially since I am an attorney.

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Love Life, by Rob Lowe - Book Review

Knowing Rob Lowe as the gorgeous Brat Pack bad boy with a sex tape that almost derailed his career, I began Love Life, Lowe’s most recent autobiography, with low expectations. But this book changed my mind entirely. Intellectual, insightful and funny, Lowe uses his life experiences to give his reader tips for living a fuller and richer life and shows how he’s managed to navigate the Hollywood world with his family, mind and sobriety in tact.

Lowe relishes in the successes of his career but is also quick to point out the one offs. Turning down the role of Dr. Derek Shepard on Grey’s Anatomy to star on a show that was cancelled almost immediately might seem a failure to most. But to Lowe, it was a learning experience that positioned him for the next right role; a nine year stint on Parks & Recreation as the consummate optimist, Chris Trager.

Emphasizing the significance he places on being a dad and crediting his wife for his biggest successes in life, he shows his true heart lies with his family. His chapter about taking his eldest son to college will leave you teary eyed.

Meanwhile, his anecdotes about his first trip to the Playboy Mansion, his beyond awkward ‘love scene’ with Jewel and his off screen antics with Matt Damon on the set of Behind the Candelabra are laugh out loud funny.

Lowe is not without a touch of arrogance about his successes in show biz but, seriously, would we expect any different from a man who truly seems to get better looking with age? He also had me writing down some of his sayings in my journal, poignant to the last page. “Be creative in adding drama and scope to your life,” he says, and through his prose demonstrated he did just that for himself. 

Published:  2015
Publisher:  Simon & Schuster

Elizabeth's Rating: 4 Stars

3 Great Reasons to Read Outpost: Life on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy - Book Review

Always interested in government, politics and current affairs, I typically stick with reading the news and do some online research versus reading biographies. However, the memoir Outpost: Life on the Frontlines of American Diplomacy caught my eye and after reading a few early reviews, I had to read it. It was a good choice.

Former Ambassador Christopher Hill first arrived on my radar screen when he led the Six Party Talks in an attempt to bring an end to North Korean nuclear weapon production. In addition to the U.S., the effort included Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and North Korea, and Hill was picking up where his predecessor left off.  Nothing is easy with the N. Koreans, and Hill’s work was cut out for him.  But not just with the Pyongyang - working with the other countries had its own challenges.  Oh, and there is our own government — no easy task there either.

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