22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Warning! This Book Leads to Buying More Books!, January 10, 2007
This review is from: The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them (Hardcover)
They should have a warning on the cover of this innocent-looking little tome that it leads to more book buying. After reading this book, you will most definitely run to your local bookstore (fortunately, I was sitting in Barnes & Noble as I read this book and ended up buying the two books that changed Anne Lamott's life along with this book).
Many of the authors' favorite books were predictable: "Catcher in the Rye", "The Lord of the Rings", and "Jane Eyre" to name a few. The most interesting part of these 71 little essays was discovering how the authors discovered these books and why they had such a profound effect on their lives.
If you love books about books, then this treasure is a must-own. It's on my "Do Not Ever Loan Out" list, it's that good!
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
WOW!, October 25, 2006
This review is from: The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them (Hardcover)
Writers from all walks of the publishing industry have come together to share their thoughts on the most influential books in their lives. Seventy-one authors, journalists, and other published professionals have written about how their lives were affected by everything from THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD, to THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, to THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO.
Some authors were motivated by plot and description, others by characterization, and still others by embedded messages. Just reading through these accounts of life-changing books, readers of this collection can't help but to be influenced by the sheer enthusiasm shared by some remarkable individuals.
In the highly commendable effort to raise funds for the Read to Grow Foundation, the editors have pledged to donate all their proceeds to promote literacy.
In truth, the readers are who will become richer for having read this volume. It is not a mere book, but an experience.
Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
10/25/2005
Postscript: I was so taken by what I read in this book that I literally forgot to write this review for nearly a week. It inspired me to get back to work on my own writing, and in the past week, when not reading, I've been writing. Such was the power between the covers of a deceptively diminutive volume.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Window Onto Other Lives, June 17, 2007
This review is from: The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them (Hardcover)
In this book, 71 notable people, most of whom are themselves authors, write brief essays telling what books have had the biggest influence on them. Since each essay ends with a thumbnail biography of its writer, you get a double list of leads for further reading here. You get the 71+ books cited as being life-changing, and you get the works of the 71 people who did the citing.
Actually, you get even further lists of recommended reading from this book. That's because its editors post their own favorites lists on the last pages.
Quite a few of the essays here have a breezy, quickly-jotted quality, perhaps showing their origins as forms filled out in response to the editors' mailed requests to, "Tell us what book changed your life." However several of the essays, such as Da Cheng's recollection of "The Count of Monte Cristo" releasing him from his childhood oppressions in China - are perfect, polished little pieces in and of themselves.
The books that people said mattered to them cover a startling range, and are often unexpected choices. You will find everything from Frank McCourt's appreciation of the "jewels-in-your-mouth" words of Shakespeare's "Henry VIII," to Claire Cook's gratitude for the Nancy Drew Mysteries and Jeff Benedict's mention of "The Little Engine That Could."
There are a few striking qualities that these influential books hold in common though. I notice that almost none of them were required reading in school. Rather, these were books that their readers came upon privately, by almost magical serendipity, and often even in contexts that made them illicit pleasures.
Then too, almost all the books mentioned were fiction. No tracts of deeply political/economic philosophy turned up, of the kind that so many people in the past might have claimed decided their paths. There was no mention of Karl Marx or Adam Smith, or "The Federalist Papers." What people seemed to gravitate towards were other lives, lived in different, freer circumstances.
This book, with its short chapters, makes for easy bedside reading. In fact, you might want to make a point of taking this book in small doses. When I was a little girl, I remember reading one of Bennett Cerf's joke books. Occasionally, a little policeman would appear at the bottom of a page. My mother and I would laugh at this fierce little fellow, scowling and holding up his hand, warning us to "Stop!" He was telling us not to gobble too many jokes in one sitting, because they might become sating rather than side-splitting. It's possible that just such a little policeman should have appeared occasionally in this book in order to get you to pause to digest each contributor's recommendation and wisdom.
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