Customer Reviews

A Desperate Passion: An Autobiography

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This autobiography by Helen Caldicott is stunning in the information it offers. Caldicott is one of the most important women of our century and her discussion with Ronald Reagan's daughter is worth the price of the book alone. Caldicott as a nationally renown antinuclear activist --full of knowledge and bravier in her cause, had the credentials and intelligence to fight the good fight and her memoir of her adventures in doing so opens the eyes wide and fills the mind with jarring reality. She is a life saver, a gift to our salvation on earth--a woman one wants to know and understand and empathize with. Blessings on this book. Buy it. It will light up your mind with her intelligence and caring spirit. All of her books are vital as can be. Buy them. Read them and share them. Daniela Gioseffi, Author of WOMEN ON WAR: International Voices for the Nuclear Age, American Book Award, 1990

I wavered between giving this three and four stars, but decided on three stars for folks who don't know anything about Caldicott. Those of us who are either already fans of her personally, or care deeply about anti-nuclear and environmental issues, would more likely give it at least four stars. Dr. Caldicott is an inspiration to anyone who either wants to make a difference in the world, or fears that no one person can. She started on her anti-nuclear campaign as an Australian pediatrician and concerned mother -- writing an angry letter to the editor about French nuclear tests in the South Pacific (which did not get published) -- and went on to found Physicians for Social Responsibility and to inspire millions. I've seen Dr. Caldicott speak twice, and she's a marvel. She has authored other books, _Missile Envy_ and _If You Love This Planet_ among them, about more specific issues; this is a very personal account, in which she is honest about her failures, disappointments, setbacks, loneliness, and fear of death. But it is ultimately a triumph of the will and spirit. I wish her many more years of health, happiness, and successful activism.

An unexciting, uninvolving autobiography. Where's the "passion"? The history is interesting to a point, but the nitty-gritty seems to be lacking. Given Caldicott's powerful speech making and her powerful writing in If You Love This Planet, this desiccated book is a big disappointment. People and events simply don't come alive here.

Helen Caldicott tells her story on two levels: her fight against uninformed, uninterested and unmotivated politicians ( and the public at that time) to expose the dangers of nuclear energy - and her disarmingly honest look at the toll such a fight took on her marriage and family. I found her book fascinating in both relms. It educated me about the terrible danger to the miners and others exposed to the minerals used in these plants. It frightened me to think of what is happening now in Japan and what dangers those people are experiencing - perhaps not wholly disclosed by the nuclear power plant officials.
But equally interesting were all the psychological insights into her family and herself that Dr. Caldicott so generously and with deep honesty shares. Many many thanks to this scientist for her dedication and humble forthrightness. There is so much wisdom in this book...