Customer Reviews

I Was Born Dead: A Memoir

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

 

 

Reading David Rehak's new book is like looking into his soul. It is written as though he is speaking to the person reading the book, and the personal photographs he has included make the book even more personal. It's as though David has physically opened himself up, extracted all his thoughts/memories and somehow formed them into words that so aptly describe all his feelings.

He makes fun/light of himself as well as everyone else he mentions in the book. No one and nothing is spared - all events are told with some honesty and a whole lot of irreverence. Some of the events (like the sojourns with Pastor Cal ) have been "verbally enhanced" for a fun read. Well, at least most of the book is fun. Then, close to the end of the book, a love story unfolds. The ending of the book, as well as the love story, is very powerful and poignant.

I really like this book a lot - honest, funny, interesting, heart warming, etc. And in a way it is so very unique and unusual. I haven't seen a book quite like it before. Reading it is like listening to someone talk and spill their guts out about everything - very easy casual read.

David Rehak's reminiscences have the magical feeling of Dustin Hoffman's re-telling of his life in the movie 'Little Big Man'. In the movie Hoffman traveled the west meeting up with interesting and bizarre characters as he roams the west learning as he goes.

So too does Rehak, as he starts from his birth, with involving details, as he roams America and then the Czech Republic. Frank discussions with people about life, death, politics and sex are given and sometimes forced on Rehak, making him think, re-act, learn and sometimes protect his mind from radicals he encounters on the way.

I think this memoir should be celebrated as a unique, off the wall, chronicle, much like Bob Dylan's poetic rambling memoir. Rehak holds a reader's attention and makes one ponder on what he would do in the situations that Rehak came upon in his life travels.

I really enjoyed this book. I took my time with it, reading it when I wanted to relax and get into it. I wish the title wasn't 'I was Born Dead', and more of a poetic traveling sounding title such as, well, I don't know after thinking for a minute, but I guess the author didn't want to sound like other memiors, so maybe it's okay. However, it reads great.

David Rehak was born in Czechoslovakia while it was under communist rule.

While a child, Rehak and his family decided to escape to the West. He grew up in Canada and now lives in the Czech Republic. In his memoir, Rehak tells the story of his life, starting from birth up to the present.

Rehak uses humor to lighten up the mood of his tough life story. While his tale doesn't have the perfect happy ending, the reader is taken through the whirlwinds - the ups and downs - of a man who survived, no matter what the cost.

While the words paint the story perfectly, it is only enhanced with the pictures that are seen throughout the memoir.

Reviewed by: Steph

I managed to get a bound galley of this book w/synopsis. This book is one big quirky parody of certain parts of American and European culture. Oftentimes funny, at other times sad and moving, and always perceptive and insightful. First he must encounter and overcome obstacles and adversity as a little boy growing up in a new foreign country, Canada. Then he comes down to the United States to live with a family of fundies and confronts them with his moderate sensible self, showing how God's message is a message of love. Finally, as an adult, he returns to his homeland in Europe and finds the girl of his dreams, but when it's discovered that she has brain cancer, Rehak is faced with his biggest challenge of all.

A truly hilarious and ingeniously satirical memoir which will touch your heart and tickle your funnybone all throughout, transforming the mundane into the delightfully memorable. This is one of those books that stays with you and lingers in the mind for a long time afterwards..

So this is the lifestory of the writer of that awful garbage book"Did lizzie Borden axe for it"...Written in the same amateur,soporific style as the Borden opus,this book puts one to sleep after only a few pages...and that is quite a feat given that according to Mr.Rehak he's led a very eventful life,and continues to do so...Why is it i wonder that so many people feel that the world is just waiting to hear thier boring lifestories?Even as fiction this volume stinks.Please Mr.Rehack,stop writing.

This book caught my attention right away. I really like the style used to write the memoir. However, after several pages of good reading the writing becomes quite vulgar. I rarely quit reading a book so I gave this one a fair chance, but the subject continued to get worse. I wouldn not recommend this book.

I don't normally give reviews unless they are good; in this case, however, I purchased the book because of the favorable reviews it received. Mr. Rehak is funny and insightful, but I found the book so poorly written that it was difficult to read. I think there is a story in there, somewhere, but it appears to have never been edited or even proof-read for spelling and grammatical errors. I applaud anyone who is courageous enough to put his or her story into words, but care should be taken to present the story in a cohesive, readable manner. If you can wade through the rambling story and get through the mistakes in the book, Mr. Rehak does have some humorous tales and, as I said, is quite insightful.

I'm not used to reading memoirs or autobiography except for Augusten Burroughs' or The Glass Castle, but as I was already familiar with some of Rehak's gripping novels and strange true crime book about the notorious hatchet-lover LizzieB., I felt quite enticed to see his intimate life story. I'm glad I took a chance because this was great. And you don't have to know his other books to enjoy this.

Some of the humor is in-your-face obvious, and some of it is more subtle, witty, ironic, or positively irreverent. The dialogue at times is something else. Better than any wacky comedy skit on TV. All I can say is wow. I couldn't believe what I was reading!!! I've discovered that this author has a reputation for testing boundaries, well, this is refreshingly the case. What he writes in this book is not exactly prverted, it's just, well, unmentionable! How to explain? I can't ! Err! Lol . Kind of like, it's true, but hush you're not supposed to say it! And he makes fun of himself just as much as other things. There are so many outrageous incidents in this book. Certainly a ...colorful... life.

I've mentioned the humor, but there's also some very touching passages. I was amazed by the last parts of the book especially. I swear, no one can write about young love as well as this.

There are also many personal photographs, which add to and compliment the writing.

Once again, Rehak has penned a book that is very different from others out there and a total page-turner, I'm not kidding. You get the feeling from reading this semi-autobiographical account that it's factually fanciful at times but probably impressionistically accurate and definitely vivid and sooo entertaining. I literally couldn't put it down. One of my favorite books for a long time for absolute sure. I can't fully put my enthusiasm in words right now just having finished it. Just get your hands on it somehow, read it and you'll see exactly what I'm trying to describe here.