Twins (Hardcover)

~ Ruth Sandweiss (Author), Rachel Sandweiss (Author), (Author, Photographer) "John and Joseph LaChappa, nine-month-old identical twins, were born into the Kumeyaay tribe on the Barona Indian Reservation in San Diego, California..." (more)
Key Phrases: twin relationship, being twins, Jim Springer, Jim Lewis, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the preface to their collection of photos and personal essays, authors Ruth and Rachel Sandweiss express their desire to "shed light on human relationships in a way that brings us all together." Indeed, the words expressed by the twins featured herein offer insight into the human dilemmas of communication and forgiveness. Twin Aldo Andretti celebrates his brother Mario's car-racing victories, all the while admitting that he wishes it could have been himself, because he also raced as a young man. In another example, twin brothers struggled together to survive the Holocaust, using their inherent sense of teamwork to persevere. Conjoined twin girls develop amazing coordination and cooperation in moving together, yet affirm their individuality in their differing interests and personalities. Some twins work and live together; others enthusiastically support each other in different careers from different sides of the country.

The subject of companionship comes up frequently, and how twins relate to a spouse or lover coming between them. For some, "breaking up" with their twin is a continual difficulty, or an experience they have never allowed to happen. For others, the closeness and support of their twin relationship has allowed them to develop intimacy in other relationships. Whatever the specifics, these open and thoughtful essays convey that twin relationships, like so many human relationships, may be complicated and fraught with tension, but are also filled with love. --Gilia Angell

From Library Journal

These books gather all sorts of twins together to explore the unique relationships they share. The Book of Twins, by two of the owners of the New York restaurant Twins, profiles a variety of twins (and one set of triplets) by juxtaposing photographs with brief and generally cheery text. The enthusiastic Ganz sisters (with Tresniowski, a writer for People) look at celebrity twins, twins who married twins, conjoined twins, belly dancing twins, and more. Profiles like the one of a man who lost his twin or of twin sisters facing one sister's cancer offer insight into the complexity twins face during crises. Intermittent sidebars with more twin information (e.g., trends in multiple births, lists of famous twins) add interest. The Sandweiss sisters delve a little deeper into the complexity of twin relationships. Similar in design to the Ganz book, Twins provides more depth of character to each twin, moving further into questions of identity and solidarity. The authors focus on a good mix of twin sets, including their share of famous twins (e.g., Mario and Aldo Andretti, Muhammad Ali's twin daughters). Though both of these could be considered coffee-table books, they are page-turners for people interested in how twins feel about their lives. The increase in multiple births may spark interest in this topic, but since the books cover a lot of the same territory, libraries can take their pick.?Rebecca Miller, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Running Press Book Publishers; illustrated edition edition (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762404043
• ISBN-13: 978-0762404049
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #241,824 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genuine and inspiratinal for twins and non-twins!, September 29, 2000

By	New mom (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This book truly touched my heart. I am a twin and felt that it honestly portrayed the many complex and deep emotions and issues that twins experience. I can't wait to share this book with my twin and family! And there are so many amazing people in the book. I didn't realize Muhammad Ali and Jane Seymour had twins. And how different each relationship can be, yet also have such commonalities. I absolutely love this book and find myself opening it up often to read an essay and look at the beautiful photos.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book about twins that doesn't have research, May 31, 2006

By	Callista "from SMS Book Reviews" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: TWINS A Celebration (Hardcover)

It was refreshing to read a book about twins that wasn't all research and statistics. This book tells a short story about the lives of twins that are either famous or have accomplished something extraordinary or stick out in some other way. Notables are Muhammad Ali's twin daughter, the Hennessy's, Tamera and Tia (Sister Sister show), Mario Andretti and his twin Aldo and Jane Seymour's twin boys. Also the story of the Jim Twins (in every book about twins) and the famous Hensel conjoined twins.

Very interesting reading, and I agree it's a good coffee table book. I do think they should have more boy-girl and other fraternal twins sets represented though.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational!, May 6, 1999

By A Customer

Not only do the "twin authors" provide a first-hand glimpse into the world of "being a twin"...but through the plethora of inspiring interviews with "real-life" twins, they gave me the "real-life" gift of stopping to think of "being human!"