Book Description
A beautifully packaged book of spiritual ruminations with a progressive political edge, from the incomparable Pulitzer Prize-winner—a woman who has devoted her life to befriending the earth.

From the Introduction: "In fact, the happiness that imbues this kind of (impersonal) friendship, whether for an individual or a country, or an act, is like an inner light, a compass we might steer by as we set out across the lengthening darkness. It comes from the simple belief that what one is feeling and doing is right. That it is right to protect rather than terrorize others; right to feed people rather than withhold food (and medicine); right to want the freedom and joyful existence of all human kind. Right to want this freedom and joy for all creatures that exist already, or that might come into existence. Existence, we are now learning, is not finished! It is a happiness that comes from honoring the peace or the possibility of peace that lives within one's own heart. A deep knowing that we are the earth—our separation from Earth perhaps our greatest illusion—and that we stand, with gratitude and love, by our planetary Self.

Author of the perennially bestselling novel The Color Purple, Alice Walker has long been a force for sanity in a chaotic world. In We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For she draws on her deep spiritual grounding, her political conviction and experience, and her literary gifts to offer a series of meditations filled with wisdom, hope, encouragement, and, at times, serenity to a world in need of all these things. The perfect gift for Alice Walker fans and anyone who longs for peace, on earth and within, this lovely volume will be embraced for its wise insights and mature compassion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Packed with inspiration
I bought this for my sister but read the first half of the book before giving it to her.Now I need my own copy!Alice Walker is always uplifting and full of wisdom.

Inspirational and Uplifting
A friend of mine gave me this book and I read it in 2 days. Loved it!I find that Alice Walker can share some of the most horrendous stories that have been done to her people, and yet, I as the reader, come away, feeling as though there is still hope for us as human beings, and most of all hope for myself in becoming the best
that I can be.So appreciate her gifted writing.
Sherri Rosen Publicity, NYC

May not rock your world, but may light your path.
I purchased this after hearing an on-air interview of Alice Walker by Amy Goodman on Pacifica Radio and enjoyed the journey through these essays.I encourage those intrigued by the title to take the plunge and buy it.We are the ones we have been waiting for, and it is helpful at times to have someone light the way in a time of darkness.

Opening one's eyes and heart
I normally don't pay much attention to the Editorial Reviews, but the review from Publishers Weekly has to be the lamest review I have ever read. It seems as if this reviewer has broken down this book in order to fit into some sort of actuarial table or spreadsheet. I originally took this book out of the library because of the essay about her and address to Black Yoga Teachers in the current issue of "The Shambhala Sun." I was stunned by Ms Walker's grasp of the overwhelming interconnectedness of seemingly paradoxical forces of energy that we create and create the life around us. Issues such as knowledge, kindness, compassion, the persistence of evil, the necessity of nonviolence, the love of the utter importance of the Feminine element in the life of the world. Of contradictions like Castro who, despite the rigidness of his regime, articulates the true needs of themajority of people in the world. She is eloquent in her meditations on silence, on simplicity, on the values of personal "neighborliness", for lack of a better word, on the intrinsic sacredness of the earth and each other. I cannot praise this book enough. I got it from our library and am now buying my own personal copy to treasure and scribble in.

Awesome prose
Ms. Walker is an awesome writer. I became addicted to her writing after reading this one. She has down to earth insight, a very thoughtful way of looking at things. This is a must-read for anyone concerned with world violence, oppression, human degradation, poverty, global warming, as well as other issues. It's full of hope. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (13)

amazing
Alice Walker is insightful and thorough in her examination of literature. I especially enjoy her piece about Flannery O'Connor.

A must read for Empowered women!
This book helped me gain my voice.I love it so much -- I have two copies of it and I would still not be willing to loan one out.Alice Walker is a powerful visual writer and a Gift to the Womanist Academy!

The Loss of Black Creativity Due To Slavery
In her essay concerning post-Reconstruction African-American women, Alice Walker seeks to put a human face on what Americans may otherwise only remember as an unfortunate scar on our glorious history.She asks, "Who were the Saints?These crazy, loony, pitiful women?"And in answering herself, she replies in repetition, "our mothers and grandmothers." These are the human faces to which she has attributed all that is contemporary Black America.

"Moving to music not yet written," Walker's image of the former female slave is one, not necessarily of a battered laborer, nor of a heifer being kept only because of her ability to breed valuable livestock, but rather as an artist ahead of her time. These women made beauty while amidst horrible conditions. These women were not merely ex-slaves, but they were "Poets, Novelists, Essayists, and Short-Story Writers" whose potential was never met, and dreams were never realized.For this reason, Walker attempts to embolden and even mobilize African-American women with the responsibility of realizing the potential of black creativity denied their ancestors.

Walker asks, "Do you have a genius of a great-great-grandmother who died under some ignorant and depraved white overseers lash?"What an amazing question to ask.How many geniuses and artists were slain by the horror of slavery?Americans spend a lot of time and energy thinking about the economic, political, and social restrictions slavery imposed on African Americans, but I have never even heard elusions to the loss of black creativity due to slavery.I too have given more thought to the socioeconomic inequality within black America than I've ever given to the stifling of their creative ability. Perhaps, we should give this idea more thought, for it was the efforts of these "poets" in everyday life that transported black women to where they are today, and have arguably elevated the intellect, creativity, and soul of an entire nation.

Thought provoking; this is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the effects of slavery, especially those effects that go beyond our typical understanding of oppression.

The Idealogy behind Womanism
This is a good book for anyone doing Post-Colonial literature.It gives a precise view of what the woman stands for, her aspirations, flexibility and resilience in the world of patriarchy.Alice walker gives her definition for the term 'Womanism' in crisp and confident tones and it is indeed a boost for women writers within the post-colonial world trying to find a place for themselves on the literary scene and in creating a new canon.

Touching Essays by a brilliant writer.
When I finished this book I knew I was going to miss the things it said to me.Alice Walker wrote brilliantly about her own struggles, her passion for other people to discover Zora Neale Hurston, the civil rights movement, and her work as a black feminist.So many subjects are touched in this book that jumps back and forth through 20+ years.Walker is inspritational to all woman.As a writer she shows one the strength to succeed not in business but loving yourself as well as working to achieve equal rights for everyone no matter the sex or the color.Her essays are moving written like a painting.Her words are beautiful and inspire.The few poems that she used in this collection are the best i have ever seen.She is honest about her experiences in hopes that we all might learn from her and take to a cause.We are the makers of our future.I would read this book again and it establishes to me that Alice Walker is a gifted writer who has become one of my favorites. ... Read more

Book Description
The New York Times-bestselling book of spiritual ruminations with a progressive political edge from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author.

A New York Times bestseller in hardcover, Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker's We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For was called "stunningly insightful" and "a book that will inspire hope" by Publishers Weekly.

Drawing equally on Walker's spiritual grounding and her progressive political convictions, each chapter concludes with a recommended meditation to teach us patience, compassion, and forgiveness. We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For takes on some of the greatest challenges of our times and in it Walker encourages readers to take faith in the fact that, despite the daunting predicaments we find ourselves in, we are uniquely prepared to create positive change.

The hardcover edition of We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For included a national tour that saw standing-room-only crowds and standing ovations. Walker's clear vision and calm meditative voice—truly "a light in darkness"—has struck a deep chord among a large and devoted readership. ... Read more

Book Description
In this exquisite book, Alice Walker’s first new collection of poetry since 1991, are poems that reaffirm her as “one of the best American writers of today” (The Washington Post). The forces of nature and the strength of the human spirit inspire the poems in Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth. Alice Walker opens us to feeling and understanding, with poems that cover a broad spectrum of emotions. With profound artistry, Walker searches for, discovers, and declares the
fundamental beauty of existence, as she explores what it means to experience life fully, to learn from it, and to grow both as an individual and as part of a greater spiritual community.

About Walker’s Horses Make a Landscape Look More Beautiful, America said, “In the tradition of Whitman, Walker sings, celebrates and agonizes over the ordinary vicissitudes that link and separate all of humankind,” and the same can be said about this astonishing new collection, Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Poems for Everywoman
I have enjoyed the work of Alice Walker from a distance. For years I have thought she seemed like an interesting individual, one worthy of much admiration.

In this collection of poetry, though, that admiration turned into soulful, connected admiration as it felt as if we linked arms and sat around a fire together, her poems as the guiding force to a deep and meaningful friendship.

I never imagined her thinking, as she writes in the introduction, "Will I write?" and then coming to a time of personal quiet following the events of September 11 and turning that moment of quiet into a time of walking through life, asking questions and then - following a Rilkean model - living the questions and holding a word-mirror to her life and those questions and writing down what was reflected.

She writes of sensuality, mortality, vitality... look:

She writes, in "Loss of Vitality"....

"Loss of Vitality
is a sign
tThat
Things have gone
wrong

It is like
sitting on
a sunny pier
wondering whether
to swing
your feet"

I discovered Alice Walker is a woman who writes poems with refrigerator magnets and then writes them down, for us to read and enjoy later.

I discovered she is like me.

Every woman should read this book. And every person who loves every woman should read this book. Maybe even read a poem a day, together.

Absolute Trust in Goodness
It's no secret what Alice Walker can do with words in books.Just when I thought I'd read it all by this wonderful woman, this poetry collection took me to new heights.I found myself indulging in her soulfelt musing in bed, in the bath in between times with my children and just any time I had a moment to read it.I read these poems like a novel, because in actuality, it's what they really are.

If you don't have this poetry collection yet, you're already missing out on one of the best books of poetry out there. Get it!

The color blue
Alice Walker seems to love the color blue.I didn't count how often, but blue is woven in and out of the poems.It is like there is a blue ribbon of healing words sent out to the reader.

The poems weave a tale of the wonder of life and send out a call for the end of war and mistreatment of each other.Alice Walker sets an example of thanking and honoring friends for being who they are.

The poems in this book dusts off the reader and sets him/her off to do the work that needs to be done.

"This is the true wine of astonishment:
We are not
Over
When we think
We are."

Awesome, Moving Poems
Thank you a thousand times, Ms. Walker, for the gift of your new poems.They literally danced off the pages and into my soul as I read them.I enjoyed the preface and especially being introduced to the shaman/priestess/healer, Maria Sabina.My favorite poem is "Thanks for the Garlic".You are a beautiful, amazing Apprentice Elder and someone I definitely will emulate in my own journey to become......

Poems for the Soul
I saw Ms. Walker read poems from this book last night in Los Angeles.She spoke of how she thought she was done with writing and then the poetry started one day.She described the return to poetry as a "spring" beginning to flow again.Anyone involved in creative pursuits, such as writing poetry, can surely relate to the "spring" metaphor.These poems are simply beautiful and seem effortless as you read them.They seem to come from a vast, open space.Reading the poetry engages the reader in a celebration of life, the spirit, and hope for humanity.Highly recommended! ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

book that talks to the soul
My son asked me to read a short story by Alice Walker. He was analyzing different writing styles for a writing class. I was pleasantly taken back by the way she uses certain detailsto communicated to those of us who are not literature major's. I bought several of her books. In readingthem I found that she had retained a sense of her Africa culture. Her outlook is hoslitic and circular whilemost white writerswritelinear.
The purposeof writing is to communicate and Alice Walker does that. Her writing is not pretentious but humble like the people she writes about. Her writingmetaphorically legitimizes being black!

Something I'll read over and over again...loved it
A collection of short stories that I first read for a Black Literature class when I was in college in the '70....and here recently, shared it with my book club as our book of the month. Ms. Walker's writing style makes youfeel you are right there with the character. While each story presentsdifferent experiences of African-American women, women of all nationalitieswill be able to relate to the stories and the emotions. It's a fast pacedbook that is heart-warming, amusing, sad,....every emotion is touched.

Walker learned at the knee of Hurston....
Clearly no ground-breaking storyteller in the mold of Joyce,Ellison, or Hemingway, Walker IS, however, a very entertaining and resourceful author who is able to make up with charm what she lacks in originality and clarity of aesthetic vision. These stories, however, lean too hard against the trunk of Hurston's Eatonville folksy charm to make an indelible impression, and the sordidness which is featured in the narrative remains ill-conceived and dangerously ill-informed. For Walker's simple best, pick up a copy of her "The Color Purple", which remains landmark in its singularity of ambition and revisionistic approach to an otherwise- tired narrative form. ... Read more

Book Description
The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Color Purple, Possessing the Secret of Joy, and The Temple of My Familiar now gives us a beautiful new novel that is at once a deeply moving personal story and a powerful spiritual journey.

In Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart, Alice Walker has created a work that ranks among her ?nest achievements: the story of a woman’s spiritual adventure that becomes a passage through time, a quest for self, and a collision with love.

Kate has always been a wanderer. A well-published author, married many times, she has lived a life rich with explorations of the natural world and the human soul. Now, at fifty-seven, she leaves her lover, Yolo, to embark on a new excursion, one that begins on the Colorado River, proceeds through the past, and flows, inexorably, into the future. As Yolo begins his own parallel voyage, Kate encounters celibates and lovers, shamans and snakes, memories of family disaster and marital discord, and emerges at a place where nothing remains but love.

Told with the accessible style and deep feeling that are its author’s hallmarks, Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart is Alice Walker’s most surprising achievement. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Reponse to Mamala
Honestly, I haven't read this particular Walker work, though I just ordered it. But I had to laugh -- and respond -- to Mamala's statement that Walker "insists on seeing everything through the lens of a person of color" and that while beautiful in The Color Purple (in which the primary antagonists and oppressors are black men, themselves, of course, deeply damaged by racism) it's somehow less warm and fuzzy in this work. How dare Alice Walker insist on writing through the eyes of a black person! How dare John Updike insist on writing always through the eyes of a suburban white American well-to-do man! (Even when trying, and failing miserably, to write about a teenaged Muslim). Mamala, your words are self-evident. Stick to Ann Coulter

top three??
Despite enjoying previous works by this author, I actually stayed awake last night contemplating whether this novel was in my top three worst novels of all time. Why? It is meandering, cliched, downright offensive in terms of stereotypes and the main characters Kate and Yolo generally bear no resemblance to real people. To compound the problem, the other characters who play supporting roles are hollow shellsused merely to make didactic pointsabout oppression and abuse. Being black is depicted in terms of such simplistic stereotypes as "being more tolerant than anyone else", being native American is "being in touch with the land" and being white has nothing positive to say for it at all.
For example, the author seems unaware that if Kate actually lived in Africa as I do, her sexuality would be enough to get her thrown into jail by virtually every African government of the day and would result in her being an outcast by local communities. That's the level of tolerance here in the Motherland.
My point ultimately is that this novel is ahistorical, ill-informed and in terms of simple entertainment value - particularly tedious if you have anyinterest in wit, irony, insightfulness or relevance. Don't waste your money.

Very hard to get through
I'm a fan of Alice Walker (read the Color Purple too many times to count) but this book was very hard to get through. If you are not familiar with the language that she uses it will take you a long time to get trough. I usually read a book in about three days, this one took me all on August.

Way too new agey and pompous!
I love Alice Walker's philosophies, but I really found myself loathing the protagonist of this book.Kate was very self-satisfied and arrogant, I thought.I definitely preferred her lover's story/journey to Kate's.The new age aspect to it was a turnoff and though I do embrace some 'new age' practices, I just thought it was too much.Also, the book meandered too much, going from character to character without cohesion.All in all, I found myself forced to get through this since I just couldn't stand Kate.I would not suggest this book to others.

Open Your Mind to "Open Your Heart"
I frequently found myself remembering how I felt years back reading Walker's "Temple of My Familiar" -- a compelling plotline that encourages the reader to learn about new places and peoples while questioning his/her own beliefs.That being said, "Open Your Heart" may be more treasured by readers who have already opened up to broad spiritual concepts (ex. the feminine divine) as opposed to traditional formalized & Western religion. For those readers, I would also highly recommend "Dance of the Dissident Daughter" by Sue Monk Kidd.As for me, I got "Open Your Heart" from the library & plan to buy my own copy to re-read again & again as I predict I will get more from it each time.I don't see Walker attempting to promote any "philosophy" except a willingness to accept those who find God outside of church or temple walls. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, is an international activist and self-professed womanist. This pleasing collection of short essays amounts to a very personal stroll through her psyche. Sharing touchstones and demons, she serves up a spirited defense of Winnie Mandela, accused of taking part in kidnapping and torture; a quest to mark the grave of Zora Neale Hurston, an "African AmerIndian" folklorist who chronicled the lives of Southern American blacks in the 1920s and '30s; poignant, angry witnesses at a conference in Ghana devoted to stopping female genital mutilation; and life lessons her daughter taught her. Walker's opinions are enriched by her poetry and highlighted by the whimsical phrases and titles with which she frames serious subjects.Book Description
In Anything We Love Can Be Saved, Alice Walker writes about her life as an activist, in a book rich in the belief that the world is saveable, if only we will act. Speaking from her heart on a wide range of topics--religion and the spirit, feminism and race, families and identity, politics and social change--Walker begins with a moving autobiographical essay in which she describes her own spiritual growth and roots in activism. She goes on to explore many important private and public issues: being a daughter and raising one, dreadlocks, banned books, civil rights, and gender communication. She writes about Zora Neale Hurston and Salman Rushdie and offers advice to Bill Clinton. Here is a wise woman's thoughts as she interacts with the world today, and an important portrait of an activist writer's life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Pagan to its Core!
This is one of the most wonderful books I have ever read.Anybody who wants to know anything about the soul of Paganism should burn all of their "So You Want to be A Wiccan" trash and read Anything We Love Can Be Saved.Walker's connection to the land, to Mother Earth, and to Spirit is as Pagan as it gets.This book is profoundly beautiful, profoundly Pagan.She understands that we belong to this wonderful planet, and that real worship of deity is not possible unless we're free, including free to explore and revel in our sexuality.She understands our connectedness to other animals, the nonhuman ones, and espouses their humane treatment as well.

Hope Doesn't Spring Eternal Without Human Compassion, Desires, and Activism
Alice Walker writes ideas I don't already know, and she gives me new ways of interpreting people. She is worth considering, especially when you think you disagree with her. It is better to engage her in thoughtful debate than to not listen to what she has to say.Ms. Walker did not title this book "Anything I Love Can Be Saved."Importantly, she chose "Anything WE Love Can Be Saved."The book discusses pursuits she has shared with others.

"Now I know that . . .activism is often my muse . . . All we own, at least for the short time we have it, is our life . . . Whenever I experience evil, and it is not, unfortunately, uncommon to experience it in these times, my deepest feeling is disappointment. I have learned to accept the fact that we risk disappointment, disillusionment, even despair, every time we act. Every time we decide to believe the world can be better. Every time we decide to trust others to be as noble as we think they are. And that there might be years during which our grief is equal to, or even greater than, our hope. The alternative, however, not to act, and therefore to miss experiencing other people at their best, reaching toward their fullness, has never appealed to me." pp. xxiv-xxv.

I've spent a good deal of time researching concepts of love. Many people are familiar with Paul's description of love's attributes from 1 Corinthians 13. Alice Walker highlights the next chapter's oppression of women in the verses of 1 Corinthians 14:33-35. "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church." I have to agree with Ms. Walker's assertion that the Bible was written by men. And I doubt any intelligent "god" would seek any "peace" that silences women or dictates they become intellectual subordinates to their husbands. As I have grown older, I've found more community and guidance from the voices of women.

"If the women of the world were comfortable, this would be a comfortable world."

To understand what the title of this book might be saying, a person must interpret how Alice Walker is using the word "saved." "Saved" is a word I have trouble with because I grew up in a religious community where a person could only be "saved" by choosing one being and one way.Seeking additional voices or additional community was "fallen" or "depraved." Alice Walker does not appear to be primarily be using the word "saved" in the commonly connotated evangelical "conversion to more enlightened path" sense.She is also not primarily using the word "saved" to promote "possession or acquisition of" another human being.

Ms. Walker emphasizes "saved" in the sense that any person, idea, or object of good character can be remembered, preserved, nourished, grown, and sheltered by love. She says "love and justice and truth are the only monuments that generate everwidening circles of energy and life . . . though trashed and trampled, generation after generation."

She discusses principles of preserving and sharing past loves in relation to recounting how written word efforts and community acknowledgement have honored Zora Neale Hurston, a woman who herself wrote in order to honor and preserve the often concealed, but discretely passed down, African American culture that survived hundreds of years of slavery and discriminatory religious & cultural practices.

Zora also wrote to preserve the memory of specific loves from her personal history. In Zora's work, Alice found a character named Shug, Alice's "outside" grandmother, her grandfather's lover, whose descendant Alice was named after. And if you've read or watched The Color Purple, you are familiar with Shug. There are real people behind most great literary characters.

Alice believes in preserving and sharing the good qualities of those who were unjustly dishonored and have passed from view. Her essay "Anything We Love Can Be Saved" was an address she gave at the the First Annual Zora Neale Hurston Festival in 1990, a festival bringing attention to and honoring the writings of Zora Neal Hurston.Injustice is not overcome through silence.As the subtitle of this book "A Writer's Activism" emphasizes, love is active, notorious, and publicized.The act of love may start "First in their own hearts," but it must be communicated to and shared with "the hearts of others. They have only to make their love inseparable from their belief. And both inseparable from hard work . . . Paying homage to her, memorializing her light, her struggle . . . brought us peace."

Sadness, not Depression
I am a lonely and sad person regularly.I would not describe myself as depressed, because depression too often has a meaning that the person is down due to misunderstanding.My sadness is borne out of knowing that worthwhile ideas, methods, and interactions exist, and knowing I am no longer able to participate with them.(Which ironically is an underestimated and underdiagnosed cause of real, clinical depression.)

When I get too sad, I pick up a book like this one by an author who has an insightful & challenging voice.When I feel an absence of someone challenging me with new & good ideas, I pretend that instead of just reading Ms. Walker's books - I pretend she is in the room with me discussing her radical ideas and intent on keeping me company with her arousing ideals.I imagine she appreciates attentive feedback, and a willingness to thoroughly consider all her ideas, even when she is angry.

And when I pause between ideas, I dream of a world that doesn't exist.I dream that most people would choose to act in ways similar to Ms. Walker.I allow myself to fantasize that most parents might choose to be less hypocritical and would agree to say for the sake of their daughters, "all I can promise her is not to lie" even if it "is painful to her, I believe nonetheless it is better than a lie.Surely better than the lies I was told - 'for my own good' - only to sniff them out eventually and become entangled in them."

Then I get a peaceful, easy feeling and like a mad one, I choose to live as if "love is best expressed through truth," "Because to me, it is precisely our personal memories of joy and delight in each other and our present passions and loves that sustain us." p. 66

And like Ms. Walker, I stubbornly refuse to forget or to pretend those memories never occured.It is a lonely refusal.It may be an unwise refusal.But it is a less unhealthy refusal for me than hypocrisy.It is not a raging refusal (as Ms. Walker indicates it is in her at times).And it is not a depressed refusal.It is a clear, conscious, chosen & sad refusal.And in that existence, I thank Ms. Walker for her ideas, her stubborn voice, her words against likely failures, and in my imaginary world - her companionship.

I love this book.
I want to be Alice Walker when I grow up, too bad that job has already been taken.

Thought Provoking
This is a very interesting book.One of the things that I enjoy most about Walker's writing is her ability to convey her perspective of the world. I esspecially liked the first two essay's, and the essay on her cat.I don't agree with absolutly all of Walker's points (Though I do agree with most of them), but this does nothing to undermine the power of the book. The book is sub-titled "A Writer's Activism" and it left me thinking about the place of activism in my own life.I would certainly recommend this book to anyone with an open mind, especially when read in conjunction with Walker's book of short stories, "You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down". ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Just Okay
This is only my second short story book ever reading and I can honestly say that I don't think that I would pick this one up and read it again. I mean it was okay and there were some good stories in it, but for it to be under 200 pages and for it to have taken me more than 2 weeks to read it is quite sad. I would only borrow it from a friend or check it out at a library. Unless you can get a good deal and get it for $1.50 or less.

A Good Read
Alice Walker is an excellent writer.Very thought provoking.Stories deal with a variety of issues and ideals.Excellent read.

Excellent short stories
This book was one of the first short story books that I've read.It has some awesome stories in them. I enjoyed and loved them tremendously.Alice, you are truly a gifted writer. I enjoyed reading all your books. ... Read more

Book Description
"The rich, complex story White tells…is never less than fascinating."—New York Times Book Review

Alice Walker's life is remarkable not only because she was the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in fiction (the book that won her that award, The Color Purple, has been translated into nearly thirty languages and made into an Academy Award-nominated film), but also because these accomplishments are merely highlights of a luminous and varied career made from inauspicious beginnings in rural Georgia. Drawing on extensive interviews and exhaustive research, Evelyn C. White brings this life to light. 16 pages of illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Alice Walker: No Life
I wanted to love this book as I had been looking for so long for a book on Alice Walker's life. But Ms. White's writing style left me unmoved throughout the book, either that or I am in a coma. At one point Alice Walker lived in Mississippi with her white husband and young daughter post Martin Luther King's assassination.I never get a real feel for the danger or the courage it took to face the everyday for Alice and her family.
The book was very disappointing.

The Color of Inspiration
This is really more of an acclamation than a review.It is simply the most inspirational book I have ever read.It deeply and personally touched me on so many levels and recalled many memories of my own life and childhood.

I became aware of Ms. Walker with"The Color Purple" and loved it but had never read any of her other work and did not know much else abouther life.Ms. White clearly shows her to be a woman of uncommon intellect, divine talent, genuine
compassion and sterling integrity.

After reading the book I recommended it to everybody I knew because I thought it was so powerful in its message and lesson about struggle, redemption and the power of love.

It also rekindled my desire to become a serious and successful writer.

It is truly phenomenal!

Michael Sainte-Andress

Forced to Disagree
Inadequate. Superficial. Fawning. Sycophantic. And did I mention inadequate? Though very readable, with some interesting information about one of the most courageous and innovative writers of our time, this boot-licking "literary" biography does not do justice to Walker. White uses the book as a forum for sarcastic attacks on anyone who has ever disagreed with Walker or written a negative review of her work. Walker is an intelligent woman, a writer who takes chances in her life and in her works, who uses her writing to challenge many aspects of society. White seems to take more offense than Walker, unless we are not hearing the whole truth about Walker's reactions to her critics, when reviewers, critics, black male writers and others attack Walker's work.If everyone took Walker's writing with serene equanimity, she would not be doing her job, but she is surely not a candidate for the sainthood White would bestow on her. When several of Walker's personal, mentoring, and business relationships falter, White invariably blames the other party and pictures Walker as rising calmly above the fray. Can the woman, fine writer or not, really be that icily aloof or that innocent? Further, the biography barely covers Walker's life after publication and filming of The Color Purple, as though her important work ended there. And to nitpick a bit, I got very tired of paragraphs beginning with "To be sure..."I can only think that the enthusiasm other reviewers have expressed for this work is really respect for Walker and her work.

Evelyn C. White Wins!
Well now, here I am on page 316 of this biography, over 100 pages to go, yet I felt compelled to scream, shout and holler about it! Evelyn C. White's expertly crafted, brilliant portrayal has lifted me up in much the same way that Alice Walker's poems, essays, and novels send me soaring.It is a celebration of not only Alice Walker's genius, but an affirmation of many unheralded black women writers as well. While riding a crowded subway, I found myself scraping the bottom of my purse for a scrap of paper in which to jot down the names of authors and works that I've overlooked, forgotten about, and/or never heard of.What an absolute JOY! Throughout this biography, I am reminded of why Alice Walker's work is so important, so necessary.I am astounded by her courage and bravery and genorosity. Where in the world would we be without an Alice Walker? Now, I must press on and finish the book, though I am conflicted--I don't know whether to go slowly to savor every single sentence and stretch out my experience for a few more days, or to hurry up so I can bask in the feeling of being utterly inspired.

An intimate portrayal
If one were to ask, most people most closely identify Alice Walker with her extraordinary novel that was later made into a movie, The Color Purple. However, this complicated, deeply-intelligent child of southern roots has never shied away from controversial subjects in her writing, constantly tackling issues that call for attention. Often drawn to the rebellious factions of a changing society, Walker is fearless, throwing her considerable energy into ideas whose time has come, as well as important causes.

The Georgia-born Walker showed her intelligence early, an avid learner who was drawn to educational pursuits and the written word. She has challenged racial, political and sexual boundaries, daring to bring such topics to light as FGM, aware that such practices cannot be eradicated until society as a whole acknowledges the horror of such acts perpetrated upon young African women. Yet Walker has tackled less predictable ground in her work as well, with more esoteric novels that envision a more utopian world (The Temple of My Familiar), giving reign to a creative vision that expands upon the conventional. Yet The Color Purple becomes the novel that defines Walker to most audiences.

Walker has deep roots in the literary community and author Evelyn C White makes liberal use of quotations to illustrate Walker's impact on black literary society. As in life, these authors frequently draw strength and support from each other, breaking new ground and daring to speak about forbidden topics, family abuse, violence and the mutilation of women's bodies. In pursuit of an honest portrayal of the world she sees, Walker wields words as her most powerful tool.

White has compiled an impressive biography, a fully-fleshed examination of Walker's life, both public and private, her personal struggles as a writer and her evolution as a woman. Walker is still an active writer, and, as such, a work-in-progress, with much to contribute as a female and an author who refuses to be intimidated or restricted by the world. In Walker's own words: "Love is big. Love can hold anger, love can hold pain, love can even hold hatred. It's all about love." Luan Gaines/2004
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Book Description
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Book Description
two stories plus texts on censorship of her works ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Walker continues to challenge readers.
In "Banned" Alice Walker continues to do for her readers what she has done throughout her writing career: challenges us.She challenges our ideas, our perceptions, and our life choices.This is a large part ofwhy her writing is such wonderful literature and excellent teachingmaterial.

To Walker's credit, much of this book is devoted to the ideasof those who oppose the inclusion of her works in state-wide CLAS tests. She could have easily written the book with only opinions in support of herown.However, were she to do that then she would be as guilty as those whooppose her without ever having read her stories in their entirety.

It isunfair to take any piece of art or literature (including the Bible, ofwhich this is often done) and judge its value solely on specific quotestaken out of context.Neither Walker's nor any other artist's brillianceis given justice when this happens.

The story behind the stories
This book is a must read for any serious Walker fan.It tells you a lotabout the war behind the scenes to get books like The Color Purple removedfrom schools and libraries."Banned" is an important companionpiece to Walker's books.The book brought up someissues I'd never thoughtof when I was reading the books.

Banned reveals the complexity of the censorship issue.
Reading is usually a solitary experience -- the reader engaged with the writer's words.That relationship can be enlarged with reading groups and in English classrooms.Banned further expands the relationship between reader and writer.What happens when what we read, or what teachers assign students to read, is challenged as inappropriate?The book's focus is the controversial decision by the California State Board of Education to remove two of Alice Walker's stories, "Roselily" and "Am I Blue?" from the 1994 California Learning Assessment System (CLAS) test.The book includes both stories, as well as an excerpt from The Color Purple, and nearly forty pages of letters to the editor and transcripts of the public hearing held by the California State Board of Education in response to the decision to remove the stories from the CLAS test

"Roselily," a short story of an African-American single mother marrying a Muslim man, and "Am I Blue?" a reflective essay about a woman's musings of her place in the world and the relationships with others in that world, are worthwhile reading in themselves.I found them both to be provocative pieces for different reasons.As a high school English teacher, I would use -- and have used -- both in my classes.Of course, the pieces have characteristics I want my students to learn and possess: voice, passion, writing with a purpose in both fiction and non-fiction forms.They are, indeed, controversial; but shouldn't writing provoke us to not just think about our world, but perhaps, to re-think our place in the world around us?

Banned's focus, however, is not the literary power of Alice Walker, but the power of her ideas.In the nearly forty pages of materials that either support or criticize the Board's decision to pull the pieces from the CLAS test, we witness the heart of the argument between censorship and free speech."Roselily" was attacked as being "anti-religious" while "Am I Blue?" was challenged as being "anti-meat eating."Good argument has both emotion and logic in it; the editorials and the hearing transcripts reveal both the emotion and the logic in the censorship argument.Some of the arguments on both sides are heavily laden with emotion that distort the issue; others use emotional appeals very effectively to help prove their point.Some arguments attack the Board's decision as politically correct and motivated by the wrong reasons.Others reveal that there are clear thinking people on both sides of the issue, people who make a logical defense of their own positions whether in supportive or critical of the California State Board of Education's decision.As one who leans toward the side of free speech and is very cautious about pulling materials from library shelves or from a class reading list, I was impressed with several of the arguments supportive of the Board.

Alice Walker's stories cause us to examine how we live our lives, cause us to question our beliefs, cause us to wonder about our relationships in our world.Similarly, Banned makes us think about what we read, and what we ask our students and our children to read.If you're a teacher, this small book will cause you to think about the readings that we give our students.As a parent, hopefully, you will ask your children what they are reading and what discussions they are having in their classes.As members of a democratic society, we will all ask what we should do with ideas that that may conflict with our own ideas.This book, a book of dialogue, really, about the issue of censorship, should become a focal point for further dialogue.

This book is all about the kinds of sensorships placed in US
This book gives the reader a complete picture of the sensorships undertaken by the US Censor Board and what effect it has on the books. What the authors have to write and abstain from and what the Censor Board is looking for to screen. The book explains with detail, how to tackle situations, in which one is placed to face the world of censoring. By far, "Banned" is the best book under the Sun, for any such information.

Alice Walker is wonderful
the story "am i blue" made me cry... the visuals with the horse and believing we are free and kind to animals while we are eating them :-( terrible, i feel just awful and as i put it down, my roommate had just finished cooking our dinner--steaks.i couldn't do it, the book was too powerful and meaningful. ... Read more

Book Description
The stunning New York Times bestseller, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Color Purple, reissued in a handsome new edition.

From the author the New York Times Book Review calls "a lavishly gifted writer," this is the searing story of Tashi, a tribal African woman first glimpsed in The Color Purple whose fateful decision to submit to the tsunga's knife and be genitally mutilated leads to a trauma that informs her life and fatefully alters her existence.

Possessing the Secret of Joy, out of print for a number of years, was the first novel to deal with this controversial topic and managed to do so in a manner that Cosmopolitan called "masterful, honorable, and unforgettable storytelling." The New Press is proud to bring the book back into print with a new preface by the author addressing the book's initial reception and the changed attitudes toward female genital mutilation that have come about in part because of this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (51)

A Harrowing Journey
Possessing the Secret of Joy is a difficult book to read, but worth it if you want to be more informed about the horrors that afflict women in many parts of the world, including our own country.The central character, Tashi/Evelyn (she has an American and an African name) underwent female circumcision as an adult because she wanted to belong to her African tribe and be elligible to marry.The horrors resulting from that decision affect the rest of her life--both physically by making it almost impossible to birth her only child and emotionally as is marked by her bouts of insanity.

The story is told through several people's perspective including Tashi's husband, her best friend, her son, her husband's lover (Lisette) and their son.The contrast between Tashi, who's sexuality is erased through her culture's insistence on female mutilation, and Lisette, who's sexuality is celebrated and barely containable, is marked.The fact that Tashi's mutilation affects everyone in her life is significant and powerful.While trying to overcome something she doesn't understand, she is able to affect those around her through her suffering and attempts to make something of her life.

Walker was amazing to take on such a difficult topic...I don't know how she managed to write the pain Tashi must have felt without becoming seriously depressed herself.It was a difficult book to read, I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to write.My only complaint about the book is that at times, the narrative voice slips into a historical/preachy voice that doesn't sound like any of the narrators and made me want to skip forward even though the content of that section was important.

Deep & Meaningful & Poignant
This is the second time I have journied through the pages of this riveting book, picking up new nuances and concepts along the way. This book is one of my all time favourites because it hits an emotional chord and attachment to the charcaters and their inherant obstacles develops through each page to well after the book is finished and one is left musing the strangeness of certain customs and how mutilation can become culturally acceptable until individuals questions it. "Resistance is the secret of Joy..." in this case is an apt finale to the book.

The whole concept of genital mutilation is abhorrant to me and I have been active in the past over male infant circumcision, so it is a subject that moves me. Walker has the ability to address the psychological impact of female circumcision from many angles - not just Tashi's husband, lover, their children, family and even Carl Jung. (I love how Alice Walker, in her "Thanks" states she "gives" Jung Tashi... and yes, what a complex and intriguing character she is!

Walker makes copious use of dreams and symbols throughout the book, engaging the reader to think through her ideas to try and work out exactly where she is leading. Mental illness, or rather, the psychological impact female genital mutilation has is deeply examined, not just the effects on Tashi but those around her. Tashi chooses to go through the initiation as an adult to become accepted by her Olinka tribespeople, as her association with the white missionaries has caused a distrust of her she seeks to regain. The consequences of this are riveting.

I highly recommend this book for the inherant statement made about an issue through which me might better understand the current political & cultural climate in the Middle East, extreme as that sounds. The subjugation of women is not something of the past, and one CAN wonder at it's impact today on how these countries face the world when mutilating their young girls is par for the course. Highly

What a Powerfully Important Story
I learned of this book from another novelist's work, Kola Boof, and was moved to check out why "Boof" (who is vaginally circumcised) is so enamoured of Walker's work and especially holds this book in so much esteem.

I had no idea that there would be so many other facets to the story that have nothing to do with the main subject of female genital mutilation or that Walker could reveal so much about African society, culture and the lives and suffering of African women.

I am an African woman, so this work is monumental to me.I was quite moved and I recommend this to anyone who cares about the lives of women and especially the suffering of African women and girls.

A Painful, Elegant and Uplifing Read
I don't think a more gifted writer exists. This book exemplifies Alice Walker's incredible ability to shed light on horrific practices in the context of beautiful and captivating stories.I'm sure that this book has played a major role in building our broader public awareness of and growing international sanctions against this common human rights abuse.

Complex and Textured
Alice Walker states that the secret of joy is "RESISTANCE", which sums up the book nicely.But there is more to this single word.Resistance to what? Resistance to injustice, in this case specifically the injustice of genital mutilation...but Walker clearly means for this resistance to include other forms of injustice. Such as, you ask? Racism, sexism, bigotry in any form.

Walker's books, including this one, convey the psychological damage of perpetual abuse of a person throughout not only their own life but the life of their ancestors. Therefore, racism and sexism heap psychological damage on their victims for enerations--not to mention the clear sociological problems that germinate from them.

Why does "resistance" bring joy? First, if the injustice is eventually defeated it will bring a new found freedom and autonomy. If nothing else, resistance provides the resister with a moral victory over his or her opponents, which in the end, brings our ill-fated protagonist joy.

The more specific sexual aspect of the book is also embraced by this concept. Resistance to the injustice of genital mutilation, on both the individual and collective level, brings sexual pleasure to the individual and to generations of individuals yet to come.So sexual pleasure also is part of the "secret of joy", only in this case it is a specific instance of what "resistance" can eventually accomplish. ... Read more

Book Description

Though War is Old

Customer Reviews (8)

propaganda
This is very sad. Teaching children that war is never a good idea is a very dangerous position to take; especially in this day and age. That's like telling them that people like Hitler are justified in their actions and no one should step in to help those in danger. War is certainly ugly, it is gut wrenching and painful, but it is sometimes very necessary.I am grateful for the men and women who voluntarily sacrifice their time (and lives at times)to protect me from the dangers out there. I would rather read my children a book about people who have the courage to face down evil for those who cannot defend themselves.

Beautiful and sobering
This gorgeously illustrated book is beautiful in words and pictures, and wrenching.It is suitable for a wide range of audiences, from middle school children through adults, and from peace activists to soldiers.Every home should have a copy

Not nearly as good as I expected it to be
I enjoyed "There is a Flower...." but this book was a disappointment.I found the imagery and the language inelegant and unnecessarily harsh for small children. There are more effective ways to convey the message of peace and non-violence. I found it particularly disappointing to have come from such a talented author.

Richie's Picks: Why War is Never a Good Idea
"And it's five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates, well, there ain't no time to wonder why, whoopee we're all gonna die"
-- Country Joe McDonald

"Though War speaks
Every language
It never knows
What to say
To frogs."

In her latest picture book, WAR IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA, Alice Walker personifies War, and through a series of verses she reveals the terrible costs and far reaching effects of War's behavior.

WAR IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA will undoubtedly be a very controversial book. I mean, it is one thing to argue over whether or not the war we are in right now is or ever was a good idea. But come on! If any of us were alive in America two hundred and thirty years ago, wouldn't we jump at the chance to get our hands on a muzzle-loading rifle and shoot a ball of lead through the facial features and cheekbone and into the brains of some British family's eighteen-year-old son? I don't care if you're male or female, when it came down to it and the rich white merchants and slave-owning planters had instigated a revolution, wouldn't you have been prepared and psyched to jam a bayonet through the clothing, skin, and stomach muscles, and then in through the vital organs of some teenage creep from across the ocean who was wearing the wrong color uniform?

"But if we didn't do it." students might argue in response, "We'd never have become free. We'd still be part of England now!"

And, responding back, I would offer to organize a debate on the subject after those students had taken the time to prepare by reading from a list of books about the ideas and politics and world events that led to the Revolutionary War such as Natalie Bober's COUNTDOWN TO INDEPENDENCE: A REVOLUTION OF IDEAS IN AMERICA AND HER AMERICAN COLONIES: 1760-1776, or Marc Aronson's THE REAL REVOLUTION: THE GLOBAL STORY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE.

"It's always the old to lead us to the war
Always the young to fall" -- Phil Ochs

Thus, a discussion of WAR IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA is likely to involve students questioning whether certain wars were actually good wars based upon good ideas, and the teacher or parent who has got his or her act together will channel that inquiry into student research in preparation for waves of great group learning. It doesn't matter whether we are talking about the Revolutionary War or Little Big Horn or Hitler or Vietnam there are great books in print that will lead students to root causes and -- if we're lucky -- have students recognize that something happened before the war to cause it and something happened before that which lead to the causes which led to the war (See my recent review of PREVIOUSLY by Allan Ahlberg.), and that what is going on in the country and the world today -- this very day -- will either lead to a future war somewhere for some reason or will not lead there based upon the decisions of those who we have elected to public office. Higher order thinking is necessary for students to achieve understanding of this Big Picture -- the interrelatedness of events large and small -- and there are many of us who would argue that the development of that sort of thinking does not come about by "teaching to the test." And so this book might be additionally controversial because it could lead to debates over educational philosophies and whether or not we are at all preparing students to be problem solvers who can recognize and assess the Big Picture or are just creating human fodder for the next War.

"Though War has a mind of its own
War never knows
Who
It is going
To hit."

What should not be controversial about WAR IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA is the artwork by Stefano Vitale. In 1995, during my very first season as a Children's Buyer, I was (pardon the pun) blown away by Vitale's paintings that reillustrated Charlotte Zolotow's WHEN THE WIND STOPS, a picture book I'd first read as a young child. The paintings that he has done for WAR IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA are the best work I've seen of his, and I'm seriously thinking about reproducing the last painting -- a circle of faces peering down into a well that has been contaminated by War -- to make myself a custom teeshirt.

"Though War is Old
It has not
Become wise
It will not hesitate
To destroy
Things that
Do not
Belong to it
Things very
Much older
Than itself."

Oh...dear. I was just paging through again, feasting my eyes on those paintings, and I found this verse accompanied by a painting of ruins with a statue from which the head has been detached and the body of the statue has...err...breasts. So, I suppose the paintings are going to be controversial in some quarters as well.

"He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an atheist, a Jain,
a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
and he knows he shouldn't kill
and he knows he always will
kill you for me my friend and me for you" -- Donovan

You'd think that a Black woman like Alice Walker -- the Pulitzer prize-winning author of THE COLOR PURPLE would have at least thought that the Civil War was a good idea. But, then again, I expect she knows that if we had not fought the Revolutionary War and had remained part of England, then slavery would have been ended a generation earlier without a war, just as it did in England. Sound like a topic for debate?

"Though War has a mind of its own
War never knows
Who
It is going
To hit."

One of my biggest dreams has just come true for me. I am getting to develop and teach an online class in the spring through San Jose State University's School of Library and Information Science on Picture Books for Older Readers. Thanks to Alice Walker and Stefano Vitale, I now have a book to share for my opening class meeting.

War isn't freeing us.
Not surprisingly, a reviewer criticized Alice Walker for asserting that war is never a good idea.He suggested that she'd be "cotton pickin'" if not for war.Truth is, there is a lot of debate concerning what the Civil War was actually about, and what is accomplished A People's History of the Civil War: Struggles for the Meaning of Freedom (A New Press People's History).Some felt it was a "rich man's war, and a poor man's battle."A battle that was followed by continued oppression of African Americans through bigotry, lynchings, Jim Crow laws, etc. - right up until today, where we find hundreds of thousands of African Americans in cages largely due to a war on non-corporate drugs Why Are So Many Black Men In Prison? A Comprehensive Account Of How And Why The Prison Industry Has Become A Predatory Entity In The Lives Of African-American Men; and the plantation owners simply outsourced their slaves to other parts of the globe Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy.So, it can be debated how much freedom has been achieved, not just for blacks, but for humanity as a whole.While we may not have chains around our ankles, most of us spend our lives as what old-school Republicans would've called "wage slaves."Moreover, there is the compulsion that comes from modern economic feudalism, indebtedness, and a corporate media/PR industry that manages our perceptions of the world and manipulates our emotions Adbusters.
Obviously, World War I did not "end all wars."
Vietnam was a massive slaughter - with the butchery expanding into Laos and Cambodia.
Many would argue that World War II did not end fascism The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism (The Political Economy of Human Rights - Volume I)
Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II
In fact, the "land of the free" has military operations going on all over the world that the general public is completely unaware of; but that authors like Robert Kaplan are proud of (see Kaplan's "Imperial Grunts: On the Ground with the American Military, from Mongolia to the Philippines, to Iraq and beyond").This endless, global aggression has been decimating exactly the sort of wonderful communities that Walker's words and Stefano Vitale's illustrations pay tribute to.

While some find their identity and purpose (and financial gain) in war War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, many veterans have learned first-hand to hate war and want it abolished Howard Zinn on War.
Sadly, it appears that the war profiteers and those who subscribe to the dominator narrative will continue to bring us to armed conflict Why We Fight.In this current era of psychotic, industrialized violence, there are instances when armed resistance can be understood When the Mountains Tremble. Yet, even in those rare instances of a "just" war, it is still not a "good" thing, often proves counter-productive, and has negative ramifications (physical, psychic and environmental) for years to come.
To quote General Robert E. Lee:
"What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbors, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world."

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Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

A story for all ages!
I use this book during our friendship week.It's a great story with many themes that help build our "community" in my classroom.This is one of my favorite books. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Alice Walker, a writer who had generally shunned public life, reached a period of great achievement in the early 1980s. Her novel, The Color Purple, was awarded both the Pulitzer Prize and the American Book Award. But when Steven Spielberg made a film of the novel, intense controversy erupted. In this provocative and thoughtful collection of essays, Walker takes, as she puts it, a "lingering look backward at a dangerous crossroad in one's life." How does a serious writer engage popular culture? What are the costs? What are the joys? The eloquent Ms. Walker offers insights.Book Description
The Same River Twice is an exciting collection of work based on Alice Walker's groundbreaking, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple. It includes the never-used screenplay Walker wrote, never-before-seen diary entries and letters, as well as new writings by the author on such topics as art, motherhood, illness, and relationships. Walker also discusses, for the first time, her work with Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, Oprah Winkey, and Whoopi Goldberg on the film based on her book. As it explores the controversy surrounding the movie and the impact of loss, illness, and fame on Walker -- The Same River Twice illuminates Walker as woman, healer, and artist. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Excellent Book in My Opinion
This book is not for everyone. I found this book extremely intimate and amazing. Why? I enjoy "getting to know" my favorite authors in a way that depicts them as "human just like you and me." Alice Walker let's us into her mind and emotions. She shows us that behind her great literary talent, she too goes through self-doubt, worry about what "other people think", etc.
I remember when The Color Purple movie was released and the backlash it got from black men in my community who perceived it as "male hating." I always wondered what it was like to put your heart and soul into a literary piece, have hollywood create a visual experience out of it in a way that you didn't expect, then sit through people "attacking" you as a "black male hater." Well, this book reveals what Alice went through, emotionally, spiritually and psychologically. We get to read exerpts from her journal.Furthermore, I felt more connected to this book than perhaps other readers because I myself am a novelist writer trying to publish my first book. Alice Walker brought up "controversial issues" in the book, The Color Purple (the most controversial being the "lesbian" relationship between Celie and Shug). My own work brings up "taboo" subjects within the black community. Reading Walker's intimate experiences with the public's (and her family and friends') reactions to her work and her bravery to "keep on keepin' on", inspired me to continue writing about subjects that have often been "silenced" within my own black community. The Same River Twice is an excellent book for someone such as myself who is often intimidated and worried about how their community may respond to their literary pieces.

Mixed Feelings
Reading Walker's prose can be like talking with a live person face to face.There is no aloof distance between Walker and the reader, one feels that she is addressing them personally; the drawback to this is that when she says something you may not agree with, you can feel a little hurt or even betrayed. The Color Purple is a story that so many people lay "claim" to, and is one of the most important books of the twentieth century. Readership of the novel has only grown since its initial publication in 1982, and it's no wonder that Walker feels such a bond to this story of hers.The problem is that the rights were sold to make a movie version and Walker wasn't entirely pleased with the results.

While I am sure any writer would feel very ambivalent about a film version of their novel (as Ken Kesey did for "Cuckoo's Nest"), when one signs the film rights away, they should brace themselves for the disappointment. Walker takes us step-by-step through the disappointment but the final conclusion is a feeling of ingratitude. What is important to me is that because of the movie I became aware of the book and thus began my love for Alice Walker. As a teen I loved the movie, but being older now I do see many moments in the film as rather embarrassing. But again, had it not been for the film I would not have read the book.

But why did Walker choose to write this book?Parts of it are very interesting, but much of the book is just a bunch of journal entries and news clippings. Walker does submit her entire screenplay that she proposed; Her screenplay is actually less streamlined than the script that made it to the screen and has too many moments involving the patterns in a quilt that stop the story dead in its tracks. For all the flaws of the screenplay that was adapted, (and there are many), it's a much less rambling script than Walkers.

Despite Walker's intentions, the book comes off as ungrateful. After all, she was able to make a nice home for herself.But this book is interesting to see the author's point of