Auliya B. (auliya) reviewed on 9/11/2005 + 141 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Harrowing and also educational...

I spoke to the author via email shortly after I finished this book. I asked him for an autographed copy. Rather than permitting me to send him a copy of the book to sign, he chose a hardcover edition from his collection, signed it to me personally with a beautiful lyric of original poetry involving life and peaches, and sent it to me the following week. I was cradling the book as if it were made of the purest gold. I felt exactly as if I knew Mr. West, that I had been with him through his ordeals. That I had his handwriting - both inside the book and on an inserted card! - was very moving.
This is an important book. An educational book. And, at heart, it's a gutsy book. This man has poured himself nakedly into the pages of this autobiographical volume, and you will bear silent witness to his challenges, his mistakes, his success. Other books on this topic (and I've read almost all of them) did not hit so hard for me. They were "titillating," perhaps. I felt as if I might be neck-craning as if at an accident. But this book gives you no such feeling. The author is exquisitely present: all his pain, all his reality. I highly recommend this book.

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