Celeste

I had just gotten done with "The Count of Monte Cristo" and had just learned about Dumas' interesting ancestry when this came out so it was perfect timing. I liked learning about the history of the time period in France and the Caribbean as well as the biographical details. Dumas' time spent in Egypt with the French forces was especially interesting to me. Very interesting and narrated expertly.

I stumbled on this in the midst of some really trying circumstances in my life where everyone kept telling me I just had to "stay positive" and employ what I have now adopted as referring to as "magical thinking" (aka "The Secret") to make things work out. Although I am a firm believer that kvetching about something often doesn't help to achieve anything positive, I also think everyone trying convince themselves and others that crappy situations have someone been caused by their "bad" thinking is oppressive and wrong. Thank you, Ms. Ehrenreich, for informing us about the history of this movement in America and being brave enough to keep a critical mind when doing so gets you lambasted for being an "eeyore".

Coming of age in the 80's I did not have hang that iconic poster of Rob Lowe in the white t-shirt exposing his stomach up on my bedroom wall but I never forgot it, either. I appreciated how down-to-earth his telling of his story is. You really do get a feeling for the whole person behind that gorgeous face. Good job, Rob!

This was wonderfully narrated. The story is pretty densely packed for the short space of time it was suppose to have taken place in but for the long length it rarely ever seemed to drag on or go on a tangent that was unrelated to the story. I very much liked the character of Matthew Corbett. I appreciated that for how much dialog the characters participated in the reading continued to flow smoothly. I will listen to the next book in the series. Not a modern classic but not too shabby either.

I cannot recommend this book more highly. Wonderful story, wonderful characters, wonderful narrator. Brought tears to my eyes quite a few times and caused me to laugh out loud as well.

I am not a prude, but this story with overtones of incest and S & M was just too much for me. I couldn't get past the first part of the book because I was worried about what would be coming next.

Great narrator!

This book was excellent on many levels. Great historical facts, great questions, interesting interviews, introduction to the science of memory and a very interesting personal story woven through the whole book. I would love to sit down and chew the fat with this author.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was so sad when it was done. His accounts of his interactions with modern matadors as well as his research into the history of bullfighting were fascinating. If you interested at all in the bullfight this is a must!

If you think this is a book about the circus you would only be partially right. The first half is an exciting narrative of a young man's adventure. The second (in my opinion) is a typical "damsal-in-distress" love story which I didn't care for. The narration was fantastic! I loved that there were two people telling their story - one old and one young. The older narrator was absolutely fabulous! It was a good listen.

I enjoyed this book. I learned quite a bit. Sometimes the personal narrative was a bit much but I would recommend this book.