Something Like Beautiful
This is a beautifully written memoir of Asha Bandele's journey through "single" motherhood in NYC. (Technically, Asha is not single, but her husband is in prison.) I admire the author's honesty, which is sometimes almost painful to read. There are no fairy-tale endings here; in other words, real life.
Rated of 5
by Wendy (Kalamazoo MI)
Poignant story Something Like Beautiful is a poignant story of a single mother that truly captures the difficulties of women everywhere. The language of this book is beautiful and poetic. This book portrays the African American experience as well as the trials of single mothers from all cultures. This is a good read.
Rated of 5
by Penny (Saginaw MI)
Something wonderful
Asha Bandele writes with a poets voice and words about being a single mom. Something Like Beautiful: One Single Mother’s Story, is a memoir that takes time to read. It's about love, betrayal and redemption. And most of all it’s about trusting in oneself. It's about being a single mother and how love grows, even when neither mother nor child is a "perfect model". The book is so well written that the reader gets vested in the life that Bandele writes about and becomes part of her story. One hopes that everyone reads this uncommonly profound memoir and comes away from it being a better mother or father even if life itself treats you badly.
Rated of 5
by Talya (Medical Lake WA)
An intense, emotional memoir about love, single motherhood, and depression.
In this powerful memoir Asha shares her life with the reader. Her emotions are so beautifully shared and it is not just about being a single mother or about loving an unavailable man, but a book about depression, family, and reflection. The writing feels a bit disjointed at times but I think it is Asha's poetic style of writing. I am looking forward to reading her other novels.
Rated of 5
by Carol (San Jose CA)
Something Like Beautiful
A strong, honest memoir – Asa pulls no punches, however, I ask . . . as a single mother why would anyone deliberately put herself into this position of life – husband in jail, baby conceived in a trailer never to be able to enjoy the fruits of their love for each other.
As many other women, I too have wondered how women can stay in such abusive relationships, and after having read this sad, but beautiful book I came away with some new insight. This book is one woman’s story of the difficulties one faces in loving the “wrong” kind of man while trying to balance motherhood with work and one’s self. The subject matter is not for everyone. But for those interested in taking a look at someone's life from a different perspective, it's worth an afternoon of quiet reading.
Rated of 5
by Lisa (Riverwoods IL)
Something Like Beautiful
The subtitle of the book, One Single Mother's Story described her life as a Black woman poet after marrying a prisoner, having his baby, moving on with her life and finally realizing that she suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and depression, things she thinks afflict many Black women. She did not really develop her relationship with Rashid which lasted 10 years and glossed over his deportation with very little emotion or explanation. She described herself as a survivor and called her daughter Nisa the evidence, her reason for living. asha (spelled with a small letter for unknown reasons) says she is the story of many single Black mothers but I think she was different in that she was blessed with education, a loving family and a great job. I found it difficult to generalize her life to single mothers who have not been that lucky.
Rated of 5
by Sylvia (Scottsdale AZ)
Overexamined life
The unexamined life may not be worth living but this over-examined life is not worth reading. While much of the writing is lyrical, this overly repetitious and often overly romanticized story of Bandele's love life and motherhood is muddied and dull. This is her 3rd or 4th memoir and I would suggest she moves to fiction.
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today's globalized world.
The story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way but one. But that exception is the beating heart of this extraordinary novel.
First time novelist Vaddey Ratner captured my heart and senses in this novel based on her childhood in Cambodia. Her story transcends any news story...
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From the first page, I was drawn in by the lyrical writing of the author and mesmerized as the narrator, eight year old Raami, remembered the years...
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Trite but true, all good things must come to an end. I so wanted to keep reading the wonderful prose, the settings that let one think they are part...
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Amazon cuts off 5200 affiliates in Minnesota(Jun 19 2013) With Minnesota's online sales tax law due to take effect July 1, Amazon has played a familiar card by cutting ties with 5,200 members of its Associates...
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by CatieN (Aurora CO)
of 5
by Lisa (Riverwoods IL)
