Rating: 
Summary: It grows on you!
Review: While reading Mark Salzman's Lost in Place I was initially bored by all of the Zen master kung fu stuff. However as I kept reading I became really captivated by his life and was constantly wondering what stupid thing he was going to do next. Mark spends the entire time avoiding his father's path to pessimism, however, throughout the story he becomes just that. Mark has high aspirations for himself and every challenge he is faced with he makes an attempt to defeat it. Although he tries Mark finds himself acting negatively like his father and always giving up. All he wants to be is happy and throughout this book we follow him on his journey to happiness. Even though he may not have reached it, it was a treat to read all of the funny things he had to go through. Being a college student, Mark's story makes me realize that I am not alone in all the stupid things I have done. I would recommend this story to anyone in college or anyone who understands how absurd life can be.
Rating:
Summary: A Witty and Insightful Tale
Review: Mark Salzman tell a witty and insightful of his less-than-normal adolescence set in suburbia Connecticut and the culture of the 70s. The story follows Mark from grade school through college and with the recounts of his experiences; you might catch yourself laughing out loud. Mark trains to be an astronaut by sitting in a cardboard box, walks barefoot to school to attain enlightenment and does push-ups on asphalt covered with broken glass in an attempt to become a kung fu master. Many of these experiences and the characters in the book seem to be a bit exaggerated, but the exaggerations often make the story even more interesting. These hilarious and sometimes ridiculous experiences allow Salzman to explore larger ideas about adolescence and finding yourself and your relationship with the universe. I would recommend this book because it is an easy read, as well as comical and intuitive.
Rating: 
Summary: Too sentimental and trite
Review: I appreciate the good intentions of the author and I understand that he's not trying to create great literature here. But I found the book overly sentimental and trite. (Think "The Wonder Years"-LITE). It reads like an after-school special.With everyone and their grandmother writing memoirs, a higher quality of writing sophistication is needed to stand out. I gave this book a 3 instead of a 2 because I think this book would be a good book to read in an eighth grade English class. For adults who crave more depth and wit, this book will not cut it.
Rating:
Summary: Great read for teens
Review: If you like stories about other people's lives and their amusing mishaps this book is for you. Mark Salzman tells the tall of his usual at times hilarious life Imagine growing up in middle class Connecticut with not so usual dreams. From the time Mark was seven he has dreamt of being a famous concert cellist. Unfortunately as the years pass he loses interest in the cello but his mom pressures him into staying with it. Mark has a great tendency to thrust into things as you'll find out in the book. In my opinion this was a great read; and I am by no means a reader but this book went by relatively quickly. I found that I related really well to Mark and I think other guy and girls my age will find his mishaps funny.
After watching his first Kung fu movie Mark Salzman decides his goal and dream in life is to achieve enlightenment and nirvana like the kung fu masters in the movie. He decides to turn the basement into a Zen meditation shrine. This in my opinion is one of the funniest parts of the book. He decides to furnish the basement with "Chinese artifacts" from the cooking supply store. In actuality it is the only store where there is anything even remotely Chinese. He also found the need to look like an old kung fu master and gets a bald wig in the back of a comic book, but unfortunately for him it is grey and looks nothing like a skin tone. He also tries to dye his pajama pants black, but that too goes wrong. The dye ends up not setting and Mark is left with purple pajama pants. Through the intense fog of incense Mark studies the Kung Fu forms from books he had got at the local library.
When he starts high school he also decides to start taking kung fu lessons. This is because he starts watching of all the Chinese kung fu movies. The Kung Fu craze was best associated with the man Bruce Lee. Through the help of eccentric and at times abusive Sensei O'Keefe Mark goes on a journey to help him achieve enlightenment. This book is at times of a graphic nature. One day Mark is practicing kung fu in the woods when the school bully, Michael Dembsy, who has been like a wrathful god to Mark his life, becomes enthralled with kung fu. He starts taking lessons along side mark and soon they form a quirky but strong bond between them. After countless competitions and bruises, and a few years, Mark feels he has "Kung Fu'ed" out and quits lessons with Sensei O'Keefe. As tough as Michael is he is secretly devastated and the friendship disincarnates over the next year.
I thought his mother was very real and when she did something mean to Mark I got mad at her as if she did it to me. I thought that Mark and his father's relationship were very spiritual. I thought that because they are always looking at the stars and the galaxies. Often big issues and topics on Mark or his father's mind come out into the open on these late night star watches.
Read this book if your ages 12- 16. I think is directed for teens but written for younger kids; the diction was pretty simple and I didn't find it that challenging.
Rating: 
Summary: Martial arts, music, and more!
Review: The book Lost In Place tells about the life of Mark Salzman, plus or minus a few details. We read it for my college english class. Usually I don't really like non-fiction books, but I enjoyed this one. The story is told in a way that makes you feel like you are there with him, which is unusual for non-fiction/biographies, so it like pulls you in. I seriously had difficutly putting it down, which almost never happens to me. My life in no way involves martial arts or Chinese history, but reading this book was entertaining still. It made me reflect on the interests I had as a child and gave up. I would recommend this book to anyone who even slightly enjoys reading. It's a good time.
Rating:
Summary: Boy, can I relate
Review: In addition to a memoir, this book is an effective mediation on what it really means to master something. We see Salzman try to become a martial artist, and, later, a cello soloist, the first with considerable dedication, the latter with a certain amount of natural ability; in both cases, though, he eventually realizes that he just doesn't have what it takes to really master the discipline. In the case of Kung Fu, after three years of study, he encounters a drugged-out man who threatens him with a lead pipe. In spite of the fact that he could probably easily disarm him, Salzman's nerve fails him and he hands over his wallet. Later, with the cello, he gives up after seeing one performance by legendary cellist Yo Yo Ma. He ends up finding his greatest success as a mailboy for an attorney. One thing that struck me as interesting is that (I read somewhere) 'Kung Fu' refers to any human skill in Chinese (making a 'Kung Fu skills' redundant, like ATM machine); it's sort of a metaphor, then, for everything Salzman pursues. Another thing to note is that in spite of the subtitle 'growing up absurd in suburbia,' Salzman's martial arts training is astonishingly difficult. His teacher is a borderline psychopath who curses and hits his students (at one point he throws Mark against a trophy display case), and the school regularly practices full-range sparring with no protective equipment except for a cup, which is about as hardcore, comparatively, as playing the cello with the skin stripped off your fingers.
Rating:
Summary: A meloncholy remembrance of childhood, a good read
Review: This bittersweet tale of a boy who wanted to be a shaolin monk, after watching a TV series, is great. Truly memorable, from his stories of ink brush painting to Kung Fu, what is most striking is that Mark Saltzman captures the simplicity of vision of growing up in complicated circumstances. He is at the top of his craft, and I would find it hard not to be moved by his tale of childhood, his father, and friends who enter and leave his life.
I highly recommend this book, for an enjoyable and reflective read, especially on a sunny or rainy afternoon. Well done!
Rating:
Summary: a book review
Review: Mr. Salzman's book "Lost In Place: Growing Up Absurd in Suburbia" was an assignment for a lit class. Now like most students who are forced to read a book for class I had my doubts. I was relived to find that it had at least been written within the last 50 years. So beer in hand I hunkered down and began reading, and wouldn't you know it...it was a good read! I finished the book the first night. Mark's ability to put his modified (see disclaimer at the beginning of the book) recollection of an interesting albeit different youth on paper is clear, fluid, and fun. The story never drags to long on any one topic, thus never wearing out its welcome. Kung Fu always makes great print, people love reading about others on drugs, the pessimistic yet caring father is icing on the cake. The meat of what I am getting at here is this is worthwhile reading, not a long-term project, but a good weekend read.
Rating:
Summary: It's funny because it's true
Review: Lost in Place is a good read for anyone who had an awkward childhood. It will make you think of crazy things you did as a kid that made sense at the time. In his memoir, Salzman tells of his experiences on his journey to adulthood. It is funny and refreshingly sincere.
Rating:
Summary: Lost in Place
Review: Lost in Place, by Mark Salzman, is considered to be a humorous book. I particually think the humor in this book is only a small portion of what the book is supposed to represent. The humor is to underline the seriousness of Salzman's tone of the book. He is growing up in life trying to please everyone but himself. Sure he tries to do things for himself, such as: wanting to become an astronaut, a master kung fu fighter, a master cellist, and a great Chinese student. Fortunately, he learns he doesn't want to be any of these things. The people in his life change his decisions. There was his mom laughing at him when he was seven and trying to become the youngest astronaut. There was Michael almost dying when Sensei O'keefe shut the air to his throat and Annette being displeased about kung fu. There was Yo-Yo Ma when Mark wanted to be a a master cellist. Mark tried to please his father the most thoughout the book. Mark used humor to mask his feelings towards his father, but he respected his father just the same. His father had all the answers and the best one he has was when he told Mark: "Welcome." You will enjoy this book of humor and seriousness all wrapped up in one.
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