Rating: 
Summary: Hungry for More
Review: After reading Kim's first book, I'd search the biography section of my local bookstore at each visit, waiting for her next release. I am in awe of Kim's writing style, her beauty, her intelligence, her sculpting of words and memory, the gentleness with which she can now hold and stroke the most difficult and violent moments of her life. Part of the beauty of Kim's work is the way she captures so well the landscape of north Idaho. Where handguns make no sense in the hands of teens as we listen to the news of junior and senior high school student shootings, the guns of teenage hunters are revealed to have a place in the wilds of this part of the northwest. Where rivers dammed for their energy use and the plight of the salmon make news nationwide, her writing helps readers glimpse the construction of the dams and the memories and homes that were drowned in their building. The only helpful addition to her skillfully crafted word pictures in this book would be a map of the Clearwater Valley inserted as a bookplate to help the reader have a visual sense of the geography of the area. On a more personal level, reading Kim's book helps me to better understand this woman who was my undergraduate classmate at Lewis-Clark State College. It helps me to understand why the young woman who was equal in chronological age seemed so much more mature, more knowing, more insightful to the ways of the world in as applied to the literary classics we read and discussed together. I now have an inkling why I could not *know* Kim then, when the trials she had encountered were still so fresh. So I now marvel that her coming of age story -- part of it so horrific -- can now be shared so beautifully. The second 20+ years of her life have given her the perspective to write with kindness the story of the girl she has been, who continues to live within her side-by-side with the woman of grace she has become. I highly recommend this book to other mature readers who have come of age through unspeakable trials. I am grateful Kim has given voice to the unspeakable.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as her first book, but riveting and brave
Review: I loved Kim Barnes' first book and was eager to read this follow up, knowing there would be one after I heard her read at Oregon State University. The beginning of _Hungry For The World_ is in many ways a review of the first book and just skims the surface of what she explored in that; in was in many way unsatifying. I was rereading and yet the depth of things I had forgotten was not there. This story of how Ms. Barnes found herself is well written, even if it does get a bit self-consciously wordy at times. And, above all, it is a brave exploration of what she did and why. One customer review said it was soft-porn. It was necessary for her to share the sexual aspects--for herself, if not for us. The openness of it was a bit shocking (what will everyone think?!) but well done. When I saw her read, someone asked how her parents had reacted to the first book; I wonder how they reacted to this one (though she does share that she did slowly share pieces of her story with them)?! I am sorry she had to go through so much pain to find herself, but pleased that she has made a good life for herself with a great man (met her husband at another reading).
Rating: 
Summary: an short, insightful work that takes a long time to read
Review: I read this book as a part of the Utne book club, whose previous fare is either really good or too new-agey for popular consumption. This book is a powerful work about Kim Barnes' life which was no doubt very cathartic to write. It also shows that everyone has a story to tell and meaning to find in their lives, whether real or perceived. The book starts out with such promise, as a young girl coming to grips with the Pentecostal dichotomy between reserved behavior and exuberant expression. This theme ultimately becomes a symbol of her adolescent and young adult years as a quest to make sense of her upbringing. However, the writing overuses metaphors and vague imagery to cause the reader to linger over some descriptions and quickly pass over others. The work also grossly overuses sentence fragments to make the reading at times clipped and other times drag on forever. It is more of a hybrid of average poetry and excellent prose that is difficult to write, and can pass for readers who are engrossed by the content over its execution. Overall, this book is an average story of an above-average struggle for self-enlightenment.
Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: i think this book is a good book. i would recommend it to anyone who likes to read about other peoples life and the hard and good times they went through.
Rating:
Summary: a dissapointment after her first book
Review: I waited forever for my local bookstore to stock this book, and am annoyed that such a brillant author thought it necessary to rehash her first memoir for the first 70 pages of her second one. She basically summarizes her first book in the first part, making it an extremely boring read if you've already read it. That the first 70 pages are written as a rushed summation of that book - no scenes, just exposition, made me cringe. I still like the premise of the book - woman against church and society, but wish she would have started were the first story left off. I feel gypped.
Rating:
Summary: Painting with Words Instead of Oils
Review: Kim Barnes has created a masterpiece of her experiences. Writing with candor in a style almost poetic I read her memoir with my breath held. She describes the horrors she lived though in the same fluid manner she describes the woods where she thrived. Without judgement she writes of her younger self with insight born of suffering and self discovery. She shares her life now in little asides about her children and the lush paradise she makes her home in today. She spoke to me deeply. I must confess I had brought the book as a novel and when I read the last page and discover this was a true story I fell to my knees in wonder and amazement at the rendition of herself. Having knowlege myself of abuse from both the church and sexual I can only say that I was proud that a women could write of both with such beauty. She has transcend herself. It is both a book of beauty and courage. I can only be reminded of a poem in blank verse. Thank you Kim Barnes. It is a book I will keep and give to my friends. It is wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: Painting with Words Instead of Oils
Review: Kim Barnes has created a masterpiece of her experiences. Writing with candor in a style almost poetic I read her memoir with my breath held. She describes the horrors she lived though in the same fluid manner she describes the woods where she thrived. Without judgement she writes of her younger self with insight born of suffering and self discovery. She shares her life now in little asides about her children and the lush paradise she makes her home in today. She spoke to me deeply. I must confess I had brought the book as a novel and when I read the last page and discover this was a true story I fell to my knees in wonder and amazement at the rendition of herself. Having knowlege myself of abuse from both the church and sexual I can only say that I was proud that a women could write of both with such beauty. She has transcend herself. It is both a book of beauty and courage. I can only be reminded of a poem in blank verse. Thank you Kim Barnes. It is a book I will keep and give to my friends. It is wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: A riveting story told masterfully
Review: Kim Barnes was my instructor at Ropewalk Writer's Retreat and I consider myself fortunate to have "studied" the craft of creative nonfiction with her. She is a master of communicating the idea of the secret self that develops in most women from her background [Religious Fundamentalism] I was not raised in the same denomination but I was familiar with the lifestyle enough to understand. It wouldn't have mattered because I think Kim Barnes tells the story of EVERYGIRL and the confusion that comes with sexual maturity. I had to smile at the references to sloe gin, Harvey Wallbangers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and a car that had only one gear! More importantly, Kim tells a courageous story of finding self and safety. If you are a 40-something woman, you will smile at times and cry at others and you will close this book knowing more about yourself. A must read!
Rating:
Summary: Harrowing, honest, hopeful sequel
Review: Kim Barnes' *Hungry for the World* is a rivetingly bare and poetic examination of how Barnes translated the patriarchal, authoritative practice of her family's (especially her father's) Pentecostal faith into a hunger for worldly experience that resulted in a troubling, dark relationship with a disturbed, disturbing, and seductive boyfriend. Barnes carefully, vividly, and intelligently chronicles this relationship, exploring how she allowed herself to become entangled in this man's destructive world. As with her first book, this memoir explores family and faith and misguided love, but never does she lay blame, never does she attack. Kim Barnes works to figure out Kim Barnes. I love to read first person accounts of high altitude mountain climbers and in the midst of a narrative I'll think, "My goodness! How will this climber ever survive this ordeal?" But I know the writer survives because s/he wrote the account I'm reading! I felt the same way reading this memoir. I was so engrossed in the dangerous turn Kim Barnes' life took, that I couldn't believe she would survive it -- but, I said."She has to. She wrote this book!" The memoir is harrowing. It's hopeful, too. Kim Barnes left the dark side, even if the dark side never quite left her.
Rating:
Summary: My Hero
Review: Kim Barnes' HUNGRY FOR THE WORLD was an eagerly awaited sequel to her lst novel, INTO THE WILDERNESS. Kim is an incredible author. Not only is she very gifted, she is most courageous in reliving her most initmate memories of a very difficult past. This is a painful book to read, hard to understand and justify unless you have lived (and really lived) the seventies, but regardless of the depth of her dive, her true character remains just enough alive in the background to warrant our hopes for her future. Since attending her reading in Ashland, Oregon, of her first book, IN THE WILDERNESS, I have waited for the sequel to answer so many of the questions raised by that first memoir. There are still questions I want explored and my only criticism is that she packs so much human experience into such a short space that the time and events sometimes pass too quickly, leaving me shaking my head as to what has yet to be fully explained. On the other hand, she explains more than I could expect from any woman who has gone through such a troubled transition. This is a wonderful book. This is a wonderful read. She is my hero for having the skill and courage to write so eloquently about her life. This is an Oprah slam dunk. I'm waiting expectantly for the next one. TT.
| 
