Rating: 
Summary: Sad but Good
Review: A sad but inspirational book. Maybe not for the top of your reading list, but one to consider. If you enjoyed "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", "My Fractured Life", and "Father Joe" then this could be the next on your list.
Rating:
Summary: Sad but Good
Review: A sad but inspirational book. Maybe not for the top of your reading list, but one to consider. If you enjoyed "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", "My Fractured Life", and "Father Joe" then this could be the next on your list.
Rating: 
Summary: Boomer Paean
Review: Because I am a cancer survivor myself, I was drawn to this extremely well-written book (thanks to Laurence Shames) about how a relatively young man, Peter Barton, 50-51, handled terminal stomach cancer.
Barton was a member of the most self-indulgent generation ever, the baby-boomers, and he availed himself of its sybaritic offerings to the fullest. They called this living large.
He didn't serve his country, didn't invent television, didn't invent the internet, didn't devote his life selflessly to find a cure for cancer that would help all humanity, but he did join John Malone, the founder of Liberity Media, and made a fortune doing it. He was paid a fortune for helping to create a product that is consumed mainly by children and adults of limited perception. He didn't do much to pay society back for his good fortune.
What this book illustrates is that he was a boomer to the end, self-absorbed, self-indulgent, and self-important. If I had known him in business I think I would have found him repugnant.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Touching
Review: Do not listen to russp61 from Atlanta, I loved this book. Just read it; I cried at the end. It is life changing and like Tuesdays with Morrie only from a younger persons point of view.
I would write more, but I have to go. This wondeful work of writing is well worth picking up.
Rating:
Summary: A book that will take your breathe away
Review: I am into audio books, so for me to read a book with my limited free time takes alot. So on that note I will make this short.
This book with take your breathe away and make you question your life. It will make you teary eyed not because he is exposing the process of dying. But because he is exposing our mass failure to pour ourselves into our lives. Laurence Shames parts of the book you can skip...they take away from message.
I am happy this book is short for two reasons:
1. I do not think I could handle hearing any more about Peter.
2. Since this book does smack you square in the face...any larger it would of really hurt, for it has already left its mark.
Rating:
Summary: In Search of Laurence Shames
Review: I bought my first Laurence Shames novel at a bookshop in Florida years ago. Although I don't recall which title it was, I've been in love with his characters ever since. As a result, I am always in search of his new novels, which seem to be too few and too far between to suit me, so I snapped up this exquisite little jewel right away. If you've never read his work, this is a wonderful place to start, but you won't want to miss the great laugh-out-loud work that preceded this book either.
Rating:
Summary: This was a sad, but good little book.
Review: I first learned of Peter Barton's death in the quarterly alumni news letter that I receive from the Loomis School.I ordered the book when I saw mention of it. I was several years behind Peter, but knew him since it was not a large school.He was an athletic and confident senior, as I remember him, and oddly after all these years I can still recall his face.The book details his life with candor,and I enjoyed reading his story; and I was saddened to learn of his death from a carcinoma.I thought the book was well worth the time. There are a few denigrating reviews in this list at Amazon, but I think they miss the point. He may have been fortunate, or lucky, in many ways, but he appreciated that- many of us do not.I do indeed recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Guide To An Extreme Makeover
Review: I had the opportunity to develop life-improving and life-saving medical devices for terminally ill cancer patients in the early 1980s. The time I spent with people who were dying became THE touchstone for the rest of my life. These fine people, more than any other group, taught me the truths of life and how to live it with purpose and meaning. If you (most people I have met do) are in need of an Extreme Makeover when it comes to your life, "Not Fade Away" does not disappoint. Some of the takeaways include: "When you really grasp death, it is one of life's defining moments...nothing looks quite the same again... If you've always got your health, you can always make money. But all the money in the world can't buy back your health.
You will never accomplish anything if you're afraid to look bad trying.
And, why do we lose that feeling, that sense of wonder, for so much of our lives?" Redeem yourself...and your life with this very thoughtful and provocative book.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book
Review: I have never read a more approachable yet profound book. I have never read as entertaining yet life altering book. It is not just the story of Peter Barton: it is a story about us all--our youth, out careers, our family choices, our mortality. I laughed, I smiled, I cried. I no longer look at the world the same way. I try to balance my life better. I try to make wiser choices. I often fail; but the book at least has me thinking about how to spend my limited time and how to be more gentle with myself and those around me.
Rating: 
Summary: some things aren't so clear cut
Review: I have to say, I bought this somewhat expecting to be uplifted, and to gain some insight on life, death, dying. I'm not much for self-help type stuff, but the blurbs of a "life well lived" definitely appealed to me. I've always run full-tilt towards......whatever presented itself! Having just lost my dearest friend, and pooch, and being single in my early 30's (in LA, no less), heading home for T-day to take on aging grandparents with fading memory, crazy in-laws, etc.....
strangely enough, this was perfect for the plane ride back to LA. At times, I became a bit annoyed by the bad-boy swagger of Barton, yet I realized three hours into the flight that I had dog-eared more pages for later reference, insight, or raw truthfulness, than I normally do. If you can set aside a difference in lifestyles - because he truly lived a unique life - some of the insights and hindsights are truly raw and real. This is a strange book in that it's a good, easy read, with nuggets of wisdom that are absolutely blatant and brilliant. This seems to be someone who - maybe to some of his peers - didn't appreciate all that he had. Yet, reading this book, he clearly appreciated all the moments - good and bad, for what they were. And this book made me re-affirm my joy of leaving the airport and putting the top down on the car, cracking open a great bottle of wine, appreciating my neighbors: all things I do normally, but things I'll make sure never to take for granted.
Huh, not sure this is a good review, but it's the way the book made me feel. So, there you have it. It's good reading and good advising. Not so neatly wrapped up, but, maybe it's not supposed to be.
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