Cook This, Not That: Eating Healthier And Liking It

I do not diet. I do not like diet food: fat-free this, light that. Yuck. And really, most of that stuff is so chemical-laden that it negates any calorie benefit it might have. Over time I have discovered that the key to eating healthier is making better choices and watching portion sizes. This is where Cook This, Not That comes in. It’s a cookbook that will help educate you on how to make better food choices and give you some awesome recipes in the process. It was written by the editors of Men’s Health magazine.

The book calls itself the “No Diet Weight Loss Solution,” but you should be aware that they are basing this statement on the fact that many of us eat out way too much and that restaurant food is, on average, horrible for you. It gives you homemade alternatives to some popular restaurant dishes—alternatives that seriously slash calorie counts. If you eat out a lot and stopped doing that and ate from this book instead, you would lose weight. That being said, if you are trying to lose weight overall, you’ll still need to keep a good eye on your calories, etc.

But for those of us who just want healthier food that tastes good, this is a godsend. Seriously. I’ve had this book for a few months now and don’t think I’ve had a bad meal from it. It has everything from appetizers and snacks to dessert. It gives you some great ideas for branching out on your own and making healthy choices while doing it. I love this book so much when I found out they had a new, 350-calorie version, I had to have it. It’s been a few weeks and so far, I love it.

What I like best? The recipes use real food and not weird-tasting substitutes. It educates you about healthy fats and portion sizes and how to eat to stay fuller longer so you don’t binge on things you shouldn’t. It’s the healthy eating information most of us probably knew back in the day before the fat-free revolution loaded us up on sugar and chemicals. This is eating more like people ate back when I was kid. Nothing was completely out of bounds, but people didn’t eat out for every meal and they didn’t eat hamburgers the size of their heads.

For me, this is a return to eating sanity. I heartily recommend both of these books; they’ve become household staples for me. My son even likes the stuff. Go figure.

Wanna learn more? Follow Eat This, Not That on Twitter at @EatThisNotThat and check out their Web page.

Book Review: Half In Love

I suppose I should start this off with a bit of a disclaimer. This book, Half in Love (surviving the legacy of suicide) may not be for everyone. It is the story of a woman whose mother committed suicide, and who herself then went on to make several attempts on her own life.  However, as an admitted English geek (did you catch the reference in the title?) and lover of dark, realistic portrayals of life, this memoir by Linda Gray Sexton (yes! Anne Sexton’s daughter!) was something I knew I wanted to read immediately.

As someone who has struggled with depression for most of my life, reading Linda’s story was often painful and unsettling. In fact, I frequently found myself empathizing so much with her experience that I worried I was being pulled back in to a dark spiral. So much of her story and situation resonated with me, and in the end, I realized I was simply reliving my own pain in reading hers.

The story begins with the legacy itself.  Anne Sexton committed suicide when Linda was a senior at Harvard, and came after a lifetime of attempts and hospitalizations. Linda shares wrenching stories of being sent off to various relatives while her mother was ill and how this stained her childhood. Later, as she became old enough to care for herself, she was not sent off, but remained home to care for her mother. Linda wanted nothing more than this, and it established a dangerous codependent relationship between the mother and daughter. As a teenager, she began to pull away in superficial ways, but their bond was unshakable.

Once Anne died, Linda blindly moves forward with her life, still connected to her mother as executor of her posthumously published work.  But in that moment, there was nothing to fear. She could simply create the type of life for herself that she always saw in her mind, one that contrasted with her mother’s pain and shortcomings:

I thought I could pick the sort of mother I would be, as simply as I might pluck events or holidays from a river of experience. I thought I could consciously choose the foundation on which I would build the style of my mothering. I’d thought that decisiveness and self-control were the ways we shaped our futures; if those futures were handed down from generation to generation, then to succeed at changing them was still within reach with the application of a little bit of effort. It didn’t occur to me then that there was some secret code in both learned behavior and genetic, biological expression that was embedded with us. I could not see that these two factors might actually govern what I did, and what kind of mother I would be, regardless of how I strove to aim at a particular vision of myself in this role. I began to discover, slowly, that it was not a question of pure willpower.

However, Linda’s life is soon firmly in the grips of her previously undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and she wakes one day to find herself in an institution after having cut herself and taken pills in a bathtub while her children slept in the other room. The rest of the story catalogs two more attempts, the dissolution of her marriage, and the ultimate ascent from her downward spiral. Her story, this legacy of suicide, is completely heartbreaking, but it is also deeply woven with hope, love, and strength.

Do you know a girl that hates depressing stories? Yeah, DON”T buy her this book. Otherwise, you can find Linda Gray Sexton’s memoir at Amazon for just over $16.00

Feature image by taivasalla on Flickr

Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog: A Book Review

I was at our local library Saturday using their internet and looking for something to read when I checked out the New Releases shelf and saw “Why My Third Husband Will Be a Dog.”  That title? Totally caught my eye.  So I did what I always do before checking out a book, I checked out the back.

Lisa?  Writes like a blogger.

Why?  Because she writes a humor column for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

She also writes bestselling mystery novels.  And by bestselling?  I mean New York Times Bestsellers.

I fell in love with Lisa just from the introduction of this book alone.   Her mystery novels all have women, amazing ordinary women, as main characters.  When asked if she would ever write a man as a main character she answered “No.”  When asked why not, she answered “Because I have ovaries. I write what I know. “  Love her.

Lisa has been twice divorced (like me!!!) and has been beyond broke when first divorced (also? Like me!  We could be BFF’s. Or Twinsies!) In fact her life sounds a lot like yours “if you crave carbs, can’t find jeans that fit, and still believe these two things are unrelated.”  She has an great sense of humor, wit and wisdom.

She writes about amazing adventures of everyday lives.  Such topics as “Of Dogs and Men” where she explores the connection between the number of divorces a woman has in relation to the number of dogs she currently shares her bed with.  “Family Fun” where she tells us the life lessons she has learned from having her mother Mother Mary, and her gay brother Brother Frank visit for a week.  Such gems as “You can’t chloroform your mother” especially if your brother is around.  She writes about raising her only daughter on her own, and living with 4 dogs, 2 kittens, 14 chickens and hot flashes.

I sat down and read this book cover to cover, only coming up for dinner and sleep.  It’s a quick easy light-hearted read that woman of all ages can relate to and get a laugh out of.  She’s honest, and funny and writes what we’re all thinking but just don’t have the nerves or the place to say.

Whether you read her book, or just her column, please check out Lisa Scottoline.  She’s a woman’s woman with a great sense of humor.  You will be nodding your head in agreement and laughing along with her.

Feature photo by: April Narby

Hector And The Search For Happiness

In Francois Lelord’s novel Hector and the Search for Happiness, Hector is a young psychiatrist who grows weary of trying to treat people who aren’t happy. He can’t quite figure out why they’re unhappy, but isn’t quite sure what would make them happy either since many of them don’t seem to have that much to be unhappy about.

As he tries to answer this question of happiness, Hector journeys from Paris to China to Africa and then to the land of More. That’s where I live. Along the way, Hector makes a list of things that make people happy. He finds that happiness comes in many forms. From the joy of youth, to the thrill of new love; and the contentedness that comes with being at peace with oneself, Hector’s list is as varied as the life experience itself.

He finds that what makes a person happy in Paris may be far different from what makes a person happy in Africa. How people react to being happy varies, too. What makes two people in Paris happy can be two completely different things. What makes each individual happy can be different at different times of their lives, too. For example, just thinking about Paris can make me happy. I had a great time in Paris in 1987. But thinking about Paris can also make me sad. I had a great time in Paris in 1987 and I haven’t been back since.

Written in a style that’s been compared to The Little Prince and Lemony Snickett, the novel employs simple language that gives it a child-like feel. Don’t be fooled. The messages, while universal, are also complex. I devoured the book in a day, partly because of its brevity, but also because I wanted to see Hector’s complete list without flipping to the back of the book and cheating.

The idea of happiness has been a topic of my inner dialog for a few weeks. Inner dialog? Who am I? Happiness is one of those things that occupies my thoughts when I’m driving or rinsing the shampoo out of my hair or vacuuming. Okay, that’s a little lie. When I’m vacuuming, I think about Clive Owen. Anyway, after a few years of upheaval – economic, marital, personal and professional – I have to wonder – Am incapable of happiness?Perhaps I’m not wired to be content.

The thing is – happiness is a shape shifter. There are still moments of great joy upon discovering something new, finding a five dollar bill in the pocket of a jean jacket or learning some great news about a friend. But more often happiness shows up in the form of feeling content, whether I recognize it or not. The way it feels when my family laughs together. Looking up a word in the Thesaurus and finding just the right one. The way my heartbeat slows and my body warms under the covers as I fall asleep with my fingers entwined with my husband’s. I’m not fighting thoughts. I’m not wishing for anything. I’m not wishing away anything. Content.

For a drama junkie, this is new ground. I don’t want to mess with it too much because I fear that over-analyzing it will spoil the effects. The adrenaline highs of stress and drama are followed by lows that leave me hollow and craving. Contentedness is that smooth middle place. This could take some getting used to, but I’m willing to give it a try.

But I’m supposed to be telling you about the book. Read it. I’d love to give you Hector’s list, but that would be giving something away that isn’t mine to give. I can tell you this – while the story has its twists and turns, I found myself feeling mostly happy as I read it.

Photo Credit

Gunn’s Golden Rules: A Book Review

Gunn’s Golden Rules, the book by the man himself, offers tips, anecdotes, and motivation “for making it work.” The “it” begin life, of course.  Do you love Tim Gunn? Of course you do! Do you love to read? Of course you—well, you should. Do you like funny stories! Yeah, you get the picture: you’re gonna love this book!

Gunn’s Golden Rules reads like pretty much what you’d expect from the consummate gentleman who is offering advice for a successful, full life. His tips are more or less practical, and they cover areas from relationships to finances and work life. But c’mon. We’re not reading for his advice, are we? We’re reading for:

1. His stories!

Sure, we get the details about how Anna Wintour is an elitist wang, but there are others! A fashion dude who is fed grapes and fanned while waiting for a function! A famous designer who get drunk and embarrasses herself in a diner in NYC!

And aside from celebrities, we hear about others he’s worked with or met at events, which are equally interesting. One tells the story of a ridiculously wealthy young girl who is so unbelievably and shockingly pretentious that she actually utters “Let them eat cake!” in response to Gunn asking about war refugees.

Oh, and the time he accidentally forwards a scathing email to the recipient of that insult! And OHMYGOD the claims he makes about his father and J. Edgar Hoover! I can’t stop myself! There’s so many good stories! (OKAY, I’ll stop myself.)

2. His opinions!

Because I see Gunn as such a sweet guy, I always wondered how he’d handle hot-button issues or things of that nature. As it turns out, he’s really quite honest. He’s gentle, but he’s blunt. Take for example when he’s talking about working as a stylist for overweight women:

If a very overweight woman asks me to dress her body, I will say “You can’t remain 450 pounds. Forget about picking the best clothes for your size; we can always help you look your prettiest, but it’s just not healthy to weigh that much.”

There were even moments I found myself surprised by his stance on things (he doesn’t like the whole “no presents please” bit on invitations, and he’s leans toward conservative on the breast feeding issue.) But, again, despite this, his thoughts and words depict a really amazing, honorable man.

3. His mother!

Gunn claims that his mother is a dead-ringer for Queen Elizabeth. This gives great visual help for picturing such stories as when he met his mother for lunch, they get into an argument, and Gunn ends up choking–like not breathing–on his food. His mother, put out by the quarrel, is ignorant to his plight and yammers on. It’s only when he’s able to dislodge his food onto his mother’s lap that she looks at him, disgusted that he’s spit on her. His reply:

“Spit my food on you? I almost died! Right here! In front of you! I thought I was going to die, and you’re embarrassed?” I yelled back. “Wouldn’t  you have been more embarrassed by a corpse?”

You guys? HILARIOUS.

4. His down to earth philosophies! (Is that even a thing!? I made it up!)

He claims he isn’t wealthy, which might be a sign of his detachment from reality (which he actually acknowledges at times), but even if he IS, the man acts as if he is not. He’s practical, not showy or privileged.  Many times, he proclaims that the world owes you (himself included) nothing.  If he wants to buy an expensive item, he finds something cheaper and donates the difference to charity (or something along those lines). He talks to his grumpy doorman, who has never returned the gesture. He grocery shops in jeans! (I know, right? I wish this thing had pictures.) He cooks his own meals! (Okay, maybe not as impressive, but still.)

Anyway, I guess the bottom line is that if you love Tim, of COURSE you’re gonna love his book. It’s a quick read (even though he still demonstrates his ridiculous vocabulary) and, quite frankly, warms the cockles of my dark and moley heart.

Buy Gunn’s Golden Rules: Life’s Little Lessons for Making it Work at Amazon for $14.95.

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Featured image via Scott McDermott for Time Magazine

The New Good Life, A Book Review

I picked up The New Good Life – Living Better Than Ever in An Age of Less on a whim. I didn’t know who John Robbins was nor did I know of his program Diet for a New America. Have I been living under a rock? Apparently. I could have really used Robbins’ calm, careful and practical approach to life with less during 2010. I could have used some calm when it came to thinking about and dealing with our changing financial situation, but now that I’ve found this book, I’m going to make the most of it and its positive message.

Robbins, an heir to the Baskin-Robbins fortune, has experienced financial highs and lows. In The New Good Life he offers suggestions for how to create a life that brings you psychological security and happiness without all the trappings of our consumer culture. He examines how we’ve gone from being citizens to consumers and how that change has made us less happy, less satisfied and has put us at odds with the environment, when we’re not out and out at war with it.

Beginning with his own story of creating wealth after having walked away from his family’s fortune and then the loss of his life savings, Robbins illustrates through his personal story how living well with less is an attainable goal and doesn’t require deprivation. In fact, he’s anti-deprivation because deprivation will only lead to a binge later. I can’t think of a single phrase using the word binge that ends well. Can you?

Next, Robbins explains the money archetypes (I’m an “innocent”) and explains using easily understood examples how they relate to money and how they can find a better way to relate to money.

He transitions to the practical by giving clear instructions for determining where your money goes, how much money you actually earn per hour and how you can re-examine and readjust your spending, save money and reduce your impact on the environment. Robbins’ recommendations for living better on less cover everything from having children to food, housing and transportation.

I was thrilled to find recipes for food and for making cleaning supplies. I’ve worried for a while that we’re marinating in petro-chemicals each and every day and have wanted a comprehensive list of safe cleaning supplies and personal care items. I know these things work and save money. When our clothes dryer went out last year, our electric bill dropped significantly. I was line drying our clothes and then ironing to soften them. My children, spoiled sensualists (another Robbins money archetype) that they are, complained about the stiffness of the line-dried clothes so I found a solution for homemade fabric softener. It really did make our clothes softer than commercial softener, even as I continued to line dry them.

I recommend this book for its readability, practical information and for how it approaches the “new normal.” As our family has adjusted to having half its income, we’ve found that some things are easy to do without while others are harder to let go. As we still live and work in a middle class world and have children attending school with peers whose families haven’t been so negatively affected by this economy, we’ve struggled with meshing reality with old expectations. Do middle schoolers really need a full-color yearbook, for example. I’m pleased for those parents who can afford to buy their child every new iPhone edition upon its release, but do they have any idea how much pressure that puts on the rest of us?

Our kids are learning that buying their friends’ used iPhone makes them the wiser consumer. As long as they’re willing to pay the additional data charges and plan fees, that is. We’re spending a lot more time as a family discussing the differences between need and want. The kids get it. They may not like it, but they get it.

We’ve always known that we couldn’t keep up with the Joneses, but now that we truly do not have the means to even try, we’re learning how to find peace with this knowledge, to not compare ourselves with others and to understand that the life we have now can be full and satisfying without debt and within our means.

What I learned from John Robbins’ book will help.

A Season of Unlikely Happiness

When Laura Munson’s husband told her that he wasn’t sure he was in love with her anymore, she didn’t overreact. She didn’t scream or shove him or replace his aftershave with Pine-Sol. Instead, she chose to not believe him and wait out whatever was making him push her away. She kept her eyes, ears and heart open. She did what came naturally and kept a journal that eventually became the New York Times Best Selling book This Is Not The Story You Think It Is: A Season of Unlikely Happiness.

While I will admit that as I read this book, I was alternately embarrassed and defensive about how little interior life I have – I don’t quote Rumi and when I’m bent out of shape, I let my mind go to white noise a bit too often. There were moments when reading the book made me feel shallow.

For example, if I asked my husband if we had a “shared philosophy,” he would give me that pained look where the crease between his eyebrows goes really deep. He’d ask me if I’ve been reading relationship books while he plots his way out of the room before I corner him into an awkward discussion about meaningful things.

Either that or he’d check my breath for alcohol.

And the funny thing about that is that my husband did exactly what Laura Munson did when I decided that I no longer wanted to be married. I wasn’t sure if I loved my husband, if I’d ever really loved him in the first place and was certain I’d married him for all the wrong reasons.

His reaction was mirrored Munson’s. He didn’t react. He waited and listened and gave me enough rope with which to hang myself and then, as I metaphorically dangled – kicking my feet and struggling against that rope, he reached up and cut the noose I’d drawn around my own neck.

And he gave me a soft landing.

My husband and I don’t talk much about those rough days, but Munson’s book reminded me of those scary, confusing times. When I delivered my verbal surgical strikes to my husband’s heart and mind, I meant what I said. But underneath that confidence were motivations similar to those of Munson’s husband. But I don’t want to give away to the story.

Munson is a talented, entertaining writer. The story moves quickly as she writes about how she spent the summer quietly dealing with the potential end of her marriage. When asked why she wanted to share this story, Munson noted that she wanted to help others, to give them some framework for hope and for breaking out of a reactionary habit to face any situation and find an “end to the pain.”

While my marriage is back on solid footing, other areas of my life remain in flux. I found Munson’s story just what I needed to help me remember what matters, to look for the light instead of the dark and to make a conscious decision to say fuck you to self-pity and to say no to the pain.

Featured photo by: Darwin Bell/Flickr

Good Enough to Eat Indeed!

Allow me to introduce you to Stacey Ballis.  Besides blogging at The Polymath Chronicles, Stacey is a fabulous author.  She is the partner in crime to another of my beloved authors and bloggers, Jen Lancaster and I tell you no lie, I would gladly give up just about any vice to be a fly on the wall when those two get going. Stacey has a new book, Good Enough To Eat.

I have a special place in my heart for books by bloggers but my literary tastes are vast, I’ll read anything as long as it isn’t a bodice-ripping Harlequin romance, a Western, a Sci-Fi book or anything that Stephen King has touched.  And aside from my love of Chick Lit, Memoirs, Forensic Thrillers and True Crime, Not to mention, I’m a book-a-holic.  I read about 3 books a week.  I devour them at an inhuman pace and my computer pretty much just points itself to Amazon without any prompting.  (Although much to my husband’s delight, I have recently procured a library card.)

Having read three of Stacey’s previous books, Inappropriate Men, Room for Improvement and The Spinster Sisters, I was so excited to hear about her newest release and pre-ordered it on Amazon months and months before it was released.  When it showed up, it was all I could do to keep myself from feigning a pathetic cough and rushing home to curl up on the back porch with my new treasure.

Stacey’s protagonists are always strong, powerful and unapologetic women and the latest, Melanie Hoffman, is no exception.  After working hard for nearly two years to lose half her body weight, Melanie has gone to culinary school and now runs a take-out business specializing in healthy gourmet food.  Then one day, with no warning,  her previously supportive husband up and leaves her for a woman twice her size.

I could not put this book down for the two days it took me to finish it.  Stacey Ballis has surrounded Melanie (who I adored secondly only to Sidney, the witty, sexy plus-sized star of “Inappropriate Men”) with intriguing friends and family and weaves a really wonderful story of a woman who thought she’s come to the end of a journey, when in fact, she’s only at the beginning.   I’d call it a beach read if it weren’t so freaking cold outside.  And yet… it has more to it than a normal beach book… more heart.

Stacey’s books are refreshing because they are about REAL women.  These aren’t supermodels skipping around Manhattan in 4-inch heels with mysterious unlimited funds (although I do profess a guilty pleasure for those books as well).  Her subjects are smart, witty, accomplished women who aren’t afraid of their faults and love themselves just the way they are.  Just between you and me?  That’s the kind of role model I would want for myself and my daughter… if I had one.

Find Good Enough to Eat, along with all Stacey Ballis’s books, on Amazon.

Featured photo by Horia Varlan

Two Books Every American Woman Must Read

As conversations regarding America and immigration seem to be mounting toward a near fever pitch, Isabelle Allende’s Daughter of Fortune and Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter prove critical in contextualizing the issue within a purely feminine experience.  Both published over ten years ago, neither of the books can be considered “new.” Still, I’m continuously surprised by the number of people, particularly women, who haven’t read them.  For those who seek to understand the disparate and varied nature of the meaning of “American,” these books are simply required reading.

Eliza Sommers, a young Chilean woman and Allende’s protagonist in Daughter of Fortune, undertakes the arduous journey from her home in Valpairaso to San Francisco in search of the man she loves.  Her journey and subsequent settling in San Francisco envelopes the reader in a way that beautifully transmits the historical realities of the Gold Rush, but also proves transformational as the reader is quickly swept up in a wholly female immigrant experience.  Most Americans, and I include myself in this category, think of the 1800′s California Gold Rush as a time of migration from one part of the United States to another, however Allende’s novel illustrates that the Gold Rush also existed as a time in which world cultures coalesced around the promise of economic prosperity and newly found personal freedom.  Allende also artfully represents the precarious nature of social harmony when groups of disparate nationalities are forced to occupy the same geographic location while vying for the same exact resources.

Although most likely better known for her collection of short stories turned movie, The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan’s brilliance as an author was further illustrated in The Bonesetter’s Daughter which was published in 2001.  Ruth, the main character, is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and coping with her mother’s descent into full fledged Alzheimer’s disease.  True to form, Tan navigates the past and present in a seamless manner thereby creating an intricate and unified tapestry of the Chinese American experience.  The Bonesetter’s Daughter exists as a timeless documentation of how in every American family there are secrets waiting to be revealed, identities that are readily negotiated, and untapped reservoirs of filial love that hold transformational powers.

As I said, these books are not new, but they are incredibly relevant to our experience as Americans and as women.  Being the daughter of immigrants, it’s often difficult for me to convey to my American feminist sisters how much of my parent’s experience determines my personal brand of feminism or how deliberate many of my negotiations concerning womanhood as it relates to personal liberation are.  In some cases, this inability to transmit the experience on my part creates divides in conversations and even agendas that I believe impede us from developing stronger bonds with one another.  Besides being amazingly written and entertaining, these books promise to serve as bridges to conversations that will, in turn, serve as bridges to formulating a more inclusive and hopefully harmonious sense of what it truly is to be an American woman.

Daughter of Fortune (I recommend buying the paperback “P.S.” version that includes an interview with the author in the Appendix) and The Bonesetter’s Daughter are both available for purchase from Amazon.

Photo Credit: Morizo-

From Girlfriend to Goddess, Oprah: A Biography

I am a reader of books.  I love books.  I have since I was just a wee one (and really, we don’t need to discuss how many years ago that has been).  My mother tells stories of me reading books or magazines at the tender age of 2 without tearing a single page.  To say that I love books would be like saying Britt loves shoes.  I probably have as many books as she has shoes, and that’s saying something.

When I saw Oprah A Biography on the shelf at my local library, (I checked it out from my local library. You can buy your own copy here.) I jumped at the chance to read about the most powerful woman in media.  And by media I mean television, radio, print, and internet.  If it’s out there so is she.  I wanted to know what’s Oprah really like? I wanted to know the history and what she did to get to where she is today.  After all, aren’t well all using social media to get out name, our brand out there to make impact, make a difference or even make a living, (or maybe just enough to pay for webhosting).  Oprah does the same thing, only on a much grandeur scale.  She has cornered the market on branding, by trade-marking her name, her signature, her image, her catch phrases. If she’s come up with it, come in contact with it, or makes you think of her, she probably owns it.  But most of all, I wanted to know what’s the true relationship between her and Stedman and Gayle?  Who’s really sleeping with who in that trio.

The book follows her life from ‘a po’ ole’ nappy-headed colored chile’ in Mississippi, to Baltimore where she was first put on air as a news anchor, to Chicago where she got her own show, to The White House where Obama works and she sings his praises.  It follows her from a net worth (according to Forbes) of $675 million in 1998 to $1500 million in 2007.

Oprah is a control freak, and the more powerful she gets the more control over her life, her image, her secrets, she has to have.  She makes everyone sign life long all inclusive confidentiality agreements (that DO stand up in court, they’ve been challenged).  And by everyone she means all her employees, all her guests, their entire family, her maids, hair dressers, dog walkers, gardeners, her entire staff, hotel staff, everyone she comes in contact with.

She is a contradiction in terms, meaning her private life is a contradiction to her public life.  On air, in public, she appears to be caring and giving and open and sharing and warm and your BFF for life.  Behind closed doors she’s shrewd, insensitive, cold, calculating and manipulative and single minded.  What she wants, she’s going to get no matter the cost to anyone.  The Pontiac G6′s she gave to her audience?  While she could have paid for them herself, she didn’t.  “Yes, I could have paid for them, but Pontiac offered to donate them so why should I pay for them?”  She of course did not help with sales taxes licensing or fees either.  They were presented as a gift and not a prize and therefore audience members had to pay approximately $7000 in sales tax on the vehicles.  Nice gift.

Oprah is the queen of branding and the Madame of Media, using each and every possible outlet to it’s fullest potential to further her brand and reach more and more people.  She is the epitome of what we’re all doing on a much much smaller scale.  The phrase if you build it they will come certainly applies here.  She has built an empire around herself and fans and followers flock to worship at her feet, or at their television set every weekday at 4:00 (9:00 AM Chicago).

I enjoyed the book.  I was sucked in from the first page and would read it every night when I got home. It’s a hard book to put down.  If for no other reason than to find the answer to “What the hell really *is* going on with her, Stedman and Gayle?”  The world may never know.

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