Dandelion: Memoir of a Free Spirit by Catherine James ISBN: 9780312367817
From an agonizing childhood to 1960s Greenwich Village to varied relationships with such rock legends as Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, and Jackson Browne, Catherine James reveals a fresh view of a celebrated pop-culture scene as she candidly describes her extraordinary life.
Welcome to the preview of my book, Dandelion: A Memoir. I hope you enjoy reading it each day and I look forward to any comments or questions you may have. -- Catherine James
Re "Dandelion" (My reading of the first 5 chapters):
August 22 2008, 3:34 PM
Wow--What a family! An epic of dysfunction, in the best tradional of American familial tragedy, non-fiction or fiction. Congrats for surviving to write it all down.
Oh joy! Are we supposed to giggle or cringe when reading this book? I'm not sure yet! Today's reading will have me over to the library on my lunch hour! I look forward to reading your book!
Hi Kim,
oddly enough, living through that made me stronger than I might have been. When I finally got the nerve, and ran away from that crazy house, everything else in my life seemed like a breeze. It still does. I appreciate every day, and am having a wonderful life with the family that I've created.
My mother died last year. It was e freeing experience to forgive her.
I do hope you enjoy the book, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Catherine
This starts out to be a promising and entertaining book. It's always been interesting to me to meet and see transexuals, drag queens, etc., as they seem to be colorful, artistic people, and I know must have struggled through many decisions in life. Yet I have never once considered the affect that their transformation would have made on their family--especially their children!
I've already identified with the author, and feeling that connection, want to find out the rest of the story, and how she feels and deals with it. I will definitely read this book.
This sounds like a promising read this week. I've always like to read non-fiction but I also discriminate based on topic. The easy flow of words and the candidness of the author is catching.
What a timely book; I just ran into an old acquaintance who caught me up on the last few years of her life, which have revolved around the gender transformation of her husband of 30 years. I'm still reeling from her news, and thinking about how devastating it must be to know that you have been living a lie (without knowing it) for your entire adult life. Don't get me wrong; I feel empathy for the transgendered person, too, but at least he KNEW all these years. What a difficult situation.
I too was hooked from the first sentence, in fact, I went straight to Barnes & Noble (bn.com) and ordered a copy. Nonetheless, I will continue to read the installments throughout the week. Great story, great writing style.
Fascinating is right! My life has been so "normal" that I just cannot fathom sosme people`s strangeness (strange to me). I have always enjoyed biography and memoirs and particularly those whose lives are so different from my own. Also well written and draws the reader right in and grips them by the throat. Thank you dear author. I will be readin the entire book asap.
Hello Irene,
being born into such a wildly eccentric family, I have always been in awe of simplicity and normalcy.
I'm interested to hear your thoughts as you get farther into the chapters.
Thank you so much for your comment.
The daily reads of your book are very enjoyable. It opens an aspect of life unknown to me. I also enjoy your writing style. I feel that I am actually next to you when you describe your experiences. It's very easy to relate the sights and sounds of your written text. I also plan to read the complete book.
Coming from such a tempestuous childhood at the age of four and no telling what came next, your father appearing in a dress and transgendered or transgendering, tho' quite disconcerting, was probably not the worst of your experiences - I may be wrong - will definitely be reading your book -
Hopefully, you will tell us how you maneuvered your way through life with or without emotional scars - (the things some children have to endure in their young lives and also after they get older is so sad) - I applaud your telling your story -
Dear Doris,
that's exactly it. I did maneuver, and managed to make it work and be happy. I hope to inspire others who have had similar family situations to go beyond there beginnings. Maybe even find some humor in it. I've had one wild ride, and it continues...
Life is a banquet if you look. I have always felt blessed.
Thank you for commenting, and I hope you enjoy my book.
What a lot of fun this has been. I'd like to thank everyone who commented on my book, and I'm so pleased that you enjoy the first few chapters.
Please feel free to email me at pinkshoes11@netzero.net or you can go to my website. officialcatherinejames.net where I have photographs of my family, and the characters I have written about.
I am happy to answer any and all questions, and look forward to hearing from you.
Again, thank you all.
Things seem to be looking up in today's final read -thank goodness - thanks for your response - and am glad to know how the title of your book came to be as I was wondering - a pretty picture you paint of you and your maternal gr.mother having a picnic and her reading the poem to you - as you inferred in one of your posts, "that which doesn't destroy you makes you stronger" - that seems to be the case in your situation - Good luck to you in your future -
- Doris -
Catherine thank you so much for such a wonderful read! I read your book in one sitting and think you are fascinating!
Once again, thank you for sharing your story with us.
