Perfect Daughters

Rating:
Summary: Barely useful
Review: Because my parents were not falling-down drunks, did not pass out before I came home from school or abuse me in the usual dramatic and overt ways, it was many years before I saw that the lack of complex, deep and interested parenting contributed to my aimlessness and confusion. Ackerman focuses on individuals whose childhoods were mainly marked by, I guess you'd call it, SEVERE alcoholism.

Nor is this book is well written, the information could probably be better presented as the charts and graphs he wants to interpret. But it's still not very useful information.

I just can't get into the perennial victim space; maybe that's why it falls short for me. On the other hand, I absolutely display the evidence of an "adult child...": I have no children (and no desire); finally made a late in life marriage that is failing now, attraction to all the wrong sorts and an ingrained tendency to want to please everyone all the time.

Interesting bits in the book, but too much heavy mining for me.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely a "perfect" book for daughters of alcoholics.
Review: Excellent reading for women brought up in an alcoholic home or for those around her who want to understand her situation. It was enlightening, humerous and easy to read.

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Daughter
Review: I am a child of an alcoholic Mother. I try very hard to avoid books that talk about adult children of Alcoholics becuase they usually make things sound very over technical and impersonal. I am not a very emotional person and I know the decisions I make in my life are because of my families alcoholic issues. However, this was a book that was not very hard to read and I would highly recoomend it. After reading the very first story and bawling my eyes out about that little family princess who never understood and was always trying to make it okay, I knew the book was for me to read. That's ME!!! That's ME!!! I kept saying over and over. Ironically I highlighted every sentence and passage that had to do with my childhood and feelings in the book and I believe I ended up with 90% of it highlighted. I couldn't help to think that someone had a hidden journal on my heart and feelings growing up. If only that person had stepped in when I was young what a difference it would have made. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!!!

Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Daughter
Review: I am a child of an alcoholic Mother. I try very hard to avoid books that talk about adult children of Alcoholics becuase they usually make things sound very over technical and impersonal. I am not a very emotional person and I know the decisions I make in my life are because of my families alcoholic issues. However, this was a book that was not very hard to read and I would highly recoomend it. After reading the very first story and bawling my eyes out about that little family princess who never understood and was always trying to make it okay, I knew the book was for me to read. That's ME!!! That's ME!!! I kept saying over and over. Ironically I highlighted every sentence and passage that had to do with my childhood and feelings in the book and I believe I ended up with 90% of it highlighted. I couldn't help to think that someone had a hidden journal on my heart and feelings growing up. If only that person had stepped in when I was young what a difference it would have made. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!!!

Rating:
Summary: insightful and inspiring
Review: I've read many books on children of alcoholics. Don't be fooled by my four stars--I'm a harsh critic. In the various readings I've done, Dr. Ackerman combines the best of it all in his book--you'll find profiles of daughters so you can identify your own daughter role, descriptions of the holistic process of recovery, and inspiring words. My favorite tidbit in his book is the poem which begins, "After a while you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul." If you're in the early stages of coping with the alcoholism of a parent, this book is for you! Although I am much younger than she, I recently mailed this book to my older sister. She is finally ready to come to terms with the disease and to let go of some of her anger. Mothers, it can be a wonderful gift to your daughters! I received it from my mother, and I've passed it on. Does "pass it on" sound familiar? Let the healing begin!

Rating:
Summary: Simply extraordinary, very clear, complete and also witty
Review: Not an easy book to be read but full of humanity, awareness and insight brought by all the personal experiences. I would highly recommend this reading not only to daughters of alcoholics and dysfunctional families but to everybody who wants to take her life in her hands.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book for adult children of alcoholics
Review: This book is excellent. It has brief sections that talk about different aspects of the adult child's personality. It also offers simple questions to ask yourself to see which parts pertain to you. This book is imformative and simple to read.

Rating:
Summary: An Eye-opening Book
Review: This book really hit home. I have read many books for children of alcoholics, but I feel this one was written right for me. It was so wonderful to know that others share some of my feelings and had similar experiences. I sent the book to my two sisters.

Rating:
Summary: An epiphany of understanding!
Review: While my family was not one of staggering drunks and physical or overt verbal abuse, this books sheds light on why I feel the way that I do! It's easy to get turned off at first by the overt drunks experiences of many of the people's stories presented here if you yourself didn't experience that. The MOST valuable part of the book is a look at different personality traits that you may have developed during your not-so-normal childhood. This books points out the positive things that ACoA's have learned from their experiences and how to use those to our greatest advantage, while understanding and working on some of the traits we developed that are not useful to us as adults. I highly recommend this book - and that you read it several times!

Rating:
Summary: An epiphany of understanding!
Review: While my family was not one of staggering drunks and physical or overt verbal abuse, this books sheds light on why I feel the way that I do! It's easy to get turned off at first by the overt drunks experiences of many of the people's stories presented here if you yourself didn't experience that. The MOST valuable part of the book is a look at different personality traits that you may have developed during your not-so-normal childhood. This books points out the positive things that ACoA's have learned from their experiences and how to use those to our greatest advantage, while understanding and working on some of the traits we developed that are not useful to us as adults. I highly recommend this book - and that you read it several times!