Rating: 
Summary: one of the best "true stories" that I have ever read....
Review: This is one of the most moving and heartfelt books that I have ever read. Every page is filled with such honest pain and perseverance that I could not put it down. Trish is truly and amazing woman to have been able to go through everything that she went through and still have the ability to look back on it so eloquently. I also feel Trevor's pain through her writing. Thank you both so much for sharing your story.....
Rating:
Summary: Open and honest about the aftermath of trauma
Review: With heartrending honesty, Patricia Van Tighem invites the reader into her nightmare of physical and emotional disabilities and the struggle to put her life back together after the brutal attack she experienced. Having experienced PTSD after the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1989, I could relate to her stress and confusion. Factor in her unending pain, the loss of her appearance, people's stares, and the callous, judgmental treatment she received at a hospital, and you have a woman who had overwhelming issues to deal with. I have nothing but praise for Patricia's willingness to candidly share her struggle with others. I hope she continues to write.
Rating:
Summary: The Bear's Embrace: A Story of Survival
Review: Yes, there is outdoors here, but this is a book about Inside the heart and soul of a true survivor. Anyone touched by and treating depression and PTSD should own this book. It is an unusually compelling memoir that will force you into an allnighter. Bless you Ms. Van Tighem.
Rating:
Summary: The Bear's Embrace: A Story of Survival
Review: Yes, there is outdoors here, but this is a book about Inside the heart and soul of a true survivor. Anyone touched by and treating depression and PTSD should own this book. It is an unusually compelling memoir that will force you into an allnighter. Bless you Ms. Van Tighem.
Rating: 
Summary: I did not enjoy this book.
Review: You can't please all the people all time, and I was not pleased, despite the glowing reviews by others. This book has very little action, but rather a STRONG emphasis on the emotional state of the author. If you don't relish reading about horribly depressed people, think twice. It IS compelling and riveting reading, and a quick read as well, which is why I gave it two stars instead of one. To spare others the effort of reading the book, I offer this Klifff Notes Abridged version:Wait for me, honey.BEAR! ARGH!Pain. Surgery. Disfigurement. Infection. Suffering. Nightmares. Depression. Death. Bleak. Exhaustion. Fear. Babies. Downs Syndrome. Hopelessness. Tears. Pain. Anguish. Weak. Despair. Hope? The End.The things I found most interesting in the book were glossed over or ignored: -Did she merely have bad luck in her surgeries, or were the surgeons incompetent? [e.g., She has a lump under her reconstructed cheekbone. After more than three years of complaints to doctors, she and her physician husband BEG a new surgeon to explore the area. He finds an abscess, "the size of a golf ball." Incompetence?] -The author wallows in depression and despair. When her injuries improve and her mood lifts, she starts to help with the family, and her husband experiences some mental difficulties of his own. Although he is a bear attack survivor also, she never seems to consider that perhaps he has Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome too.-Some say she triumphs over her problems at the end. This may be a premature and overly optimistic statement. As I see it, her physical / medical problems start to improve; her mental state follows. It may be as simple as that.Now, undoubtedly, this lady went through a hellish existence of pain and (botched?) surgeries, which took an enormous toll on her psyche. I feel very sorry for her, but that doesn't mean I want to hear about it. Well, at least she didn't kill herself (although she tries.) I did not enjoy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: You know, there aren't enough "bear attack" books out there, or animal attack books in general--at least none that are directed at an adult market. So when I saw THE BEAR'S EMBRACE, I got excited. Finally, I thought, the survival book I've been looking for. I was wrong. Now, let me say that I sympathize with the author--I sure wouldn't wanna be mauled by anything, much less a bear. But did anyone tell this lady that her book is boring, like an editor, or even a friend. Reading twenty pages of this thing will have the same effect on you as drinking an entire bottle of NyQuil. It's a chick-flick in the form of a book.
| 
