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Rating: 
Summary: Split
Review: I heard Lisa Michaels interviewed on NPR a year or so ago and was impressed by the cogency and easy spirit with which she related some of the experiences of her young life. The child of a pair of counterculture types in the 60s, Michaels carefully takes us on the trail her life has taken as a direct result of her parents and who they were, and who they became. The picture on the front cover is of a three year old (herself) toting a Vietnamese flag on the National Mall that appeared on the back cover of Life magazine many years ago. Her stikingly unapologetic tale traverses communes, road trips, political rallies, war protests, and even a jail visit to her father. She manages to tell us about a fascinating childhood while at the same time careful not to either blame, or explain her parents and their views or lifestyles.  One reviewer puts it best, "...though it would be easy to caricature her sixties childhood or turn her parents into cartoon radicals, ...she does a beautiful job of conjuring up her youth in both its anomalous and ordinary detail." This is a well-written and thoughtful book and one that leaves the reader with a comfortable view of what life was really like for her and her family during a turbulent time.
Rating: 
Summary: Bland and Questionable
Review: I heard Lisa Michaels interviewed on NPR a year or so ago and was impressed by the cogency and easy spirit with which she related some of the experiences of her young life. The child of a pair of counterculture types in the 60s, Michaels carefully takes us on the trail her life has taken as a direct result of her parents and who they were, and who they became. The picture on the front cover is of a three year old (herself) toting a Vietnamese flag on the National Mall that appeared on the back cover of Life magazine many years ago. Her stikingly unapologetic tale traverses communes, road trips, political rallies, war protests, and even a jail visit to her father. She manages to tell us about a fascinating childhood while at the same time careful not to either blame, or explain her parents and their views or lifestyles. One reviewer puts it best, "...though it would be easy to caricature her sixties childhood or turn her parents into cartoon radicals, ...she does a beautiful job of conjuring up her youth in both its anomalous and ordinary detail." This is a well-written and thoughtful book and one that leaves the reader with a comfortable view of what life was really like for her and her family during a turbulent time.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Memoir
Review: I heard Lisa Michaels speak locally and finally got around to reading her book, Split. I read it in two sittings. This is more than a 60's childhood memoir; it is a candid look at family dynamics, divorce, American lifestyles and history. It is about the pain of being the new kid in the neighborhood and forming friendships. Lisa describes trying to find a sense of place as she moves around with her mother,who finally settles in a quaint northern CA valley. Meanwhile, Lisa tries to understand and get to know her father who served time in prison for radical activities. This is the journey of a girl going into young womanhood. It's about self discovery and education. Loved the adventures in India, and her narrative, descriptive style. I'm looking forward to reading her newest book.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down.
Review: Split is a beautifully written memoir. No cheap shots here, no bratty self-absorbed rants against loved ones. Lisa Michaels' life has not been particularly melodramatic thus far; Split is a thoughtful recounting of a colorful, mostly happy childhood and young adulthood. She is the child of a politically radical rather and a very intelligent hippie mother who...split...when she was a baby. This is an intimate portrait of divorce, of living in and sometimes strung between two households, a young girl/woman trying to find her place during personally and nationally tumultuous times. What distinguishes Michaels' book from the pack of ordinary memoirs is her keen memory, her compassion, her courage to tell things as SHE sees them rather than attempting to be the voice of her generation or the didactic parrot of her elders.Michaels has an amazing eye for detail, an excellent command of language, and an impressive ability to spin a yarn. She is witty, too. I have so much confidence in her writing I'd read three hundred pages about her expeditions to the grocery store or what she did for summer vacation; fortunately Split covers far more ground. A good read of particular interest to anyone who came of age in the 60s and 70s, whose parents were left of center, or anyone who is curious about how the young people born of this significant time have fared now that they are old enough to reflect on their own experiences.
Rating:
Summary: Split
Review: The reader should follow the advice of the title and split, leaving this book behind. Lisa Michaels had one moment of glory, being photographed holding a Vietcong flag and that photo being published in Life. Beyond that there is not much about her childhood which is interesting or exceptional enough to be worth plowing through 300 pages of detail. Unfortunately the editors of "Split" failed to cut this longwinded account down to something which could do justice to the pieces of Lisa's life really worth noting. One can learn most of what is interesting about Lisa's story in the dozen pages allotted her in Chelsea Cain's "Wild Child."
Rating:
Summary: So Enraptured, Read in One Day
Review: This book is about a woman who struggles for concrete answers and from the beginnings of her reflections discovers time and time again that there is no right answer—only perspectives. It’s her struggle to put herself in these perspectives and to find her own perspective in life. To appreciate this book, don’t expect a “commercial” plot or a sensational lifestyle. It’s about evolution.The language she writes with and her comparisons and metaphors are not cliché and don’t allow for any type of categorization or stereo type. She amazingly puts into words nuances that we all think of but may have trouble relating to others who are not inside our psyches. The language is poetic and precise.
Rating: 
Summary: Loses momentum and interest in the 2nd half
Review: This is a very well written account of coming of age in the milieu of activist, hippie parenting. Up until puberty the memoir is stirring and informative; however, as the author begins to mature, she loses sight of when to finish the story. The last half dragged and seemed trivial. Lisa seemed petulant and misguided. She resembled most adolescents and was therefore, less interesting. Many of the later anecdotes seemed warmed over and bland. The quality of writing was still very high but the substance was thin.
Rating:
Summary: Loses momentum and interest in the 2nd half
Review: This is a very well written account of coming of age in the milieu of activist, hippie parenting. Up until puberty the memoir is stirring and informative; however, as the author begins to mature, she loses sight of when to finish the story. The last half dragged and seemed trivial. Lisa seemed petulant and misguided. She resembled most adolescents and was therefore, less interesting. Many of the later anecdotes seemed warmed over and bland. The quality of writing was still very high but the substance was thin.
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