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Summary: Ms. Moss's has always been Zeus' daughter.
Review: Change Me Into Zeus' Daughter goes beyond Angela's Ashes in story, character, humor and courage. Ms. Moss reflects the realities of daily life for families living in poverty with an alcoholic father. More importantly, her reflection mirrors her own inner beauty and undaunting spirit that never gives way to self-pity. The strength to be positive, find humor and not give up set a standard that all readers can admire and seek to attain.Barbara, you would have been my best childhood friend. You are Zeus's daughter and have always been.
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Summary: Moss is Herself a Transforming Power
Review: Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter by Barbara Robinette Moss I loved this book. It seems impossible that children who spent their days memorizing poetry and reading books on classic art also lived with poverty, violence, malnutrition, and humiliation. How could someone survive such a childhood and still write such a hopeful book? The book is set during the late 1950s and 60s in Alabama in the towns of Eastaboga, Anniston, Birmingham and Kimberly. The book tells why Ms. Moss sought a life of art and beauty. Her father was an alcoholic, too proud to accept charity, too violent to stay out of trouble, and too charming not to control his children's hearts. Ironically, it was he who told his children one night about Venus, the daughter of Zeus. Pointing to the star, he told them she was cherished and beautiful. Venus was "a star that encompassed everything I had been praying for. I closed my eyes and made a wish: Change me into Zeus's daughter." Ms. Moss's mother provided an escape from the ugliness of their lives. She focused her children's attention on the liberal arts since she was an educated woman whose only fault was submissive compliance, not only to her husband, but to life's traumas. Many chapters tell of the antics of Ms. Moss's siblings. Her stories are strictly Southern with descriptions of bright lilies, blue foothills and red clay. Describing a field of gladiolas, she says "...the slender stalks had soaked up energy from the sun all day, we could hear them grow, jubilantly crackling as they pushed toward the stars. Solar furnaces. Cosmic rockets." When she's older, Ms. Moss suffers from perceived ugliness due to several moles and a severe overbite. Ridiculed by classmates, she saved money to have the moles removed. She also worked to pay for braces on her teeth and underwent facial surgery at the University of Alabama Hospital at Birmingham. Further, she worked to finish college, raised a son and is now an accomplished artist of oil painting and multi-media art, according to several magazine articles I've read about her life. The book's dust jacket reflects the two-edged story. On the front is a photo of the children and their mother sitting on the steps of a ramshackle house. On the back is a painting of a pretty, delicate face -- Ms. Moss's self-portrait in yellows and reds. She is more like Venus, not only in beauty, but also in the transforming power of her starry goddess.
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Summary: Incredible Book; Must Read
Review: Change Me into Zeus's Daughter is not just about poverty and alcoholism, it is a story of a young girls metamorphosis (along with her brothers and sisters)and the love of a courageous mother. It is a story about the resiliency of the human spirit. Barbara Moss's life is so vividly written that we are lonesome for each and every person presented once the last page has been turned. Change Me into Zues's Daughter made me laugh and cry and laugh and cry and laugh again. I couldn't put it down. This book is the best memoir I have ever read and possible the best book I've ever read.
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Summary: A Wonderful Book
Review: From the first sentence of CHANGE ME INTO ZEUS'S DAUGHTER to the last I was enthralled by the descriptive power and honesty of Barbara Robinette Moss's prose. A book like this makes one happy to be living in what has been called "the age of the memoir" and this memoir centainly ranks among the best along with ANGELA'S ASHES. Ms. Moss has the ability to convey the fear and uncertainties that beset a child growing up in circumstances of abuse, hunger and poverty in a way that cuts to the heart. I am amazed by those people who can survive and even thrive spiritually in such an environment. No doubt her mother's love of literature and music that she conveyed to her children was a positive influence, but I think that Ms. Moss's inborn character and determination is most to be credited for her transformation and success. I was touched by her close relationships with her siblings and the devotion of her Aunt Janet through years of chaos. I would recommend this book without reservation.
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Summary: An heartfelt retelling of poverty in America
Review: How Barbara Robinette Moss survived her childhood with a gracious spirit intact is a mystery. Only the support from her mother and an inner strength could have sustained her. She retells her childhood with remarkably little bitterness and in fact some traces of love for a father so undeserving of it. As you read this book, be aware that she has many flashbacks and watch for her clues as to what time he is currently retelling. This book is a wonderful companion to Angela's Ashes
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Summary: This author has the ability to "think outside of the box".
Review: I am very priviledged to have read Barbara Robinette Moss's memoir. In her story of a troubled childhood she provided the reader with knowledge of positives within the negative. She was raised lacking much, but survived with a strong sense of family and a few cherished resources to open one's eyes to art and its mediums. Starving for life, she developed a passion... wanting more, wanting it all. As we stroll along with her, she empowers us. Teaches us to laugh at ourselves and our lives. Shows us that strength, after all, lies within us. Unlike any other, this book is conveyed with open-hearted Southern dialect which places you right along side her.
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Summary: A compelling read.
Review: I bought this book on a lark, without expectation. I was quite surprised to find it to be a compelling story (memoir) of the plight of growing up in a family whose basic survival instincts were their salvation. There were only a couple of places I felt "lost" in the author's direction/writings, however, I was quickly back on track and following the ongoing plight. Part of the lure/hook of the book was that it was a rather contemporary look at someone's unique life (for a baby boomer like myself). I finally brought the book to work so I could read it during my lunch breaks...it was one of those "can't put it down" books. Enjoy!
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Summary: This book was so engrossing to read!
Review: I could NOT put this book down. I started reading it Thursday night and finished it Monday night. As sad and terrible as Barbara Moss' life was she managed not to come across as self pitting, even though one could never blame her if she did. The hell that these children called their life was unimaginable, and for her to have come out of that as well balanced as she seemed to is really amazing! Do yourself a BIG favor and read this book!
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Summary: This book will capture your heart and your imagination.
Review: I couldn't put this book down, I became so involved with the story. Barbara's narrative is alive, I was able to visualize every scene.
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Summary: Change Me Into Zeus's Daughter
Review: I loved this book!! Somehow, in many ways it paralled my own childhood experience. I now care for the aged father I never really knew due to his leaving us kids and my mother when I was 11. However, love and forgiveness do triumph in the end!
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