A Bridge Less Traveled, Twice Visited

Rating:
Summary: If I could give it 6 stars, I would
Review: I knew from the moment I received this book I knew I was going to enjoy it. Rhonda's story took me on a much-needed journey into the life of relationship conflicts, after all, most adoptee's have difficulty in relationships. However the theme throughout remains clear--everything worthwhile is difficult. Robert and Rhonda are soul mates and the way they write about each other is breathtaking and honorable. The way they describe how their respective relinquishment affected their lives--especially their relationships--was brave, intimate, and necessary. As an adoptee and fellow author I felt a part of their journey, cheering them on all the way. I consider this book a masterpiece on the affect adoption has on adult relationships and especially how to persevere when the going gets tough.

Kasey Hamner, M.S., adoptee and author of "Whose Child?"

Rating:
Summary: "Must" reading for anyone considering adoption & adoptees..
Review: In A Bridge Less Traveled: Twice Visited, Doctor Robert Andersen and classroom school teacher Rhonda Tucker collaborate to present issues arising from adoption and how adoption colors everyday experiences. Anderson and Tucker are themselves adoptees and explore the consequences of relinquishment unobscured or discounted through platitudes. They draw upon their adoptive experience to suggest avenues for resolution of these issues for adoptees, which includes much more than search for and reunion with their biological parents. A Bridge Less Traveled is "must" reading for anyone struggling with a need for an authentic identity as an adoptee and has much of critically important value and insight for the parents of adoptees and for anyone contemplating the adoption of a child.

Rating:
Summary: If I could give it 6 stars, I would
Review: Reading your book evokes the same emotional unrest one experiences with a serious contemplation of death. Neither is a feel good experience but both would be useful to most people. The very discord evoked by such an examination is an indicator that there are important internal issues unresolved and in immediate need of attention. In my mind, I compare the emotional trauma of such an inquiry to the process of birth. Both are traumatic but once done are the beginning of a new life. If nothing else was accomplished by the writing of this book, it's creation required that you both complete that difficult journey. Having suffered together through the birth of the book, I like to think that you both are now ready to live the new and better life you have made for yourselves. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Addresses important internal issues
Review: Reading your book evokes the same emotional unrest one experiences with a serious contemplation of death. Neither is a feel good experience but both would be useful to most people. The very discord evoked by such an examination is an indicator that there are important internal issues unresolved and in immediate need of attention. In my mind, I compare the emotional trauma of such an inquiry to the process of birth. Both are traumatic but once done are the beginning of a new life. If nothing else was accomplished by the writing of this book, it's creation required that you both complete that difficult journey. Having suffered together through the birth of the book, I like to think that you both are now ready to live the new and better life you have made for yourselves. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book
Review: This is another excellent though difficult book on the subject of adoption, like Robert Anderson's other title Second Choice: Growing up Adopted. Both were very useful to this adoptee.

It is difficult in two ways. It may unsettle adoptees reading it who have not considered the adoption issues raised. That is good. That is why it is valuable.

It is also difficult in its introduction of a private language and definition of terms to describe the effects of relinquishment by the birth mother and the transference that results; terms such as ghost kingdom, land of denial, free territory. Thankfully there is a page of definitions. Page 314. It is a good starting point.

I feel that my trauma from adoption was not as severe, pervasive and all-encompassing in my life as it was for the authors. I also feel a suspicion that I delude myself. To paraphrase Clifton Fadiman, this book is a tool for self-discovery. 'It will simply help you to change your interior life ...'

Robert Anderson finds insights in dealing with adoption issues from helping those with Post Traumatic Stress disorder.

The authors tell an extremely personal story in vivid and disturbing terms, courageously exposing their feelings and relationship. Bertrand Russell said about being blackguarded for his beliefs over his appointment as a New York college professor " 'to withdraw' ... would certainly have been more prudent as far as my personal interests are concerned, and a great deal pleasanter. ...it would also, in my judgement, have been cowardly and selfish". I feel that the authors have been similarly courageous through their willingness to expose their feelings, write this book and so aid other adoptees.

I feel that Robert Anderson and Rhonda Tucker deserve the thanks of adoptees and heartily recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: The adopted person's personality from within
Review: This unique book offers a new perspective on the inner world of the adoptee that is insightful, intelligent and intensely provocative. The authors have written a classic that is a must read for any adopted person or anyone who wants to understand what makes an adoptee tick.

Joe Soll, CSW, author of "Adoption Healing ... A Path to Recovery"

Rating:
Summary: The adopted person's personality from within
Review: This unique book offers a new perspective on the inner world of the adoptee that is insightful, intelligent and intensely provocative. The authors have written a classic that is a must read for any adopted person or anyone who wants to understand what makes an adoptee tick.

Joe Soll, CSW, author of "Adoption Healing ... A Path to Recovery"