Jaycee Dugard's Book is in stores

[FigureSpins]

But, I can't bring myself to read the book. I can't handle it. I know that she lived it, but I can't handle it. Since reading the thread and finding out that proceeds are going to be donated, I will buy a couple of copies and donate them to the library. But reading the whole story is more than I can stand.

I felt the same way, so I just sent a donation to her charity.

[DarrellH]

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Well..another way to look at it is: How could you not?
Jaycee had the courage to life through it and to tell her story. How could we not honor that by reading her book and speaking about one little girl's courage, strength and hope?

Good point. Maybe I should restate it as, "I don't know if I could handle reading this book, right now.

[lise]

I read the book and as graphic as it is; she is a remarkable woman. How she found the courage to adapt and raise her daughters, I have no clue.

I'm so glad she's doing well now.

[Vash01]

What I found really amazing was that she had her first baby at age 14, and her second at age 17(16?). That is really young to carry responsibilities of motherhood, but she did a great job of it. Even though the circumstances of their birth was horrifying, she sounds like she has always had unconditional love for her daughters. That is so remarkable.

[NeilJLeonard]

Good point. Maybe I should restate it as, "I don't know if I could handle reading this book, right now.

It's a tough read, but you can do it. It's not an easy read, but it is a rewarding one. At the end you'll have acquired a profound respect for that little girl that survived to become an absolutely remarkable woman.

I hope the rest of Jaycee's life is kind to her. After the torture she endured - not abuse, perverse torture, sexual and psychological - she deserves it.

NJL (...1st a father that seems to abandon her & never even tries to contact her until after she's found and freed, then a step-father that seems to see her as a bothersome impediment to his life, then Phillip...to say that the men in Jaycee's life have not been the cream of the crop is an understatement......)

[MacMadame]

Personally I have no interest in reading this book and I am somewhat bemused by all the people who are pushing others to read it who don't want to. It seems to be going beyond the usual "I read this great book and I recommend it" into "you have a moral obligation to force yourself to read this book whether you want to or not."

Um, no. I don't.

[Vash01]

Personally I have no interest in reading this book and I am somewhat bemused by all the people who are pushing others to read it who don't want to. It seems to be going beyond the usual "I read this great book and I recommend it" into "you have a moral obligation to force yourself to read this book whether you want to or not."

Um, no. I don't.

I don't see anyone pushing others to read it. Posters are just expressing their opinions- some say they can't read it; others feel it is still worth reading, and they have their reasons. If you don't have interest in reading it, don't read it. Nobody is pushing you to.

[MacMadame]

There are certainly a lot of "you can do it!" posts including the one right above mine. To me, that's pushing. You are free to disagree, of course.

[FigureSpins]

There are certainly a lot of "you can do it!" posts including the one right above mine. To me, that's pushing. You are free to disagree, of course.

ITA - I don't need to read the book in order to respect Jaycee for handling this horrible situation so well.

[NeilJLeonard]

There are certainly a lot of "you can do it!" posts including the one right above mine. To me, that's pushing. You are free to disagree, of course.

I'm not pushing or demanding. I am strongly recommending. Sorry you can't see that or interpret it differently. If you don't want to, then don't. It's understood that the choice is always yours.

NJL (...but, please understand, IMO the loss is yours, too......)

[MacMadame]

(...but, please understand, IMO the loss is yours, too......)

And you don't see that has pushing... well, alrighty then.

[Vash01]

And you don't see that has pushing... well, alrighty then.

If you like a movie and you "strongly recommend it" to others, does it mean you are "pushing" them to see it?

[gkelly]

Well..another way to look at it is: How could you not?
Jaycee had the courage to life through it and to tell her story. How could we not honor that by reading her book and speaking about one little girl's courage, strength and hope?

This is the comment that made me feel as though the poster was trying to guilt trip everyone in this thread . . . or everyone in the world . . . into reading the book.

There's a lot of suffering and injustice in the world. We each pick and choose where to invest our emotional capital (or actual time, labor, and money) in acknowledging the horrors, supporting the survivors, and trying to make things better. Not everyone is going to choose reading a book they find disturbing as their top priority.

[MacMadame]

If you like a movie and you "strongly recommend it" to others, does it mean you are "pushing" them to see it?

Did I quote where he "strongly recommended" it? No, I quoted the little guilt trip of "it's your loss." THAT is pushing.

There's a lot of suffering and injustice in the world. We each pick and choose where to invest our emotional capital (or actual time, labor, and money) in acknowledging the horrors, supporting the survivors, and trying to make things better.

^^This.

[FigureSpins]

I'm just squeamish and fussy about my choice of reading materials. I hated the Helen Keller and Anne Frank books every time we had to read them for school. They were intended to be inspirational, but I found their stories sad and depressing, as a grade-school child through high school and college. Also hate stories about wars and battles, murders, and most non-fiction. (Told you I was picky) I'd choose a sci fi, fantasy or romance novel any day...or any book on figure skating, of course.

[Vash01]

Did I quote where he "strongly recommended" it? No, I quoted the little guilt trip of "it's your loss." THAT is pushing.


^^This.

I was quoting NJL ("strongly recommended")- I don't see that as pushing.

Again, nobody is forcing you to read the book. If you are not interested, so be it. No need to complain about people that want to talk about the book.

[FigureSpins]

Again, she wasn't complaining that people wanted to talk about the book, she felt that several people were "pushing" others to read it who stated that they did not want to do so. I read those posts the same way. As well-intentioned as they may have been, they weren't "recommendations," one was an outright guilt-trip.

[Alexa5]

I really admire her also, but I, too, couldn't read the book. The excerpts were hard enough to read. I have so little free time once after tending to my son and getting chores done, that I really prefer light reading when I do have the time. I probably wouldn't sleep a wink if I read the full book--serious books like that haunt me. Reading about kidnapping and torture is just a horrifying topic and freaks me out.

[skatemommy]

I hope that writing this book was (a) theraputic for Ms. Dugard and that (b) she makes a lot of money and that she can take care of her girls needs for the rest of their lives. No amount of money can make up for what she went through but I hope she will be comfortable and the bastard rots in heII.

[NeilJLeonard]

I hope that writing this book was (a) theraputic for Ms. Dugard and that (b) she makes a lot of money and that she can take care of her girls needs for the rest of their lives. No amount of money can make up for what she went through but I hope she will be comfortable and the bastard rots in heII.

I believe that Jaycee has stated that the book has helped her.

The State of California awarded Jaycee $20,000,000 in compensation in July of 2010 for it's errors in investigating her abduction and, especially, in Garrido's various parole officers, he was on parole for a 50 year sentence for abduction & rape, not thoroughly investigating his property in over 60 visits there.

Hopefully, the ongoing therapy she's getting, along with the availability of sufficient $$$ to keep her going & taking care of her children, and, I suspect, her extended family, will provide her with all she needs to recover from this ordeal. Having watched Diane Sawyer's extended interview with her, which convinced me I should read the book, BTW, I feel she'll do well. In that extended conversation you meet a delightfully happy soul that hates no one, considers herself blessed and seems to greet each day as an adventure to be embraced and devoured. Fantastic young woman. She deserves every good thing that life can now bring her.

Mr Garrido has a prison sentence of several hundred years to life. From what I can gather he's kept in the same unit as Charles Manson, because if either of them is ever let into the prison's general population they'd be soon killed by some con out to increase his street cred inside. Consequently, he spends 23 hours a day locked in a small room. He'll spend whatever time he has left there. If this is true I find it very appropriate & pleasing. He pretty much has a life like he forced on Jaycee. He deserves it.

NJL