Useful advice for strengthening connections in all areas of life.
Dorsay offers a new spin on well-known principles of self-development.
The author, the host of the Super Psyched podcast, offers insights for living a fulfilling life through the lens of connection. Dorsay breaks the concept of connection down into four components—connection to oneself, connection to others, connection to the world, and connection to “something greater”—and devotes a section of the book to each. According to Dorsay, while everyone needs connection in all four areas, every individual has a unique “connection formula”; he gently admonishes the reader, “do not push yourself to take on things you think ‘should’ fill your cup. Rather, go with what you believe actually will fill your cup.” Each section includes anecdotes from the author’s life and work that illustrate the key ideas, along with reflection questions and suggested activities. After part one, each chapter wraps up with a boxed “connection formula exercise” that is easy to complete, such as writing a gratitude letter, spending time in nature, or reaching out to an old friend. Dorsay’s writing style is clear, conversational, and consistently upbeat. He provides relatable examples (though many seem to assume a well-heeled lifestyle) and explains concepts simply (summing up negativity bias, for example, as “losing hurts more than winning feels good” and a flow state as “the overlap of meaning and challenge”). Dorsay frequently quotes people who have been featured on his podcast alongside well-known figures such as Brené Brown, Oprah Winfrey, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Albert Einstein. While much of the information and advice revisits proven concepts such as mindfulness, gratitude, setting boundaries, and seeing failure as actionable data, they’re presented in fresh, accessible ways and accompanied by many useful tips. Dorsay’s book makes his advice to “just put yourself out there and see what happens” seem not only wise but eminently doable.
Useful advice for strengthening connections in all areas of life.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9798891381421
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Amplify Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
