An absorbing and timely manual that defies simple classification and should appeal to readers of varying religious beliefs.
A songwriter, therapist, and author delivers a spirituality and self-help guide.
In the foreword, Wallace (A Mother’s Manual for Raising Recovering Children with Autism, 2016, etc.) explains that she was called by God to put aside her other responsibilities to write this book. Her overarching message is one of unity across religions, ethnicities, and cultures—and harmony with God as well. Through four sections and multiple short chapters, the author expounds on a variety of matters from an enlightened Christian perspective. The four parts encompass Individual Thoughts, Local Thoughts, Global Thoughts, and Universal Thoughts, followed by acknowledgements and recommended additional reading. Wallace’s own text is in a normal font, with quotes italicized and words directly from God in boldface. Although Wallace’s research on the teachings and writings of theologians and spiritual figures is shared throughout the narrative, this is not a book that focuses solely on religion. The subjects are wide-ranging, from homeless children and environmentalism to the Grammys and creativity. (Some of her topics have been explored more extensively by others, such as “dumbed-down” American culture.) The author argues that the majority of the population—Christians included, and perhaps especially—has grown complacent. While the book was initially written in 2003, she revised and published it in 2016, with many of the issues proving as equally, if not more, relevant now as they were during the beginning of the century. The quotations provide additional depth to her thoughts. She relies heavily on the Roman Catholic author and theologian Thomas Merton but also quotes such diverse inspirations as St. Francis of Assisi, George Washington, and Carlos Santana. Like her other offerings, this book is beautifully written. Anyone seeking more introspection and spirituality but who lacks the time or wherewithal to tackle a heavy text should find this guide engaging. Reading this work is an easy way to avoid the anti-intellectualism that Wallace decries, leading to “a more purposeful lifestyle infused with Divine meaning.”
An absorbing and timely manual that defies simple classification and should appeal to readers of varying religious beliefs.Pub Date: May 12, 2016
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 149
Publisher: Sonrise Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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