An intriguing but uneven guide for readers seeking a good night’s sleep.
A manual offers a method to cure chronic insomnia, allowing sufferers to enjoy a rejuvenating sleep.
This guide to overcoming insomnia skips the usual trappings associated with getting a good night’s rest, such as forgoing electronics or creating a bedtime routine, and instead focuses on developing a “Sense of Self” to finally sleep well. Vogels describes her method as a means for dealing with childhood trauma that prevents healthy sleep. She argues that there is a type of insomnia caused by the search for approval after adverse childhood experiences. Using her personal history as an example, she describes how her parents were constantly critical, and it was only as an adult that she realized the negative messages she received about herself during childhood were the reason she could not sleep soundly. In this manual, she aims to help readers confront their own Sense of Self through practicing "mind/body awareness exercises." While the author provides many anecdotes from her own journey to a restful slumber using this method, it seems that her sample size is one. She addresses this in her Author’s Note, referring to a book on neuroscience that validates her own conclusions but that was published too late to be referenced in her work. Still, readers who are looking for ways to cure their insomnia that are based on a great deal of research and evidence rather than just one writer’s personal experiences may want to look elsewhere. For example, her claim that “depression comes from not being able to realize your hidden goal and gain your substitute sense of self” may sound dubious to those who struggle with the condition. That said, the manual may be helpful for insomnia sufferers who have exhausted other techniques.
An intriguing but uneven guide for readers seeking a good night’s sleep.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 145
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A timely, vividly realized reminder to slow down and harness the restorative wonders of serenity.
An exploration of the importance of clarity through calmness in an increasingly fast-paced world.
Austin-based speaker and strategist Holiday (Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue, 2018, etc.) believes in downshifting one’s life and activities in order to fully grasp the wonder of stillness. He bolsters this theory with a wide array of perspectives—some based on ancient wisdom (one of the author’s specialties), others more modern—all with the intent to direct readers toward the essential importance of stillness and its “attainable path to enlightenment and excellence, greatness and happiness, performance as well as presence.” Readers will be encouraged by Holiday’s insistence that his methods are within anyone’s grasp. He acknowledges that this rare and coveted calm is already inside each of us, but it’s been worn down by the hustle of busy lives and distractions. Recognizing that this goal requires immense personal discipline, the author draws on the representational histories of John F. Kennedy, Buddha, Tiger Woods, Fred Rogers, Leonardo da Vinci, and many other creative thinkers and scholarly, scientific texts. These examples demonstrate how others have evolved past the noise of modern life and into the solitude of productive thought and cleansing tranquility. Holiday splits his accessible, empowering, and sporadically meandering narrative into a three-part “timeless trinity of mind, body, soul—the head, the heart, the human body.” He juxtaposes Stoic philosopher Seneca’s internal reflection and wisdom against Donald Trump’s egocentric existence, with much of his time spent “in his bathrobe, ranting about the news.” Holiday stresses that while contemporary life is filled with a dizzying variety of “competing priorities and beliefs,” the frenzy can be quelled and serenity maintained through a deliberative calming of the mind and body. The author shows how “stillness is what aims the arrow,” fostering focus, internal harmony, and the kind of holistic self-examination necessary for optimal contentment and mind-body centeredness. Throughout the narrative, he promotes that concept mindfully and convincingly.
A timely, vividly realized reminder to slow down and harness the restorative wonders of serenity.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-53858-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Portfolio
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
A scrupulous examination of the career twilight of “the most consequential athlete of her time.”
A year spent watching Serena Williams play tennis yields some provocative insights.
In his previous book, Late to the Ball, Marzorati, a former editor for the New York Times Magazine and the New Yorker, detailed his own attempts to become a competitive tennis player at the age of 60. In 2019, he followed Williams, who was attempting to make a comeback at the age of 37, two years after the birth of her daughter, by winning at least one Grand Slam tournament, thereby tying or exceeding the number of Grand Slam titles held by Australian Margaret Court. Though this is not an authorized biography—Marzorati spoke to Williams only as a typical member of the sports press—the author takes advantage of his detached position to meditate, objectively but not without compassion, on Williams as not just a tennis player, but a cultural figure and human being as well. The narrative moves chronologically, from the Australian Open in January through the other three Grand Slam tournaments, with stops along the way in Miami, Rome, and Indian Wells in California. The author shifts smoothly among observations of Williams' often less-than-impressive performances during the year, stories of her earlier life, memories of other matches he had seen her play over the years, and nuanced reflections on his subject matter—e.g., because she started tennis so young, Williams was “a personality before she could reasonably be expected to be a person.” Marzorati doesn’t laser-focus on Williams; he also glances around to take in players like Coco Gauff, who began her career when she was even younger than Williams and whose changing style of play the author discusses. Readers who know more about Williams than her tennis career will learn about the game's intricacies while those already familiar with the game will benefit from subtler details.
A scrupulous examination of the career twilight of “the most consequential athlete of her time.”Pub Date: June 8, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-982127-88-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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