An enlightening overview and argument highlighting the value of ancient wisdoms.
A Peruvian ceremonial healer/leader details Indigenous Andean-Amazonian culture and the ways it can address modern problems.
Lushwala describes the engineers and economists who think they can “repair” today’s world as “well-meaning,” but he wonders if “they think their intelligence can be the door from which the solution will emerge, as if they could be mothers.” What’s really needed, the author asserts, is to tap into the teachings of the ancient Andean-Amazonian people, who lived in greater union with nature. The bulk of this book focuses on leading readers through various “doors” of these ancient ideas and practices, starting with the emphasis placed on cultivating Munay, or “will of the heart,” and being “conscious of belonging to the Earth and the Universe in such a way that each of us can have a direct relationship with the sources of energy that feed our will.” Lushwala discusses how sacred rituals honor all elements of the Earth, including the “black light” of night. Another door, or key point, is the concept of “complementarity,” or pairings; for example, he uses male-female spiritual figures to reflect the importance of counterbalance when making decisions or taking action. There’s a lot to unpack in Lushwala’s book; he provides a helpful glossary, along with summaries of his topics. The author notes that the titular ice caps are a key element of nature. One wishes, however, that he said more about the global effects of the melting glaciers, described here in marvelous detail (“the ice where no life can exist becomes warmer fluid water that runs down to inhabit lakes, streams, rivers, and oceans”). The book is better at outlining age-old teachings than providing clear-cut solutions, but the cumulative effect of reading Lushwala’s passionate prose is one of consciousness-raising. Of course, there is much to learn from Andean-Amazonian cultural practices, particularly its valuing of complementary perspectives in making decisions.
An enlightening overview and argument highlighting the value of ancient wisdoms.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781633310858
Page Count: 254
Publisher: Disruption Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 20, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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