A well-written, thoughtful, yet inadequately researched meditation on human fulfillment.
A philosophical treatise on finding purpose and fulfillment in life.
Humans have a genetic “programing” that has helped the species survive for hundreds of thousands of years. While many of these traits continue to be “life sustaining” and “drive us forward to advance learning,” Yari argues that others may “now impede the quality of our lives.” A propensity for escalating violence, overindulging, and developing religions must be shed—both individually and collectively—for humans to become more fulfilled. Yari advocates for undefined forms of agnostic spirituality that “embrace the ‘unknown’ while leaving it relatively unknown” but is critical of organized religion, which no longer fulfills humanity’s need for creativity and acceptance. Rather, the author proposes, its sole function today is to “control man,” whereas in the past, it played a more holistic role. Yari’s philosophic approach is best summed up by the title of his final chapter, “We Are Our Own Masters.” He contends, like many others, that peace and fulfillment can best be achieved through a positive attitude and gratitude; humanity as a whole has “lost thankfulness.” Perhaps most importantly, Yari’s approach emphasizes balance in all aspects of life—“work, play, socializing, sex, even fun.” True to form, the book’s practical emphasis on mindful living is balanced with lengthy, well-conceived ruminations on the nature of human consciousness and other concepts of philosophy. Adherents to organized religion, from Christians to Buddhists, may not only disagree with the book’s rejection of religious dogmas, but also its hedonistic directive to “live life to feel happiness in the ‘now’ of it all.” Alternately, social scientists will bristle at the book’s lack of citations or a bibliography, though many of its core tenets rely on modern sociological theory and scientific claims about the human mind. Still, while the book drifts into the genre of pop psychology, it’s a deft consideration of evolutionary biology.
A well-written, thoughtful, yet inadequately researched meditation on human fulfillment.Pub Date: April 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-66-552230-4
Page Count: 118
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
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
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