A creative “job description” that explores personal ideals that may lead to interpersonal success in life.
In this debut book, Burnett, an experienced educator and devout Christian, creates and expounds upon a new job title: the CXO, or chief experience officer, who “delivers exemplary, life-changing experiences to family, friends, co-workers, and any other person he or she interacts with on a day-to-day basis.” Before delving into the details of what being a CXO entails, the author tells of ordinary people who had an extraordinary impact on him because of their simple yet meaningful actions, including his parents, grandparents, and former boss at a sporting goods store. Through their examples, he came to discover that “The meaning of life is to live with a purpose; by putting work into relationships and loving others.” After a brief introduction, Burnett puts forth the concept of the CXO in the form of a job description, complete with a professional presentation with multiple sections: “Position Summary”; “Principle Duties,” a list of 10 relationship-building qualities; “Requirements” (“No experience necessary”); “Core Competencies,” including approachability, humility, and generosity; and “Physical and Sensory Demands,” a somewhat tongue-in-cheek chapter about the joy that comes from being a CXO (“Must be able to withstand extended periods of peace and joy”). The principles and tone in this book are reminiscent of those in Stephen R. Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989). Not only does Burnett keep his explanations clear and concise, but he also accompanies them with real-world examples that will drive the principles home for readers; for example, he uses the concept of road rage to show how CXOs should pay attention to their values instead of their specific circumstances. The layout of the book is excellent, with a preface that builds the author’s credibility, an introduction that draws readers in with concrete examples, and then a multifaceted job description that’s enjoyable to read, easy to remember, and full of applicable wisdom. The Christian references throughout serve to strengthen points for religious readers, yet they’re subtle enough that non-Christians may also easily enjoy and profit from the book. An innovatively organized guide with a wealth of inspiring, transformative principles.
Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5127-7943-1
Page Count: 108
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This early reader is an excellent introduction to the March on Washington in 1963 and the important role in the march played by Martin Luther King Jr. Ruffin gives the book a good, dramatic start: “August 28, 1963. It is a hot summer day in Washington, D.C. More than 250,00 people are pouring into the city.” They have come to protest the treatment of African-Americans here in the US. With stirring original artwork mixed with photographs of the events (and the segregationist policies in the South, such as separate drinking fountains and entrances to public buildings), Ruffin writes of how an end to slavery didn’t mark true equality and that these rights had to be fought for—through marches and sit-ins and words, particularly those of Dr. King, and particularly on that fateful day in Washington. Within a year the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had been passed: “It does not change everything. But it is a beginning.” Lots of visual cues will help new readers through the fairly simple text, but it is the power of the story that will keep them turning the pages. (Easy reader. 6-8)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-448-42421-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
Sedaris’s sense of life’s absurdity is on full, fine display, as is his emotional body armor. Fortunately, he has plenty of...
Known for his self-deprecating wit and the harmlessly eccentric antics of his family, Sedaris (Me Talk Pretty One Day, 2000, etc.) can also pinch until it hurts in this collection of autobiographical vignettes.
Once again we are treated to the author’s gift for deadpan humor, especially when poking fun at his family and neighbors. He draws some of the material from his youth, like the portrait of the folks across the street who didn’t own a TV (“What must it be like to be so ignorant and alone?” he wonders) and went trick-or-treating on November first. Or the story of the time his mother, after a fifth snow day in a row, chucked all the Sedaris kids out the door and locked it. To get back in, the older kids devised a plan wherein the youngest, affection-hungry Tiffany, would be hit by a car: “Her eagerness to please is absolute and naked. When we ask her to lie in the middle of the street, her only question was ‘Where?’ ” Some of the tales cover more recent incidents, such as his sister’s retrieval of a turkey from a garbage can; when Sedaris beards her about it, she responds, “Listen to you. If it didn’t come from Balducci’s, if it wasn’t raised on polenta and wild baby acorns, it has to be dangerous.” But family members’ square-peggedness is more than a little pathetic, and the fact that they are fodder for his stories doesn’t sit easy with Sedaris. He’ll quip, “Your life, your privacy, your occasional sorrow—it’s not like you're going to do anything with it,” as guilt pokes its nose around the corner of the page. Then he’ll hitch himself up and lacerate them once again, but not without affection even when the sting is strongest. Besides, his favorite target is himself: his obsessive-compulsiveness and his own membership in this company of oddfellows.
Sedaris’s sense of life’s absurdity is on full, fine display, as is his emotional body armor. Fortunately, he has plenty of both.Pub Date: June 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-316-14346-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2004
© Copyright 2025 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.
