A refreshingly frank—and ultimately optimistic—dissection of the perils of parenting in the hyper-permissive 21st century.
A debut guide aims to help children become more independent and responsible.
The main targets of Beecham’s short, epigrammatic book are baby boomers and the so-called “Boomerang Generation” they parented, a group characterized as graduating from high school or college in the 21st century. According to the author, the members of that generation grew up overindulged by their parents, knowing that whatever problems they had or mistakes they made could be resolved by turning to them for rescue. Beecham’s point, which has been raised by many other parenting authorities and hardly seems controversial, is that this approach not only hurts the younger generation it was ostensibly intended to help, but also damages the wider society every bit as much. “When a society loses the capacity to raise children to be responsible, self-reliant, independent and caring people,” the author writes, “it’s a big problem.” To solve this problem, Beecham lays out some basic, useful precepts for parents and guardians: require personal responsibility, strike a balance between being the friend a child wants and the parent a child needs, have enough self-control to allow a kid to stumble, make sure failures have real consequences from which the youngster can learn, and so on. In all of this, as the author makes clear, that concept of balance is crucial. If a parent is too lenient, for instance, teenagers “will not feel the comfort of knowing that the world does impose boundaries,” whereas if the parent is too controlling, the teens won’t have room to grow. Parents and caregivers facing this tricky balancing act should find Beecham’s clear text, simple language, and bulleted points a boon. Unlike many similar books, this candid account doesn’t make helpless saints out of the members of the Boomerang Generation—the text makes accurate allowance for how manipulative and self-serving they can be, and it’s equally hard but fair on the much-maligned baby boomers themselves.
A refreshingly frank—and ultimately optimistic—dissection of the perils of parenting in the hyper-permissive 21st century.Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-980392-15-6
Page Count: 132
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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