THERE IS GREATNESS WITHIN YOU

A motivational book about embracing your inner winner.

“I am your new best friend,” Carinci proclaims at the beginning of his book. “I will help you to help yourself.” In the pages that follow, he provides numerous inspirational quotes from a variety of writers, scientists, philosophers, and Carinci himself. “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life,” goes one such quote from Charles Darwin, and “I think the purpose of life is to be useful, responsible, honorable, compassionate,” goes another from author Leo C. Rosten. In addition to quotes, Carinci gives his readers brief biographical overviews of figures like Thomas Edison, Alexander Gustave Eiffel (the designer of the Eiffel Tower), Marie Curie, Stephen King, and Barbara Walters. Carinci uses these profiles in an effort to illustrate what he views as an essential question: What is our purpose in life? He believes we are each “a direct, reinvented reflection of all those great people who have preceded us and who so positively inspired us to be great.” Interspersed with these biographical facts and snippets are bullet points from the author about the wonders of human evolution and cognition. All of this is clearly intended to give readers an uplifting sense of their own potential, although Carinci often walks the line between affirming inherent worth and encouraging delusional megalomania. He’s forever assuring his readers that “We were all born able to achieve greatness,” which is standard fare for self-help books, but he also constantly tells his audience, “You are the greatest living miracle in the world.” This, plus his tendency for bland truisms (“Life can be very long for some people, while very short for others”), blunts the impact of his optimism.

An encouraging but underwritten guidebook that celebrates everyone’s potential.