McClymont’s self-help book presents a guide for turning fear into a guiding light.
While FDR famously said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,” McClymont takes the idea a step further. Rather than instructing readers to ignore fear in the interest of making it go away, she drives home the idea that people should acknowledge and investigate their fear and ultimately make it work for them. The author’s philosophy suggests that people should reflect upon their previous encounters with fear and ponder how things could have been done differently. Then, when confronted with similar fearful feelings at a later date, people will be able to put into practice what they have learned about their fears and engender a different outcome. Similar to other self-help books, this text recommends keeping a journal (in McClymont’s parlance, a friendly fear notebook) and suggests a series of exercises. The program allows readers to slowly, methodically work through their issues. Some of the book’s advice is common sense: don’t be afraid to reflect on your fear, and use that reflection to act differently in the future. But the author also sets forth this common sense in a simple and organized manner, making the advice easy to follow. McClymont designed her exercises to progressively become more difficult as the reader gets better accustomed to self-reflection and self-reporting. However, the book is too heavy on instruction at times. The work could have benefited from more personal touches. One of the most compelling parts is the book’s introduction where McClymont explains how she faced her own fears and came to write the text. Including additional personal anecdotes throughout would have illuminated the lessons more effectively.
If willing to put forth the effort and take part in true self-reflection, readers have a thoughtful, elaborate guide in this book.Pub Date: June 30, 2010
ISBN: 978-0557425723
Page Count: 95
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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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 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
Categories: GENERAL NONFICTION
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