A genuinely written and impressive self-help debut.
Abraham’s debut offers insight and practical tools to help individuals reprogram ingrained behaviors that lead them away from the happiness and well-being they desire.
Through self-reflection, mindful pausing, continuous questioning and exploration of the issues that these actions bring to light, a person can develop a new perspective on life, according to Abraham. This new outlook, which he refers to as awareness, drastically changes how one handles emotions and produces a more fulfilling life and a healthier state of being. The author’s clarity and focus is hardly characteristic of a debut writer; Abraham conveys the wisdom he’s acquired through life experience with sincerity, maturity and honesty. The book concisely covers myriad complex, painful subjects, but as the author keeps his focus, and encourages readers to do the same, his analysis is thorough and comprehensive. Each short chapter, meant to be read and contemplated before moving on to the next, is accompanied by various aids—graphs and charts for the visually inclined, brief anecdotes and analogies for readers who relate best through stories and mathematical syntax and formulas for those who understand the rational better than the abstract. Abraham follows the explanations of his concepts with step-by-step directions for putting them to use and provides lists of questions to start readers on the path toward awareness. Looking at one’s faults and searching deep within one’s psyche is difficult, sometimes scary work, but the exercises included here remove the intimidation. There are no shortcuts to huge changes, and the author is skilled at breaking down topics such as making decisions, examining mistakes and moving past betrayal into bite-size directives that he gently imparts. Abraham also emphasizes finding balance in everything one does. These aren’t groundbreaking notions, but the author shows how these activities can assist in the fulfillment of a happier, easier existence. Developing a “mind for life” boils down to questioning and self-observation to get an honest idea of the changes one needs for a life of contentment instead of feeling victimized by emotions and the actions of others.
A genuinely written and impressive self-help debut.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2011
ISBN: 978-0982982105
Page Count: 366
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
© Copyright 2024 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.
bookshelf
