A lively and inviting look at wisdom gained over a lifetime.
A doctor looks at the lives of popular sports figures in order to draw deeper lessons.
Lewis, an orthopedic surgeon by training, recalls a key quote from John Steinbeck early on in this book: “Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.” The author then mixes affectionate bits of his own autobiography—growing up in Houston in the 1940s and ’50s, attending Brandeis University—with his lifelong interest in self-help. In his early, formative years, he writes, he “jumped on the self-improvement bandwagon” and read widely of such genre classics as Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936) and Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich (1937). “As a result of reading these books, I would ask any available adult such mature questions as, ‘How can I make a difference in the world—and become famous?’ ” he writes, adding sardonically, “My list of those willing to listen quickly dwindled.” Lewis shares life insights from several people he’s known, from his outspoken Uncle Whiz (short for “Isadore”) to more famous names, such as psychologist Abraham Maslow and the great surgeon William Meltzer (with whom Lewis says that he won “the mentor lottery”). Throughout the book, Lewis offers a very effective combination of affability and ability; so much so, in fact, that his account of his time hobnobbing with famous athletes—including Chicago Bulls legends Michael Jordan (“I was fortunate to frequently observe the lighter side of Michael’s personality”) and Scottie Pippen, as well as coach Phil Jackson—as a team physician, feels a bit anticlimactic. Readers will agree that Lewis himself is wise enough on his own, and he ably draws on his own long history practicing medicine in and out of the operating room. When Lewis was in medical school, for instance, a physician urged students to remember the three As: availability, affability, and ability “in that order.” “All of us thought he was crazy,” the author says, but he goes on to note that time and reflection showed those A’s to be invaluable.
A lively and inviting look at wisdom gained over a lifetime.Pub Date: May 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-61850-183-7
Page Count: 198
Publisher: Four Colour Print Group
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.
A charming bird journey with the bestselling author.
In his introduction to Tan’s “nature journal,” David Allen Sibley, the acclaimed ornithologist, nails the spirit of this book: a “collection of delightfully quirky, thoughtful, and personal observations of birds in sketches and words.” For years, Tan has looked out on her California backyard “paradise”—oaks, periwinkle vines, birch, Japanese maple, fuchsia shrubs—observing more than 60 species of birds, and she fashions her findings into delightful and approachable journal excerpts, accompanied by her gorgeous color sketches. As the entries—“a record of my life”—move along, the author becomes more adept at identifying and capturing them with words and pencils. Her first entry is September 16, 2017: Shortly after putting up hummingbird feeders, one of the tiny, delicate creatures landed on her hand and fed. “We have a relationship,” she writes. “I am in love.” By August 2018, her backyard “has become a menagerie of fledglings…all learning to fly.” Day by day, she has continued to learn more about the birds, their activities, and how she should relate to them; she also admits mistakes when they occur. In December 2018, she was excited to observe a Townsend’s Warbler—“Omigod! It’s looking at me. Displeased expression.” Battling pesky squirrels, Tan deployed Hot Pepper Suet to keep them away, and she deterred crows by hanging a fake one upside down. The author also declared war on outdoor cats when she learned they kill more than 1 billion birds per year. In May 2019, she notes that she spends $250 per month on beetle larvae. In June 2019, she confesses “spending more hours a day staring at birds than writing. How can I not?” Her last entry, on December 15, 2022, celebrates when an eating bird pauses, “looks and acknowledges I am there.”
An ebullient nature lover’s paean to birds.Pub Date: April 23, 2024
ISBN: 9780593536131
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
© 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.
