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SHIFT

THE ART OF TRANSFORMING LIMITATIONS

A fresh take on well-trod self-improvement territory.

Awards & Accolades

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A debut motivational guide challenges readers to gain a new perspective.

Though the world may appear full of roadblocks that keep people from success and productivity, it is actually their mindsets that cause them to register these events as problems in the first place, according to Egan. “The crucial first step in creating sustainable growth and lasting change is to examine the limitations of your internal mindset,” writes the author in the manual’s introduction. “Shifting your viewpoint can enable you to use your perceived external limitations as catalysts for personal and organizational progress.” Influenced by modern psychology and Tibetan Buddhism, Egan seeks to help his readers initiate this shift in their own lives, thereby viewing the world in a way that is more beneficial to their contentment. Using anecdotes from his experiences as an educator, the author demonstrates how the way people see their lives is simply one possible interpretation, a tale that could be told from any number of perspectives. There is no need for readers to live forever in the stories they inherited from society or people in their past. Egan argues that readers can rewrite their narratives, alter their assumptions, find opportunities in the obstacles they face, and otherwise build new outlooks. Each chapter tackles a different area of life that is subject to transformation—difficulty, panic, attachment—and provides an exercise to help the audience recalibrate. The author’s prose is encouraging and plainspoken, more akin to a monk than a booster with a megaphone: “In Japanese martial arts, there is the concept of kuzushi, or disrupting the root or balance of the opponent….The secret to this is understanding what unbalances your opponent, and the only way to gain this understanding is, again, by staying connected to them.” While the book does not offer much that isn’t available in the many similar works in the motivational genre, Egan brings a self-awareness to the topic that imbues it with a sense of sincerity. That and the clean, simple structure should help this guide stand out from the crowd.

A fresh take on well-trod self-improvement territory.

Pub Date: May 29, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5445-1048-4

Page Count: 132

Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing

Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2019

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THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE

50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...

Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.

Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").

Pub Date: May 15, 1972

ISBN: 0205632645

Page Count: 105

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972

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NUTCRACKER

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

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