A piquant blend of oenophilia and self-study suggestions.
A retired professor discusses a new “philosophy of living” while drinking wine with friends in this debut self-help guide.
In the mid-1990s, Drinan, now a dean emeritus and professor emeritus at the University of San Diego, was traveling in Europe. There, he noticed that there always seemed to be about 12 drops left every time he and his wife polished off a bottle of wine. His daughter later gave him a book, A History of Wine in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage, which led to his discovery of cottabus, an ancient Greek game played at philosophical symposia. Largely a skills contest involving flinging wine dregs at particular targets, Drinan found it “not hard to imagine the zest of conversations as people played the game and speculated about what success or failure might mean in their lives.” Inspired by this idea, he sets forth “a new cottabus” in this book to serve as a “down-to-earth, regular way to tease out one’s philosophy of living.” His game is focused on shaping and sharing one’s “personal terroir,” the set of “practical wisdoms” that guide one’s life. He stresses a philosophy of “living” versus a philosophy of “life,” connecting his concept to Epicurus as well as Thomas Jefferson, an Epicurus-leaning wine lover. Drinan shares his affinity with Jefferson (he and his wife both attended the University of Virginia) and lists his own practical wisdoms, which include Voltaire’s maxim that “The best is the enemy of the good.” He readily admits that his idea for a book is rather playful, yet he rightfully emphasizes the often serious underlying value in frivolity. Certainly, his highly enjoyable exercise has merit, and today’s more thoughtful wine connoisseurs may particularly appreciate it. The author occasionally gets a bit too scholarly in his musings, such as when he imagines a dialogue between Epicurus and Jefferson, and he goes on a bit too long when setting up his initial thesis. Still, this is a charming book for anyone who relishes wine and wants to gain a greater understanding of oneself and others while imbibing it.
A piquant blend of oenophilia and self-study suggestions.Pub Date: Dec. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-5023-5662-8
Page Count: 122
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Doyle offers another lucid, inspiring chronicle of female empowerment and the rewards of self-awareness and renewal.
More life reflections from the bestselling author on themes of societal captivity and the catharsis of personal freedom.
In her third book, Doyle (Love Warrior, 2016, etc.) begins with a life-changing event. “Four years ago,” she writes, “married to the father of my three children, I fell in love with a woman.” That woman, Abby Wambach, would become her wife. Emblematically arranged into three sections—“Caged,” “Keys,” “Freedom”—the narrative offers, among other elements, vignettes about the soulful author’s girlhood, when she was bulimic and felt like a zoo animal, a “caged girl made for wide-open skies.” She followed the path that seemed right and appropriate based on her Catholic upbringing and adolescent conditioning. After a downward spiral into “drinking, drugging, and purging,” Doyle found sobriety and the authentic self she’d been suppressing. Still, there was trouble: Straining an already troubled marriage was her husband’s infidelity, which eventually led to life-altering choices and the discovery of a love she’d never experienced before. Throughout the book, Doyle remains open and candid, whether she’s admitting to rigging a high school homecoming court election or denouncing the doting perfectionism of “cream cheese parenting,” which is about “giving your children the best of everything.” The author’s fears and concerns are often mirrored by real-world issues: gender roles and bias, white privilege, racism, and religion-fueled homophobia and hypocrisy. Some stories merely skim the surface of larger issues, but Doyle revisits them in later sections and digs deeper, using friends and familial references to personify their impact on her life, both past and present. Shorter pieces, some only a page in length, manage to effectively translate an emotional gut punch, as when Doyle’s therapist called her blooming extramarital lesbian love a “dangerous distraction.” Ultimately, the narrative is an in-depth look at a courageous woman eager to share the wealth of her experiences by embracing vulnerability and reclaiming her inner strength and resiliency.
Doyle offers another lucid, inspiring chronicle of female empowerment and the rewards of self-awareness and renewal.Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0125-8
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
PROFILES
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A vibrant, encouraging depiction of a sinister disorder.
A British novelist turns to autobiography to report the manifold symptoms and management of his debilitating disease, depression.
Clever author Haig (The Humans, 2013, etc.) writes brief, episodic vignettes, not of a tranquil life but of an existence of unbearable, unsustainable melancholy. Throughout his story, presented in bits frequently less than a page long (e.g., “Things you think during your 1,000th panic attack”), the author considers phases he describes in turn as Falling, Landing, Rising, Living, and, finally, simply Being with spells of depression. Haig lists markers of his unseen disease, including adolescent angst, pain, continual dread, inability to speak, hypochondria, and insomnia. He describes his frequent panic attacks and near-constant anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure. Haig also assesses the efficacy of neuroscience, yoga, St. John’s wort, exercise, pharmaceuticals, silence, talking, walking, running, staying put, and working up the courage to do even the most seemingly mundane of tasks, like visiting the village store. Best for the author were reading, writing, and the frequent dispensing of kindnesses and love. He acknowledges particularly his debt to his then-girlfriend, now-wife. After nearly 15 years, Haig is doing better. He appreciates being alive and savors the miracle of existence. His writing is infectious though sometimes facile—and grammarians may be upset with the writer’s occasional confusion of the nominative and objective cases of personal pronouns. Less tidy and more eclectic than William Styron’s equally brief, iconic Darkness Visible, Haig’s book provides unobjectionable advice that will offer some help and succor to those who experience depression and other related illnesses. For families and friends of the afflicted, Haig’s book, like Styron’s, will provide understanding and support.
A vibrant, encouraging depiction of a sinister disorder.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-14-312872-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Penguin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
SEEN & HEARD
Readers Donate Depression Book After Star Suicide
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