Inspirational advice on forging one’s own path, in bite-size verses and columns, with a few rough patches, but nonetheless...
Borrowing from Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist (2006) for its epigraph, Jack’s collection of free-verse poems and newspaper columns channels an optimistic perspective on life.
“Signposts along the path of my life,” Jack says of the stories and poems comprising his first book. In it, he tells the story of his homecoming back to southern Colorado and self-discovery after his career took him away for more than 20 years. But when he came home to the San Luis Valley, vivified by his newfound love of horses, he was able to ponder the course of his life. His newspaper writings reflect lessons learned: He thanks those who gave him moral support, notably his mother and father and his friend Diane; reflects on how time flies; considers ties to ancestors, parents, children and grandchildren; unpacks the definition of professional success; and reveals the secret to a happy marriage. “You find the person you love and just keep working on it,” says his mother, who’s been married to his father for more than 60 years. His everyman’s voice—cultivated in his years as a columnist—fosters a familiarity with readers that helps his hard-earned advice go down easily This method is particularly effective when Jack takes on controversial topics, as when he criticizes the tenure process for professors, or when he suggests that we should be choosier in deciding whom to trust. His poems explore similar themes in simple language with inspirational overtones, in a style evocative of Mary Oliver’s praise poems, though without her religious concerns. Jack’s meditations are more rooted in human-to-human contact: our relationships with one another and our surroundings. He tends to lean heavily on cliché—“Lost in loneliness, / Searching for a flicker / Of hope”—but he’s also capable of capturing memorable images, especially in describing the singular geography of the American West. In “Storm on the Horizon,” for instance, he describes city lights that make “Albuquerque seem so alive we could watch it grow.”
Inspirational advice on forging one’s own path, in bite-size verses and columns, with a few rough patches, but nonetheless rewarding for optimistic readers open to the journey.Pub Date: Feb. 19, 2013
ISBN: 978-1458208194
Page Count: 84
Publisher: AbbottPress
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
© Copyright 2026 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.
