A charming, easy-to-read fable providing useful pointers on personal finance management.
In this finance-focused tale, a South African ex-athlete is led on a journey to uncover the secrets to achieving lasting wealth.
Growing up in rural South Africa, Ash has the good fortune of being skilled at sports and securing the heart of local girl Suraya. He becomes a rugby star in the big city and lives a high-spending lifestyle, dropping his hometown sweetheart. Then disaster strikes: Ash’s hamstrings go out and he’s forced out of the game. In debt and despair on a plane returning home, he meets the mysterious TK, who tells him about the “money fountain” and how there are core principles through which one can achieve and sustain financial security. Destiny intervenes once again, however, with Ash losing TK’s contact information while leaving the plane. Ash returns home, reunites with Suraya and begins to raise a family, but he soon falls prey to debilitating financial schemes. That’s all apparently part of the plan, however, with TK eventually reappearing in Ash’s life, leading him to a series of mentors who reveal the key tips—e.g., routinely save 10 percent of your income, invest in an account that compounds and rewards you with either interest or a dividend—that put Ash on track to “conscious wealth” and help him “pay it forward” to become a successful TK-like guide himself. Authors Van Eyden, an economics professor, and Wells, a South African business entrepreneur, have written a gently humorous tale that outlines rather obvious but important aspects of fiscal responsibility. Their money examples are based on South African currency, however, which may confuse some readers. Also, some of their suggestions may cause skepticism: Surely it is not so easy, for example, to find “a stock that earns 15 percent or more.” The authors’ use of fate and “Destiny” (as an actual character) also seem at odds with their philosophy that one can and should try to control the financial forces in one’s life. Still, the smooth-flowing narrative may be an effective way to present dry economic topics to general audiences.
A charming, easy-to-read fable providing useful pointers on personal finance management.Pub Date: Dec. 29, 2013
ISBN: 978-1492812098
Page Count: 160
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 10, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Through frankness and plain talk, the author elevates the spirits of those facing a grim diagnosis.
A cancer survivor shares insights spurred by his childhood that helped him redefine his outlook on life during his illness.
Higley writes a surprisingly relatable memoir to which anyone, not just those suffering to understand a bleak cancer diagnosis, can relate. His early life was shattered by the sudden death of his mother from brain cancer, and he also lost his father and one of his older brothers from the disease as well. A man intensely focused on work and his career, Higley writes how his illness allowed him time to reflect on his past and himself for the first time since childhood. Thoughtful and honest, the author provides solid advice on how to be introspective, unearth life lessons from childhood and apply them as an adult. He also writes of the strength he found in his relationship with his children. While Higley’s candor is sure to be appreciated, he outright refuses to discuss both his wife and their divorce—a jarring omission in an otherwise forthcoming book. The author relates his experiences as a cancer survivor with the obvious goal of attempting to inspire and help others in the same position; the book achieves this, and will likely resonate with the reader trying to console a friend or loved one as they deal with cancer.
Through frankness and plain talk, the author elevates the spirits of those facing a grim diagnosis.Pub Date: June 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-60832-142-1
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
Perceptive musings ready-made for artistically inspired readers and those with short attention spans.
A bounty of short, sound advice and commentary from a Canadian improvisational-theatre instructor.
Together with good friend Heti, Glouberman, a former manners columnist, facilitates the popular Trampoline Hall spoken-word series, where amateur lecturers take center stage. Heti, consistently awestruck by her co-collaborator’s vast knowledge base, decided to team up with Glouberman on a book elucidating “everything he knows.” Transcribing the author’s words verbatim produces fresh, pithy perspectives on a wide range of diverse subjects, issues, pleasures and irritants. With a collective slant toward the younger reader, Glouberman’s sage, instructional and often unintentionally hilarious commentary addresses how to navigate urban Toronto life while respecting others’ personal space (“A city is a place where you can be alone in public, and where you have that right”), how to make friends (“You’ll have to spend time with people who seem initially interesting but then turn out not to be”), acquiesce leadership roles, learn manners and some unconventional chatter on what he believes energizes cocktail parties (“people’s fear of being seen not talking to anyone”). While some of his advice borders on whimsy, the author shines when he shares personal anecdotes and revelations—e.g., his civic involvement in the development of a local neighborhood Resident’s Association advocating against the proliferation of noisy nightclubs in residential areas. He saves his greatest revelation for last in describing how he quit a heavy smoking habit using a self-rewarding method and the development of a conscious, steely decisiveness that continues to fortify his life today.
Perceptive musings ready-made for artistically inspired readers and those with short attention spans.Pub Date: July 12, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-86547-945-6
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Faber & Faber/Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
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