A well-researched and absorbing overview of humanity’s universal quest for meaning.
Kelley explores the ubiquitous human quest for purpose in this nonfiction work.
“This eternal search for meaning and purpose,” writes the author, “is the crucible from which all human endeavor springs.” Yet, despite the centrality of the quest for purpose throughout human history, it remains one of life’s “most elusive and perplexing challenges.” Divided into three parts, this book surveys philosophical and spiritual responses to our understanding of life’s meaning, beginning with a historical overview that draws on ancient perspectives from China, Greece, and other civilizations. Kelley emphasizes the ways in which social, economic, and geographic factors influence views of purpose across time. In the next section of the book, the author examines the paradoxes and tensions between individual aspirations and societal progress, discussing, for example, the role of public policy in human flourishing. This portion of the work includes ample examples not only from pre-modern eras but from recent history as well, referencing the legacies of Nelson Mandela, Wangari Maathai, and others. The book’s final section addresses the present with a particular emphasis on what Kelley calls “Holistic Well-being,” which balances personal spiritual fulfillment (defined as an “alignment with universal principles”) and the “greater good,” recognizing the “interconnectedness of all things.” The book’s inspirational tone is supported by a wealth of rousing quotes scattered throughout by philosophers, poets, and activists. While much of the text evinces a detached scholarly approach as Kelley presents his analysis of spiritual and philosophical wisdom across the ages, the final section veers closer to self-help with its strategies for personal improvement. The author of multiple historical and philosophical works, Kelley writes in an accessible style that blends engaging anecdotes with sound research (backed by more than 400 footnotes). While the book offers astute analysis for readers well-versed in history and philosophy across its in-depth chapters, the conversational writing style (and glossary of philosophical and spiritual terminology) makes it a welcoming primer for neophytes as well.
A well-researched and absorbing overview of humanity’s universal quest for meaning.Pub Date: June 17, 2024
ISBN: 9798328750691
Page Count: 411
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 8, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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