A deeply personal story of ayahuasca’s transformative role in one woman’s life.
A debut author shares her revelatory experiences with ayahuasca in this memoir.
When Nering went on her first ayahuasca retreat, she felt uneasy as a 50-year-old woman partaking in a therapeutic ritual alongside those with “real trauma.” A former TV host for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and producer of internationally syndicated reality TV shows, the author seemingly led a charmed existence. She and her husband, Josh, had a solid marriage, were in good health, and lived comfortably with two kids and a dog. Yet, beneath the surface of her “supposedly perfect life” (which Nering details in a nonchronological narrative that jumps across multiple timelines), not all was well. The author focuses on ayahuasca’s role in awakening her to her newfound freedom and spirituality as well as a mystical connection to herself and nature. She also offers poignant reflections on the social expectations of women as mothers and wives; she offers candid observations about her sex life with Josh as well as the constant juggling of kids’ schedules and family routines that inevitably falls on mothers. The author’s quest for freedom and a lifestyle that would transcend Western materialism led her to try ayahuasca and relocate her family to the Hawaiian island of Kauai. There, she reconnected with swimming, the passion of her childhood, and she offers readers an intriguing glimpse into the subculture of Pacific surfing. Writing in a conversational style, Nering recounts autobiographical episodes and offers dreamlike explorations of her ayahuasca-fueled visions. She describes her revelations in detailed recollections that are rich in metaphor. “When used properly,” she asserts, ayahuasca “is not escapism—it is revelation.” A profoundly honest storyteller, Nering is careful not to mythologize her midlife “grand adventure” as she describes the logistical challenges of living on a remote island. The intimate text is supplemented by multiple pages of questions for group discussion and personal reflection, as well as a preview of Nering’s sequel to this memoir, which ends in 2021.
A deeply personal story of ayahuasca’s transformative role in one woman’s life.Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: 9798896361244
Page Count: 352
Publisher: She Writes Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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
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