A thoughtful and well-reasoned guide to making lifestyle decisions.
A manual looks at how individual choices shape the future of society.
In this companion to his Coming of Age in the Global Village (1990), Cook offers a framework for describing the different viewpoints, mentalities, and ways of thinking about all aspects of human life—religion and spirituality, personal responsibility, systems of governance, consumption, the environment, and militarism, among many others. This framework is a way to understand and guide people toward making decisions that are optimal for their own lives and for the future of humanity as a whole. The author outlines these viewpoints through a series of 52 choices between opposing worldviews, detailed in the book’s appendix and on a companion website. Using his own preferences as examples, Cook explains how the combination of values and choices he has made has allowed him to pursue a sustainable lifestyle, reduce his carbon footprint, build a community of friends and relatives, and develop an authentic spiritual life. He provides his choices as an example for readers to adapt to their own circumstances. Drawing on the author’s scientific background as a professor and research specialist, the book also takes an analytical approach to climate change and other crucial topics, showing how and why humans can and should take steps toward sustainability. Although the prose can be meandering at times and the volume’s pacing could be tighter, readers will likely be willing to overlook occasional narrative shortcomings in favor of Cook’s enthusiastic and authentic storytelling. Throughout the text, he demonstrates a deep knowledge of wide-ranging subjects, and the book’s many references to Coming of Age demonstrate that the author has returned to his topics many times since 1990, refining and strengthening his analysis in the intervening decades. The manual makes a persuasive case for moving toward a more sustainable lifestyle—although few readers are likely to join Cook in “peecycling,” using their own urine to fertilize homegrown crops—and for making choices that are true to one’s values without demonizing those who follow a different path.
A thoughtful and well-reasoned guide to making lifestyle decisions.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978- 0-9627349-5-3
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Parthenon Books
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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