A clear, no-nonsense distillation of one person’s guidelines for leading a more satisfying life.
The author outlines his belief in the value of willpower, hard work and making the most of one’s time, and supports his views with incidents from his own life.
After a pair of tragedies early in life—a debilitating sports injury and the murder of a younger brother—Simmons became determined to make the most of his life. After a period of reflection, he opted for a relentless application of willpower, which he defines as “resolutely controlling your behaviors” in order to achieve a goal. Simmons believes that by using willpower to overcome the “lazy bug,” by making the most of one’s time, and by acknowledging weakness while still trying “to stay as close to the perfect side as possible,” the reader can lead a productive life, while achieving personal and professional goals. Simmons outlines and elaborates on this approach, citing examples from his own life and listing concrete steps that can be taken in order to maximize one’s potential. Written as one extended, almost manifestolike essay, the guide brims with passion and energy. Concepts are introduced via key terms, which are defined, then exemplified with anecdotal incidents from the author’s life. The idea that willpower and effective time management lead to success is not new; however, the author presents his philosophy clearly. While the autobiographical examples can appear self-aggrandizing, the intentions are pure, and the author truly wants to improve the reader’s lot. The prose is simple but effective; however, metaphors tend toward overextension, and advice that addicts need only muster up willpower to overcome addiction is simplistic. Still, while there are few new ideas, many may find inspiration in Simmons’ concise, enthusiastic statement of his commonsense beliefs.
A clear, no-nonsense distillation of one person’s guidelines for leading a more satisfying life.Pub Date: May 19, 2010
ISBN: 978-0984397105
Page Count: 69
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A marvelously tender memoir on suicide and loss.
An essayist and novelist turns her attention to the heartache of a friend’s suicide.
Crosley’s memoir is not only a joy to read, but also a respectful and philosophical work about a colleague’s recent suicide. “All burglaries are alike, but every burglary is uninsured in its own way,” she begins, in reference to the thief who stole the jewelry from her New York apartment in 2019. Among the stolen items was her grandmother’s “green dome cocktail ring with tiers of tourmaline (think kryptonite, think dish soap).” She wrote those words two months after the burglary and “one month since the violent death of my dearest friend.” That friend was Russell Perreault, referred to only by his first name, her boss when she was a publicist at Vintage Books. Russell, who loved “cheap trinkets” from flea markets, had “the timeless charm of a movie star, the competitive edge of a Spartan,” and—one of many marvelous details—a “thatch of salt-and-pepper hair, seemingly scalped from the roof of an English country house.” Over the years, the two became more than boss and subordinate, teasing one another at work, sharing dinners, enjoying “idyllic scenes” at his Connecticut country home, “a modest farmhouse with peeling paint and fragile plumbing…the house that Windex forgot.” It was in the barn at that house that Russell took his own life. Despite the obvious difference in the severity of robbery and suicide, Crosley fashions a sharp narrative that finds commonality in the dislocation brought on by these events. The book is no hagiography—she notes harassment complaints against Russell for thoughtlessly tossed-off comments, plus critiques of the “deeply antiquated and often backward” publishing industry—but the result is a warm remembrance sure to resonate with anyone who has experienced loss.
A marvelously tender memoir on suicide and loss.Pub Date: Feb. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9780374609849
Page Count: 208
Publisher: MCD/Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
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