An energetic guide to bringing greater intentionality to daily life.
DeFoore provides a blueprint for greater mental clarity and effectiveness in this self-help guide.
“Goodfinding” is “the practice of gratitude for the benefits of your past experiences, appreciation of your present blessings and opportunities, and optimism about the positive possibilities that lie ahead for you,” writes the author, emphasizing what he refers to as the “time travel” aspect of the human mind, capable of pondering the past, assessing the present, and planning for the future. His practice involves three key changes in thinking: a shift from negative to positive thinking, a change from outer focus to inner focus (to remind the reader that one is “the driver of your own car, the captain of your own ship, and the creator of your own reality”), and a pivot from “living at effect” to “living at cause.” DeFoore asserts that by following this practice, one is “learning to use your brilliant mind to its maximum benefit, contributing to your own well-being and that of the world around you.” The author frequently references Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence (1995), assuring his readers that they have brilliant minds (“I’m not saying that because I know anything about your intelligence,” DeFoore writes; “I’m saying that because a brilliant mind is standard equipment in the human organism”). This tone of strong encouragement runs throughout the book, which advises readers on everything from improving their finances (“a positive relationship with money is essential to your ongoing health and happiness”) to the practice of “gratitude journaling.” The author has a large number of abstruse topics to cover, and he’s very much aided in doing so by a clear, straightforward, explanatory style when clarifying his terms: “If a thought, belief, or course of action promotes life, health, and happiness and doesn’t harm you or others,” he writes, “then it is authentically positive.” Such plainspoken bits of wisdom will make DeFoore’s book appealing to readers seeking a bit of reinvention.
An energetic guide to bringing greater intentionality to daily life.Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2022
ISBN: 9798765235676
Page Count: 374
Publisher: BalboaPress
Review Posted Online: April 25, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A brief but sometimes knotty and earnest set of studies best suited for Shakespeare enthusiasts.
A brisk study of 20 of the Bard’s plays, focused on stripping off four centuries of overcooked analysis and tangled reinterpretations.
“I don’t really care what he might have meant, nor should you,” writes Smith (Shakespeare Studies/Oxford Univ.; Shakespeare’s First Folio: Four Centuries of an Iconic Book, 2016, etc.) in the introduction to this collection. Noting the “gappy” quality of many of his plays—i.e., the dearth of stage directions, the odd tonal and plot twists—the author strives to fill those gaps not with psychological analyses but rather historical context for the ambiguities. She’s less concerned, for instance, with whether Hamlet represents the first flower of the modern mind and instead keys into how the melancholy Dane and his father share a name, making it a study of “cumulative nostalgia” and our difficulty in escaping our pasts. Falstaff’s repeated appearances in multiple plays speak to Shakespeare’s crowd-pleasing tendencies. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a bawdier and darker exploration of marriage than its teen-friendly interpretations suggest. Smith’s strict-constructionist analyses of the plays can be illuminating: Her understanding of British mores and theater culture in the Elizabethan era explains why Richard III only half-heartedly abandons its charismatic title character, and she is insightful in her discussion of how Twelfth Night labors to return to heterosexual convention after introducing a host of queer tropes. Smith's Shakespeare is eminently fallible, collaborative, and innovative, deliberately warping play structures and then sorting out how much he needs to un-warp them. Yet the book is neither scholarly nor as patiently introductory as works by experts like Stephen Greenblatt. Attempts to goose the language with hipper references—Much Ado About Nothing highlights the “ ‘bros before hoes’ ethic of the military,” and Falstaff is likened to Homer Simpson—mostly fall flat.
A brief but sometimes knotty and earnest set of studies best suited for Shakespeare enthusiasts.Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5247-4854-8
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bloom’s comedic talent doesn’t translate to the page—at least not yet. Check back as her career continues to mature.
The co-creator and star of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend talks about her life.
“By the time I turned thirty,” writes Bloom, “I should have understood that there was no such thing as ‘normal.’ ” In this offbeat compendium of personal moments from childhood to the present, the author shares her journey in search of that moment when she felt “normal” around other people. Among other topics, Bloom discusses her mental health issues as an adolescent and how she endured bullying during middle school: “Were you bullied in middle school? Yeah? You were? Bullshit. You weren’t bullied. I was bullied. I am the ultimate judge of bullying and I conclude that I was bullied and you were not bullied. So says me, court adjourned, gavel goes bang bang.” The author’s humor is more pointed in her assessment of the pros and cons of attending award shows (her personal review system “is based on the things that TRULY count: Food, Parking, Temperature in the Room, and How Much Shapewear Is Expected”), a chapter in which she writes in the voice of her dog, and a section about how she and her colleagues bypassed FCC regulations to make certain parts of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend acceptable for a broadcast network rather than “edgy cable” (developed for Showtime, the series landed with the CW). Bloom includes childhood diary entries, poetry, and drawings as well as a snarky sample resume for aspiring actors, and she maintains a certain diffident note as she rambles along. The book was written before the pandemic, when the idea of “normal” was still possible. Thankfully, the author shares a relevant afterword that helps balance the silliness and eccentricities of the scattered narrative. Fans of the TV show will enjoy learning the backstory about the creator and star, but general readers won’t find much to appeal here.
Bloom’s comedic talent doesn’t translate to the page—at least not yet. Check back as her career continues to mature.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5387-4535-9
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2020
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