A thoughtful, wise, empathetic book that has the capacity to save lives.
An actor and a psychologist examine the stressors in the lives of Black males, suggesting ways for improved self-care.
Just as Vance was beginning to enjoy success as an actor, his father, long traumatized by the feeling of abandonment in childhood, committed suicide. The event set him on a yearslong voyage of self-examination. “I loved my father deeply,” Vance writes, “but I hardly knew him”—a common feeling among Black men, who, writes Smith, “live with the contradiction of being highly scrutinized and invisible at the same time. They know that when they are in non-Black spaces, they are being watched, sometimes with admiration, sometimes with envy, often with fear.” Wrestling with that contradiction is a high-wire act for many, especially for those who become visible through fame, whether as an actor, athlete, politician, or business leader. “They try,” Smith adds, “to believe that it’s not painful or messy to know that their special status is fragile…or that if they are considered special, it means so many who look like them are not.” The resulting denial, she holds, is itself a stressor. Addressing those sources of friction requires men to seek help, which is sometimes difficult to do, contradicting cultural ideals of stoicism. Vance writes of the difficulty of seeking therapy—and then of the many benefits that resulted. Smith encourages constant alertness to the condition of those around you. “Get in other folks’ business,” she counsels, particularly, as both she and Vance write, when there is any hint of suicidal ideation or behavior. In a book whose lessons extend to readers of any background, the authors emphasize the necessity of self-care and the awareness that with all of life’s tragedies, “no circumstance is without meaning” and “no experience is wasted.”
A thoughtful, wise, empathetic book that has the capacity to save lives.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781538725139
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Balance/Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 5, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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