A sincere but uneven work for those weathering a crisis.
In this memoir/self-help book, a songwriter seeks to console and inspire readers.
In 1990, Friedman wrote a song called “Help Is on the Way,” performed by Nancy LaMott, about remaining hopeful even in times of difficulty. It would eventually become one of the anthems of the AIDS crisis. With this book, the author hopes to replicate that feat, offering a mix of stories, affirmations, and inspirational quotes to buoy those in need of a lift. Some of the wide-ranging tales come from Friedman’s personal life: his family history, his childhood, and his long career on Broadway and as a fixture of New York City’s cabaret scene. There was the time his father borrowed money from relatives to buy his own paint factory. “Talk about Help Is on the Way,” the author jokes, “almost everyone he asked contributed. Even his mother-in-law, who was living on a small, fixed income, reached into her ‘secret stash’ and gave him $10,000.” Or the time Friedman realized his attempts to force his singing voice to be a certain way was keeping him from discovering his voice’s natural tendencies. Only in being himself was he finally able to effectively sing. The author’s prose is conversational and unhurried, and his stories have an appealing, homilylike didacticism to them (attributable, perhaps, to his partner’s career as a nondenominational minister). Here, Friedman provides an explanation of humility: “What this means is that when you have a problem, you hand it over to someone or something that knows better than you how to resolve it. For example, when I have a broken toilet, I humbly call the plumber, because I know that the plumber knows how to fix it.” While many of the tales and quotes are pleasantly uplifting, the volume leans so hard into the eponymous song that it starts to become a distraction. The author mentions it frequently; the full lyrics appear twice in the work; and each chapter takes its title from a line in the song. Friedman also includes lyrics from some of his other songs in several of the chapter-ending quotation sections. There’s a recycled quality to all of this that suggests a lack of original thought. Encouraging anecdotes aside, it’s difficult to imagine the book finding a wide audience.
A sincere but uneven work for those weathering a crisis.Pub Date: May 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1736241820
Page Count: 237
Publisher: Library Tales Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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
A far-reaching, mostly persuasive guide that seeks to change how people approach inner challenges.
Ion and Irimia’s self-help book presents seven principles that can alter readers’ lives.
Many people face internal roadblocks that keep them from succeeding. While therapy remains a common treatment option, it can take years to make progress. Fast Transformation Protocols, the method advocated in Ion and Irimia’s guide, is the opposite, only requiring a minor time commitment. The seed for FTP was Ion’s first company, a recruitment agency for corporations in Transylvania, Romania. On a trip with a colleague named Sara, Ion freed the woman from the perception of abandonment, making Sara understand that benefits exist in even the most negative situations. FTP primarily operates by asking many “weird questions” and utilizing seven universal laws: those of duality, reflection, transformation, synchronicity, eristic (i.e., argumentative) escalation, order, and fractals. The laws mingle concepts from science, philosophy, and psychology. Just a few of the numerous examples the authors discuss regarding the law of duality alone include the Babylonians’ concept of celestial cycles; the Chinese version, yin and yang; and, in biology, the balance of cell birth with cell death. Another inspiration is Carl Jung’s exploration of coincidences (the law of synchronicity) and archetypes (the law of fractals). Added to the mix is a helping of spirituality. The authors ask readers, when they’re contemplating life challenges, to consider sacred contracts, an idea that “before birth, your soul carefully chooses the exact context and circumstances it will incarnate into.” The ambitious guide is written in Ion’s voice; she’s a sensitive presence who seems to genuinely aspire to help others. She recalls that as a child, “I pulled my emotions inward and packed them tightly inside me, like delicate things wrapped in newspaper.” Yet this delicacy is balanced by a love of organization and rationality, reflected in this well-structured and mostly convincing book. Intriguing case studies demonstrate how the laws the authors discuss apply to real situations. But some readers will question the success rate. Using one of the seven universal laws is always shown as succeeding, although perhaps not immediately.
A far-reaching, mostly persuasive guide that seeks to change how people approach inner challenges.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2025
ISBN: 9798993098203
Page Count: 313
Publisher: Inspired Life Circle LLC
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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