Written with a great deal of humility; highly reflective, heartfelt guidance for entrepreneurs.
A small business owner shares her fears, failures, and successes in this motivational memoir.
It turns out there are plenty of “F words” that apply to owning a business: Each of the 21 chapters, plus an introduction and close, is titled with one. Building a book around “F words” might have felt somewhat artificial in the hands of a less capable writer than Preslar (On Heaven’s Couch, 2011). Her “French parents brought me into this world as an F word—Fabienne,” one justification for the manual’s amusing title. The author writes with such style, verve, and flair that it is hard not to embrace the concept and follow her journey. While the volume covers the typical ups and downs of small business ownership, one of its more striking elements is Preslar’s authenticity in unveiling her vulnerabilities. She willingly shares the difficult lessons she has learned in life and business, focusing on the realities of facing her fears and rising above failures. For example, the author reveals that fear has, at times, been debilitating, but she has made positive efforts to overcome it. She writes that fear is “like a flame that burns brighter when it’s fanned with avoidance, antianxiety medication, and denial.” Preslar also discusses how, as an introvert, networking and business relationships have not been easy for her, especially when she was unexpectedly “stung” by someone. The author tells a particularly poignant story about one experience with a woman from whom she learned three valuable lessons: “We never know what someone is thinking….We tote our baggage everywhere….We never know what someone is going through.” Such personal insights and refreshing candor lend a richness to the book and move it beyond just another entrepreneur’s account of building a business. Preslar offers helpful counsel to anyone contemplating business ownership, weaving in advice about finances, health, leadership style, interactions with employees, and more. The short chapters are always followed by several thought-provoking questions for readers to consider.
Written with a great deal of humility; highly reflective, heartfelt guidance for entrepreneurs.Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-943070-39-8
Page Count: 216
Publisher: SPARK Publications
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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