A striking text that takes us beyond our planet for a fresh perspective.
An escape from doomscrolling social media to the vantage point of the Hubble telescope, 340 miles above the Earth’s surface.
Following three books of poetry and a novel, Amsterdam-based space reporter van Heemstra invites readers to take a breath, forgo the breakneck pace and seeming futility of modern life, and take a view of our lives from the point of view of an astronaut in orbit. As the author points out, the daily inundation of emails, bills, social media, and negative news coverage has increasingly limited her view to “the chaos occurring at eye level.” She continues, “I want to shrink, zoom out, find an overview from which I can see things, myself, others, in their proper proportion.” This hyperengagement also counterintuitively hampers any attempt to make meaningful progress, and van Heemstra takes inspiration from the astronauts who, after witnessing the world as a proverbial blue marble, return to rededicate their efforts to the well-being of the planet, whether continuing their scientific studies fighting climate change or advocating for social injustice. This cognitive shift, coined by author Frank White as the “overview effect,” occurs when one is able to break away from the constant barrage of mundane life, and the resulting feeling is one of cosmological connectedness. Throughout this brief yet paradigm-shifting book, the author guides readers through poignant vignettes and interviews with leading thinkers in the science of space. In the course of her journey, she seeks to “mentally remove myself from Earth,” an exceedingly difficult task. Each investigation into the minutiae of space brings a subtle suggestion of the interconnectedness of all things, and by the conclusion, readers will start to believe it is possible to attain a whole worldview between the covers of a book.
A striking text that takes us beyond our planet for a fresh perspective.Pub Date: June 20, 2023
ISBN: 9781324035695
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.
A warts-and-all portrait of the famed techno-entrepreneur—and the warts are nearly beyond counting.
To call Elon Musk (b. 1971) “mercurial” is to undervalue the term; to call him a genius is incorrect. Instead, Musk has a gift for leveraging the genius of others in order to make things work. When they don’t, writes eminent biographer Isaacson, it’s because the notoriously headstrong Musk is so sure of himself that he charges ahead against the advice of others: “He does not like to share power.” In this sharp-edged biography, the author likens Musk to an earlier biographical subject, Steve Jobs. Given Musk’s recent political turn, born of the me-first libertarianism of the very rich, however, Henry Ford also comes to mind. What emerges clearly is that Musk, who may or may not have Asperger’s syndrome (“Empathy did not come naturally”), has nurtured several obsessions for years, apart from a passion for the letter X as both a brand and personal name. He firmly believes that “all requirements should be treated as recommendations”; that it is his destiny to make humankind a multi-planetary civilization through innovations in space travel; that government is generally an impediment and that “the thought police are gaining power”; and that “a maniacal sense of urgency” should guide his businesses. That need for speed has led to undeniable successes in beating schedules and competitors, but it has also wrought disaster: One of the most telling anecdotes in the book concerns Musk’s “demon mode” order to relocate thousands of Twitter servers from Sacramento to Portland at breakneck speed, which trashed big parts of the system for months. To judge by Isaacson’s account, that may have been by design, for Musk’s idea of creative destruction seems to mean mostly chaos.
Alternately admiring and critical, unvarnished, and a closely detailed account of a troubled innovator.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9781982181284
Page Count: 688
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
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
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