Well-researched, engaging stories struggling under the weight of cloying commentary.
A long walk, composed of short vignettes, through the career decisions of 50 professional Americans.
Inspired by his own feelings of confusion about hustling up work in the wake of thinning assignments, journalist and novelist Bronson (The Nudist on the Late Shift, 1999, etc.) hits the road to report on the state of people pursuing their dreams in the workplace. While considering his own career path, Bronson had a realization: “Nothing seemed more brave to me than facing up to one's own identity.” Accordingly, he has gone in pursuit of those courageous souls. We are introduced to an investment banker turned catfish farmer, a dancer turned PR executive, a TV writer who left Hollywood to return to his roots in Pittsburgh, an Olympic hopeful who gave it up to be a mother, and countless others, most of whom have intriguing work histories to relate. Just for variety, there’s even a professional who has had a single employer (NASA) since graduating from college more than a decade ago. The character who receives the most attention, however, is Bronson himself. The author is relentless in his efforts to insert his reactions to his subjects, both during and after the interviews. When an electric-car inventor becomes overly involved in home improvements and loses track of his own ambitions, the readers are capable of groaning inwardly all on their own; Bronson's report that “it hurt to learn this” is maddeningly extraneous. Certainly, such a project needs an organizing principle, but Bronson's freewheeling analysis and earnest assertions of respect for his subjects fail to engage, resulting in messy pastiche of oral history, sociology, and self-help.
Well-researched, engaging stories struggling under the weight of cloying commentary.Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2003
ISBN: 0-375-50749-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2002
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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