A thoughtful and engaging reflection on what it means to get older, both physically and spiritually.
Moran shares tips on aging well in a culture obsessed with youth.
The author, a longtime yogi and prolific self-help writer, here focuses her attention on the concept of aging. While acknowledging that genetics and lifestyle choices greatly influence how one ages, she also draws attention to the cultural and spiritual aspects of the process. Heavily influenced by Eastern practices, Moran alternates between concrete suggestions (for good skin care, wear sunscreen and eat herbs like Tulsi, amla, and ashwagandha) and more esoteric musings (“just think of your inner being as soul or spirit or whatever word you like. Terminology aside, that inner being is the real you, and it does not age. The more thoroughly you can identify with the part of yourself that has been you all your life, the more youthful you will feel and appear”). Occasional text boxes contain “Practices for the Path” with additional exercises for readers to try, like “Adapt an appropriate and appealing asana routine for yourself.” Moran includes plenty of personal anecdotes, such as her experience bungee jumping at age 43, as well as yogic parables, like the tale of the blind sea turtle. The author’s voice remains warm and conversational throughout, easing readers into sometimes rather complex concepts—the idea of the body’s three doshas (or energies), for example, with the dominating one being “solidified at the moment of conception as your body type.” In addition to all of the spiritual notions that Moran introduces, she also addresses some very practical issues, including the importance of a living will. It is the deftness with which Moran handles this delicate balance between the metaphysical and tangible that makes her guide such a pleasure to read. Her approach to aging may hover in the periphery of the mainstream, but there is valuable information here—whether or not one subscribes to all of the ideas.
A thoughtful and engaging reflection on what it means to get older, both physically and spiritually.Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781958972595
Page Count: 234
Publisher: Monkfish Book Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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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