Sign in with FacebookLeah Scheier's Reviews > This Is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike.
This Is How: Proven Aid in Overcoming Shyness, Molestation, Fatness, Spinsterhood, Grief, Disease, Lushery, Decrepitude & More. For Young and Old Alike.
by Augusten Burroughs
by Augusten Burroughs
I won this book in one of the Good Reads "First Reads" giveaways. 4.5 stars
Well, I understand why Mr. Burroughs is a bestselling author. His intelligence and dry wit literally jumps off the page and bites you!
I am the LAST person to read self help books. I have no patience for the genre, and less patience for people who are obsessed (as Mr. Burrough's puts it) with "fondling their emotional baggage."
I loved this book because it was the opposite of most of the inspirational trash out there. And the author is not afraid to tell it like it is. And he gives it to you straight-- with the oddest mix of compassion and snarkyness (is that a word?) that I have ever seen.
Mr. Burroughs doesn't shy away from the hard stuff either. Death of a child, suicidal thoughts, abuse, obesity-- all in a 250 page book. It's a bit --- ambitious, and at times I found the advice to be very simplistic (tired of dieting? Be happy and fat!) but overall I really enjoyed his observations. I especially loved how he dismissed the "needing to analyze and dissect the past in order to make peace with it" psychological approach. The take-away message of the book for me was: accept past pain for what it was, but don't let it rob you of tomorrow's joy.
A pretty good message, I think.
Well, I understand why Mr. Burroughs is a bestselling author. His intelligence and dry wit literally jumps off the page and bites you!
I am the LAST person to read self help books. I have no patience for the genre, and less patience for people who are obsessed (as Mr. Burrough's puts it) with "fondling their emotional baggage."
I loved this book because it was the opposite of most of the inspirational trash out there. And the author is not afraid to tell it like it is. And he gives it to you straight-- with the oddest mix of compassion and snarkyness (is that a word?) that I have ever seen.
Mr. Burroughs doesn't shy away from the hard stuff either. Death of a child, suicidal thoughts, abuse, obesity-- all in a 250 page book. It's a bit --- ambitious, and at times I found the advice to be very simplistic (tired of dieting? Be happy and fat!) but overall I really enjoyed his observations. I especially loved how he dismissed the "needing to analyze and dissect the past in order to make peace with it" psychological approach. The take-away message of the book for me was: accept past pain for what it was, but don't let it rob you of tomorrow's joy.
A pretty good message, I think.
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Reading Progress
| 05/11/2012 | page 147 |
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61.0% |
Comments (showing 1-4 of 4) (4 new)
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Baila
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Apr 28, 2012 09:12pm
This looks interesting. If you get your hands on it, let me know if I can borrow it...
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Baila wrote: "This looks interesting. If you get your hands on it, let me know if I can borrow it..."Will do.
No. Thinking about it. But most of my reading is on shabbat-- so I'm not sure if there's a point. bookdepository.co.uk isn't bad. They jack up the prices of the books to make up for no shipping- but you still end up ahead on many books. 18 dollars for shipping from amazon is a little hard to stomach. especially when the book cost 4.
