Take My Advice: Letters to the Next Generation from People Who Know a Thing or Two

by James L. Harmon (editor)

Take Their

Camille Paglia • Wayne Koestenbaum • Jonathan Ames • Jennifer Belle • Howard Zinn • Joe Dallesandro • Bruce LaBruce • Dr. Laura Schlessinger • Tom Robbins • Judith Butler • Martha Nussbaum Horst • William S. Burroughs • Larry Niven • Veruschka • Lydia Lunch • Spalding Gray • Eileen Myles • Roger Scruton • Ken Kesey Mary Gaitskill • Richard Powers • Mark Dery • Florence King • Mark Simpson • Bob Shacochis • Joanna Scott • Quentin Crisp • Carolyn Chute • Michael Thomas Ford • Alexander Theroux • George Saunders • Charles Baxter • Ian Shoales • Fay Weldon • Bruce Benderson • Scott Russell Sanders • John Shirley • Dr. John Money • Cindy Sherman • Richard Meltzer • Gene Wolfe • Abbie Hoffman • Diane Wakowski • Richard Taylor • Bette Davis • Arthur Nersesian • Jim Harrison • Martha Gellhorn • Lucius Shepard • Dan Jenkins • Steve Stern • Murray Bookchin • John Zerzan • Maurice Vellekoop • Joel-Peter Witkin • Stewart Home • Maxx Ardman • Katharine Hepburn • Bret Lott • Lynda Barry • Alain de Botton • Mary McCarthy • Hakim Bey • Anita O'Day • Chris Kraus • R. U. Sirius • C. D. Payne W. V. Quine • Rita Dove • Robert Creeley • Valerie Martin • Paul Krassner • Alphonso Lingis • Mark Helprin • John Rechy • Ram Dass • William T. Vollmann • and Bettie Page

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Self Help, Philosophy, Inspirational, How To

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 2002

Reviews

[Graeme · Rating 2 out of 5]

A diamond or two in a great pile of horseshit.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read with some wonderful moments and many writers who manage not to be patronizing, but instead wholly generous with their advice.

Some highlights I jotted down in my notebook:

"Understand that all war is a war against children, and therefore cannot be justified, whatever the reason." Howard Zinn

"Your own mind is your best possession; take serious care of it. Unless you agree fully in your mind and also your heart, you should disagree however you are able. If you follow this simple rule of conduct, you will find that you are often a dissident. Dissidents are a great company of mankind; without them, there would not have been any changes for the better." Martha Gellhorn

"Be generous; it will make you a better person and the world a better place to live in." Diane Wakoswki

"Be truthful, within the limits of possibility, and pay attention." Mary McCarthy

"It there is a world of insistent pain and poverty and despair, it is a human one. That I have never been able to forget. Still, feelings seem to me the final human experience and resource, and humor most specifically our abiding relief. [...] If I remember anything of final value, it would have to be laughter and love--and the people of one's heart." Robert Creely

"Little triumphs are the pennies of self-esteem." Florence King

"A fortunate birth [...] is a shock absorber." George Saunders

"Laughter is the only thing that will cut trouble down to a size where you can talk to it." Dan Jenkins

"Be guided, but don't copy. Read, listen, and learn from others, then invent. First continue, then begin. [...] Self-confidence has nothing to do with self-importance. It has a lot to do with open-mindedness and the capacity to love." Horst

[dirt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good bathroom read. The essays vary in quality. Some are excellent, some are vanity pieces, and a lot of them say "Don't take anyone's advice." Which aren't bad words of wisdom. Thinking about advice as I read this book, I came to the conclusion that advice should be listened to, contemplated, but never taken wholly without thought.

Some of my favorite essays were Lynda Barry's advice on making a time capsule, Ram Dass saying important Ram Dass-like things, Diane Wakowski's advice on balancing material and spiritual, and Chris Kraus' letter about writing letters.

[Natalie]

From Brain Pickings (https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/10...)

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wildly, WILDLY uneven. I'm so glad I decided to vet this first before gifting it to anyone. There were a few gems scattered throughout, but most of the advice is bizarre, self-indulgent, out-of-date, un-PC, and just plain bad.

[Su]

Interesting compilation of advice from what seems to be the most reluctant givers of advice. Although the intended audience is people in their early 20's, I still got quite a bit out of it.

[Carlos Fluffytron · Rating 4 out of 5]

why am i reading this?!

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating 4 stars because this book got me back into reading after a dry spell where I was struggling to finish reading anything. This book offers advice from smart folks who distrust advice, which in and of itself is a worthwhile undertaking.

[Goke Pelemo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hilarious, and obviously written by artists for artists. There’s some timeless advice and fodder for creative thought. If you need some motivation for a wild weekend or vacation, there’s some in here.

[Vaughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Letters of Advice to the next generation:

Primarily written to those of high school age and those in their 20's.

Letters from nearly 80 "major thinkers, social gadflies, underground artists, provocateurs, raconteurs, film auteurs, cyberpunks, academic out-laws, cranks, visionaries, fashionistas, cultural critics, and some of our greatest living novelists and poets."


Some of My picks so far:
-Bruce Benderson
-Florence King
-W.V.Quine
-Eileen Myles
-Alain de Botton
-Bette Davis
-Joel-Peter Witkin
-Veruschka
...
And several other bits and pieces from the rest.

[Lawanen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, I think, is for the youth of the 90's. The stuff that they mentioned that was prominent to their generation was hard to relate. Also, it's kinda hard to strung accord with these established individuals when you barely know them. Either way, most advise advocated the same lessons. Some speaks universal truth. Some are too lost in their own world that I can't honestly get what their trying to say.

This book is kinda beneficial. There are a lot of resounding lines that I scribbled down because of how their words stirred me. It's a good book. It was a good read.

[Matthew John · Rating 3 out of 5]

As other reviewers have said, it's a little uneven, some of the letters were terrible. But on the whole I took a good deal of advice out of this book.

One gem that stands out is a good artisan fixes his mistakes.

[Margaret · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is dreadful

I read about one fourth of this book and I just couldn't take another word. The advice -givers seem to be a bunch of young hipsters and the advice consists of shallow, snarky, self indulgent ramblings.

[Lindsay · Rating 1 out of 5]

out of the 79 advice givers...I only bookmarked 6 as ones I would be likely to read again. You do the math.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mostly likely I take that book with me anywhere and read peoples' perspectives on life and their philosophies of life. :-)

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's nice that someone else went to the effort of anthologizing this very mixed bag of essays.