I've pitted my writing dream against my day job for a long while now, and it got to the point that I've become the b**** of the front desk. This book I've pitted my writing dream against my day job for a long while now, and it got to the point that I've become the b**** of the front desk. This book taught me that I have to improve at my day job in order to make my dream work better. If you can practice discipline in one area of your life, it will extend to the others that matter to you even more.
That's not the only bit of advice I got out of this book. Some of it is just plain, old-fashioned financial prudence. Some of it is stuff I hadn't considered: how to deal with success. But it's that main lesson that helped. I'm not quitting my day job until I've got a rock solid alternative. Until that happens, I need to improve my attitude, and this book has helped me do it. For that reason, it's probably the most valuable book I've read in 2020 so far....more
I had low expectations going into this book. I dream of being a writer, but I can’t afford to quit my secretarial job, and I thought this book was goiI had low expectations going into this book. I dream of being a writer, but I can’t afford to quit my secretarial job, and I thought this book was going to advise me to throw caution to the wind and live out my dream anyway. Luckily, it was not as impractical as I thought. The book was filled of inspiring stories about successful people living out their dreams, but nowhere does the book advise people to take uninformed leaps. It’s much more about gradual steps, which works well for me. And since the author’s dream is the same as mine - to become a writer – he speaks to the very thing I want. So I’ll be reading more from him. I like what he had to say. ...more
I began this book immediately after attempting Working by Studs Terkel, and it turned out to be an interesting follow-up. Whereas the intervieweesI began this book immediately after attempting Working by Studs Terkel, and it turned out to be an interesting follow-up. Whereas the interviewees in Working are people with ordinary jobs who, for the most part, are griping about them, this book is about people with extraordinary jobs, and all of them love what they do. The subjects include a mother-daughter team who run a handwriting analysis business, a lady lumberjack, and the recently deceased voiceover artist featured in the movie “In a World.” My favorite by far, though, was the wheelchair-bound football coach. He’s never kicked a football, but he’s got an eye for technique, so he can explain the moves to players better than the “regular” coaches can demonstrate it. I liked that chapter particularly because that was where the author best delved into the issue of the impracticality of following your passion. After all, what could be more impractical than a man in a wheelchair pursuing a career as a football coach?
But the book is not a whole-hearted argument for “following your passion.” All the people featured in the book did precisely that, but they did suffer setbacks. The football coach, for example, went further with his career than anyone could have predicted, yet not as far as he himself wanted. The lady lumberjack suffered injuries that kept her out of work. So inspiring as it was to read about these people who made money by doing what they love best, they are a minority. Most of us end up like the people in Working. And so, my feeling is pretty much the same as when I read So Good They Can't Ignore You, which is a strong argument against “following your passion” into a career. As I said when I finished that book, isn’t there a happy medium? Can’t I be practical and enjoy my work? I guess my current read shows how much I’m looking for the answer. It’s called Should I Go to Grad School? I’ll keep you posted. ...more
As some of you may realize, the flavor of my mid-life crisis is academic. Other women may try to relive their youth by dressing like teenagers again, As some of you may realize, the flavor of my mid-life crisis is academic. Other women may try to relive their youth by dressing like teenagers again, but all I want is a chance to redo college. I messed it up pretty badly the first time around, and I know I could do better now. I've even got an idea for a thesis. (See my review of Daniel Deronda.) But I don't see how I could possibly quit my job, and even if the ultimate aim is to switch to a career in academia, even before I read this book, I'd heard nightmarish stories about perpetual adjuncting with no job security or health insurance. Could I really be better off in my unintellectual office job? What about my untapped potential? I bought this book to find out if there's any possible way to turn my grad school dreams into a practical reality.
Unfortunately, the answer seems to be "probably not." Of the 41 contributors to this book, the majority said grad school is overpriced and that there are plenty of ways to live "the life of the mind" without it. Even the ones who touted the plus sides of grad school - mostly making valuable connections, personally and professionally - had a caveat to their "yes" answer: "Don't go into debt for it." That means if I'm ever going to make a go of this, I have lots of research to do to find some kind of teaching fellowship or other grant. It sure ain't happening tomorrow.
The target audience of this book are recent college grads who aren't sure what to do with their lives, not middle-aged moms like me. Because of that, much of the advice didn't apply, but some of it was spot-on. One person said, "If you've got one book in you (I'm looking at you, memoirists), don't go to grad school." Another person, himself a grad school drop-out, said you don't need grad school to live the life of the mind because, "There's this thing called reading." Thanks to Goodreads, there's a thing called sharing what you read, too, and it isn't with classmates who view you as a competitor.
My favorite essay, though, was from a man who loved linguistics but landed a secure civil service job, so he never went to grad school. He studied and wrote about linguistics as a hobby. When he published some of his work online, he was invited to participate in an academic conference in Europe. He said it was a taste of the life he did not choose, and he had no regrets. So sometimes, it really is possible to remain in "the real world" and still fulfill your creative dreams. May it be so for all of us.
If you're considering grad school in the humanities, this is a must-read. It cost me only $5, and it may have been the wisest purchase I ever made. It may just have saved me tens of thousands of dollars in debt. ...more
Biz Stone is one of the founders of Twitter, and though parts of his account of its origin story contradict the account in Hatching Twitter: A True StBiz Stone is one of the founders of Twitter, and though parts of his account of its origin story contradict the account in Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship, and Betrayal, he has such an engaging writing style and admirable message, I couldn’t help but conclude that whatever really happened, he did his best to stay above the fray. He comes across as a really likable guy.
More than just an origin story, the book is Biz Stone’s philosophy of life and business, a combination memoir and self-help book. On its face, some of his advice might seem cliché, but because he backs it up with personal examples, you can see practical ways of applying it to your own life. For example, he says, “Create your own opportunities.” Well, everyone says that, but most of us wait around for an unexpected tip to come out of nowhere. I’ve had a few show up in my life, so I’m always waiting for the next one, but Biz has a point: they don’t show up all that often. Aside from that, rarely are they tailor-made to your interests. Biz is a big believer in “following your passion.”
Here’s an example of an opportunity he created for himself. A child of divorce, money was always tight in his family, so in his college years, he had a part-time job packing boxes in a book publishing firm. He knew the firm was looking at designs for a new book cover, so one day when nobody was around, he turned on one of the computers, designed a cover, and added it to the pile of designs under consideration. When his was chosen, he was offered a full-time job, so he took it. Others might not be so bold as to quit college, but he felt the reason he was going to college was to qualify for a job like that, and now he’d landed it three years before graduation.
That brings me to the subject of taking risks. Biz is a big advocate of risk-taking, too, saying the usual, “If you want the big pay off, you have to take big risks.” The difference is: he actually explains how to do it intelligently. He gave the example of learning to do a back flip. When he was taught how to do it, he was shown the point in the execution where accidents are most likely to happen. So instead of just “envisioning yourself succeeding,” Biz suggests you also envision yourself failing. Embrace the worst-case scenario. If you’re willing to live with falling on your back, you’re ready to take the risk.
Personally, I’m not willing to risk much. But what I like is that Biz broke down the process for me. Face your fear: can you handle it or not? He’s got a similar approach to work. Does your job excite you? Is it challenging and creative? If not, and you’re not willing to live with the consequences of quitting either, then find something to do within your company to enjoy your job more. That advice has made me a more cheerful worker in these past few days.
So all in all, an excellent book. It’s light in tone, but it packs some big and important ideas from someone who’s really living them. ...more
This book has had such an impact on the culture, its title has become a catchphrase. Naturally, I heard of it when everyone else did and recognized thThis book has had such an impact on the culture, its title has become a catchphrase. Naturally, I heard of it when everyone else did and recognized that I needed to learn its lessons of assertiveness, but other books always seemed to take precedence. I finally got around to it as a follow-up to Joy Mangano’s inspiring memoir, but I didn’t like it as much. The first half was pretty good, but after a while, it just made me feel bad about myself. I’m a middle-aged secretary, and even if I fulfill my dream of going to grad school, I still don’t know if I can “lean in” enough to become a college-level lecturer. I’ve got a lifetime of habits to break, plus there’s all that outside negativity and stereotyping that I’d have to combat. I don’t know if I’m up for the fight.
Joy’s approach seems more within my reach. She was talking about family, creativity, and taking small steps. Sheryl Sandberg talked about family responsibilities, too, but her world is just too high-powered for me to relate to. Joy was motivated by belief in her own creations; Sheryl seems motivated by power and success. And while it’s true that it’s good for women overall if more women get into positions of leadership, that’s not enough to motivate me. But my own creativity, my own writing? I procrastinate there, too, but at least there, love of the process has some shot at driving me. Corporate America? Not so much. But good luck to you, Sheryl Sandberg. Facebook could use some good leadership right now....more
I always feel some inner resistance to reading these career self-help books. While they usually pinpoint my mistakes with dead-on accuracy, they also I always feel some inner resistance to reading these career self-help books. While they usually pinpoint my mistakes with dead-on accuracy, they also leave me feeling inadequate when it comes to applying their advice. The best example of that was with Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office, whose advice was, “Quit being a girl; start being a woman.” It made perfect sense to me, but it’s hard to change a lifetime of ingrained habits.
I heard of this book through an author interview on the radio and concluded that the book would probably be good for me so I should push through my usual inner resistance. I expected the book to be similar to Nice Girls, and in fact, it cited Nice Girls in the Introduction, but mostly to distinguish itself. The book argues that for all the girl vs. woman distinctions in Nice Girls, it’s still telling women to “man up.” This book warns that while women do have to change their girlish habits, they should also be aware that a backlash usually follows. In other words, it’s not all on us, nor is it all our fault. It’s not even mostly our fault. The fault is in people’s biases. Competence is seen as a masculine trait, and submissiveness/compliance as a feminine trait, and it’s a hard balance to strike.
The book goes on to describe in great detail the four patterns of bias working women have to overcome. First, there’s the “Prove It Again” bias: women have to work twice as hard to be thought of as half as good. Then there’s “the Tightrope:” women who get respect are often simultaneously disliked, and women who are liked are often not respected. The “Maternal Wall” is the belief that mothers must give 100% to their kids, and employees must give 100% to the company. How can any working mother possibly do both? Finally, there’s “the Tug of War,” which is fighting amongst women. The book also contains a chapter on how these biases play out for African American, Latina, and Asian women. There’s nothing about Hasidic women, but the author can always use my input to her on that. I’ve already written her a letter for career advice.
Though the book got repetitive in spots (how many more illustrations of Bias X do I need?), I absolutely related to it. Not only did the author come across as an expert, her tone was so warm, inviting, and helpful that, as I said, I wrote to her for career advice. She proved her competence and balanced herself firmly on the tightrope of likability and respectability. I want to learn more from her, and I trust her to have the answers. That’s the highest compliment I can pay to any self-help book. 5 stars. ...more
I have rather mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, the advice rang so true to my experience, I actually went to the author's website to contacI have rather mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, the advice rang so true to my experience, I actually went to the author's website to contact him, only to discover that his wife just had their first child last week, so he's not available. On the negative side, though, the book pointed out all the mistakes I've made over the years, which has made me worry that at my age, it's already too late for me to ever have what he calls "a compelling career."
The thesis of the book is that following your passion is bad career advice, and the better approach is to master skills that people value. Mastery is its own reward, and from there, career satisfaction will follow. Sensible enough, but I can't discount passion altogether. He gives example after example of people who built their careers the right way and a few who did things wrong. The successful ones pursued goals logically and systematically, but I can't imagine that passion wasn't part of it. The guy who became a TV scriptwriter didn't have a pre-existing passion for it? C'mon.
So I'm not really sure what to conclude. As someone who spent way too long barely eking out a living as a freelance writer and editor, I see the folly of following your passion. But while I'm grateful for the steady salary of an office job, I must confess to frequent boredom. Survival is more important than happiness, but isn't it possible to have both? ...more
Any woman who earns her living as an administrative assistant/secretary will find that this book really hits home. In many ways, it’s a self-empowermeAny woman who earns her living as an administrative assistant/secretary will find that this book really hits home. In many ways, it’s a self-empowerment book for secretaries, especially for those of us who are college-educated (the majority) and feel we should have accomplished more in our careers than being “just a secretary.” But as the subtitle states, the book is also a “retro guide,” a sort of history-lite survey of what the position entailed pre- and post-feminism and pre- and post-computers. The “retro” sources were culled together advice from secretarial training books throughout the first half of the 20th century. Some of it seemed like good common sense, and some of it will make you downright angry. Similarly, some of it is still true today, and some of it will make you glad you're alive and working now instead of 50-100 years ago.
I first learned of this book the way I learn about so many of the others I read: through an author interview on NPR. I was intrigued because of my own mixed feelings about my work. Having been raised in the post-feminist era and enrolled in the honors track in my high school, I disdained secretarial training. As it happens, my mother did suggest it, saying that an executive secretary had to be intelligent, but when I repeated this to my aunt, she said, “Don’t be a secretary. Have a secretary.” So I made a very common mistake, one that was described in ads for secretarial schools in the 1920’s and 30’s. I got a useless liberal arts degree, had to be retrained to gain secretarial skills, and have been working as an office assistant ever since.
I know my work takes brains and is essential to the success of my employer, but the stereotype of the dumb secretary persists. Feminism hasn’t changed that entirely, and in some ways, it’s made things worse. We’re the stragglers who got left behind as the smart ones were getting ahead, breaking through the glass ceiling.
One of the most frequently used terms in the book is “office wife.” I’d never heard anyone else use the term before; I actually thought I’d coined it myself. But the way I meant it was more like “homemaker of the office.” Like a housewife, the secretary does all the important yet undervalued work that keeps the whole thing running. The author, however, stressed a much different connotation: potential mistress to the boss. Hollywood made much of that stereotype, but to paraphrase one woman journalist of 1912, a wife had nothing to worry about from her husband’s secretary. If the secretary wasn’t busy avoiding all the mistakes that would make the boss grumpy, she was wondering how in the world he ever found a woman who could actually stand him.
Though there was a lot more about boss/secretary dalliances and sexual harassment than I really wanted to read about, I thought the book was excellent. The tone was light and often funny, and yet the author was as thorough as a scholar. She covered everything from the politics of making coffee to massaging the boss’ ego. Especially interesting to me were the bios of the famous secretaries: Katherine Gibbs, divorcee and founder of the Harvard of secretarial schools; Rose Mary Woods, secretary to Richard Nixon whose loyalty was so strong that she claimed responsibility for erasing the tapes subpoenaed by Congress; and Bette C. Graham, inventor of that multi-million dollar item, Liquid Paper. I can see why other reviewers found parts of the book repetitive, but mostly, I was either laughing out loud or thinking, “Ain’t that the truth.” For that reason, I’ve already recommended the book to my classmates at paralegal school and may just email all my old co-workers about it. As the author says in her intro, “Here’s to us! Without us, none of the work would ever get done!” ...more
I previously read, though didn't finish, How to Win Friends and Influence People, so I knew I liked Dale Carnegie's casual writing style and very muchI previously read, though didn't finish, How to Win Friends and Influence People, so I knew I liked Dale Carnegie's casual writing style and very much agreed with his advice. But much of this book is made up of excerpts from How to Win Friends, so it was a bit redundant for me. I also questioned the advice more on this read than on my previous one, which is largely because of the advice of Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office. I suppose some middle path between the books is the right balance. There's probably more overlap than there is disagreement. ...more
This was one of the books recommended in Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office, and it's right along the same lines, but it focuses specifically on sThis was one of the books recommended in Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office, and it's right along the same lines, but it focuses specifically on self-promotion. It might just as easily have been called How to Talk So Employers Will Listen and is full of "bragologues" to give you the gist. Here are the keys to a good bragologue: (1) tell it like a story (2) be enthusiastic about the subject and (3) sprinkle in your contribution to it along the way.
Here's my sample bragologue: "I never thought of myself as a numbers/accounting person; I was decidedly a word person. But my most challenging responsibility in my present job is to prepare estate tax returns. I was thrown into it, sink or swim, and not only did I learn to swim, I actually enjoy it. I like taking all those chaotic financial records the clients provide and turning them into a coherent report good enough for the eyes of the tax authorities. Basically, I enjoy the feeling of a job well done."
Here's another. "My daily commute is an hour and a half each way, and I spend most of it reading. My tastes are pretty eclectic, not what you'd expect from a Hasidic woman. That's why I cite so many books in ordinary conversation. Reading is a big part of my life."
So now you've got an inkling of what this book has to teach, and if you don't feel like reading the whole thing, you can go to the website at www.bragbetter.com and download the "Take 12" questionnaire. The book is a little repetitive, but I'm grateful for the bragologues. May Hashem help that I get to use a few in job interviews.
This is the first book I read from the bibliography of Anne Kreamer's It's Always Personal: Navigating Emotion in the New Workplace, and I found it muThis is the first book I read from the bibliography of Anne Kreamer's It's Always Personal: Navigating Emotion in the New Workplace, and I found it much more skills-based and practical. The author's main theme is, "Quit being a girl," by which she means to toot your own horn and stand up for yourself because high quality work alone won't get you noticed and promoted. The corporate world is prejudiced against girls and can't envision them beyond the secretarial pool. Women, in contrast, get ahead with the right efforts.
The first chapter contains a questionnaire of the "very true/sometimes true/sometimes false/very false" variety with questions as diverse as, "Do you apply lipstick in public?" and "Do you phrase your statements as questions?" Each of these questions relates to one of seven categories: 1) how you act 2) think 3) work 4) play 5) look 6) sound 7) market. Each category has its own chapter, so the author recommends that you read the chapters corresponding to the areas in which you scored lowest. My lowest scores were in act, play, and market, but I think my worst drawback is my soft soprano voice. Other than taking voice lessons, which I can't afford anyway, there's not much I can do about it. Interestingly, my best score was in look, which just goes to show that modesty in dress enhances a woman's respectability. But this self-promoting stuff. . . that goes against the tzniusdiggeh grain.
According to the book, though, there's plenty else I can do, and while I was reading it, I definitely applied some of its advice, like insisting that my boss stop sending me out to Starbucks and engaging in more office chit-chat because relationships matter. But it's been a few weeks since then, and I've fallen back into my old passive ways. Still, it was good advice, and I intend to read more from this author and the books she cites. I wish I'd learned these lessons long ago! ...more
It was probably a mistake to get this as an audio book instead of in print. I listened to about half of it, and because the beginning was so full of oIt was probably a mistake to get this as an audio book instead of in print. I listened to about half of it, and because the beginning was so full of other people's success stories, I never got to much of the negotiation skills. Perhaps the print book will hold my attention better. After all, I still want to learn those skills....more
Mere days after a blow-out with my boss in which he blamed me for something I didn’t do and I ended up crying in my cubicle and then putting out feeleMere days after a blow-out with my boss in which he blamed me for something I didn’t do and I ended up crying in my cubicle and then putting out feelers for new jobs, I heard a radio interview with the author of this book, and knew I just had to get hold of it. She said that more than half of the women she surveyed admitted to crying in the workplace, and even more disturbing, 42% of the men she surveyed believe that anger is an effective management tool. Since my boss definitely uses anger that way, I figured I could use a good guide to emotional management at work. And so I did something I rarely do. I bought the book.
The book illustrates the problems clearly and absorbingly, but I didn’t feel it was that strong on practical solutions. The most concrete piece of advice I got was to confide in a friend, which is common sense, really. I’ve gotten better tips from the books she cited in her bibliography, namely Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office and Ask For It, which I’m now listening to on audio.
But there was one “theoretical” discussion I really loved. It was presented visually, so we’ll see if my verbal description does it justice.
Think back to elementary algebra and a graph along four quadrants. The horizontal line represents the pessimist/optimist spectrum, and the vertical represents outward expression of emotion to keeping it in. So in quadrant 1 (-x,+y) are pessimists who don’t hold back in verbal expression. The author calls these people “spouters,” and they’re the ones who are most likely to lash out and blame others for their mistakes. In quadrant 2 (+x,+y) are optimists who also express their feeling freely. She calls these “solvers.” They’re the smallest group, but some of the most successful managers are among them. In quadrant 3 (-x,-y) are pessimists who keep feelings in. She calls these the “accepters,” and they’re the biggest group, not in small part because most workplaces force us to accept negative situations and keep quiet about them. And finally, in quadrant 4 (+x,-y) are optimists who keep their feelings in. These she calls “believers” and they're happiest when working for an ideal or a cause. There’s a small questionnaire in the book and an even more comprehensive test on her website if you want to see where you place.
I didn’t take the website test, but I’m a hybrid according to the questionnaire, which, the author says, most people are. She called herself a “spolver,” i.e. something between a “spouter” and a “solver.” I’d place myself somewhere between an “accepter” and a “believer,” which means that if I want to become more of an optimist, I will find my strength in my religious beliefs and dedication to causes. Interestingly, she notes that the “believers” group is female-dominant.
But I do take issue with two things about her chart. The “accepter” is negative on two scales, but I think of acceptance as a positive thing. It sure beats denial. And while the “spouter” is positive on one scale, to me, it’s the most negative profile on the graph. Who’d want to be around a pessimist who vents? So what I learned is that yes, I should increase my expression of feeling to trusted friends in the office (luckily, I’ve got a few), but becoming more optimistic is the more important step. Because no matter what 42% of men surveyed may think, anger is a counter-productive management tool....more
After The Millionaire Next Door made me feel so down on myself, I wasn’t as enthusiastic about reading Millioniare Women Next Door as when I firstAfter The Millionaire Next Door made me feel so down on myself, I wasn’t as enthusiastic about reading Millioniare Women Next Door as when I first ordered it from my library. But when it finally arrived a few weeks later, I figured I might as well bite the bullet and have another unpleasant look in the financial mirror.
Surprisingly, the book turned out to be much more inspirational than the first. The author does revisit many of the same themes – the importance of thrift, the dangers of economic outpatient care on adults – but he also includes the success stories of numerous millionaire women. And who doesn’t love success stories?
More important is how the book has impacted my own life. I can name four specific ways:
(1) The most practical, real-world change is that I’ve created a spreadsheet of all my credit cards and used the “chart” function to turn it into a graph. Now I’ve got a clear, visual summary of how much I owe, and my goal is to reduce that debt by 25% or more by December. I don’t know whether or not I can become a millionaire , but I do know that my first step to financial solvency is to wipe out that debt.
(2) Though I haven’t done it every day, I’ve taken to writing down specific goals. Some are daily and some are long-term, but setting specific goals is one of the things successful women do routinely.
(3) This one is a change of mindset. Early in the book, it states that most of these successful women don’t spend much time, if any, thinking about how their lives could have been different, and not all of them led charmed existences before becoming rich. Unfortunately, regret, specifically about sabotaging my future by messing up in college, occupies so much of my own mental energy, I’ve determined it to be my mid-life crisis. And it’s deep-seated, too. Because of the book, I began to stop these thoughts whenever I caught myself, but they came back in such a powerful dream, I woke up at 3 am from it. In the negative part of my dream, I again met the college official who interviewed me for the college I didn’t go to and now wish I had. In a positive part, though, my family members agreed that I should have a “second chance,” so I was going to go back to being 18 again. But when I woke up, I realized that if I’m ever going to get a second chance at college, it won’t be by going back in time. It has to be now. That’s as close to a “never look back” attitude as I can get to.
(4) This is another mindset change, and it’s connected with the previous one. Most of the millionaire women profiled in the book run their own businesses, but most of them didn’t become millionaires until they were in their forties or fifties and usually with a few failed businesses behind them. I found that incredibly comforting in light of my own age and mistakes. Who knows what the future might hold for me?
With insights like that, is it any wonder I’ve rated this book a 5? ...more
The fast food industry meets Columbia University in this absorbing sociological study of the working poor. The author followed the daily lives of a nuThe fast food industry meets Columbia University in this absorbing sociological study of the working poor. The author followed the daily lives of a number of “Burger Barn” employees, and you can’t help but respect these people. They work at low-paying, disrespected “McJobs” even though other paths, like welfare and crime, might actually pay more, at least in the short run. But for those who can stick it out, rude customers and all, a job at “Burger Barn” can lead to promotion into store management, and from there, community college and upward mobility. Many of the owners of the franchises, at least in Harlem, worked themselves up in precisely this way, and see themselves as community activists as much as entrepreneurs. Of course, not everyone has a success story. Flipping burgers can be a great first step for a teenager, but it’s a tragedy when a fully grown adult gets stuck there. And many do.
Written in the 1990’s in the midst of Clinton’s welfare reform, the author makes many policy recommendations. Simply requiring welfare recipients to work does not in and of itself help. For one thing, most of the women receiving welfare were the child care providers for the working poor, so sending them out to work sent many others among the working poor back home. And that is just one of the many vicious cycles the book points out.
I imagine this book would be more popular with Democrats than Republicans, but really, I think its point is something more universal and human, something beyond politics. Poor people’s values aren’t that different than those of the middle class. They value an honest day’s work and they recognize that education is the key to upward mobility. Arguably, they value them even more than the average middle class person, for whom these things are a given. And there are things that can be done to help people raise themselves out of poverty. Some of the programs she cited at the end, most of which are locally-based, really seem worth replicating. So I recommend this book to everybody. I have yet to figure out what I personally can do to improve the situation, but the book has certainly made me want to try. ...more
A fast read with good advice and pictures that made my kids laugh. I got more out of Becoming A Writer since that was more tailor-made to my interestsA fast read with good advice and pictures that made my kids laugh. I got more out of Becoming A Writer since that was more tailor-made to my interests, but the basic idea is the same. You need your inner editor, but sometimes you have to tell it to shut up. The assessment of how education squelches our creativity was right on! ...more
Boy, am I glad to finally get this off my "currently reading" list. I'm not saying it didn't have good information, but slogging through it was a CHORBoy, am I glad to finally get this off my "currently reading" list. I'm not saying it didn't have good information, but slogging through it was a CHORE! I learned a few new things, but it was mostly common sense, and since it was written in the 90's, it was soooo dated. Forget the "consider getting a cell phone" thing - what about the recession? Maybe writers could charge $50.00 back in the day of the "employees' market," but with the 10% unemployment rate of these days and the closing of so many newspapers, I was starving for more current information. Even still, I might try a few of his ideas for seeking work for myself, but I'm not at all hopeful. As I said, I have a feeling that the author who wrote Beg, Borrow, Steal probably reflects the truth about writing as a career much more accurately. ...more
I don't know what it is about this book, but I've tried it twice, and I've never been able to get through it. According to Good Reads, I started it inI don't know what it is about this book, but I've tried it twice, and I've never been able to get through it. According to Good Reads, I started it in November, which means I've been slogging my way through for nearly three months. The thing is, the writing style isn't boring; it's actually quite upbeat. The book is exactly what the authors pitch it as: a step-by-step, blow-by-blow account of how to get a book published. And because they use such a casual tone, they come across as writing cheerleaders. . . except they make it clear with all the detail that publishing is HARD WORK.
I've given it 4 stars because the information really is top-notch. I'd go so far as to say that it's a must-have for any writer who hopes to publish. As to my own writer's/reader's block in getting through it, well, that's something I'll have to deal with privately.
