Review by Booklist Review
Pipher's account of being the worst Buddhist in the world driven, anxious, self-blaming is hard to put down with its smooth, compact, and insightful prose. In this quest describing a quest, best-selling Pipher describes how, after spending her life developing relationships to fend off her dark loneliness, she found that she possessed the wrong psychological makeup for public life when fame thrust her out of her support system and into an exhausting whirlwind of appearances. The woman with only two speeds on and off had never learned to pace herself, and instead excoriated herself for failings real and imagined. Only after her inability to disappoint others became a disaster, and she felt both totally naked and utterly hidden, could she take a first step toward self-reclamation: simplify. Time in seclusion spent petting her cat and exploring yoga and massage led her to the age-old healing found in familiar homey routines, and in laughter. Captivated by the concept of mindfulness and becoming a bird whose wings are compassion and awareness, Pipher found self-accepting peace through Buddhist meditation and in writing this absorbing chronicle of discovery.--Scott, Whitney Copyright 2009 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
To appreciate this audio, the listener has to overlook an underlying paradox: Pipher believes that the success of her bestsellers (Reviving Ophelia and other pop psychology books) has destroyed her personal life. But by buying yet another one of her books, now we can help her-and ourselves-thanks to the author's brand of Buddhism lite. Kymberly Dakin is relentlessly cheerful and pleasant, clear and upbeat, even as she narrates some of Pipher's darkest moments enduring five-star hotels and major television appearances. (Is Dakin winking at the listener?) Her up-tempo approach adds greatly to the story, though her performance skills need improvement; for instance, Zeke, Pipher's son, sounds like a boy when he is a grown man. A Riverhead hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 29). (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
