Book Review: If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You

If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You by Kelly Cutrone

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I didn't intend to read this book over the weekend, but happened to pick it up and just couldn't put it down, and so over the course of a few hours on a Saturday afternoon, I found myself at the end of it, a little bit wiser and entertained.

Basically the book is a little bit autobiographical, giving details of Kelly Cutrone's life and how she got into the PR/publicity business. Along the way she includes details of what really makes a life worth living. I would categorize it as a hybrid business/life advice book. Some of her life advice I took with a heavy grain of salt - being of a different belief system and worldview, I'm not really into "making up your own religion." But I do (obviously) believe that we are here on this earth to live for a higher purpose than sex, drugs, rock & roll, fame, and money. Those things and the pursuit of them are very costly and in the end don't bring the things they promise. These words of wisdom have a little bit more truth to them coming from someone like Kelly Cutrone, who's life is based in that world, than it would from me, a small-town country girl with city leanings.

What I really appreciated from the book was learning more about Kelly's background and how she rose to be where she is now - owner and CEO of People's Revolution, a premiere fashion publicity firm. I loved her when she appeared on "The Hills", a breath of fresh air with her no-bs approach to working, even with cameras rolling in her face. I really enjoyed her own foray into reality television with her show "Kell on Earth", as it showcased what a formidable businesswoman she really is. In her book, she downplays some of the wisdom and knowledge that she has gained over the years, but the proof is in the pudding - she owns and runs one of the most successful fashion PR companies in the world, People's Revolution. Her business advice is what I appreciated the most - from lessons on how to "fake it to make it", the importance of a personal brand, and how to communicate via phone versus email - something that is a lost art (I'm the first to admit my fear of the phone).

Written succinctly and in a very easy to read manner, I would recommend it for a good beach read. However, for those with more conservative tastes, be forewarned - Kelly is not your typical, demure, "refined" woman - she is a B.I.T.C.H. "Babe In Total Control of Herself".

(*Also, as a side note, it was very interesting to read this book right after reading "Flux:Women on Sex, Work, Love, Kids, and Life in a Half-Changed World". Kelly would have made an interesting case study in that book, and some of the things she discusses about being a powerful career woman (both the difficulties and advantages of) coincided with the themes and discussions in that book.)

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Book Review: Rowing the Atlantic: Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean

Rowing the Atlantic: Lessons Learned on the Open Ocean by Roz Savage


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book probably deserves 3 1/2, maybe even 4 stars, but I'm giving it 3, because I just can't bring myself to say that it's 4 star worthy. To me a 4 star book is one that is immensely enjoyed, and 3 star is a very good, pleasurable read. This was a very good, pleasurable read.

The heart of the book is about a woman named Roz Savage who decides in mid-life that she is going to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. I first discovered Roz through Blogger.com's "Blogs of Note" program, during her second stage of her solo row across the Pacific Ocean. I was immediately fascinated by this - a woman, blogging from an ocean rowboat, rowing across the Pacific Ocean - that's not something you hear or read about very often! So having become an avid follower of Roz's daily posts and various trials on the open ocean, I was excited to learn that she had written a book about her experience rowing across the Atlantic Ocean.

I have to say that Roz is a good writer. She is very engaging and forthcoming about her experience and how she reached the point of setting off in the Atlantic Rowing Race, the first solo woman to do so, and her 103 days on the open ocean. And it was not a sunny or pleasant experience. Suffering from tendinitis in her shoulders, a boil on her bum, 4 broken oars, a broken camp stove, and various and other sundry things like rogue waves tipping the boat precariously on its side were just some of the obstacles that Roz had to overcome during her crossing. Her ingenuity, tenacity, and perseverance are definitely to be admired and inspiring.

And yet - I found the whole reason of her embarking upon this expedition to be kind of shallow. The reason that she states (or that I took away from the book) is that she wanted to prove that she could depend upon herself and herself only to find happiness in life. She constantly refers to a pivotal moment in her life in which she wrote two obituaries for herself - one which she pictured if she stuck in the "life" that she had at the point, or another which was the one that she wanted to have. She admits that her life up to the point of that moment had been spent in pursuing a life goal based upon the altar of materialism - the accumulation of more and more things and working her life away to earn the money to get those things. She states that she found that this did not indeed bring happiness and in fact would lead to an obituary that she did not want. So instead of working for materialism and listening to society's push for "more and more stuff", she decides to take a different path - she instead is going to focus on herself and her "happiness" and what makes her happy.

To me (and this is my opinion) this is just as false and shallow as the pursuit of more things as a means to happiness. She proceeds to enter into an affair, cheats on her husband, but then goes back to him and does try to save her marriage, but ultimately ends up leaving him to pursue "who she really is". And so in this soul-searching quest, she decides to enter the Atlantic rowing race and row across the ocean.

I have to admit that I come at this from a different worldview - one in which happiness is never guaranteed and in fact is very fleeting. My worldview says that life is painful, depressing at times, and hard at all others. There are moments of joy sprinkled throughout that highlight the hope that I live for, but these moments of joy are not the result of living for such an elusive goal as happiness.

I do appreciate the amazing, mind-blowing accomplishment that Roz achieved. It is a testament to the tenacity of the human spirit that can overcome obstacles that seem insurmountable but just taking one day at a time, and living in the present moment - and those are the lessons worthwhile taking away.

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Book Review: Bury the Chains

Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves by Adam Hochschild

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I finished reading this book about two or three weeks now I guess. The reason I have not reviewed it yet is because I don't want to acknowledge that I have in fact finished reading this book, because then it would just depress me that I do not have something as well-written, captivating, challenging, and stimulating to read as of right now.

This book by far is the best book I have read in 2009. Adam Hochschild truly captured not only the spirit of the abolition movement, but also the many different men involved in bringing the industry of slavery to an end in the British empire. His ability to narrate the events that led to this movement in history is unparalleled - perhaps only matched by the likes of Barbra Tuchman and Stephen Ambrose. And yet Hochschild made William Wilberforce and Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp and Equiano and James Stephen come to life in a way that I don't think any other author could have.

I am doing a poor job of reviewing - on to the details - the book lays the foundation for this period in history - the sociological, psychological, political, religious, and economical factors that lay underneath the acceptance of the slave trade and slavery in the world's greatest empire. From this foundation, it moves into the start of the fight against the slave trade - which was the world's very first grassroots human rights campaign. At no other prior point in human history, did human beings come together and systemically work within the confines of governmental law to change the norms of society. The book goes into further detail about the specifics of how this movement got started, how it developed, and the obstacles that it had to overcome (50 years worth of obstacles) in order to succeed. And yet in the end, the slave trade and slavery itself were finally abolished and for the first time in history, an empire existed in which slavery was outlawed. While there were many other forms of keeping the Africans in positions of subjugation to the ruling elite (many of which have ramifications on the state of world politics and economics today), the name and practice of slavery was officially banned from the British Empire.

Personally, it was an interesting time to be reading this book right on the heels of concluding Rob Bell's "Jesus Wants to Save Christians" in which he rails against "empire" and all of its trappings and how as Christians we need to fight against the empire. Yet empires are a fact of history - there has always been empires and there will always be empires. What I think that "Bury the Chains" did for me that Rob Bell's book did not was show how a group of people can fight for the basic human rights of people who could not fight for themselves. This book showed how a group of 11 men, working within the political, social, and religious confines of their society, were able to bring down the economic forces that allowed slavery to continue for as long as it did. These men helped regular people to identify with people of a different skin color and see them as human beings - not a means to an end. It took many years - and in the end, violent revolutions in the Caribbean - but they ultimately succeeded. Yet Hochschild does not overlook the fact that in doing so, that by eliminating slavery in the British Empire, that very Empire suffered an enormous loss to their GDP - well into the millions, billions. Obviously, a person's life is worth more than money - but it took a half century for the empire to recognize that it's people wanted them to realize that.

The characters that dot the timeline of the abolition movement were eccentric fellows and all very different from each other - yet they were able to overcome their differences - religious, political, and social - and work together to help their fellow man. I wish I could go back in time and meet Granville Sharp, or Thomas Clarkson, or Equiano, or William Wilberforce - such amazing men. Hochschild excels in detailing their lives and roles in bringing this movement into a reality and finally to an end.

While there are forms of slavery that still exist today in the forms of sexual trafficking and factory labor in the East, it is safe to say that the idea that slavery is inherently evil would never have occurred had it not been for the work and unparalleled dedication of these men to the most basic of human rights - that of freedom. Many kudos to Hochschild for capturing this tale in such an enlightening and brilliant way. I was truly sad when I turned to the last page and read the last words of this wonderful, wonderful book.

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What to Read, What to Read?

Well, with just a few weeks left to go in the year 2008 (how is that actually possible? Where does time go? Am I living in a time warp?) I am trying to decide what book to pick up and try to finish before the year is out. I recently have read a lot of good books and have enjoyed pretty much everything that I picked up to read this year, and so want to close out 2008 with some good reads.

I have a recommendation from my best friend Rebekah to read The Road by Cormac McCarthy, but she did forewarn me that it is a pretty dark, depressing book. Not sure if I should try that right before the holidays, but really, when is there ever a good time to read a depressing book? So it is Number 1 on my list to consider.

I have a book by Thomas Friedman, the noted NY Times columnist, about living green and why it is essential. I read the article that he wrote that was the precursor to this book and it really inspired me as to why the Green Revolution is the next thing that we as a generation should pursue. I enjoy reading articles written by him, but he is not a quick and easy read. Reading his stuff takes time and thought and I go into my college-reading mode, taking my time to digest, analyze, and think about what is being said along the way. I also have the book The World is Flat by him that I have not read yet, but again, it will take time to digest it.

Then there is the book, The Shack that my roommate is reading right now. I have seen some of the message boards about it on RansomedHeart.net and it seems like a good book, and an easy book to get through. I think that is just the way though that most fiction is for me - easy to get through. And especially if there is a good story to go along with it, I fly - I cannot put the book down until I finish reading the last page.

I could come up with an entire list of stuff that I want to read - in fact, if you scroll down the side of this blog, you can see one of my widgets from GoodReads, and see what books I have on my "To Get To" list. Or you can check out my Visual Bookshelf posted on Facebook for pretty much the same list, but with a couple different books listed.

Do you have any recommendations? Read anything brilliant lately? Something so good that you just could not put it down? Please let me know!