Bronson has an uncanny knack of capturing the zeitgeist, both in
his fiction and non-fiction. His previous non-fiction book, The
Nudist on the Late Shift, evoked perfectly the creative chaos and
self-indulgence of the new-media gold rush that hit Silicon Valley
- a world of ambitious start-ups, venture capitalists and sleepless
programmers surviving on black coffee and junk food. This
reflective collection of other people's stories is primarily a book
for the disillusioned post-dotcom generation, despite a smattering
of case studies of those both older and younger. The idea has
particular resonance for Bronson himself, and he intersperses the
tales of his interviewees with anecdotes from his own life and his
struggle to find purpose. As he points out to one of his subjects,
the title he has chosen is particularly important: she repeatedly
refers to it as 'What Do I Want From My Life?', whereas Bronson
emphasizes the element of compulsion that draws us towards a life
that will fulfil us, rather than merely pay the rent. Hence we meet
an English public-relations executive who became a gardener; an
investment banker who became a catfish farmer; a chemical engineer
who became a teacher... and then changed her mind; a diplomat who
became a teacher at a rough East End school and didn't change his
mind; and, most inspirational of all, a retired chemist who
overcame ageism to become a barrister. Before anyone dismisses this
as yet another self-help book, that is not its point. Bronson does
not take each of his case studies as a 'how-to' example, but
instead truly gets under the skin of his interviewees, to present
all their hopes, fears and inner conflicts, even deeply buried
psychological reasons for their actions. He interviewed more than
900 people for the book, ending up with 50 individuals whose tales
will evoke admiration, envy or empathy. (Kirkus UK)
Are you looking for the right path in 2021? This book tackles the
question that most of us face at some point in our lives: 'what
should I do with my life?', and provides illuminating answers.
Bronson's book is a fascinating account of finding and following
the people who have taken the ultimate challenge of self-discovery
by uprooting their lives and starting all over again. From the
investment banker who gave it all up to become a catfish farmer in
Mississippi, to the chemical engineer from Walthamstow who decided
to become a lawyer in his sixties. These stories of individual
dilemmas and dramatic - sometimes unsuccessful - gambles are bound
up with Bronson's account of his own search for a calling.
'Inspirational... This book fascinates because of the broad
spectrum of testimonies' Financial Times 'Something more than the
usual self-help guff. What Should I Do with My Life? is closer to
the oral histories of Studs Terkel or This American Life than to
Tony Robbins' Times
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