Amazon.com Review
Sarah Ban Breathnach wanted to offer men the same reflective book that she offered women in
Simple Abundance. Yet, she also knew that she needed a man to help her represent an authentic male experience, a book that mined beneath the "Men Are from Mars" stereotypes and "Iron John" expectations. So she joined forces with Michael Segell, former "Men's Mind" columnist for
Esquire and author of
Standup Guy. From there, the duo gathered these contemplative, humorous, and mature essays written by a diverse sampling of men, including a backwoods hermit, mystical rabbi, and world renowned rock star.
Segell writes the poignant introductions to the essays while Ban Breathnach inserts her personal responses at the end of particularly provocative essays. At times she sounds like an interloper in a "boy's only" tree fort club, her comments sounding out of place within these private moments of male bonding. Yet she forces readers, men and women alike, to acknowledge the feminine within the male experience, a lofty goal that we tend to resist. Contributors include Sting, who talks about the difference between thrill seeking and risk taking in "Let Your Soul Be Your Rookie." Adventure writer Tim Cahill writes about "The Bravest Thing I Ever Did"--face his panic disorder as his vomited his way through an un-aired television interview. And Thomas Moore speaks to the ecstasy of melding spirituality and sexuality. --Gail Hudson
Breathnach has established something of a franchise with her best-selling Simple Abundance daybooks and journals. Here, she inaugurates her new Scribner imprint with a collection of 50-plus pieces on men's experiences, edited by Michael Segell, a former Esquire editor and columnist. The book's sections cover family, emotional and moral concerns, men's roles and obligations, success and failure, amusements and obsessions, and the deepest values in life. Most entries open with a Segell introduction and are followed by a brief reaction from Breathnach; each section closes with "Thoughts for the Road," a list of suggestions. Contributors include respected novelists (Rick Bass, Jim Harrison, Reynolds Price), journalists (Roy Blount, Harold Evans), pop-culture figures (Sting, director Garry Marshall), and representatives of religious and spiritual movements (Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Roshi Jakusho Kwong, Thomas Moore). They also include a hermit, a surfing champion, a high-tech entrepreneur, aviators, scientists, and academics. As the sample authors suggest, while the dominant forms here are memoir and meditation, the volume's essays (most not previously published) also include humor and exhortation. Likely to circulate where Breathnach's previous works have been popular. Mary Carroll
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About the Author
Sarah Ban Breathnach's work celebrates quiet joys, simple pleasures, and everyday epiphanies. What began as a personal safari to unearth her authentic self, transformed into her number one New York Times bestsellers Simple Abundance: a Daybook of Comfort and Joy, and Something More: Excavating your Authentic Self. She is the publisher of Simple Abundance Press, as well as president and CEO of Simple Abundance Inc. She divides her time between Maryland and New york.
