A passionate appeal for “biocentric values that reflect our spiritual reconnection with the Earth.”
A cosmologist warns humanity to get its act together.
Gleiser, a professor of natural philosophy, physics, and astronomy at Dartmouth, has written multiple books exploring philosophical questions that arise from our knowledge of the universe. Unhappy with humans’ continued plunder of Earth, the author searches for an explanation and finds it in the Copernican revolution. Rewinding the clock, he notes that ancient cultures lived in harmony with nature. Eventually, however, humans looked around and concluded that they lived at the center of the universe and that all of Earth’s resources were subservient to their needs. Furthermore, creation myths and religions gave humans a superior position. Although early Greek philosophers were the first to explain the natural world without the necessity of divine intervention, this didn’t catch on until well after 1543, when Copernicus revealed that “the Earth was not the center of everything, but a mere planet orbiting the Sun, like all the others.” The view that there is nothing special about the Earth led to a “profound identity crisis that threatens the future of our species and of many of the creatures with which we share this planet.” While Gleiser never explains how this disappointment connects to the ongoing abuse of our planet, few readers will object to his plea to stop viewing Earth as an ordinary planet and celebrate its uniqueness. As far as we know right now, it is the only place in the universe that shelters life. Humans are the only species capable of understanding this, and “our emergence on this rare planet marked the dawn of a new cosmic age: the cognitive age, the age of a mindful Universe.” The author offers a fine lesson in cosmology, including the spectacular 21st-century discovery of billions of sunlike stars with planets, details about the search for alien life, and a history of the “rare and precious” life on Earth.
A passionate appeal for “biocentric values that reflect our spiritual reconnection with the Earth.”Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2023
ISBN: 9780063056879
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperOne
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.
All right, all right, all right: The affable, laconic actor delivers a combination of memoir and self-help book.
“This is an approach book,” writes McConaughey, adding that it contains “philosophies that can be objectively understood, and if you choose, subjectively adopted, by either changing your reality, or changing how you see it. This is a playbook, based on adventures in my life.” Some of those philosophies come in the form of apothegms: “When you can design your own weather, blow in the breeze”; “Simplify, focus, conserve to liberate.” Others come in the form of sometimes rambling stories that never take the shortest route from point A to point B, as when he recounts a dream-spurred, challenging visit to the Malian musician Ali Farka Touré, who offered a significant lesson in how disagreement can be expressed politely and without rancor. Fans of McConaughey will enjoy his memories—which line up squarely with other accounts in Melissa Maerz’s recent oral history, Alright, Alright, Alright—of his debut in Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused, to which he contributed not just that signature phrase, but also a kind of too-cool-for-school hipness that dissolves a bit upon realizing that he’s an older guy on the prowl for teenage girls. McConaughey’s prep to settle into the role of Wooderson involved inhabiting the mind of a dude who digs cars, rock ’n’ roll, and “chicks,” and he ran with it, reminding readers that the film originally had only three scripted scenes for his character. The lesson: “Do one thing well, then another. Once, then once more.” It’s clear that the author is a thoughtful man, even an intellectual of sorts, though without the earnestness of Ethan Hawke or James Franco. Though some of the sentiments are greeting card–ish, this book is entertaining and full of good lessons.
A conversational, pleasurable look into McConaughey’s life and thought.Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-13913-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
© Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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