The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner (Twelve, 2008)
Described as “one grump’s search for the happiest places in the world,” foreign correspondent Eric Weiner here describes how he travels the world in search of unheralded happy places. He explores The Netherlands, where he discovers the World Database of Happiness and moves from Switzerland to Bhutan, where the government has a policy for Gross National Happiness, to Qatar where money abides but culture is elusive, to Iceland, which is often rated #1 in the world for happiness, to Moldova where pervasive envy kills happiness, to permissive Thailand to utilitarian Great Britain to India, where he learns that love is more important than happiness, and finally home to America. Peppered with intelligent quips, this an amusing pastiche of philosophical insight and intriguing travelogue (8.5/10).
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
RollnSmoke Reviews: BATTLE HYMN OF THE TIGER MOTHER by Amy Chua
BATTLE HYMN OF THE TIGER MOTHER by Amy Chua (Penguin, 2011)
An ambitious Professor of Law at Yale University, daughter of Chinese immigrant parents and mother of two, Amy Chua builds a defense for results and skills-oriented Chinese parenting – ruthless, where parents have “higher dreams and higher regard” for their children -- over Western parenting – which she presents as indulgent, choice-offering and overly-nurturing of self-esteem. With astonishing energy, an eye fixated on achievement and relentless drive, Chua cannot and will not let up on her two daughters who emerge as accomplished musicians and straight-A students. Ever “jacking up the pressure” on her children, Chua clearly and shamelessly lays out her parenting approach which her own daughter describes as “compulsively cruel” (8/10).
An ambitious Professor of Law at Yale University, daughter of Chinese immigrant parents and mother of two, Amy Chua builds a defense for results and skills-oriented Chinese parenting – ruthless, where parents have “higher dreams and higher regard” for their children -- over Western parenting – which she presents as indulgent, choice-offering and overly-nurturing of self-esteem. With astonishing energy, an eye fixated on achievement and relentless drive, Chua cannot and will not let up on her two daughters who emerge as accomplished musicians and straight-A students. Ever “jacking up the pressure” on her children, Chua clearly and shamelessly lays out her parenting approach which her own daughter describes as “compulsively cruel” (8/10).