The Point Is

March 7, 2016
"What is the point?" Former Esquire editor-in-chief Eisenberg (The Number) tackles the big question in this memoir about writing and life. The book takes time to develop momentum, but ultimately succeeds in looping in the reader. Eisenberg's approach is discursive, trolling through history and current culture for insight. Employing the process of writing a book as an extended metaphor for creating meaning, he says that memory is "the little storywriter nestled in the fissures of your brain" whose task it is to create "the so-called chapters of your life." Self-referential in the extreme, his story of writing this story returns repeatedly, throughout its three parts, to a touchstoneâa graveyard the author visitsâto ground a wide-ranging consideration of the role of memory, the tricky "elbow" of middle age, and death, among other things. In a paragraph about reporter Richard Ben Cramer, the author manages to make reference to Vice President Joe Biden, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Laurie Anderson. The underlying question, as it was for psychiatrist Viktor Frankl (another reference point), is how we create meaning and purpose in our lives. Eisenberg's suggestion is to write a compelling life story. An appendix provides three questionnaires used by psychologists and physicians to study attitudes toward life and death. Also included is an extensive list of references. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.

January 1, 2016
A meditation on the relevance of celebrating one's ever unfolding life story through the preservation and recognition of memories. With sweeping enthusiasm, former Esquire editor-in-chief Eisenberg (Shoptimism: Why the American Consumer Will Keep on Buying No Matter What, 2009, etc.) acknowledges the presence of a metaphoric storywriter in the brain (the conscious "narrating mind") that records and assembles our most significant moments into coherent and meaningful memory chapters. Whether due to technology or diminishing attention spans, many people, he believes, simply don't bother acknowledging the significance of their life stories or their individual memories; after all, "now that we're all packing search engines in our pockets, we don't need to remember as much as we used to." Eisenberg encourages readers to become more active compilers of their own life stories. Whether cinematic or anticlimactic, each memory is unique to the individual psyche. Regardless of emotional heft, these "stories" are exquisitely personal, forming the beginning, middle, and conclusion of a person's legacy. The author expands on this theory in affable, accessible language and further engages readers with generous references to his own pivotal human-interest anecdotes. He also explores theories from social scientists, ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus, William James, and historical literary figures who each, in one way or another, support his theory that our search for personal purpose and meaning is tantamount to happiness and fulfillment--particularly at midlife. In three intriguing closing questionnaires, the author invites readers further into the heart of his contemplative observations to mindfully record and preserve what is experienced in order to appreciate the present and fortify the future as "generation to generation, the stories we hear, the stories we tell, and the stories we build upstairs commingle and live on indefinitely." Challengingly thought-provoking, Eisenberg's self-probing processes will encourage anyone to further ponder the meaning of life.

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March 1, 2016

Former Esquire editor in chief Eisenberg (The Number) probes the power of life stories: how memory and meaning transform identity and how we can share these experiences to find lasting connections that transcend individual personalities and lifetimes. He draws on the metaphor of the scribbler, a "writer-in-residence" who observes, edits, and records what happens in order to create significance, and from the insights of narrative psychology, to give the work a beginning, middle, and end, loosely corresponding to birth, death, and everything that takes place in between. Eisenberg strives "to deprive death of its strangeness" as a way of coming to terms with the trajectory of the human condition. He weaves threads of his own narrative with philosophical and psychological musings and biographical strands from well-known thinkers, writers, friends, and strangers to show how every lifetime is a gift and thus a legacy that outlasts death. The appendix includes scored questionnaires that invite self-reflection and dialog queries intended for book club discussions. VERDICT With conversational irony and a dogged sense of humor reminiscent of Woody Allen, Eisenberg addresses the solemn notion of death without taking himself too seriously. This title will appeal to those interested in writing and reading memoirs.--Bernadette McGrath, Vancouver P.L.

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