Stop Whining, Start Living

The irrepressible Dr. Laura takes aim at people who are stuck in bad patterns because they talk instead of act, give up easily, lack perspective, or wait for others to change. Concise vignettes and questions from her radio callers are catalysts for cogent insights and hard-hitting advice. The advice is presented smorgasbord style, so listeners can sample it anywhere in the program and be enlightened. This is a soothing audio as well because Dr. Laura's principles are so universal and because they're delivered by a narrator who is completely dialed in to the author's humanitarian tone. With her appealing vocal clarity, Lily LoBianco sounds perfectly at home with herself in this lovely recording. She wisely doesn't try to channel Dr. Laura's impatience and know-it-all radio personality. T.W. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

March 10, 2008
Licenced therapist Schlessinger has made a small media empire out of "telling it like it is," exemplified nowhere better than in the titles of her numerous bestsellers (Ten Stupid Things Women do to Screw Up Their Lives; Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands). She does it again in her latest, giving readers the same get-over-yourself kick in the seat she delivers daily on the radio; in fact, the book is heavy on transcripts lifted directly from that show. Fan email is also used to illustrate Schlessinger's points, which mostly amount to learning when to stop complaining. Strategies for this include counting blessings and suffering in silence: how does she cope with a son serving in combat? "The truth is I just live with it. ... I endure." Most of Schlessinger's values, encompassing maturity, compassion and responsibility-especially to family-can hardly be argued with, but her "Preaching, Teaching, Nagging" delivery can be condescending.

February 25, 2008
Licenced therapist Schlessinger has made a small media empire out of "telling it like it is," exemplified nowhere better than in the titles of her numerous bestsellers (Ten Stupid Things Women do to Screw Up Their Lives; Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands). She does it again in her latest, giving readers the same get-over-yourself kick in the seat she delivers daily on the radio; in fact, the book is heavy on transcripts lifted directly from that show. Fan email is also used to illustrate Schlessinger's points, which mostly amount to learning when to stop complaining. Strategies for this include counting blessings and suffering in silence: how does she cope with a son serving in combat? "The truth is I just live with it. ... I endure." Most of Schlessinger's values, encompassing maturity, compassion and responsibility-especially to family-can hardly be argued with, but her "Preaching, Teaching, Nagging" delivery can be condescending.

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