Unfinished Business

When Lee Kravitz was laid off from his position as a magazine editor, he decided to spend a year on a quest to complete what he called unfinished business--things he felt he should have done but hadn't. Over the course of the book we meet an older aunt who was once his favorite relative and is now institutionalized, a Little League teammate whose daughter was killed in Iraq on a humanitarian mission, a California monk, and others. In each episode, the author comes out the richer for it. Kevin Foley is solid as narrator, in essence becoming Kravitz. He tries to give each of the figures the author encounters a distinctive voice--with uneven success. While the stories will be compelling to many listeners, there is a sameness to the structure and lessons that may leave others a bit flat. R.C.G. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

September 13, 2010
When Parade editor-in-chief Kravitz loses his job, he takes account of the many things he let slip in his quest to get to the top of the publishing world. He decides to take the next year to pursue all he's let pass: a reconciliation with a long-lost aunt; an exploration of spirituality; a payment of a 30-year-old debt; and other pursuits. In the process he learns a great deal about patience, humility, love, and family and reminds readers that the best time to do the things you say you're going to do is now. Kravitz is a thoughtful writer, and his memoir reveals a delicate personal journey, but many of his grand setups result in poor payoffs. While readers will be pleased that the author has made these valuable connections and has enriched his life, they may not connect sufficiently with him to be able to sympathize. His account is full of small, personal gestures, but their ultimate accumulation doesn't have much resonance.