A Man's Journey to Simple Abundance

Starred review from October 30, 2000
The creator of the mega-selling series aims to expand the simplicity movement's magic to the male market. With no less an ideal than bringing men and women closer together, Breathnach and collaborator Segell, an MSNBC and New York Daily News columnist, have assembled 52 original essays that succeed remarkably well in depicting men's feelings and complexity. The stellar contributors include novelists Rick Bass, Jim Harrison, Larry Brown, Richard Bausch and musician/activist Sting as well as a champion surfer, an army general, a rabbi (bestselling author Shmuley Boteach) and a hermit who writes amusingly on solitude. Distinguished across the board by their honesty, a number of the pieces are moving, such as Christopher Dickey's account of finally coming to terms with his father, poet James Dickey, or a businessman's empathetic account of his wife's battle with breast cancer. Others are funny (such as Roy Blount Jr.'s suggestion that weddings be centered around the groom in "The Great Groomal Expo"), enlightening (Benjamin Cheever on what he thinks makes a woman beautiful) and shocking (a photographer tells of brutal killings he witnessed in Soweto, South Africa). At times, however, the commentary linking the essays to Simple Abundance precepts of gratitude, simplicity, order, harmony, beauty and joy feels imposed and unnecessary given the caliber of the writing and contributors' depth of feeling.

January 1, 2001
Books mapping men's feelings are hard to come by. This title, the first under Scribner's Simple Abundance Press imprint, blends the voices of 52 men from all walks of life into a beautiful picture of stories and relationships. Divided into three sections that examine men's departures, crossroads, and endings in life, the book is appealing for the great variety of its biographical vignettes. The most interesting contributors are Gen. James Jones, Roy Blount Jr., Rick Bass, and Reynolds Price. Ending each of the six subsections are Greg Bestick and Jake Morrissey's "thoughts for the road," whimsical top ten lists like "What every man worth his salt should know how to do." According to that list, he should be able to ask for directions, change a tire, make a child laugh, and tell a ghost story. Breathnach's previous books (e.g., Simple Abundance) zoomed to the top of the best sellers lists, and her latest effort is destined to do the same. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 7/00.]--Lisa Wise, Broome Cty. P.L., Binghamton, NY

Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2000
\deflang1033\pard\plain\f2\fs17 Breathnach has established something of a franchise with her best-selling \plain\f2\fs17" Simple Abundance\plain\f2\fs17 daybooks and journals. Here, she inaugurates her new Scribner imprint with a collection of 50-plus pieces on men's experiences, edited by Michael Segell, a former \plain\f2\fs17" Esquire\plain\f2\fs17 editor and columnist. The book's sections cover family, emotional and moral concerns, men's roles and obligations, success and failure, amusements and obsessions, and the deepest values in life. Most entries open with a Segell introduction and are followed by a brief reaction from Breathnach; each section closes with\plain\f2\fs17" \plain\f2\fs17 "Thoughts for the Road,"\plain\f2\fs17" \plain\f2\fs17 a list of suggestions. Contributors include respected novelists (Rick Bass, Jim Harrison, Reynolds Price), journalists (Roy Blount, Harold Evans), pop-culture figures (Sting, director Garry Marshall), and representatives of religious and spiritual movements (Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Roshi Jakusho Kwong, Thomas Moore). They also include a hermit, a surfing champion, a high-tech entrepreneur, aviators, scientists, and academics. As the sample authors suggest, while the dominant forms here are memoir and meditation, the volume's essays (most not previously published) also include humor and exhortation. Likely to circulate where Breathnach's previous works have been popular. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)