|
| Leap!: What Will We Do with the Rest of Our Lives? | 
 enlarge | Author: Sara Davidson
Publisher: Tantor Media
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $14.25
You Save: $10.74 (43%)
New (19) Used (7) from $14.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  68 reviews
Sales Rank: 1969726
Format: Audiobook, Cd
Media: MP3 CD
Edition: MP3 Una
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 1400154197
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.244
EAN: 9781400154197
ASIN: 1400154197
Publication Date: March 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new Item. CD, DVD, Book, VHS more than 400 000 titles to choose from. ALL days Low Price !
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Thirty years ago, Sara Davidson wrote the phenomenal bestseller Loose Change, the definitive book about the boomer generation's coming-of-age. Now this witty social observer has again turned her discerning eye to her contemporaries, with Leap! a no-holds-barred, illuminating, and hopeful look at the choices and challenges we face and the roads open to us.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 63 more reviews...
 Great writing on an important subject February 20, 2007
77 out of 87 found this review helpful
Davidson's `Leap' is essentially about what we do after work and before death. She answers with an array of loosely attached anecdotal answers showing the tenuous relationship between the success and wealth of baby-boomers and the ideals they experienced and held in the 1960's.
Her discussion on aging seems to settle for the more Oprah-friendly answers of - "Don't fight it. Get used to it. Accept and embrace it. Take care of your health and sanity." Of course she writes in a more engaging style and as a result her words aren't nearly as blandly stated. At the same time I wanted more substance, significance, and deeper answers - those she's found to be true about the human condition, beauty, morality, and life.
She writes, "I can't sleep either. I fall asleep but wake at 2 a.m., shaking with fear. What am I supposed to do for the next 30 years? I've raised my kids, written best sellers, had deep love ... Why am I still here?"
That is the ultimate question, and in asking this question one faces what Davidson calls `going through the narrows'.
She goes on to say, "While there's no single route through the narrows, I can tell you that there's sunlight and air at the other side. What became clear for me may be utterly different than for you. I've talked with a man who's building a hospital in Uganda, a woman who's becoming a nun at 50, a couple who are adopting a child at 61. Others have a passion to live near their families and play golf."
My question is, "Is there no hierarchy in our choices?" She seems to suggest that all decisions are equally valid. You can play golf, watch tv, help the homeless - whatever works for you. I'm not sure if I buy this. Certainly a diversity of involvement in life can result in a well-rounded person. However, aren't some pursuits more worthwhile, more rewarding, and more fulfilling? If we are here for a reason, then what is that reason and how do I best live my life in light of that reason? What I mean is, if we're here for a purpose then should we seek to fulfill that purpose? This is what I wish Davidson had asked.
Speaks to the Affluent March 24, 2007
57 out of 61 found this review helpful
For those interested in what the affluent in professions, the media, or entertainment are doing once retired even in their early fifties, this is the book for you. If, on the other hand, one is interested in a book that even slightly addresses the issues of old age, health problems, forced job loss, age discrimination, etc for those of average resources, this book is not helpful.
The author, a journalist, screenwriter, and author of other books, is attempting to solve her predicament of being in her mid-sixties and finding reduced marketability by observing how others of her economic status are coping with old age and retirement. However, the angst that the author feels while encamped in her million-dollar-plus retreat in Colorado, pondering her future, can hardly compare to the problems of an older, dedicated worker unceremoniously dumped, pensionless, and unable on meager earnings to have put away sufficient retirement funds.
Clearly work in the entertainment and media sector is volatile, especially so for those over fifty, yet many of many of those she interviewed rejuvenated sagging careers due to contacts that few would have. The doctors, dentists, lawyers, CEOs, etc who she interviewed, their financial futures secure, have largely turned to providing some kind of assistance to the needy, especially overseas, but one is left to guess as to long-term sustainability of such. One is struck by how limited are the range of pursuits.
Many, who the author consults, give the rather constant advice to pursue creative interests regardless of talent or reward. It is acknowledged that for those without financial security, starting a small business may be the only route open, though realistic possibilities for success are little discussed.
A far bigger topic than the author is willing to pursue is why the need for retirement for creative work. Correspondingly, how realistic is it to urge a path of creativity or entrepreneurship after forty years of mind-numbing conformity?
This book is primarily the author's quest for the answer to her question of what to do with rest of her life. It will probably appeal to and be read by the similarly-situated or wannabes. Don't look for much in the way of conclusions. Also, for those who wish to follow in the author's footsteps, bring lots of cash to journey to sit at the feet of numerous shyster gurus.
 A healing message for those in grief May 20, 2007
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
Sara Davidson may not have been aware when she wrote Leap! that it would not only be a guide for aging baby boomers, but also a healing message for those in grief.
Let me explain. I was intrigued by the Newsweek review of the book, and bought it in March shortly after it came out. However, I didn't read it right away. I have a high stress Silicon Valley job that leaves little time for reading books. "I'll get to it when I get a chance," I told myself.
Regrettably, in the past month, I have had that chance. I've been on leave from my job since mid-April, when my 22-year old son drowned in a boating accident. Among other grief counseling, I have read "grief" related books people recommended -- but they were not terribly satisfactory.
So over the last week, I picked up Leap! from my stack of unread books, and read it. Leap! has done more to focus my mind on what to do under these tragic circumstances than almost all, if not all, of the other things I have done. At a minimum, I am thinking about quitting my job (I can afford to) and live life as Davidson has suggested. My son's premature death has shown me that life is too short and uncertain to do anything else.
So many thanks to Sara Davidson for writing something that, inadvertenly or not, has been a true inspiration and source of comfort.
(This review written by Sue Kayton's husband using her account.)
 I know lots of famous people! July 10, 2007
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
Poor Sara. She is baffled by the rejection that keeps coming her way. No one wants to buy her self-described "edgy" screenplay that features "a lovable and loyal bloodhound that gets its throat cut while its owner is forced to watch." When she arrives in India a week late for a brief "volunteer vacation" during which she whines about the conditions and sneaks away to a luxury hotel to take a hot shower, she can't understand why the other volunteers want nothing to do with her.
Her attempt to find answers about how to deal with her failures is to interview her large cadre of successful friends and acquaintances. She reassures the reader of each person's worth by listing their accomplishments as well as any famous people with whom they may have worked. Wow! Sara knows someone who used to work for a once-famous entertainer! Sara was once married to a man whose father wrote hit musicals in the thirties! She talked to a plastic surgeon who "will not confirm or deny" that he has worked on famous singers! She knows someone who was once a staff writer for a sitcom! Even the never-famous high school English teacher "taught literature at one of the most rigorous schools in Manhattan." Pity the poor teachers who teach at the less rigorous schools. This book has little use for them. Most of the people interviewed in this book have found at least a modicum of wealth and fame in some artistic endeavor, and Davidson spares the reader little detail as she describes each person's tremendous physical attractiveness and gorgeous, expensive residence.
This book beautifully illustrates the kind of self-absorbed, self-important, self-centered perspective that makes Americans so beloved around the world. Davidson writes about being drawn to relocating to Costa Rica because it "has buzz" as well as free health care paid for by native people described as "cheap labor" and "nonconfrontational." Does a formerly famous baby boomer deserve anything less?
Finally, as other reviewers have mentioned, Davidson takes great pains to point out that dedicating time and effort to helping the needy is no more worthy than maximizing one's own artistic fulfillment. In fact, the entire subtext of this book suggests the latter is a far more noble accomplishment.
But don't take my word for it. Read the review in the New York Times. I've been told it's a very well-regarded publication.
 Not what it seems July 19, 2007
16 out of 18 found this review helpful
I can now die peacefully; I have learned the condition of Cheryl Tiegs' fifty-seven-year-old breasts. In addition, I've learned exactly how to perform a face lift. (Note: Do not try this at home--unless you have a towel to sew into your scalp to hold your hair back.) The dust jacket of this book promises "reflections from the Boomer generation." It is, more precisely, a series of pieces of dialogue with older celebrities and the affluent, interspersed with reflections on the part of the author. I think Davidson has the ability to write. But as an editor, I would have torn this book apart, then put it back together sans fluff and drivel.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
