Reviews and Comments

Stayed up late to finish it, woke up thinking about it still. I'm struggling with the ending. If you've read it, let's talk!

I'm already in the bag on this one. Heck, I even harvest serviceberries. Though if I'd had this on my journey maybe I would have come along faster. Very different than "The Overstory" but a similar political vibe, questioning the sensibility of capitalism by comparing to ecosystems and how Indigenous economies have operated for millenia.

I gave my left kidney to a stranger last year and this book would explain it to people who don't understand why. Essentially: I store my surplus organ in my brother's abdomen.

I just grabbed this from the library's Express Shelf. That means no renewals so I better start and finish it! Good thing it's short.

I disagree with much of what Harris says as a public intellectual figure. But I find compelling his synthesis of Buddhist practice and neuroscience into secular non-dual mindfulness, so giving this a shot.

The third book in this vein I've read this year, after Mcmindfulness and Why Buddhism Is True

They saved the koan "what's the sound of one hand clapping" for ending of the book... And for the first time in my life it made sense to me!

Most other koans still going over my head, of course, but I'll take some satisfaction.

Excellent literary fiction that sucked me into the mind of a multifaceted and very believable narrator. I loved the prose. There was one mechanism used very effectively along the lines of: '"Did she want ice cream?" She did.' Where the response is described simply, not provided as dialogue.

I loved the Willa character and hope I'm not entirely Nick. I'm definitely more Nick than Rocky though for better and for worse...

It had been years since I'd read a Malcolm Gladwell-type book synthesizing research into pop science life advice. This was a pretty good entry: readable, short, interesting anecdotes. I tilt heavily toward being a generalist and this book praises that approach so it was satisfying in an intellectually-lazy way.

Reply All podcast did an episode on why diverse teams get better results, this felt similar (but applied to a single person, essentially making the parts of yourself and your life more diverse).

The nexus of anti-capitalism/mindfulness/Buddhism is a great place to write from. But this was highly repetitive. Apparently he coined "McMindfulness" in an article - I don't know which one, otherwise I would recommend people read that one instead. Or listen to a podcast with the author about it. Or skim, as I should have started doing.

That said, it's a strong case against the limitations (and even pernicious effects) of corporate mindfulness programs. The same arguments would apply to corporate DEI initiatives that are divorced from broader political struggles for liberation.

Putting this on the "maybe" list. Looks suspiciously like Thinking Fast And Slow and other not-earth-shattering non-fiction, but Astra Taylor mentioned it.

I've had a mindfulness practice for a few years and increasingly feel it's necessary to incorporate the other elements of the eightfold path. I hope this will help me look at my practice in a critical and constructive light.

I have great respect for Taylor as a thinker and writer but didn't get very much out of this set of previously published articles. I should probably stay away from collected essays, they don't do it for me like a regular book.

Taylor's article in n+1 about free schools was much richer and challenged my thinking.

Also I read this on Kindle and it was a worse experience than paper. Another lesson for me.

Very much literary fiction. Gotta let it digest but I liked the prose and Cyrus's thoughts, meta-thoughts, and observations.