Rating: 
Summary: Need help? Keep looking!
Review: This book does not attempt to answer what you should do with your life, but instead offers a bunch of profiles of people that have failed in finding what to do with their lives. In the end, you've gained the knowledge that there are people in worst situations than you are and you are not alone. Here's my question: so what?Why do you even care there are people doing worst than you? Does it actually make you feel better to know you are the best of the worst? Do you feel better that you are reading this review? You should, because there are people out there that can't afford a computer or know what the internet is. I never understand why people feel better after looking at other people's miseries. Don't compare with the worst and just do your best. And what is this "support" I hear from other readers? Why do you feel a sense of support after reading it? Surely, you didn't think you were the only one with such a problem?! The nerve! Who do you think you are? You think you are so unique that you are the only one facing this problem? If you think this way, you really have to get over yourself, first. You are not unique. You are not irreplaceable. If you die today, the world will continue revolving. And yes, there are other people dealing with exactly the same problem as yours. Actually, if it happens you are alone with whatever you are facing, consider yourself lucky. That means you're a freak. And that is a good thing. Freaks make lots of money by exploiting their uniqueness (ie. Micheal Jackson). But most of us are no Jackos. One Jacko is enough if you ask me. So there, you don't need this book at all. And the money you saved is always a good thing.
Rating: 
Summary: Very inspiring and thought provoking
Review: Several of the prominent reviews of this book seemed incredibly unfair and I wish to present a counter-opinion. I've read well over half the book, and aside from possibly two stories, I haven't found the whiny, white over-educated gen-Xers living on trust funds. In fact, the demographic spread in the book I read runs the gamut. The book never promised or pretended to have a pat answer for its title question, but is instead a collection of stories about how various people, including the author, tackled the question. Were it simply a collection of do-it-yourself success stories, then it would become what these online critics accuse it of - a saccharine menagerie of whiny white dot-commers with Bronson smugly claiming that he found his calling writing about them. Yet it fails to achieve exactly what they accuse it of, and they still criticize it. I wonder what they were expecting when they read it. Although there are no answers, there are insights. Yes, many of the subjects stumble and/or fail, but their stumblings and failings provide as much insight into the process as the successes, if not even more, because so many of us are at exactly that level, or have been there and turned back. I think the best part about the book is the exploration of that grey area between following personal fulfillment and chasing a bona fide pipe dream, and of having the courage to face life without a pat answer. If this is a question that interests you, this is a book that is at least a worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: A BAD JOKE - MORE FICTION THAN FACT
Review: Several contributors to this book -- the ones who haven't been duped by Bronson into joining the shameless publicity-fest -- have complained that their stories as told by Bronson are fictional, at best. Reading this ridiculous I'm-so-great-everyone-else-is-sadly-confused excuse for a book, I believe the naysayers. I also know three of the contributors, and I could not in the least reconcile the facts of their lives with Bronson's presentation of them. For instance, Lori Gottlieb had been a successful journalist and author of a national best-seller, the memoir "STICK FIGURE: A DIARY OF MY FORMER SELF" BEFORE Bronson interviewed her. Yet somehow he fails to mention that she was the author of two books and had written hundreds of articles for national publications --that she had found this successful career path -- after leaving medical school. Instead, he presents a story of a woman in search of a career merely to suit his purposes -- to fit into the theme of his book. But if a reader were to do a Google search on Gottlieb, the reader would marvel at the difference between the I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-my-life woman Bronson describes and the accomplished professional writer she actually is. It's not that Bronson didn't have this information when he was researching his book: in fact, he knows Gottlieb, and he had been interviewed for Gottlieb's second book, "INSIDE THE CULT OF KIBU: AND OTHER TALES OF THE MILLENNIAL GOLD RUSH," so clearly he was aware of her status as a well-known writer and failed to disclose this very relevant information in his book. Two other friends were made to sound like clueless airheads and pathetic lost souls, when both are actually quite accomplished and extremely articulate. The New York Times panned this book, and for good reason. The Times doesn't know about Bronson's loose line between fact and fiction or lack of journalistic ethics, but based simply on its value, the Times reviewer gave Bronson's book a resounding thumbs-down. During the dot-com era that Bronson made a career writing about, the phrase "drinking the Kool-Aid" was used to describe otherwise smart individuals who blindly joined the cult. Seems a lot of folks are drinking the Kool-Aid and buying into Bronson's cult, but for those who want to stay sober, the New York Times is particularly illuminating.
Rating: 
Summary: Finding our "calling"
Review: Po Bronson's book, "What Should I Do With My Life?" is a good read. The book includes intriguing narratives of 50 random individuals, from all walks of life, seeking the ultimate question of life: What is our purpose, here, on this earth? What is our calling? What do we need to do in order to be true to ourselves? For those who wish to read of others experiences in life, insofar as seeking the answers to what we are meant to do, this book is quite resourceful and enjoyable. After all, it is in most of us to wonder what truly makes us content with life - so what a better way to embark on the journey by reading thoughts of those who have travelled down similar roads of our own. Granted, some stories are more interesting than others, but all contain worthwhile and thought-provoking questions for us to ponder over. Don't expect to find answers in this book - at least not in the form of "what to do" list - but rather view this book as a tool and a resource to guide us in our own decision making. Ask yourself the same questions that are being asked in the book and you might find your own answers.
Rating:
Summary: Such twaddle!
Review: I could tell from the other low rated reviews, and from the title of one of Po's other books, "The First 20 million is the hardest" where his head is, and how useless anything he could say could be!
Rating:
Summary: Upside Down
Review: Po Bronson is a publisher and a familiar person in Silicon Valley, and he has edited together some stories of people who somehow told him more about themselves than anyone needs to know.Neither they nor he have the answer, it seems, to the question in the title, because one can't find the answer in the stories of other people or the salads of editors. Especially when the stories do not form an oral history of anything. They are not teaching stories. They are like newspaper clippings. His book is a song of himself, told in adjectives. Turn back the clock to the nineteenth century. Read Twain and Crane. You'll get closer to answers that have worked.
Rating:
Summary: Very shallow people with very shallow lives
Review: I found this book to be very boring and provided very little insight. Most of the stories are from very shallow self-centered Gen-Xers. Most of the life stories involve changes that took place in the last several months so it does not provide any real perspective on life choices and effects on a lifetime. Po is not a very good writer. He is boring and very impressed with himself. Don't waste your money or your time.
Rating:
Summary: THIS BOOKS ...
Review: TO ANY PERSON THINKING ABOUT BUYING THIS BOOK. SAVE YOUR TIME AND MONEY. IT WAS A TOPIC OF GREAT SERIOUSNESS FOR ME AND I PLOWED THROUGH IT. ONLY TO FIND THAT IN THE END, THEIR WERE NO ANSWERS. ONLY STORIES THAT WERE OF NO HELP IN ANY WAY. ALSO THE AUTHOR TAKES WAY TO MUCH TIME, TO MAKE THE SIMPLEST POINT, OR PAGES AND NO POINT AT ALL,JUST RAMBLING. I READ A LOT OF BOOKS. THIS RATES AS ONE OF THE WORST.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: After reading an article by Po in a financial magazine about this issue (a good article), I was looking forward to this book immensely. I even enjoyed it for a few pages, but it quickly started to lose steam. Po really doesn't seem to have done much research on who to include, because there must be better examples out there. These people are not very inspiring IMO. More importantly, he doesn't seem to grasp or care about the issue in any significant way. This book basically evolves into a personal soap box for him, with the poor included examples used to reinforce his own ideas (I can remember one part where an individual was reading a book and Po writes to the reader that he won't give the title of the book because he doesn't want the reader to read it, gives you a sense of how rediculous this book eventually gets). I am not interested in some personal Bronson manifesto.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Breath!
Review: This attempt at writing something meaningful falls flat on its face because you can sense the author went in this apparent self-help direction only because he knew high tech-based "novels" were flopping with the bust and he was exploring new ways to make money. The voice is not genuine and the sketches are poor. This book may sell, but it will be in everyone's heap of garage sale items a few years from now, in your choice of hardback or paper.
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