Rating: 
Summary: A Monument To Self-Promotion
Review: Ms. Thomas appears on the cover but only writes the foreword. Hugh? This is a collection of famous people all thrown together and Ms Thomas, somehow, for whatever reason appears on the front cover. Self-promotion??? She seems to have dropped in for the party and the reader is left wondering if she really did any work on the book? What am I buying said the wise man? The collection of stories asks us to buy into the idea that the right words said at the right time will make a life-long difference to a person. Tell me, could the "right words" be said at the wrong time?? Isn't the timing of a message in large part make it the right thing to say. When you really think about it the premise of the book needs some work.
Rating:
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: Marlo Thomas of former That Girl fame is not all that in this book. This tome is 400 pages and the idea expressed in the book is that some words spoken to a person long ago have made that person what they are today. This is really ridiculous. There are some parts that are rather funny though. For example, Stephen Ambrose says that the words that meant the most to him were "never judge a man by his motives." Doris Kearn Goodwin is also in the book and given recent headlines about the two of them it seems that readers should judge at least some people by their motives. Other people in the book have also fallen from grace and to use their words as an inspiration seems silly and downright stupid to me!
Rating:
Summary: More Marketing and Hype Than Good Stories
Review: Well, after seeing Marlo on TV I bought this book and I am sorry I did. The book is in need of a good editor and the sloppy writing style made me reconsider my purchase. The publisher apparently thinks that by putting Marlo on the cover it is going to get people to buy the book. I have always liked Marlo Thomas, but a popular celebrity does not a good book make!
Rating: 
Summary: She writes the right words
Review: Ms. Thomas has collected an inspiring, entertaining, and informative selection of stories representing pivotal moments in the lives of famous people. The reader can learn just what triggered these people to pursue their goals...and hopefully understand that it can be the smallest of things that propels a person forward.
This book reminds us that you can never tell when or from where inspiration may come. It also reminds the reader of the old expression, "Never take away someone's hope. It might be all that they have." James Green, author of "If There's One Thing I've Learned."
Rating:
Summary: Who knew I would love this book?!
Review: This book shares the personal stories of different celebrities from different areas of endeavors and of different political persuasions. As such, the collection is a bit of a mishmash - some thoughtful and meaningful stories; some rants and riffs of self-centered yammering that should have been edited - heavily. Also, the factchecking was surprisingly sloppy in places.However, I took away a valuable lesson - the importance of our words, and how they radiate out into the world in ways we can't anticipate. For example - the simple words of a firefighter's grieving mother touched Rudy Giuliani and guided him and inspired him two weeks later on Sept. 11, 2001. Who knows how what we say may change someone's life? This isn't the greatest book I've ever read, but that "lesson" will stay with me for a long time.
Rating:
Summary: Negative twenty stars
Review: I was really enjoying The Right Words at the Right Time until I got to Tom Wolf's essay. It was going along well, until I came to the paragraph that started with the English being masters at jujitsu wit, and holding up Oscar Wilde as an example of same. Well, I'm used to people who don't know better calling Oscar Wilde English, and was letting that one go whena mere two paragraphs later I found him using (G.B.)Shaw as proof that the Irish, too, are masters of this...ability. At that point, the blank stupidity of Mr. Wolfe's essay just lost me. If he's going to write for publication, the least he can do is get a clue as to what he is talking about. Both Wilde and Shaw were Irish--in fact, Wilde's mother was a rather famous Irish Republican. I'm ashamed of Mr. Wolfe, Ms Thomas, and the editors of this book, none of whom seem to know much of anything.
Rating:
Summary: A Perfect Gift
Review: I bought this book out of curiousity and found it to be special. Ms. Thomas beautifully illustrates the serendipity of life and its impact on our life's direction. Her collaborators share their stories of events and words that shaped their lives...for some it was a subtle word, for others it was a major event. As important as these words and events were, they were not as obvious for those transformed until years later when they could look back seeing the fork in the road and the direction the event/word took them. The shared stories come from all walks of life. The book is a good reminder for all on how each of us has the power to impact and transform another's life in a positive way every day. This is a great gift idea, especially for those who are in transition (between careers or stages of life), or are weathering one of life's storms.
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