Dear Patrick: Life is Tough - Here's Some Good Advice

Rating:
Summary: obvious advice from arrogant author-- waste of time/money!!
Review: Blah blah blah... this guy is full of it! Not helpful-- this stuff is obvious. I think this kid is actually helping the author to feel better about himself, not the other way around. Basically, it's BORRRRRRRRING!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Eloquent & contemporary....
Review: I'm not sure how many people would share this view, but I've often faced events that have made me wonder about whether it would be fair to call it merely a coincidence. Will not get into that line of thought here (would take too long!), sufficient to say that finding this book was one of those.
For some years now, I've been thinking and wondering about what to make of what's happening in the world at large, and with the youth of today in particular. In a specific and selfish sense, this would come up in my mind in the statement 'what kind of world and life is my son going to have' - and he's just turned 6-years now!
Generation gaps, the adolescent crises, forming an adult identity, these have always existed as passages right from the dawn of man, I've gone thru' many of these myself, as part of growing, not so many years ago. But there seem to be many differences in what youngters seem to be facing today - and from the way they behave, the situation seems to be much, much worse than during my time.
Just some days back, I'd thought that I should start writing to my son - pretty much about experiences, thoughts, ideas, beliefs and so on, as much for me as for him. And then I go and stumble on this book, would you call that a coincidence? :)
Dr Shwartz has written well - he's taken positions, made provocative statements, used contemporary examples and his language is pretty much aligned to the youth of today. I'm tempted to level a charge that he's pretty much stayed in the shallows of human nature and the enormous destruction that we're all capable of and keep seeing. But even within this, he's navigated wisely - and wisdom is about understanding the receiver of the information and their ability to handle and process.
The chapters (or letters to Patrick) have well intermeshed themes that flow and build up, and even within the chapter, the thought builds up smoothly. I'm repeating myself, but what has been particularly interesting is how Dr Shwarz has taken positions - he's called bad habits, bad approaches, bad lifestyles with names and labels, something that's not seen too much in such work.
My socio-cultural background is very different, being as I am from India and many of the cultural and familial situations described didn't completely translate to my growing years. But for the last decade or so, India has been frantically racing to catch up with the West in every sense, and with the information age well and truly upon us, this trend has a life and force of its own. And many youngsters are being swept along in the incredible force of this torrent. This book has the potential to make them think, if they're inclined that way already.
The need for a purpose higher than ourselves, the need for meaning, name it what you will, is as old as man. Dr Shwartz has made an eloquent hypothesis - he has tried to inspire Patrick and his generation to arrest the damage that the baby-boomers triggered off! And then works towards arming Patrick with a body of wisdom, to help him on this quest.
If you're on a similar quest, this book is bound to make you think and even provide you some guideposts and signs.
Happy reading!

Rating:
Summary: tour de force
Review: Schwartz is a brilliant neuroscientist who here ranges far afield -- through Buddhism, Edmund Burke, Eliot, Moses and more -- with seamless erudition and not a trace of condescension as he teaches a troubled teenager some invaluable life lessons.