What Should I Do with My Life?

Rating:
Summary: what should I do with my life
Review: Mildly complex, mildly amusing tales of (usually fairly young) individuals who are searching for the "true" story of their lives. They hope and long (consciously, but mostly unconsciously) to align their work lives and work-identity with a sought-after "truth" about who they really are. Most of the individuals in the book have obviously not done intrapsychic therapy work, and therefore have not learned that their stories (some long and complicated, some short and obvious) all revolve around family-of-origin themes. Most of the individuals in this book have not yet recognized that reality, and the author only addresses this important issue briefly overall. Too bad, because it would be a much more powerful and useful exploration of the search for meaning, if Mr. Bronson included more wisdom about the REAL underlying themes of the human condition.

Rating:
Summary: Bronson's best work yet
Review: Po Bronson digs deep in the zitergeist (if that's a word) of our times. He captured the Go Go high finance 80s with "the Bombradiers" and the rage of the internet rush with "Nudist on the Late Shift" and "The first 20 million is always the hardest" As many people are questioning their lives in a post-internet-bubble post-9/11 world, the book strikes at a question many are asking.

Approaching this subject without a definite agenda is a difficult task. There is no "Salvation is in religeon" or "Follow my framework" or "Just listen to yourself" easy answer here. Instead, the book follows some loose themes of people struggling with this question. Perhaps this lack of a concrete answer (and there really is none!) is why there is so much passion both praising and attacking this work.

As someone going through some of these questions myself, I came away with some definite takeaways:
1 - Figuring out what to do is not an easy task.
2 - It's rarely a quick process.
3 - Others are going through it to, and it's not a fruitless pursuit.

Although I did not come out of reading the book with a grand Buddhist enlightenment, I did come away with a better understanding of the murky question suggested by the title.

Rating:
Summary: What should I do with ..... Po Bronson?
Review: Po Bronson is Touched by an Angel, Nightrider, the Ghosts of Christmas Eve, George Baillys Angel etc --- I know this because he tells us over an over again. PO likes PO.

This book is not a cook book on self realization - as many reviewers have said. So do not buy it if you are looking for that. If you are looking for peer commiseration - this is it.

It is a series of vingettes, only distracted by the telling of POs own defensiveness of career moves that never seem like he is being quite honest to himself. His career's were consistent with any 20 - 30 year old, self sabaotged with ego and the grass is greener. Ironically, he emphisises his many unethical behaviors to escape his paths. Interesting in this age of, Dot-com insider trading, Enron and Martha Stewart criticism. The rest of the PO story is a struggle with writing this book. Very evident in organization.

A re-read the book with a sharpie and highlighter. I highlighted the key take-aways from each story and retitled the chapter - I ran a sharpie through the PO story, except his vignette. What I now have is not a 350 page biography, but a 200 page focused story of peoples struggles, decisions, and frustrations with their own professional lives.

The book really could be very good, you should read a used or borrowed copy - it just suffers from ego, poor structure and too much Po.

Rating:
Summary: A Home Run
Review: Po Bronson came up to the plate, stared down the hardball question of what he should do with his life, and answered it by asking others what they wanted to do with their lives. He stays away from the diadactical, generally gets out of the way, and lets others tell their stories.

Rating:
Summary: No answers here
Review: Like many, I agree: don't waste your time on this book. It is a lazy narrative restricted to the elite little bubble Bronson (a Stanford graduate) lives in. It is clear that Bronson did very little research putting this series of people's life stories together as many people on the book are likely classmates of his. Every story, save one, is about how some Ivy League graduate making $250,000 doing very little, wants some meaning. Only one story is about a real person who does not make a stratospheric salary - and the answer for them was anti-depressant drugs so they could bear their nowhere job with no ability to ever leave it. The spoiled brats with tons of cash really make no life changes or discoveries - and one guy kept begging to get his job back that he quite on a whim. No one joined the Peace Corp or donated their time or wealth to help anyone or anything. Bottom line is there are no answers here.

Rating:
Summary: Unexpectedly over-rated
Review: Readers of this book ought to remember that work is, at most, one-third of their lives, something this book ignores. While it is wonderful to have a job that not only supports oneself financially but spiritually and intellectually as well, dwelling on acquiring this is short-sighted. One who is fulfilled in the hours during which he or she is not working can also achieve a happy and meaningful life. I got the impression from Bronson's vignettes of 50 people seeking life's meaning in their employment that they were so focused on what was wrong with their jobs (or lives) that they are unable to move forward. Rather than attempting to remedy what they perceived was wrong, they simply quit their jobs or became unable to find jobs.

I was especially frustrated by the several people who quit their lifelong dreams of studying or practicing medicine. Responsible people don't have dreams like that and then precipitously decide after only a few months that it was the wrong dream. One realized she hated sick people. Well, there are plenty of medical and medically-related fieIds that do not entail dealing with patients. Another quit after glimpsing an older doctor who allowed her practice to negate her family. Instead of abrupting quitting and then wasting precious time determining where to go next, these women, in particular, needed to first look for alternatives within the system they chose that would allow them to moderate their dreams and ambitions with reality.

Bronson reminds me of David Eggers who amazingly earned a Pultizer with "A Heart-breaking Work of Staggering Genius". Both books display immature writers dealing with puerile subjects in a very simplistic and unrealistic manner. Although pursuing career perfection may be admirable, real life does not stop during the quest. Bronson's stories ignore that fact.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth investigating
Review: Having just finished reading Po Bronson's 'What Should I Do With My Life' I feel compelled to submit a review partly in praise of the many and varied real-life stories I've read thus far and also in defense of it's contents.
I've read some of the other reviews on this site - and many of them are rather scathing. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, no doubt, however I strongly suspect that several of these are a little askew. If you approach 'What Should I Do With My Life' as a quick-fix self help book you are going to be bitterly disappointed, this book doesn't intend to offer career guidance or solve all your problems - and for anyone looking for the classic 'rags to riches' hollywood-fuelled fantasy you won't find that either. Let's get that out of the way.
Rather, Bronson is a storyteller - and this is a collection of interesting and accessible stories with which we can learn from, identify with and hopefully realize some of our potential. Bronson clearly enjoys what he does - being a humanist writer is a noble cause, and he writes hoping that we might see shades of ourselves, and gain the courage and wisdom to recognize our own inner truths. For the vast majority of us, life is about struggle, compromise, stability/instability, love, hope and occasional opportunity in finding our own passion and meaning in life. It's not as clear cut as winning or losing.
This is reflected in these peoples stories - some brave, some idealistic, some hesitant, and some soaring - but most fascinating. I'm not going to pretend that it's the perfect book, some may find Po Bronson's narrative a bit annoying at times - but to me he seems like a fairly decent, open-minded guy who offers up plenty of questions and doesn't pretend to know all the answers. The only other point about this book I would take issue with is that in it's last third it focuses too much upon people in big business, corporate law, and other similarly large-earning positions, and starts to lose some of it's interest. Still,I wish there were more books like this one and I urge you to investigate.

Rating:
Summary: Read to Relate to Others In the Same Boat
Review: This book shares the stories of many people who faced the challenge of changing careers. Don't expect this book to give you an answer on how to find your next career. Mr. Bronson is a little "preachy" (he admits as much), with just a smidgeon of self-glorification. I would have preferred that he kept himself out of the book and stuck to writing about the people he interviewed (he had more than enough material).

Do hope to find one or more stories that you can relate to, perhaps opening up new possibilities for where you might go in life. Not to be taken as purely objective, Bronson collects his interviews and re-tells them from the perspective of his own opinion on how one should go about changing careers. He did find some fascinating persons to include in this book, many of whom chose a selfless path, and choosing not to take one of greed nor vanity.

Rating:
Summary: People who take chances
Review: For anyone who wakes up in the morning thinking "I really don't want to go to work today", this book is for you. Even if this book doesn't give you the jazz to quit and find something better to do with the majority of your waking hours, and it's not meant to, it's nice to know that out there, there are people who have done that and for the most part have succeeded.
It seems that some of the worse reviews had to do with a misunderstanding of the purpose of this book. The title is a little misleading if you know nothing else about the book. Also, if you're searching on Amazon for self help books regarding career or life choices, this title probably will pop up. I don't think those are the categories this book should be placed into. It's hard to know exactly how to classify this book. Maybe there should be a category called "Anecdotes"? Anyway, I very much enjoyed reading the short narratives of people who seemed to have been in the same state of mind that I'm in now and had the courage to alter their lives completely and accept the consequences come what may. I didn't have to agree with them, I didn't have to support them, I didn't even have to be interested in them. The great thing about this book is that each of the people's stories stand alone. Po Bronson's writing style maintained my interest and didn't make me question why I should care or what's the relevance. He gave enough background so I wouldn't be lost but not so much history on each person as to make me feel bored (I'm not much into reading biographies). The introduction was good to set the tone of the book. The final feeling I had after finishing the book was that sometimes it takes taking a chance and giving up all of my preconceptions of what it means to be an adult and what I thought I would be doing with my life to make me enjoy my life and my waking hours again. But, don't take my word (or interpretation) for it. Ultimately, I think the purpose of this book is meant to make the reader think and interpret it for their own lives. I hope many people do read it and get something positive out of it.

Rating:
Summary: If you are ready to find your way, then ....
Review: Read this book. After raising three children, my wife (a college graduate) was struggling with "What should I do with my life?" I gave her two books to read. First she read this one. She responded with "Wow, I can relate to these people. I am not alone. What a relief!" The second book, Optimal Thinking: How to be your best self, gave her the roadmap she needed to make the commitment to be her best in every situation, to choose her ultimate direction, plan her best life, take the wisest actions, and resolve negative emotions on the spot. She is a new person!