Rating: 
Summary: Art of Living by Sharon Lebell
Review: I wanted to read Epictetus. As the introduction points out, this is Sharon Lebell's channeling of Epictetus. Oops, I figured, wrongly, that the volume was a translation of Enchiridion and would do fine. It's in the trash. Most ancient thinkers were very good at expressing themselves and their ideas - warts and all - to common people. I really can't believe that someone who takes this man seriously would decide to re-invent him and dress it up like it's his words. If you want to know figure out what Epictetus thought on your own, buy a copy of his Discourses or Enchiridion. That's what I'm going to do. Otherwise, feel free to put on some New Age music and read this "thing".
Rating:
Summary: Art of Living by Sharon Lebell
Review: I wanted to read Epictetus. As the introduction points out, this is Sharon Lebell's channeling of Epictetus. Oops, I figured, wrongly, that the volume was a translation of Enchiridion and would do fine. It's in the trash. Most ancient thinkers were very good at expressing themselves and their ideas - warts and all - to common people. I really can't believe that someone who takes this man seriously would decide to re-invent him and dress it up like it's his words. If you want to know figure out what Epictetus thought on your own, buy a copy of his Discourses or Enchiridion. That's what I'm going to do. Otherwise, feel free to put on some New Age music and read this "thing".
Rating:
Summary: A Huge Disappointment
Review: I was hoping for an accessible Epictetus and instead I get "Chicken Soup for the Stoic Soul". If you're interested in understanding Epictetus, or Stoic thought in general you'll be sorely disappointed with this book. What's presented here is far better suited for a page a day calendar than a book (though given how meager the contents are, I doubt it would make it much past mid-summer).
Rating:
Summary: More self-improvement hooey with word "Epictetus" on cover
Review: I'd give this book more if Epictetus wasn't mentioned in it, at least, not in the title. Maybe in bibliography, but not on the cover, because this book is NOT a translation. It is rather a collection of smallish contemplative discources daringly presented under the name of Epicurus, probably in order to make the book stand out from the heap of low-class sublitterary fodder that tends to accumulate in the self-improvement section of every bookstore. Btw, taken for what it is, the book is definitely no worse than the rest, which is to say, it consists of easy-going kindly trivialities some of which probably do have some distant relation to Epictetus' works -- all expressed in modern psycho-babble (what's the Greek for "casual sex" and "lack of commitment"? ) -- and platitudinous drivel like that is known to produce in the reader a much sought-after peaceful state of mind. Which is not bad! I'm not against the feel-good factor and appreciate social order and seeming civilizedness issuing therefrom, but puhleeze remove the word "Epictetus" from the cover and transfer the book from the philosophy to a more appropriate section.
Rating: 
Summary: Under Epictetus adumbration the author produces a manual
Review: Its concise, practical, pertinent, a book that contains ideas of Epictetus that the author has put foward to us. But Epictetus is "persona muta". Which of the ideas are entirely his? Which are Lebell's ?
Rating: 
Summary: Don't leave home without it.
Review: Just the advice on buying shoes is priceless. Until I read this translation, I didn't realize Epictetus had a sense of humor.
Rating: 
Summary: Timeless lessons for Living the Best Possible Life
Review: Reading the deceptively simple teachings of Epictetus is like discovering buried treasure. Let's face it: everyday life, no matter what our personal circumstances are, is fraught with difficulty. So, what are we going to do about it? This book has real answers. When all is said and done, there are only two important questions: how does one be a good person and how does one live a good life. Epictetus, the great 1st century sage, gives clear and practical answers to these questions in this primer for living the best possible life. I have long believed that philosophy, if it's to be of any use, needs to be made accessible in plain, down-to-earth language. It was my mission to make this great philosopher's ideas available to regular people like myself, so that they can be easily grasped and put to use in everyday life.I hope that Epictetus' helpful guidance, which so utterly changed my own life for the better, will inspire and provide solace to the large audience of readers his brilliant thought deserves.
Rating:
Summary: Midadvertised, Diluted, Mistranslated -- But Still Edifying!
Review: Sharon Lebell's "translation" (or should I say more accurately, "rewriting") is worth reading. The advice still makes sense, even though you are reading a greatly DILUTED, MISTRANSLATED, CREATIVELY EDITED, AND WHOLLY "NON-CLASSICAL" alleged translation. A hint that something's amiss is the juxtaposition of Sharon Lebell's name next to Epictetus's. Since when does a translator of a classical author place her name so prominently next to the real author? Answer. When the translations are so different from the original that the juxtaposition of names "Epictetus, Sharon Lebell" accurately portrays the authorship of THIS pseudo-translation of a great classic text. Per the advice of a few previous reviewers, I DID DO SOMETHING SOME PEOPLE MAY CHOOSE TO BYPASS: I consulted a hardcover edition of Epictetus's DISCOURSES and ENCHIRIDION based on the translation of Thomas Wentworth Higginson. It was a worthwhile experience of textual comparison. Take Chapter Thirteen of Epictetus's Discourses: "To Those Who Talk Too Much About Their Own Affairs." Higginson's translation, though somewhat stilted, presents three full pages (328-330) of advice on avoiding gossip, both as a speaker and listener. Lebell's "translation" pares down three dense pages of tiny single space writing into less than one full page of alleged translation. What authority has granted Lebell permission to chop out three-fourths of what Epictetus says on the topic, and so loosely translate whatever remains? Since when is such a divorce from a responsible rendering a "translation?" And can someone clarify this question? Did Epictetus ever write such a puny text called "The Art of Living"? The aforementioned passage contained in Higginson's translation is contained in the Discourses (I saw no mention of "The Art of Living" anywhere. Was that perhaps in a Dalai Lama book? Did the author creatively merge Tibetan Buddhism with Stoic philosophy? That would explain how Lebell could have taken the 330 densely compacted pages of the Discourses, and turned them into a couple of dozen big-lettered paragraphs, most of them failing to amount to a quarter of a page.). No, Lebell's "The Art of Living" is not a translation of Epictetus. But is it useful? Yes. Is it worth reading? Yes, especially if a genuine translation is NOT available. And that's the problem. Few legitimate translations are available. But they are available. This points to another misrepresentation by Lebell and/or her publishers/editors. By calling excerpts from Epictetus "Discourses" (and possible Enchiridion) "The Art of Living" Lebell makes a reader feel that she is providing the reader with a hitherfore untranslated work. Well, gottcha! No such untranslated work. The readers is reading a few creatively translated (mistranslated) snippets from a much larger body of work. So, I can't dare to call Lebell's highly abridged and creatively edition "a translation." It's not. What can I compare it to? Well, there's a wonderful little book called "I Ching Wisdom" written by Wu Wei. It's great. It's worth reading. But when you actually read the new definitive Alfred Huang translation of the I-Ching, you know you are reading a useful, yet greatly altered "Cliff Notes/Fortune Cookie" version of the original. Does this disparage Lebell's contribution? Well, no. Read on their own merits -- not as a translation of Epictetus, but solely as Lebell's "brainstorming" after reading a few of Epictetus's Discourses, etc. -- the book is very good. But the real great tragedy and endictment here points to the irresponsible publishers/editors who saw fit to allow Lebell to abridge and mistranslate excerpts from Epictetus's works, and then try to pass it on to unsuspecting readers as: "The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectivenss." If the source of Lebell's pseudo-translation is Epictetus, then where is her original source? And why didn't the irresponsible publishers/editors ensure that Lebell provided readers with an accurate and complete translation of the Discourses and Enchiridion? As a piece of scholarship, Lebell's pseudo-translation is inexusably irresponsible and shallow. As a valuable contribution to "self help" literature, it's a good quick read for even a 45-minute commuter flight. You can probably read and reread the book in that time. Why even buy it? You can read it while standing at the airport magazine store in less time than it takes to get through airport security. So...if you're interested in Epictetus, go elsewhere. If you want an overpriced misrepresentation of Epictetus with a nice hardcover, then you'll get exactly just that. I only wish Lebell had been ethical enough as an author to have excised Epictetus's name out of the book, in addition to the other 300 or so pages she left out and/or changed beyond recognition. What's the sense of starting to translate a work when you can't get through one-thirtieth of the work? "Buyer Beware!"
Rating:
Summary: Midadvertised, Diluted, Mistranslated -- But Still Edifying!
Review: Sharon Lebell's "translation" (or should I say more accurately, "rewriting") is worth reading. The advice still makes sense, even though you are reading a greatly DILUTED, MISTRANSLATED, CREATIVELY EDITED, AND WHOLLY "NON-CLASSICAL" alleged translation. A hint that something's amiss is the juxtaposition of Sharon Lebell's name next to Epictetus's. Since when does a translator of a classical author place her name so prominently next to the real author? Answer. When the translations are so different from the original that the juxtaposition of names "Epictetus, Sharon Lebell" accurately portrays the authorship of THIS pseudo-translation of a great classic text. Per the advice of a few previous reviewers, I DID DO SOMETHING SOME PEOPLE MAY CHOOSE TO BYPASS: I consulted a hardcover edition of Epictetus's DISCOURSES and ENCHIRIDION based on the translation of Thomas Wentworth Higginson. It was a worthwhile experience of textual comparison. Take Chapter Thirteen of Epictetus's Discourses: "To Those Who Talk Too Much About Their Own Affairs." Higginson's translation, though somewhat stilted, presents three full pages (328-330) of advice on avoiding gossip, both as a speaker and listener. Lebell's "translation" pares down three dense pages of tiny single space writing into less than one full page of alleged translation. What authority has granted Lebell permission to chop out three-fourths of what Epictetus says on the topic, and so loosely translate whatever remains? Since when is such a divorce from a responsible rendering a "translation?" And can someone clarify this question? Did Epictetus ever write such a puny text called "The Art of Living"? The aforementioned passage contained in Higginson's translation is contained in the Discourses (I saw no mention of "The Art of Living" anywhere. Was that perhaps in a Dalai Lama book? Did the author creatively merge Tibetan Buddhism with Stoic philosophy? That would explain how Lebell could have taken the 330 densely compacted pages of the Discourses, and turned them into a couple of dozen big-lettered paragraphs, most of them failing to amount to a quarter of a page.). No, Lebell's "The Art of Living" is not a translation of Epictetus. But is it useful? Yes. Is it worth reading? Yes, especially if a genuine translation is NOT available. And that's the problem. Few legitimate translations are available. But they are available. This points to another misrepresentation by Lebell and/or her publishers/editors. By calling excerpts from Epictetus "Discourses" (and possible Enchiridion) "The Art of Living" Lebell makes a reader feel that she is providing the reader with a hitherfore untranslated work. Well, gottcha! No such untranslated work. The readers is reading a few creatively translated (mistranslated) snippets from a much larger body of work. So, I can't dare to call Lebell's highly abridged and creatively edition "a translation." It's not. What can I compare it to? Well, there's a wonderful little book called "I Ching Wisdom" written by Wu Wei. It's great. It's worth reading. But when you actually read the new definitive Alfred Huang translation of the I-Ching, you know you are reading a useful, yet greatly altered "Cliff Notes/Fortune Cookie" version of the original. Does this disparage Lebell's contribution? Well, no. Read on their own merits -- not as a translation of Epictetus, but solely as Lebell's "brainstorming" after reading a few of Epictetus's Discourses, etc. -- the book is very good. But the real great tragedy and endictment here points to the irresponsible publishers/editors who saw fit to allow Lebell to abridge and mistranslate excerpts from Epictetus's works, and then try to pass it on to unsuspecting readers as: "The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectivenss." If the source of Lebell's pseudo-translation is Epictetus, then where is her original source? And why didn't the irresponsible publishers/editors ensure that Lebell provided readers with an accurate and complete translation of the Discourses and Enchiridion? As a piece of scholarship, Lebell's pseudo-translation is inexusably irresponsible and shallow. As a valuable contribution to "self help" literature, it's a good quick read for even a 45-minute commuter flight. You can probably read and reread the book in that time. Why even buy it? You can read it while standing at the airport magazine store in less time than it takes to get through airport security. So...if you're interested in Epictetus, go elsewhere. If you want an overpriced misrepresentation of Epictetus with a nice hardcover, then you'll get exactly just that. I only wish Lebell had been ethical enough as an author to have excised Epictetus's name out of the book, in addition to the other 300 or so pages she left out and/or changed beyond recognition. What's the sense of starting to translate a work when you can't get through one-thirtieth of the work? "Buyer Beware!"
Rating: 
Summary: The Art of Living
Review: So much philosophy gets bogged down in abstruse, abstract verbal meanderings, but this brief book cuts to the quick on the issues that are of most importance to many of us: How can I do the right thing? How can I be happy? With no messing around, Epictetus gets to the point in very straightforward, very understandable prose. Because the book is broken into bit-sized chunks, it's very easy to take 30 seconds to read a passage that could affect one for a lifetime.
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