Natasha Boyle Boyle itibaren Rabiaa, Irak
I liked this book a lot when I was younger, but I read it again a few weeks ago, and ... um, I didn't like it. It's too positive and (dare I say it) white. Of course I mean "white" in its most derogatory sense here, not in its broadest sense. So, that's to say, the characters possess an air of entitlement and, for lack of a better word, safety that completely undercuts the affirmativeness the book thinks its advocating. I didn't pick up this aspect of the book when I was younger because identity politics had yet to intervene in my life. And as much as I'm now jaded and suspicious of such politics, let's face it: this book's got these guys hitchhiking through every backwater of the country and moving in and out of different classes and communities without a trace of apprehension. Certainly a pretty picture, but I can't imagine a black or Asian or latino American of the period writing anything remotely similar. To be sure, it's not just this impossibility that grates me about this book -- oh god, let's not reduce it to that. The chalkboard-screech of its overwhelming naivete cuts clear through any politics screaming in my ear.
I'm not sure if this is the same book by McAdams that I wanted to review, only under another title. The book I have is titled: The Stories We Live By: Personal Myths and the Making Of The Self. This is a great book that talks about how we all live by a story that we create in our mind. We live out our lives according to the themes and events of that story. It might be the loser story, a hero story of some sort, or some other theme. We project the image of our self according to the story we think our lives are being lived by. But what if you can change your story? What if you're tired of the image you keep putting out, and you realize that really isn't you, or the you you want to be? They are great questions. Change your story. It's time.