The Call of Service: A Witness to Idealism [Paperback]

Robert Coles (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0395710847 | ISBN-13: 978-0395710845 | Publication Date: November 15, 1994

In this book, Coles explores the concept of idealism and why it necessary to the individual and society.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a searching, inspirational probe, eminent Harvard psychiatrist Coles ( The Moral Life of Children ) examines the idealistic motives of people who engage in volunteer work, community service or civil rights activism. Mixing autobiographical reminiscence, analysis and oral testimony, he interviews Peace Corps members as well as volunteers in hospitals, schools, prisons and nursing homes. Coles finds that volunteer work can have a transformative influence on those who heed the "call of service," even though they frequently experience doubts, misgivings, depression and even a sense of futility and despair. Rich in empathy and insight, his informed study interweaves his own experiences as a child psychiatrist helping Southern children caught up in the school desegregation struggle, an account of his current work as a volunteer inner-city elementary school teacher near Boston, recollections of his 1950s service in a Manhattan soup kitchen with Catholic Worker activist Dorothy Day and portraits of his mentors Anna Freud and poet/physician William Carlos Williams, who set him on his altruistic path. Author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Coles is the prolific and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of such works as The Spiritual Life of Children ( LJ 11/1/90). Here he examines idealism, the drive that leads people to be of service to others. This service takes a variety of forms, from the formal (e.g., the Peace Corps) to simple volunteer work in hospitals, schools, and the like. Coles makes the subject interesting by letting the people who serve talk about their work. These doers, including Coles himself, tell of the satisfactions and the hazards of service. Let it be known that idealism or service is not a one-way street, Coles maintains. Those who give are as much receivers and learners. This engaging and inspiring book is highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/93.
- John Moryl, Yeshiva Univ. Lib., New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (November 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395710847
• ISBN-13: 978-0395710845
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert Coles is professor emeritus at Harvard University and the author of numerous books, including his series Children of Crisis, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. He has also won a MacArthur Award, a Presidential Medal of Freedom, and a National Humanities Medal. He lives in Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most insightful and thought provoking book of its field, November 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Call of Service: A Witness to Idealism (Paperback)

Volunteerism has been my life. I am now in charge of community volunteers and students involved in service learning. I thought I had a pretty good grasp of the subject until I read this book. Many of my ideas where exploded and new, wonderful ideas and insights took their place.The book discusses problems in communicating with those we are tryig to help. It gives a wonderful discussion of the real meaning of mentoring, and who should really call themselves mentors. It is open and clear about the various reasons we all volunteer. It does not tell you how to run an agency or how to do your work. It simply open new doors that might make you a person who better serves the community. I feel everyone in the fields of volunteerism and community service should read this fabulous book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading this book is time well spent, February 23, 2002

By 

Dennis Whitcomb (New Brunswick, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Call of Service: A Witness to Idealism (Paperback)

This book is fantastic. Coles spent a large portion of his life living amongst, interviewing, studying, and writing about volunteer community servants and the people for whom they work. The first 3/4 or so of this book recounts some of his favorite stories from that portion of his life. It does a fine job of doing so - these stories are the kind of thing you can't put down. The last 1/4 or so of the book tries to draw morals and conclusions from the stories. This part of the book is interesting too, and well written, but not quite as good as the first part of the book. For one thing, Coles tries to draw large-scale conclusions from non-randomly picked anecdotal cases. But his conclusions are still very interesting, and the book as a whole is really astonishingly good.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reawakening idealism, March 5, 2001

By 

Eleanor Hill Edwards (Järna Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Call of Service: A Witness to Idealism (Paperback)

Some books make you feel good, some books make you feel rotten. This book reawakened my idealism and my interest in doing good in the world. Coles describes the elements of volunteering and how we choose the work in which we become engaged. He also describes how we become disillusioned - sometimes by ignoring the significance of the work that goes on among the volunteers, sometimes by hoping too much and knowing too little, sometimes by not looking at ourselves. But he also offers pictures out of his own life and experience, sharing personal reflections and insights. Coles describes concrete situations in many different kinds of volunteer activities, reporting carefully and without a lot of unnecessary analysis, what gets said, how people look, and when volunteer gestures lead or don't lead to success. His respect for the people he meets is inspiring, as is his openness for learning and reassessing his own value system. Not least important is that Colses is both a good writer and a gifted story teller.