Customer Reviews

Esquire The Meaning of Life: Wisdom, Humor, and Damn Good Advice from 64 Extraordinary Lives

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the second in this series that I own and have read, I requested it as a Christmas present (and Santa Claus apparently got the message). It is a collection of one-page summaries, a distillation of the answers to questions posed by Esquire interviewers over several months to an assortment of rogues, heroes and villians. What results is the most compact set of uncommon wit, humor, comedy, one-liners, and good advice that short of a Richard Pryor comedy album, one is ever likely to find in one place.

It is amazing how deep, important and fresh the things are that these individuals all have to share.

In the last volume it was Rod Steiger who stole the show; this time it is Arthur Miller who had a many close calls with failure: "I could write about failure only because I could deal with it. Most of my work before "Death of a Salesman," 98 percent of it was a failure. By the time "Willie Loman" came along, I knew how he felt.

Five Stars

If you are a fan of "What I've Learned" articles appearing every month on Esquire, then you will like these articles of selected 64 personalities giving their take on various situations they faced during their existence on this planet.

This book may not answer the eternal existential dilemma but it will give you a few pointers to go in the right direction.

Maybe I just have a short attention span, but I really love books like this that you can read in bite-sized pieces. You know that the interviewers and editors spent tons of time whittling down the interviews to the most fascinating and memorable details, and it shows. (And I've actually used some of the advice in this book, and the other one that's like it.) Really good stuff. Recommended.

This book is wonderful... insights from the wide array of super life.
Beautiful photos, brilliant interviews...
Tips of real life, from super cool people.
Love, love it.

This is both funny at educational. The book containes so many simple truths that you have never realized, but they make sence instantly. Tip: Read one interview every night and try to live up to it the next day. You will have a lot of fun!