Customer Reviews

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are

5 star:		(73)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Gifts of Imperfection is a little gem of a book that offers readers a way to change their lives through adopting the practices of "wholehearted" living. Brené Brown shows us how to live more authentic and compassionate lives, while learning to embrace our imperfections, and recognize what issues get in our way, such as shame and fear. Although the book is an easy read on one level, it is a complex blueprint for living could take a lifetime to put into practice. The author challenges long-held notions and helped me see the world in new ways. She unpacks concepts such as the difference between happiness and joy and courage and heroics. The journey to a wholehearted life can be a spiritual process, and Dr. Brown is a rather unusual guide, a cross between the Dalai Lama and Wanda Sykes. One moment her words inspire hope and compassion and then belly laughs. She is brutally honest about her own strengths and struggles, so her words come not from an elevated plane, but from walking right beside, or maybe a little ahead, of the reader. Words such as "life-changing" and "revolutionary" are too often used and very clichéd, but they do describe this book. It would be a revolution in this country, and this world, if everyone practiced wholehearted living. That is a world that I want to live in. I am signing up for the revolution today, with my whole heart.

I have just purchased 40 more copies to give to my closest friends and clients! This book heralds the solid research of Dr. Brene Brown and leads us toward an authentic approach to living a life devoid of the many misguided concepts of "personal perfectionism". Every human on the planet should read this book, then read it again with your spouse and adult children. Both this and her previous book will live in my library for the rest of my life.

I read a lot of books. Most of them stop at my mind; this one went to my heart. I couldn't put it down - truly life changing.

If you feel overwhelmed by expectations, get this book. You will be glad you did!

This isn't a bad book if you don't mind that it reads like a blog and is as deep as most blogs. First, it has 120 pages of text, plus blank pages, lots of white space, and some notes. Amazon has the page count completely wrong (as of Feb 2011, they list it at 260 pages). The author takes on large topics but doesn't go far with any of them. The chapter on "Cultivating Creativity" is about 4-1/2 pages. The one sub-titled "Letting Go of Perfectionism," presumably the focus of the book, is 7 pages. To be fair, there is a 17-page chapter. Within each chapter there's a brief discussion of the topic plus a few anecdotes--mostly from the author's life--some quotes from other people's work, a few references to the author's own research, and then a little advice. Although she says she's collected 10,000 stories in her research, she shares almost none of them here nor does she back up most of her assertions with evidence, studies, etc. For example, she says you can't have resilience ("the capacity to overcome adversity") if you aren't religious or spiritual ("recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us...") but gives no basis for it.

My work as a Health Coach and my life as a recovering perfectionist, obesity survivor, gremlin tamer require that I read a lot of books of this nature - my book shelf is full of self-help books, psychology texts, coaching manuals. Generally I read through them quickly, make note of a couple of salient points then make room for them on the bookshelf.

This book caught me by surprise. First of all, I bought it through happenstance - strolling through a mall looking for shoes, I came across a Waldenbooks store closing with a 50% off sale. The bibliophile in me went a little nuts, scooping bargains with both hands picking books I love and regularly give to my clients (like Michael Pollan's "In Defence of Food") and a couple of new ones that looked interesting. This book falls into the latter category.

It has taken me, a speed reader, 4 days to consume 64 pages. These first 64 pages are a blur of yellow highlighter ink, margin notes, happy faces and asterisks. I haven't even finished reading the book and I am here to buy 10 copies for my daughters and my clients. I suspect I will be back often to buy more.

The ability to conduct qualitative research impresses me greatly - the ability to translate that research into an immensely enjoyable and satisfying tool for self discovery and personal growth has me in awe.

Thank you Brene Brown - I've bookmarked your website and will be a life long fan!

I've been through 6 therapists, I've struggled with depression for nearly twenty years, never could finish anything I started, and everyone always assumed I had ADHD. Not until therapist number five did someone point out to me that ADHD is often mistaken for anxiety and he was sure that was my problem. Boy was he right. Sadly, he was terrible at treating, so I found a new therapist who encouraged me to embrace the bad days and bad times and she pointed me to Brene Brown's TED talk on vulnerability. It really spoke to me, so I thought it would be a good idea to read her book. I just looked at the screen for a full minute trying to figure out how to put into words how much this book has helped me and I just can't find them. All those years I thought I had ADHD, I was just afraid of what people would think. I would pick up a new hobby hoping it would be the one that I could stick with and foster, only to give up on it. Never was the problem an attention deficiency, it was a courage deficiency. The author talks a lot about how making a major change in your life isn't something you wake up and do one day, it's something you practice every single day. And most will struggle with it, but without the struggle, we lose out on so much. I will have far fewer regrets on my deathbed having read this book. If you read these Ms. Brown, THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart.

Let me first say, I listened to the audiobook version of this book. If you're anything like I am (and by that, I mean you have a book case or two full of books that were excitedly and passionately purchased because you knew how good they'd be..., but are now collecting dust, and have been since the day you cleaned up your apartment and stacked them there), ...If you're anything like that.. buy the audio version. You NEED to hear this book. It's perfect for that 20 minute drive to work (or wherever), it's easy-to-digest (but by no means "light" in context), and it brought out a range of emotions in me. There were many times I'd press the "rewind 30 seconds" button to hear her repeat what she'd just said. It even brought tears to my eyes once while I was driving to work. It helped me to go through each day with a more positive outlook and a contemplative mood, but a joyful mood. I shared it with my friends and rejoiced a few days later as they told me how much they loved it, too. I asked my boyfriend to sit and listen to one particular part on "numbing" and being a "take-the-edge-off-aholic". That's the part that made me cry. It struck a chord with me.. just like many other parts of this book did. Fittingly, the author is very real and candid and... authentic ;) about everything, which I really appreciated.

Loved it. I'm left inspired... and hopeful that I can soon find another book that's half as amazing.

One last thing - I kinda feel like the title is a bit misleading. I think, in my opinion, it's less about "gifts" of imperfection, and more of an all-around "how to live authentically and fully and really love... your life." Perhaps that was just how I experienced it, but it's definitely not a depressing or "Lets talk about all of our problems and sucky parts of who we are, and then get crap advice on those 'flaws'.." book. It's uplifting and widely applicable to... everyone. When I recommend it to friends, I tell them to browse the chapter titles for a better idea of what it's about.

Brene Brown's new book is a rare gift. Fascinating insights grounded in research and shared from the heart in an authentic voice. It's a game changer and in a category all its own. I can't wait to buy multiple copies to share with my friends.

This is one of the very few books that live up to its goal of inspiring readers to make some improvements to how they live and love.

I love this book! Short enough to read in a few hours. Deep enough to provoke meaningful thought and discussion. Powerful enough to change a life. I suspect that this is one of those books that I will revisit regularly.