Customer Reviews

Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You're Going Through [Hardcover]

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was familiar with inspirational speaker, author, and spiritual leader Iyanla Vanzant from her Oprah appearances and catching her life coaching on Starting Over from time to time, but I didn't know much about her life story. My mom checked out Peace from Broken Pieces from the library, loved it, and recommended it to me. I must say it's well written and insightful.

Iyanla starts off the book by reflecting on the Christmas morning her daughter died in 2003. She'd succumbed to a year long battle with a rare form of colon cancer and left a young daughter behind. As if burying your own child isn't traumatic enough throw in marital issues, financial problems, and just feeling like your whole world is crashing down on you. Something's gotta give!

It took Iyanla about 3 and a half years to pen this book because of fear. She was a best selling author of a number of self-help books and alot of people looked to her for spiritual guidance. Secretly, she felt like a fraud. Her personal life was barely holding up and she was afraid people would turn on her if she opened up about what was really going down. After much prayer and self-reflection, she took a good look at her life and the patterns and behaviors she'd been taught since childhood.

Although she lost her mother to breast cancer at the age of 2, Iyanla had made many of the same mistakes her mom did. She talks openly about her downright mean grandmother who subjected her to brutal beatings, but treated her older brother with only love and kindness. The father who abandoned her emotionally and one time nearly killed her after a savage beating. The uncle who raped her and the aunt who looked the other way. The husband who would disappear for days at a time and physically abuse her when he felt like it.

Even after raising 3 kids, getting off welfare and moving her family out of the projects, and making a name for herself, Iyanla was still Ronda Eva Harris, the abused little girl who never felt like she was good enough. The child who was always put down and mistreated and felt like she deserved it.

The death of her daughter was only one tragedy that lead Vanzant to a breakthrough. She writes candidly about her time with Oprah (who was very fair and kind to her) and the mistake she made by hosting her own short-lived talk show. I've always gotten a bad vibe from Bill Geddie, aka the "View Master", and the descriptions of his domineering chauvinism and disrespectful behavior didn't surprise me at all.

Kudos to Iyanla for finding her inner warrior woman and kicking all the crap to the curb in order to be her authentic self. Another big lesson from the book is the importance of addressing familial cycles of dysfunction and abuse in order to heal. It has to stop. Peace from Broken Pieces is a highly recommended read. Go for it.

Truly, this gifted woman did not receive the moniker "Motivational Speaker" by accident. Ms. Vanzant is a Master Teacher that has endured and triumphed in her life experience to teach us how to overcome any and every challenge that we may face in our lifetime."Peace from Broken Pieces" is an emotionally gut wrenching personal triumph from the personal and brutally honest life experience of Ms. Vanzant. At times this book was emotionally compelling, empowering and inspirational. Ms. Vanzant paints vivid imagery as the beautiful phoenix rising from the ashes of broken pieces to convince us all that challenges and tragedies can be overcome when you draw from your internal power. Intertwined with teachings of universal laws and principles, Ms. Vanzant was able to show how cultural pathological patterns could show up in our lives as physical manifestatioins and how we can become aware of these repetitive cycles to overcome the dis-ease of this damaging pathology. Having read "Peace from Broken Pieces", I felt connected with Ms. Vanzant from the first page. I recognized the common thread of the cultural pathology and felt as if she had written this book just for me. "Peace from Broken Pieces," is by far one of the most poignant pieces of literature written by Ms. Vanzant to date.

Masterful, compassionate, heart-wrenching, hilarious, compelling, transformative, healing . . . . I could go on with adjectives to describe this wonderful offering by "The Great Mother" (the meaning of Rev. Iyanla's name). Yet, they all seem inadequate to capture the gift that this book is. I could not put it down (well almost, only because I chose to go to sleep at 4 am and finish it the next day). This is one of the most authentically powerful books I have ever read. I was drawn in from the very first page. Knowing of her commitment to healing and transformation, I know what she personally endured just to write this book. And, I know that readers will be grateful, as I am, that she did. Dr. Vanzant is a treasure and a gift to the world. And, Peace from Broken Pieces is a must read. Thank you! Rev. Beverly Saunders Biddle

I just finished reading "Peace from Broken Pieces" on my Kindle a few minutes ago and a variety of emotions and thoughts are rumbling around inside of me. I could write many pages about them right now, but I'll reserve them for my journal. It is difficult for me to even express myself coherently right now, as my sister saw when I tried to tell her about the book. She just gave up on me and decided to go to the bookstore right now to get the book for herself. Bottom line is - this is a mind altering book that every woman, mother, aunt, grandmother and man should read.

Peace from Broken Pieces by Iyanla Vanzant is a personal, spirtual journey within/for her. For those of you that have faithfully read Ms.Vanzant's books over the years, you should know that she has not published any recent books in approximately five years.

From the very beginning of this book,you will glimpse into the heartache of a mother that has lost a child. A child that was considered her best-friend, confidant and business partner. In reading this book, you will see the rise and the fall of a successful, spiritual woman. A woman that has gone from fortune and fame to losing everything and was about to become homeless. The ONLY thing that got her through all of these trials and tribulations was her FAITH in God.

Peace from Broken Pieces by Iyanla Vanzant is the best nonfiction book I have read this year. Ms. Vanzant shared some of her deepest emotions, heartbreaks and heartaches within her life, especially chronicling the last five years. Along with sharing her emotional journey to healing...Ms.Vanzant shares quotes and teachings in letting go of the hurt and finding peace. This was such an emotional read, that it took me quite awhile to read through it.

As a friend reminded me though...this is not the type of book that you just read through like you are reading a novel, but a book to read slowly and reflect. As the synopsis suggests "Let this powerful book inspire you to put your personal puzzle together, and dare to claim the peace that you truly deserve."

Highly recommended!

This book was provided by the publisher for review purposes.

I will try to make this short and sweet. This book is about Vanzant's self-awareness and spiritual growth. If anyone is upset that it does not give "specific" instructions on how they can find the same enlightenment, then they need more than this book. This book IS an instruction manual. It teaches by example. If you don't understand that, then you are just incapable of learning any lesson from example. Anyone, I mean, everyone, should be able to find a remnant of themselves within these pages. I saw myself, I saw my mother, I saw my aunts, my grandmothers, my friends....I saw generations of women who have been torn down by self-loathing (no matter what their race is). This book is a sort of "de-clothing" of the ego, thereby revealing the lies and deceit that people, including men, tell themselves for the survival of said "ego". In other words, we don't want people to know the TRUTH of who we really are; hurt little children in adult bodies.

If your ego is stronger than your spirit, then you will NOT understand this book. If your spirit is stronger than your ego.....or is at least fed up with your ego.....you WILL fully embrace this book, its spirit, and its teachings. You will cry, you will reflect, you will remember your own example and how it compares to the authors. You will then understand that this IS a book of help and healing. You will be thankful that God saw fit to sit you down to read it, as I am. We can all learn from Vanzant's example of birth, life, living, death, and rebirth. I know that, for me, it is just a confirmation that I am heading in the right direction. I hope that it can help you find your God-given path and stay on it.

Just finished reading this book on my kindle! I'm a better man. My wife will have a better husband. My children will have a better father. An absolute must read... Iyanla Vanzant has stormed back to the mainstream with this powerful, life-altering work. I'll never be the same, ever!!!! Guys, read this book!!!!

... I am rating three stars. It was hard to decide 3 or 4 because, while I liked the book, in my opinion it is not a 5-star example of a book in this genre and most people so far have been very liberal with the 5-star ratings. I think that does a disservice to the author and potential readers to set people up to expect something a book is not. Even a seminal work in the self-help genre like M. Scott Peck's "The Road Less Traveled" has less than a 5-star average. Here is my main criticism: with a sub-title like "How to Get Through What You're Going Through" I expected the book to be a lot more instructional. In other words, to offer concrete steps to get through troubling times whilst going through them. Yes, there are words of comfort and inspiration, but do not expect any sort of workbook, gameplan or framework for overcoming a crisis while you are in it. What I feel would have been a more appropriate sub-title is: "How Iyanla Vanzant made sense out of what she went through after she went through it."

Do not get me wrong. Vanzant's insights are valuable and appreciated, but the format and intent of the book are not at all what I expected. That said, I like a lot about the book. It is compelling, there is no doubt about that. Vanzant is an insightful, charismatic and relate-able story teller. From the inscription; "I found Jesus. He was behind the sofa. He said; 'Come near; get down and stay down. I'll take care of everything.' So, I did. And then, he did." I was hooked. Anyone who has suffered a setback so painful that you had to just withdraw and lick your wounds can understand and appreciate this sentiment.

Vanzant has had a life marked by suffering and throughout the book I was rooting for her success, learning how she overcame obstacles, and understanding the lessons she learned along the way and how I might apply those principles to my life. The idea of family pathologies is not new, but the author did a good job illuminating the concept with high-impact personal stories. The author dealt courageously and unflinchingly on topics as personal as abuses and stunning losses of all sorts, metaphysical experiences, things people have but often keep to themselves in their own private hell. Although it was not really what I was bargaining for, I do hope this book serves as a call-to-arms for people to identify and properly digest their multi-generational, familial woes so they can stop perpetuating them.

In the end, I have to say, this book left me wondering how much of it was therapeutic and how much is just the publishing side of the entertainment business. Maybe I'm cynical. There are some great take-away lessons here in case you do not already know things like live in authenticity, do not elevate people who denigrate you, and so forth. Now, how exactly to do this-- like what specific phrases or techniques to use-- was what I was hoping to find here and would have been enormously helpful. I do like Vanzant's "voice" as a story teller, though, and see another couple of titles of hers that I would like to check out next before drawing any sort of conclusion about her body of work. "Don't Give it Away" looks really interesting and might be more in line with what I was hoping this book would be like.

[Edit: Anyone else notice one of the 5-star reviews here is from one of the author's "Inner Visions" staff? Fair disclosure in reviews from professional affiliates would make the reviews more credible, to me anyway.]

I always enjoyed it when she was on Oprah's shows. She recently was on two shows and I was moved by her story. I wanted to get to know her better.

Even though I cannot relate to most of her personal experiences....the book is pretty sad...especially her abusive childhood, I am enjoying her writing. I know she lost her fortune and that is why I decided to buy her book. I want this book to be a big success for her and give her a second chance to manage her money better. She is a gifted woman and seems like a wonderful person. She is right..God is in control.

The first thing I said after finishing "Peace from Broken Pieces" was, "I will never complain about my life again!" Iyanla Vanzant survived the death of her mother and abandonment by her father, beatings, denigration, rape and denial by her 'care-givers', and pregnancy all by the time she was 16, and still become a powerful adult able to inspire the lives of millions. In her latest book Peace from Broken Pieces: How to Get Through What You're Going Through, Ms. Vanzant spares no detail in taking us through the experiences of her life which reveal the pathologies of our culture.

Though Ms. Vanzant refers specifically to her culture as an impoverished Black woman, the experiences she endures and rises up from are not limited to African-Americans. Women of all cultures especially will recognize the alienated man/woman relationships described by Ms. Vanzant, and will benefit from her brilliant insights into how to rise above cultural pathologies.

I have been a fan of Iyanla Vanzant since I read "In the Meantime" in 1998 which helped me heal my broken heart after the end of an important relationship. Peace from Broken Pieces comes to me at a perfect time. At times my own struggles seem insurmountable and overwhelming. Reading Ms. Vanzant's book helps me to see that no matter what difficulties I face (or imagine I'm facing) and no matter how many generations old my challenges are, I can rise above and shine my authentic light to the world, and achieve peace and fulfillment.

I recommend this book for anyone who is facing challenges in these changing times and who is seeking a renewed relationship to peace, faith, and hope.