Customer Reviews

Things You Should Know by Now: A Mini Life Manual for the Quarterly Aged

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

 

 

I need to know how to perform a card trick by the time I'm quarter aged? Maybe if I was a magician that might be useful. I thought this book might be a little deeper than that, but all it is is a bunch of little tidbits of useless, and sometimes incorrect, information.

For example, in the section on credit card debt, he advises you to get out of debt by slicing up your credit card and then canceling the account. Cutting the card up is fine, but he neglects to mention that canceling a card can actually HURT your credit score, because your credit rating is based on your debt as a percentage of the total credit available to you. So if you cancel a card, you have less total credit available. Even the most basic books on debt will tell you this, which leads me to beleive this guy did absolutely no research, at least in this area.

And.. a chapter on how to buy groceries? Uh.. if you made it to "quarter-aged", I'm pretty sure you have a basic idea of how to purchase groceries. His tips include making a list, and eating before you go.. wow thanks for the ground-breaking advice.

I also found his "humourous" puns to be quite annoying and so numerous as to be most of the filler in this book. And they're not even funny. There are also way too many personal stories about this guys life. I suppose one of the "Things I Should Know by Now" is that he was afraid of the pie man on Sesame Street. Who cares!

A total waste of time and energy. Most things I already knew, the others I didn't care about. I guess I'm ahead of the game then.

I'm actually 21, transitioning to another new school, and only beginning to realize that, statistically speaking, I only have 9 more years of life before entering adulthood. This book managed to be informative while catering wit to my short attention span. What's great about the author is his very casual, almost big-brother tone. I found some of the chapters perfectly answered the EXACT questions I usually think about (like an FAQ for 21-year-olds: dating, finances, and smoothie-making) and others to be things I hadn't thought about, but were equally compelling ("the value of stories" and "what marriage isn't"). A lot of my friends are starting off in their own apartments for this upcoming year, and they've thumbed through it and found helpful advice as well. I highly recommend it for people looking for a twenty-anything birthday gift, or a college graduation gift.

Ok, my 26 year-old son is reading this book, so I pick it up and flip through it. Two hours later, I'm yelling, "Why didn't I have this book when I was 25?" Guests who came for the holidays fought over it, read chapters aloud and repeated my question. It's an easy, witty read, packed with common sense and good information. More important, the author has his life together, yet he lacks the arrogance of many older humans who think they have life figured out. The book is refreshing, honest, funny, and as a bonus, it's helpful to those of us trying to understand this generation. The author is courageous to include the last chapter, which explains the source of the humilty, freedom, creativity and security he exudes. I appreciated that greatly. It takes guts to openly explain one's spiritual values in a world that says everything's relative. Maybe that's why Boyett sounds like a guy you'd like to sit down and have coffee with at Starbucks... he's honest and open and pretty darn secure!

The school of hard knocks, so often lauded by its graduates, is vastly overrated. Better to preempt those thorny lessons and enjoy more roses along the way, and Boyett dishes up some essential wisdom and joi de vivre in an accessible way in this book. He writes with an intelligence, compassion, literacy and a certain snarkiness that is at once sensible, engaging and cool. I particularly like the way he lightly underscores some precepts with a few biblical examples without the usual dogma, goosebumps or smarmy condescension. Buy a copy of this book with confidence for every graduate and young adult you know. And for your own benefit, be sure to read it yourself before you give it away.

Jason Boyett was interviewed on a local radio station here in San Francisco ... and I was the lucky recipient this Quarter-Life Mini-Manual during a Giveaway contest.

I just got it in the mail yesterday, couldn't put it down, and have been laughing 'til my ribs hurt. Shared it with my morning carpool (a typically lazy 9th grade student who later mentioned to me, "That's a Cool book"). Brought it to school to show some teacher-colleagues. Even brought it with me to show some friends last nite at a mellow Edwin McCain/Sister Hazel concert.

Some of the practical advice Boyett gives makes me whimper with shame, mostly because I didn't know I should've known it by now. But upon jumping around (you are encouraged to browse the book), I decided to read the EPILOGUE early and was impressed by Boyett's conversational, casual, disarming, and never-condescending voice as a writer, Christian, and caring soul. We need more of these kinds of writers who are willing to bring practical faith into a practical world.

This book is very uneven. Some of the advice is ridiculous such as having a pest inspector in to check your house on a monthy basis.

Some is just platitudes such as "the best way to live is generously". Well maybe as long as you limit your exposure to being ripped off.

The financial advice is good for the most part.

Nowhere does the author say how he knows all this and why we should believe him. You don't know which advice is good and which is not, if you don't already know.

There is a lot to learn in life, so by all means read this book but don't rely too heavily on it.

This book is mistitled. It should be called "Things you already know by now and wish you hadn't wasted $12 to find out." I think that about covers it..... Oh, one good thing, my bf found a smoothie recipe he really liked. Not sure that alone was worth $12 though!

...

Seriously, I have worked with Jason and count him as a friend, so I can say with authority that he is one of the brightest, most talented young men I've ever met and he knows of what he speaks. He is down-to-earth, compassionate, literate and snarky --- great traits for a writer. You will find nothing but good stuff in this book and I highly recommend it for every young person you know. Just be sure to read it before you give it away. ...

This book does have alot of common sense information. However, it is a helpful tool for basic things to know. It won't change your life incredibly and I don't believe that was the point. The point was basic stuff that everyone should know by the time they're in their twenties. You'll most likely know most of the stuff he's talking about (such as running is great excerise and optimism is better than pessimism). but It's good reinforcement for that sort of stuff. It's helpful little tidbits on life that serves it's purpose. It is organized into basic categories and can seem pretty random for some. But again, It's just random tips on how to live life. It won't save your life, but won't hurt it either.

Okay, so I'm a relative, but also a published writer and poet. I don't think this is a biased review. Jason is but one of my grand-nephews, in a family large enough to make us little more than distant acquaintances. Admittedly, his Pawpaw was my hero long before WWII made the one whose story (part of it) appears in Things You Should Know By Now. I do recognize my big brother's legacy in Jason's wit and willingness to share what he knows - and what he believes - with memorable humor and without the off-putting dogma that, in my estimation, does more damage to Christian beliefs than evil ever could.

Although long past "quarterly-aged," I took Things You Should Know By Now on vacation, and sandwiched chapters between grandchildren's games, beach naps, and trips to the zoo, ice-cream parlor, and tourist shops. (Yes, I could put it down, but picked it up again at every opportunity.) Even in bits and pieces, Jason's sense and sensibility impressed me tremendously. It is good evidence that pockets of moral intelligence still exist between the two coasts, where a younger generation can be instilled with enough gumption to figure out for themselves what it takes to survive in, and contribute to, an everchanging world. (I'm just sorry Jason didn't include my pet peeve in his English grammar chapter. Mrs. Yeargan - my 8th grade English teacher - must spin in her grave whenever I surf the internet, where "it's" has pretty much usurped the role of "its" as a possessive pronoun.)

Good work, Jason. Keep it up!