What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger: Turning Bad Breaks Into Blessings [Hardcover]

Maxine Schnall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2002

Perhaps the hardest thing to remember in the throes of a crisis is that every bad break can also be a blessing. Indeed, there are always unexpected benefits in misfortune-a refreshed or redirected sense of purpose about our life's work after the death of a loved one or the loss of a job, a new appetite for living after a serious illness-provided we meet our crises with a shift in outlook.Born of the author's own terrible trauma, What Doesn't Kill You presents hard-won advice and practical exercises to help readers effectively navigate the terrain of this difficult process. Rich with stories of people who have come through tragedy to find new or different meaning in their lives-from the author's account of her daughter's near-fatal car accident to the experiences of survivors of the September 11 attacks-What Doesn't Kill You offers a path to healing and internal transformation. Powerful and inspirational, it will help readers not only survive adversity but also harvest new strength from it that will be a lasting source of freedom from anger and despair. It is a reader's best weapon against the worst of times.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In the wake of the attacks on the World Trade Center, libraries are looking to update their collections on dealing with grief. As good as such classics as Harold Kushner's When Bad Things Happen to Good People may be, they suddenly seem outdated. This is the chief premise of Jampolsky's Healing Together. Jampolsky takes a spiritual approach to healing, including as many faith systems as possible and hence providing a global perspective consistent with his premise that the September 11 attacks call for a worldview. A psychologist and motivational speaker, Jampolsky divides his book into three parts, starting with a foundation for dealing with tragedy, then moving on to eight steps to "Personal Growth and Global Healing," and finishing with how to build a positive future, including how to help children and communities cope. The mother of a daughter crippled in a car crash, Schnall writes from the perspective of someone who has experienced grief directly, and she deals with people as individuals. Her book feels both more emotional and less spiritual than Jampolsky's, and it is also less structured despite its proposing four stages of dealing with tragedy. Schnall, the founder of Wives Self Help Foundation, shares story after story of people dealing with tragedy, including the World Trade Center collapse. Both books are well written and easy to read, and both give useful advice and are illustrated with inspiring stories. Readers will find more practical suggestions in Jampolsky's book and more inspiration and emotional support in Schnall's, but both are good choices for general collections.
David Leonhardt, Toronto
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Well-written and easy to read...Give[s] useful advice...Illustrated with inspiring stories." -- Library Journal starred review 9/1/02

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (October 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738207322
• ISBN-13: 978-0738207322
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,835,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I started writing back in the 60s with my first book, MY HUSBAND THE DOCTOR, chronicling the funny side of being married to an ob-gyn (I'll leave that up to your imagination). Next came THE BROADBELTERS, my racy novel about the soft porn book biz, which film critic Judith Crist called "the funny lady novelist's ultimate dirty book or the dirty lady novelist's ultimate funny book."

After my marriage broke up and I founded a hotline for women in similar circumstances called Wives Self Help, my book based on the first 2,000 calls to the hotline, YOUR MARRIAGE, was published. Excerpts of the book were printed in Woman's Day and I became a contributing editor with the magazine and the host of my own daily radio show on the CBS station in Philadelphia, my home town.

In 1982, Clarkson Potter published my book LIMITS: A SEARCH FOR NEW VALUES, a study of the cultural effects of the sexual revolution, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

When I found and married the man of my dreams after six years in the singles world, which I likened to a tour of duty in Viet Nam, I told other women how to do the same in my book, EVERY WOMAN CAN BE ADORED. My reputation as a relationship guru and self-help advocate for women led to six appearances on Oprah and on national and local TV and radio shows around the country.

In 1985, my younger daughter Rona, a beautiful, gifted, award-winning journalist was seriously brain-injured in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. Her courageous battle to reestablish her life after this tragedy and hundreds of stories of other people who came back from losses large and small inspired my book WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU MAKES YOU STRONGER, published by Perseus in 2002. That book was published abroad in the United Kingdom, Spain, Taiwan, Korea, and Lebanon, and is available on Amazon in paperback (Da Capo) and in Kindle.

After retiring to Fort Lauderdale (or so I thought) with my husband, I became bored and wanted to find a collaborator for a mystery book I had in mind. A friend suggested Craig's List, where I came across an ad by a New York screenwriter looking for an established woman writer to develop an idea for a romantic spy novel featuring the young Jackie Kennedy, then Jacqueline Bouvier, as an unofficial CIA agent in Paris in 1951. The idea was inspired by an authentic letter written by 21-year-old Jackie stating that the CIA had offered her a job and she was going to take it. Teaming up under the pen name Maxine Kenneth, we wrote PARIS TO DIE FOR, which Grand Central bought in a two-book deal for a continuing Jackie spy series, with publication starting in 2011 on July 28 Jackie's birthday. We're thrilled that a mystery writer of Rita Mae Brown's stature has called the book "great fun!" We are hard at work now on the sequel, HAVANA TO DIE FOR, slated for 2012.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch. My website is under construction now and will be finished soon: www.maxineschnall.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love the way Maxine Schall writes., October 2, 2002

By 

Kimberly Krause Berg "cre8pc" (Perkasie, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger: Turning Bad Breaks Into Blessings (Hardcover)

I've been raving about this book everywhere I go. It's become one of my all-time favorite reads so far. Silly me. I thought I wouldn't need it because I'm not experiencing any trauma now. But I was SO wrong!

Any time is a great time to read about people who have pulled through a terrible situation, or chosen to be creative in their problem solving, even when it seems like everything is lost forever. Maxine Schnall has written one of the most inspirational books I've ever read (and I read a lot!).

Two things really struck me about What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger. First, the way Maxine writes. She got my attention from the Introduction! I felt as if she came to my house, sat at my kitchen table, and told me things only a compassionate wise woman would be able to say. She's frank. She's got moxie. She knows intimately what the people in her book felt because of her own experience with her daughter's brain injury. (I cried when I read Maxine's telling of her own personal experience and I'm no softie.)

The second thing that got through to my Soul from this book has to do with the saying "God doesn't give you more than you handle". I've always HATED that line and resisted it. In fact, if you ask me, it's a downright lie. But the way Maxine put it in her book really made sense. She points out that we can handle anything because we're sent a lot of help! The blessings are everywhere and she shows you how to recognize them.

I think this book is a gift to people that came straight from her heart. I highly recommend reading it and giving to all of your friends.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Readable. Helpful or not? Depends, August 21, 2007

By 

ServantofGod - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger: Turning Bad Breaks Into Blessings (Paperback)

I like the plenty of lively stories in the book. They are well written and inspirational. However, as a Christian who believes that the greatest help always come from God, I am obliged to raise my doubt on the effectiveness of it because it answers only part of the question of "Why me?" and encourages primarily those who are willing to and can stand up quickly on their own feet. A good book, I must say, but I would like to recommend also "Where is God when it hurts? by Philip Yancey and "Why Me?: Straight Talk About Suffering by Lawrence Wilson" to those in need.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars just what I needed, June 9, 2008

By 

Wayne R. Young "Rad guy" (pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger: Turning Bad Breaks Into Blessings (Paperback)

Sent it to my son in jail and he said that it was the best book he received and really did help him overcome adversity.