Here's the Bright Side: Of Failure, Fear, Cancer, Divorce, and Other Bum Raps (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Jules Feiffer (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Award-winning television journalist Rollin, formerly an NBC correspondent and author of Last Wish and First, You Cry, urges readers to see the "bright side" of life's disasters. While there is nothing new about finding a silver lining in a cloud, this thought is only comforting if it comes from a credible source—and here, Rollin's voice is comforting. People know she went through two mastectomies back in the days when breast cancer was an unmentionable disease. The first doctor she saw ignored her cancer, but she shows how that terrible experience opened up new perspectives for her. Even the experts, she reports, find that trauma doesn't just produce stress, but "post-traumatic growth." People who've survived catastrophes may develop better self-perceptions and better relations with others. They may adopt a more meaningful life philosophy. Disaster can be a sort of wakeup call. Rollin is not religious; she never rationalizes bad things happening to good people by referring to God's mysterious ways, but she is relentlessly positive (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"[Rollin] eschews Pollyanna-ish advice for personal examples and research findings...Excellent." --Library Journal --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Random House (April 10, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400065658
• ISBN-13: 978-1400065653
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #627,995 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging and meaningful! A perfect gift., May 6, 2007

By	France Kassing (DAVIS, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you have a friend who is struggling through an illness or a challenge of any kind, this book is bound to help. It is an honest and informed presentation of the bright side of these "bum raps".

This lovely book is the latest creation by a woman who has always spoken intimately about things few people discuss. In the supposedly liberated seventies, people whispered the word "cancer" and few even mentioned breast cancer. By writing the intimate and informative First, You Cry, she changed the way we discussed this killer of women. She also spoke about her mother's death in Last Wish, once again breaking barriers by writing about end of life choices. In Here's The Bright Side, she explores post-traumatic growth and shares the latest findings on how we are stronger and, yes, happier after life's bum raps, as she calls them. And, being a journalist, she backs up her insights with studies on post-traumatic growth and other facet of suffering few discuss.

This book is sure to make you smile and look at your life with joy in your heart.

And, for everyone who reads this and thinks...oh, she must be a friend of the author. Ms. Rollin and I only share and upcoming interview. And we both find ourselves happier and somehow grateful for the bum raps we are surviving.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars thought provoking, May 19, 2007

By	Vivienne S. Saunders (Seattle WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

good reading for anyone.......excellant snippets to keep in mind when going through life's trials and tribulations.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Optimistic, enjoyful, September 23, 2007

By	G. Tsipianitis "traveller" (Europe -GR) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's the optimistic side of life. It's not a story. They are experiences that everyone may has live or may will live. But, they are the bright side of them!
Very good.