Supersurvivors: The Surprising Link Between Suffering And Success (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
Here's a book that starts out looking like a Malcolm Gladwell knock-off on an interesting topic: why do some survivors not just bounce back, but bounce forward? True, and worthy of exploration. Unfortunately, the authors get muddled down in examples and research papers, and do not do a great job tying it all together. It's as if each section -- forgiveness, delusions that lead to self-confidence, hope, living with sufficing choices instead of maximizing choices (which paralyzes decision making) etc. -- was written independent of the others. Connections between the different factors are made tenuously at best, and an example comparing Lance Armstrong with an Olympics-bound athlete facing a horrific setback falls horribly flat, given Armstrong's transgressions. After finishing the book, I felt I had to go back through it again and find whatever the points were, other than "positive thinking doesn't cut it." The book contains its fair share of information; I highlighted many "truths" scattered throughout it. Still, it could have been more clear and more entertaining. This book was recommended to me by the parent of a young adult cancer survivor. I thought it would be one more book about the power of positive thinking. NO WAY! In fact, that is one of the urban legends the authors take on. With research and data to back them up, they tell personal stories of survivors of war, brutality, disease, and other traumas, and delve into how differently each individual handles (or not) the experience. What they find is common to everyone of these people is that they are changed and they must deal with the fact that life is no longer what it was prior to the experience that changed them. They try to help the reader travel with the survivors to grasp the powerful tools that the event gave each one, that allowed them to find something within themselves with which they could transform and overcome adversity, to move into a new mode of living. The only reason I did not give this book 5 stars is that I can't figure out who the target audience is, and how they will be reached. I would never have picked this book up off a shelf in a store or a library, or ordered it, but for the recommendation. I'm so glad I read it, but still, I wonder: Who reads this book? If you have that answer, please comment. It's message is liberating and challenging, not inspiring. It's about ordinary people, many of whom remain ordinary on the outside. Inside, they are super; they have become something they never realized was possible, before the event that changed them forever. The book tells the reader that no matter what life throws at you, you can take charge of it in some way and figure out a way to turn it into something useful for you. I'm not positive I buy that premise, but I do think it is the book's message.
What do You think about Supersurvivors: The Surprising Link Between Suffering And Success (2014)?
Inspiring and encourages you to pull your ass up and do something.
—Moni
