Take My Advice: Letters to the Next Generation from People Who Know a Thing or Two
Author: James L. Harmon
List Price: $18.00
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ISBN: 0743210921
Publisher: Simon & Schuster (April, 2002)
Sales Rank: 186,960
Average Customer Rating: 4 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
Fascinating Wisdom & Reflections!
There are 79 fascinating original essays in this collection that were gathered together over a period of ten years from public figures who give out their advice, wisdom, and reflections on life. The book is chuck full of insight from people like Quentin Crisp, Bette Davis, William S. Burroughs, Katharine Hepburn, and others. Joe Dallesandro, star of Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey's late 60's cult films, "Flesh, Trash, and Heat" offers some excellent advice in his essay. He states, "The negative aspect of beauty in our culture is our obsession with it - like when a person becomes bulimic or anorexic because they want to look like a celebrity or a model in a magazine. He further states, "Beauty is fun, it has its place, but don't mistake it for self-worth". In other words we need more than beauty and good looks to feel fulfilled. We need to look inside ourselves and find inner beauty and true meaning in our lives. Once in a while we should forget the "me" and lend a helping hand to others who need us. Good advice.
You may not agree with all of the advice being dished out in these essays, but it is a fascinating look into the lives of these famous and not so famous individuals, and the way they think. It will also make you think a little more deeply yourself, and provide you with plenty of interesting advice to digest and compare with your own beliefs. Harmon has done an excellent job in bringing these people's thoughts into our own thoughts. This is a book I certainly will read again!
Joe Hanssen
Rating: 5 out of 5
Take my advice and check out this book
This book is filled with advice from a wide array of writers, artists, philosophers, photographers, poets, critics and even a sexologist. I came across this book by fluke one day, and it turned out to be one of the most rewarding books I have ever read. After reading this, I felt uplifted, inspired and viewed success from a new angle. If you are a person obsessed with chasing the almighty dollar, I would not recommend this book. It only gives advice on the things in life that truly matter.
This book was created in order to give advice to the young, the people who are just starting out. But yet, I believe it to still be a useful tool to those growing older, for a person is never too old to learn or to grow. If you want things to change, it is best to start with yourself.
I will leave you with some sample pieces of advice given by the writer Lucius Shepard:
"Just because you're living on the edge doesn't mean that you don't have to do the right thing.
Run like hell if you have to, but try not to hurt anyone.
If you get ahead of the game, let some of your money loose in the world where it can do some good, and chances are that good thing will come back around.
Make sure you know whomever you have to trust.
Take the cash and flush the credit cards."
Rating: 5 out of 5
Much food for thought
In the unbelievably commercialized world we live in, this book comes as a breath of fresh air telling college graduates how they should think as they head out into the world. Since most of the advisors are artists, their advice isn't likely to help you make a lot of money! However, I firmly believe that artists hold the key to the future because they alone refuse to buy into the dominant cultural/political system (in this case, mindless consumerism) and seek ways of framing new modes of thought. For this reason, this book should be read by anyone discontented with sheer consumerism and searching for a better way to live. What's especially telling is how many of these artists suggest that we stop watching TV!
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