Being Perfect - Hardcover

Anna Quindlen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375505490 ISBN 13: 9780375505492

Publisher: Random House, 2005

Synopsis

A few times in your life, someone will tell you something so right, so deeply true that it changes you forever. That is what Anna Quindlen, author of the timeless bestseller A Short Guide to a Happy Life, does here.

In Being Perfect, she shares wisdom that, perhaps without knowing it, you have longed to hear: about “the perfection trap,” the price you pay when you become ensnared in it, and the key to setting yourself free. Quindlen believes that when your success looks good to the world but doesn’t feel good in your heart, it isn’t success at all.

She asks you to set aside your friends’ advice, what your family and co-workers demand, and what society expects, and look at the choices you make every day. When you ask yourself why you are making them, Quindlen encourages you to give this answer: For me. “Because they are what I want, or wish for. Because they reflect who and what I am. . . . That way lies dancing to the melodies spun out by your own heart.”

At the core of this beautiful book lies the secret of authentic success, the inspiration to embrace your own uniqueness and live the life that is undeniably your own, rich in fulfillment and meaning.

About this title

About the Author:

ANNA QUINDLEN is the author of four novels–Blessings, Black and Blue, One True Thing, Object Lessons–and five nonfiction books: Loud and Clear, A Short Guide to a Happy Life, Living Out Loud, Thinking Out Loud, and How Reading Changed My Life. She has also written two children’s books: The Tree That Came to Stay and Happily Ever After. Her New York Times column “Public and Private” won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. Her column now appears every other week in Newsweek.

From School Library Journal:

Adult/High School–In this brief treatise, Quindlen attempts to deter readers from continually seeking perfection, which is by definition unoriginal and stereotypical. She believes that everyone needs to find her (or his, though the general tone and the illustrations seem to focus on female needs) own true self, especially for those moments when there is nothing else left. She describes herself as having been a true perfectionist throughout high school. After a semester or so at Barnard, she realized that she would never be the prettiest, smartest, or "est" anything, but she could try to find out who she was and not be afraid to try new and unusual routes through life. This realization was more freeing than she expected, and she encourages readers, young and older alike, to do the same. The book reads much like a commencement address, but both size and subject matter should appeal to teens looking out on the landscape of their lives. It is also a good example of an essay or short biographical account for those studying such literary forms.–Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
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About this edition

• Publisher: Random House
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0375505490
• ISBN 13: 9780375505492
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 48