How Did I Get Here?: Making Peace with the Road Not Taken - Couverture rigide

Browner, Jesse

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0062275690 ISBN 13 : 9780062275691

Editeur : Harper, 2015

Synopsis

A literary exploration that asks seeks to answer the question: Have I lived the life I intended?

Jesse Browner, a novelist with a full-time job at the United Nations, has written a book reminiscent of the Talking Heads classic song "Once in a Lifetime." Based on an essay he wrote for Poets and Writers Magazine, Browner asks hard questions about life choices, about the tendency to believe there is a parallel life that might have been more fulfilling or more free. He wonders: Is the true artist made by single-minded devotion to his craft? Do we compromise our dreams in service to responsibilities to family and jobs?

These questions prompted Browner to take a hard look at himself and the evolution that brought him to this moment of existential doubt. In How Did I Get Here? he divides his adult life into five distinct phases—ambition, love, work, fulfillment, and serenity. Sketching portraits of himself at every stage, he looks for idiosyncrasies, commonalities, and clues—signposts that lead him to today. He also draws on the lives of others, from Franz Kafka to his sister to indie rocker Elliott Smith, in search of understanding. What he finds in his courageous quest is bravely honest and inspiring, touching on what it means to live a life with intention and meaning.

A propos du livre

À propos de l'auteur

Jesse Browner is the author of six books, including The Uncertain Hour and Everything Happens Today. He lives and works in New York City.

À propos de la quatrième de couverture

A literary exploration that seeks to answer the question: Have I lived the life I intended?

Based on an essay he wrote for Poets & Writers magazine, Jesse Browner, a novelist who finds himself torn between his creative calling and a full-time job in the civil service, asks hard questions about the choices life imposes on us, and our tendency to believe in a parallel, alternative existence where we might have felt more fulfilled, more free, more true to ourselves. He wonders: Is the genuine artist made by single-minded devotion to his craft? Do we compromise our dreams in service to family and work? In the face of life's inevitable disappointments, how do we learn to reassess our own achievements and live without regret?

These questions prompted Browner to take a hard look at the lifelong journey that brought him to this moment of existential doubt. He divides his adult life into five distinct phases: ambition, love, work, fulfillment, and wisdom. Sketching portraits of himself at each stage, he looks for the idiosyncrasies, blind spots, and commonalities that led him to question every assumption he has ever made about who he is and the nature of his ambitions, his successes, and his failures. He also draws on the lives of others, from Franz Kafka to indie rocker Elliott Smith to his own sister, in search of understanding and guidance. What he finds in his courageous quest is inspiring and honest—sometimes brutally so—touching on what it means to live a life with intention and meaning.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Harper
• Date d'édition: 2015
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0062275690
• ISBN 13: 9780062275691
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 288
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible