Bestselling self-help author Ringer's main theme is that people need to take personal action in order to get what they want from life. This truism is explored and coupled with other factors such as honesty, self-discipline, adversity, personal values and how these things help or get in the way of promoting positive action. As in his previous books, Ringer (Winning Through Intimidation
) employs a narrative style that allows the reader to explore behavior through anecdotes and examples. Occasionally, the book takes on a self-protective slant as Ringer strives to point out ways in which other people will become obstacles to success by making life complicated and unpleasant. The author doesn't readily hide his disdain for people with whom he has a difference of opinion, and he often seems overly interested in promoting his own views and beliefs in the areas of religion, politics, diet, race and business, making the book seem more like a series of morality plays than a practical guide. The meandering prose style occasionally makes it hard to focus on and extract the lessons being offered. Still, Ringer does tell many captivating anecdotes that help to illustrate the points he is making and offers a wide-ranging perspective on how adopting certain moral behaviors can help to bring about success and happiness. Illus. (Sept.)
