cover image Birth: When the Spiritual and the Material Come Together

Birth: When the Spiritual and the Material Come Together

Shari Arison. Phoenix Books, $21.95 (192pp) ISBN 978-1-60747-725-9

Just in time to replace the now-defunct (or at least diminished) greed-is-good ethos on Wall Street, Israel's wealthiest daughter, Carnival Cruise Lines CEO and major philanthropist, Arison, presents a spiritual approach to successfully running a vast business and effectively giving back. Raised in Israel and Miami, Fla., the thrice-married mother of four and head of the Arison Group (with controlling interests in Israel's largest bank, among other investments) has an experienced, authoritative voice that benefits from her candid bravura, unafraid to divulge the messages she claims to have received from ""up above"" through dreams and the wishes of others. In simple language, she also recalls many painful and difficult chapters in her life, as well as lessons from her study of the world's religions. Her journey has left her with a rather secular devotion to self-knowledge and authenticity, what she believes are the keys to maintaining order and principle among chaos. Arison's proposal is that business should be driven by core values-integrity, purity, vision, and vitality-rather than financial gain. Though her own enterprises are given an outsized role, Arison proves that new age ideas and generosity can exist harmoniously with pragmatic leadership strategies.