Beyond One's Own: Healing Humanity in the Wake of Personal Tragedy

One would think that a collection of interviews with people who have used their grief to change the world would be fascinating and inspirational. However, in this case, one would be wrong. Although the 15 individuals profiled here are incredibleDthey recount, among other things, the formation of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer FoundationDbereavement counselor Constans fails to harness the power of their stories. Instead of highlighting common issues among the narratives and presenting an argument for the benefits of transformative grief, he merely offers verbatim reports of his interviewees' answers, bad grammar, and historical ignorance (one interviewee declared that the Holocaust didn't really affect Jewish people until 1943). Compounding those offenses is Constans's smarmy introductions to the interviews, which describe the weather and surroundings. Such details leave the reader asking, ""Who cares?""Dand in a book that's supposed to be rousing, that's a bad thing. Not recommended.