Publishers Weekly
01/27/2014
Media mogul Huffington lays out steps to creating a lifestyle where success is measured not by money and power, but something more meaningful. She criticizes “America’s workplace culture... fueled by stress, sleep-deprivation, and burnout,” and compliments efforts by companies like General Mills for its “mindfulness program” and LinkedIn for “managing compassionately.” Huffington Post, she reports, exemplifies the “third metric” tenets—“well-being, wisdom, wonder and giving”—with nap rooms, meditation classes, and an app called “GPS for the Soul.” Huffington cites studies on the health benefits, both physical and psychological, of meditation, adequate sleep, and exercise. One study finds people who had participated in volunteering reported feeling healthier, happier, and less stressed. Huffington also recalls incidents in her own life that have led to wisdom, including her hospitalization for exhaustion, a stillborn baby, and her daughter’s struggle with addiction. Discussing death, she advises opening up a dialogue with the dying, powerfully evoking the dignified passing of her own mother. Huffington draws from both Eastern and Western philosophy, and though it’s a bit rich when she criticizes the media for chasing viral stories, this is otherwise an excellent guide for individuals aspiring beyond the rat race or businesses seeking to elevate employee morale and well-being. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
A convincing, compact, anecdote-laced guide for achievers of every stripe.”—Elle
“Provides powerful ideas about how to approach life differently.”—U.S. News
“Refreshingly practical . . . Lean In may be able to tell women how to get what they want, but Thrive may help them to figure out what that is.”—Businessweek
“Full of compelling arguments (backed by substantial research) about why we need to redefine success.”—Real Simple
“A captivating look at what it takes to live a more meaningful, satisfying life. Brimming with passion, supported by science, and crowned with practical insights, Arianna’s exceptional book will transform our workplaces, schools, and families.”—Adam Grant, Wharton professor and author of Give and Take
“More a-ha moments than an episode of Oprah.”—People
“At once intimate and formidable, this book is Arianna Huffington at her persuasive best. Thrive is a clarion call, a meditation, and a practical response to the question of how to live.”—Susan Cain, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Quiet
“Filled with cutting edge scientific research, captivating stories, and straightforward everyday practices, Thrive is a call to action that informs, invigorates, and inspires all at once.”—Daniel J. Siegel, MD, author of Brainstorm and Mindsight
“Huffington’s honest, raw, and compelling call for us to thrive in the midst of a jumbled, chaotic world by redefining what matters—well-being, wisdom, wonder, service, and each other—is the right book, at the right time, to heal us from our disconnection to ourselves and one another.”—Mark Hyman, MD, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“Socrates, Plato, Aristotle . . . Arianna. Beyond politics, there is her wisdom, applicable to everyone. This book probably added ten years to my life, some of which I’ll spend re-reading it.”—Bill Maher, host of Real Time with Bill Maher
“In Thrive, Huffington urges all of us to get in touch with who we really are so that we can live life on our own terms. From the importance of sleep to the imperative of listening to our inner voice for ways to deal with the daily time crunches we all feel, this book lays out a path for each of us to look within and make our lives more authentic and fulfilling.”—Sheryl Sandberg
MARCH 2014 - AudioFile
Coleen Marlo narrates this intelligent personal growth book with the directness we associate with the author, the hard-driving founder of the online newspaper The Huffington Post. Marlo’s performance asserts and reinforces Huffington’s powerful insights with reassuring confidence. This satisfying blend of personal sharing and wisdom feels precious and ancient. Instead of burning out striving for power or financial success, the three legs of her Third Metric (well-being, wisdom, wonder) direct us to get off our treadmill, quiet the mind and body, and learn the joy of service to others. Coming from such a prodigious achiever and read with such appealing authority, these are truths that overstretched listeners will savor and want to bring into their lives. T.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2014-01-29
Advised to unplug, a world-famous media omnivore promptly creates a commencement speech, multimedia conference, hundreds of blog posts and a self-help book about being nice to yourself. For someone who has drawn much criticism for refusing to pay creators from which she profits, Huffington (Third World America: How Our Politicians Are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream, 2010, etc.) understands how to market her own image for money. Here, she describes the moment she collapsed from exhaustion in 2007 and the subsequent process of writing her 2013 commencement speech at Smith College. Unfortunately, the book that grew out of that speech is hollow, manipulative and overly self-promotional. "Since my own final straw moment, I have become an evangelist for the need to disconnect from our always-connected lives and reconnect with ourselves," Huffington writes in a representative passage. "It has guided the editorial philosophy behind HuffPosts' 26 Lifestyle sections—in which we promote the ways that we can take care of ourselves and lead balanced, centered lives while making a positive difference in the world." The author's concept—that if life is defined by success at work while simultaneously raising a family, then people need a "third metric" to measure happiness—is flawed at best and deeply condescending at worst, especially to women, at whom this self-help manual is clearly aimed. "It seemed to me that the people who were genuinely thriving in their lives were the ones who had made room for well-being, wisdom, wonder and giving," writes the author. "Hence, the Third Metric was born, the third leg of the stool in living a successful life." Less than a month after her Smith College speech, Huffington launched the concept as a touring womens conference. One has to wonder how hardworking mothers and self-reliant professionals will regard these questionable pearls of wisdom. A gimmicky, patronizing book.
