Wednesday, January 19, 2011

We Have Met The Enemy

The following is an uncompensated book review for TLC Book Tours.

I recently received a copy of Daniel Akst's book, We Have Met The Enemy, Self-Control in an Age of Excess, for review.

I was excited when I read the cover, because we all know I have issues with my "stuff" and am engaged in an eternal battle with myself, half of me trying to simplify and trim away the excess, while the other half clings to her stuff for dear life. Plus, I am kind of a self-help book junkie.

Turns out We have Met The Enemy is not a self-help book, but more of a deep look into the history, the psychology and the meaning of excess.

It was interesting and well written. Daniel has a very easy to read style and mixes historical facts with pop culture references seamlessly. I especially enjoyed his discussion of modern "diseases" = lack of self control. This is a big topic of conversation in my household as my therapist husband deals with parents on a daily basis bringing in their children for every known acronym when what the kid needs is a little (or a lot of) discipline. But I digress...

I've got a copy of the book to give away (thanks to Penguin Press!). If you're interested in receiving the book, leave a comment on this blog post (not Facebook) and a winner will be chosen by random number generator* on Sunday, January 23. Note, the publisher will ship only in the US and Canada.

Wherein "random number generator" = Carlie picking a number without knowing what it is for.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

I want free stuff!

Fantastic Forrest said...

I NEED this book. I am not ashamed to admit it. Puhleeze?

justme said...

although i don't need any excess books, i want it

Unknown said...

Free stuff is awesome! This sounds like it could be interesting!

Cat said...

The procrastination element really intrigues me because that is my number one self-indulgence problem. I would love to have the book, so pick me Carlie. Pick me!

LisaMM said...

Stuff. I have a ton of it and am constantly trying to pare down. It's hard with kids who are always growing out of things! They always need new clothes, etc and we wind up with all this stuff- it's just a constant battle. Anyway, thank you so much for being on the tour!

Amy *aka willa* said...

Using Jedi mind tricks to win free stuff....

deenie said...

I love free stuff!

Sara said...

Love of reading + Love of free stuff = Winner! :)

<3 your blog. Your puzzle fiasco almost made me pee myself. Keep up the good work!