The Work
My Search for a Life That Matters
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4.3 • 16 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The acclaimed author of The Other Wes Moore and governor of Maryland continues his inspirational quest for a meaningful life and shares the powerful lessons—about self-discovery, service, and risk-taking—that led him to a new definition of success for our times.
“This book is about how to make our journeys not just about surviving and succeeding, but about coming truly alive.”—Arianna Huffington
The Work is the story of how one young man traced a path through the world to find his life’s purpose. Wes Moore graduated from a difficult childhood in the Bronx and Baltimore to an adult life that would find him at some of the most critical moments in our recent history: as a combat officer in Afghanistan; a White House fellow in a time of wars abroad and disasters at home; and a Wall Street banker during the financial crisis. In this insightful book, Moore shares the lessons he learned from people he met along the way—from the brave Afghan translator who taught him to find his fight, to the resilient young students in Katrina-ravaged Mississippi who showed him the true meaning of grit, to his late grandfather, who taught him to find grace in service.
Moore also tells the stories of other twenty-first-century change-makers who’ve inspired him in his search, from Daniel Lubetzky, the founder of KIND, to Esther Benjamin, a Sri Lankan immigrant who rose to help lead the Peace Corps. What their lives—and his own misadventures and moments of illumination—reveal is that our truest work happens when we serve others, at the intersection between our gifts and our broken world. That’s where we find the work that lasts.
An intimate narrative about finding meaning in a volatile age, The Work will inspire readers to see how we can each find our own path to purpose and help create a better world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Moore's memoir, a meditation on what makes various types of work worth doing, is an intriguing follow-up to his bestselling The Other Wes Moore, which explored success and failure for black youth in American society. After embracing the messages of service, self-confidence, and risk-taking found in Gen. Colin Powell's inspirational autobiography, Moore earns a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University, does a stint as a trader at Deutsche Bank, and eventually goes off to military duty in one of the most dangerous areas in Afghanistan. While a Citibank employee, Moore saw the financial collapse up close, and he mourns the loss of jobs and fortunes during the crisis. Moore takes advantage of every opportunity to try something new, but he sometimes skimps on his descriptions of his experiences, giving the broad headlines rather than revealing details. However, he does engage in sincere soul-searching and analysis that make the less satisfying sections of the book worth slogging through.Moore makes a convincing case that work has the most value if it's built on a foundation of service, selflessness, courage, and risk-taking.
Customer Reviews
Nothing Short of Amazing!
I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone with a hunger of becoming fulfilled in life. Wes' prose reads easily but still challenges the verbose. Great read!
Incredible and inspiring
I was thrilled when this book was released, having devoured the pages of The Other Wes Moore. The Work was inspirational and inspiring, and led to a great deal of introspection. This is the book that I will recommend to everyone I know, and give as gifts to my friends and family, and read again to know doubt pick up even more inspiration the second time through. Wes Moore's humility and candor are a rare find.