You Don't Have to Do It Alone
The Power of Friendship
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- $279.00
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- $279.00
Descripción editorial
A celebration of friendship and community from bestselling author Mark Nepo
In his newest book, New York Times bestselling author Mark Nepo turns his attention to the value of community, offering another insightful and inspiring take on our shared human experience. You Don’t Have to Do It Alone is an earnest exploration and joyous affirmation of one of the most important aspects of being human: friendship.
Sharing examples from history, mythology, and his own life, Mark unravels the nuances of close friendships, and reveals how a true friend can be the key to our own aliveness—because only in the presence of unconditional love can we feel safe enough to be who we truly are. Journal prompts and thought-provoking quotes from notable philosophers enhance Mark’s reflections, providing readers with the tools necessary to understand and cultivate the friendships in their own lives.
Mark Nepo explores all that it takes to love another and be loved, ultimately showing that—despite what we’ve been taught—you don’t have to do it alone.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Poet Nepo (The Book of Awakening) explores the "gifts and challenges of being close to one another" in this florid paean to friendship. Among other personal anecdotes, he shares how undergoing cancer treatment at the same time his friend Robert worked to recover from alcoholism enabled both to start over "naked, humbled, and raw"; how supporting his wife after their dog's death "enlarged my understanding of grief and acceptance"; and even how his fractured relationship with his brother, whom he cryptically says "feels I've wronged him by living my life," reminds him to strengthen his bonds with others. The author's at his best when unpacking what such thinkers as Raymond Carver and Aristotle have to say about the topic, though these insights are overshadowed by indulgent metaphors that muddy the book's conception of friendship (it's alternately defined as an "electron in the center of every story," "the sinew that connects the muscle and bone of being human," and "among the purest gateways to the deeper dimensions of life"). This falls short.
