Being Perfect
by Anna Quindlen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Anna QuindlenEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-04-26
ISBN: 0375505490
Number of pages: 48
Publisher: Random House
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Book Reviews of Being Perfect
Book Review: Perfect Is As Perfect Does.
Summary: 3 Stars
There is no such thing as being perfect, but try to tell that to young mothers. At one time or another, all women strive for perfection. Men are born perfect. Nature made the male birds the beautiful ones who must get the notice of the female; men don't have to fool with makeup, or worry about hairdos. If they're clean and don't overdo the after shave, most are perfectly groomed without trying.
But with women, we get caught in "the perfection trap" not only with looking as good as we can but training little girls that subterfuge is natural. What gets to me are all the old (really old) women who continue to dye their hair. I know one who wears two sets of eyelashes at the same time. I wonder who she plans to seduce, as more men look at me with my natural hair, no eye makeup and coverup foundation with lighter shades of lipstick.
This is a book of pictures more than guidance. That of the old woman reading to her cat is the most perfect. I talk to my cat,Star. The two girls dressed like we did back in the Fifties with books on their heads as they walk are almost perfect. The five swimsuit dressed girls in their high heel shoes sitting on the railing watching another do a head stand looked to be right out of the Forties. Maybe that was perfection back then.
Anna says that "trying to be perfect may be inevitable for people who are smart amd ambitious and interested in the world and its good opinion. What's really hard and amazing is giving up on being 'perfect' and beginning the work of becoming yourself." Good advice.
This writer sounds familiar but I can't recall seeing her little books previously. Her column, "Public and Private," (sound like a gossip column) in 'New York Times,' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. Well, I'm not a regular reader of NYT; perhaps, just maybe, I read one in 'Newsweek.' Anyway, it doesn't matter, as she is the "perfect Woman."
The things she experienced growing up sound catty to me, but she had fun doing them. That's the main thing. Perhaps her antics in high school made her feel like Ms. Perfect (a la "Grease" movie). Finally, she was old enough for college, where the real world kicks in. I was sure I knew everything I needed to know when I went off to college but I soon learned that I didn't know anything important. Free of the past never makes us free of remembrance of the things which happened. She had missed something along the way; the mind would tell sooner or later.
A good student in high school, though no desire to be perfect. Takes too much work and effort. I was going to be a famous singer. Marriage puts the end (period) to our plans and desires for fame as family takes over. Actually, I grew up with #1 and #1 sons, only theyu were smarter than I. The photos intersperced in this essay show more normality for the times than perfection. Kaleena became a pro ballerina (there's one in every generation in most families). Sometimes, our wishes when we were young come to a stony sadness.
Mainly, Mrs. Q lectures the reader about what not to do as you learn to be an adult, but we all have to experience failures with the successes. As age cycles come and go, we go through changes some for the better, some we might wish had never happened. There is no "being perfect" unless you're a robot.
Summary of Being Perfect
A few times in your life, someone will tell you something so right, so deeply true that it changes you forever. That is what Anna Quindlen, author of the timeless bestseller A Short Guide to a Happy Life, does here.In Being Perfect, she shares wisdom that, perhaps without knowing it, you have longed to hear: about ?the perfection trap,? the price you pay when you become ensnared in it, and the key to setting yourself free. Quindlen believes that when your success looks good to the world but doesn?t feel good in your heart, it isn?t success at all.
She asks you to set aside your friends? advice, what your family and co-workers demand, and what society expects, and look at the choices you make every day. When you ask yourself why you are making them, Quindlen encourages you to give this answer: For me. ?Because they are what I want, or wish for. Because they reflect who and what I am. . . . That way lies dancing to the melodies spun out by your own heart.?
At the core of this beautiful book lies the secret of authentic success, the inspiration to embrace your own uniqueness and live the life that is undeniably your own, rich in fulfillment and meaning.
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