Observing that her own teenage daughters were beginning to experience some of the same fears that had once burdened her--how attractive am I? do people like me? do I dare speak up?--Arianna Huffington began to examine the ways in which fear affects all our lives. In stories drawn from her own experiences and from the lives of other women, she points toward the moments of extraordinary strength, courage, and resilience that result from confronting and overcoming fear. And she outlines the steps anyone can take to conquer fear. Her book shows us how to become bold from the inside out--from feeling comfortable in our own skin to getting what we want in love and at work to changing the world.
On Becoming Fearless...in Love, Work, and Life
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From Publishers Weekly
Huffington exhorts women to "break through to the other side of fear" and to be bold in all aspects of life. She tells listeners that in order to join a Cambridge debate club, she had to overcome her fear of having a heavy Greek accent. In a nutshell, that's both the tenor and flaw of this book. Huffington might have done better to work on overcoming her accent than the fear of it. To her credit, she reads her book slowly and carefully, and almost all of her words can be understood by even the casual listener. A larger problem is that the message of overcoming fears about beauty, competition in love and so forth probably comes across better in a written text. Not fitting into society's prescriptions does have real consequences, whether one is fearless or not. Nevertheless, women who finish Huffington's mantra might feel better about who they are, even if they are listening while having their bodies waxed.
Copyright© American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright© American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Huffington, nationally syndicated columnist and one of the hundreds of candidates for California governor in the election that brought Arnold Schwarzenegger to office, offers a surprisingly refreshing look at the journey women take to fearlessness. Huffington observes the standard fears that plague women's lives: insecurities about their beauty and youth, getting and keeping a man's love, the need for approval of others, the demands of motherhood. She intersperses her own personal recollections with essays by women, well-known and obscure, on their own efforts to overcome fear. Among the women who contribute essays or commentary are Nora Ephron, Diane Keaton, documentary producer Kathy Eldon, producer Marcy Carsey, author Agapi Stassinopoulos, a psychiatry professor, and Huffington's office manager. Huffington cites The Rules and stats from women's magazines as well as Shakespeare and C. S. Lewis, the Koran and the Bible, in a wide-ranging look at the challenges women face in family, faith, careers, and personal fulfillment to explore the rewards of facing up to fears and working steadily toward fearlessness. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
46 reviews
39 of 42 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Go Fearless!
Feb 20 2008
By Alisa J. Sher
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I can't tell you how touched I am by this book. Here is Ms. Huffington, a woman known for her political influence and intellectual pursuits, who chose to write a book about her intimate relationship with fear. What an amazing gift that a person accomplished in so many ways paused to share her story of living with, yet breaking through, fear.
Prior to reading this book, I held a belief that great people did not have to work with the same type of inner chatter - "the world's worst roommate," as Ms. Huffington so aptly puts it. Ms. Huffington has given me such a gift; to see that it is not some better, less fearful mind that makes her success a possibility, but rather her feisty excitement at moving through and past her fears!
If you are considering this book, I highly recommend it! If you like this style of writing, in which wisdom is collected and woven together through a series of stories and anecdotes, I also recommend that you check out Ariel and Shya Kane's most recent book, Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment. Like Ms. Huffington, the Kanes are skilled at using their wisdom and life experience to guide their readers past the limiting fears and ideas that naturally impede well being, so that life can be lived at its best: as a daring adventure!!!
Prior to reading this book, I held a belief that great people did not have to work with the same type of inner chatter - "the world's worst roommate," as Ms. Huffington so aptly puts it. Ms. Huffington has given me such a gift; to see that it is not some better, less fearful mind that makes her success a possibility, but rather her feisty excitement at moving through and past her fears!
If you are considering this book, I highly recommend it! If you like this style of writing, in which wisdom is collected and woven together through a series of stories and anecdotes, I also recommend that you check out Ariel and Shya Kane's most recent book, Being Here: Modern Day Tales of Enlightenment. Like Ms. Huffington, the Kanes are skilled at using their wisdom and life experience to guide their readers past the limiting fears and ideas that naturally impede well being, so that life can be lived at its best: as a daring adventure!!!
114 of 134 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
On Becoming Fearless is Hypocritical
Nov 7 2007
By Rich Adams
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I really started to identify with this subject and took time in between to reflect on my life and those of my sons as compared to my daughters.
But when I got to the chapter about Faith and God I was extremely upset. How could someone as open minded as Huffington be so judmental and discrimintory against athiests? I was shocked, her point being that an athiests life will never mean anything without belief in a higher being. The quotations are so upsetting and damning to athiests that she sounds so much like the evangalicals she detests than they do!! She is practicing the discrimnation she so passionatly fights against. I believe she is the one is who full of fear, the fear that maybe there is a possibility that God does not exist. This chapter completely negates the book and its message. I am so sorry she chose to write this book without really being fearless herself.
But when I got to the chapter about Faith and God I was extremely upset. How could someone as open minded as Huffington be so judmental and discrimintory against athiests? I was shocked, her point being that an athiests life will never mean anything without belief in a higher being. The quotations are so upsetting and damning to athiests that she sounds so much like the evangalicals she detests than they do!! She is practicing the discrimnation she so passionatly fights against. I believe she is the one is who full of fear, the fear that maybe there is a possibility that God does not exist. This chapter completely negates the book and its message. I am so sorry she chose to write this book without really being fearless herself.
44 of 54 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fearless or fluffy?
May 26 2007
By Dr Cathy Goodwin
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
As a career consultant, I'm always looking for books to recommend to my clients and ezine readers. Fear is always top-of-mind for career-changers. So I was hoping to gain new ideas and perhaps be able to recommend a new book.
Since I don't live in California, I didn't recognize Huffington's name from her gubernatorial race. I don't know her name or politics.
On Becoming Fearless seems to be a collection of random thoughts, interspersed with brief essays from celebrities and notables. Alas, publishers like names more than ideas and revere fame more than substance.
The chapter on aging seems at best irrelevant and at worst insensitive. Huffington begins by noting the Greek respect for elders. True, many cultures do revere elders (although I wonder how long that pattern will continue). But that's not relevant to most of us.
Don't look in the mirror, Huffington says. Accept yourself. But she acknowledges her use of detox processes (yuk) and the services of a very special esthetician (beyond reach and pocketbook of most aging women).
In another example, the chapter on money sings the familiar song of passion and abundance. While many people are held back by fear, a little healthy caution can save others from disastrous moves. Some people handle risk better than others. Some come up with realistic dreams while others build castles in the air.
Bottom Line: I was disappointed in my quest for a new book to recommend. If you want to read a really good book on fear, get Thom Rutledge's book, Embracing Fear. Or read one of Harriet Lerner's books.
What's really scary is that fluff and New Age-y books are so quick to attract publishers and ultimately readers.
Since I don't live in California, I didn't recognize Huffington's name from her gubernatorial race. I don't know her name or politics.
On Becoming Fearless seems to be a collection of random thoughts, interspersed with brief essays from celebrities and notables. Alas, publishers like names more than ideas and revere fame more than substance.
The chapter on aging seems at best irrelevant and at worst insensitive. Huffington begins by noting the Greek respect for elders. True, many cultures do revere elders (although I wonder how long that pattern will continue). But that's not relevant to most of us.
Don't look in the mirror, Huffington says. Accept yourself. But she acknowledges her use of detox processes (yuk) and the services of a very special esthetician (beyond reach and pocketbook of most aging women).
In another example, the chapter on money sings the familiar song of passion and abundance. While many people are held back by fear, a little healthy caution can save others from disastrous moves. Some people handle risk better than others. Some come up with realistic dreams while others build castles in the air.
Bottom Line: I was disappointed in my quest for a new book to recommend. If you want to read a really good book on fear, get Thom Rutledge's book, Embracing Fear. Or read one of Harriet Lerner's books.
What's really scary is that fluff and New Age-y books are so quick to attract publishers and ultimately readers.
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