An accessible and thought-provoking navigation through Flow.
In this self-help guide, Roberts explores the concept of cultivating a state of Flow.
The author wore many other hats before becoming a writer—he had a dental practice, is a competitive race car driver, and practices Buddhism. Racing cars led to Roberts’ interest in the idea of Flow, a state of focus in which the highest possible level of performance is reached, but here he shows that it can be attained in the course of any activity—artists, musicians, doctors, quilters, or cooks may all operate in the zone. Roberts expands on the ideas of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who is credited with originating the concept of Flow, exploring the ways in which practices like clear goal-setting and immediate feedback can help readers achieve this tricky state. Research indicates that Flow creates happiness—unfortunately, it can’t be forced. Some factors that block Flow, per the author, are fear, ego trips, and negativity. Roberts also identifies strategies to elicit it, involving rituals, self-acceptance, and a sense of gratitude. Accounts of his personal difficulties with Flow, including an ego-centered dream of glory that caused him to lose focus at an Austin race track, alternate with studies of high achievers like gymnast Simone Biles, musician Prince, the 1980 Olympics US hockey team, and swordsman Miyamoto Musashi, all of whom overcame obstacles to reach peak performances. Included at each chapter’s end are questions and challenges. Though the author engages in riskier pursuits than most, Roberts’ voice stays relatable; he explains the limbic system with the example of a caveman called Mr. Trog Lodyte, and the simple exercises he presents are achievable, not just aspirational. The author is at his most compelling and motivational when engaged in storytelling, describing Prince “all over the fretboard” during “three minutes of Flow”; Biles flying through the air, unaware of where she would land as she battled “the twisties”; or Musashi arriving late to a duel, armed not with a sword but a boat oar. These vivid examples will inspire readers to veer away from the “safe path” and experience life more fully.
An accessible and thought-provoking navigation through Flow.Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9798891386303
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Amplify Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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