Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews

    Stuck: Why We Can’t (or Won’t) Move On     by Anneli Rufus   Reviewed by   Geoffrey W. Sutton In Stuck ,  Anneli Rufus explores the intriguing problem of our tendency to get stuck in many areas of our life. Whether it’s being trapped in the wrong relationship, career, or town, or simply struggling with stubborn habits, many of us find ourselves immobilized. Rufus combines interviews, personal anecdotes, and cultural criticism to explore the dreams we hold dear and the road to achieving them. When faced with the possibility of change, our minds play tricks on us. We convince ourselves that we “can’t make it” or that it’s “not worth the effort.” In a time of unprecedented freedom and opportunity, why do so many feel powerless and unsure? Rufus uncovers a complex web of potential causes, from fear and denial to societal messages that reinforce our helplessness. The book also shares stories of those who have broken free and those who ...

  Citizens of London The Americans Who Stood With Britain in its Darkest, Finest Hour   By Lynne Olson   Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton   Lynne Olson tells the exciting story of three Americans in Britain's wore torn capitol whose passionate embrace of the British solitary stand against the Nazis served as a catalyst that would eventually link America and Britain in an incredibly close fighting force against the enemy. Olson’s masterful presentation reveals how three different men— George Winant, Edward Murrow, and Averell Harriman—interacted with Churchill, Roosevelt, and a cast of other Anglo-American leaders on the world stage between 1939 and 1945. As she describes these relationships following the course of the war, we learn the crucial role of close connections and trust in the arduous melding of an international allied force to defeat the axis powers. The three men are different. Winant is a respected diplomat with an amazing ability to emp...

Vital Friends:                                The People You Can't Afford to Live Without   By Tom Rath Reviewed by    Geoffrey W. Sutton Events like Covid-19, severe illnesses, and disasters remind us of the importance of friends.   Weaving together stories, historical examples, published research, and survey data, Rath makes the case for the importance of close friends (i,e, Vital Friends) to life-satisfaction and productivity. The author organized 14 chapters into four parts. Four appendixes, research notes, suggested reading, and acknowledgments complete this  easy-to-read paperback.   In the six chapters that comprise part one, we learn Rath's point that our culture may have focused too heavily on personal growth to the exclusion of developing relationships with others. In addition to examples from daily life, Rath invokes the research of Gottman to show th...