Choosing & changing : a guide to self-reliance /

This is a hybrid of armchair philosophy, Emerson-style, and self-help of the ""keep a detailed diary"" variety. Wistfully, regretfully, we are told that possessions ""are chains binding down a constricted serf."" The real ""I""--the personal one, that is--coordinates ""the public nature that performs"" with ""the private nature that interacts,"" but it is the personal ""I"" that we have to please, in our jobs, our love relationships, etc. A half-dozen cases illustrate job changes made with the personal ""I"" kept firmly in mind, and both feet planted firmly in the air. Frequent quotes from Emerson, Tillich, Whitman, and all the boys only serve to point up the vacuousness of the narrative at hand. When the situation gets really desperate, Grossman invokes deep breathing exercises. A mutant that is more than a strain. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.