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20051213 Tuesday December 13, 2005

Escape Adulthood

Every now and then, I get somebody who asks me why I blog. "What's in it for you" they'll ask. Quite a while ago, I tried to answer this, but at that time I missed one very good reason.

It's the occasional nice email I received complementing me on my blog. A couple weeks ago, I got one from Kim Kotecki. We got chatting. She mentioned that she had a blog and that her husband Jason has one too. Jason is also the creator of the Kim and Jason cartoon strip, (which reminded me of other strips like Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts). No prizes for guessing who Kim and Jason are based on. They also have a website (and a company) to promote this, and a whole range of merchandise based on it. I didn't see the Kim and Jason action figures, but it can only be a matter of time.

Jason is also the author of a book entitled Escape Adulthood. Kim kindly sent me a copy of it (thanks!), so I've decided to do a quick review of it. Now you shouldn't take too much notice of the fact that this was free and it arrived in a small box of K&J goodies or that Kim and Jason offered to make my mortgage payment this month (okay, a slight exaggeration for the last one there). This review is not biased in any way. Really.

So what's it about? It's a self-help, motivational book with a special theme. If you've ever seen one of those adult resignation letters (and there are dozens of slightly different versions floating about -- for example: [1] [2] [3] [4]), and you've thought "I'd like to do that", then this might be the book for you.

Some of the categories in Jason's blog cover the secrets in this book, which are:

The book gives lots of examples related to each topic, and how you can reduce your stress, escape adulthood (and cases of adultitis) by reaching back to when you were a six year old, and thinking about the sort of things you used to do then. Jason has taken his personal childhood memories, plus experiences of famous people throughout history, and quotes from other self-help books (and books of that ilk), and written in an engaging humorous style. The book exemplifies the power of positive thinking in everything you do. He shares the things that have shaped his life; the things that he is passionate about. He uses lots of Kim and Jason cartoon strips throughout the book to express salient points.

I'd observe that any parents of small children that immerse themselves in the activities of their kids are probably doing a lot of the things that this book talks about. Just in case you aren't, each of the 8 secrets has 11 things at the end of each chapter to help you out.

I have one minor nit. I'd have preferred the Endnotes to have been footnotes. It was a tad annoying having to keep skipping to the back of the book to read an interesting tidbit going off at a tangent.

So does the world need yet another self-help book? Perhaps you should read the introduction and chapter 1 and decide for yourself. I did enjoy the book and I'll now be passing it onto the missus so she can decide if she wants to read it too.

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( Dec 13 2005, 07:05:37 AM PST ) [Listen] Permalink Comments [2]