Book Review: If I Could Tell You Just One Thing...Encounters With Remarkable People and Their Most Valuable Advice by Richard Reed

If I Could Tell You Just One Thing…Encounters With Remarkable People and Their Most Valuable Advice

by Richard Reed (170.44 Ree)

 

Fascinating and inspirational collection of short interviews. Author Richard Reed managed to spend time with approximately 50 individuals from various walks of life, though mostly “movers and shakers” within their individual fields. The focus of this book is the final question Reed asks each interview candidate: “Given all that you have experienced, given all that you now know, and given all that you have learned, if you could pass on only one piece of advice, what would it be?”

 

Each short chapter gives some background about the individual being interviewed, and how Reed’s interactions with them went. And each entry wraps up with how that individual responded to Reed’s central question. Often, despite the focus of some individuals in various career paths, their core advice may not seem to have anything to do with what you might expect them to talk about.

 

I enjoyed parts of this book very much, although I’ll have to admit that after a while, all the entries started to sound very similar to each other. This may be a book better suited to sampling in bits and pieces, now and then, rather than reading it cover-to-cover as I did. None-the-less, I really did appreciate seeing the answers of some his interviewees. And one, in particular, comes back to me again and again. Microsoft founder and personal computer magnate Bill Gates’ answer was “I would urge people to foster a love of reading. Start as early as you can and keep on reading.”

 

( publisher’s official If I Could Tell You Just One Thing… web page ) | ( Wikipedia entry for Richard Reed )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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